That One Teacher You Most Remember

If you could point a finger to that one teacher in your life that made a difference, could you come up with a name? Did you have a person who opened your eyes to a subject that you never even knew you loved? That person for me was my high school history teacher, Mr. Fred Horlacher.

Even 30 years later, I can still close my eyes and remember what it was like to be in his classroom. I loved it. And I wasn't alone. I had him for Nevada History in 11th grade and it was my favorite class ever. He truly brought history to life for his students. He made us love history. He breathed it. He lived it. He was what history should be about.

Going to the gym to register for classes was always a challenge. But it was especially a challenge for Mr. Horlacher's classes. The line in front of his table was the longest by far. No other teacher compared. We fought to get into his room. Every chair was taken and students never cut or dropped out of his class. Ever. Students even scheduled doctor's appointments around his lectures. We just didn't want to miss them. They were that good.

For one thing, Mr. Horlacher never used a school book. All of his classes were lecture only. We had to take notes. He tested off his notes. He was the coolest teacher ever. You couldn't help but learn in his classes. He would walk into the room as the character he would lecture about. One day it might be a Civil War soldier. Another week, it would be a Native American. He would be fully decked out with an Indian headdress and clothing. He was that person from history. He gave us facts, dates, lives, loves, the good and the bad. History wasn't dusty, distant stories, but living, breathing people and the challenges they faced.

I hated when the bell rang and his class was over. His classes were never long enough. What was even cooler about Mr. Horlacher is he had a history club that he was the faculty advisor--Ghost Towners Nevada History Club. It was the most popular club to be a part of--it was only open to juniors and seniors.

I'm not sure, but I have a feeling that my school's history club was unique. I don't know of too many high schools that boasted a history club that had so many members. We not only had fun together as a group, but we learned so much about Nevada history.



Our initiation into the group was on Halloween night. We went up to Virginia City, Nevada to its cemetery. We walked through the cemetery at midnight. Mr. Horlacher had it booby trapped with tape recorders, senior students dressed up (glowing red eyes and all) and made sure we screamed a few times. After we walked through the cemetery, we sat among the graves in the dark and he told us about the spooky true history of Virginia City. It was absolutely one of the coolest things I've ever done.

And we had many wonderful adventures with Mr. Horlacher. We walked the actual trail that the Donner Party walked, at night, with only moonlight to show the way. We munched on beef jerky as he told the story of the Donner Party, painting the picture of the hardships they faced on their journey.

Not only were you learning about history, but we were on the same path, stood by the same trees that they camped under. It wasn't until he got to the part about the possible cannibalism, that the beef jerky sort of lost its flavor. That was Mr. Horlacher's warped sense of humor, which we high school students absolutely loved.

We went on so many field trips. One of them included camping by the reservoir and going "snipe" hunting. Some of us knew better, but we kept our mouths shut as other students took potato sacks and sticks and went to capture the snipes.

We went into gold mines, restored pioneer grave headstones, and visited ghost towns. He made it all come to life for us. He taught for so many years at my high school, finally retiring. He is an outstanding historian who still educates young and old alike in the Reno/Sparks area with living history demonstrations.

Mr. Horlacher is one of the reasons one that one of my majors in college was history. He taught me that history is a living, breathing subject that is never meant to be forgotten.

He is and was an amazing teacher. He embodies what teachers should be about--honorable, memorable and kind. Kudos to you, Mr. Horlacher. You are the best!


If one could make alive again for other people some cobwebbed skein of old dead intrigues and breathe breath and character into dead names and stiff portraits. That is history to me! ~George Macaulay Trevelyan