Silver and gold · Goldfield
Forty-Two Rounds in Goldfield Under the Desert Sun
Tex Rickard staged a brutal 42-round lightweight title fight in 1906 Goldfield to peddle mining stocks to 6,072 spectators.
Nevada stories
The Silver State, one story at a time
Boomtowns that lasted a decade, a highway named for aliens, trees older than the pyramids and the six weeks that made Reno famous. True stories from across Nevada, each one drawn from the state's own archives, museums and park services.
The Ancient Crust and Glacial Ice of Lamoille Canyon
Deep crustal pressure and ice age glaciers shaped the massive walls of Lamoille Canyon beneath the peak of Ruby Dome.
The Reno Arch: History, Slogan Contest, and Three Arches
From the October 23, 1926 Transcontinental Highways Exposition arch to G. A. Burns's 1929 slogan prize and the three structures built for Virginia Street.
The Upended Junkyard of Goldfield's Car Forest
A quest for a Guinness record turned more than 40 cars, buses, and trucks into an open desert gallery in central Nevada.
When Reno Became Nevada's First Gambling Capital
Nevada legalised open casino tables in 1931, making downtown Reno the nation's gambling capital long before Las Vegas took the crown.
Atomic Tourism and the Las Vegas Mushroom Clouds
In the 1950s, Las Vegas casinos threw dawn parties to watch 100 atmospheric nuclear blasts shake the desert skyline.
The Carson City Mint Press Saved by a Repair Plate
Fixed by railroad shopmen in 1878, Coin Press No. 1 survived the scrap heap to mint millions of coins across a century of state history.
Four Walls, No Roof, and the 1851 Founding of Genoa
Nevada's oldest town started as a roofless log box built without rain and became an outpost where a bunch of turnips cost a dollar.
Cutting a Christmas Tree on Nevada Public Land
Nevada allows residents to cut its own state tree for Christmas, but past fires have pushed the harvest deep into the eastern ranges.
The Rebuilt V&T Railway Polar Express Run
How a legendary short line that went bankrupt in 1938 was rebuilt to run crowded holiday trains in the freezing Nevada winter nights.
Hollywood's Favorite Locomotives Came from Carson City
After hauling Comstock ore, the Virginia & Truckee was sold to Hollywood before Nevada bought its iron back.
Berlin and the Giant Ichthyosaurs of Central Nevada
Miners in the Shoshone Mountains used ancient marine reptile bones for hearths before scientists uncovered 40 ocean giants.
Supersonic on the Flat Mud of the Black Rock Desert
On a dry prehistoric lakebed north of Reno, a British team pushed a 20,000-pound vehicle past Mach 1.
How Wheeler Peak Lost the Oldest Living Tree on Earth
A researcher studying ice ages had federal permission to sample an ancient pine, then cut down a 4,900-year-old tree.
The Comstock Lode Built San Francisco and Paid for a War
Seven million tons of ore pulled from a single Nevada mountainside funded early San Francisco and bankrolled the Union Army.
State Route 375 and the UFO Town of Rachel
A remote mining camp shrank to a dozen trailers before Nevada officially renamed its highway for extraterrestrials.
How a White Disk Measures Lake Tahoe Down to Its Depths
Scientists lower a ten-inch white plate into Lake Tahoe to track clarity down to the foot across six decades.
How Highway 50 Became the Loneliest Road in America
When a national magazine warned drivers away from central Nevada, the state turned the insult into a legendary survival passport.
Mark Twain Invented His Pen Name in Virginia City
Before he wrote classic novels, Samuel Clemens spent 22 wild months reporting for a booming Virginia City newspaper.
Nevada Telegraphed Its Entire Constitution to D.C.
Facing an election deadline, Nevada sent 16,543 words over the wire in the longest Morse code transmission of its era.
Pyramid Lake Holds the Ancient Skeleton of Lake Lahontan
A desert lake 35 miles from Reno is the last deep water of an Ice Age inland sea that once covered much of western Nevada.
How Reno Built a Global Industry on a Six-Week Law
For decades the quickest route out of a marriage was six weeks in Reno, turning the railroad town into the divorce mecca of the world.
Rhyolite Boomed and Emptied in a Single Nevada Decade
A town with three banks and an ice cream parlor emptied within ten years of its founding.
How Sunset and Ancient Stone Shaped Valley of Fire
Nevada's first state park is a valley of red rock that looks like it is burning at sunset, carved by people thousands of years ago.
Wild Horse Annie and the Battle for Nevada Rangelands
Nevada holds more wild horses than every other Western state combined, thanks to an insurance secretary from Reno.