The story
Jarbidge was one of the last classic gold rushes in the lower 48: ore found in a brutally remote canyon on the Idaho line in 1909 drew about 1,500 people through snow that first winter, into a town that even now is a long dirt-road drive from anywhere.
It earned a singular place in Western history on a December night in 1916, when the mail stage was held up a mile from town and the driver murdered — the last stagecoach robbery in the United States. The killer, Ben Kuhl, was convicted partly on a bloody palm print left on a mail envelope, one of the first uses of palm-print evidence in an American courtroom.
The big mines consolidated, produced respectably, and closed by 1932. But Jarbidge's canyon — river, aspens, elk country — kept a community: a few dozen people, a bar, and a trading post still hold the townsite, busiest during summer and hunting season.
What remains today
Original false-front buildings along the main street (some occupied, some not), the community hall, the jail, mine ruins up-canyon, and the site marker of the 1916 stage robbery.
Questions from the field
- What was the last stagecoach robbery in America?
- The Jarbidge stage was robbed and its driver murdered on December 5, 1916, just outside town — the last stage robbery in U.S. history. Ben Kuhl was convicted using palm-print evidence, a legal first.
- Does anyone live in Jarbidge today?
- A few dozen residents live there year-round, with more in summer. The bar and trading post operate seasonally — call ahead in winter, when snow can close the northern access.
- What's the easiest way to reach Jarbidge?
- In summer, the northern route from Rogerson, Idaho is shortest. From Elko it's roughly 100 miles, much of it gravel. Either way, treat it as a full-day remote drive.
From the field
The most valuable part of this record is the part only visitors can write.
Stamp your passport
Check in at Jarbidge — GPS-verified visits earn an inked stamp.
File a field report
Road conditions, what's still standing, what's gone — your report joins the record.
Add photographs
Credited, dated, and preserved as part of Jarbidge's permanent record.
No field reports yet — sign in to file the first.
Sources consulted
- — USGS GNIS feature 860185
- — Elko County court records — State v. Kuhl (1917)
- — Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology — Jarbidge district