PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHANE LUITJENS

There are still bits and pieces of the Old West outside Las Vegas, where what remains of short-lived mining towns can be found throughout the dramatic desert landscape.

an old mine door off in the distance outside Tecopa, Calif.

water tower and houses line the canyon in Nelson, Nev.

found metal, bones and tools in the town of Gold Point, Nev.

Heather MacMullen, owner of the Gold Dust Saloon in Gold Point, Nev.

an abandoned mine outside Searchlight, Nev.

Nelson, Nev., against the backdrop of Eldorado Canyon.

Rhyolite, Nev.—which was built in 1904— as viewed from the overlooking hills, with shells of the John S. Cook Bank, Porter Brothers Store, school and large residence

a metal door outside the broken prison walls

the station where two railroad lines once stopped on their way through town.