Nestled beneath the sheer rock walls of a desert canyon between Rogerson and Jarbidge, Nev., sits a rustic village of dirt roads, trailer homes, chickens, a pig and a historic hot spring.
Residents see Murphy Hot Springs, located on the cottonwood-lined banks of the East Fork of the Jarbidge River, as the perfect place for a family weekend getaway or two weeks of solitude."This is definitely the best drinking and bathing water in the nation," said hot spring owner Matthew Olivas, who testifies that the "power of the Old Chief" put the natural spring into the mountain.
Olivas owns the local cafe and tavern called The Lodge; the nine "simple" cabins, each furnished with a bed and chair; the pool; and three public hot baths. But a couple of dozen other buildings - from landscaped cabins to mobile homes to camper trailers - are owned by others.
The spring is used for nearly everything: drinking, watering lawns. But most townsfolk and visitors are content to just relax in the waters, said Murphy Hot Springs resident Darcy Anderson. She works for Olivas, who apparently has the only business in town.
"It has an Indian healing quality," said Olivas, adding that the baths can be as hot as 109 degrees. "Older people want the water as hot as they can get it so that it can take their aches and pains away."
The "unique" waters have been "sacred from the beginning days when they were given to Mother Earth from the Old Father," and those who use the hot spring have a respect for it and the nature surrounding it, he said.
Most visitors to the area have been returning across miles of desert sagebrush to the hot springs since they were children, she said.
"My dad brought me here since before I can remember," said Tom Harrison of Burley. "Now that I have a son, I am going to start bringing him here so that he can enjoy this town just like I did when I was a kid."
The town has eight to 14 residents. Most who live in Murphy Hot Springs are retired, and the population constantly changes because people are "always coming and going" each year, Anderson said.
"This place is just like a normal small town," she said. "The gossip always gets good."
The mail is delivered three times a week, and an Owyhee County deputy makes periodic stops, but there is no mayor, city council or any other form of government, he said.
Life at Murphy's isn't structured, and visitors are free to do what they please, Olivas said.
Whether their favorite activity is hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, swimming or just relaxing, travelers will never feel "fenced in," and this kind of freedom is unmatched at any multimillion-dollar resort, he said.
"The people who live here are the richest people in life simply because of where they live," he said.
Because the hot springs are hundreds of years old, the area is rich with American Indian artifacts such as arrowheads, bones and pottery.
"This place has a lot of education opportunities for children, because they are able to see the old ways of living," he said.