Charlie Ekburg

Wander our region to discover, pick up sushi to go, play safely with your family, and dream big

Elko is proof that you can truly love your home town. We have a rich and colorful history that exists all around us, which we relive by attending compelling events such as the annual Cowboy Poetry Gathering and the National Basque festival, which attract thousands, as well cultural programs and re-enactments at our 2009 California Trail Interpretive Center which are complemented by our Museum’s dozens of annual events. There are limitless discovery and photo opportunities at the “ghost towns” which dot our massive county from mining days gone by.

We’re also excited about our future, which looks extremely bright. As we are the county seat and regional hub, our strong economy is led by business and civic leaders who are working together – they are intent on building diversification and steady, sound growth. Elko has an unusually diverse cultural history which includes Spanish, Chinese, Native American, and Latin American residents, and we add new neighbors from across the country and the world ranging from scientists to modern miners who support the two largest gold mining companies in the world, who have their regional headquarters in Elko. Artists and outdoor lovers from across the world move or retire here because of our omnipresent natural beauty and the Ruby Mountains.

Our outdoor recreation is phenomenal and offer more chances to discover history. And we offer all this along with a community where our children leave their bikes unchained and unlocked at their bus stops, every day.

Bring your hopes and dreams for a great life to Elko. We’re looking forward to welcoming you!

History Experts:

Gary Koy
Park Ranger, Bureau of Land Management
California National Historic Trail Interpretive Center Photo Album

Claudia Wines
Director
Northeastern Nevada Museum Photo Album

A Quick Elko History Lesson:

Soon after its founding in 1868, Elko became a critical distribution point for the Central Pacific Railroad in northeastern Nevada, and quickly established itself as the central business hub for desolate Elko County. Just six months after the railroad arrived, Elko supported two banks, forty-five saloons, three hardware stores, eight physicians, and eight attorneys, among many other businesses. Elko built a courthouse in December 1869. Just one month later, a school was constructed with an initial enrollment of seventy children. By this time the Central Pacific had completed three freight depots, and the census of 1870 recorded a population of 1,160.

The University of Nevada was first established in Elko in October 1873, and held its first class of seven students in 1874 (it would be moved to Reno in 1885). In 1875, the Elko Water and Flour Milling Company opened for business and would soon be responsible for modernizing the town in two important ways. First, the company brought water to Elko’s municipal water system via a canal built from the Humboldt River, about nine miles away. Second, in the 1890s, the mill generated the town’s first electricity using a power-producing system associated with the milling process.

Elko’s population remained low until 1907, when the construction of the Western Pacific Railroad boosted the economy. Also contributing to the revival were mining camps such as Aura, Edgemont, Gold Creek, Jarbidge, and Midas. Surging prices for commodities, including beef and wool, fortified the ranching industry.

The Elko-Lamoille Power Company (see photos in gallery below) began construction of a hydroelectric power plant, and by 1915 had delivered alternating current to the town. Street, sewer, and water systems also were modernized, and our airport was developed in 1920. Elko’s census of 1940 showed a population of 4,094. In 1945 the state passed a bill that enforced rules governing gaming, and revenues were channeled to infrastructure, contributing to the economy of Elko as well as to the rest of the state. Elko (and the county) remained a western “cow town” in the latter half of the 20th century; galvanized first by the growing gold mining industry and later diversification, our area population has blossomed to over 50,000.

Cool History Facts:

Larry Burton

The Donner Summit, on drive to Lake Tahoe from Reno, is where the famed Donner Party (1846) met its demise after they fell behind other pioneers on the California Trail after deciding to take the Hastings Cutoff – in the remote parts of the California Trail you can still see the wagon wheel ruts from the thousands who came through

Elko Convention Center

These images from Elko Museum

GS Garcia’s saddle won the 1904 World’s Fair Gold Medal and his legacy lives on at JM Capriola Co in Elko,
and this picture of Bob Chow is from the 1948 Olympics in London

• In 1925, the Kelly Act (also known as the Airmail Act of 1925) authorized the Post Office to contract with private airlines. The first commercial airmail flight in the United States was on the 487 mile Airmail Route #5 from Pasco, Washington to Elko on April 6, 1926.
• The last recorded Indian uprising in the United States took place in our area in 1911 by the Shoshone.
• A sizeable population of Chinese immigrants who worked on the Central Pacific Railroad returned to Elko and many settled in Tuscarora after they finished the track in 1869. They made important structural contributions to the town’s municipal water system – Tuscarora is a ghost town today, and few of its ancestors remain – perhaps the most famous Chinese-American Elkoan was Bob Chow, who is Elko’s only Olympian. He competed in the 1948 Olympics on the Rapid Fire Pistol Team; his gun collection is on display in our museum.
• The University of Nevada was first established in Elko in October 1873, and moved to Reno in 1885.

Photos from Charlie Ekburg                  

Elko’s Basque held a National Festival each year in Elko, and The Star – opened in 1910, is still
going strong as perhaps our most popular restaurant – it’s featured in Elko Living

The Basque Culture in Elko:

Elko has a compelling influence in our community from the Basque culture. Basque descendants date back centuries in world history and are perhaps the oldest civilization on the European continent. They were among the first Europeans to hunt whales off the northeastern coast of North America. When Columbus recruited his sailing crew, Basques made up the largest ethnic group on board.

They may have made their first permanent settlement in the Pyrenees region between Spain and France – mostly living in Spain. By the mid 1980s a combination of earlier Napoleonic armies which drove them from France, and later their support of Don Carlos – whose cause was defeated in Spain, resulted in a massive immigration to South America where they would learn ranching and herding skills of principally sheep that they eventually brought to North America. The California Gold Rush brought the first waves of Basque immigrants to the United States from Argentina. There is also a large active community of Basque Americans in Boise, Idaho.

Museum image

Internet image of Sacajawea commemorative US Coin

Photo Antoinette Cavanaugh

Antoinette Cavanaugh, 2010 Hospital Board Member, 2009 Elko County Schools Superintendent,
and featured in this Online Job Tour, is a Western Shoshone native

The Shoshoni Indians:

The Shoshoni (or Shoshone) are a Native American people comprising three divisions. The Northern Shoshone inhabit parts of Idaho, northern Utah, eastern Oregon, and western Montana, now mostly in southeast Idaho. The Western Shoshone are from the Great Basin area of Idaho, Utah, and Nevada south to Death Valley, California, and now mostly in Nevada. The Eastern Shoshone are from the Wind River valley of western Wyoming.

The Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada is headquartered in Elko and is comprised of four constituents: The Battle Mountain Band, Elko Band, South Fork Band, and the Wells Band. A renowned descendant of the Western Shoshone is Dr. Ned Blackhawk, a Te-Moak historian and professor at Yale – one of two native professors at the Ivy League University.

• The Shoshone Te-Moak Indian Reservation was formed in the late 1930's by the government from established private cattle operations on the South Fork of the Humboldt River. The Bureau of Indian Affairs purchased several ranches and located Native American families of the Shoshone tribe of Te-Moak Indians on them. Named for Chief Te-Moak of Ruby Valley which means "rope,” he was named that because he braided rope. Te-Moak rose to power among his people through personal influence, not hereditary lineage. He is remembered for the treaty he negotiated with the government to allow emigrants to pass through this region unmolested by the Indians.
• Perhaps the most famous and most important Shoshone to American history was Sacajawea, who served as a guide and interpreter for Lewis and Clark – by most accounts of historians, she saved this expedition, sent by President Jefferson in 1804, on more than one occasion. It its second winter, those on their epic journey would not have survived without the Shoshoni, who among many necessities, provided them horses to scale the mountain ranges of the Northwest before the cold and snow set in. Sacajawea was honored in the year 2000 with the gold dollar coin which was issued in the US.

Cynthia Delaney

Historical markers and photos can tell us about history

History Photo Gallery

Norm Cavanaugh
A Berkeley-educated Western
Shoshoni native, Norm discusses
his archiving project at GBC

Tribal Elder Ellison Jackson
Born on the Duck Valley Reservation,
Mr. Jackson reminisces on life and
his Western Shoshoni culture

Anita Anacabe-Franzoia
The amazing Basque culture is woven
through Elko and we celebrate its
National Festival here

Elko Stats & Facts:

The California Trail Interpretive Center, and Elko City Hall

Elko is Nevada’s 5th largest city. Elko County is the 4th largest county in the United States, consisting of 17,181 square miles. Elko's elevation is 5,060 feet.

Time Zone: Pacific Area Code: 775 Zip Codes: 89801-89803

Cost of Living Comparison
Salary.com
(Closest cities in this service area are Carson City and Reno.
The cost of living is considered less in Elko County.)

• Compared to the rest of the country, Elko's cost of living is 5.26% Lower than the U.S. average.
• Median Household Income: US $51,631 while Elko County is $70,759
• The unemployment rate in Elko is 6.40 percent (U.S. avg. is 8.50%).
• Elko and Elko County are major settings in Dean Koontz’s novel Strangers.
• "Fear and Loathing in Elko" is a short story by Hunter S. Thompson.
• Elko is mentioned as the one place he would like to be if he could choose, by the lead character, "Phil the Weatherman", played by actor Bill Murray in the very beginning of the movie Groundhog Day.
• Elko County has more than 100 “ghost towns” which are former mining towns – some were more like small settlements around a single mine shaft.
• Elko boats 10 recreational lakes/reservoirs within 25 miles.
• There are 6 electric/water RV site campgrounds in the Elko area.
• Elko is a relatively easy drive or flight to major ski resorts in Lake Tahoe, Idaho, and Utah.

Climate: Because of our high elevation, proximity to the mountains, and semi-arid climate, there is typically a wide range between the daily high and low temperatures. Strong radiative cooling after sunset leads to cool nights, even in summer. Normal precipitation is light, averaging around 9.98 inches of liquid precipitation each year. Rainfall is especially light in the summer months when the precipitation falls mostly in light showers. Most of the precipitation that falls during the winter months is in the form of snow, averaging close to 39 inches annually in Elko.

Nevada Facts:

Our slogan is “the Battle Born state,” because we entered into statehood during war during America’s Civil War in 1864. Capital: Carson City. Largest City: Las Vegas. Size: 7th largest state. Population Rank: 35.

• The name Nevada comes from the Spanish "Nevada" meaning "snowfall" after the Sierra Nevada ("snow-covered mountains") mountain range.
• Nevada has been at the top of population growth vs. other states for the last 20 years.

Topography Map

In 1864, Nevada became the 36th US state. The flag consists of a blue field with a star in the upper left hand corner, surrounded by the state name "Nevada." Above this is a ribbon with the words "Battle Born." Below the star are two sprigs of green sagebrush (the state flower) with yellow flowers.

State animal: Desert Bighorn Sheep
State bird: Mountain Bluebird
State colors: Silver and Blue
State fish: Lahontan cutthroat trout
State flower: Sagebrush
State song: "Home Means Nevada" by Bertha Raffetto

Websites/References/Brochures:

Nevada: www.nv.gov
Elko: www.elkocity.com
Credit to author/historians Elizabeth Shostak, Lisa Corcostegui and UNR-sponsored websites regarding our review of the Basque
Shoshone information derived from various online sources
California Trail Days: www.elkotraildays.com
Elko Museum Exhibits: www.museumelko.org/exhibits.html
Museum Art Classes
Museum Will James Newsletter
Mark Hayward Exhibit
Jarbidge Art Exhibit
Museum-sponsored China Trip