Jarbidge is rich in folklore and history.  What other canyon has a giant, man-eating Indian Spirit named Tsaw-haw-bitts who would pick up people, put them in his basket, take them home, and eat them!  And of course, like the Lost Dutchman Mine in Arizona, Jarbidge has its Lost Sheepherder Mine.  It is said that a man named Ross discovered, high above the Jarbidge River, a rich vein of gold ore.  He told the sheepherder, Ishman, of his discovery and died thereafter.  Ishman relayed this information to his boss, John Pence, and the search was on.  Was it ever found?  Some say they found it and its riches long spent, but no one knows for sure.

        The first major gold discovery was made on August 19, 1909 by David Bourne and a few days later, another outcropping was discovered by John Escalon.  They had been working in two different heavily wooded areas and did not know about the other's find at first.  Soon after, a member of their party, Mike Pavlak found another promising site.  In the subsequent gold rush, the Jarbidge Mining District was formed and by 1910 there was a small log cabin school, freight wagon trains, stages, and the Jarbidge Commercial Club organized.  By the end of 1911, Jarbidge had a population of 1,200 people, a Community Hall, new school, improved road, a variety of businesses, and telephone service.  The big problem was that the townsite of Jarbidge was entirely on forest service land so liquor was not permitted to be sold.  This problem was solved, much to the relief of the miners, on March 8, 1911 when the Secretary of Agriculture issued a proclamation eliminating the town of Jarbidge from the national forest.

        Jarbidge is also the location of the last stagecoach robbery in the U.S.  It happened on the night of December 5, 1916. Fred Searcy was found dead by his freight wagon with mail and $3,000 missing.  The sheriff from Elko, Joe Harris, followed a trail of blood and dog tracks for 119 feet.  The dog was found and led them to a bundle containing a black overcoat which some had seen Ben Kuhl wearing.  Kuhl was arrested, tried, and convicted.  Jarbidge not only had a "last", it also had a "first" in this case.  Kuhl had left a bloody palm print on a discarded letter at the site of the murder.  This was the first time a palm or fingerprint had ever been admitted as evidence in a court trial in the world.

        In 1917, the Elkoro Mining Company reached a rich ore body in the Long Hike Mine. It built a hundred ton mill and it, along with the ELko Prince Mining Company, mined over $570,000 worth of gold that year.  Mining continued in the Jarbidge mines until 1941 when the last company, Newmont, liquidated its subsidiary.  Total production is placed at $10 million; 355,000 ounces of gold and 1.67 million ounces of silver. 

   Ranching has always played an important part in Jarbidge's history.  Nearby ranchers from the Diamond A, Flat Creek, Three Creek, and Devil's Creek Ranches were and are occasional visitors to Jarbidge and always there when help is needed.