Elmer Rusco sought to serve the people of Northern Nevada through both scholarship and community activism. As a scholar, he created a foundational body of work on the historical experience of ethnic minorities in Nevada. As an activist, he devoted himself to a number of social justice causes and organizations, including the Nevada branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, an organization he led through much of the 1970s.

The Nevada legislature created Elko County in 1869, and chose the town of Elko as the county seat. Commissioners selected a site for their courthouse a block from the central business district. They hired Walter Moberly, the county surveyor, to design the courthouse, and granted a $17,444 construction contract to Colonel W.P. Monroe. Dan P. Bell was appointed to supervise the project.

The first man to hold the office of Nevada state treasurer may have been the most notorious. Accused of embezzling over $100,000 from the permanent school fund and other state accounts, Ebenezer "Eben" Rhodes died a mysterious death and set off a political firestorm that preoccupied state officials for almost four years after his death. No other state officials were ever charged with wrongdoing, and the bondsmen who had vouched for Rhoades' character were relieved of any liability.

Admitted to the Union in 1864, the new state of Nevada was starved for revenue. An act of the legislature of March 8, 1865, imposed a variety of taxes, including a levy of one dollar for every person leaving the state on a common carrier, such as a stage coach or railroad. The tax was to be paid by the person or company operating the conveyance.