It contains 49.8 percent of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation, set up in the late 19th century for the Shoshone-Paiute peoples; they are a federally recognized tribe.

Although slightly more than 50% of the reservation is across the border in Owyhee County, Idaho, the majority of tribal members live on the Nevada side.

This area was long inhabited by Native American tribes of the Plateau, particularly the Western Shoshone, Northern Paiute, and Bannock peoples.

Their traditional ways were disrupted after European-American settlement, as the two cultures competed for resources and had differing conceptions of land use and property.

In 1877 what became known as the Duck Valley Indian Reservation was established by presidential executive order for the Western Shoshone in this area, after they signed treaties with the United States.

Later the Paiute became involved in the Bannock War, but after they were allowed to return from exile in Washington State, in 1886 another executive order was used to expand the reservation to accommodate them.

The federally recognized tribe of the two peoples together conducts farming and ranching in this high desert territory.

On March 14, 2014, the Bureau of Land Management of the United States Department of the Interior sold 29 oil and gas leases for $1.27 million to a collection of six companies that included Noble Energy.

[21] In 2008 voters in Elko County chose John McCain by 69%, with 28% voting for Barack Obama.

Both former President Jimmy Carter and then-President George W. Bush made visits to the city of Elko during the 2006 mid-term election.

William McKinley visited in 1901; Herbert Hoover made his final campaign broadcast as president from a railroad car in Elko in 1932; Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke in Carlin in 1938 during his whistle stop tour; and Barack Obama visited while campaigning in 2008.

President Donald Trump arrived in Elko on October 20, 2018, to campaign for Senator Dean Heller during the 2018 midterm elections.

In addition, many other high-profile political figures have come to Elko, including former Vice President Dick Cheney.

A number of highways maintained by the Nevada Department of Transportation, some national in prominence, cross Elko County.