Her birth was brought about by Shorty Harris and E. L. Cross, who were prospecting in the area in 1904. They found quartz all over a hill, and as Shorty describes it "... the quartz was just full of free gold... it was the original bullfrog rock... this banner is a crackerjack" declared Shorty! "The district is going to be the banner camp of Nevada. I say so once and I'll say it again." At that time there was only one other person in the whole area: Old Man Beatty who lived in a ranch with his family five miles away. Soon the rush was on and several camps were set up including Bullfrog, the Amargosa and a settlement between them called Jumpertown. A townsite was laid out nearby and given the name Rhyolite from the silica-rich volcanic rock in the area.