The original organization of Harper County was one of the biggest frauds in county government. In 1873, a group of three men organized Harper County. They designated the then-fake city of "Bluff City" as the county seat. The petition for organization used many names from a Cincinnati city directory to represent as residents of Harper County. In 1874, the state attorney general investigated. He didn't find any resident of the county. The "creators" of the county had sold $40,000 worth of bonds.