As the story goes, there were a couple of ol' prospectors, Bill and Joe, out prospectin' for gold in Southern Oregon (pronounced Or-ee-gun!) in the Good-Old-Days of the Gold Rush.

Bill and Joe got wind of some good nugget pickin's up on some of the creeks running off Mt. Sexton. Soz, they headed out of the little minin' camp on the Rogue River. It took them about three days leadin' their pack mules. They found a likely spot and set to pannin' the creek. They'd found several good nuggets and decited to set up camp and stake out their claim.

After about two weeks of successful pickin's they were thinkin' about packin' up an' headin' back to town to have their ore assayed an' to register their staked claim. They were catchin' some last minute nuggets before packin' up, when the mules set up a fuss. Bessie an' Jennie come hobblin' into camp just as fast as they could, brayin' at the top of their lungs. Just then they heard the war cry of renagade Injuns.

Bill jumped into the Spring flood swolen creek an' swum fer all his life. Joe dropped his gold pan an' ran down stream. He ran an' ran, until he come to a cliff. The Injuns come tarin' out o' the woods, a whoopin' at the top o' their lungs, right behind him. Bill had managed to climb out of the ragin' waters an' was on the other bank. He yelled,

"Jump off, Joe! Jump off!"

An' Joe jumped. He jumped right into the waterfall, an' it grabbed him an' drug him under, rollin' an' tumblin' him around on the bottom. After he'd swallered a gallon an' a half of water an' was just about drowned the waterfalls let him go. He fought his way to the surface with his last bit of strength, grabbed a rock an' hung on until he could catch his breath.

When Joe got his witts about him, again, an' looked around, he found he'd come up in a little cave behind the waterfalls. He climbed out onto the rocks an' hunkered down to wait until the coast was clear. He waited until the night of the second day, then snuck back to camp, rounded up the mules, packed his things, an' high-tailed it out o' thar.

Anyhoo, that's how Jump-off-Joe Creek got its name.