Shaped in a long rectangle running north to south, as of the 2020 census, its population was 66,021.

[2] Most of the county is occupied by part of the federally recognized Navajo Nation and the Fort Apache Indian Reservation.

In 1863, during the American Civil War, Congress established the Arizona Territory to improve regional administration.

The county seat was first designated as the town of Snowflake, but a year later it was moved to St. Johns.

Apache County is justly noted for its great natural resources and advantages.

It is destined some day in the early future to have a large agricultural population.

Now, immense herds of cattle and flocks of sheep roam over its broad mesas and its fertile valleys.

The Navajo Indians occupy the northern part of the county-in fact, occupy much of the remainder of the county, as they refuse to remain on their reservation, preferring to drive their sheep and cattle on lands outside their reservation, where the grazing is better.

[4]In the late 1880s, the county sheriff was Commodore Perry Owens, a legendary Old West gunfighter.

In September 1887, near Holbrook in what is now Navajo County, Owens was involved in a famous gunfight: he killed three men and wounded a fourth while serving a warrant on outlaw Andy Blevins/Andy Cooper, a participant in a raging range war, later dubbed the Pleasant Valley War.

[5] The Fort Apache Indian Reservation occupies part of the county, as does the Navajo Nation, whose territory extends well beyond it.

The Apache and Navajo Nation are federally recognized tribes that long occupied territory here.

The county has 19,857.34 km2 (7,666.96 sq mi) of reservation territory, or 68.34 percent of its total area.

No Republican presidential nominee has won Apache County since Ronald Reagan in 1980,[19] when incumbent President Jimmy Carter was viewed as extremely weak on issues pertaining to the West, especially water development.

After failing to narrow his margin in 2020, Donald Trump achieved the best result for a Republican since 1984, holding the Democrat's vote share below 60% for the first time since that same year and cutting his margin of loss nearly in half.

The library and museum is the largest one on the Navajo Nation and in Apache County.