[2] It is located 5 miles (8 km) north of Willows,[5] at an elevation of 167 feet (51 m),[2] in the northern Sacramento Valley of California.

The name stems from the ancient province in France where the method of boring artesian wells was first adopted.

[5] On June 1, 2011, an EF1 tornado struck east of Artois, uprooting hundreds of almond trees, and causing damage to farm equipment and roofing materials.

[7] On May 4, 1878, blacksmith Christian Mutschler (also spelled Mutchler) and his friends John Kelley and Henry Holmes got into an argument with a saloon keeper named Hageman.

Mutschler, who was suspected of starting a fire in St. Johns, California the year before, was persuaded by Kelley and Holmes, along with W. Hagaman, F. Todt, Charles Hansen and Carl Regensberger to set a bag of shavings afire in the saloon.

During the early morning hours of May 5, 1878, a group of twelve to fourteen masked men burst into the saloon and took Mutschler about a quarter of a mile away and shot him to death.

Mutschler's friends, Holmes, Kelley, Hansen, Regensberger and a man known as R. Radcliff were all arrested for the crime.

Their trial started on December 14, 1878, but the case was immediately dismissed due to missing witnesses.

[27] Federally, Artois is in California's 3rd congressional district, represented by Republican Kevin Kiley.