[2] It is the only county in the United States named for Democratic politician William Jennings Bryan.

Bryan County consists of 10 Townships: Albany, Bennington, Bokchito, Brown, Caddo, Calera, Colbert, Kemp, Matoy, and Speairs.

After the tribe reestablished its government in the Indian Territory, it included much of the area within Blue County, a part of the Pushmataha District of the Choctaw Nation.

Bloomfield Academy, a school for Chickasaw girls, was opened in 1852, just south of the present town of Achille.

The western quarter of today's Bryan County was made part of the Chickasaw District in 1837.

[5] During the late 1850s, the Butterfield Overland Mail and Stage route followed the older Texas Road across the present county.

General Albert Pike established Fort McCulloch for the Confederate Army near the present town of Kenefic on the Blue River.

Although no Civil War battles occurred in the vicinity, the fort was garrisoned by more than a thousand Indian troops whose leaders were allied with the Confederates.

[5] After the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway (Katy) built a north–south line through this area in 1872, several new towns were created.

Major employers in the region include the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the headquarters of the J.C. Potter meat processing facility, Durant's Historic Central Business District and Retail District, a Cardinal Glass Industries manufacturing facility, AllianceHealth Durant,[16] a Big Lots distribution center, the headquarters of First United Bank and First Texoma National Bank, Indian Nation Wholesale, and Wal-Mart.