Indigenous peoples occupied the valleys of present Cache County as much as 10,000 BCE.

John Henry Weber and Jim Bridger came through in 1824; Peter Skene Ogden and James Beckwourth passed through in 1825.

In July 1855, a group of settlers from the LDS Church drove a herd of cattle into the valley and camped at Haw Bush Spring (present Elkhorn Ranch).

However, the cold winter drove the settlers back to the Salt Lake Valley.

Peter Maughan, who had requested better land for agriculture for the families of his settlement in Lake Point, Utah, was called by President Brigham Young to establish a new settlement in the Cache Valley.

On September 15, 1856, he established Maughan's Fort, which grew into present day Wellsville.

More settlers arrived in the valley, and by 1859 the settlements of Providence, Mendon, Logan, Richmond, and Smithfield had been established.

In preparation for this influx, the Utah Territory legislature created a county, effective January 5, 1856, with seats and government incomplete.

A rail line between Brigham City and Logan was completed in 1873 (Utah and Northern Railway).

The line was extended into Idaho, and a connection was made to the transcontinental railroad, which opened the world to Cache County; their crops (especially grain and dairy) began moving to broader markets.

By 1900 the Forest Service began regulating grazing practices, which brought the sheep population under control.

Cache presently continues as the state's leader in dairy products and as a major producer of hay, alfalfa, and grain.

The Bear River Mountains, the northernmost extension of the Wasatch Range, cover the eastern half of the county.

[28] Richmond's "Black & White Days" includes the nation's longest-running dairy show, which started in 1912.

[30] Logan has an average of 24 annual events, including food festivals, historic home tours, and baby animal days.