Phillips, a secretary of the Lincoln Land Company, who organized several towns in Colorado.

[3] At the 2000 census there were 4,480 people, 1,781 households, and 1,239 families living in the county.

The racial makeup of the county was 93.04% White, 0.20% Black or African American, 0.29% Native American, 0.40% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 4.71% from other races, and 1.34% from two or more races.

It has not been carried by a Democratic presidential nominee since Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Michael Dukakis has been the only Democrat since to receive over one-third of the county's ballots during a major drought in 1988.