According to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, the range was originally formed about 550 million years ago as a "failed continental rift".

The area is popular for rockclimbing on its weathered granite outcroppings and is home to Quartz Mountain State Park and Lake Altus-Lugert reservoir.

[1] Formerly controlled (at least nominally) by Spain, France, Mexico, and the Republic of Texas, In the mid 19th Century, these mountains were part of the United States area known as the Leased District and Indian Territory.

[1] Intensive hunting exterminated many species of the region's fauna (e.g., bison, elk, wolves and mountain lions) before the 20th Century.

"[1] Finally, after personal pleas from the Comanche chief, Quanah Parker, President Theodore Roosevelt authorized a policy of repopulating the area with the original species.