[5] Spanish explorer Pedro Vial is considered to be the earliest European to travel through what is now known as Throckmorton County.

In 1854, Captain Marcy returned to the county in search of suitable locations for a reservation for Texas Indians.

He surveyed and established the tract of land that became known as the Comanche Indian Reservation, which is adjacent to the Clear Fork of the Brazos River in the county.

The location was ideal because it provided plenty of running water and hunting opportunities.

Marcy also met with Sanaco and the Tecumseh leaders of the southern band of Comanche Indians in an attempt to persuade them to move to the reservation, which they began doing in 1855.

Captain Robert E. Lee served as commander of the camp from April 9, 1856, to July 22, 1857.

In 1861, a few months before the start of the Civil War, Camp Cooper was abandoned by federal troops in the face of building political tension between north and south.

From 1847 until the start of the Civil War, several settlers moved into the county, living mostly in the vicinity of Camp Cooper.

When the camp was abandoned, most of the settlers moved east into a line of forts that offered protection from the northern Comanche Indians.

In 1858, the Butterfield Overland Mail stage line began operating with two relay stations in Throckmorton County.

One was called Franz's Station, and the other was Clear Fork of the Brazos station on the east bank of the Clear Fork of the Brazos River, a short distance above its confluence with Lambshead Creek, in southwestern Throckmorton County.

Following the Civil War, Fort Griffin was established in 1867 along the Clear Fork of the Brazos River directly south of the Throckmorton - Shackleford County line.

Springer defeated Throckmorton County rancher Trent McKnight in the Republican runoff election held on July 31, 2012.