[6][7] In 1787, the fledgling United States defined the Northwest Territory, which included the area of present-day Indiana.

Starting in 1794, Native American titles to Indiana lands were extinguished by usurpation, purchase, or war and treaty.

Whites had been living in the area since 1811, when General Harrison erected a fort north of present-day Terre Haute.

After the Indian skirmishes were resolved, settlers arrived in significant numbers beginning 1815.

The first county commissioners organized the government in 1818, including naming Terre Haute as its seat.

[11] The county is named for Colonel Francis Vigo, of Italian heritage but a citizen of Spain due to residence in St. Louis.

The county's low hills are devoted to agriculture or urban development; only the drainages and river-adjacent areas are still wooded.

[13] Its highest point (680 feet (210 meters) ASL) is Sanford Hill, one mile (1.6 km) west of Paint Mill Lake, south of Terre Haute.

[15] The year after it was authorized, Vigo County was divided into four townships: Honey Creek Wabash, Harrison, and Independence.

An Indiana Rail Road line runs southeast from Terre Haute toward Bedford.

[24] Colleges in Vigo County include Indiana State University and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

Representatives, elected to four-year terms from county districts, are responsible for setting salaries, the annual budget, and special spending.

The judge on the court is elected to a term of four years and must be a member of the Indiana Bar Association.

[27] The county has other elected offices, including sheriff, coroner, auditor, treasurer, recorder, surveyor, and circuit court clerk.

In 2020, its bellwether status came to an end when national winner Joe Biden lost the county by nearly 15 points to Donald Trump.

In every presidential election from 1960 to 2012, the county voted less than five percentage points from the national result.

Vigo is part of Indiana's 8th congressional district, which is held by Republican Mark Messmer.