[3] The Central Basin plateau was settled in the late 1800s by immigrants of Russian-German (Bessarabian) ancestry who homesteaded in the area and farmed dryland wheat.

Prior to this the area had been inhabited by local Native American Salish tribes that had contact with the early Spanish and British traders.

The Milwaukee Railroad arrived in the early 1900s and attracted additional settlers, including Doc Harris who established a drug and sundries store with physician services in Warden about 1905.

The town's name of "Warden" comes from its Bessarabian German heritage and means "worthy" or "treasured" as may be noted in the Das Deutsche Woerterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm.

A local tradition attributes the name of the town to Doc Harris's son Ward.

The Bessarabian German tradition of the town has long since vanished and has been mostly replaced with a mixed Anglo/Hispanic culture with a current population that is of roughly 72% Hispanic heritage.

In regards to the history of the present-day Hispanic populace, some of the families can trace their heritage back to the days of the earliest Spanish contact in the area.

A large number of Hispanics came to work in the fields that opened to more diverse agriculture after the federal Columbia Basin Project brought irrigation to the area.

The third group are the most recent arrivals that seem to come mostly from the West Mexican States of Jalisco, Sinaloa, and Sonora.

In 1948 the federal government started selling government-owned farm units on the Columbia Basin Project to qualified applicants with preference to veterans.