[3] The bill for creating the county initially named it "Hanover County", but it was renamed before the bill passed to Washakie County for the head chief of the Shoshone people, Chief Washakie, who became an ally of the US Government.

[5] As of the 2000 United States Census,[9] there were 8,289 people, 3,278 households, and 2,310 families in the county.

26.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 8,533 people, 3,492 households, and 2,395 families in the county.

[10] In terms of ancestry, 33.1% were German, 17.6% were English, 11.7% were Irish, 6.6% were American, and 5.5% were Norwegian.

No Democratic presidential candidate has carried Washakie County since Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1936 landslide against Alf Landon.

The Wyoming Department of Family Services Juvenile Services Division operates the Wyoming Boys' School, located in Mc Nutt,[15] unincorporated Washakie County, near Worland.

[16] The facility was operated by the Wyoming Board of Charities and Reform until that agency was dissolved as a result of a state constitutional amendment passed in November 1990.