[4] In 1883, John Miles leased 3,000,000 acres (12,000 km2) of Cheyenne and Arapaho land to seven cattlemen.

In 1885, the Federal government terminated all of the leases and ordered the cattlemen to remove their stock.

[3] The area was settled in 1886, when John Seger established a colony along Cobb Creek.

Seger convinced 120 Cheyenne and Arapaho to settle near the old ranch headquarters at Cobb Creek.

The intent was that "Seger's Colony" would teach these tribes how to farm, using modern agricultural methods.

[3] At that time, the town of Tacola, soon renamed to Cloud Chief, was designated by the Secretary of the Interior as the county seat.

The Oklahoma Territorial Supreme Court ruled in 1904 that the seat could not be moved without Federal authorization.

The Washita River drains most of the county, except that the southwest corner drains into the North Fork of the Red River[3] As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 11,629 people, 4,599 households, and 3,186 families residing in the county.

Prior to 1952, Washita County was dominated by the Democratic Party as part of the Solid South.