Throckmorton County grew up around cattle ranching

Throckmorton County was organized in 1879. By 1880, the county already had nearly 32,000 cattle. The SMS Ranch, built by the Swenson family starting in the 1880s, spread across parts of Throckmorton and several neighboring counties and became one of the region's enduring large operations.

Cotton became the top cash crop by 1910, covering 21,000 acres. Wheat followed in the 1920s. The Great Depression hit ranchers hard, with cattle counts dropping from over 47,000 in 1900 to about 18,000 by 1940. The county seat of Throckmorton is named for William E. Throckmorton, an early frontier settler. A Comanche reservation operated at Camp Cooper in the area from 1854 to 1859, and the Butterfield Overland Mail route also crossed the county.