Settlement in what is now Garfield County began in 1872, when Charles H. Jones followed the North Loup River northwestward to its junction with the Calamus River. In 1875, the post office serving the area near the confluence was named The Forks, and in 1884 it was renamed Burwell. The valley was a natural route for the Sioux when raiding the Pawnee Reservation southeast of here, and settlers who tried to block that path invited Sioux attacks, leading to the battles of Pebble Creek in 1874 and The Blowout in 1876. Settlers found abundant wildlife for food and giant cedars for building, and many of these trees were used to construct nearby Fort Hartsuff in 1874. The government reserved five sections of land in the valley for hay and wood for the fort. Garfield County was organized in 1884 with the county seat at nearby Willow Springs, but when the county seat moved to Burwell in 1890, Willow Springs was abandoned.