Haskell County was created on February 1, 1858, recreated on August 21, 1876, and organized on January 13, 1885. It was named in honor of Charles Ready Haskell, 1817-1836, a Tennesseean who was shot with Fannin in the Massacre at Goliad. Haskell, the county seat, was crossed by Capt. R.B. Marcy while surveying a route to California in 1849. The first settlement at Haskell began in 1882.