Pack mules carried mail from Escalante to Boulder until about 1935. The first white settlers made the difficult trip from Beaver and Parowan through the mountains to the Panguitch area in March 1864. The territorial legislature created the county in 1882 and, at the suggestion of Gov. Eli H. Murray, named it after assassinated President James A. Garfield. The CCC also reseeded ranges and built telephone lines, ranger stations, and trails. Lumber company worker loading logs near Hatch.
Major sawmills operate in Garfield.
Vast rangelands and some of the state's largest forest reserves have made cattle ranching and lumber Garfield County's most important industries since pioneer times. The forests also provide many recreational sites, and Panguitch Lake is one of the state's prime fishing waters. The creation of Bryce Canyon National Park in 1928 increased the importance of tourism to the local economy. The large sections of Capitol Reef National Park and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area that lie within the county remained largely inaccessible in the late 1980s. The proposed, controversial paving of the Burr Trail through the Waterpocket Fold area of Capitol Reef would, however, expand travel in eastern Garfield.