Rice County boasts locations along the Santa Fe Trail and on salt deposits.  Nice incorporated cities make up its friendly population.

The area which makes up Rice County has seen a lot of activity since the last inland sea evaporated.  Prehistoric animals and their environment have come and gone leaving bones and petrified wood to record their presence.

There has been a human presence here long before there were written records.  Past cultures left their marks on the environment as evidence.  The prehistoric tribe best known in Rice County is the Quiviran Indians.  This semi-nomadic group grew vegetables and picked fruits as well as hunting buffalo across the central plains.

Francisco Vasquez de Coronado with a group of thirty Spanish Conquistadors and Father Padilla found the Quivirans in the area in 1541.   This finding ended his trek north looking for the seven cities of gold.  Other Spanish officials soon followed.

In 1821, William Becknell took the first successful load of American merchandise down what became known as the Santa Fe Trail.   This old Indian road cuts the county in half going east to west.  Several well known sites can be found in Rice County including the location of the Chavez Murder.

There were pioneers in the region long before there was a county because of trading along the Santa Fe Trail.  Congress didn't define the county boundaries until 1867.

The county was formed in 1871 and a fight soon followed for the county seat which ended with the stealing of an entire town.