The area of land that is now within the present boundaries of Hettinger County was at one time part of the vast tract of land claimed by France through the explorations of La Salle in 1682.  In 1762, at the close of the French and Indian War, it passed into the hands of Spain.  It was later ceded back to France, and finally the United States acquired title to Louisiana, as it was called, from France.

Since then, the Hettinger County area has been a part of the following territories: Louisiana in 1803, Missouri in 1812, Nebraska in 1854, and the Dakota Territory in 1861.  In 1889, it became part of the state of North Dakota.  (see maps.html)

In 1854 when the land that is now Hettinger County was in Nebraska Territory, the land east of the Missouri was part of Minnesota Territory. 

In 1871, when North Dakota east of the Missouri River was composed of two large counties -- Buffalo and Pembina -- the region west of the river was unorganized Indian Territory.  A year later, a large part west of the Missouri was divided into counties.

When the Northern Pacific Railroad was to be built, unsettled and unsurveyed territory was divided into counties to give the impression of a well-settled region and thus aid in the sale of bonds.  On a territorial map, the region that is now Hettinger County is included in Stark County.

In 1883, Stark County was divided into Stark and Hettinger.

In 1887, Hettinger County lost some territory to Morton County.

In 1891, the North Dakota Legislature approved legislation to annex Hettinger County into neighboring Stark County, but the law was vetoed by Governor Eli C. D. Shortridge.

Annexation was attempted a second time in 1895, when the legislature passed legislation expanding the boundaries of Stark, Billings and Mercer Counties, subject to approval by the counties' voters. The vote was approved annexation went into effect November 3, 1896, and Hettinger County was eliminated. However, Wilson L. Richards, a cattle rancher in one of the annexed counties, sued to overturn the annexation because he and other landowners were now subject to taxation by Stark County. The case went to the North Dakota Supreme Court, which ruled the law unconstitutional on May 18, 1899. The annexation remained in effect, however, due to a replacement law approved by the legislature March 9, 1899 in anticipation of the court's decision. The second annexation law was overturned by the North Dakota Supreme Court in 1901 because the annexation was not referred to the voters of the affected counties as required by the North Dakota Constitution.

The Legislature passed a third annexation law in 1903, this time submitting it to the voters Stark County and the unorganized counties of Dunn and Hettinger for approval. The annexation was approved by 502 votes in Stark County and 65 votes in Hettinger County, but it failed by 1 vote in Dunn County.  Stark County claimed the annexation vote valid, since the legislation required a majority of the aggregate votes cast. However, the North Dakota Constitution required a majority vote in each affected county subject to annexation, so the state of North Dakota sued stark county on the grounds that the enabling legislation was unconstitutional and that the "no" vote in Dunn County meant the annexation failed. The North Dakota Supreme Court ruled the 1903 law unconstitutional in 1905, which ended further attempts at annexation. 

In 1907, Adams County was apportioned off from the original Hettinger. 

A proclamation of the organization of Hettinger County was made by Governor John Burke on April 17, 1907.  Until that date, Hettinger remained attached to Stark County for judicial purposes.

The county seat was placed at Mott.

Placenames in the county include: Acklin, Alden, Alton, Bentley, Berry, Budapest, Burt, Cedar, Chase, Church, Coalbank, Coal City, Edton, Graber, Havelock, Hettinger, Hoosier, Horswill, Howser, Inez, Jordan, Kennedy, Liberty, Mayflower, Millizen, Mott, New England, New England City, Opgrand, Regent, Roper, Rosenfeld, Schutz, Spalding, Stanwick, Strehlow, Thirtymile, Watrous, Willa.