Originally a camping ground of the Osage and Wichita Indian tribes, Sedgwick County, Kan. is thought to be a place of discovery for such explorers as Francisco Coronado and Kit Carson. The earliest European settler to the region was M. DuTissenet, a Frenchman operating under the direction of the governor of Louisiana, in 1719. DuTissenet brought with him soldiers, traders and hunters who soon populated and transformed the region from prairie to a land of opportunity.
Sedgwick County was officially established nearly 150 years later on February 26, 1867, and bears the name of Civil War hero Major General John Sedgwick of the Union Army who was killed during the battle of Spottsylvania Courthouse in Virginia.
After an initial failed attempt at establishing an official county government, the governor of the state of Kansas appointed three commissioners to aid in the effort. In April of 1870, the first county officials were elected and the county seat of Wichita was chosen.