The origins of paintball guns go back to the 1970s when farmers and ranchers were looking for a way to mark trees and cattle from a distance. A company at that time produced the first well-known pistol. Its use grew from practical to recreational about a decade later.

In 1981, the first game was played in New Hampshire. The idea came from three men, Hayes Noel, Charles Gaines and Bob Gurnsey. The game was played with 12 people on a wooded 80-acre cross country ski area. The winner of game was Ritchie White, a New Hampshire forester. He ended up capturing all of the flags without releasing a single shot.

After this first game, three of the participants, who were also writers, wrote articles for several magazines, including "Sports Illustrated," "Time" and "Sports Afield." Each of the articles talked about the excitement and adrenaline rush of the hunt. These articles were met with letters from many readers across the country wanting to know more about how they could start their own games.

In 1982, Caleb Strong opened the first outdoor paintball playing field in Rochester, New York. In 1983, the first national paintball championship was held in Grantham, New Hampshire. It featured a cash prize. Although it was called a national championship, it ended up being international, with two of the eight teams being Canadian. Later that year, many outdoor fields would open in Toronto, Canada.

Strong again made history in 1984, when he opened the first indoor paintball playing field in Buffalo, New York. In this year, paintball also caught on in Australia and was called "Skirmish Games. It was then introduced in England by the name of "The Ultimate Challenge." It did not catch on in other European countries until 1991.

In 1986, the US Military Academy formed the first college paintballing club. In 1994, the first Intercollegiate Tournament was held in LaPorte, Indiana. In 2001, Iowa State University became the first university to fund and construct a permanent on-campus paintballing field.

The National Professional Paintball League (NPPL) was started in 1992. This year also saw the first NPPL Pro-Am Tournament Series in several major US and Canadian cities including New York, Boston and Reno. By 1998 the International Paintball Players Association was formed, which was dedicated to the growth, safety and education of the sport.

Paintball now ranks third in the world in popularity for extreme sports. It is played in more than 60 countries. The sport that has come a long way since its humble beginning as a paint gun used for marking trees.