Randall County

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Randall County. Out here on the Panhandle, where the wind has opinions and the sky doesn't quit, this piece of Texas has a story that starts before most folks had even thought to show up.

The county was created in 1876, and it was named for a Confederate general by the name of Horace Randal. That name carries some history with it, so hold onto it. Then comes 1877, and a rancher named Leigh Dyer rides in and settles the place.

Now, Dyer wasn't just anybody. He was the brother-in-law of Charles Goodnight, the man the marker calls the one who brought the first cattle to the Panhandle. You want to talk about arriving at the right moment in the right place, well, those two names together tell you something about how this corner of Texas got its footing.

The county itself didn't get organized until 1889, so for a spell it was land and cattle and sky, and not much paperwork. When organization finally came, Canyon was named the county seat, and Canyon has held that title ever since. But here's what makes Randall County something more than a dot on a map.

Tucked inside its boundaries you'll find West Texas State University. You'll find the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, which, if you haven't been, well, that's a conversation for another stretch of road. There's Palo Duro State Park, that great canyon cutting through the earth like the land itself wanted to say something dramatic.

And Buffalo Lake, sitting out there quiet and wide. One county, created 1876, settled 1877, organized 1889, and still carrying all of that with it. Not bad for a place the wind tried to talk you out of settling in the first place.

What the marker says

Created 1876; named for Confederate general Horace Randal. Settled 1877 by rancher Leigh Dyer, brother-in-law of Chas. Goodnight, man who brought first cattle to Panhandle. Organized in 1889. County seat: Canyon. Home of West Texas State University, Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, Palo Duro State Park, Buffalo Lake. (1965)