DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Randall County — carved out of the Texas Panhandle in 1876, named for Confederate general Horace Randall. Now, the land existed long before the paperwork did, but it took until 1877 for the first settler to actually plant his boots out there and mean it.
That man was a rancher by the name of Leigh Dyer — and if that name doesn't ring a bell, maybe this one does: Charles Goodnight. Dyer was Goodnight's brother-in-law, and Goodnight himself is the man the marker credits with bringing the first cattle to the Panhandle. So when Leigh Dyer showed up in 1877, you can bet he wasn't wandering in blind.
The county got itself organized in 1889, and Canyon became the county seat — still is. Now here's what makes Randall County worth more than a passing glance at sixty miles an hour. Canyon is home to West Texas State University.
It's also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, which if you haven't stopped there, friend, that's an oversight worth correcting. Then there's Palo Duro State Park — that canyon doesn't ask for your attention, it just takes it. And Buffalo Lake sits out there too, rounding out a county that has quietly accumulated more than its fair share of the remarkable.
Created in 1876, settled in 1877, organized in 1889 — Randall County didn't rush. It just built something worth staying for.
What the marker says
Created 1876; named for Confederate general Horace Randall. Settled 1877 by rancher Leigh Dyer, brother-in-law of Charles 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. (1966)