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Roberts County was created from the Young Territory in 1876, but was not organized until
1889. The county was named after John S. Roberts, one of the original advocates of Texas independence, and Oran
M. Roberts, former governor of Texas. Roberts County is located in the Canadian River Valley in the eastern part
of the Texas Panhandle. The Canadian River cuts across the northern part of the county. The land is mostly rolling
plains and the tributaries that feed the Canadian River. This combination makes for some of the most beautiful
views in the Texas Panhandle. Roberts County has a total population of 887. Miami is the county seat and is located
in the southeastern corner of the county, along Red Deer Creek. The total area of Roberts County 588,800 acres.
Of this, approximately 517,000 is rangeland used for beef production. Approximately 53,000 acres in crop land with
wheat, corn, milo and soybeans the primary crops. Ground water is an important natural resource in Roberts County.
The Ogallala aquifer provides a rich source of high quality water to the entire county. --
Texas Agrilife Extension Service
In 2000, Roberts County had a population of 887. Its seat
is Miami. Roberts is named
for Oran Milo Roberts, a governor of Texas. Roberts County is one of 30
prohibition, or entirely dry, counties in the state of Texas. There were
362 households, and 275 families residing in the county.
Plains Apaches inhabited the Texas Panhandle until they were displaced by the Comanches
who dominated the area until the 1870s. The Comanches hunted the large herds of Buffalo, which grazed on the prairie.
In the Red River War of 1874-75, United States Army troops led by Ranald S. Mackenzie drove out the Comanches.
Simultaneously, buffalo hunters killed the large herds in the area, making way for permanent settlements. In 1876,
Roberts County was carved from Bexar County and the Clay Land District. In 1887, the Southern Kansas Railway was built through
Roberts County, and settlers followed. The town of Miami was platted out along the railroad in the southeastern
part of the county in the summer of 1887. Miami area residents as well as settlers in the northern part of the
county in Parnell petitioned for county government, with each group proposing their town as the county seat. Texas
recognized the county in January 1889, with Miami as the county seat, but the election was declared fraudulent
in December, and Parnell was chosen county seat instead. Parnell remained the county seat until 1898, when another
election relocated the seat of county government back to Miami. As of 1890, Roberts County had a population of
326 and thirty-four farms and ranches.
Cattle ranching dominated the county economy, and the number of cattle increased
from 30,259 in 1900 to a peak of 48,959 in 1930. From the 1880s to 1930, the county also developed a farming economy,
increasing the improved area from 3,576 acres (14.5 km2) in 1900 to 44,751 acres (181.1 km2) in 1930, primarily growing wheat. Roberts County's population was relatively static in
the 1920s, with 1,457 inhabitants in 1930. The dust bowl had a severe impact on Roberts County, and its population
continued to drop until it hit 887 in 2000. Expensive irrigation is required for farming, and the land also suffers
from over-grazing by cattle. Currently, beef cattle is the area's most important agricultural product, but the
county also grows corn, wheat, sorghum, and soybeans.
Oil was discovered in Roberts County in 1945, and 40,126,321 barrels (6,379,575.2
m3) had been produced through
1990. Almost 412,600 barrels (65,600 m3)
of oil and 23,574,562 cubic feet (667,557.3 m3) of gas-well gas were produced in the county in 2000; by the end of that year a cumulative total
of 44,937,568 barrels (7,144,502.4 m3)
of oil had been produced from county lands since 1945.
The county is relatively flat except for the Canadian River valley. Most of the
land is used for cattle ranching. The county also contains the 68,000-acre Mesa Vista Ranch, which seeks to protect
quail, dove and pheasant habitat along the creek beds south of the Canadian River.
Roberts County is also the scene of a recent battle for water rights, where the
City of Amarillo, Texas, the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority, and T. Boone Pickens have sought to purchase
the water rights within the county. Between the three, they own 80% of the water rights.
The annual National Cow Calling Contest has been held in Miami since 1949.
-- Wikipedia
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