Dallam County, Texas: History
Dallam County was formed in 1876 from portions of Bexar County. It was named after James Wilmer Dallam, the lawyer who made the first digest of Texas laws. The first settlement in the area followed in 1870, which resulted in the Red River War of 1874 and 1875 with the native Comanche and Kiowa tribes. In 1900–01, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad company built a stretch from Liberal, Kansas, to Tucumcari, New Mexico, which ran through the county. The location where the tracks met those of the Fort Worth and Denver Railway was named Dalhart. The name is taken from the first letters of Dallam County and Hartley County, between which the town's area is divided. Within a short time, the small railroad stop turned into a sizable town and was named county seat in 1903.
Dallam County was one of the hardest-hit areas in the Dust Bowl.