Roberts County, Texas: History
The Plains Apache inhabited the Texas Panhandle until they were displaced by the Comanche, who dominated the area until the 1870s. The Comanche 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, destroying the food supply and livelihood of the Plains tribes, making way for permanent settlement by Anglo-Americans.
In 1876, Roberts County was carved from the Bexar Territory and the Clay Land District. In 1887, the Southern Kansas Railway was built through Roberts County, and settlers followed.
Roberts County is 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.