Palo Pinto County

Palo Pinto County, Texas
The Palo Pinto County courthouse in Palo Pinto. The Streamline Moderne style structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
Location in the U.S. state of Texas
Texas's location in the U.S.
Founded	1857
Named for	Palo Pinto Creek
Seat	Palo Pinto
Largest city	Mineral Wells
Area
• Total	986 sq mi (2,554 km2)
• Land	952 sq mi (2,466 km2)
• Water	34 sq mi (88 km2), 3.4%
Population
• (2010)	28,111
• Density	30/sq mi (12/km²)
Congressional district	11th
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.co.palo-pinto.tx.us

Palo Pinto County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 28,111. The county seat is Palo Pinto. The county was created in 1856 and organized the following year.

Palo Pinto County comprises the Mineral Wells, TX Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth, TX Combined Statistical Area. It is located in the Western Cross Timbers Ecoregion.

The Brazos Indian Reservation, founded by General Randolph B. Marcy in 1854, provided a safety area from warring Comanche for Delaware, Shawnee, Tonkawa, Wichita, and Caddo. Within the reservation, each tribe had its own village and cultivated agricultural crops. Government-contracted beeves were delivered each week. Citizens were unable to distinguish between reservation and non-reservation tribes, blaming Comanche and Kiowa depredations on the reservation Indians. A newspaper in Jacksboro, Texas titled The White Man advocated removal of all tribes from north Texas.

During December 1858, Choctaw Tom, at times an interpreter to Sam Houston, and a group of reservation Indians received permission for an off-the-reservation hunt. On December 27, Captain Peter Garland and a vigilante group charged Choctaw Tom’s camp, indiscriminately murdering and injuring women and children along with the men. Citizens feared retribution from reservations tribes.