Roberts County, Texas
| Roberts County, Texas | |
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Roberts County courthouse in Miami
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 Location in the U.S. state of Texas |
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 Texas's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | 1889 |
| Named for | Oran Milo Roberts |
| Seat | Miami |
| Largest city | Miami |
| Area | |
| • Total | 924 sq mi (2,393 km2) |
| • Land | 924 sq mi (2,393 km2) |
| • Water | 0.1 sq mi (0 km2), 0.01% |
| Population | |
| • (2010) | 929 |
| • Density | 1.0/sq mi (0/km²) |
| Congressional district | 13th |
| Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 |
| Website | www |
Roberts County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 929, making it the seventh-least populous county in Texas. Its county seat is Miami, which is also the county's only incorporated community. The county was created in 1876 and organized in 1889. It is named for Oran Milo Roberts, a governor of Texas. Roberts County is one of 7 prohibition, or entirely dry, counties in the state of Texas.
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.
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.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 924 square miles (2,390 km2), of which 924 square miles (2,390 km2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km2) (0.01%) is water.
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 (280 km2) Mesa Vista Ranch, which seeks to protect quail, dove and pheasant habitat along the creek beds south of the Canadian River.
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