Throckmorton County, Texas

Throckmorton County, Texas
The Throckmorton County Courthouse
Location in the U.S. state of Texas
Texas's location in the U.S.
Founded	1879
Named for	William Throckmorton
Seat	Throckmorton
Largest town	Throckmorton
Area
• Total	915 sq mi (2,370 km2)
• Land	913 sq mi (2,365 km2)
• Water	2.9 sq mi (8 km2), 0.3%
Population
• (2010)	1,641
• Density	1.8/sq mi (1/km²)
Congressional district	19th
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.co.throckmorton.tx.us

Throckmorton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,641. Its county seat is Throckmorton. The county was created in 1858 and later organized in 1879. It is named for William Throckmorton, an early Collin County settler. Throckmorton County is one of 22 prohibition, or entirely dry, counties in the state of Texas.

The Spanish explorer Pedro Vial is considered to be the earliest European to travel through what is now known as Throckmorton County. Vial passed between the Clear Fork and Main Fork of the Brazos River in 1786 while searching for a direct route between San Antonio and Santa Fe. No other major activity is recorded in the county until 1849, when Captain Randolph B. Marcy, commander of a U.S. military escort expedition led by Lieutenant J. E. Johnson, passed through the county.

In 1837, the Republic of Texas established Fannin County, which included the area now known as Throckmorton County. In 1858, Throckmorton County was officially established. Williamsburg was designated as county seat. The county was named in honor of Dr. William E. Throckmorton, an early north Texas pioneer and the father of James W. Throckmorton, who later became governor of Texas. Organization of the county was delayed until 1879, when Throckmorton was named the county seat.

In 1854, Captain Marcy returned to the county in search of suitable locations for a reservation for Texas Indians. He surveyed and established the tract of land that became known as the Comanche Indian Reservation, which is adjacent to the Clear Fork of the Brazos River in the county. The reservation consisted of approximately 18,576 acres (75.17 km²) of land extending well out from both sides of the river. The location was ideal because it provided plenty of running water and hunting opportunities. Marcy also met with Sanaco and the Tecumseh leaders of the southern band of Comanche Indians in an attempt to persuade them to move to the reservation, which they began doing in 1855. In January 1856, Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston established Camp Cooper (named after Samuel Cooper) on the banks of the Clear Fork to protect the reservation. Captain Robert E. Lee served as commander of the camp from April 9, 1856, to July 22, 1857. In 1859, persons living on the Comanche Indian Reservation were uprooted and moved to the Oklahoma Indian Territory. In 1861, a few months before the start of the Civil War, Camp Cooper was abandoned by federal troops in the face of building political tension between north and south.