In 1841, the Republic of Texas granted William S. Peters and others an empresario grant in north central Texas, including most of what is now Throckmorton County. The colony’s western boundary was three miles east of the current Haskell County borderline. Thomas Lambshead was the only settler to venture this far west in the colony. By 1844, the Texas Emigration & Land Company (T. E. & L.) began to manage colony settlement. However, few settled the land and Peters Colony ended in failure. Still, it proved vital for Throckmorton County settlement. The T. E. & L. owned much of the county land and divided it amongst shareholders, many of whom were speculators who sold property to the county’s earliest settlers.