Randall County was created in 1876 and named for Confederate General Horace Randal. It was settled in 1877 by rancher Leigh Dyer, brother-in-law of Chas. Goodnight, who brought the first cattle to the Panhandle. The county was organized in 1889. Its county seat is Canyon, home of West Texas State University, Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, Palo Duro State Park, and Buffalo Lake.