Markers (click on a topic to jump to that section.)
Town of Buffalo Gap | Buffalo Gap Cemetery | Butterfield Mail and Stage Line | Castle Peak | In Vicinity of Coronado's Camp | Near Site of Indian Battle | Vicinity of Indian Fight | Vicinity of Indian Fight | Jim Ned Creek | Mountain Pass Station | Mulberry Canyon | Taylor County | First Taylor County Jail-Courthouse | Taylor, Edward, James & George | Valley Creek Station | Site of Western Cattle Trail
Uncommemorated and Unmapped Sites
Colt Canyon, Citizens Encounter Indians in | Morrow, Bobby | Wright, Captain Jack
Uncommemorated Active Battle Map
Town of Buffalo Gap
Marker Title: Town of Buffalo Gap
Address: West and Vine St.
City: Buffalo Gap
Year Marker Erected: 1968
Marker Location: Old Settlers Reunion grounds, corner of West &
Vine Streets, Buffalo Gap.
Marker Text: Probably named for the pass in Callahan Divide (mountains)
crossed by thousands of buffalo that once inhabited this area. Besides
providing the native Apache and Comanche Indians with food, buffaloes
drew the first white hunters here, about 1874. First homes in present
town were dugouts of buffalo hunters. The community began to grow in
1878 when it was named county seat and was located on the western cattle
trail. In 1883, however, the new railroad town of Abilene became county
seat and Buffalo Gap, like so many small Texas towns, lost prestige.
Buffalo Gap Cemetery
Marker Title: Buffalo Gap Cemetery
Address: FM 89, 1 mile W. of Buffalo Gap
City: Buffalo Gap
Year Marker Erected: 1968
Marker Location: From Buffalo Gap, go about 1 mile west on Highway 89
to cemetery entrance.
Marker Text: Oldest public cemetery in Taylor County; used by residents
of Buffalo Gap even before the earliest known headstones were erected,
about 1877. In the older section of the ten-acre plot are 146 graves,
many of Civil War veterans and pioneer citizens of Taylor County. Tract
is still in use. (1968)
Butterfield Mail and Stage Line
Marker Title: Butterfield Mail and Stage Line
Address: FM 20, 1/2 mile W. of Tye
City: Tye
Year Marker Erected: 1969
Marker Location: From Tye, take Highway 20 .5 mile west.
Marker Text: One of major horse-drawn transportation projects of history.
Was authorized by Act of Congress on March 3, 1857. Contract for semi-weekly
service overland to San Francisco, California, was awarded to company
headed by John Butterfield; another stockholder in the $2,000,00 venture
was express pioneer William G. Fargo. The line employed some 2,000 people
and used hundreds of stagecoaches and thousands of animals. In addition
to receipts from freight and passengers, it had a $600,000 annual subsidy
for carrying U.S. Mail. Company operated from September 1858 to February
1861 with a 25-day schedule for the 2,795 mile trip (8 to 9 days were
allowed for crossing Texas). Route began in Tipton, Mo., and Memphis,TN.,
uniting at Fort Smith, AR., entering Texas near Sherman, thence westward
through the Comanche-held frontier, leaving the state at El Paso. Stage
stations were located about every 20 miles and the best known in this
vicinity were Fort Belknap, Fort Phantom Hill, Mountain Pass and Fort
Chadbourne. Between Fort Belknap and Tucson, AZ., mules were used to
pull the coaches as they were less appealing to Indians. Each coach
accommodated four to ten passengers at an average fare of $200 each;
mail and freight charges were ten cents per one-half ounce. (1969) More
Castle Peak
Marker Title: Castle Peak
Address: FM 1235, S of Merkel
City: Merkel
Year Marker Erected: 1968
Marker Location: From Merkel, take FM 1235 south about 7 miles.
Marker Text: The Butterfield Overland Mail, the first public transportation
facility spanning the area from the Mississippi to the Pacific with
passenger and mail service, 1858-61, used the 2400-foot peak to the
northeast as a beacon. The drivers and passengers viewed it for 30 to
40 miles. In that era it was called Abercrombie Peak, for Colonel J.J. Abercrombie of the U.S. Army, active in defense of this frontier.
Waterman Ormsby, a newspaper reporter riding the first Butterfield Stage
to pass this way, noted that the peak resembled a fortress. Later the
height was renamed Castle Peak. (1968)
In Vicinity of Coronado's Camp
Marker Title: In Vicinity of Coronado's Camp
Address: US 277 & FM 89 junction
City: Abilene
Year Marker Erected: 1968
Marker Location: From Abilene, take Highway 277 southwest about 15 miles
to junction 89.
Marker Text: In 1541, the Spanish explorer Coronado is thought to have
passed this way en route from New Mexico to the fabled Indian villages
of "Quivira", through his path across vast Texas plains is
now difficult to determine. Upon finding that his Indian guide, "The
Turk", had taken him too far south, Coronado halted at a small
canyon or barranca. Here he conferred with his captains and decided
to follow the compass directly north. When they reached "Quivira"
(possibly in Kansas), no gold was found - only the poor, grass huts
of a Wichita village. (1968)
Near Site of Indian Battle
Marker Title: Near Site of Indian Battle
Address: CR 351, S of Merkel
City: Merkel
Year Marker Erected: 1968
Marker Location: From Merkel, take FM 126 south 14.4 miles to CR 350
and follow south about 21.4 miles then take CR 351 south .9 mile.
Marker Text: On February 15, 1870, Corporal Hilliard Morrow and five
men of Company E, 24th U.S. Infantry, set out from Fort Griffin to relieve
guards at Mountain Pass mail station near here. Soon after arriving,
however, they were besieged by a raiding party of 75 Comanches. Although
outnumbered by more than ten to one, the courageous group repelled the
attack. The Indians, however, drove off five mules and one horse belonging
to the El Paso and San Antonio Mail Company, which ran a branch line
to the station. Three of the Indians were killed, but the soldiers suffered
no losses. (1968)
Vicinity of Indian Fight
Marker Title: Vicinity of Indian Fight
Address: Old Settlers Reunion Grounds, Vine and West St.
City: Buffalo Gap
Year Marker Erected: 1968
Marker Location: Old Settlers Reunion grounds, corner of Vine &
West Streets, Buffalo Gap.
Marker Text: On August 29, 1863, Indian riders (probably Comanches)
coming north from Mason County, with stolen horses, were caught a mile
east of Buffalo Gap by Lt. T.C. Wright and eleven state troopers. The
outnumbered soldiers were forced to attack up a steep hill and the Indians,
determined to keep the herd, fought stubbornly. Wright and his men -
two with severe arrow wounds - finally gave up the unequal fight and
the Indians escaped with the horses. A lone rider was sent under cover
of night to Camp Colorado (45 miles southeast) to bring an ambulance
for the wounded. (1968)
Vicinity of Indian Fight
Marker Title: Vicinity of Indian Fight
Address: Fm 1235
City: Merkel
Year Marker Erected: 1968
Marker Location: from Merkel, take FM 1235 about 7 miles south.
Marker Text: On New Year's Day, 1871, Indian raiders who had stolen
horses in Coleman County were pursued and overtaken here by 18 Texas
Rangers and cowboys. Leaders of the group were Captain James. M. Swisher
and rancher Sam Gholson. The Indians took refuge in the heights west
of Mountain Pass. The ensuing battle lasted all day, and at nightfall
the raiders left the horses and fled. Of the fewer than one dozen Indians,
one was killed, several wounded. One cowboy was wounded and another,
J.M. Elkins, recorded the battle in his book, "Indian Fighting
on the Texas Frontier." (1968)
Jim Ned Creek
Marker Title: Jim Ned Creek
Address: US 83
City: Tuscola
Year Marker Erected: 1968
Marker Location: Highway 83, south city limits (at bridge) -Tuscola.
Marker Text: Probably named for Jim Ned, Delaware Indian Chief. During
Republic and early statehood of Texas (about 1840-1860), he was a scout
for the Texas militia on several campaigns against wild Indians in this
area. Dams near junction of two main forks of creek create Lake Brownwood.
(1968)
Mountain Pass Station
Marker Title: Mountain Pass Station
Address: CR 351, SW of Merkel 32 mi.
City: Merkel
Marker Location: From Merkel, take FM 126 south about 14.4 miles to
CR 350 and follow 2.4 miles south to CR 351 south and follow 9 miles.
Marker Text: Maintained from 1858 to outbreak of the Civil War in 1861
as a stage stop on the Butterfield Overland Main Route, which was the
first mail and passenger line to link the east and west coasts of the
United States. In 1870s this was a stop for branch of El Paso and San
Antonio mail line. (1968)
Mulberry Canyon
Marker Title: Mulberry Canyon
City: Merkel
Year Marker Erected: 1997
Marker Location: 6.2 mi. SW of Merkel on FM 126 at intersection with
FM 1085.
Marker Text: Human activity in this area has been traced to prehistoric
eras. Native American tribes once roamed this land with the buffalo,
deer, turkey, mountain lion, and black bear. Among the first recorded
ventures into the canyon were the Military Road survey and the forty-niner
mail route of 1849. The Military Road was used by the Butterfield Stage-Overland
Mail route from 1858 to 1861. The canyon was named for the mulberry
trees that grew along the largest creek. Cattle ranchers began to use
the canyon in the 1870s. The last herds of buffalo passed through Mulberry
Canyon in 1878 just before pioneer families began to build communities.
In 1879 settlers planted maize, corn, and wheat; the first cotton was
planted in 1886. The last black bear lived as a pet on the Brown Ranch
in the 1880s. Over half a dozen small communities sprang up in the canyon.
Ten churches and ten schools have served the area, which at its peak
had a population of 500. The earliest marked grave in White Church Cemetery
is dated 1883. Nubia, the only town, had a post office until 1917. The
last store closed in 1946. In 1997, descendants of the pioneer settlers
still occupied much of Mulberry Canyon. (1997)
Taylor County
Marker Title: Taylor County
Address: US 83/84, S. of Abilene
City: Abilene
Year Marker Erected: 1964
Marker Location: From Abilene, take Highway 83/84 south about 12 miles
to Roadside Park.
Marker Text: Created 1858. Named for Edward, James and George Tayor,
18, 20, and 22, Tennesseans who came to Texas in 1833 and died at the
Alamo, March 6, 1836. Organized 1878, with county seat at Buffalo Gap,
through which went the Fort Concho to Fort Belknap stagecoach and longhorns
on western trail up to Kansas. County seat was moved to Abilene in 1883.
Of the 254 Texas counties, 42 bear Indian, French or Spanish names.
10 honor such colonizers as Stephen F. Austin, "Father of Texas".
12 were named for Washington, Clay and other American patriots. 96 were
named for men like the Taylors who fought in the Texas War for Independence
(15 dying at the Alamo), signed the Declaration of Independence, or
served as statesmen in the Republic of Texas. 23 have the names of frontiersmen
and pioneers. 11 honor American Statesmen who worked for the annexation
of Texas; 10, leaders in Texas since statehood, including jurists, ministers,
educators, historians, statesmen; and 36, men prominent in the Confederacy
during the Civil War. El Paso and 8 others have geographical names,
San Jacinto and Val Verde were named for battles; Live Oak and Orange,
for trees; and Mason for a fort. (1964)
First Taylor County Jail-Courthouse
Marker Title: First Taylor County Jail-Courthouse
Address: FM 89
City: Buffalo Gap
Marker Location: Buffalo Gap Village, off Highway 89.
Taylor, Edward, James & George
Marker Title: Taylor, Edward, James, & George
Address: Oak Street
City: Abilene
Year Marker Erected: 1955
Marker Location: Taylor Couty Courthouse, Oak Street, Abilene.
Marker Text: Inscriptions on the monument are: across top - "I
shall never surrender or retreat." Travis, Edward, James, George
sons of Anson Taylor, died at the Alamo March 6, 1836. Taylor County
was named for these gallant men. Erected by John Hudnall Chapter of
the U.S. Daughters of 1812, with the cooperation of the Taylor County
Commissioners Court. (1955)
Valley Creek Station
Marker Title: Valley Creek Station
Address: Off FM 1086, about 25 mi. SW of Abilene
City: Abilene
Year Marker Erected: 1968
Marker Location: From Abilene, take Highway 277 southwest about 22 miles
to FM 1086 west, follow 1086 west about 3 miles northwest to end, go
southwest on County Road about 1.2 miles to Valley Creek Crossing.
Marker Text: Maintained at falls and crossing of Valley Creek, 1858
to 1861, as a stage stop for the Butterfield Overland Mail. The twice-weekly
mail and passenger line stretched from San Francisco to St. Louis, crossing
northwest corner of Taylor County and passing six miles west of present
Abilene. (1968)
Site of Western Cattle Trail
Marker Title: Site of Western Cattle Trail
Address: S. 1st & Leggett Dr.
City: Abilene
Year Marker Erected: 1968
Marker Location: Corner of S. 1st & Leggett Drive, on T&P
Railroad Tow, Abilene.
Marker Text: The main route -1876 to 1887- for several hundred thousand
longhorns driven north to stock ranches and Indian reservations and
to supply beef market. Was also called Dodge City Trail, for its main
terminus; or Fort Griffin Trail, for the site where feeder trails joined.
This major branch began in South Texas, passed the western outskirts
of Abilene, and from here moved northeast to Fort Griffin. An alternate
route ran to the Red River, then to Kansas. Use of the trail ceased
after fenced ranges blocked route, and Texas & Pacific Railway arrived.
(1968)
Communities and Related Links
Abilene Community
Buffalo Gap Community