| |
 |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Remnants of the town are now protected as the Fort
Griffin State Historical Park. The town was situated between Fort Griffin and
the Clear Fork of the Brazos River, the water source for the facility. Since the
fort held the strategic hilltop, the town became known simply as the Flat.
The town, even in ruins, retains its hard-won reputation for being one of
Texas’ most lawless communities. Populated (at one time or another) by many of
the more colorful characters of Western legend, the Flat had no municipal control
since Shackelford county had yet to be organized. The misbehavior in the Flat
got so out-of-hand that the commanding officer of Fort Griffin declared martial
law in the mid 1870s. Undesirables from the Flat were banished to towns that were
short of undesirables. With the riff-raff gone, the county was organized in 1874.
(See Vigilantes
were the law in frontier towns)
The roster of trouble-makers included
Lottie
Deno, Big Nose
Kate, John
Wesley Hardin, John Selman, John M. Larn. Other famous names included Pat
Garrett, Doc Holiday, and his long-time friend Wyatt Earp.
During the
mid 1870s Buffalo hunters used the fort as a supply base. The Butterfield Stage
route passed the Flat (East-West) and cattle drives passed the town going north.
The town peaked at 1,000 permanent residents – an enviable figure for
the times. Transients added to that number while the buffalo roamed, but the population
declined.
Albany started accommodating the cattle herds that passed by
and even the fort itself had its contingent reduced. The Flat was hit with a double-whammy
in 1881. Washington closed the fort and the Flat was bypassed by the
railroad.
It did manage to hang on as a shadow of its former self
(albeit a well-behaved shadow) into the 20th Century but today the population
consists of park personnel. |
| Fort
Griffin Historical Markers |
| Frontier
Town of Fort Griffin |
| The
Western Cattle Trail Crossings at Fort Griffin |
Fort
Griffin CR188 Low Water Crossing
Above Photos courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2008 |
| A
Conversation With The Family... (of Longhorns)
Photos
courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2008
Captions
by someone else |
| "Tell
me that's not beef jerky I see on your dashboard." |
| Trail
drives? We don't need no stinking trail drives! |
| "...and
then I told him: "if you think I'm working one minue past five, you're out
of your mind." |
| The
forlorn longhorn. Ostracized from the herd for a discouraging word? |
|
|
