History
Archeological Sites at Mackenzie Reservoir and Tule Canyon
Before this area was covered by Mackenzie Reservior, evidence of human occupancy was found at 77 recorded archeological sites. The earliest artifacts date back 10,000 years to a bison kill. Prehistoric occupancy is indicated by burial sites, shallow hearths, and stone tools. Gun flints, glass beads, and metal objects confirm 18th century European contact. By 1874 Col. Ranald S.
History
Briscoe County
Formed from Bexar Territory. Created August 21, 1876. Organized March 15, 1892. Named for Andrew Briscoe 1810-1849. Defender of Texas liberty at the Battle of Concepcion, the capture of Bexar and the Battle of San Jacinto. Chief Justice of Harris County. Silverton is the county seat.
History
Briscoe County Jail
Built 1894 of handcut stone hauled here by horse-drawn wagons from Tule Canyon. Early day sheriff's families rented it as residence.Lower floor was used by Red Cross workers, for sewing, during World War I. This jail stands as the lasting reminder of what courage and dedication mean in preserving law, order and integrity in Briscoe County. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1967
History
Francis School
Francis School (Common School District No. 3) organized in 1898 for citizens of southwest Briscoe County. The school was named for J.L. Francis, who offered his land and took on much of the building expenses. Around 1915, the school was moved to a more central portion of the community on land owned by Champ Blackwell.
History
Gasoline Cotton Gin
Cotton farmers began settling in this area in 1903. A water well was dug in 1906, attracting more farmers and increasing crop production. Because the nearest cotton gin was ten miles away in Turkey, three partners (M.E. Tomson, J.H. Clack, and L.A. McCracken) bought a gasoline-powered engine and built a gin at this site. The first bale of cotton was ginned in April 1907.
History
Lake Theo Folsom Bison Kill Site
Stone tool fragments were discovered in 1965 and 1972 on the shores of Lake Theo, named for former landowner Theodore Geisler. Archeological testing in 1974 revealed a campsite and bison butchering and processing area dating back to the age of Folsom man, between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago.
History
Milo Cemetery
The Milo community began in the late 19th century on the prairie between Palo Duro and Tule canyons. Named for the favored area crop, the settlement had a store, post office, school, and scattered family dugouts and homes in the 1890s. When John Alexander Cope died in 1892, his family donated two acres for a community cemetery.
History
Miner Crawford
(June 21, 1867 - Nov. 17, 1928) Born in Benton County, Ark. In 1892, when Briscoe County was organized, won election as first sheriff; also later served single terms, 1913-1914 and 1921-1922. First official act was arrest of two horse thieves from New Mexico; in last term he and two deputies waged a gun battle and captured a moonshine still. He bought law and order to area.
Architecture
Pleasant Lafayette Crawford House
This Queen Anne style home, which features a wraparound porch, was built in 1904 by Civil War veteran Pleasant Lafayette Crawford (1837-1912). After Crawford moved here from Arkansas in the late 1880s, he bought ranch land and opened a mercantile business. Later his family came by covered wagon to join him. One of Silverton's founders, Crawford opened the town's first hotel in 1894.
History
Resthaven Cemetery
This burial ground has served Quitaque since the 1920s. Quitaque's name may have come from Quitica Indians who came through this area on a 1683-84 expedition with Juan Mendoza and Juan Sabeata; it may mean "the land at the end of the trail." In 1865, Jose Piedad Tafoya opened a trading post in the area.
History
Site of Holt School
(2 miles east) In 1913, G.C. Holt moved his wife and eight children to the Briscoe-Floyd county line. Because of the distance to the nearest school, Holt and neighbor E.M. Lawson organized the Holt School District, commissioned on September 7, 1920 with two acres of land. In 1921, trustees built a one-room frame schoolhouse, and it opened with 15 students, one teacher and courses for grades 1-7.
History
Site of Reeves Post Office
(.5 mi. east) Since the railroad was 60 miles from this sparsely populated prairie, the establishment of Reeves post office opened a communication link for the early pioneers. Begun July 13, 1899, in the front room of postmaster Joseph H. Reeves' two-story frame home, the post office served 110 settlers. James U. Strickland bought the house and took over as postmaster August 24, 1905.
History
Trading Area of Jose Tafoya and other Comancheros
In Quitaque area, Comancheros (peddlers in Comanche domain) from New Mexico traded flour and other goods to Indians. The barter (begun in 1700's) reached peak in 1864-1868, when Apaches, Comanches and Kiowas rustled horses and thousands of cattle "down in Texas", to use in trades. Jose Tafoya, who had wagons as well as pack mules, sold guns to Indians until U.S.
History
William E. Schott
Briscoe County pioneer William E. Schott (1870-1941) was born in Ohio and moved to North Texas in 1885. Still legally a minor, he came to this area in 1890 and filed a claim for the first of his later extensive landholdings. In 1891 he overcame the Caprock barrier by building the first wagon road to Silverton, where in 1892 he helped organize Briscoe County.
History
William Moten Vaughan
(October 15, 1841-March 15, 1928) Born in Missouri. Served in Texas Rangers, 1860-61, and in Civil War, 1862-65. He was a corporal in last Confederate army surrendered east of the Mississippi. After the war, he lived in McLennan, Coryell, and Briscoe counties. Married twice, he had 11 children. Recorded - 1971
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
