Markers (click on a topic to jump to that section.)
Berry, Captain Andrew Jackson | Callahan City | Callahan City Cemetery | Callahan County | Callahan Monument, James H. | Camp Pecan, C.S.A. | Site of Cottonwood Springs | Fort Mason-Camp Cooper Military Road | Old Fort Phantom Hill Corn Road | Hittson Ranch Headquarters on Battle Creek | Maltby, William Jeff | Military Telegraph Line
Uncommemorated and Unmapped Sites
J.J. Hittson's Unusual Experience
Uncommemorated Active Battle Map (Stories below are on map.)
Col. W.J. Wilkinson | James Francis Blair and James Hart
Captain Andrew Jackson Berry
Marker Title: Captain Andrew Jackson Berry
City: Baird
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: Ross Cemetery, US 283 North, Baird. (marker in lefthand
section as one enters cemetery).
Marker Text: Born in Indiana May 16, 1816. Died at Baird, Texas July
31, 1899. Veteran of San Jacinto. Officer in the Confederate Army.
Callahan City
Marker Title: Callahan City
City: Baird vicinity
Year Marker Erected: 1977
Marker Location: From Baird, take FM 2228 southeast about 8.5 miles.
Marker Text: Callahan County was created in 1858 and named for Texas
Ranger James H. Callahan (1814-56). Permanent settlement of this area
began after the Civil War (1861-65). Residents petitioned in 1877 for
organization of county government. Callahan City, then a village with
two stores and a post office, became temporary county seat when the
first commissioners court met here on July 30, 1877. The nearby town
of Belle Plaine won a spirited election for permanent county seat in
December 1877. After the Callahan City post office moved there six months
later, this community soon disappeared. (1977)
Callahan City Cemetery
Marker Title: Callahan City Cemetery
City: Baird
Year Marker Erected: 1967
Marker Location: from Baird, take US 80 East about 4 miles, then go
south on FM 2228 about 2.5 miles.
Marker Text: Established prior to the organization of Callahan County
in 1877. Burial place of many pioneers who came here during era of Indians
and great early ranches. Served people of such bygone towns as Admiral,
Callahan City, and other neighboring communities. (1967)
Callahan County
Marker Title: Callahan County
City: Baird
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: front lawn of Courthouse, Baird; on US 20 Business.
Marker Text: Formed from Bexar Territory, created February 1, 1858;
recreated August 21, 1876; organized July 3, 1877. Named in Honor of
James H. Callahan, 1812-1856 soldier in the Texas Revolution, captain
of the Texas Rangers. County Seat, Callahan City, 1877; Belle Plain,
1877-1883; Baird, since two early military roads, the Chisholm Trail,
and the first government telegraph line traversed this region.
James H. Callahan Monument
Marker Title: James H. Callahan Monument
City: Baird
Year Marker Erected: 1934
Marker Location: Courthouse lawn.
Marker Text: County Organized July 3, 1877 Named for James H. Callahan
Ranger, Captain and Indian Fighter
Camp Pecan, C.S.A.
Marker Title: Camp Pecan, C.S.A.
City: Baird
Year Marker Erected: 1963
Marker Location: Courthouse grounds, Baird; US 20 Business.
Marker Text: This Civil War camp of the Texas frontier regiment was
located 21 miles southeast. Established in 1862 as one of a line of
posts a day's horseback ride apart. The number of men guarding the frontier
were few. Trouble came from all directions with Indian threats and raids
from the west and plundering renegades and deserters from the east.
Food, supplies, clothing and horses were constantly scarce. But in spite
of all obstacles, these Confederates managed to effectively hold the
frontier line of settlement. A Memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy,
erected by the State of Texas 1963.
Site of Cottonwood Springs
Marker Title: Site of Cottonwood Springs
City: Cottonwood
Year Marker Erected: 1968
Marker Location: On FM 1079 about .2 mile west of FM 880, Cottonwood.
Marker Text: After Indians on High Plains were subdued (1874) by Gen.
R.S. MacKenzie, settlers started to pour into this area, where they
found abundant game, water, and good soil for ranching, farming. Cottonwood
Springs, at head of Green Briar Creek, was one of first villages founded
(in 1875). The town soon became a trading center for southeastern part
of county. It had several stores, two churches, and a school; and although
usually peaceful, it experienced many gun battles. The town name was
shortened to "Cottonwood" after first post office was established
in 1883. (1968)
Fort Mason-Camp Cooper Military Road
Marker Title: Fort Mason-Camp Cooper Military Road
City: Cross Plains
Year Marker Erected: 1967
Marker Location: Treadway Park on SH 36, western city limits.
Marker Text: Route for U.S. 2nd Cavalry and supplies from San Antonio
to Fort Mason (about 100 miles south of here) to Camp Cooper (about
65 miles north) in campaigns of 1851-1861 against Plains Indians. Great
military men of American history traveled this road, including Robert
E. Lee (later a commanding general, C.S.A.) and George T. Thomas, "Rock
Old Fort Phantom Hill Corn Road
Marker Title: Old Fort Phantom Hill Corn Road
City: Clyde
Year Marker Erected: 1967
Marker Location: from Clyde, take Highway 604 northwest about 5 miles,
just inside ranch gate entrance.
Marker Text: Founded 1851 for supply operations between Austin and the
frontier post of Fort Phantom Hill. Traversed the county diagonally
from the northwest to the southeast. Although regular troops withdrew
from Phantom Hill in 1854, and supply line was discontinued, road was
often used by emigrants, troops, surveyors, others. Callahan County
Historical Survey Committee, 1967.
Hittson Ranch Headquarters on Battle Creek
Marker Title: Hittson Ranch Headquarters on Battle Creek
City: Putnam vicinity
Year Marker Erected: 1984
Marker Location: from Putnam, take FM 2945 east about 4 miles (on right-of-way).
Marker Text: Nearby Battle Creek was given its name in 1840 by a small
band of men who had traveled to this area in search of hostile Indians.
A fight took place near the creek when a raiding party attacked the
group. Approximately, twenty years later, cattleman John Hittson (1831-1880)
established his ranch headquarters at the site of the battleground.
The headquarters, used only when cattle were rounded up from surrounding
lands, consisted of corrals, branding pens, and a small shelter. It
is believed to be the first ranching headquarters established in Callahan
County. (1984)
William Jeff Maltby
Marker Title: William Jeff Maltby
City: Baird
Year Marker Erected: 1992
Marker Location: In Belie Plaine Cemetery, from Baird, take US 283 South
about 8 miles then go East 1.5 mile.
Marker Text: (December 7, 1829 - June 27, 1908) A native of Illinois,
William Jeff Maltby gained fame as a frontiersman, veteran of the Mexican
War and American Civil War and Texas Ranger. Maltby began his Texas
exploits about 1850, building frontier forts for the U.S. Army. He
retired to Callahan County in 1878 and developed a nursery that earned
him national recognition as a fine horticulturist. Maltby co-authored
a partial autobiography, published in 1906, called "Captain Jeff".
Recorded - 1992.
Military Telegraph Line
Marker Title: Military Telegraph Line
City: Baird vicinity
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: from Baird, take US 80 east to Finely exit and take
Finley Road east about 3.2 miles.
Marker Text: Established in 1874-1875 from Fort Griffin to Fort Concho,
crossed here. (1936)