Duffy's Peak

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Duffy's Peak, out there in Garza County. Now, before we get to the peak itself, let's talk about the man who put it on the map — a peg-legged surveyor by the name of Jasper Hays. In 1877 and 1878, Hays was out here marking the bounds of the Llano Ranch, the first property to be occupied by settlers in the entire county.

He started from a corner established for the Houston and Great Northern Railroad Company, near the White River over in Crosby County, and he shot his line west — straight toward this peak. A peg-legged man, running survey lines across raw West Texas country. You have to respect that kind of stubborn determination.

Now, Duffy's Peak was no random waypoint. It was so prominent on the landscape that it became Garza County's earliest bench mark. When you need something to anchor your measurements to, you pick the thing that cannot be missed — and this peak, rising up out of sandstone and clay and sand, was exactly that.

Tradition has it that a member of Hays' crew died out here and was buried near this peak. And afterward, the peak was named for him. The marker doesn't give us that man's first name, doesn't tell us much about him at all.

Just that he was part of the crew, and that he stayed behind — in the ground — while the survey pushed on. The peak carries his name now. That's the kind of monument most folks don't plan on.

And here is where the story gets just a little remarkable. When Hays finished his work, he didn't just file his notes with some distant office. He buried them on the peak itself — sealed up in Mason jars.

Mason jars. Because apparently Jasper Hays was not only a peg-legged surveyor, he was also a man who thought ahead. Those notes were unearthed later, and they became the basis for surveys that followed — including those carried out by A.

L. Marhoff in 1906, establishing boundaries for the farm colony of a man they called the Cereal King, one C. W.

Post. This corner of West Texas turned out to be quite a neighborhood for memorable names. The local heights alone could keep you entertained: there's The Ice Cream Cones, Cow Head Mesa, Indian Head Point, and The Chimneys.

Then you've got Two Bush Hill, The Devil's Breakfast Table, Needlepoint Peak, and Buffalo Point. Somebody out here had a gift for naming things — or maybe the land just named itself, and people had the good sense to listen. And there used to be two balanced rocks that early settlers knew well, perched out here like nature's own curiosities.

Wind and weather erosion have taken them now. Gone. Which is a quiet reminder that not everything lasts, no matter how permanent it looks standing on the horizon.

But Duffy's Peak is still standing. Still figuring in local land transactions to this day, still anchored to those notes Jasper Hays sealed in Mason jars more than a century ago. A peg-legged man, a crew member whose name lives on in stone, and a peak made of sandstone and clay and sand — still holding its place on the map, same as it always did.

What the marker says

Height so prominent it was Garza County's earliest bench mark, designated by peg-legged surveyor Jasper Hays, who in 1877-1878 was marking bounds of Llano Ranch, first property to be occupied by settlers in county. Hays began at a corner established for the Houston and Great Northern Railroad Company near the White River in Crosby County, and shot west toward this peak. Tradition has it that a member of Hays' crew died and was buried near this peak, which was afterward named for him. Local heights named for natural wonders include "The Ice Cream Cones," "Cow Head Mesa," "Indian Head Point," and "The Chimneys," Other interesting uplands are "Two Bush Hill," "The Devil's Breakfast Table," "Needlepoint Peak," and "Buffalo Point." Two balanced rocks known to early settlers have now disappeared because of wind and weather erosion. Duffy's Peak, like most of the scenic formations, is sandstone, clay and sand. It still figures in local land transactions, as Hays' original notes (unearthed from Mason jars he buried on the peak) formed basis for later surveys-- including those of A. L. Marhoff in 1906, establishing boundaries for the farm colony of "Cereal King" C. W. Post. 1969