DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Frontier Town of Fort Griffin, out in Shackelford County. Now, before there was a Fort Griffin, before there was a Flat, before there was a single saloon with a swinging door and a man with a bad reputation leaning against it — there was just the land. The Clear Fork of the Brazos River running through it, and a few stubborn souls deciding that was enough to call home.
By the early 1850s, Colonel Jesse Stem was farming along that Clear Fork, and Thomas Lambshead had put down roots with his Clear Fork Farm. Others followed, the way people do when someone else has already done the hard part of arriving first. As the settlement grew, the military took notice.
Troops at Camp Cooper, over in what is now Throckmorton County, provided the defense. Among those officers — and here's where history leans in close — was a then-Lieutenant Colonel by the name of Robert E. Lee.
That's right. Same man. Standing guard on the Texas frontier.
Camp Cooper held on until the Civil War came calling in 1861, and then it closed. After the war, the Army came back to this stretch of country. In 1867, they established Camp Wilson near this very site, and before long it was renamed Fort Griffin.
The fort sat up on the high ground, looking down over the river — and down in the space between that high ground and the water's edge, a town took root. They called it The Flat, and flat it was, in more ways than one. Now, The Flat was not a quiet place.
Its permanent residents were respectable enough — merchants, cattlemen, their families. They supported a newspaper, the Fort Griffin Echo. They had an academy, a Masonic lodge, several stores.
But for every upstanding citizen, there was a rough element crowding in alongside: cowboys, gamblers, renegades. Black and white troops mixed into that scene, and what you got was something the marker doesn't dress up — it calls it lawless. Lawless is the word.
And lawless places have a way of attracting a particular kind of name. Doc Holliday passed through. Wyatt Earp.
Lottie Deno. Big Nose Kate. And — and I want you to hear these names — Hurricane Bill and Hurricane Minnie.
I don't know what a person has to do to earn a name like Hurricane, but I suspect The Flat was exactly the kind of place to find out. Beyond the characters, Fort Griffin had commerce. It sat along the Western cattle trail, and it was a stop in the buffalo hide trade.
Town lots crowded with hides waiting for shipment — you can almost smell it from here. The town drew immigrant residents from several countries, which tells you word had traveled far. Because the whole operation was so far from any governmental authority, the area residents took matters into their own hands and formed Shackelford County in 1874.
Notable businesses stood along those dusty streets — the Beehive Saloon, the Conrad and Rath Store, the Glesk Boot Shop, the Occidental Hotel. The kind of names that sound like a story all on their own. But The Flat's time was running.
When Albany became the county seat and the terminus of the Texas Central Railroad, the town's population steadily declined. The fort itself closed in 1881. Elements of the town hung on — stubborn, like the people who built it — clear into the mid-20th century.
The school consolidated with the Albany district in 1942. What had been a lawless, roaring, hide-stacked, hurricane-named outpost on the edge of the American frontier quietly, finally, let go. Some places burn bright precisely because they can't last.
The Flat was one of those places.
What the marker says
In the 19th century, the U.S. government established forts along Texas' frontier to protect pioneers. By the early 1850s, Col. Jesse Stem farmed along the Clear Fork of the Brazos River, and Thomas Lambshead established his Clear Fork Farm. As others moved to the area, troops at Camp Cooper in present-day Throckmorton County, including then-Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee, provided military defense. Camp Cooper closed at the start of the Civil War in 1861. After the war, the U.S. Army established Camp Wilson, later renamed Fort Griffin, near this site in 1867. Fort Griffin sat on the high ground above the river. A settlement developed between it and the water's edge. The town, known also as "The Flat," included merchants, cattlemen and their families. Its permanent populace supported a newspaper, the Fort Griffin Echo, as well as an academy, Masonic lodge and several stores and saloons. A rough element of cowboys, gamblers and renegades mixed with black and white troops to form a lawless scene. Among those attracted to the town were Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, Lottie Deno, Big Nose Kate, Hurricane Bill and Hurricane Minnie. Fort Griffin was a stop for buffalo hide trade, and hides awaiting shipment crowded town lots. Located along the Western cattle trail, it included immigrant residents from several countries. Due to the distance from governmental authority, area residents formed Shackelford County in 1874. The town's population steadily declined after Albany became the county seat and the terminus of the Texas Central Railroad. Notable local businesses included the Beehive Saloon, The Conrad and Rath Store, the Glesk Boot Shop and the Occidental Hotel. The fort closed in 1881, but elements of the town remained in operation into the mid-20th century. The school consolidated with the Albany district in 1942. (2004)