DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, some men just seem to have been built for hard country — and if you want a prime example, look no further than James Buckner Barry. Buck Barry, they called him.
Born in 1821, and by 1845 he'd made his way from North Carolina all the way down to Texas, which was already the kind of place that separated the curious from the committed. He fought in the Mexican War. He rode in Indian campaigns.
The man was no stranger to the saddle or the stakes. Then the Civil War came, and Buck Barry stepped into one of the loneliest commands in the Confederacy. He led a cavalry regiment stationed at Texas outposts stretching all the way from the Red River down to Fort McKavett — a line so long that each camp sat a full day's horseback ride from the next.
Think about that for a moment. A day's ride between you and the nearest friendly face, while you're tasked with patrolling the outer settlements, watching for Indian attacks, and keeping an eye on the threat of Federal invasion pushing down from Indian Territory. No glamour in that posting.
No glory parades. Just dust, distance, and vigilance, day after day, mile after mile. When the war was done, Buck Barry wasn't.
In 1883 he was elected to the Texas Legislature — because apparently governing men wasn't quite enough of a challenge after keeping the frontier from unraveling. He spent his final years on a ranch near here, and when he died in 1906, he left something behind that most men don't think to leave: his personal records. His own account of those years in the frontier defenses.
Every patrol, every outpost, every long day's ride between camps. Because Buck Barry knew that if he didn't write it down, the frontier had a way of swallowing a story whole.
What the marker says
(1821-1906) Came to Texas from North Carolina in 1845. Fought in Mexican War and Indian campaigns. In the Civil War, commanded Confederate cavalry regiment in Texas outposts from Red River to Fort McKavett. Camps were a day's horseback ride apart. Patrols protected outer settlements and prevented Indian attacks and threatened Federal invasion from Indian territory. Elected to Texas Legislature 1883. Died on ranch near here. Left personal records of his years in frontier defenses. (1964)