Panther Gap

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Panther Gap, out here in Coke County. Now, every good story needs a good threshold — a place where you pass from one world into another — and Panther Gap is exactly that kind of place. It sits on an ancient Indian trail, one of those routes so old the land itself seems to remember the footsteps.

Long before Texas had much in the way of roads or rails, travelers and military men moving west of Fort Chadbourne were pushing through this gap. Fort Chadbourne sat twenty miles to the east, and this stretch of trail was part of how people pressed on beyond it, before the Civil War changed everything and then left the land to its own quiet for a while. After 1880, though, Panther Gap found a new purpose.

The railroad had reached Colorado City, and folks in this part of the country needed a way to connect to it. So the gap went back to work, carrying the traffic of a region findin' its footing in a new era. And the name?

Well, the marker tells us straight — this place is called Panther Gap on account of the panthers, the cougars, that have roamed these parts. Not past tense, mind you. Still roam.

So if you're passin' through Coke County and the hair on the back of your neck stands up for no reason you can quite put your finger on, well — the gap has been making travelers feel that way for a very long time.

What the marker says

Landmark on ancient Indian trail, and early route of travelers and military west of Fort Chadbourne (20 miles east) before the Civil War. After 1880, was used extensively to connect this area with the railroad at Colorado City. Named for panthers (cougars), which still roam the region. (1973)