DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about this spot. Now, pull over and let that West Texas wind settle for a second, because the ground you're standing near has got a story soaked right into it. One-half mile east of right here — just a stone's throw in any honest reckoning — some twenty-five to thirty Texas Rangers of Company E made their camp in 1874.
Not a fort, not a town, not so much as a proper roof between them and the sky. Just a company of men, their captain, and a whole lot of open country that wasn't feeling particularly friendly. The man in charge was Captain W.
J. "Jeff" Maltby. And Maltby wasn't the kind of captain who let his guard down. Somewhere close by rose a prominence the men came to call Ranger Peak, and he kept sentries posted up there — eyes on the horizon, watching for Indians.
Day in, day out. You post a man on a peak, you're saying something about how serious you take the situation. Now here's the detail that'll stick with you.
Those Rangers, camped out in the middle of Runnels County with all the wild country pressing in around them, they dug a well. A dry well, as it turned out. The earth didn't give them what they were looking for.
But they dug it anyway, because that's what you do when you need water and all you've got is determination and a shovel. The remains of that dry well are still visible to this day. Twenty-five to thirty men.
One captain. A peak with sentries. And a hole in the ground that never gave up a drop — still there, still marking the place where Company E held the line in 1874.
Some stories, it turns out, get told by what the earth keeps.
What the marker says
One-half mile east of here, some twenty-five to thirty Texas rangers of Company E were stationed in 1874, under the command of Capt. W. J. "Jeff" Maltby. They kept sentries posted on nearby "Ranger Peak" to guard against Indians. Remains of a dry well they dug are still visible.