Resthaven Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker at Resthaven Cemetery has to say, and friend, there's more layered into this burial ground than you might expect from ten donated acres on the Texas plains. Quitaque. The name itself carries a kind of mystery the marker is honest enough to acknowledge.

It may have come from the Quitica Indians, who passed through this very area on an expedition in 1683 and 1684 alongside Juan Mendoza and Juan Sabeata. And it may mean something that ought to stop a traveler in their tracks: 'the land at the end of the trail.' Now whether that name fits by accident or by some deeper Texas logic, you can decide for yourself. The marker doesn't say, and neither will I.

What the marker does say is that people have been building a life here for a long, long time. In 1865, José Piedad Tafoya opened a trading post in the area. Then in 1877, George Baker arrived and established the Lazy F Ranch, which he later sold to noted rancher Charles Goodnight.

A decade after that, Quitaque became a stage stop. By 1890, a general store had opened, and the following year a post office was moved from the ranch to the store as residents began settling into a newly platted town. By 1903, a Methodist congregation had organized, and by 1908 they had a building, one that also served other denominations.

A community was taking shape. But here's the thing about a growing community. At some point, it needs a place to lay its dead to rest with dignity, and for years the people of Quitaque were using other area graveyards for that purpose.

That changed in 1922, when brothers Alvin and Edgar Howard donated ten acres for cemetery use. The first person interred in the new Resthaven Cemetery was Katie Daniel, who died that same year, 1922. After her came others whose names and deeds the marker takes care to preserve.

Amos Persons, who organized First National Bank and was influential in bringing the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad to Quitaque. And then the Stark family: Orlin Stark and his son O.R. Stark, father and son, who followed Persons as presidents of that bank and stood as civic leaders in the community.

The cemetery itself has a presence you'd notice even before you read a single stone. From 1938 to 1940, the Work Projects Administration, the WPA, built a sandstone wall with spaced pilasters that surrounds the property. Inside that wall you'll find grave slabs, curbing, and religious iconography.

Layers of the past, held together by stone and intention. The marker calls the people buried here early pioneers whose hard work and determination set the foundation for the Quitaque community. And standing at a cemetery that started with a donation, grew through loss, and got its walls built by the WPA during hard times, well, that description earns its place.

The trail may have ended here. But the story kept going.

What the marker says

This burial ground has served Quitaque since the 1920s. Quitaque’s name may have come from Quitica Indians who came through this area on a 1683-84 expedition with Juan Mendoza and Juan Sabeata; it may mean “the land at the end of the trail.” In 1865, José Piedad Tafoya opened a trading post in the area. He was followed in 1877 by George Baker, who established the Lazy F Ranch, which he later sold to noted rancher Charles Goodnight. A decade later, Quitaque became a stage stop. In 1890, a general store opened and the next year, a post office was moved from the ranch to the store as residents began to settle in the newly platted town. By 1903, a Methodist church organized. The congregation’s building, constructed in 1908, also served other denominations. Residents used other area graveyards to bury the deceased until 1922, when brothers Alvin and Edgar Howard donated ten acres for cemetery use. The first person interred in Resthaven Cemetery was Katie Daniel (d. 1922). Others interred here include Amos Persons, who organized First National Bank and was influential in bringing the Ft. Worth and Denver Railroad to Quitaque, and community leaders Orlin and O.R. Stark, father and son, who followed Persons as presidents of the bank and were civic leaders. A sandstone wall with spaced pilasters built from 1938-40 by the Work Projects Administration (WPA) surrounds the property. Other features include grave slabs, curbing and religious iconography. Today, Resthaven Cemetery remains a record of early pioneers whose hard work and determination set the foundation for the Quitaque community. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2009