The "Chaparral"

Duane's take

Here's how the marker tells it, and I'll give it to you straight from the record. Out here in Edwards County, there's a place called the Chaparral, and the story starts around 1895, when a man named J.P. Taylor, over from England, built himself a ranch right along the Fort McKavett to Fort Clark Road.

Now think about that for a second. A man comes all the way from England and plants his roots on a road running between two frontier forts. That's not a quiet life he was after.

That stretch of road had seen some things, and Taylor set his place right in the middle of it. Then in 1907, a couple of early settlers, E.E. and Mary Sproul Morriss, bought Taylor's acreage. And they didn't stop there.

They patented more land on top of it, building something worth stayin for. That ranch didn't just sit there. It became a social center, a gathering place for the people of this country.

Now the name, the Chaparral, well the marker tells you exactly what it means. Roadrunners. And Dwarf Oaks.

Both of them numerous right here on this land. So you've got an Englishman's dream, an early settler family's ambition, a road between two forts, and the birds and the scrub oaks thick enough to name a whole ranch after them. Some places earn their names honestly.

This is one of them.

What the marker says

Built about 1895 by J.P. Taylor, from England. Then on the Fort McKavett - Fort Clark Road. In 1907 E.E. and Mary Sproul Morriss, early settlers, bought Taylor's acreage and patented more land. Ranch became social center. "Chaparral" refers to roadrunners and Dwarf Oaks, both numerous here. (1969)