Colonel John Griffith

Buffalo Gap, where Griffith first settled, was the only town in Taylor County when Governor Richard B. Hubbard approved it as temporary county seat on April 30, 1874; the choice was formalized on July 3, 1878, and eighty-seven voters took part in the first election. The gap in the Callahan Divide had been a winter camp for buffalo hunters. By 1880 the town had 1,200 people, and in 1885 it opened Buffalo Gap College, the county's first attempt at higher education. After the Texas and Pacific made Abilene its headquarters, Buffalo Gap lost the county seat in 1883.

What the plaque says

Colonel John Griffith (1831-1889) Confederate officer in Civil War. Learned at war's end that women and children of family had fled from Arkansas to Texas in open wagon drawn by a milk cow and a one-eye mule. The missing were found in 1866, as mule was recognized near the courthouse in Comanche and 2 Griffith boys mounted him. Settled at Buffalo Gap. Helped to organize Taylor County, 1878. Moved to Kimble County, 1881. Had much property, great influence. An example of those leaders who came to Texas after war to get a new start and become outstanding citizens. (1965)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Kimble County Historical Museum — 1.0 mi
  A free county museum in Junction, the town at the meeting of the North and South Llano, with the papers, photographs and tools of a ranching county.
• Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve — 26 mi
  A limestone cave on the James River where about four million Mexican free-tailed bats raise their young each summer, kept open to visitors by a family's gift.
• Fort McKavett State Historic Site — 31 mi
  The post Sherman called the prettiest in Texas, home to soldiers of all four Buffalo Soldier regiments and then to a town that lived in its buildings until 1973.

More markers nearby

• Stevenson, Coke R., Texas Statesman — steps away
• John Sterling Durst Pioneer Minister — steps away
• Fight of Sheriff's Posse with Cattle Rustlers — steps away
• Early History of Kimble County — steps away