Montague Cemetery

Montague owes its location to geometry. None of the county's three villages stood near its center in 1858, so an uninhabited spot there was named county seat and, like the county, honored Daniel Montague. When three railroads crossed the county in the 1880s and 1890s, none touched the seat, and Montague was soon overshadowed by Nocona, Saint Jo and Bowie. Bowie's residents forced a vote to move the seat in 1884; Bowie won more votes but not the two-thirds majority required. The Handbook of Texas says Montague's population has never exceeded 500.

What the plaque says

The first known settlers in Montague County arrived in 1849. After the county was formed in 1857, the City of Montague was created a year later to serve as county seat. The town grew slowly at first, but by 1871 was developing rapidly and experiencing an influx of new settlers. James M. Gibbons, one of the early pioneers, came to this area from Tennessee. Family history indicates that Gibbons donated the first plot of land in this cemetery for the burial of his wife, Elizabeth Lankford Gibbons, upon her death in 1862. He later married Nancy Elizabeth Furr, who also is buried here. Gibbons died in 1899 and is interred in the cemetery, as are several other family members and numerous other early settlers. The Montague Cemetery contains both unmarked and marked graves. About 60 of the legible tombstones bear dates from the 1800s. Several Confederate veterans and a few early Texas Rangers also are buried here. With ties to the early settlement of Montague, this graveyard is an important part of the area's history. Care for the burial sites is provided by the Montague Cemetery Association. (1985)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Stonewall Saloon Museum — 11 mi
  Saint Jo's first permanent building, a stone saloon of 1873 with rooms upstairs for trail drovers, in a town named, the story goes, as a joke on a founder who did not drink.

More markers nearby

• Red River Station — 8.1 mi
• Farmers and Merchants National Bank — 8.3 mi
• First Baptist Church of Nocona — 8.5 mi
• First National Bank of Bowie — 11 mi