Mushaway Peak

The peak is an outlier of the Llano Estacado, built of the same layers as the Caprock and left standing alone as the land around it wore away. Its summit rises about 384 feet above a nearby county road, four miles southeast of Gail. For a time it was called Mount Irwin, after Dave Irwin of the Fourth United States Cavalry. The country around it lay within the range of the Penatekas, the largest and best-known Comanche band, also called the Honey-Eaters or Wasps, who hunted buffalo here before ranchers came.

What the plaque says

Mushaway Peak Shown on maps as Mucha Que, Mucha Kowa, Muchakooga, de Cordova, or signal hill, this peak rises to an elevation of 2862 feet. Its name is of Native American origin. About 1872, it was the site of a village where Apaches and Comanches traded with Comancheros linked to markets in New Mexico. In the mid-1870s, U.s. army expeditions sought to contain the last Native Americans on the plains. These soldiers explored much of the surrounding area. Mushaway Peak was a landmark for Native Americans, buffalo hunters, soldiers and surveyors. In the 1880s, ranchers began grazing cattle in the Mushaway Valley, where they held a general roundup each year. (2014)

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Borden County — 3.3 mi
• 1902-1904 Land Rushes — 3.3 mi
• Fluvanna — 17 mi
• Town of Knapp — 18 mi