Red River Station

In the fall of 1867 Montague was the last Texas county the Chisholm Trail crossed before Indian Territory, and for about twenty-five years its residents concentrated on cattle, raising forage and food rather than a cash crop. Cattle and the growing population drew three railroads in the 1880s and 1890s. Then the herds crossing the county disappeared, replaced by cotton: acreage climbed from under 11,000 in 1880 to more than 78,000 in 1900, when county farms produced 35,798 bales, against just over 4,000 two decades before.

What the plaque says

"Jumping-off point" on the famous Chisholm Cattle Trail, (1867-87), Red River Station was a main crossing and last place on trail to buy supplies until Abilene, Kan.--350 miles north. During the cattle drive era of Western history, millions of animals swam the turbulent river here en route to Kansas railhead and markets. An abrupt bend in the river checked its flow at this point, creating a natural crossing which had been used for years by buffalo and Indians. Even so, the water was wide, swift, and sometimes clogged with sand bars. Frequently cattle were so jammed cowboys could walk across on their backs. Besides a cattle crossing, the station was an outpost of the frontier regiment, which patrolled Texas' northernmost border during Confederacy (1861-65). During cattle era, a town began here, its ferry serving drovers, soldiers, freighters, and settlers returning from Indian captivity. Local cemetery (1 mi. SE) contains many graves of these Texas pioneers. (1971)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Stonewall Saloon Museum — 20 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.
• Clay County 1890 Jail Museum — 23 mi
  Henrietta's 1890 stone jail a block from the domed courthouse, now the county museum, with its original cells, a gallows that was never used and the sheriff's family quarters.

More markers nearby

• North Nocona Oil Field - Montague County Oil Discovery, 1922 — 6.8 mi
• First Baptist Church of Nocona — 7.2 mi
• Farmers and Merchants National Bank — 7.4 mi
• Red River Station — 8.3 mi