Site of Celtic Post Office

The cowboys Celtic served worked big ranges. The Quitaque, or Lazy F, began in 1878 when the Baker brothers hired Leigh R. Dyer to drive the first herd from the Cimarron, and its first headquarters was a cluster of dugouts cut into the creek bank. Charles Goodnight bought it in 1882 for Cornelia Adair at twenty-two cents an acre, and in 1883 he fenced it with barbed wire hauled in by freighters who loaded buffalo bones for the trip back. In 1904 its cattle went by rail to Canada and the range was parceled out to farmers.

What the plaque says

Site of Celtic Post Office (0.8 mi. E) The first two post offices in the area were established at Celtic and Luther on May 2, 1891, eleven months before formal organization of Briscoe County. Celtic was named by pioneer E.R. Thomas, who operated the post office and a store in his home near this site. In 1892 the post office was moved to the home of Hayden W. Savage, an organizer of the county. The following year it was consolidated with postal operations in Silverton. Although in service for a short time, the Celtic post office was vital to early settlers, which included cowboys from nearby ranches. (1983)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Caprock Canyons State Park & Trailway — 22 mi
  Red canyons below the Caprock escarpment where the Texas State Bison Herd, descended from calves Mary Ann Goodnight saved in 1878, has right of way on the park roads.

More markers nearby

• Francis School — 2.7 mi
• Two Miles North of Here — 6.7 mi
• Site of Holt School — 7.6 mi
• First Baptist Church of Silverton — 7.9 mi