Two Sheriffs of Mason County

Milligan's beef contracts came early in what became Mason County's main business. Ranchers stocked the open range before the Civil War, and between 1860 and 1870 the county's cattle rose from 6,780 to 17,114. Herds gathered at spring roundups went first to Louisiana and New Mexico, later to Kansas, and many big drives north started in Mason County. By 1871 or 1872 ranchers began fencing, first with native stone and later with barbed wire. About 1882 W. E. Wheeler is thought to have brought in the first Herefords, the breed the county became known for.

What the plaque says

Two Sheriffs of Mason County A native of Kentucky, Thomas S. Milligan (1810-1860) moved to this area in 1855 and operated a change station for the stage line. He was also a rancher and supplied beef to the soldiers at Fort Mason. Shortly after Mason County was organized in 1858 he became the first elected sheriff. Two years later he was killed by hostile Indians near his home (1.6 mi. NW). His grandson Allen Thomas Murray (1880-1929) became county sheriff in 1924 and like his grandfather died in the line of duty. He was killed by a bootlegger near this site in 1929. (1980)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Mason — 0.7 mi
  A reconstructed officers' quarters on Post Oak Hill above Mason, standing where the army's stone fort was taken apart by the town that grew up below it.
• Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve — 14 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.
• Enchanted Rock State Natural Area — 30 mi
  A dome of pink granite north of Fredericksburg that rises some 385 feet above Sandy Creek, creaks as it cools at night, and has drawn people for thousands of years.

More markers nearby

• St. Joseph's Catholic Church — 0.2 mi
• Crosby Cemetery — 0.3 mi
• Whorlie Well — 0.4 mi
• First Comanche-German Meeting — 0.4 mi