Fort Griffin, Texas - Lawlessness on the Brazos

TEXAS LEGENDS

Fort Griffin - Lawlessness on the Brazos

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Though there is little left of old Fort Griffin and even less of the settlement that formed below the bluff, Fort Griffin was one of the wildest places in all of the Old West. Built on the rolling hills between the West Fork of the Trinity River and Clear Fork of the Brazos River, the area was a dangerous place as settlers made their way into Texas, conflicting with the Plains Indians who had long called the area their exclusive hunting grounds. Though Forts Belknap, Phantom Hill and Camp Cooper had already been built in the 1840’s, they were not enough to protect new settlers. However, the Civil War interrupted any additional fort building until it was over. Then, afterwards, the government began to build forts once again, including Forts Griffin and Richardson.

Fort Griffin Administration Building, June, 2007, Kathy Weiser

This image available for photographic prints and

downloads HERE!

Work began on Fort Griffin in 1867 when Lieutenant Colonel Samuel arrived with four companies of the Sixth Cavalry on July 31st. The outpost, which was first called Camp Wilson was built upon a hill overlooking the Clear Fork of the Brazos River. Later the name was changed to Fort Griffin, in honor of the late Major General Charles Griffin, Commander of the Texas Army Department and who had originally made the plans for building the new fort. By the time it was finally complete, the fort would accommodate up to six companies of soldiers and included an administration building, a hospital, officers' quarters in eleven buildings, numerous barracks, a guardhouse, a bakery, a powder magazine, five storehouses, forage houses, four stables, a laundry, and a workshop.

Almost immediately after the fort was completed, a new settlement began at the bottom of the hill, first called “The Bottom” or “The Flat” or “Hidetown,” before it took on the name of the fort. In addition to the honest pioneers who settled the area for legitimate reasons of ranching, agriculture, and commerce, in flooded a number of ruffians and outlaws.

When more and more people continued to arrive, the Indian attacks increased across northern Texas, keeping the soldiers busy in what was called the Red River Campaign, the battles of which continued until 1874, when the Texas Army defeated the Kiowas and Comanches at Palo Duro Canyon.

In the meantime, the settlement below the hill was bustling with buffalo hunters, business men, cowboys, outlaws, gamblers, gunfighters, and “painted ladies,” quickly gaining a reputation for lawlessness.

Some of these many people would later become well-known in the annals of history, including Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp, who first met in Fort Griffin. Also there were Big Nose Kate; famous lady gambler, Lottie Deno; lawman, Pat Garrett, and gunfighter, John Wesley Hardin. “Marshaling” the lawless town was outlaw/lawman John M. Larn as sheriff, and his deputy, John Selman who, in the mid 1870’s, were working both sides of the law by controlling the vigilantes and rustling cattle. John Larn; however, would be killed by those same vigilantes inside his own jail in Fort Griffin. Selman, on the other hand, quickly disappeared and almost two decades later would kill John Wesley Hardin. During these lawless times, the settlement was so decadent that it was labeled "Babylon on the Brazos.”

In fact, in 1874, the place was so bad that the commander of the fort placed the town under its control, declaring martial law and forcing many of the undesirable residents to leave. The town remained under the army’s control until Shackelford County was official formed later in the year. When the fort was built and the town below it sprang up, it was part of Jack County. However, at the same time that the town was boasting its bawdy ways in the extreme, there were also a number of law abiding citizens in the area that wanted to form a new county. Early in 1874, they petitioned the Jack County Court for permission to form their own county. In September, permission was granted and the new county was called Shackelford in honor of Dr. Jack Shackelford, a Texas revolutionary hero. Fort Griffin became the temporary county seat on October 12, 1874.

It was at Shaunissy's Saloon in Fort Griffin that Wyatt Earp

first met Doc Holliday. Today, the saloon has been recreated

on top of its old foundation. June, 2007, Kathy Weiser.

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

But those law abiding citizens weren’t satisfied with having Fort Griffin, with its immoral reputation, as their county seat. They quickly gathered together and proposed a brand new town in the center of the county to serve as the permanent county seat. On November 8, 1874, area residents voted to establish the new town of Albany to serve the people of the new county.

Though disappointed at the loss of its county seat status, Fort Griffin continued to bustle, serving as a major supply source for buffalo hunters from 1874 through 1877, and a stop off for the many cowboys herding cattle up the Western Trail to the Dodge City, Kansas railheads. Businesses of all kinds sprouted up to meet the needs of the growing population which including numerous stores, saloons, and restaurants. A newspaper called the Fort Griffin Echo was published from 1879 to 1882, and the town even sported an academy for several years. At its height, Fort Griffin had a permanent population of about 1,000 and an estimated transient population of nearly twice that.

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The historic Fort Griffin Mess Hall has been recreated by the state park, June, 2007, Kathy Weiser.

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

The historic Fort Griffin Baker building has been restored by the state park, June, 2007, Kathy Weiser.

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

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