Valley Creek Station
Inscription
(site located 2 mi. northwest) Near this site, an important link in the frontier transportation system was an area landmark. The Butterfield Overland Mail maintained a stage stop at the falls and crossing of Valley Creek beginning in 1858. The twice-weekly mail and passenger line stretched from San Francisco to St. Louis, crossing the southwest corner of Taylor County and passing six miles west of present Abilene.
The path through Texas, known as the Oxbow Route, added about 600 miles to the 2,800 mile trip. The line moved out of Texas in March 1861, leaving this area sparsely settled. Ranchers later settled near Spring, Cottonwood and Valley creeks, and established the nearby community of Shep in the 1880s.
(1968, 2007)
Location
Sources
More markers in Taylor
Abilene Reporter-News
Abilene, TX
The oldest existing business institution in Abilene is the Reporter Publishing Company, started by C. E. Gilbert.
Butterfield Mail and Stage Line
Tye, TX
One of major horse-drawn transportation projects of history.
The Ernie Wilson Museum
Buffalo Gap, TX
Located in Taylor County's historic first courthouse and jail.
Fletcher Ranch
Abilene, TX
In 1878 James Robert Fletcher, his wife, and son Lorenzo Thomas (1868-1939) came here from Granbury.
Near Site of Indian Battle
Merkel, TX
On February 15, 1870, Corporal Hilliard Morrow and five men of Company E, 24th U.S. Infantry, set out from Fort Griffin to relieve guards...