1905 Map of Montague

About this map

The Red River marks the northern boundary of this 1905 landscape, defining the edge of Montague County where it meets the Chickasaw Nation. This territory reflects a time of active river crossings and establishing rail routes, with numerous ferries like Yellowbank Ferry and Petersburg Ferry serving travelers before the era of modern bridges. The network of schools, including the curiously named Battle-ax School and Pigtail School, suggests a distributed rural population tied to the land. Significant rail hubs like Bowie and Nocona appear at the intersections of lines such as the Chicago Rock Island and Gulf R.R. and the Fort Worth and Denver City R.R.. High points like Queens Peak and Dead Ox Mound provided essential landmarks for surveyors and settlers in a region where the topography transitions from the river bends of Spanish Fort Bend to the headwaters of the West Fork Trinity River.