Fort Griffin, Texas

Fort Griffin is a fontier Shackelford County community that grew around the military post of the same name, and served as the area trade center in the 1870s and '80s. It was a rough, wild settlement frequented by cavalry troopers, trail-herd cowboys, buffalo hunters, and outlaws. More than 200,000 buffalo hides were shipped from the Fort Griffin. Over a 12-year period, gunfights accounted for 34 public killings. The town declined after the fort was abandoned, and today there are only scattered rural homes on the Brazos River farmlands at the site on U.S. 283 north of Albany.