Duffy's Peak
Post, Garza County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Height so prominent it was Garza County's earliest bench mark, designated by peg-legged surveyor Jasper Hays, who in 1877-1878 was marking bounds of Llano Ranch, first property to be occupied by settlers in county. Hays began at a corner established for the Houston and Great Northern Railroad Company near the White River in Crosby County, and shot west toward this peak. Tradition has it that a member of Hays' crew died and was buried near this peak, which was afterward named for him. Local heights named for natural wonders include "The Ice Cream Cones," "Cow Head Mesa," "Indian Head Point," and "The Chimneys," Other interesting uplands are "Two Bush Hill," "The Devil's Breakfast Table," "Needlepoint Peak," and "Buffalo Point." Two balanced rocks known to early settlers have now disappeared because of wind and weather erosion. Duffy's Peak, like most of the scenic formations, is sandstone, clay and sand. It still figures in local land transactions, as Hays' original notes (unearthed from Mason jars he buried on the peak) formed basis for later surveys-- including those of A. L. Marhoff in 1906, establishing boundaries for the farm colony of "Cereal King" C. W. Post. 1969
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
So prominent it became Garza County's earliest benchmark, this sandstone height was fixed in 1877–78 by the peg-legged surveyor Jasper Hays as he mapped the bounds of the Llano Ranch, the first property settlers occupied in the county. Tradition holds that a crew member who died was buried near the peak, giving it his name. Hays's original notes, recovered from Mason jars he buried on the summit, later anchored the surveys that laid out C. W. Post's farm colony—one landmark among a landscape of colorfully named local formations.
Why it matters
Duffy's Peak captures the gritty, improvisational work of frontier surveyors whose buried notebooks and hand-shot lines became the legal skeleton of West Texas land ownership.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
The late 1870s were a turning point on the Texas South Plains. The Red River War of 1874-75 had ended the Comanche and Kiowa hold on the region, and commercial hunters were destroying the great buffalo herds. The land along the Caprock, the steep escarpment where the High Plains drop to the rolling country below, was opening to ranchers and, eventually, settlers.
Before anyone could legally claim that land, someone had to measure it. Surveyors went out with chains, compasses, and notebooks into country that had few roads and fewer landmarks. Texas granted land to railroad companies to encourage construction, and those grants had to be surveyed as well. A prominent hill that could be seen from miles away was worth more to a surveyor than almost anything else.
A generation later came a different kind of settler. In the early 1900s the cereal magnate C. W. Post bought land in the area to build a planned farm colony and town. The work of those first surveyors turned out to be the foundation that his new community was laid out on.
People & events
The central figure here is Jasper Hays, a peg-legged surveyor who in 1877-78 was marking the boundaries of the Llano Ranch, the first property settlers occupied in what became Garza County. Surveying rough country is demanding work even with two good legs, and Hays did it anyway. He started from a corner set for the Houston and Great Northern Railroad Company near the White River in Crosby County and ran his line west toward this peak.
The peak became the county's earliest benchmark, a fixed point that other measurements could be tied to. Its name comes from a sad tradition: a member of Hays's crew is said to have died and been buried near the peak, which was afterward named for him. Because it is tradition and not documented record, the details of who he was and how he died remain unknown.
Hays also did something memorable with his notes. He buried them in Mason jars on the peak, and they were later dug up. Those records became the basis for later surveys, including A. L. Marhoff's 1906 work establishing the boundaries of the farm colony of C. W. Post, the Cereal King. The peak still figures in local land transactions today.
Its place in the American story
Much of the American West was built on surveys like Hays's. Before a ranch, farm, or town could exist on paper, someone had to set corners and run lines across unfamiliar ground. Those early measurements, often made in hard conditions, became the legal skeleton of land ownership that people still rely on generations later. Duffy's Peak shows that clearly, since notes buried on its summit still matter to property lines today.
The story also links two eras of settlement. First came the open-range ranch; then, a generation later, came a planned agricultural colony backed by one of the country's best-known businessmen. C. W. Post's venture reflects the early-twentieth-century push to turn the plains into farmland.
Finally, the landscape around the peak, with its colorfully named hills and vanished balanced rocks, is a reminder that the land itself is changing. The same wind and weather that shaped these sandstone and clay formations continue to wear them down.
If you visit
Duffy's Peak rises near Post, in the broken country below the Caprock. Once you see it, it is easy to understand why a surveyor would choose it as a benchmark: in open country, a prominent height is a natural reference point. Look at the layered sandstone, clay, and sand that make up this and the nearby formations.
The marker gives you a local vocabulary for the landscape: The Ice Cream Cones, Cow Head Mesa, Indian Head Point, The Chimneys, Two Bush Hill, The Devil's Breakfast Table, Needlepoint Peak, and Buffalo Point. It is fun to scan the horizon and guess which is which. Much of this land is likely private ranch property, so enjoy the views from public roads and do not trespass.
Pair the peak with a stop in Post itself, the town that grew from C. W. Post's farm colony. Together they tell a complete story, from a lone surveyor burying his notes in jars on a hilltop to the planned town that was later laid out using them.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Jasper Hays
- · C. W. Post
- · A. L. Marhoff
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Twin Chimneys
Post, TX
These twin peaks served as a surveyor's landmark in the nineteenth century, sighted from Duffy's Peak ten miles northeast. Jasper Hays, the earliest recorded surveyor here, used them in 1877–78 to chart the Llano Ranch — land later bought by cereal king C. W. Post — and to establish the base lines for section surveys. Using Hays's original field notes, engineer A. L. Marhoff resurveyed Post's purchase in 1906, including the section where the town of Post was founded in 1907.
J. M. Boren Home
Post, TX
Built in 1908 from lumber hauled 75 miles across the open plains, this home belonged to J. M. Boren — Garza County's first county judge, as well as a rancher, bank director, and civic leader. Its hospitality was well known to the pioneers and cowboys who passed through the young town of Post. The house reflects the determination it took to build a settled community on the West Texas frontier.
The Post-Hundley House
Post, TX
Cereal magnate Charles W. Post founded the town of Post as a model community, and this native-stone cottage — quarried by hand from the nearby Caprock and built by his Double U Company in 1907 — served as his residence during frequent visits. The design came from a staffer at his Battle Creek, Michigan headquarters. Later families preserved the structure through the twentieth century.
Verbena Community Church
Post, TX
Built in 1904, the Verbena Community Church replaced a simple brush arbor that had sheltered summertime services for settlers of every denomination. On the wind-scoured plains it doubled as a refuge during blizzards, with one rule for those who took shelter: chop enough wood to warm the next stranded traveler who might come after. It was recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1964.