Fort Elliott Flagpole
Mobeetie, Wheeler County, Texas
Marker Inscription
First stood about a mile to the northwest, at Fort Elliott, established 1875 to protect the Texas Panhandle from Indians. J. J. Long, teamster-merchant, who arrived with the soldiers, was hired to provide a flagpole for the fort. In cedar breaks near Antelope Hills, 30 miles away, he cut two huge trees and hauled them here by wagon to build this 50-foot pole. After Fort Elliott closed in 1890, Long bought the pole and placed it in front of his store. Later, at Mobeetie school for 20 years; it was erected here 1949. (1966)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When Fort Elliott was established in 1875 to secure the Texas Panhandle, teamster-merchant J. J. Long was hired to supply its flagpole. He cut two great cedar trees in the breaks near Antelope Hills, thirty miles away, hauled them by wagon, and fashioned this fifty-foot pole. After the fort closed in 1890 Long bought the pole for his store, and it later stood at the Mobeetie school for two decades before being raised again here in 1949.
Why it matters
A humble flagpole becomes a relic of frontier military life and the ingenuity of the traders who followed the Army onto the plains.
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Related people
- · J. J. Long
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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Established in June 1875, Fort Elliott was among the last military posts built in Texas as the U.S. Army sought to force Indigenous peoples off the Panhandle plains. Around its walls sprang up Mobeetie, a rough rendezvous for buffalo hunters and traders, until the fort was abandoned in 1889 and the frontier era it enforced drew to a close.
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