Head of Elm (Saint Jo)
Saint Jo, Montague County, Texas
Marker Inscription
1849-Capt. Randolph B. Marcy U.S. Government Survey Trip; 1854-Capt. John Pope Surveying proposed Federal Railroad; 1855-U.S. 2nd Cavalry Under Col. Albert Sidney Johnson en route to establish Texas Frontier forts, reported settlement here; 1857-Col. James B. Llach Heading "corn train" to Fort Belknap; 1860-First U.S. Post Office John W. Womble Post Master; 1873-Saint Jo Founded On site by Capt. I.H. Boggess & I.A. Bowell. (1964)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Long before the town of Saint Jo was founded here in 1873, this spot at the head of Elm Creek was a landmark on the frontier crossed by government survey expeditions, a proposed federal railroad route, and the U.S. 2nd Cavalry under Albert Sidney Johnston marching to establish Texas frontier forts. A post office opened in 1860, and the site steadily grew from a waypoint into a permanent settlement.
Why it matters
As a crossroads for army surveyors, cavalry, and freight trains, Head of Elm marks how military reconnaissance and transportation routes opened the North Texas frontier to permanent settlement.
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Related people
- · Randolph B. Marcy
- · Albert Sidney Johnston
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Stonewall Saloon
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Built of native stone in 1873, the Stonewall Saloon was Saint Jo's first permanent building and a welcome rest stop for cowboys driving cattle up the trail through North Texas. After county prohibition arrived in 1897 it traded whiskey for ledgers, housing offices and a bank, and it was named for Confederate general "Stonewall" Jackson. Stuccoed in the 1930s and given a wooden facade in 1964, it still anchors the town square.
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Saint Jo began in the 1850s as "Head of Elm," a settlement at the headwaters of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River founded by hopefuls chasing rumors of gold. Its fortunes turned when the Chisholm Trail routed cattle drives through town around 1868, bringing stores, saloons, and a growing population. Renamed for pioneer Joe Howell — with "Saint" added, one story says, because he was a teetotaler — the town incorporated in 1886 and has held near 1,000 residents on farming and ranching ever since.
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