Along the Texas Forts Trail

Published: November, 1997  Pages: 112  Features: Map. 12 illus. Bib. Index.

“You don’t curl up with this book—you get in your car with it and start driving… We set out one blustery March morning to trace the northernmost section of the Texas Forts Trail beginning at Jacksboro. The drive northwest from Dallas grew downright scenic once we reached Bridgeport, and soon thereafter began to reveal some of the prettiest Texas hill country north of Kerrville… Eight outposts are included in the Texas Forts Trail, one of ten Texas Travel Trails designated by the state Highway Department… It is easy to lose yourself in the excellent descriptions of frontier life-and-death in this dandy little guidebook… The spell climaxed for me at twilight when I suddenly crested a long rising curve and found myself at Fort Phantom Hill somewhere north of Abilene. Sixteen crumbling limestone chimneys, standing like the remains of an ancient Druid shrine, caught the last golden light of a day I’ll long remember. The day I discovered that history can be fun. And you can too. All you need is a copy of Along Texas Forts Trail, a covered wagon, and a dependable team—uhm, make that a station wagon and a full tank of gas.” —R. H. Stewart Mitchell, Texas Books in Review more... about Along the Texas Forts Trail