Saint Jo, Texas checks a lot of boxes. It’s a small town with some of the loveliest views to be found in North Texas, and it has a unique history. The first pioneers were searching for gold, but didn’t find any. Saint Jo sits in Montague County, and is near the Elm fork of the Trinity River, so the earliest settlers called it Head of Elm. The Register ran a profile of a man who had lived in Saint Jo for most of his life, and had seen some interesting things. D.L. Dowd, according to the Register, put up a two story house in Saint Jo, the very first frame house the town ever had.
As time went on, Mr. Dowd served four terms as mayor of Saint Jo, and was elected Justice of the Peace. Mr. Dowd also hauled the first roller mill in the area in an ox wagon from Sherman to Henrietta, Texas. A roller mill is a tool used to make flour and it’s an advancement of the millstone. It first separates the seed from the husk and then the second set of rolls crushes the grist. Mr. Dowd and his team of oxen were busy. They hauled buffalo hides to Sherman, where they were sold for $2 a hide. Mr. Dowd also worked alongside J.D. Bellah to get the Katy railroad through Montague County, and 300 citizens of Saint Jo pitched in $12,000 to construct the line, which is a testament to the strength of the community at that time.
Saint Jo can boast a connection to the Chisolm Trail- it was the last stop in Texas on the cattle route to Abilene, Kansas. These were also the days of Indian raids, and many groups of US soldiers camped in this area of the Elm fork. The settlers were deeply grateful for the protection they provided from the Comanche, Kiowa, and Wichita Indians. Mr. Dowd would have witnessed all of this occur, and surely had many fascinating stories to tell. Thankfully, in 1937, the Register recounted a small piece of his story as an old man and his impact on Saint Jo is preserved.
This project is made possible by grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission and with the help of UNT Libraries.
Gainesville Daily Register Digitization Project 