This red granite monument is on private property, but is easily observed from FM 455 as one approaches Forestburg from the south. Just be careful how you park, and stay on your side of the fence: The memorial is very easy to photograph, and any decent camera's telephoto lens will help to zoom right in.
The familiar shape of the state of Texas is in a darker red than the rest, and within it is a sign reading:
Chisholm Trail
Cattle Drive
1867 - 1887
Above the text is a pair of spurs, and flanking the sign are a pair of cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, with a cowboy on the other side. Below the text, in script, is "Nowhere but Texas". Just below the southern tip of the state is:
Texas Ranger Lieutenant Van Roberts
Killed by Indians 1867
Forestburg, Texas
On the plinth is:
Millions of Longhorn Cattle were driven
northward from Texas to railheads in Kansas
thru Montague County
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It's understood in Texas that if someone is referring to "Indians" they are referring to members of one of the indigenous tribes of North America, and not natives of the country of India.
Fannie Potter's ("Mrs. W.R. Potter") "History of Montague County," provides an account of the murder of Van Roberts. In the fall of 1867, Lieutenant Roberts and a group of rangers were attending a church service in what is now Forestburg, when someone came in and announced that their horses were being stolen by natives ("Indians" in the parlance of the time). Roberts and his men pursued the thieves, but unfortunately, when the natives stood their ground after Roberts and companion, Alec Frasier, dismounted to fight them, the other rangers fled. Under attack, Frasier managed to escape, but Roberts was killed and scalped after giving as good as he got. Mrs. Potter concludes her narrative with "Today he is sleeping in the graveyard near John McGee's." The John Magee referenced is probably John C. Magee, who is buried in Gainesville, but his son, John Scott Magee, is buried in the same cemetery as Lieutenant Roberts, Southward-Magee Cemetery.
It's possible that this monument is at the site of the killing, but Lieutenant Roberts is not buried here. This is only a memorial, both to Roberts and to those who rode the Chisholm Trail. One can pay their respects to Lieutenant Roberts at the Southward-Magee Cemetery, southwest of Forestburg, about a 2.3 mile drive from this site. Once abandoned and neglected, Southward-Magee has been cleaned up, headstones have been righted, supplemental plaques have been added to several graves, and a cemetery sign has been placed.
There appears to be some debate as to whether Lieutenant Roberts was actually a real Texas Ranger, or just a lieutenant in the local "rangers" who helped to ward off intrusions from natives, typically Comanche. This by no means undermines his contributions and sacrifice. In 2017, a Texas Rangers Memorial Cross was placed at his grave, so if he wasn't a Ranger in writing, he certainly was one in spirit.