Alll of the roads from Cllifton (and basically, there are about 4) that will get you over in the vicinity of Fairy, are lovely drives through what was once "early" Texas. One, the road through Norse, is dotted with original Norwegian style housing that has been standing for well over 150 years. Many of these places, though added onto are still lived in by descendants of the original builders. And no matter what season, the landscape is quiet lovely. Even in the throwse of it's current dryness, the cedars and oaks are as beautiful and green as if right after a spring rain, and the wonderful mix of mature prairie grasses, look like tiny explosive fireworks arching up through the sky.
Clifton and Norse were places that pioneers went to, to get to North Texas and points further west. And as such, they have very active histories of the tug between the settlers and the indians for who would keep the land. Even after the settlers won, there was still the struggle between the moralists and the landowners over who should best decide the fate of properties. And as such, places that used to just be descriptive names of the environment or maybe the name of a owners spread of land, eventually became the eventual names of communities. Gap is one of those places.
Gap is really a pass through a low slung stretch of hills. It is certainly no alpine mountain in the highlands, that is the only place to cross a mountain range, but it is a place where settlers could save a days ride around a hill, all the while being somewhat safe in being high enough up to see who was in front of you and who was behind you. Gaps also afforded at least two look outs - one on either side - so that if you got there first, you could control the comings and goings into a place. So it was at Gap.
There are probably lots of olden burgs with "Gap" in the name, but among the most notable are: Cranfillls Gap (http://www.next1000.com/
, Pecan Gap (http://tshaonline.org/
One such place was "the Gap" - Thirteen miles North East of Hamilton, this small gap in a set of low rising hills was used by Indians and settlers alike. Like many places, it's earlier name was simply a notation of it's physical presence. It was a place to go, whether herding cattle or sheep, or on your way to another place, or in many cases, a sign of settlement.
As such, "the Gap" eventually took on the name of "Martin's Gap". It was a place where a settler named James Martin managed to take an oxcart through the "Gap". This is significant in that it indicated that settlers could use this route to haul increasingly larger loads of commerce from point A to point B. Being able to go through "Martin's Gap", indicated the size of a load that could be carried as well as what kinds of transportation could be used to traverse it. (It's akin to road signs that say "Load Zoned Bridge - ? Pounds" so that early commerce haulers would know whether or not a bridge would be safe to haul things over).
Traveling to (what is today known as Fairy) one will find a marker that reads:
It is somehow appropriate that there is little information available on Fairy Fort. Born the fifth child after four brothers - she was the daughter of Battle Fort - Mississippi native, lawyer, Confederate officer and Mississippi Governor.
(Captain Battle Fort: http://freepages.genealogy.
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