Saint Jo is the oldest town in Montague County. It was founded in 1849 and was originally called Head of Elm because of its proximity to the headwaters of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River.

 

In 1873, the town was surveyed and its boundaries defined. Saint Jo was named after Joseph Anderson Howell, one of the surveyors and part owner of the property where the town was established.

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According to some historians, Howell's partner, Captain Irby Holt Boggess named the town after Joseph, his teetotaler friend, although other accounts tell a different story. Just another tale of the old west yet to be solved! The rolling hills and Red River valley found around the Saint Jo area create a unique terrain that provides scenic views and gorgeous sunsets! The combination of open fields with large trees and thick woods offer great habitat for white tail deer and other wildlife.

  

In the late 1800s, Saint Jo was a hub of commerce, supply and libation. Before crossing the Red River, Cowboys and trail drivers pushing cattle north up the famed Chisolm Trail, could make their last stop in Texas to re-supply and have a drink at the Stonewall Saloon which still stands today as a museum.

 

The millions of cattle and the Cowboys who tended them were a part of the greatest livestock migration the world has ever seen. The images that made the American Cowboy and life on the open range famous are an integral part of Saint Jo's western heritage!