When you think of early Texans, you might picture cowboys or settlers, but long before them—thousands of years ago—this land was home to some of the earliest humans in North America.

Beginning in the late 1920s, Abilene doctor and amateur archaeologist Cyrus N. Ray searched the creek banks around Abilene and found stone tools buried deep in the soil.

He believed they belonged to a very ancient people he called “Abilene Man.” Later archaeologists did not accept his early dates, but his work helped launch what became the Texas Archeological Society.

People have lived in Texas far longer than anyone once imagined. The earliest hunters here tracked mammoths, giant bison, and other Ice Age creatures across the plains.

Their survival depended on their skill in making weapons, their knowledge of the land, and their ability to adapt to a harsh, ever-changing environment.

Standing here today, it’s hard to imagine a time when massive ice sheets covered North America and early humans hunted with handcrafted spears and flint knives. But the evidence remains—buried beneath the soil, waiting to tell its story.

Fun Fact: The steakhouse beside you, Perini Ranch Steakhouse, opened in 1983 and was named a James Beard Foundation “America’s Classic” in 2014.

The landscape may have changed, but history is still all around us. Now, let’s visit a place where some of Buffalo Gap’s earliest settlers found their final resting place—the Buffalo Gap Cemetery.