Grierson Spring, TX
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
31d 7' 30.92"N; 101d 39' 43.91W
Grierson Spring is a historic seep spring located in the southwestern part of Reagan County, Texas, approximately 12.5 miles southwest of the community of Big Lake, and is part of the eastern tributary arrangement of Live Oak Draw, itself a part of the Pecos River drainage system.
The small spring now shows limited, seasonal flow only in wet years, but, before settlement of the area, was the only permanent water in Reagan County and the surrounding area. It was used extensively by prehistoric peoples and by the Jumano, Apache, and Comanche in historic times, remaining unknown and undiscovered by whites until late in Texas' history. This, in spite of the spring being located less than 20 miles south of the Upper Road of the Gold Rush days of the early 1850s, part of which became the Butterfield Overland Stage road, established in 1857, then becoming the celebrated Goodnight-Loving Trail, which saw heavy use after the Civil War.
The Handbook of Texas Online identifies it as being on a direct line between forts Concho and Stockton, and, after its discovery over the winter of 1877–78, Col. Benjamin Grierson, commandant at Ft. Concho and head of the District of the Pecos, established a telegraph maintenance office and subpost at that location, rerouting the existing Ft. Concho-to-Ft. Stockton telegraph through the well-watered draw, the spring of which subsequently received his name. The re-routing of the line and road cut 15 miles from the existing stage route, supply road, and telegraph line between the forts and provided a strategic maintenance post for the telegraph line where none was before, ensuring that it stayed in operation.
The subpost, consisting of a number of limestone buildings and corrals, was built, occupied, and maintained by detachments of Buffalo soldiers from the 16th, 24th, and 25th Infantry and the 10th Cavalry from the time of its construction in 1878 until its abandonment in September 1882; however, before being closed, the subpost, the telegraph line, and the supply road that was rerouted through it contributed materially to the US Army's 1879–1880 campaign against the Apache warrior, Victorio, and his followers. The road continued to be used for many years thereafter by area settlers and others passing through on their way west.
Now located on private land, the once notably-beautiful facilities have been in ruins for many years, and the site is no longer accessible to the public.
