DUANE
Duane's take
The way the official marker tells it, here's what happened at Buffalo Springs in Clay County — and it's a story this ground has been sitting on for a long, long time. A landmark as early as 1849 — before most of Texas even knew it was Texas in the modern sense — this spot was already on the map. Buffalo hunters knew it.
They stopped here to water up, rest their bones, and push on into country that did not forgive the unprepared. That's the kind of place Buffalo Springs was: not glamorous, but necessary. The kind of place that keeps you alive.
Then the United States Army took notice. In July of 1867, this site was proposed as the location of a permanent Army post. Permanent.
That word carries some weight, doesn't it. The Army looked out over these springs and said, yes — this is where we plant our flag and stay. Only, the land had other opinions.
By November 19, 1867 — barely four months later — the post was abandoned. Lack of water and timber, the record says. The very thing that drew the buffalo hunters here wasn't enough to sustain a full military operation.
And so, just seven days after that abandonment — November 26, 1867 — Fort Richardson on Lost Creek was established instead. Seven days. The Army didn't linger in disappointment.
Buffalo Springs, though, didn't just fade away after that. It kept working. It served as a stage stand and camp ground between Fort Richardson and Fort Sill, sitting right on that line between two posts, a reliable stop in unreliable country.
Then came July 12, 1874. A battle broke out here between Indians and George W. Stevens, Captain of Texas Rangers.
The Springs that had watered hunters and soldiers and stage travelers now witnessed something harder. Captain Stevens and his Rangers met that fight right here on this ground. The State of Texas erected a marker at this site in 1936 — because some places deserve to be remembered, not just passed through.
Buffalo Springs has been both a beginning and an ending, a waypoint and a battleground. The land outlasted every plan anyone made for it.
What the marker says
A landmark as early as 1849. Watering place for buffalo hunters. Site of a proposed permanent United States Army post, July, 1867. Abandoned due to lack of water and timber, November 19, 1867, and Fort Richardson on Lost Creek was established instead, November 26, 1867. Served as a stage stand and camp ground between that post and Fort Sill. Scene of battle, July 12, 1874, between Indians and George W. Stevens, Captain of Texas Rangers. Erected by the State of Texas 1936