Dickens Springs

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker at Dickens Springs has to say — and friend, this one's got layers older than the canyon itself. Now, before there was a Dickens, before there was a Texas, before there was anybody keepin' records of anything — there was water. At one time, water covered this entire area.

And the rock that remained after all that ancient sea pulled back? Sandstone. Porous, patient sandstone.

The kind that lets water seep right through it, so that when those exposed strata sit at the canyon rims, they form a natural drainage outlet for the upland aquifers hiding underneath. Which means these springs didn't just appear by accident. The geology of this place has been quietly, steadily doing its job for longer than anyone can reckon.

The springs sit at the head of a canyon ravine, just below the Upper Prairie Region of the Rolling Plains. And that location — right there at the edge of the uplands, where the land drops away and the water comes out — made it a favored human habitat since the earliest human occupation in this region. Many nomadic tribes used this site.

They left behind what the marker calls a wealth of archeological evidence. Tools. Signs of life.

Proof that people recognized something worth stopping for. Now fast-forward — way, way forward — to late 1883. That's when John A.

Askins and his family settled near these springs. Pioneers in the area took to callin' the place Askins Springs, after the family that had put down roots right there beside the water. Then along comes 1891, and with it a character worth savoring.

A traveling real estate developer by the name of Dr. M. S.

Crow. Now, a traveling real estate developer arriving at a remote Texas spring is the kind of setup that ought to make you sit up a little straighter around this campfire. Dr.

Crow arrived here in 1891, and the marker is careful with its words — it calls him a driving force in the organization of the town of Dickens, which was laid out about a half-mile west of the Askins land. That same year, he stood up and gave a speech. He declared his intent to give ten acres around the springs to the town of Dickens.

He had taken to callin' them Crow Springs — as you do when you are a traveling real estate developer with a flair for the declarative. But here's the thing about names. The town didn't call them Crow Springs.

That new city park became known as Dickens Springs. And Dickens Springs it has remained. Generations of Dickens citizens and tourists came here for picnics and social gatherings, drawn by what the marker describes as rugged and colorful scenery and a unique collection of plants.

In 1978, the departments of Anthropology and of Park Management at Texas Tech University made an intensive survey of the land surrounding the springs. They uncovered a variety of ancient tools — rarely of local origin, the marker notes, which is itself a quiet little mystery — but they also found that many artifacts had already been lost to souvenir hunters. The past is a fragile thing when too many hands reach for it.

And yet the springs endure. Into the twenty-first century, Dickens Springs continues to provide water and beauty to modern visitors, just as it did for the nomadic peoples of the past. The geology hasn't changed.

The canyon is still there. The water still comes. Some places just have a way of keeping people coming back.

This is one of them.

What the marker says

At one time, water covered this area. Sandstone, the prominent rock around this site, is porous, causing exposed strata at canyon rims to form a natural drainage outlet for upland aquifers, making possible the existence of these springs. Situated at the head of a canyon ravine immediately below the Upper Prairie Region of the Rolling Plains, the ancient springs have been a favored human habitat since the earliest human occupation in this region. Many nomadic tribes have used the site, leaving behind a wealth of archeological evidence. John A. Askins and his family settled near these springs in late 1883, and it became known to pioneers as Askins Springs. A traveling real estate developer called Dr. M. S. Crow arrived here in 1891 and was a driving force in the organization of the town of Dickens about a half-mile west of the Askins land. In 1891 he gave a speech proclaiming his intent to give ten acres around "Crow Springs," as he called them, to the town of Dickens. The new city park became known as Dickens Springs. Generations of Dickens citizens and tourists, attracted by the rugged and colorful scenery and the unique collection of plants, have visited this site for picnics and social gatherings. In 1978 the departments of Anthropology and of Park Management at Texas Tech University made an intensive survey of the land surrounding Dickens Springs. Though many artifacts were lost to souvenir hunters, the university workers uncovered a variety of ancient tools, rarely of local origin. In the 21st century, Dickens Springs continues to provide water and beauty to the area for modern visitors as it did for the nomadic peoples of the past. (2000)