DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Howard's Well, out here in Crockett County. Now, some places earn their history slow — one quiet decade at a time. And then there are places like Howard's Well, where history seems to find its way there on its own, again and again, like it can't help itself.
The marker puts this spot nineteen miles to the southeast, and it says the well was first known to civilized men back in the 18th century. The way the legend goes — and the marker is careful to call it a legend — a Franciscan Padre named Alvarez was out in this hard, dry country, thirsty enough to pray about it. He put down his staff, and a spring gushed right up out of the ground.
Whether you believe it or not, that's the story that came down through the years. Fast forward to 1848. The US Government wanted a wagon road mapped from San Antonio to El Paso, and they sent out an expedition to do it under Colonel John Coffee Hays.
Among the men making that journey was Richard A. Howard of San Antonio — an ex-Texas Ranger. Howard rode with the expedition along with other men and fifteen Delaware Indian guides.
It was Howard who rediscovered that well out in the western reaches, and that is how it got his name on the map. The well was a genuine find, a mercy in that country. But even with it, the expedition couldn't press on.
They turned back in a state of near-starvation. The road to El Paso would have to wait. It didn't wait long.
In 1849, the US Army went out and made its maps of the route — and this time, Richard Howard came along as a guide. He knew where the water was. And that same year, the forty-niners were moving through in numbers, California-bound, chasing gold.
Howard's Well sat right on the line of march. By 1853, the first regular mail line between San Antonio and El Paso was routed by way of the well. So were many later ventures, the marker says.
It was a crossroads that kept on crossroadin'. But here is where the story gets heavy, and it deserves to be told straight. The marker notes that although white travelers seldom caught sight of them, Indians frequented the well.
This was their country too, and that water drew people of every kind. On April 20, 1872, Comanches and Kiowas surprised a large wagon train at that spot. The wagon train was led by a man named Gonzales.
In the attack, sixteen persons were killed. Sixteen. The marker says this was one of the events that led the US Government to cancel hunting permits for reservation Indians.
A spring that a padre prayed into existence. A well that saved a failing expedition and fed a generation of gold-seekers. A stopping place on the first mail road west.
And the site of a deadly ambush on an April day in 1872. Howard's Well didn't just sit there in the desert. It was a witness to everything that was moving through this country — and not all of it passed through peacefully.
What the marker says
(19 miles to the southeast) First known to civilized men in the 18th century, when, according to legend, Franciscan Padre Alvarez prayed for water to ease his thirst, put down his staff, and saw a spring gush forth from the ground. This landmark of western travel was named for its rediscoverer, Richard A. Howard of San Antonio, an ex-Texas Ranger. Howard and other men, along with 15 Delaware Indian guides, made up an expedition sent out in 1848 under Col. John Coffee Hays to map a wagon road from San Antonio to El Paso. Although aided by the discovery of the well, the expedition failed, turning back in a state of near-starvation. In 1849 the US Army made its maps of the route, with Howard along as a guide. Many forty-niners went this way to the California gold rush. In 1853 the first regular San Antonio to El Paso mail line was routed by way of the well. So were many later ventures. Although white travelers seldom caught sight of them, Indians frequented the well. There on April 20, 1872, Comanches and Kiowas surprised a large wagon train led by a man named Gonzales, and killed 16 persons. This was one of the events that led to the US Government's cancellation of hunting permits for reservation Indians. (1976)