DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says, right here in Nacogdoches County. Now, there are stories carved in stone all across Texas, and then there are stories that go a little deeper than stone — stories that start with a staff, a rock shelf, and a man who'd already spent nearly fifty years walking dusty trails for the sake of his faith. Father Antonio Margil de Jesus was born in Valencia, Spain, in 1657.
He came to the New World in 1683, and from there, he never really stopped moving. He was a Franciscan missionary, and he gave almost fifty years of his life to the Indians of Central and North America. Before he ever set foot in East Texas, he had already founded three Catholic colleges.
Three. That's not a man who did things halfway. In 1716, he joined the Domingo Ramon Expedition to East Texas, and he got to work.
He established three missions in the region, including Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe — right here at what is now Nacogdoches. A long way from Valencia. But East Texas had something waiting for him.
A severe drought set in beginning in 1717. Crops failed. And one by one, many of the Indians left the mission.
You can imagine what that felt like — all that work, all those miles, and now the land itself seemed to be turning away. Then comes the part the marker calls tradition, and tradition has a way of carrying truth in it even when the details blur at the edges. In the summer of 1718, Father Margil was led by a vision.
Led to a point near this very site, where the bed of La Nana Creek made a sharp bend. And there, standing before an overhanging rock shelf, he struck it with his staff. A stream of water gushed forth.
Some accounts say he made two openings in the rock. Two. And those two openings became known as the Eyes of Father Margil — los ojos.
The eyes that looked up out of the dry earth when everything else had gone dark. The Indians were inspired. And when a relief expedition finally arrived, they found conditions at the mission greatly improved.
Father Margil kept going, the way he always had. In 1720, he founded Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo in San Antonio. He died in Mexico City.
The year was 1726. The spring he struck from the rock — what came to be called the Holy Spring — is dry now, except when the rains come heavy enough to remind it of what it once was. But that's the thing about a story like this one.
The water can run dry. The marker says so plainly. What it also says is that the spring symbolizes the faith and endurance of the Spanish missionaries.
And symbols, unlike springs, don't need rain to keep flowing. Two openings in a rock shelf, somewhere near the bend of La Nana Creek. The Eyes of Father Margil.
Still watching.
What the marker says
A Franciscan missionary who spent almost 50 years with the Indians of Central and North America, Father Antonio Margil de Jesus (1657-1726) was born in Valencia, Spain, and came to the New World in 1683. He founded three Catholic colleges before joining the Domingo Ramon Expedition to East Texas in 1716. He established three missions in this region, including Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe at present Nacogdoches. A severe drought, which began in 1717, ruined crops and caused many Indians to leave the mission. In the summer of 1718, according to tradition, Father Margil was led by a vision to a point near this site where the bed of La Nana Creek made a sharp bend. There he struck the overhanging rock shelf with his staff, and a stream of water gushed forth. Some accounts say that he made two openings in the rock, which became known as "The Eyes of Father Margil." This miraculous event inspired the Indians, and a relief expedition later found conditions at the mission greatly improved. In 1720, Father Margil founded Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo in San Antonio. He died in Mexico City. "The Holy Spring," now dry except during very rainy weather, symbolizes the faith and endurance of the Spanish missionaries. (1978)