Marrow Bone Spring

Duane's take

Here's the story as the official marker tells it: and it's one worth tellin' right. We're talking about Marrow Bone Spring, out in Tarrant County, and this place has a way of collecting history the way a good spring collects water; steadily, and for a long, long time. The marker takes us all the way back to the 1700s, maybe earlier, when this was an Indian habitat.

People had already figured out what any traveler in this country figures out fast: find water, and you've found something worth staying near. So this spring had been drawing people to it for generations before a single deed was ever recorded. Then comes 1843.

President Sam Houston (yes, that Sam Houston) sends envoys out to Marrow Bone Spring on a mission of peace. That's the kind of errand that doesn't make it into the history books often enough: men riding out not to fight, but to talk. Two years later, in 1845, a trading post licensed by the Texas Republic opens up right near that same spring.

The Republic of Texas putting its stamp of approval on commerce at this very spot. And before 1848, a man named Hiram Blackwell, out of the Peters Colony, has pioneered his way here and put down roots. Now, also in the neighborhood during the late 1840s, a soldier and statesman named Middleton Tate Johnson (born 1810, died 1866) posts troops nearby.

The spring is pulling people in like it always has. Then October 31st, 1851 (and yes, that is Halloween) Tarrant County gets its very first post office, opened at Johnson's Station. The first one.

Ever. The following year, 1852, Blackwell sells Johnson his rights to the land surrounding the spring, and just like that, the place has a name that's going to last. The Village of Johnson's Station flourishes for many years.

All of it (the peace missions, the trading, the troops, the mail) running right back to one spring that someone, way back in the 1700s or earlier, had the good sense to stop at.

What the marker says

An Indian habitat in the 1700s or earlier, Marrow Bone Spring in 1843 was visited by President Sam Houston's envoys seeking peace. A trading post licensed by the Texas Republic opened in 1845 near the Spring. Hiram Blackwell of the Peters Colony pioneered here before 1848. Soldier-statesman Middleton Tate Johnson (1810-1866) posted troops nearby in the late 1840s. The first Post Office in Tarrant County opened on Oct. 31, 1851, at Johnson's Station. In 1852 Blackwell sold Johnson his rights to land surrounding the spring. The Village of Johnson's Station flourished for many years. (1979)