DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about McKamy Spring, up in Dallas County. Now, before a single European or American settler ever set foot in Texas — before any of that — there was water. Cold, clean, above-ground water, bubbling up out of the earth in what we now call the Richardson area.
Native American tribes passed through and likely camped right around that spring. The Yoiuane — a tribe that would later be absorbed by the Tonkawa — were among the friendliest the settlers would eventually meet. The Comanche, the Kickapoo, the Seminoles, the Cherokee — tribes moving through North Texas may have stopped and drunk from that same water.
One of the few natural above-ground springs still in existence in the area, they say. Think about that. The land around you changes beyond recognition, and still the water comes up.
The early American settlement called Breckenridge came along and made frequent use of that spring — they knew it then as Bowser Spring. But then a railroad line was built nearby, and Breckenridge, well, it faded. The new town of Richardson rose up closer to the railroad, the way towns do when the iron and the steam start calling the shots.
By 1925, Richardson was officially incorporated, and the man they put in as its first Mayor was Thomas McKamy. Thomas Franklin McKamy was born in Carrollton in 1889. His family owned and operated a drug and general merchandise store right there in Richardson.
When his father died in 1907, McKamy and his brother stepped up and took over the business. That wasn't the end of his reach — McKamy expanded into ownership of other businesses in the area, and he came to serve in various positions in local government, working his way up to Mayor. And through all of it, that spring kept working.
McKamy drew from Bowser Spring to supply water to the drills used in constructing wells and other water systems for the town. When they built the US Highway 75 Central Expressway, the spring supplied water for the machinery in that construction too. This one little pocket of water, doing the quiet work of building a town and a highway both.
Later in life, McKamy purchased the land around the spring and built a home there — in 1953. And somewhere along the way, the spring that had been called Bowser Spring became known as McKamy Spring. But here's the thing that lands with me: Thomas McKamy himself placed a marker there at that spring to acknowledge the original Native Americans who likely used it long before any settler, long before any railroad, long before any highway or incorporated town or first mayor.
The water was there first. And McKamy, to his credit, made sure nobody forgot it.
What the marker says
Before any European or American settlers entered Texas, Native American tribes passed through the Richardson area and likely camped around what is now known as McKamy Spring. These tribes met with settlers, one of the friendliest being the Yoiuane (later absorbed by the Tonkawa), Comanche, Kickapoo, Seminoles and Cherokee around North Texas may have also used McKamy Spring, one of the few natural above-ground springs still in existence in the area. The early American settlement of Breckenridge, which preceded Richardson, made frequent use of the spring then known as Bowser Spring. After a railroad line was built nearby, Breckenridge faded away, as the new town of Richardson was built closer to the railroad. By 1925, the town became officially incorporated, with Thomas McKamy as its first Mayor. Thomas Franklin McKamy was born in Carrollton in 1889. His family owned and operated a drug and general merchandise store in Richardson. After his father’s death in 1907, McKamy and his brother took over the business. McKamy expanded into ownership of other businesses in the area. McKamy came to serve various positions in the local government, including Mayor. He drew from Bowser Spring to supply water to the drills in constructing wells and other eater systems in the town. The spring also supplied water for machinery in the construction of the US Highway 75 Central Expressway. He later purchased the land around the spring and built a home there in 1953. The spring became renamed as McKamy Spring, and Thomas McKamy himself placed a marker there to acknowledge the original Native Americans who likely used this spring. (2015)