Old Town of Camp Springs

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. The old town of Camp Springs, out here in Scurry County, carries a name that goes back to one W. H.

Camp, an early settler who dug himself a dugout in 1878, right there at the springs, half a mile northwest of where that marker stands. That's the kind of man who picks a spot and means it. Now, before we get too far down the road, let's talk about what the ground around here has given up over the years, because this land has been keeping secrets for a long, long time.

Petrified trees have been found in the area, one of them stretching out to three hundred feet. Three hundred feet. And bones of prehistoric animals, just waiting in the earth.

But it doesn't stop there. Tools and pictographs tucked into a nearby cave tell you that Native people made camp here too, long before any of the names we're about to mention ever rode through. The land remembers everybody.

Speaking of riding through, in 1849, Army Captain R. B. Marcy blazed an emigrant trail to California right through this region.

People headed west with their hopes packed tight, and this was the way they came. Then, in 1856, General Robert E. Lee followed part of that same trail, searching for hostile Comanches.

Both men, Marcy and Lee, years apart and on very different errands, made camp at Green Springs, six miles to the southwest. Same water, different worlds. The community kept growing quiet and steady, and by 1891 a post office had been established.

That's Camp Springs. Old, layered, and full of more story than most places ever get to hold.

What the marker says

Named for W. H. Camp, an early settler who built a dugout in 1878 at springs, one-half mile northwest of here. Petrified trees--one 300 feet tall--and bones of prehistoric animals have been found in area. Tools, pictographs in nearby cave indicate Indians camped here. Emigrant trail to California, blazed in 1849 by Army Captain R. B. Marcy, came through region. General Robert E. Lee followed part of same trail searching for hostile Comanches in 1856. Both men made camp at Green Springs, six miles southwest. Post office was established, 1891. (1967)