MONOGRAPHS OF KINNEY COUNTY’S ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE: Las Moras Spring, Part 2

Editor’s Note: The story of Las Moras Spring continues from last week’s Kinney County Post, tracing the spring’s role in the establishment of Fort Clark and its enduring place in the history of our community.

This bi-weekly feature examines the enduring unique architecture to be found here in Kinney County by spotlighting individual buildings and providing brief histories, complimented by period photographs. Our intent is to explore the past, inspire the present, and build the future by showcasing the remarkable associations and legacies of structures which have stood the test of time and continue to contribute so much to the exceptional heritage of Kinney County. Our next subject is “Las Moras Spring” included in the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 as part of the Fort Clark Historic District.

The failure of the Hays-Highsmith Expedition prompted a smaller U.S. Government expedition lead by  U.S. Army Lieutenants William H. C. Whiting and William F. Smith. Their return journey from El Paso  to San Antonio, by a more southerly route, brought them inevitably to Las Moras Spring. Whiting wrote,  “May 18, 1849 – A march of 8 miles today brought us to the Las Moras spring. This hidden in a dense  grove of pecan and mulberries, is the head of the Las Moras river.” Upon his return to San Antonio a week later, Whiting recommend to Department of Texas commander Brevet Brigadier General William  Selby Harney that the southern route was the most practical for a wagon road.  

Within days the largest wagon train in U.S. history, up until that time, departed San Antonio with the  mission to build a road through the trackless unknown beyond the Leona (Uvalde). This great  government train’s “March to El Paso” was commanded by Colonel Joseph E. Johnston. Johnston’s  assistant quartermaster, Captain Samuel Gibbs French, wrote the official report of the 100-day journey.  French observed, “The next stream of note is the Las Moras, which takes its rise below the road. Its  waters, gushing out from the springs, form at once a large creek. Trees line its banks as far as the eye  can reach. To the north rises a conical hill that may be seen many miles distant, and is known as "Las  Moras mound." Formerly this stream was much resorted to by the Indians, and large, well-beaten trails  are now seen following down its course.” 

Also with Johnston’s great train was Major William Seaton Henry, of the 3d Infantry, and his family.  Throughout the expedition Henry sent letters to the Spirit of the Times, a popular New York newspaper,  which vividly informed the reader of Henry’s impressions of the journey: On the 30th [of June] our  march was taken up, and after a march of 11 miles we encamped at the Las Moras. The country has  become much more open--fewer trees are visible; passed over many lime stone ridges, and we feel by  the coolness of the atmosphere that we are attaining an additional elevation. We have left the range of  mountains which for two days we saw presented a new feature. We encamped at the head spring of the  Las Moras. A few yards below the spring, the river is a bold running stream. It is a tributary of the Rio  Grande. Its banks at this point are covered with an almost impenetrable thicket; the sycamore, elm, and  oak are found, some of them growing to an immense size. The country in the vicinity is rolling, and the  grazing capital. It was decidedly the most beautiful encampment we have had thus far.” 

The following summer an even larger government train arrived to corral hundreds of wagons at Las  Moras Spring. The commander, Brevet Major John T. Sprague, recorded in his journal: “Friday, July  5th, 1850 - At 9 ½ A.M. we reached Las Moras, where was encamped the Train destined for El Paso.  The road was excellent, the country barren Prairie. This is an excellent camping ground, it is at the  head of a stream some twenty feet wide, which rises from Springs, and empties into the Rio Grande,  about twenty miles distant, running through a narrow rich bottom. The ground here is quite elevated,  grass is good and abundant. Coacooche, or Wild Cat, came into my camp today with his band of fifty  Kickapoo warriors, twenty Seminoles, and many Negroes. The whole band numbered about one hundred  and fifty souls. Gopher John was along as Interpreter. He said he was on his way to Fort Duncan. The  train is making preparations to move on the 10th inst. Mr. Coons is still in the rear with twenty  wagons.” 

Fort Clark was established June 20, 1852 when two companies of the 1st Infantry commanded by Major  Joseph H. LaMotte and an advance guard from the Regiment of Mounted Rifles occupied the site. The  post was originally named Fort Riley, but was changed to Fort Clark on July 15, 1852 to honor Major  John B. Clark, who had died during the Mexican War. The formal U.S. Government lease of the land  was made on July 30, 1852 with Samuel A. Maverick, at $50/month, for a period not to exceed twenty  years. It was in that same year that Oscar B. Brackett established a supply and stage stop outside the  fort’s northern boundary on the busy Military Road between San Antonio/El Paso.  

Again we are offered an early description of the site by an observant emigrant, “We are now at Las  Moras, whereon stands the Fort. The little creek, as clear as crystal and icy cold, like a nestled jewel,  rises to the light of day, out of a black calcareous loam, in the midst of giant pecan and oak trees; and  winds its way—a dozen paces wide, several feet deep and full of fish—to the Rio Grande.”

On Oct. 31, 1854, Lieut. Edmund Kirby Smith, 7th U.S. Infantry; Commander, U.S. Boundary  Commission Escort wrote, “I am now camped on a clear, limpid stream of crystal water which heads  but a few yards above in a magnificent spring. A grove of venerable oaks overshadows my tent,  furnishing a canopy of green and luxuriant foliage, while the waters rippling and murmuring over their  pebbly bed, reflect in varied light, the rapid and graceful movements of the bass and trout sporting in  their silvery home. You would laugh at my vagaries were I to tell you that this is the last jumping-off  place of civilization. Yet indeed, so it is considered; and Fort Clark on Las Moras, looking west toward  the bleak plains and trackless wastes of the Rio Grande is the last point on the great highway to El  Paso where the face of a white man greets the emigrant on his tedious route.” 

Thousands of years after their disappearance from Texas, camels once again drank the sweet waters of  Las Moras Spring in the dusk of June 30, 1857. The U.S. Camel Corps, in route to California from  Camp Verde, Texas, encamped overnight at the spring with their curious animals and refreshed  themselves by bathing in its cool waters. U.S. Army Captain Randolph B. Marcy advised in his 1859  best-selling handbook for American pioneers, The Prairie Traveler, pilgrims could expect to find Las  Moras Spring 123½ miles from San Antonio, where there was … good grass, wood, and water. Road  level and good. The stagecoach fare on the mail line from San Antonio to Fort Clark was $52 and the  passengers were guaranteed in their tickets to ride in the coaches.  

For a generation after establishment of Fort Clark water barrel carts were driven into the spring to be  filled and then delivered to barracks and quarters on the post. In 1893, the Secretary of War allocated  $1,750 to install a boiler steel cistern to enclose the main spring. The plank pier extending into the  spring seen in many photographs goes to this cistern. No plans have been found of the wall built to  enclose the spring, which is believed to have been constructed in 1902. A visionary soldier with  authority, whose identity is now lost to history, determined to change the natural circular shape of the  spring and create gently curving walls which gave the site the appearance of a pond. 

The 1928 inspector general report for Fort Clark was highly critical of the condition of the spring. “Las  Moras Springs are now in a very unsatisfactory condition, due to heavy growth of vegetation and  because of the presence of fish. This notwithstanding the fact that $300.00 was recently allotted to the  Quartermaster to clean the springs. This work was reported to have been completed on June 21st, 1928.  The spring basin, covering an area of approximately one acre of ground, has a flood gate which was  originally equipped with baffle boards to prevent fish and turtles from entering the basin from  downstream in Las Moras Creek. It was noted that the baffle boards had been removed and several gars  and turtles were seen in the basin. The Growth of vegetation which covers the deepest part of the  springs (14 feet), in which the suction intakes of pumps are installed, provides an excellent breeding  place for fish of all kinds. It is know now that the water from the source of these springs is not potable,  and the condition described undoubtedly causes further contamination. It is recommended that  immediate action be taken to clean out all vegetation in the spring basin and that after the basin is  thoroughly cleaned the flood gate baffle boards be reinstalled to prevent fish, eels, et cetera, from  entering the basin from Las Moras Creek.” 

In 2013 the Texas Historical Commission recognized the significance of Las Moras Spring with the  issuance of an Undertold Stories Historical Marker which encapulates the history of the spring for future  generations. Any soldier who ever served at Fort Clark had a fond memory of Las Moras Spring as a  peaceful place to escape the tedium of soldiering. Today, Las Moras Spring continues to nourish and  sustain human existance in an otherwise harsh land, still drawing mankind to its cool waters, while  creating a unique ecosystem for diverse flora and fauna. Its waters are life, as they have always been and a popular and inviting place for picnics, walks in the shade, or the photographers camera, where most  memories of Fort Clark begin. 


Editor’s Note: Last week, Part 1 of our Las Moras Spring feature traced the spring’s remarkable history through centuries of Native American presence, Spanish exploration, early settlement and the opening of routes west. This week, Part 2 picks up in the mid-1800s, as military expeditions and wagon trains increasingly made their way to the spring and Fort Clark was established along its banks in 1852. Accompanied by a collection of historic photographs, this installment follows Las Moras through the Fort Clark era and explores how the spring was used, altered and preserved through the generations — while remaining at the heart of the community.

Monographs of Kinney County’s Architectural Heritage is written by Bill Haenn, FCHC Senior Historian. Fort Clark Heritage Council is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, established in 2023, to advocate for the preservation and protection of the architecture and other historic resources in the Fort Clark National Register Historic District for the benefit  of the visiting public and future generations, providing for the advancement and strengthening of heritage tourism initiatives by growing recognition of and visitation to the Fort Clark Historic District and being committed to endorsing and promulgating the rich history of Fort Clark by expanding upon related educational and research efforts. Find this article and more online at  KinneyCountyPost.com