This
is a paper I presented to the Texas Folklore Society in Victoria, Easter
Weekend, 1994.
I
am not going to be able to tell you all there is to know about the naming
of Texas Springs, partly because I know only a portion of it and still
I know much more than I can tell you given the time limit we all have
for these papers. But I can get a lot said in the time I have. Like
Paul Patterson, I am not particularly fond of footnotes, so I will put
my sources up front. My primary source for the spring name information
is Gunnar Brune's Springs of Texas. Brune is primarily interested
in the springs themselves, their geology and flowrates. He provides
some information about names, but in a rather hit or miss fashion. I
suspect that when he had information about the naming, he gave it. But
he made no effort to find out when or how the springs were named. Occasionally
he would give information about early and later names of the springs.
And he and I both will talk about springs that no longer flow regularly
and maybe never did. He describes springs in three fourth of the state
of Texas. In addition, I got information about naming places from George
R. Stewarts 's Names on the Globe, a book about naming practices
for place names.
Stewart
emphasizes that place names like plant and animal names have generic
and specific components. The generic name of most springs in Texas in
English is springs. Some are, however, called by the singular
spring, others seep, well, hole, and water hole. In
Spanish, they are called ojos most commonly, but also, ojo, albercas,
charco, and tenaja. One spring, the largest in Texas,
now called Comal Springs, was called at one time just, Las
Fontanas, the fountains. One other generic once used in Texas was
quelle as in the spring in Austin county called Katzenquelle
or, in English, Cat Springs. Some spring names have a double
generic—Spring Lake Springs, Spring Hill Springs, Springville
Springs, Spring Grove Springs, and Spring Branch Springs. There
is also Water Hole Spring.
But
it is in looking at the specific names that I am most interested. As
you would guess, there are many names describing the spring itself.
There are names giving a general judgment about the quality of the water,
Pleasant Springs and Good Springs, and in Spanish,
Ojo Bonito, in Caddo, Yallo Busha. There are names
giving information about the temperature of the water, not always very
accurately according to Brune: they are Cool, Cold, Warm, and
Hot, and in Spanish Ojo Frio, Ojos Calientes, and Ojos
Calientes de los Indios.
There
are of course names describing the size of springs, but not many different
ones. Big is frequently used, often to compare a spring to
a smaller spring of the same name. Jumbo is used once but obviously
not for a contrast. Sometimes size is used in conjunction with another
specific, for example Big Indian Spring and Big Hill Spring.
The first is obviously used to contrast with a smaller stream named
simply Indian Spring. But with the second either the spring or the hill
could be big, more than likely it is the hill which is larger. In Spanish
the confusion is cleared by placing the diminutive on either the generic
for the smaller of the two springs, using ojita or ojito
or by placing it on the specific, for example Leonita or Labanilla,
meaning little lion and wolf or lion and wolf cubs. It is difficult
sometimes also to tell whether the name applied to a spring is derived
from a term describing the spring or the stream formed by its flow.
With Big Sandy being used for both a spring and a creek, is
it the creek which is being compared to a smaller one or the spring?
Names related to size of spring are directly related to the rate of
flow of the stream. Springs with little flow sometimes have the generic
names seep and chupadero. A strong flow rate is reflected
in such names as Charco Valiente, strong water hole. Other
names describing the flow of the water are Dripping Springs. Boiling
Springs, and Running Water Springs. Related to these are
names describing the sound of the springs —Roaring Springs,
Rumbling Springs, and Ruidosa Hot Springs. Ruidosa meaning
noisy.
There are also names describing the shape of springs Cove, Cave,
Botella and Comal. There are Round, Redondo,
and Chargo Largo, translated by Brune as long.
There
are names describing the taste, and the related mineral content of the
water, Sweet Springs and Sour ones. There is a Sweetwater
Springs. There are Sulphur, Saline, Salt, Sal viejo, Salado,
and Soda Springs. There are even Oil, Amargosa and
chalybeate. Brune emphasizes that these names often do not accurately
describe the quality of the water now. There are more generic names
about the minerals of the water: Mineral, Medicine, and one
combined with an Indian name, Shawnee Medicine Springs. One
springs is called Headache because its water is supposed to
be good for a headache. Another is called Naptha and also One
Minute because it causes diarrhea so quickly.
There
are names describing the appearance of the water Crystal and
Los Ojelos, (sparkling), and the color of the water, White
Springs, Blue Hole, Yellow Springs, Red Lick Springs, Aqua Verde Springs,
and Gold Springs. And more generically Paint, and
Big Paint, and agua pintado. And one of the more interesting
Ojo de Berrendo, probably translated as stained or two color
spring.
There
are names describing the number of openings in the springs—Double,
Twin Sisters, Three, and Seven sisters. There is a spring
that is named 77. But it is named not for the number of outlets
but for the ranch where it is located. Related to this is numbering
by relative location, Primero, Ten Mile And Eight Mile. Also there are
names describing relative location of springs—Albercas de
arriba and Albercas de abajo—upper and lower springs.
There is even an Agua adentro Springs, the inner water springs.
Not
surprisingly, there are names describing the material surrounding the
outlet. Some are natural—Rock Springs, Sandy and
Big Sandy, Sandstone, Mud and Muddy, Boggy and its
Spanish equivalent, Cienaga. And some are manmade—Old
Brick, Barrel, Pipe, Trough, and Horse Trough.
Springs
are even named according to how difficult they are to find—Secret
Springs and Charco escondido.
Equally
interesting are names which mention things associated with the springs,
often by their proximity. I'll begin and rush through the many which
are named by landscape words—often generic place names themselves—Mountain
Springs, Canyon Springs, Valley Springs, Rock Springs, Bluff Springs,
Mounds Springs, and Prairie Springs, and in Spanish Charco
del Monte and al Monte, and partly in Spanish, Torres
Springs and LLano Springs. And there are names with the
generic qualified—Box Canyon, Valley View, Ball Knob, Deep
Lake, Paint Bluff and Paint Rock, Sand Hill, Box Canyon, Hay Meadow,
Iron Bluff, and in Spanish Cuevas Amarillas. Some are
metaphorical—Backbone.
Springs
can also be named after another nearby water source—Red River
Springs and Head of Elm Spring, named after the Elm fork
of the Trinity River.
Some
of the names have dropped the second generic. So instead of Capote Peak
Springs, we have only Capote Springs. A caped or cloaked mountain
makes sense, but it is meaningless for a spring. There is also a Tapado
Springs, what is closed we can't be sure, but certainly not the
Springs. One of the oddest name associated with the local landscape
is Charco de Anagua, water hole of the waterless land.
Other
natural features the names of which became associated with springs are
trees. Almost every common tree in Texas has a spring named after it.
One of the less predicatable and therefore more interesting names is
Screwbean Springs, for a variety of Mesquite. Another is Frijolito
Springs, little bean in Spanish, named for the mescal bean of the
laurel tree. China Springs seems to be a shortened form named
for the chinaberry tree. Also in one case, Sabine is used in
addition to the more familiar Cypress, as is its Spanish counterpart
Sabinal. There are other names related to trees too—Honey
Grove Springs, Wood Glen, Glade, Big Woods, Willow Point, Maple Grove,
and in Spanish Sauceda, for Willow Grove. There
are also springs associated with other plant names—Brushy
Springs, Moss Springs, Grapevine Springs, Spicewood Springs, Grass Springs,
and Flag Springs, meaning that irises are growing beside
it. Tule and Carrizo Springs, in Spanish means reed.
But the Reed Springs in Brune are named not for the plant but for several
different families with that name. Sandia Springs is Spanish
for Melon Springs and Chiltipin for our favorite little pepper.
And
the animal kingdom is well represented in Texas Spring names, too. Some
of these no doubt are based on particular incidents and not just frequency
and proximity. There are springs named for several different insects—lightning
bug, yellow Jacket and bee. There is also in Spanish Colmena
Springs, meaning beehive. There is at least one named for a crustacean,
Crawfish Springs. And there is a Fish Springs. The
birds are reprensented by Turkey, Crow, Buzzard's Roost, and
Ojo del Aguila, or Eagle Springs. There are Snake, Snakey,
and Rattlesnake Springs. The mammals are well represented,
too. For feline names, we have Cat Springs, Panther Springs, Leopard
Springs, Wildcat Springs. And in Spanish for lion, lioness, and
little lion, there are Leon, Leona, and Leoncita Springs. There
is Lobo Springs and Lobanilla, or little wolf. There
is Bison and its counterpart in Spanish Cibolo. There
is Bear and the matching Oso. There are Elk, Deer,
and Ojo del Agua del Venado or in translation Deer Water
Spring. There are Fat Hog, Boar's Nest and Charco Marrano,
or Pig Spring in Spanish. There is Cow Heaven Springs, Bull Springs,
Red Bull Springs, and Black Muley Springs, which is on
the XIT ranch in the pasture where the Polled Angus are kept. There
is Horse Springs, Yegua or Mare Springs, and White
Horse, which was named after the capture of a White Stallion at
the Springs. There is in Spanish Alazan Springs, which means
sorrel, a color commonly identified with horses.
I
am out of time. There are several other good categories. But I want
to finish with a spring name that doesn't readily fit a category—Tin
Cup Springs, which was in Potter county. The spring stopped flowing
in 1975. When Brune visited there in 1978, from a hook on a nearby rock
bluff, the tin cup still swung.
List
of Spring Names
Qualities
Of Spring Water
General
Pleasant, Good,
Temperature
Cool
Cold
Hot
Taste/Minerals
Sweet, Sour, sweetwater
Sulphur
Saline
Salt
Sal Viejo
Salado
Chalybeate
Soda
Oil
Mineral
Medicine, Headache
Shawnee Mineral Springs
Amargosa
Effect
Of Water
Headache
Movement
Of Water
Seep, Dripping, Roaring, Boiling
Chapadero (Seep)
Appearance
Of Water
Los Ojelos (The Sparkling Spring
Pinto (Paint)
Qualities
Of Spring
Size
Big--There Are Several
Little, Alberquitas
Shape
Round
Charco Largo (Long)
Number
Double,Seven Sisters,
Spacing
Ten Mile, Eight Mile
Position
Albercas De Abajo Lower Pool
Ease Of Finding
Charco Escondido
Redundant
Names
Spring Lake, Spring Hill, Spring Grove
Shape,
Material
Shape Of Outlet Or Basin
Cove, Cave
Material Of Basin
Rock, Sandy, Old Brick, Barrel
Surroundings
Features Of Land
Prairie, Red Hill, Bluff, Mounds, Palisado, Valley View, Mountain, Ball
Knob, Sand Hill,
School
High School
Church
Shiloh, Beulah, Zion, Mt. Zion, Campgound, Graveyard
Houses
Star House
Fort
Fort Terrett
Plants
Trees
Live Oak, Gum, Willow, Pine, Pine Grove, Wood Glen, Maple, Maple Grove,
Honey Grove, Sabine, Walnut, Glade, Big Woods, Ash, Cottonwood, Mulberry,
willow point,
Charco Al Monte
Frijolito (Mescal Bean, Laurel), Encinal Seep
Other
Brushy, Moss, Flag(Iris)
Animals
Insects
Bee
Colmena (Beehive)
Lightning Bug
Birds
Bird,
Kingfisher
Buzzard's Roost
Mammals
Charco Marrano (Pig ), Fat Hog, Lobo, Lobanilla, Leopard, Deer
Name
Of Other Springs
Saratoga
Name
Of Other Bodies Of Water
Head Of Elm, Red River
People's
Names
Saints
Santa Gertrudis, Santa Theresa, San Christoval
Nuestra Senora De La Candelarias
Sinners
Lafitte
Famous
People
Austin, Houston, Victoria
King (Near El Camino Real)
Settlers
Johnson Calhoun County, Kemper, Warden, Rose, Weaver, Brackens, Bell,
Bevil, Welch, Legrone, Hart, Potter, Dale, Gunstream, Lacy, Ables, Snodgrass,
Riley, Smith, Bird
People
Owning Land Later
Woody
Ranches
77
Groups
Dutch, Frenchman
Indians
Indian, Chief Bowles, Mounds
Tribes
Shawnee, Coushatta, Caddo, Cherokee, Comanche, Tonkawa
Tonkawa Banks, Nanatsoho, Taovah
Activities
Of People
Professions
Farrier
Machinery
Activities
Mission, Brick Factory, Tanyard, Mill, Mill Race, Arms Factory, National
Bank,?, Homebrew,Cording Factory, Old Iron Foundry
Town Names
Carthage, Center, Timpson, Tyler, Van, Jefferson, Denton, Bridgeport
Patriotic
Independence, Texana
Texas
Dialect