Long before West Texas settlers arrived, Indian tribes surviving in a harsh land used the springs as a camp site and watering hole. These days, the Fort Stockton springs bubble up at a reduced level in late winter when farmers take a break from irrigating.
Fort Stockton native Kelli Burns, a former Houston Texans cheerleader, is co-director of this year’s Water Carnival, Fort Stockton’s 86th. She is shown during practice Tuesday, June 21, 2022.FORT STOCKTON - When I ran into Kelli Harrall Burns at this small town’s huge swimming pool, she was rehearsing a chorus line of 4- and 5-year-old hoofers who’ll be performing at the 86th annual Water Carnival in a couple of weeks.
Long before West Texas settlers arrived, long before the actual fort was established, Indian tribes surviving in a harsh land used the springs as a camp site and watering hole. Historians are pretty sure Cabeza de Vaca, the wandering Spaniard, camped beside the springs in 1528. The water carnival did, indeed, become an annual event. Interrupted only during World War II, the third weekend in July was the high point of the year for Fort Stockton. And then, there came a day when there was no water to be festive about. In 1961, the springs stopped flowing.
Farmers who lost their land filed suit against several major water users, including the named defendant Clayton Williams, Sr., who had drilled 52 wells on 12,000 acres of farmland. They sought an injunction to stop further drilling, but the Texas Court of Civil Appeals ruled that a 1904 court case affirming the state’s “rule of capture” meant that a landowner could do whatever he wanted with water beneath his land, regardless of its effect on his neighbor.
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