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San Marcos Springs Early descriptions Many archaeologists believe the area around the Springs is the oldest continually inhabited site in North America (Shiner, 1983). Sediment cores indicate that humans lived here 11,500 years ago, and there is evidence the area has been occuped during every known period of human habitation in Central Texas. (Bousman and Nickels, 2003). In historical times, the Cantona Indians called the Springs Canocanayesatetlo, meaning "warm water" (Hatcher, 1932). A graphic picture of their original condition was written in 1846 by William A. McClintock:
The best places to see the tremendous discharge of the Springs is at the spillways at the southwest end of Spring Lake. There is also a popular swimming hole there. The main spillway is adjacent to a restaurant where one can dine atop the dam. Just to the east is a second spillway.
European discovery and early owners The first Europeans to visit the San Marcos Springs were members of the Domingo Teran de los Rios expedition in June of 1691. They saw many "buffaloes and fish", and spent a few days camped here while rounding up escaped horses (Hatcher, 1932). Several subsequent expeditions visited the Springs, and a short-lived Spanish settlement occurred in 1755. In that year, several missions on the San Gabriel River were abandoned and re-established temporarily on the San Marcos River. By 1757 the presidio soldiers had been re-assigned to other missions in Menard and San Antonio, and the exact location of the settlement is not known (Bolton, 1915). Another Spanish settlement was established along the San Marcos River in 1808 by Don Filipe Roque de la Portilla, but by 1812 it was abandoned due to Tonkawa and Comanche Indian harassment and severe flooding, and it is unknown whether these settlers utilized the springs or headwaters (Horrell, 1999). In 1831, Juan Martin de Veramendi, who was a governor of Texas under Mexican rule and an important figure in early San Antonio, received a land grant of two leagues that contained the Springs. He died of cholera two years later, and in 1840 his heirs sold some of his land to Nathaniel Lewis. That same year, the Texas Republic established Post San Marcos at the headwaters to safeguard travel between San Antonio and Austin and to facilitate the building of a more direct road between the two towns. The exact location of the fort has never been determined (Pierce, 1969). In 1845, General Edward Burleson acquired the headwaters and Springs from Lewis. Burleson was a well-known war hero who had fought with Ben Milam in San Antonio and commanded the First Regiment at San Jacinto, where Texas' independence was won. He acquired additional fame during battles with Comanches and Cherokees, and also served as Vice-President of the Republic of Texas under Sam Houston and as a senator for the Fifteenth District. In 1848 Burleson and his sons built a two room cabin on the hill overlooking the Springs and began using the adjacent lands for cropland and grazing (Bousman and Nickels, 2003). In 1849 Burleson built a dam across the San Marcos River to operate a gristmill, inundating the Springs and forming Spring Lake. When Spring Lake was created it also sealed archaeological artifacts underneath, where they lay protected from collectors and diggers for over 100 years. This was a real boon for archaeologists in the 20th century, who uncovered more than 50,000 artifacts from only 5% of the lake bed between 1979 and 1982 (Garza, 1982). Many are presently on display at the site. In the last half of the 19th century, Burleson's land was split up and various owners used water from the Springs to power a variety of grist and sawmills, an ice factory, and an electric light works. The site was also an important stop on the Chisholm cattle trail from 1867 to 1895.
Texas' favorite theme park In 1926 A. B. Rogers purchased Burleson's homestead tract, including the two-room cabin, for $21,466 (Hays County Deed Records 91:458) and by 1929 he had built a 200' long hotel that was operated for many decades as the Landmark Inn. In 1949 Paul Rogers bought the land from his parents and founded Aquarena Springs, which became a popular tourist attraction and resort. The name derived from a concatenation of 'Aqua', referring of course to water, and 'arena', referring to a submersible underwater theatre that was considered an engineering marvel in the 1952 edition of Popular Mechanics. Ralph the Swimming Pig and frolicking underwater mermaid dancers became trademarks. Glass-bottomed boat tours offered a look at the flooded Springs - smaller ones appear as bubbling sands and are easily visible on the lake bottom. In 1955 the collapsing remains of Burleson's cabin were dismantled to keep students and kids from being injured, and a sky-ride gondola was built on the spot around 1959. The sky-ride became a major attraction, and the cabin was faithfully reconstructed nearby in 1966 to add additional ambience. Another main attraction of Aquarena Springs was a ride in a round car up a needle-like tower for a panoramic view of the area. For several generations of Texans, a visit to Aquarena Springs was a childhood rite of passage and there are many avid collectors of the various knick-knacks and postcards sold there over the years. People held widely disparate views of what all this meant for the Springs. Many regarded the site as a wonderful family vacation spot, tourist attraction, and revenue generator for the city. Others viewed San Marcos Springs as one of the saddest places in Texas. For thousands of years awesome fountain springs were regarded as sacred and living by indigenous people, but now they could only be viewed in an underwater theater and through glass bottomed boats. Adding swimming pigs and mermaids ballets to the mix caused noted Texas naturalist Del Weniger (1984) to write:
University stewardship The Springs and resort were purchased by Southwest Texas State University in 1991 and continued to be operated as a theme park and resort. In February of 1996 the Board of Regents took what environmentalists hailed as a giant initial step toward restoring the dignity and natural beauty of this site. The Board voted to convert the facility from a theme park to "educational and general uses", ending the swimming swine's 30 year run. The dancing mermaid shows and theme-park like rides were eliminated. The University solicited community input on questions like whether the rides should be removed to improve views of Spring Lake and present a less cluttered appearance. Exhibits were completed on endangered species and on the many archaeological artifacts that have been recovered from the site. The underwater theater offered educational workshops instead of the mermaid show. The site is now known as Aquarena Center. However, the decision to end the amusements created ill will between the University and the community. The city lost a major tourist attraction, summer jobs, and $120,000 per year in tax revenues. To build a bridge back to the community, the University conceived a $5 million wetlands project with several miles of nature trails that would connect to the city's trail system, forming a 10-mile route along the San Marcos and Blanco rivers. The first step in the project involved removing water hyacinth, a non-native fast-growing plant. Many additional plant and animal species present are not native, and the school began efforts to replace the introduced ones with native ones. Geese and swans have been removed, and efforts are ongoing to get rid of nutria, imported snails, hydrilla, elephant ears, and tilapia. Today, the Wetlands Boardwalk, made of recycled plastic lumber, floats on a shallow and marshy area of Spring Lake and allows visitors to view the flora and fauna of a wetland ecosystem. The former Landmark Inn is now the home of the Texas Rivers Center and houses several interpretive and interactive displays. Still, controversy surrounds the University's ownership and stewardship of the San Marcos Springs and Spring Lake. Some naturalists would like to see the Lake drained and the Springs restored to something more closely resembling their natural state. The dam suffered major damage during floods in October of 1998 and some argued it should have been removed instead of repaired. They argue the dam may actually be a threat to the endangered species present, and they point out that perhaps the most educational thing that could be done would be to let the area revert to it's natural state. The Univerisity and federal officials have a different opinion. The US Fish and Wildlife Service argues the endangered species have adapted to Spring Lake and would be worse off without it.
Hydrogeology of the San Marcos Springs Data from hydrochemistry studies and dye-tracer studies suggests that two nearly independent flow regimes contribute water to the various spring orifices. In one study, dye was injected in nearby Ezell's Cave, which is located along the San Marcos Springs fault (see the page on Faults & Caves). Eleven days later, dye was detected at Deep Hole, and 30 days after that dye was seen at Catfish Hotel. No dye appeared in any of the spring orifices farther north such as Weismuller and Cabomba. In 1979 a fault was mapped that separates the southern springs from the northern ones, which could have sufficient displacement to act as a groundwater barrier. Also, the fact that it took 30 days for water to move only 230 feet between Deep Hole and Catfish Hotel suggests minimal hydraulic connection and/or a zone of extremely slow ground-water movement possibly caused by a meeting of two separate pressure systems (Ogden, Quick, and Rothermel, 1986). In a second study by the same scientists, dye was injected in Rattlesnake Cave, located about 4,000 feet northeast of Spring Lake. After 40 days the dye emerged at all the monitored orifices in Spring Lake. The researchers concluded that groundwater from the San Antonio region moves northward, confined within a narrow fault block, and emerges primarily from just the southern orifices. This groundwater appears to be separated from the Blanco River and Sink Creek areas by a fault-controlled pressure boundary. This pressure boundary moves slightly in response to changes in hydrostatic head between the two ground-water flow systems and may allow flow to go in either direction under different conditions. This would explain why the dye emerged 40 days later at all the spring orifices. History does not record a time when the San Marcos Springs have ceased to flow. The lowest recorded flow rate was 46 cubic feet per second in August of 1956. At that time, the Comal Springs were dry. There is a relationship between the level of the J-17 index well and the flow at San Marcos Springs, but because of local recharge around the Springs the correlation is not as precise as with Comal Springs (see Flowpath Map). San Marcos Springs would cease to flow with a water elevation of about 574 feet at the springs. The "bad water" line is remarkably close to the springs. It runs through the facility's parking lot only about a thousand feet from the Spring outlets. There is a fault at this location which causes the Edwards limestone carrying fresh water to the Springs to be juxtaposed with denser, less permaeble limestone containing saline water. For the latest data on San Marcos springflows see the USGS Real-Time data page. San Marcos Springs photos and postcards
In 1965, the US Fish and Wildlife Service donated the aging hatchery to Southwest Texas State University which, in turn, donated 116 acres south of the city of San Marcos to the Service for the development of a new San Marcos National Fish Hatchery and a Technology Center. The Center was dedicated in 1974. The primary mission of the Center is to provide refugia for Texas wildrice, Texas blind salamanders, San Marcos salamanders, fountain darters, and, if found, San Marcos gambusia. Culture-related activities for these species are inherent to this mission. Major consideration is placed on assessment of biological issues related to the Edwards Aquifer and San Marcos and Comal springs. The postcard shows the original Fish Hatchery in 1906. More Aquarena Springs postcards
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