A Poem: Picnic at Spicewood Springs, 1880

This is a slightly expanded post of my history article for the May 2017 issue of the NWACA Newsletter.

Recently I reached out to the Austin History Center for old photos of people at Spicewood Springs. While they found no photos, they found a poem written in 1880 about a picnic at Spicewood Springs, written by Mrs. Martha Elizabeth (Hotchkiss) Whitten, part of her book Author's edition of Texas garlands. By way of context, she describes riding a steam locomotive ("fiery-tongued steed") from Austin to Spicewood Springs for a day of recreation. This was a service the railroad was promoting in the 1880s; Waters (AKA Watters) Park just north on Walnut Creek being a recreational spot developed by the railroad for this purpose. So while not a photo, in some ways the poem communicates the "picture" of people at the springs – and how they felt about the springs -- better than a still photo. For a brief overview of the author see [Willard] in references.

THE PICNIC.
AT SPICE-WOOD SPRING, EIGHT MILES FROM THE CITY, MAY 8, 1880.

Ah whither away
This bright sunny day?
Oh, where can the people be going?
They surely have found
Some "enchanted ground"
Where May's fragrant breezes are blowing.

The young and the old;
The timid and bold —
Brave lads and beautiful lasses;
Prim matrons are there
And maidens most fair
While little ones make up the masses.

Impatient they stand
With lunches at hand,
The train's onward motion awaiting;
Oh who could dare say
What bright hopes to-day
The hearts of this throng are elating!

And soon with all speed
On our fiery-tongued steed
Away from the city we're riding;
Over carpets of flowers
To fairy-like bowers
Where May's truant zephyrs are hiding.

On no fairer spot
Could it e'er be our lot,
To spend thus a picnic occasion;
Dame Nature with grace,
Has adorned this fair place    
'Till it seems like some field of Elysian.

Here, grand stately trees,
Are kissed by the breeze;
Their leaflets at "Bo-peep" are playing;
A curtain they've spun,
To shut out the sun,
And to shade us while here we are staying.

The spring bubbling o'er
Its nectar doth pour —
'Tis rippling, and sparkling, and laughing;
To its fount we hie
Our thirst to satisfy,
Ab its bright limpid waters we're quaffing.

The birds blithely sing
'Till the woodlands ring,
As they carol the beauties of May.
We join the glad song —
Its echoes prolong,
With hearts just as joyous and gay.

Even the slimy snakes
Have hid in the brakes,
Nor crawl from their covert away;
Contented to yield
The picnicers the field,
Through this beautiful sunshiny day.

Here are maidens shy,
With lovers near by
Whose blushing and radiant faces
Fond secrets would hide,
But love's crimson tide,
Is adding its beautiful graces.

Some are strolling away
Seeking garlands of May;
And the dark waving moss entwining
With flowers so fair —
A chaplet most rare,
O'er their dark glossy ringlets shining.

Here the hobby-horse
On its flying course,
Went 'round and 'round and 'round;
How nickels did slide
For a jolly good ride
As each leaped to his seat with a bound!

When ready to dine,
Oh sure it was fine,
We quickly improvised our seats.
Out of the stock
Of honey-comb rock
That graced those woodland retreats.

When tables were spread,
That all might be fed,
'Neath their load we feared they would groan;
With appetites keen,
Such feasting was seen,
As is only to picnicers known.

And this was the way
We spent that glad day —
That never-to-be-forgotten occasion;
Oh dear Spice-wood Spring!
How our memories cling
To thy scenes — like fields of Elysian.

About the Poem's Author

[Willard] gives an overview of Martha Elizabeth (Hotchkiss) Whitten's life and career as a writer and poet. Paraphrasing, Mrs. Whitten was born near Austin, Texas, 3rd October. 1842. She was the daughter of Hon. William S. and Hannah B. Hotchkiss. She entered school when she was five years old and was educated principally in the Collegiate Female Institute in Austin. At the age of fourteen years she was sent to McKenzie College. She began to write verses at the age of eleven, and at twelve and thirteen she contributed to the press. The death of her mother, before she was ten years old, saddened her life and gave to all her early poems an undertone of sorrow. Soon after entering McKenzie College she wrote her poem "Do They Miss Me at Home?" She was married when quite young, widowed at twenty-four. A teacher, she wrote on a variety of subjects and displayed great versatility in her poems. Her poems were collected in 1886 in book-form under the title of Texas Garlands and won appreciation in the literary world and success financially. 

 

Waters Park, AKA Watters Park

1895 map showing Spicewood Springs and Watters

As noted previously, Waters Park, or Watters Park as it was also known, was another destination for recreational day trips via the railroad. The Handbook of Texas says "The railroad began developing the area in June 1882, when it leased "Sumner's Grove, at the town of Waters" to establish a five-acre park and swimming pool. Town lots were to be sold on June 21, 1882. The railroad opened its picnic grounds at Waters in July 1882, and excursion trains from Austin ran on Sundays."

The Walnut Crossing Neighborhood Association has a great article on their website that talks about neighborhood history, including Waters Park. As noted in that article, in an advertisement in the June 14, 1882 edition of the Austin Daily Democratic Statesman, the railroad announced: "GRAND EXCURSION AND PICNIC to the town of
WATERS. Fifteen miles by rail from Austin, on the
NORTHWESTERN N.G. RAILWAY on Wednesday, June 21, 1882. Lots will be Sold on that Day–Terms Cash. Waters is on Walnut Creek, seven miles
from Round Rock, five from Pflugerville,
in one of the richest parts of Travis County. Trains leave Austin at 7:00 o’clock a.m. returning in the afternoon. Round trip tickets 59 cents only."


In terms of Native American Indian trails, there is a correlation between trails and railroads laid down in the time of steam engines: they both tend to follow the geographical line of least resistance where water is available. People need water; steam engines needed water. Waters Park was located in the area of the headwaters of Walnut Creek, a creek referenced in many stories of Indian encounters in early Austin; Fort Colorado was located along Walnut Creek for a reason! Waters Park, like Spicewood Springs, would most certainly have been a watering hole along what Frank Brown called The Trail Going North.

References

Author's edition of Texas garlands by Whitten, Martha E. (Martha Elizabeth Hotchkiss), published 1885. Online copy, donated by The Library of Congress, is available at https://archive.org/details/authorseditionof00whit

Willard, Frances Elizabeth. A woman of the century; fourteen hundred-seventy biographical sketches accompanied by portraits of leading American women in all walks of life. Published 1893.

Walnut Crossing Neighborhood Association. Article by Wayne Butler. http://wxna.org/the-neighborhood/

Grand Excursion and Picnic to Waters Park. Display ad 8 -- no title. (1882, Jun 14). The Austin Daily Statesman (1880-1889) Retrieved from https://www.austinlibrary.com:8443/login?url=http://www.austinlibrary.com:2400/docview/1635607040?accountid=7451 

Waters Park, Texas Historical Marker. http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=70924 

Waters Park, Handbook of Texas, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlw10