Lampasas 1855-1895. Biography of a Frontier City 12+

🔖 For nearly three decades, the settlers of Lampasas were challenged by frontier hardships and dangers. The isolated Hill Country community was founded in the 1850s amid bubbling mineral springs, During summer "watering seasons," hundreds of Texans made their way through the wilderness to "take the waters" at Lampasas Springs. Most of the summer visitors camped for weeks in shady groves beside the springs-enjoying such simple recreations as visiting, singing, communal meals, and preaching services-while children swam and played in large gangs. Lampasas merchants learned to rely upon an annual surge of business, as the population doubled and sometimes tripled each summer.During the town's formative years, Lampasans endured Comanche raids, numerous saloon shootouts, a vicious blood feud, stock theft, lynchings, stagecoach robberies and conflict between cattlemen and sheepherders. Trail drives paused at Lampasas Springs, and area drovers herded cattle up from the famous trails as the cowboy culture permeated Lampasas. Trail boss Pink Higgins became a gunfighter of the front rank, the Horrell brothers were notorious cattle rustlers, and the Horrells triggered a saloon fight unique in the annals of frontier violence.The long frontier era ended when railroad tracks reached Lampasas in 1882. The magnificent Park Hotel was built as the centerpiece of a 200-acre park, which for a few years became the leading resort in Texas. Statewide political and denominational con...