In 2002 when I first had the idea for Samaritan’s Storm, I took a summer road trip to the places I thought might turn out to be good settings for the story. I knew I wanted a rural setting near a small town, where everybody would know everybody’s business in a very short time, even if what they “knew” wasn’t entirely accurate. So, I looked online for places where there had been sanatoriums for people suffering from tuberculosis in the early 1900’s in Texas.
One of those was at Reagan Wells near Leakey, Texas. and when I arrived there, I discovered a setting that I felt could really contribute to an interesting story. The spa for treatment was at Reagan Wells, near the intersection of the dry Frio River and highway 1501. It’s a pretty place. The woods have a variety of trees, oak, ash, pecan, cypress and sycamore and that summer, they were alive with birds. A little research showed that there were plenty of animals in the woods, too: deer, javelinas, squirrels, opossums, wild turkeys, black bears and wild horses. Standing in the woods near the road, it was easy to imagine living there in an earlier era when wagons were more in use than cars, and people who were sick might feel rested enough to help their recovery. I liked the idea that there was a “dry” branch of the Frio River there – many things can happen near such a setting – rains and flash floods can change a tranquil scene into a nightmare – always an asset in a journey novel and a bildungsroman. Dealing with crises always makes us grow, and while the experiences of danger are never enjoyable, the lessons we learn about our own ability to survive crises are ours forever.
After reading a little, I discovered that indeed the dry Frio River had a history of flash floods. When the George Knippa family moved to unsettled land between Uvalde and Sabinal in 1887, they watered their cattle in the Frio and Sabinal rivers, but in a drought around 1890, both rivers dried up and the cattle had to be turned loose to survive as best they could. Rain didn’t come again until 1900, and when the drought broke, there were indeed flash floods. They came a bit before my story, but knowing there were such incidents in the area gave credence to the possibilities for such an event.
I read that the spa at Reagan Wells came about by accident – or by a man’s ability to make use of whatever circumstances he finds himself in. In 1885, a man named Harvey Hammer built a log cabin to live in and dug a well at Reagan Wells. But the well water was too mineral for household use, so he built a hotel and spa and sold the place to B.W. Briggs. Mr. Briggs built additional cabins, and people took mineral baths. It was a health resort until the 1940’s. In 1894, the primary midwife and medical care giver in the area was a lady from Leakey called Mrs. M.E. Cummins – nicknamed Granny. I liked the idea of a woman caregiver for my story, and patterned a sanatorium nurse from this pioneer in medical care.
I discovered that in 1906, the R.H. Pickens’ family settled 1 ½ miles above Reagan Wells and opened a store to supply the needs for supplies that were not grown or raised locally and saw a photograph of that first little store. Then in 1912, a new grocery and dry goods store was built by L.B. Herrington The dry-goods area was renovated to make room for the first post office at Reagan Wells. So I knew that some post offices in small towns found a home in an area of a commercial business.
I’m thankful for the local history resource A Proud Heritage published by the El Progresso Club, Uvalde, Texas in 1975 that helped me find the details of the history of this place.