In the spring of 1842 Gideon White was out looking for livestock when riders caught him in the open. He got a tree between himself and them and fought from behind it, killing at least one before they killed him. The bullet holes and arrow marks stayed visible in the bark for decades afterwards. Four years later his daughter Louisa married Edward Seiders, an Austin grocer, and for a while the couple lived in her father's cabin by the spring. The spring took the family name and so did the grove. The Seiders then did something that reads oddly now and worked completely: they built bath houses, picnic tables and a dance pavilion along the creek to get Austin to come out and use the place. Austin came, and has not really stopped. Four big live oaks stand together in the middle of the greenbelt, reachable on paved path from either end. The Texas Forest Service notes they were already large when the city was being laid out in the 1830s, which puts them past two centuries and probably well past.
Seiders Springs, Shoal Creek Greenbelt, off West 34th StreetA group of four heavy live oaks standing together in the open middle of a narrow creek greenbelt.
Free. Public greenbelt with paved paths, open daylight hours.
About 4 km north of downtown along the Shoal Creek trail, off West 34th Street.
Sources
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