Talk:Ben Ficklin, Texas

I have added 31°24′10″N 100°26′24″W as the coordinates. This is the site of the granite Texas State Historical Marker entitled "Site of Ben Ficklin", but a local historian has said in a non-reliable source that the actual site was not actually at the marker, but was "the low area along the river west of the granite marker" (and my observation over many years — admittedly original research — is that state historical markers are placed along roadsides near where historical things or places were, not actually where they were, if the actual place would put them out in the middle of a field or pasture where no one could see them without trespassing). The historian went on to say, "There is an old dam called Metcalfe Dam on the South Concho immediately west of the town’s location." That dam is still shown and named on the US Geological topographical maps of the area at 31°24′00″N 100°26′40″W. Since those two points are only about 1,500 feet apart, that probably locates the actual location of the town pretty closely, but since the marker is the State's official statement of the town's location, that's what I've included in the article. The local historian's comments, being the source for those quotes, can be read here about two-thirds the way down the page. Regards, TransporterMan (TALK) 19:17, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

1885 Ostrich Egg Sized Hail put the fish of the Concho into torpor and killed people on a stage coach crossing the dry riverbed suddenly hit by a 15-20 foot wall of water.

In 1885, Isaac Cline, who later in his life became a well known weather expert who survived the 1900 Galveston Hurricane, was sent to live and work for what would later become the National Weather Service at Fort Concho. He wrote about people from the town of Ben Ficklin who had to flee after a storm dropped Ostrich Egg Sized Hail. He reported witnessing the fish of the Concho going into torpor as the hail melted filling the river with ice melt water. He witnessed people on a stage coach crossing the dry riverbed suddenly hit by a 15-20 foot wall of water and being killed by it. He ran to safety when he saw the wall of water. Check out his diary, his report he wrote and the short write up of this storm in Erik Larson’s book, Isaac’s Storm. 50.86.98.172 (talk) 22:54, 21 June 2022 (UTC)