This is a story of several families that moved west from Illinois to Texas in the 1850s. Just before the Civil War they settled in sparsely populated Gillespie County. When the Civil War caught up with them there was much turmoil around where they lived. Also, members of the families had mixed emotions of what to do; some men joined the Confederacy some men joined the Yankees, some men served in both. Spring Creek was just a stopping place for some. Many of the next generation packed up and continued farther west. This story endeavors to illustrate the life style and times of Ruth McDonald Lacey and her extended family.