Origin Story of TexieLake Texoma's Friendly Dragon

Long before Lake Texoma had a name, before bridges crossed it, and boats skimmed its surface, there lived a dragon far to the north.

Her name was Texie.

Texie was born in a cold land where
winters were long and lakes froze solid.

Snow covered the ground, and when Texie breathed fire, her breath turned to frost before it could glow.

Dragons were not meant for that kind of cold.
Fire needs warmth. Fire needs space to breathe.

One morning, shivering in her cave, Texie wrapped her tail tighter around herself to keep warm and thought, I belong somewhere warmer.

Her best friend, Okie, tried to help and told Texie about a wide river far to the south, red with clay and glowing at sunset.

A place where the air stayed warm, where fire stayed fire.

So, Texie packed for her adventure, and at dawn, she stepped out of her cave, put on her red polka dot bandana, spread her wings… and flew south!

Texie flew over snow and mountains. Over frozen lakes and quiet hills.

Over places no one ever stopped long enough to name.

Texie flew for days.

Tired and heavy from travel, Texie spotted a winding red river below her.

The river curved and bent just like a dragon’s spine when catching the water’s light just right.

Circling above the river, Texie, felt something familiar in the land. Something welcoming.

“This feels right,” Texie thought.

Texie landed near the river to rest.

Texie curled her long body into the earth, her scales warming the ground beneath her.

As she shifted and stretched, her back carved gentle bends into the land.

Her tail swished. Her fins pressed down into the earth. Water from the river trickled beneath her and began to gather.

Texie slept.

Storms came and went.
Slowly, quietly, an indention formed where Texie rested.

The grass grew tall around her. Rain fell. Spring passed into summer, summer into fall.

Texie slept longer than she intended.

When she finally stirred and rose into the sky, her indention remained in the earth.

Texie circled the sky, pleased, knowing she belonged here.

Over time, water filled in the shape where Texie had rested forming what we now know as Lake Texoma.

It is said that, if you look closely, the shoreline still follows her curves.
That the lake warms faster than other lakes because a dragon once slept there.

And, if you are very quiet at sunset, when the water flows and the air feels just right, you might sense her presence….