Big Thicket Legacy

Brunce Jordan

Introducing Brunce Jordan Brunce was a logger who always used mules or oxen. "They can do better in mud and water," he said, "and a ox is better than a mule. They don't bog down so bad." Thiswas important to Brunce who, for years, logged in the rain-soaked country of Hardin County. "When Ithink ofthis country as it was from here over at Batson and around, I think of mud," he said. When one thinks of a logger he is not apt to visualize a wiry little man of 115 pounds, but Brunce Jordan never weighed much more. As a result of a logging contest he won years ago, Brunce was affectionately called "King of the Loggers." He knows the job and goes about it deliberately, without wasting effort. Ispent a day in the woods with Brunce and Speedy McGee, his helper for twenty-five years or more, and they could work together effectively for hours at a time without saying a word. Even his mules had a working understanding of the job that reduced communication to a minimum. Brunce still used his original wagon. "In a way it's the same old wagon but there ain't nothin' about it that was there when I bought it Every part has been replaced, some of it lots of times. And me, I've slowed down these last few years, but Iaim to keep on goin' till I'm a hundred, I hope." Logging was Brunce's vocation, but just being in the woods provided much of his recreation. He was careful to preserve the odd, the unusual, or the beautiful things he encountered, like the largest peach tree he ever saw, or the flowering shrubs, or the tree that grew in the shape of a turnbuckle. He enjoyed showing these things to people who shared his interests. He and his wife are gracious folk who welcomed us to their table laden with homegrown food; and on a pop call at midmorning, one must at least have coffee. BRONCE JORDAN was born August 17, 1891, at Honey Island. My mother's people originated from Georgia away back yonder, and the best I remember, my daddy, Dan Rayford Jordan, told me his people was from Alabama . My granddaddy come to this country before the Confederate War, I guess because he would 0' had to go to the army. He lived out here right on the edge of this Big Thicket. His name was Sherrod Sutton, on my mother 's side. I commenced drivin' a ox team with my daddy when Iwas fifteen years old, and I've been at it ever since. Most of my work has been right here in the Big Thicket, loggin' for myself, under contract. Worked for Lance Rosier twelve years, maybe longer, and twenty-four years for the Sun Oil Company. They sell the timber, then Iget it out. I guess it's just what you're raised up in, but Ilike to be in the woods, done a little bit of everything in the woods. Ijust like it. I quit loggin' once, sold my mules and wagon, and I never was as miserable in my life. Finally Ijust got sick, after six or eight months, just got to where Icouldn't hardly get out of the house, so Ibought my team back, and my wagon, and went back to loggin', and I've felt good ever since, and ain't sick at all. Itell you, Idon't believe I'd live a year if Ijust quit. I like to be in the woods whether I'm workin' or not; you find lots of interesting things. Now that tree Iwas tellin' you about, that's kinda interestin' to me because Inever seen nothin' like that, just growed in the shape of a turnbuckle. When Isee somethin ' interesting or unusual in the woods Ilet it stay. There's a wild peach tree up there, must be sixteen inches through, but I just wouldn't cut it out. It's the biggest peach tree I ever seen. This country can get wet-used to be much worse than it is now. I got a job workin' for a fella here in the oil field, must 0' been about 1919, because the war had ended, and I got a job drivin' a team for him. He took a job over yonder at Batson, movin' a drillin...