Running the River: Secrets of the Sabine

Introduction

Introduction A฀man฀shot฀at฀us฀our฀first day฀on฀the฀river.฀Of฀course฀he฀did.฀You฀expect฀that฀ sort฀of฀thing฀to฀happen฀on฀the฀Sabine. ฀ I฀met฀Jacob฀at฀his฀father’s฀house฀early฀that฀morning.฀He฀hitched฀the฀boat฀ to฀his฀truck,฀and฀we฀drove฀south฀and฀east฀into฀the฀border฀country฀where฀ Texas฀blends฀into฀the฀forests฀and฀swamps฀of฀Louisiana.฀Jacob’s฀father,฀Henry,฀ rode฀shotgun.฀You฀could฀tell฀he฀was฀nervous฀the฀way฀he฀chattered฀against฀ the฀quiet.฀The฀boat฀belonged฀to฀him,฀and฀he฀was฀loaning฀it฀to฀us,฀but฀Henry฀ swore฀he฀didn’t฀care฀about฀the฀aluminum฀sixteen-footer.฀He฀envisioned฀the฀ gun-toting฀types฀who฀live฀along฀the฀river,฀the฀snags฀that฀capsize฀little฀boats,฀ and฀the฀bewhiskered฀catfish lurking฀in฀underwater฀dens,฀and฀he฀couldn’t฀ help฀worrying฀about฀his฀adult฀son.฀For฀distraction,฀he฀told฀jokes. ฀ “Y’all฀gonna฀do฀any฀noodling฀on฀your฀trip,฀Jake?”฀Henry฀asked. The฀river’s฀namesake—a฀cypress฀tree,฀sabina฀in฀Spanish ฀Ferguson_Book฀1.indb฀฀฀11 11/1/13฀฀฀10:20฀AM xii฀ introduction ฀ “I฀doubt฀it,฀Pop,”฀Jacob฀replied,฀his฀eyes฀fixed฀to฀the฀bla ktop. ฀ “You฀should;฀you฀really฀should,”฀Henry฀said.฀“Reach฀down฀in฀that฀river฀ with฀your฀bare฀hands฀and฀yank฀a฀forty-pound฀catfish in฀the฀boat,฀and฀rednecks ฀up฀behind฀the฀bushes฀will฀see฀y’all฀and฀say,฀‘We’ve฀been฀watching฀y’all฀ the฀past฀fifteen miles.฀Now฀you’re฀one฀of฀us.฀We’ll฀do฀anything฀you฀need.’”฀ Henry฀was฀no฀fan฀of฀rednecks,฀though฀as฀I฀sat฀in฀the฀backseat฀watching฀the฀ forests฀of฀longleaf฀pine฀trees฀blanket฀the฀East฀Texas฀hills,฀I฀suspected฀other฀ people฀might฀classify฀us฀no฀more฀charitably. ฀ We฀drove฀through฀heavy฀forest,฀where฀black฀creeks฀widened฀in฀the฀bottoms ,฀ their฀ waters฀ issuing฀ imperceptibly฀ toward฀ the฀ Sabine.฀ The฀ eighth-฀ longest฀river฀in฀Texas,฀fl wing฀almost฀entirely฀within฀the฀Piney฀Woods฀region฀ on฀the฀far฀eastern฀edge฀of฀the฀state,฀the฀river฀swells฀to฀nearly฀four฀hundred฀ yards฀wide฀near฀its฀mouth฀at฀Sabine฀Lake—no฀less฀than฀half฀the฀width฀of฀the฀ mighty฀Mississippi฀at฀the฀Canal฀Street฀ferry฀in฀New฀Orleans.฀The฀Sabine฀appears ฀less฀imposing฀upstream,฀however.฀Where฀I฀am฀from,฀the฀river฀is฀muddy฀ and฀narrow฀and฀full฀of฀debris.฀In฀1779,฀a฀Frenchman฀named฀Don฀Athanase฀de฀ Mézières฀warned฀of฀its฀“frequent฀and฀dangerous฀turnings”฀and฀reported,฀via฀ letter฀dated฀at฀the฀ferry฀crossing฀of฀the฀old฀Camino฀Real,฀“There฀is฀no฀other฀ river฀that฀affords฀greater฀obstacles.”฀What’s฀more,฀from฀the฀earliest฀days฀of฀ Anglo฀settlement฀in฀Texas,฀the฀Sabine฀has฀earned฀a฀reputation฀as฀a฀no-man’sland ฀and฀a฀haven฀for฀outlaws฀fleeing฀justice฀on฀ oth฀sides฀of฀the฀state฀line. ฀ Some฀say฀not฀much฀has฀changed.฀But฀Jacob฀and฀I฀had฀survived฀our฀first encounter฀with฀the฀Sabine฀a฀couple฀of฀years฀earlier.฀We฀had฀been฀captivated฀ by฀the฀upper฀river’s฀solitude฀and฀subtle฀beauty฀and฀the฀self-described฀river฀ rats฀who฀hunt,฀fish, and฀swap฀stories฀beside฀the฀muddy฀water฀with฀little฀concern ฀for฀polite฀society฀on฀higher฀ground.฀Now฀the฀two฀of฀us฀intended฀to฀boat฀ down฀the฀rest฀of฀the฀river฀where฀it฀charts฀the฀boundary฀between฀the฀states.฀ We฀knew฀next฀to฀nothing฀about฀traveling฀the฀lower฀Sabine,฀except฀that฀along฀ the฀way฀the฀sun฀would฀rise฀in฀Louisiana฀and฀set฀in฀Texas,฀and฀we฀would฀fish, camp฀on฀sandbars,฀and฀explore฀a฀section฀of฀the฀river฀that฀was฀unknown฀to฀ us—and฀to฀most฀people.฀The฀border฀region฀was฀set฀to฀be฀exceedingly฀remote฀ and฀largely฀inaccessible฀to฀humans,฀crossed฀by฀few฀signs฀of฀civilization฀and฀ populated฀by฀no฀more฀than฀a฀handful฀of฀mosquito-bitten฀timber฀folks฀and฀ river฀rats,฀hunters,฀loggers,฀and฀the฀occasional฀black฀bear฀lumbering฀through฀ the฀swamp฀oaks฀and฀cypress฀knees. ฀ At฀midday฀the฀forests฀parted,฀and฀we฀arrived฀at฀the฀boat฀launch฀on฀the฀ ฀Ferguson_Book฀1.indb฀฀฀12 11/1/13฀฀฀10:20฀AM Introduction฀ xiii Louisiana฀bank.฀Then฀our฀trip฀almost฀ended฀before฀it฀began.฀We฀were฀gathering ฀our฀gear฀and฀transferring฀it฀into฀the฀boat฀when฀an฀old฀man฀ambled฀toward฀ us฀on฀his฀way฀to฀the฀concrete฀ramp.฀His฀fishing pole฀bobbed฀to฀the฀shuffle of฀ his฀steps.฀He฀was฀a฀withered฀old฀fellow,฀a฀river฀rat,฀with฀a฀gray฀beard,฀cutoff฀ jean฀shorts,฀and฀a฀head฀of฀scraggly฀white...