Running the River: Secrets of the Sabine

Foreword

Foreword Of฀all฀the฀rivers฀in฀Texas,฀the฀Sabine฀seems฀the฀most฀mysterious. ฀ Author฀Jack฀Kerouac฀called฀it฀an฀“evil฀old฀river”฀where฀you฀could฀almost฀ hear฀the฀slither฀of฀a฀million฀copperheads฀in฀a฀region฀he฀called฀a฀“manuscript฀ of฀the฀night฀you฀couldn’t฀read.”฀I฀am฀neither฀as฀literary฀as฀Kerouac฀nor฀as฀ willing฀to฀go฀so฀far฀in฀my฀description฀but฀the฀hidden฀reaches฀and฀wooded฀ bends฀of฀the฀Sabine฀can฀definitely leave฀one฀with฀a฀feeling฀that฀the฀river฀is฀ enigmatic฀at฀best฀and฀creepy฀at฀worst. ฀ I฀do฀know฀that,฀of฀all฀the฀Texas฀rivers,฀the฀Sabine฀evokes฀compelling฀images ฀of฀human฀adventure,฀from฀the฀pirate฀Jean฀Lafitte, who฀sailed฀up฀it฀many฀ times,฀to฀Captain฀Anthony฀Lucas฀whose฀huge฀oil฀strike฀at฀nearby฀Spindletop฀ changed฀the฀economic฀history฀of฀the฀United฀States.฀Such฀exploits,฀together฀ with฀the฀deep฀woods฀along฀its฀banks,฀and฀the฀unique฀culture฀of฀the฀region฀ have฀ stimulated฀ many฀ storytellers฀ over฀ the฀ years,฀ including฀ Kerouac฀ and฀ ฀ Gerald฀ Duff฀ whose฀ novel฀ Blue฀ Sabine฀ was฀ a฀ book-of-the-month฀ at฀ the฀ ฀ Bullock฀Texas฀State฀History฀Museum.฀This฀rich฀glen฀of฀humanity฀and฀nature ฀is฀wonderfully฀conveyed฀here฀on฀these฀pages฀through฀the฀words฀of฀Wes฀ ฀ Ferguson฀and฀the฀images฀of฀Jacob฀Croft฀Botter. ฀ Beyond฀the฀river’s฀mystery฀and฀distinctive฀culture฀is฀its฀significant place฀ in฀the฀economy,฀the฀environment,฀and฀increasingly,฀the฀future฀of฀Texas.฀The฀ average฀annual฀rainfall฀along฀the฀Sabine฀in฀East฀Texas฀is฀around฀fifty-fiv inches฀while฀in฀Central฀Texas,฀where฀urban฀development฀is฀explosive,฀rainfall฀ is฀no฀more฀than฀thirty฀inches.฀Given฀these฀statistics,฀it฀should฀not฀be฀a฀surprise ฀that฀for฀decades,฀Texas฀leaders฀have฀dreamed฀of฀moving฀water฀westward฀ from฀the฀Sabine฀to฀meet฀such฀burgeoning฀demand.฀On฀the฀river,฀Toledo฀Bend฀ Reservoir฀is฀the฀largest฀human-made฀impoundment฀in฀the฀South.฀Thirsty฀cities ฀to฀the฀west,฀investors,฀and฀water฀developers฀have฀looked฀longingly฀at฀its฀ more฀than฀181,000฀acres฀of฀open฀water฀for฀years. ฀ At฀555฀miles฀long,฀the฀Sabine฀is฀among฀the฀longest฀rivers฀in฀the฀nation฀but,฀ more฀interesting฀and฀adding฀to฀its฀rich฀lore,฀is฀the฀fact฀that฀it฀fl ws฀through฀ three฀of฀the฀continent’s฀unique฀and฀colorful฀ecosystems:฀the฀Blackland฀Prairies ฀at฀the฀southern฀tip฀of฀the฀Great฀Plains,฀the฀Pineywoods฀of฀East฀Texas฀ ฀Ferguson_Book฀1.indb฀฀฀9 11/1/13฀฀฀10:20฀AM and฀Louisiana,฀and฀the฀Hardwood฀Bottoms฀and฀vast฀marshes฀along฀the฀Gulf฀ Coast.฀The฀word฀“sabine”฀means฀cypress฀in฀Spanish฀and฀anyone฀who฀has฀ crossed฀the฀great฀river฀on฀Interstate฀10฀can฀see฀that฀it฀was฀aptly฀named.฀The฀ river฀not฀only฀fl ws฀through฀some฀of฀America’s฀most฀beautiful฀terrain,฀it฀also฀ forms฀the฀key฀artery฀of฀one฀of฀the฀most฀industrialized฀areas฀in฀the฀nation. ฀ Thus,฀it฀is฀fitting that฀its฀story,฀so฀well฀told฀here฀by฀Ferguson฀and฀Botter,฀ takes฀its฀place฀in฀this฀volume฀of฀River฀Books.฀Its฀publication฀would฀not฀have฀ been฀possible฀without฀the฀support฀of฀the฀TLL฀Temple฀Foundation,฀which฀has฀ made฀it฀possible฀for฀us฀to฀bring฀readers฀of฀this฀series฀the฀beauty,฀majesty,฀and฀ significance฀of฀the฀ ivers฀of฀East฀Texas. —Andrew฀Sansom General฀Editor,฀River฀Books x฀ foreword ฀Ferguson_Book฀1.indb฀฀฀10 11/1/13฀฀฀10:20฀AM ...