Running the River: Secrets of the Sabine

Part I

Part฀I ฀Ferguson_Book฀1.indb฀฀฀1 11/1/13฀฀฀10:20฀AM ฀Ferguson_Book฀1.indb฀฀฀2 11/1/13฀฀฀10:20฀AM ฀ 3 r A฀Bend฀in฀the฀River You฀notice฀things฀when฀you฀come฀home฀after฀being฀gone฀too฀long:฀ the฀way฀the฀pine฀trees฀sprout฀from฀the฀hills,฀or฀the฀curve฀of฀a฀narrow฀ river฀as฀it฀winds฀through฀the฀forest. ฀ One฀fall฀afternoon฀before฀Jacob฀and฀I฀had฀ever฀considered฀boating฀down฀ the฀Sabine,฀I฀found฀myself฀driving฀into฀town฀when฀the฀pines฀gave฀way฀to฀ the฀boggy฀floodplain. The฀Texas฀Highway฀31฀bridge฀approached฀where฀it฀ straddles฀the฀river,฀just฀outside฀Longview.฀In฀no฀hurry฀to฀be฀anywhere,฀I฀eased฀ off฀the฀gas฀and฀peered฀over฀the฀guardrail,฀down฀to฀the฀river฀below.฀From฀the฀ bridge฀I฀could฀see฀tangles฀of฀brush฀and฀a฀few฀downed฀trees.฀Beer฀cans฀littered฀ the฀muddy฀banks,฀and฀a฀ribbon฀of฀brown฀water฀disappeared฀around฀a฀bend.฀ I฀had฀surely฀crossed฀the฀river฀here฀a฀thousand฀times฀and฀had฀never฀given฀it฀ much฀thought.฀Today,฀as฀usual,฀the฀Sabine฀appeared฀stagnant฀and฀dirty,฀like฀ an฀oversized฀drainage฀ditch. ฀ But฀then฀I฀noticed฀something฀smaller.฀A฀twig฀in฀the฀water฀drifted฀by฀and฀ was฀soon฀followed฀by฀another.฀The฀twigs฀bobbed฀in฀the฀current฀and฀were฀ swept฀beyond฀the฀bend.฀This฀river฀was฀not฀stagnant฀at฀all.฀As฀I฀realized฀how฀ swiftly฀the฀water฀was฀fl wing,฀I฀began฀to฀wonder฀what฀lay฀beyond฀my฀field of฀ vision.฀I฀was฀struck฀by฀a฀desire฀to฀follow฀those฀twigs฀around฀the฀bend฀and฀see฀ where฀the฀current฀led. ฀ I฀grew฀up฀near฀the฀Sabine฀River฀and฀graduated฀from฀Sabine฀High฀School,฀ but฀no฀one฀I฀knew฀had฀ever฀talked฀of฀traveling฀the฀river.฀It฀seemed฀like฀such฀a฀ novel฀idea฀that฀I฀could฀find a฀boat฀and฀set฀off฀to฀explore฀a฀section฀of฀my฀home฀ where฀none฀of฀my฀friends฀or฀family฀had฀ever฀gone.฀Then฀I฀told฀my฀girlfriend฀ about฀it.฀She฀crinkled฀her฀nose,฀not฀even฀trying฀to฀veil฀her฀disgust. ฀ “Nothing฀but฀snakes฀and฀dead฀bodies฀in฀that฀river,”฀she฀said. ฀ Many฀East฀Texans฀dismiss฀the฀Sabine฀as฀a฀dump฀for฀dead฀bodies.฀They฀tell฀ each฀other฀that฀snakes฀writhe฀across฀its฀waters฀and฀dangle฀from฀the฀branches฀ of฀hardwood฀trees,฀where฀they฀have฀been฀known฀to฀fall฀into฀the฀laps฀of฀unsuspecting ฀ fishe men.฀ There฀ had฀ to฀ be฀ more฀ to฀ it฀ than฀ that,฀ I฀ thought.฀ I฀ pulled฀out฀my฀Texas฀road฀map฀and฀traced฀my฀finger along฀the฀wiggly฀blue฀ line฀marking฀the฀Sabine’s฀course.฀It฀rises฀in฀a฀soggy฀spot฀in฀a฀cow฀pasture฀in฀ the฀blackland฀prairie฀about฀fifty miles฀northeast฀of฀Dallas,฀then฀meanders฀ ฀Ferguson_Book฀1.indb฀฀฀3 11/1/13฀฀฀10:20฀AM 4฀ part฀1 southeasterly฀through฀the฀Piney฀Woods฀of฀Northeast฀Texas฀before฀elbowing฀ Louisiana฀and฀bending฀hard฀south฀into฀Toledo฀Bend,฀the฀largest฀humanmade ฀reservoir฀in฀the฀southern฀United฀States. ฀ Over฀the฀next฀several฀days,฀I฀took฀alternative฀routes฀into฀town฀so฀I฀could฀ scope฀out฀the฀Sabine฀from฀different฀bridges฀in฀the฀area.฀No฀matter฀where฀I฀ looked,฀the฀little฀river฀offered฀only฀glimpses฀of฀itself฀before฀turning฀the฀bend฀ and฀ducking฀out฀of฀sight.฀On฀those฀country฀drives฀I฀also฀began฀to฀think฀of฀ possible฀companions฀for฀the฀journey.฀In฀the฀end฀I฀realized฀only฀one฀person฀ would฀do:฀my฀buddy฀Jacob.฀He฀has฀a฀beard.฀He฀wears฀flannel and฀seems฀kind฀ of฀outdoorsy,฀and฀he฀comports฀himself฀with฀a฀quiet฀earnestness฀that฀I฀respect.฀ At฀the฀time฀he฀was฀working฀as฀a฀photographer฀at฀the฀Longview฀News-Journal,฀ the฀same฀newspaper฀that฀put฀me฀on฀the฀payroll฀whenever฀I฀came฀home฀and฀ needed฀money. ฀ After฀leaving฀East฀Texas฀again฀for฀a฀winter฀job฀in฀another฀state,฀I฀sent฀ Jacob฀an฀e-mail฀suggesting฀that฀he฀and฀I฀take฀an฀“epic”฀boat฀trip฀down฀our฀ stretch฀of฀river฀when฀I฀came฀home฀the฀following฀summer.฀“Why฀should฀anyone ฀care฀about฀the฀Sabine?฀What฀purpose฀does฀it฀serve฀besides฀filling up฀ Toledo฀Bend?”฀I฀posed฀the฀questions.฀Then฀I฀offered฀the฀best฀reasons฀for฀our฀ Sunken฀bus ฀Ferguson_Book฀1.indb฀฀฀4 11/1/13฀฀฀10:20฀AM A฀Bend฀in฀the฀River฀ 5 trip฀that฀I฀could฀think฀of:฀“Because฀it’s฀there,฀and฀I฀like฀to฀explore.฀Because฀ it’s฀muddy฀and฀slow฀and฀people฀take฀it฀for฀granted,฀but฀I฀know฀we฀can฀find...