Running the River: Secrets of the SabineGrowing up near the Sabine, journalist Wes Ferguson, like most East Texans, steered clear of its murky, debris-filled waters, where alligators lived in the backwater sloughs and an occasional body was pulled from some out-of-the-way crossing. The Sabine held a reputation as a haunt for a handful of hunters and loggers, more than a few water moccasins, swarms of mosquitoes, and the occasional black bear lumbering through swamp oak and cypress knees. But when Ferguson set out to do a series of newspaper stories on the upper portion of the river, he and photographer Jacob Croft Botter were entranced by the river’s subtle beauty and the solitude they found there. They came to admire the self-described “river rats” who hunted, fished, and swapped stories along the muddy water—plain folk who love the Sabine as much as Hill Country vacationers love the clear waters of the Guadalupe. Determined to travel the rest of the river, Ferguson and Botter loaded their gear and launched into the stretch of river that charts the line between the states and ends at the Gulf of Mexico. To learn more about The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, sponsors of this book's series, please click here. |
Contents
A Bend in the River | 3 |
Ignored but Essential | 9 |
Born and Raised | 15 |
Lost Towns | 22 |
Hidden Fellowship | 29 |
Part II | 39 |
In Pursuit of Old Outlaws | 41 |
The River Rat | 45 |
A Sheltered Cove | 75 |
Part III | 83 |
The Final Journey | 85 |
Surviving the Stake | 93 |
Hospitality and Horror | 99 |
Guru and the Gator | 108 |
Little Boat Big Lake | 116 |
Acknowledgments | 127 |
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Common terms and phrases
afternoon alligator asked bait bank Bayou beside Blackwell bluff boat ramp Buddy called camp canebrake canoe catfish channel County couple cove Crook cypress trees Danny Tidwell Danny's Decker Deweyville dogs downriver downstream East Texas Eddie eyes feet fl wing floods forest fork Gallenbach game warden Gladewater gonna Gregg County Gulf of Mexico hardwood head hogs hook island Jacob Jeff Karen killed knew Lake Tawakoni lived logjams Longview looked Louisiana Marcia miles morning motor muddy mussels Neches night Old River Old Sabine outlaw paddle Panola County pine trees Piney Woods pretty pulled Ralph rattler reservoir river rat riverbank Sabine Lake Sabine Pass Sabine River sandbars shack Sheryl shot side snag snake squirrels stay story swim talk Tidwell's told Toledo Bend Toledo Bend Reservoir town tree limb trip trotline turtle upstream watched wildlife y'all