Sam Rayburn Lake - 3/16 - 18th

We’ve spent the last few days at Sam Rayburn Lake in deep east Texas. Very different. They actually have gators here! Warning signs posted at the park entrance. I tried to see one based on the layout I saw in Florida, but no luck. According to the camp host, I was probably standing within a couple of feet of grandpa while we were admiring all the wildlife noise at 4am by the side of the boat dock. Lots of sunning turtles, beaver and a blue heron fishing. The water was so still. But it looks just like what I picture a swamp in Louisiana would look like. There are so many tall trees everywhere and its thick. Just south of us is Big Thicket Reserve. I’d like to drive through to take a look.

And the birds! Man, I now understand those cartoons where the man goes crazy from the noise in the quiet, peaceful country. We’re surrounded by multitudes of loud sounds. Some I recognize such as the mockingbirds, crows, woodpeckers and killdeer. Many I don’t.

We took a tour to San Augustine earlier while looking for a grocery store. A very quaint and comfy town. I loved our stop at the Visitors Center. The gentleman was very talkative and volunteered all sorts of history information.

The remainder is just the History of East Texas as I remembered from the guide; the pictures are for decoration and represent the wildlife around our campsite:

San Augustine is the oldest Anglo town in Texas. Nacogdoches was here first and founded by the Spaniards. With Spain and France fighting over this territory, (Spain had Texas & France had Louisiana), Spain placed as many missions as they could to establish a presence. In San Augustine, the mission “something & something de la Delores something” was created in the 1700’s. They attempted to convert the local natives, Caddo’s, but to no success. The Spanish gave up within 40 years and moved on.

Sam Rayburn Lake

The Camino Real, the historic trail of the settlers, came over the Sabine River through San Augustine. Past Nacogdoches it split off to other parts of the state. Since the Sabine flooded so many times, the French and Spanish boundary kept changing. They eventually agreed to leave a mile of no man’s land at the river which meant it was fair game for bandits. The settlers would keep banned together for protection until they got through to Nacogdoches. They found over 70 graves near the river.

Our home at the Mills Creek Campground at Sam Rayburn Lake

The Stephen F Austin College is doing heavy historical archeology in the area. They’ve been using highly sophisticated tools and techniques including space beams. The team located original trail ruts that are six feet wide and over 6 feet deep. Once the ox and wagon got on a rut, there was no turning back…they were stuck in there until they got to an opening. Oh, and the roads in east Texas are windy because they exist over the original settler trails. The oxen would take the path of least resistance to food and water which meant they meandered on their way. The paths became trails which became roads which are now highways… and they meander.

(Oh, I saw my first bayou. It just looked like a large still creek. It seems this is where the local Caddo tribe hung out and hence the mission went up.)

The interpreter relayed other stories such as the two families (B & M’s) who were constantly at battle with each other…even linking arms to go from side to side of the road preventing others from passing. The town got so upset they hired a group of men to settle the peace. This group did well, but got as bad as the feuding families so the town called in another group of men to help regain order. Those two hired groups fought each other worse than the feuding families. Fortunately, Sam Houston called upon their services to fight for Texas Independence, including at the Alamo, and the two groups became good friends.

In the 1920’s, the town had so many outlaws causing havoc that the mayor requested assistance of the governor. He sent a Texas Ranger. The Ranger carried around 2 guns and had the motto of “Jail first, Questions later”. He cleaned the town up and had such a repetition that if he came across a local boy and told him to go to jail, the lad would walk himself into the jailhouse and stay there…. No questions asked.

Cranes mating dance in a cove of Sam Rayburn Lake. This was near the boat dock.

The Caddo Indians were farmers who lived in thatch houses. They buried their dead in mounds with a jar of their possessions (a funerary) that would assist the dead in their journey in the afterlife. The federal government required the archeologists and museums to replace all the artifacts to the mounds they could. Kinda cool. I’m amazed at the difference of the Texas historical approach in the last 40 years. Much more respect is being given to the locals and settlers and active research is being done.