The Magazine of the American Landowner is an essential guide for investors, landowners, and those interested in buying or selling land. The award-winning quarterly is known for its annual survey of America's largest landowners, The Land Report 100.
Issue link: https://landreport.epubxp.com/i/822507
S P R I N G 2 0 1 7 | The LandReport 73 LANDREPORT.COM of Caddo National Grassland, the creek flows unnaturally straight. This is because it was channelized in the 1940s. After freshening by Coffee Mill Lake's tailwater, the creek continues on to form the northern boundary of Fannin and Lamar Counties before nour- ishing the Red just northwest of Paris. Along a few short stretches, Bois d'Arc flows clear, over firm bottom rock. Mostly it flows the color of Fannin County clay. While the creek lacks the postcard beauty of the spring-fed streams of the Texas Hill County, it's no less rich in history or ecological wealth. Hunters of the Natchitoches tribe – part of the Caddo Confederacy – considered the Bois d'Arc the best beaver stream on the Red River. They called it nahaucha, "the thick," in reference to the heavy growth of bois d'arc trees along its banks. Prior to Anglo-Texan settlement and suppression of natural, cleansing wildfire, the post oak savannah was far more savannah than oak. From a distance, the sheltering ribbon of bois d'arc and other riparian growth beckoned settlers much as it had welcomed native peoples for millennia. While defending the Alamo, Davy Crock- ett may have regretted his restlessness as he fondly recalled humble Bois d'Arc Creek. On the road to martyrdom at San Antonio de Bexar, he'd stopped along "Bodark Bayou" and wrote of the richness of the country and the possibility of settling there. Pioneer Bailey Inglish also found the Bois d'Arc agreeable. Down from Arkansas with his wife, five children, and a few other fami- lies, he settled along the creek in March of 1836. But the Caddoes were not welcoming and expressed their displeasure vigorously and frequently enough that Inglish & Co. built a log stockade. During the Republic of Texas, Fort Inglish provided shelter and security to militia forces, including the Military Road expedi- tion led by William Gordon Cooke in 1840. In 1843, Fort Inglish, now renamed Bois d'Arc in recognition of its sustaining creek, replaced Fort Warren as the seat of Fannin Country. In 1844, the growing town was renamed Bonham in honor of James Butler Bonham, who also died at the Alamo. Today, Bois d'Arc Creek reflects a much- altered post oak savannah region. Although its namesake tree remains abundant, the creek flows through savannah and pasture of mixed native and domestic grasses, and sustains hardwood bottomland broad enough to be called "woodland" or "forest." Yet the hard-used Bois d'Arc bottomland has proven miraculously resilient. Given the slightest rest and care, it heals. Beaver, nearly eradicated by frontier trappers, are once again common along the creek, their handiwork ap- parent in nearly every stand of tender saplings. A stealthy canoeist can hear the slap of their broad tails, and perhaps glimpse one just before it disappears into the muddy depths. Wildlife photographer Russell Graves, who grew up hunting the Bois d'Arc bottomlands and fishing its deep holes for catfish, has Today, Bois d'Arc Creek beckons canoeists, anglers, and hunters just as it once welcomed Native Americans and pioneering settlers.