I took a trip through east Texas over Easter Weekend. After going to Joe Patoski’s lecture on “Why Texans are Texans: An Introduction to Texan Identity” (related blog entry), I decided I wanted to get out and see something else of Texas. So I hit the road and headed north on 69 out of the swamps of Southeast Texas and into the wooded hills of East Texas. The scenery was amazing so i am going to let my pictures tell the story for me:
Most people don’t know this, but I love trains. If I ever become rich, before buying an expensive car I will be a ranch somewhere, a train and have some track built. The train running from Rusk, Texas to Palestine, Texas is run by the Texas State Railroad and is part of the American Heritage Railways. It’s a short 90 minute trip each way through the forest and a few small (very small) towns. This has long been on my list of things to do since I came here and I am glad I finally did it.
Another shot from the train.
The steam engine itself. I milled around behind the train out of site of everyone else and jumped on to have a look.
Apparently not everything is bigger in Texas. I went to Jefferson Texas, which seems to have nothing but antique shops in it’s few blocks. Although only 2000 people live in Jefferson today, it was once an extremely important city with a huge shipping industry. It is definitely worth reading about Jefferson’s interesting history (note: the town currently does not have any waterways coming to it).
In one of the antique shops I found a bottle of Coke for $500. I asked if this was a mistake and they shop owner assured me it was not. He went into some monologue about how significant this case of unopened coke bottles was but I stopped paying attention.
Another picture from Jefferson. Another note about the town is that the personal railroad car of Jay Gould, a famous railroad tychoon, is on display there. This was another treat for my interest in trains.
I thought this was funny so I took a picture. The whole town felt like it had stopped aging 50 years ago. Even the regular shops were full of homemade food and handmade products. If you like cute little towns, Jefferson is a must.
They even have places to tie your horse up on the side of the road so you can pop into shops to get your groceries.
The real reason for choosing East Texas was to see Caddo Lake, Texas’ only naturally occurring lake. The history of Caddo Lake is tied quite closely to Jefferson’s history and is in my opinion significantly more interesting. The wikipedia article doesn’t do the place justice. Lady Bird Johnson is from this area. Drilling for water over oil was first done here. Howard Hughes senior made a name for himself at Caddo Lake with his new drill bit design. The area spent a good bit of time ungoverned and became a bastion of sin. The lake is natural, but was greatly expanded when the river it feeds was jammed up by the logging industry. It was then drained and the forest cleared for farm land (after extensive lobbying from Jay Gould). Shortly there after they dammed up the river and re-flooded it to allow drilling (all the drilling rigs were sinking into the soft earth).
Currently the allure of the place is the multitude of cyprus trees growing up out of the swamp and the Spanish moss that hangs down from their branches. It is an erie place to visit.
Cyprus tree seeds need to be wet for several months then dry for several months before they can sprout (ie a flood cycle). Since the lake’s level is controlled by a dam now, no new cyprus trees can grow here.
There is a duck blind hidden in this picture, can you find it?
One of the main water ways through the lake.
A very shallow nearly inaccessible cover.
Flowers growing up out of the water. I intend to return in August when the largest percentage of flowers are in bloom.
If you go to Caddo Lake you need to take a tour with John Winn. I hired him and I got a fantastic 4 hour tour through some very isolated and rarely travelled places. He grew up on the lake and knows it very well. He owns Caddo Lake Backwater Tours
This is John’s friend Harriet.
A lily pad bloom
More of the lake…
More of the lake…
More of the lake…
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