LONGVIEW, news-journal.com A Cox Newspaper THURSDAY July 17, 2008 Find it inside L I F E O N East Texans voted, and here’s T H E SABIN E the results of who’s tops in the area in PART ONE OF FOUR everything from food to Its reputation is foul and services. dirty, but some people who know it well believe Ignored,the Shuttle river that snakes through but essential is a natural treasure and vital to life STORY BY WES FERGUSON to KC from PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACOB CROFT BOTTER Longview discussed BY JIMMY ISAAC [email protected]

Each weekday, Chris Craddock com- mutes from his Longview home to Kilgore College where he works. With gas costing nearly $4 a gallon, he spends as much as $200 a month on fuel. Craddock isn’t alone in his daily round trip across the Sabine River. College offi cials say at least 70 percent of its more than 5,000 students are Longview residents. In a fi ve-month semester, those students could be paying as much as $1,000 for gas. By comparison, Kilgore College tuition for 12 hours of course work is $1,100. In response, Kilgore College might contract with two Gregg County transportation operators to provide shuttle service between the college’s main campus and the Kilgore college Longview campus as early as this fall. Along with a contract with either See SHUTTLE, Page 6A

“It can get dangerous. If the river’s high and you don’t know what you’re doing, you can get in a pickle real quick.” Shaun Crook knows the Sabine inside and out. He is the biologist for two of the state’s 51 wildlife management areas, Tawakoni and the Old Sabine Bottom, a New report 5,700-acre reserve northeast of Lindale. confi rms news-journal.com CLICK IT UP: View a video on the river and see more photos daily consumers’ online during the News-Journal’s four-day series. HE SABINE RIVER slinks ignored wallet pinch and unloved through the swamps and bottomlands of East Texas. June infl ation rises at I t is home to alligators that lurk in back- highest rate in 17 years water sloughs, clouds of mosquitoes and BY MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM snakes — lots of snakes — that writhe New York Times News Service across the water. They sun in the low, hanging branches of T Almost everything that consumers hardwood trees, and can drop into the boats of unsuspecting spent money on last month — from fi shermen. food to electricity and gasoline — took a bigger piece of their paychecks. In old days, the river bottom was a no man’s land where Creatures big, small, dangerous and gentle call the river their home. Numerous snakes, all Infl ation in June rose at the fastest bandits hid from the law. Its reputation lingers today as a kinds of waterfowl and even alligators often are spotted. rate in 17 years, the government said Wednesday, just a day after the chair- dump for dead bodies. Every few years or so, deputies pull a man of the Federal Reserve warned corpse from some out-of-the-way place where civilization meets the Sabine. that infl ation posed a signifi cant risk to “There are people in Longview that go over it every day and don’t even look at it,” said Tom Gallenbach, a game The series the nation’s economic outlook. The Consumer Price Index, which warden who lives on the river. ■ Today: Getting started measures prices of a batch of common From the highway bridge at Texas 31 or Interstate 20, there’s not much to see — tangles of brush and a few downed ■ Friday: The household products, rose 1.1 percent in June, the Labor Department said. That trees; a ribbon of brown water that disappears around a bend. fi rst test ■ Saturday: increase caps a year in which infl a- Photographer Jacob Croft Botter and I set out to look around the bend.We fi gured we’d camp on sandbars and fi sh Unwelcome tion has surged to proportions seen by some as threatening the stability of the for our dinner, just roughing it, and we’d go as far as we could in four days. We had camping gear, food, fi shing poles, guests ■ Sunday: Red- American economy. bug spray and a fl at-bottom boat on loan from Shipp’s Marine in Gladewater. We also had a shotgun, just in case. neck heaven In the past 12 months, the price index CONTINUED ON PAGE 4A has risen 5 percent, the biggest annual See INFLATION, Page 6A

TODAY’S Partly cloudy. High of 97. THE MORNING RUSH WEATHER SEVEN-DAY FORECAST, PAGE 5B

First Ozone Action Day SPORTS HEALTH Index Low-pressure exercise Advice ...... 4C Leisure ...... 4C Today is the fi rst Ozone Action Day Quarterback education Classifi eds ...... 1D Movie times ...... 4C of the summer for Northeast Texas. Young QBs found pigskin If you love to stay active but can’t Comics ...... 12D Obituaries ...... 4-5B Because of hot weather and little or no stand to jar your joints, water ex- Health ...... 7A Opinion ...... 2B wind, emissions (such as those from knowledge at the Gilmer Passing Academy. Page 1C ercise is for you. Several centers Homework ...... 10A Stocks ...... 6B vehicles and power plants) are expected in Longview offer classes. to form a smog or haze. This Page 7A mixture, known as ozone, Wednesday’s lottery endangers public heath. FIND IT ONLINE Pick Three A.M. Cash Five More on weather, Page 5B. EAST TEXAS .....1-8-7 .....4-8-9-26-33 Being Me Pick Three P.M. Powerball Area toddler drowns .....7-8-6 .....5-15-23-29-42 THE NATION Which is better, “The Godfather” or A Union Grove 1-year-old playing Lotto Texas Powerball: 17 “Scarface”? Preston Mitchell has a passion Bush blocks records with her toddler sister drowned .....5-17-31-32-43-47 for movies, and he’ll tell you straight up. after fi nding a way out of a front on CIA leak case See his story only on the news-journal. yard gate and climbing into a President Bush invoked execu- com video series, “Being Me.” tive privilege to stop Congress from small pool about three feet deep. reviewing a report on the CIA leak case. Page 1B Page 3A 4A Longview News-Journal, Thursday, July 17, 2008 LIFE ON THE SABINE news-journal.com

Wes Ferguson Jacob Croft Botter History and facts about the Sabine River John “Wes” Ferguson is a 1998 graduate of The Sabine River trip marked Jacob Croft ■ The Sabine River fl ows for 555 miles, called the “Sabine River Blues.” The west of the Sabine River to be Spanish Sabine High School. He attended Kilgore Col- Botter’s last full-time assignment with the from Hunt County in northeast Texas lyrics go like this: “Sabine River, territory. French traders also used the lege and graduated News-Journal. The all the way to the . The mama, so deep and wide, oh Lordy. Sabine, and Spain and France each with a journalism Hallsville native headwaters of the Sabine are about Sabine River, mama, so deep and wide, claimed the area. degree from the has returned to two miles west of Celeste at a fork I can see my baby on the other side.” ■ After the Purchase of 1803, University of Texas Louisiana, where called Cowleach Fork. The fork is ■ Writer Jack Kerouac also mentions the United States and Spain create at Austin in 2004. he earned a master named for an early Indian chief who the Sabine River (he called it an “evil in 1806 what was called the Neutral Wes worked as of fi ne arts degree lived in the area. old river”) in his 1957 novel, “On the Ground. That area was from the Ar- an intern for the from the Louisiana ■ The name Sabine comes from the Road.” royo Hondo in Louisiana west to the News-Journal off and on from 1999 to 2003. State University. Jacob has been a photo in- Spanish word for cypress. The original ■ There have been inhabitants along the Sabine River, which covered a large He was a full-time writer from 2004 to 2005 structor in the past and continues to pursue name was Rio de Sabinas, or “River Sabine River for thousands of years. portion of East Texas. For more than a before leaving to travel and write. Wes lives fi ne arts photography. His work has been of Cypress.” That’s because of the It’s been thought the Caddos lived dozen years, there was no law there, part time in Colorado, where he teaches published and displayed in various books and tremendous growth of cypress trees beside the Sabine as early as 780 A.D. which attracted hundreds of bandits skiing. From time to time, he returns to East exhibits, including the Longview Museum of along the lower Sabine River. Early Caddo mounds have been found and ruffi ans who knew they wouldn’t Texas, where he’s always welcomed at the Fine Art’s “Coming Home” show, which opens ■ Alger “Texas” Alexander, the early along the river. have to answer for their actions. News-Journal. Saturday. Texas blues musician, wrote a song ■ The early Spanish considered the area — Van Craddock, East Texas historian Water need threatens river habitat From Page 1A We left on the last Tuesday in June. How bad could it be? Floods on the Sabine wash the banks out from under trees. The trees cave into the water, where they snarl debris in a current that can run from lethargic to raging in a matter of hours. Where the river is narrow, the logjams make naviga- tion tricky, and often impossible. “It can get dangerous. If the riv- er’s high and you don’t know what you’re doing, you can get in a pickle real quick,” said Shaun Crook, a state wildlife biologist. “I’ve almost fl ipped several boats when you get out in that fast current.” Crook is a tall man with a griz- zly beard. He wears a denim shirt, tucked into denim jeans, tucked into knee-high rubber boots. It gets muddy where he works. Crook is the biologist for two of the state’s 51 wildlife management areas, Tawakoni and the Old Sabine Bottom, a 5,700-acre reserve north- east of his hometown of Lindale. Crook has explored the river along the Old Sabine, and he didn’t think we stood much of a chance boating through it. Spring fl oods had receded, and the water was full of downed trees. “You’re probably gonna come into contact with logjams you can’t get around when it’s that low,” he said. “Sometimes you can go through them if they’re real loose, but it’s gonna be tough getting up Jacob Croft Botter/News-Journal Photo and down that river right now. You probably won’t be able to run the “The wetlands act like kidneys to fi lter out pollution, heavy metals and effl uence that come from up above us.” whole length of the WMA.” Crook had been spending much State wildlife biologist Shaun Crook believes the wetlands around the Sabine play an important role in the area, but reservoirs are threatening those wetlands. Some of the of his time doing paperwork, or area’s drinking water comes from the Sabine, and the wetlands are able to clean that water. counting birds and analyzing trees in the forest. He was itching to get Little Sandy Hunting and Fishing back on the river. He didn’t think Club — turned over its 3,800 acres to we could handle it by ourselves, but the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The he didn’t mind taking us for a ride river authority sued, but a judge’s in his boat, courtesy of the Texas order effectively killed plans for the Parks and Wildlife Department. Members of reservoir. Draining nature’s kidneys an 84-year-old The boat goes airborne It was a cloudy summer Tuesday hunting club on the Sabine. The motor hummed on the north Two decades later, Little Sandy as Crook sped around the many log- bank of the Sa- club members still hunt and fi sh jams that cluttered our path. Occa- bine — the Little with exclusive rights to the federal sionally, low tree branches smacked Sandy Hunting refuge. Many of them camp in cov- us in the face. ered barges that fl oat on the river. “Watch out,” Crook shouted. and Fishing More importantly, the refuge is “Sometimes you’re just gonna have Club — camp in home to what many people con- to duck down and take it.” covered barges sider the last substantial forest of We had put into the river at a pub- that fl oat on old growth bottomland hardwoods lic boat ramp of mud and dirt at the the river. in Texas. end of a truck trail on the Old Sa- “There are some trees over there bine Bottom, about 10 miles north- Jacob Croft Botter that us three holding out hand to east of Lindale. We cruised toward News-Journal hand couldn’t reach around them,” our destination south of Hawkins, a Photo Crook said. journey that could take 30 minutes Across the river from Little or four hours, depending on water like a small bridge, just a few feet Sandy at the Old Sabine Bottom, levels that had been falling about a above the surface. We crawled into state wildlife managers are allow- foot a day. the bottom of the boat and coasted ing younger trees to grow. The for- The river was about 6 feet deep, underneath it, clearing the log by est will reach old growth status in but it can drop to less than a couple inches. about half a century, Crook said. of feet by late summer, Crook said. “All right, we’re good,” Crook The biologist rounded a bend in During fl ood times, the water can said. “Till the next logjam.” the river. He came to another ob- climb to above 30 feet. Snowy egrets and little blue her- stacle — a downed log that peeked When the river rises high enough, ons glided alongside our boat be- two or three inches from the wa- usually in the winter or spring, it fore veering over the trees. Turtles ter’s surface. surges over the banks. The fl ood- plopped into the water, and pal- “OK, hang on,” Crook said. “I’m waters spill into the surrounding metto plants waved like spiky green gonna jump it.” bottomlands, creating wetlands and fans on the tall banks. It was hard to He mashed the accelerator and triggering an important cycle in the fathom that less than 25 years ear- hit the log dead-on, seesawing his health of the river, Crook said. lier, this place had almost been sub- boat across it. He popped the pro- “The wetlands act like kidneys merged in the bottom of a reservoir peller out of the water right before to fi lter out pollution, heavy met- known as Waters Bluff. it crushed against the wood, and als and effl uence” – think sewage It would have been an excellent we fell with a thud back into the – “that come from up above us,” he river. Jacob Croft Botter/News-Journal Photo reservoir, said Jack Tatum, water said. resources manager for the Sabine Soon we reached our destina- The wetlands trap and break A fi eld of palmetto plants is part of the natural beauty of the Old Sabine Bottom Wildlife River Authority, the state agency tion — the FM 14 bridge south of down the harmful bits that have Management Area. that oversees the river and its wa- Hawkins. churned in the current. They also tershed area. The reservoir would We had completed our fi rst day fi lter the silt that makes the water per Sabine have depended on water ter,” he said. have supplied the water needs of the on the river. Tomorrow, though, cloudy. levels in , a reservoir So how does one strike a bal- region for years to come, he said. would be different. We’d be steer- Floodwater trapped in the wet- built at the head of the river. ance between conservation and our “In Texas, our rivers are ephem- ing our own boat, without Crook lands soaks into the ground. Even- “Before Tawakoni, we had larger growing thirst for water? eral in nature. There is a lot of fl ow to guide us. Tatum said we could tually, it seeps back into streams, and longer fl oods,” Crook said. Crook laughed and shook his at times and no fl ow at other times. expect more logjams and little lakes and rivers — and eventually Until heavy rains in 2007, he head. Unless you have a storage project, concrete dams, called weirs, that our drinking water — cleaned of said, the Old Sabine Bottom hadn’t “I don’t know,” he said. “It’s a how do you plan for future water might snag our boat as we fl oated much of the harmful sediment. fl ooded in about fi ve years. After very, very sticky situation.” needs?” he said. “Even with con- toward Longview. That’s how it has worked for thou- the drought, many ducks and other servation, if you’re gonna double “Once you leave that bridge sands of years, but it’s happening wetland creatures are only starting Scaring turtles, the population of the state, you’re and you’re heading downstream, less, Crook said. He said Texas has to return. skirting logjams gonna have to meet those needs.” you’ve got to be prepared,” he said. lost three-fourths of its bottomland “There’s always a threat to bot- Conservation groups fought the “It’s a slow-moving river, but it’s hardwoods in the past two centu- tomland hardwood habitat, but the Crook nosed the boat through construction of Waters Bluff. In misleading. You have to be careful ries. And for the past four decades, biggest threat right now is reser- loose debris. He eased off the gas. 1986, an 84-year-old hunting club on because you can get into all kinds water fl ow and fl oods along the up- voirs, because everybody needs wa- A fallen log straddled the water the north bank of the Sabine — the of things out there.” INSIDE Illegal immigration A Longview member of the Texas Border Volunteers says EAST TEXAS America is facing a crisis. Page 3B SECTION B / FRIDAY, JULY 18, 2008 news-journal.com Offi cials say Titus man doused girlfriend, child with gasoline Animal blessings FROM STAFF REPORTS According to the sheriff’s fi red one shot above her, offi - offi ce, a woman took the cials said. The Rev. Michael L. Titus County sheriff’s of- 19-month-old daughter she The woman said Landrum Schutz, left, blesses fi cials have charged two men shares with Kyle Lee Lan- ordered her from the car. She animals Thursday with aggravated assault in drum to his residence on refused, and he turned the at the School for separate incidents. CR 4250 on July 10. She said gun around and hit her on the One of the men threatened Landrum pointed a pistol at back of the head, the sheriff’s Little Children to kill the mother of his child, her and threatened to kill her offi ce reported. The woman at First United and the other man doused his while removing his daugh- then fl ed from the residence. Methodist Church girlfriend and her 5-year-old ter from the vehicle, a press Offi cers searched Lan- in Longview. son with gasoline and threat- release from the sheriff’s of- drum’s residence and found ened to set them on fi re, the fi ce said. Landrum grabbed three handguns and one spent Kevin Green sheriff’s offi ce reported. the woman by the throat and See TITUS, Page 3B News-Journal Photo

L I F E O N T H E SABIN E LISD PART TWO OF FOUR hires What’s to be found on the river? Fish, snakes, abandoned director structures and oil rigs, and ‘Born sometimes people. And Special ed administrator and raised’ one of three new offi cials often, you’ll fi nd a good story. STORY BY WES FERGUSON employed this summer PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACOB CROFT BOTTER BY JIMMY ISAAC [email protected]

Vicki Summers, who has led spe- cial education efforts in four Gregg County schools for a decade, is mov- ing to Longview Independent School District. Trustees hired Summers this week to succeed Special Education Director Vicki Green, who retired in the spring after some 30 years with the district, said LISD spokesman Brian Bowman. Summers will receive an $85,000 annu- al salary, but a start date has not been set, Bowman said. Summers has spent the past 35 years in local education. Since 1998, she has worked with four districts — Sabine, Gladewater, Spring Hill and White Oak — as director of the Gregg County Special Education Shared Service Ar- rangement. Before that, she spent 15 years as Pine Tree ISD’s speech/lan- guage pathologist, three years as an educational diagnostician for the Har- rison County Special Education Co- operative, and seven years as director of the Rusk County Special Education Cooperative. From 2005 to 2007, Summers was Whatever these giant, concrete pillars were, nature mostly has engulfed them and now owns them for her own uses. The abandoned structures can be found at recognized by the Texas Education random spots along the banks of the Sabine River. Agency for her assistance in planning and implementing a multisensory program for children who have severe news-journal.com cognitive disabilities. Summers is the third administra- CLICK IT UP: Read past stories in this series, see ad- See LISD, Page 3B ditional photos and video from the trip online. OWERING CONCRETE pillars have crumbled Renovations into ruins littering the river. The encroaching forest has wrapped its could mean vines around what is left standing, swallowing the tax rate drop ancient and abandoned structures. TOur little fl atbottom boat motored past aban- Hughes Springs schools doned pillars that rose from either bank of the Sabine River like monuments to a vanished benefi t from election people. The boat skirted wooden platforms that Along the banks of the Sabine sit structures no longer in use, such as the building that once was The to raise operations fund rotted on the river’s edge. Rusting pipes swayed Sandbar and Marina on River Road, west of Texas 42. BY CHRISTINA LANE in the current. [email protected] The series It was the second morning of a four-day trip When parents drive their children down the Sabine River. The water was wide ■ Thursday: Getting to school in Hughes Springs on Aug. started 25, they will pull into new parking lots and calm and brown as we boated downstream ■ Today: The fi rst that were resurfaced during the sum- from U.S. 271 just south of Gladewater headed test mer break. toward Longview. Concrete blocks squatted ■ Saturday: Unwel- Because those and other renovations come guests are being completed this summer, resi- like little pyramids on the banks, while others ■ Sunday: Redneck dents might see a decrease in their tax lay like broken tombstones. heaven rate, Superintendent Rick Ogden said Wednesday. A snake slithered in the water. Though the The $588,000 in parking lot renova- wide majority of snakes on the Sabine River tions is being paid from the school dis- trict’s general fund, along with other are harmless, one must watch for the venom- projects, Ogden said. ous ones that are known to bite, advised Ricky Money in the fund increased after Maxey, a state wildlife biologist in Marshall. voters approved a tax rate of $1.23 per $100 in taxable value in a 2007 election, “I wouldn’t be overly concerned. They’re Don McClendon said he grew up near the river exploring ancient Indian hunting he added. just trying to make a living, looking for things and fi shing grounds. “I’ve found a zillion arrowheads down here,” he said. “You’ll The election was necessary to raise the maintenance and operations side to eat, and most of the time they’re looking to talk to people who just think the Sabine River is an old, nasty, muddy river, but we swam in it all our lives, skied in it. It’s just like a lake, but it changes every year. of the tax rate above the state-allowed get away from humans,” he said. When it fl oods and goes back down there’s always something different.” maximum. Because the district has been able The morning passed with an easy calm. At to complete its major projects, the tax lunch time, we tied our boat to a wide tree limb rate could decrease, Ogden said. Og- CONTINUED ON PAGE 6B den declined to comment on how much the tax rate could go down because the See HUGHES SPRINGS, Page 3B 6B Longview News-Journal, Friday, July 18, 2008 LIFE ON THE SABINE news-journal.com

“When I was growing up, you couldn’t even eat the fi sh in this river it was so polluted. (Oilfi eld companies) just dumped saltwater into the river, and the fi sh tasted bad. We had to fi sh above Gladewater to get fi sh we could eat. But it’s been cleaned up, and there’s good fi shing now.” Elton P. Woodall Sabine River resident and trapper

Elton P. Woodall has lived most of his life on the river. Before he became sick recently, he trapped beavers, raccoons, bobcats and even river otters, selling the pelts to a distributor in Canada. Woodall works near his home in a shop on a little island in the middle of a pond. The shop is full of reminders of where he lives, such as the fi shing lure decoration (top right) and equipment that stretches pelts (bottom right), on which an insect rests. Fish are ‘fine’ in Sabine’s waters From Page 1B beavers, raccoons, bobcats and river that shaded the water. Tall oaks and otters along the Sabine River. elms crowded the other bank. After he caught a critter he “It’s so beautiful down here,” said skinned and stretched it in a shop photographer Jake Botter. “It’s so he built on an island in a wide pond much prettier than I think about that sits in his front yard, a stone’s it.” throw from the river. East Texas also is hillier than A wooden bridge gets him from many people realize. Pressing on, his yard to the island every day. The we passed bluffs that tower 30 or 40 island gives him privacy when he feet above the river. On one, cows works, he said. rested under pine trees, watching Woodall sells the pelts to a distrib- us as they chewed. utor in Canada. He also catches and Approaching Texas 42, a few miles sells catfi sh to the public. south of White Oak, houses began to “Just show up and ask for them,” appear on the southwestern bank. A he said. black dog swam in the water. Maybe “I’ve got them in the freezer. his owner was nearby. Don’t know how many I have left, since I’ve been sick two or three The Indians months.” left their fi sh traps Woodall fi gures the nature of his illness is nobody’s business but his Sure enough, the dog belonged to own. It is serious, though. On the Don McClendon, a man who wore last Wednesday afternoon in June, a handlebar mustache, Red Wing he rested in a leather recliner un- boots and a pair of short pants. He der the tin-roof carport next to his was spending his afternoon on an house. An industrial-sized box fan old John Deere tractor, leveling dirt blew cool air on his face. Woodall skins and stretches the critters he traps in this shop he built on an island in a pond that sits in his front yard, right by the at his future home site about 40 feet He said his father ran trotlines river . A wooden bridge gets him from his yard to the island every day. His island gives him privacy when he works, he said. above the river. on the Sabine when he was a child, McClendon said he grew up near- and he and his friends used to fl oat 16-foot-long boat over the bank, we by, exploring ancient Indian hunt- down the river on inner tubes. The Sabine’s path to the Gulf of Mexico thought we could walk it about a ing and fi shing grounds. The Sabine has changed dramati- hundred yards along a game trail “I’ve found a zillion arrowheads ■ Three forks of the Sabine River merge in Lake Tawakoni, just south of Greenville, to cally since those days, he said, espe- and put in just downstream of the down here,” he said. “Down about 20 form the Sabine River proper. cially in regard to the oilfi eld equip- logjam. It was an hours-long pros- feet from where your boat’s parked, ■ Southeast of Lake Tawakoni, the river forms the boundary lines between Rains and ment that has been left to decay pect. there’s an old Indian fi sh trap.” Van Zandt, Van Zandt and Wood, Wood and Smith, and Smith and Upshur counties. along the river banks. On cue, storm clouds rolled in Up and down the river, he said, ■ The river continues into Gregg County, fl owing just south of Gladewater, Clarksville “When I was growing up, you dark and ominous. you can see Indian fi sh traps late in City, White Oak and Longview and on to Lakeport and Easton. couldn’t even eat the fi sh in this We had to go for it. We gunned summer when the water’s low. ■ Originally, the Sabine River was the southern boundary of Gregg County when it was river it was so polluted,” he said. the boat toward the lower log to hit Indians built U-shaped walls of created in 1873. In April 1874, another 141 square miles south of the Sabine River in “(Oilfi eld companies) just dumped it full-speed and jump it, hoping we river stone that looked like jetties, Rusk County were added to Gregg County. saltwater into the river, and the fi sh wouldn’t crush the propeller. We he said. The walls blocked the fi sh’s ■ From Gregg County, the Sabine River forms part of the Rusk-Harrison county bound- tasted bad. We had to fi sh above were about to hit the log. At the last passage through the channel, leav- ary, then turns south into Panola County where the river continues east of Carthage. Gladewater to get fi sh we could eat. second, we veered away. We raced ing them easy prey for an Indian’s ■ The river empties into Toledo Bend Reservoir in extreme southeast Panola County. But it’s been cleaned up, and there’s for it a second time: We got closer. spear. From there, it forms the border between Texas and Louisiana. good fi shing now. The fi sh taste We were almost upon it. We turned The fi sh traps might have be- ■ At the end of its 555-mile journey, the Sabine discharges more water into the Gulf of fi ne.” off. longed to the Caddo Indians, he Mexico than any other Texas river. Some East Texans might think “I just can’t do it,” Jake said. said, who had been living in the their river is dirty, but that’s just not — Van Craddock and Wes Ferguson “I’ve never gone over anything like Sabine River basin for around 800 the case anymore, said Jack Tatum, that.” years when the Spanish reached the water resources manager for the Sa- Defeated, we called my brother area in the 16th century. Frog legs are good eating A few miles downstream from bine River Authority. to pick us up. As we backtracked to Long before the Caddos, the ba- Texas 42, we had to stop. In the 1970s and ‘80s, the state gov- Woodall said the Sabine River is the highway crossing, the fi rst of sin was home to the 12,000-year-old A pair of trees had fallen from ernment began cleaning the Sabine home to more game now than at any the raindrops stung our faces and Clovis culture, whose chiseled spear opposite bluffs. They formed a wall and other rivers of wastewater con- other time in his 60 years. The previ- rippled on the river. points McClendon and others still where they met in the middle of the taminants. ous weekend, he said, his grandchil- fi nd on banks and riverbeds. river, snagging logs and limbs in a Regulators streamlined the stan- dren caught more than 30 frogs. Call us dismal failures McClendon looked across the riv- massive tangle of woody debris. A dards for water that pours into the “They go up and down the river Back at Texas 42, Ronnie King er, admiring the view. He said it’s a thick, gray snake slithered among river from industries and sewage catching bullfrogs with their hands. Jr. was loading his tank of a boat peaceful place to sit and drink coffee the branches. treatment facilities, and the river They’re really good eating,” he said. at a private ramp just west of the in the morning. There was no way around. authority and the Texas Commis- “We fry most of them, just like fried highway. “You’ll talk to people who just The smaller of the two trees lay sion on Environmental Quality con- chicken.” King, from White Oak, had spent think the Sabine River is an old, mostly submerged, peeking two or tinue to monitor the Sabine and its The afternoon was getting late. It the afternoon riding the river. He nasty, muddy river, but we swam in three inches above the water’s sur- tributaries. was time to move on, but not before said our logjam was pretty easy to it all our lives, skied in it,” he said. face. Only the day before, our river Especially downstream from a warning from Woodall: cross when heading downstream. “It’s just like a lake, but it changes guide had jumped a similar log in Longview, the Sabine’s watershed “Y’all be careful. You can turn It was only a little trickier on the every year. When it fl oods and goes his fl at-bottom boat. sometimes has low levels of dis- a boat over in that river,” he said. way back up, he added. That didn’t back down there’s always some- “Oh, we got this,” I said. solved oxygen, which can harm “I’ve done it a hundred times.” make us feel any better. thing different.” Jake wasn’t so sure. The logjam fi sh. He said to watch for a concrete “When you’re about to jump a McClendon said no one is more of diverted the swift current under A couple of monitoring sites occa- barrier, called a weir, just beneath log, run it like it’s stolen,” driving a Sabine River expert than his down- and around itself. He feared that sionally show high levels of bacteria the water between Texas 42 and as fast as possible, he advised. river neighbor, Elton P. Woodall. We if the boat struck high center, we after heavy rainfalls, but the river Texas 31. King gave us his phone number. found him on a high bank above the would be sucked into the water’s water is generally safe, according to “It’s bad dangerous,” he said. “I “We run the river pretty hard,” river at the sprawling shack he’s path and spun sideways, quickly river authority reports. sunk my boat there in January and he said of himself and a few bud- been building since he moved in 10 capsizing. Tatum said there are no restric- nearly drowned. Make sure you get dies. “If, God forbid, you lock a mo- years ago. To make matters worse, a sharp tions on fi sh consumption or bodily out and have a look around before tor up, you give us a call and we’ll “I’ve lived on the river a pretty knob jutted from the smaller tree contact with the Sabine River wa- you do anything.” get you drug out of there.” good while,” Woodall said. “I was in the only place we thought we ter. It was only our second day on the born and raised here, and I’ve been could cross. What if we gashed the “The river’s in better shape than First test of nautical skill river — our fi rst by ourselves — and as far as you can go both ways.” bottom of our borrowed boat? it’s been in many, many years as far Old oil derricks stretch up from We docked to have a look already the trip was in peril. What Clean water as water quality,” Tatum said. platforms on the water around around. if we had gotten over that logjam and fi ne-tasting fi sh “We’ve come a long way in pro- Texas 42. Some of them are still in Clinging to exposed pine tree only to face another, meaner one tecting our water. Generally speak- use. The river seemed to narrow, roots, we scrambled up a steep just a few miles downstream? Woodall is a trapper. Before he got ing, the water quality is excellent and we dodged frequent trees that bank of red clay. If we unloaded “I hope this isn’t a sign of what’s sick a few months ago, he snared throughout the Sabine watershed.” clogged the channel. our gear and somehow hoisted the to come,” my brother said. INSIDE Two charged with aggravated robbery Kilgore police have added to charges against two Kilgore EAST TEXAS residents for a robbery at a gas station. Page 3B SECTION B / SATURDAY, JULY 19, 2008 news-journal.com Reserve deputy charged Longview fi re marshal leaves for new position with false identifi cation BY RANDY ROSS early in his life. His grandfa- [email protected] ther was a Gilmer fi refi ghter BY RANDY ROSS ed a Texas A department investi- and his father was a sheriff’s [email protected] M a s t e r gator interviewed Waller Longview Fire Marshal deputy. Naturalist on June 20, and he gave a VAN Mark Moore might be leav- “I didn’t know anything A Gregg County Sheriff’s training statement saying he had ing the Longview Fire De- else,” Moore said with a CRADDOCK Offi ce reserve deputy has class at the badge made about 10 partment, but his public ser- laugh. resigned after being arrest- the depart- years ago. vice is far from fi nished. Moore’s career as a fi re- ed on accusations that he m e n t ’ s “I showed it to one or two After more than 24 years fi ghter began in the early falsely identifi ed himself N a t u r e students, and I told them I working with the Longview 1980s when he joined the as a state game warden. C e n t e r was a game warden,” the Area hombre’s Fire Department, Moore has Gilmer Fire Department. William Bryan Waller , William Waller in Tyler department report quotes announced he will retire on He transferred to Longview 61, of Tyler was arrested in on Feb. Waller as saying. “I do not July 31. He plans to take a in 1984, and he said he has Smith County on the mis- 2. Waller had with him a know why I did that, maybe close shave month of vacation before worked in just about every demeanor charge of false game warden badge, which stupidity.” beginning a new job with section of the department, identifi cation as a peace of- he displayed to another Texas Parks and Wildlife the Gregg County Sheriff’s including maintenance, med- fi cer. According to a Texas person and identifi ed him- Department offi cials ar- proved fatal Offi ce. ical and fi re suppression. He Parks and Wildlife Depart- self as an undercover game rested Waller on June 26. The Gilmer native’s expo- became the fi re marshal in ment report, Waller attend- warden. eaborn Barnes was an East See DEPUTY, Page 4B sure to public service began See MOORE, Page 3B Texas outlaw who just couldn’t S get any respect. “Seab” Barnes, a Cass County na- tive, died July 19, 1878, when he and L I F E O N Sam Bass tried to rob the bank in Round Rock north of Austin. T H E SABIN E Folks in Linden knew young Barnes as a troublemaker. Some said he was PART THREE OF FOUR as mean as Cullen Baker, the Cass County bandit who terrorized post- Civil War East Texas before dying of lead poisoning in 1868. By the age of 17, Barnes had been jailed in Fort Worth for a shooting incident. He wound up in Denton Along the river sit ghost working as a potter’s helper. That’s where he met up with Sam communities — once thriving Bass. An Indiana native, Bass had robbed towns in the 1800s that fed on trains, banks and stagecoaches from Lost Nebraska to Texas. Outlawry seemed a glamorous life to Barnes, who joined the Sabine and became extinct Bass’ gang and became the bandit’s second-in-command. towns as the Civil War began. Between February and April 1878, STORY BY WES FERGUSON the gang held up trains in the Dallas PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACOB CROFT BOTTER suburbs of Allen, Hutchins and Mes- quite. A gunfi ght at Mesquite resulted in Barnes being shot through both legs, but he was able to escape with the rest of the gang. Adam’s apple In early June, Bass and his cro- nies rode into Denton and retrieved two horses that the Denton County sheriff had taken from Sam. The Dallas Herald reported the gang was composed of “Sam Bass, Henry Underwood, Frank Jackson, Charles Carter and two others, one of whom is said to be named Barnes.” At this point, the Texas Rangers got involved in tracking down the Bass Gang, which found support from some residents of North and East Texas. “The arrest of 12 or 15 men who are now lying in jail in Tyler as accomplices shows that the robbers had aid and abettors in the surrounding country,” reported the Dallas Herald. Once Barnes’ identity was known, an 1878 contemporary account noted he was “rather slender of build, light complexion, dark hazel eyes, his throat marked with a huge Adam’s apple ... and rough in his demeanor.” In July, Bass decided to rob the bank at Round Rock. However, gang member Jim Murphy had turned informer and tipped off the Rangers to the gang’s Central Texas plans. Above, Mack Shooting starts Smith fi shes On July 19, 1878, Bass and Barnes on the Sabine were casing the Round Rock bank River at the when peace offi cers approached U.S. 59 bridge them. The outlaws drew their weap- south of Mar- ons, killing deputy Ellis Grimes and shall. At left, wounding deputy Morris Moore. Texas Ranger Richard Ware was the number getting a shave across the street of startlingly when he heard the gunshots. Emerg- white sand ing from the barber shop with lather beaches on the on his face, Ware drew his pistol and Sabine’s banks fi red a shot into Seaborn Barnes’ throughout head as he attempted to mount his Panola County horse. The East Texan died almost im- might surprise mediately. some people. Lawmen also shot Bass, who rode out of town but was found the next We backtracked to a highway crossing south of White Oak day not far from Round Rock. Bass news-journal.com died on July 21. It was his 27th birth- and hauled our borrowed boat to the next public boat ramp CLICK IT UP: Read past stories in this series, see additional photos day. at Texas 149 in Lakeport. The series Visitors to Round Rock today will and video from the trip online. The maneuver bypassed most of the Sabine around ■ Thursday: fi nd Barnes’ grave lying next to the Getting tombstone of Sam Bass. The East IGHTNING FLASHED in the west- Longview and Gregg County, a narrow, winding stretch started Texan’s marker reads in part: ern sky. A thunderstorm rolled to- that several people said was worth seeing. ■ Friday: The “Here lies Seaborn Barnes, a mem- ward the river. And here were two fi rst test ber of the Sam Bass gang. Born in “When you get to that part of the river, it seems like ■ Today: Unwel- Cass County, Texas. guys climbing into a metal boat on an you’re lost in the middle of nowhere,” said Ronnie King come guests He was right bower (anchor) to ■ Sunday: Red- open body of water. Smart. Jr., a resident of White Oak who often fi shes on the Sa- Sam Bass.” neck heaven The Round Rock Cemetery sits A rainy night approached on the bine. beside Sam Bass Road. Round Rock’s second day of our journey down the community theatre and youth base- “It’s quiet, and you don’t see civilization. It’s just you ball league also are named for Sam Sabine River. We sat underneath a bridge in Lakeport, feel- and your boat and your rod and your reel, enjoying life.” Bass. ing like a couple of bums, as we waited for the downpour L We missed the chance to look for any signs of Fredonia, In Cass County, Bloomburg an- nually celebrates the Cullen Baker to subside. a riverport that once bustled on the southern banks of the Country Fair. (It’s Nov. 1 this year.) This trip was not going according to plan. Sabine River, long before anyone ever heard of a younger No streets or fairs commemorate A few hours earlier, photographer Jacob Croft Botter the memory of “Seab” Barnes. town miles to the north — Longview. Van “Quick Draw” Craddock’s e-mail address is and I had come to a logjam we couldn’t get over or around. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6B [email protected]. 6B Longview News-Journal, Saturday, July 19, 2008 LIFE ON THE SABINE news-journal.com

A boater travels up the Sabine on a picture-perfect day. Despite its reputation as dirty and muddy, many East Texans fl ock to the river as a source of peace and tranquility. Watch out for alligator gar, shoals From Page 1B bed with a stranger. Fredonia, a town Where’s this thriving that vanished river port? In the years between Texas Inde- pendence and the Civil War, little Camden grew in the 1800s at the towns sprang up at ferry crossings river crossing of the Trammel Trace, along the Sabine in East Texas. The a path that was fi rst used by Indians cotton trade was thriving, and plan- and later became one of the main tation owners loaded their crops onto routes for Americans who were set- barges that steamed down the Sabine tling in Texas. A stagecoach line con- to New Orleans and Galveston. nected the town to Shreveport and Haden Edwards, a pioneer and en- Henderson. trepreneur in Nacogdoches, had been Jerry Don Watt, an amateur histo- run out of Texas in 1827 for leading rian from Tatum, calls Camden the a failed revolt against the Mexican former “hub of East Texas” and the government. He returned during “queen city of the upper Sabine.” the Texas Revolution, and in 1839, he Like Fredonia, Camden declined founded the town of Fredonia where during the Civil War. When the Interstate 20 and FM 2087 meet south Southern Pacifi c Railroad chose to of Longview. bypass the town in 1871, the remain- By the 1850s, the ferry crossing and ing white residents moved to Ta- riverport had three warehouses and tum and the newly formed town of 40 to 50 buildings, including a brick Longview, Watt said. kiln and a post offi ce. Many of the black residents stayed. During the Civil War, men left In 1949, they changed the name to the town to fi ght, and the ones who Easton, and about 550 people still live stayed couldn’t fi nd a market for there. their cotton. The town disappeared. “It’s hard to imagine today that In the years that followed, freed Camden was such a thriving com- Sandra Hodge of Carthage talks about her love of fi shing on the Sabine. Hodge has 19 fi shing poles — all named. “If you’ve got a lot of black people established a settlement munity,” Watt said. “It is my belief stress, come down here and watch that water, and it just washes away your concerns,” she says. a couple of miles to the south. They that if the railroad had followed the also called their community Fredo- old stagecoach line, then Camden nia, and it’s still there today. would have been what Longview is boat; I used our one paddle to push Hodge said her husband taught her rods to work. Unfortunately, we’d But we missed all that. The rain now, the largest town in this part of off against the rocks. to appreciate the river and its bounty. picked the wrong kind of bait. When and a ticking clock kept us from East Texas.” We jerked free. Jake hopped in, He built and sold minnow traps for we cast the line, the hook sailed in heading upstream on a search for a and we again were on our way in wa- spending money when he was a child. one direction and the bait fl ew to the town that’s no longer there. The Sabine’s raging rapids ter that rushed from the rapids. The community of Hodge Slough other. There would be no fried catfi sh We heard churning water in the Gone fi shin’ in north central Panola County is with our dinner of yellow squash and Careening over alligator gar distance. Upstream from Texas 43, named for her father-in-law, who ran mashed potatoes. trotlines there. We sat in camping chairs on our The storm passed after an hour a couple of hours past Easton, we Spoiled chicken livers might not do “My husband will not eat a catfi sh beach in the middle of nowhere, and and a half. We left the shelter of the came to the fi rst of the lignite shoals; much for you or me, but they drive out of a lake,” she said. “He says you we had the place to ourselves. Texas 149 bridge, and the river was seams of craggy black coal that snag the catfi sh wild, according to the men can taste the mud. River water is run- Or so we thought. dark and green in the shadows. We boats in the water. and women who were casting lines ning and clean. The fi sh are a lighter A rumbling came from the edge of were left with just enough twilight to They are the same deposits miners into a more calm fl ow at the U.S. 59 color blue, and they just look cleaner the forest at the river’s bend. A wom- set up camp on a muddy spot a mile dig from sites around East Texas. bridge south of Marshall, less than to me. I love the Sabine River.” an was watching us from her ATV. or so downriver, beside a tree with We had been warned about the an hour’s ride from the rapids. She loves the river, she said, but Without word or sign, she backed gnarled limbs that stretched down to many shoals that appear throughout Sandra Hodge lined nine fi shing she remains careful around it. into the woods and was gone. the water. northern Panola County. When the rods along the wide, fl at bank. She and “The water may look calm and Ten minutes later, we heard a boat We split a can of beef stew, and water’s not high, they create rapids her sister, Sissy Bishop, were hoping safe, but the current and undertow motor approaching from upriver. slept like rocks. and even a 2-foot waterfall on the to lure a catfi sh on their Thursday af- are what get you,” she said. A man and a boy nosed around the In the morning, the previous wide, shallow river. ternoon away from work. bend. Like the woman, they took a night’s rain dripped from saturated “There’s a pretty strong hydrau- “If you’ve got a lot of stress, come Unwelcome guests quick look and reversed out of sight. bluffs and fell in droplets to the river. lic current behind that thing,” state down here and watch that water, and Then all three boated by. The man Red clay bled down the banks. Jake wildlife biologist Ricky Maxey had it just washes away your concerns,” Beaches of startlingly white sand had short, red hair and overalls. He let me steer the boat, and I promptly advised. “Be safe and look for where Hodge said. “But I do wish we’d catch mound up on river bends through kept his eyes locked on the opposite ran over two alligator gar and drove the most water passes.” something.” Panola County. Cypress swamps line bank. sideways onto the bank. The back end The current pulled us toward the Hodge lives nearby in Carthage. the mouths of the many streams and This was clearly their sandbar. of the boat dipped below the river’s churning water as we searched for She said she enjoys cool evenings sloughs that merge with the river But we had a right to it as well, ac- surface, fi lling our vessel with water the safest place to enter. The pro- at this spot, listening to the water along this isolated stretch. We saw a cording to Tom Gallenbach, a game that Jake scooped out with a plastic peller scraped the lignite, and Jake lap against the banks. Hodge fi shes doe, more turtles than we could hope warden who patrols the Sabine. water bottle. He resumed control of killed the motor and lifted the prop whenever she can, and she’s the own- to count, and a pack of wild hogs. “As long as you’re below the per- the motor. from the water. er of 19 fi shing rods. Each has a name The sun was falling behind willow manent vegetation line, you can We looked for signs of the ferry that We would have to paddle. The scribbled on it in permanent marker. trees that swayed in the breeze. camp there,” he said. “Some people once moved people to and from the boat plunged into the rapids, and we As we visited, “Bumble Bee” and the We found a sloping sandbar tucked will try to run you off, but most peo- rowdy river port of Camden, where slipped into a whirlpool, spinning others stood with no pulls from the behind a sharp bend, and we pitched ple know you can camp there.” you could drink in saloons and stay backward. The boat stuck against water. the tent. We peeled off our rubber Did these people know that? at a two-story hotel in the 1850s, as the sharp lignite. Jake leaped into “I’m not warped,” she said. “I just boots, dug our toes into the sand, and long as you didn’t mind sharing your the knee-high current to right the like to name my rod and reel.” set out to put our nameless fi shing Read the conclusion Sunday.

... and critter footprints. A raccoon, maybe? Take a look around the Sabine’s beaches, and who knows what you’ll fi nd. Fossils of leaves ...... a lone mussel, still moving ... LONGVIEW, TEXAS news-journal.com A Cox Newspaper SUNDAY July 20, 2008

L I F E O N T H E SABIN E Toll on PART FOUR OF FOUR military They share freshly caught catfi sh families with each other, then fry it under tall shade trees. The kids swim till mounts Violence, marriage woes the sun sets — and beyond. On the river,Ri ver grip deployed troops there’s a hidden community that most BY DAVID CRARY Associated Press

people don’t even know exists. fellowship FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Far STORY BY WES FERGUSON from the combat zones, the strains PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACOB CROFT BOTTER and separations of no-end-in-sight wars are taking an ever-growing toll on military families despite the armed services’ earnest efforts to help. Divorce lawyers see it in the breakup of youthful marriages as long, multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan fuel alienation and mistrust. Domestic violence experts see it in the scuffl es that often pre- cede a soldier’s departure or sour a briefl y joyous homecoming. Teresa Moss, a counselor at Fort Campbell’s Lincoln Elementary School, hears it in the voices of de- ployed soldiers’ children as they meet in groups to share accounts of nightmares, bedwetting and heart- ache. “They listen to each other. They See FAMILIES, Page 6A Brits find high-tech solution

“It’s like a community down here. You’ve got a lot of good people, and a few that are not so good.” to go green A group of children and teenagers play in the Sabine at twilight near the Yellow Dog Campground in Panola County. The campground is a haven for “river rats.” BY ELISABETH ROSENTHAL New York Times News Service news-journal.com HOVE, England — When Jeffrey Marchant and his wife, Brenda, CLICK IT UP: Read the series, see more photos and video online. Also, share power up their computer, turn on a your river stories and post your own photos at seeya.news-journal.com. light or put the kettle on to boil, they can just about watch their electric bill rise. E WERE BEING WATCHED as the A small box hanging on the wall sun set over the river. across from the vase of fl owers in the front hall of their tidy Victorian It was the end of our third day home displays a continuous digital boating down the Sabine, and we readout of their electricity use and had settled in for the evening on a tells them immediately how much it will cost, helping them save energy. white sandbar on what we thought Turn on a computer, and the de- was a secluded bend in Panola County. Then we noticed the vice — a type of so-called smart W meter — goes from 300 watts to 400 woman at the forest’s edge. She stared at us for a moment, then watts. Turn off a light, and it goes backed into the woods. from 299 to 215. At 500, the meter is set to sound an alarm. A man and boy in a fl at-bottom boat peeked around the bend. “ I just love to fi sh. I give enough away to sink a battleship.” “I’ve become like one of Pavlov’s They quickly retreated. When all three boated by half an hour Bill Dennis talks about living at the Yellow Dog Campground. Dennis, from Laneville, was a See METERS, Page 5A later, we knew we had pitched our tent on their sandbar. truck driver before he retired. He’s lived at the campground for the past couple of months. It was getting too dark to search for another campsite. Any- way, state law says people can camp along rivers, as long as they don’t venture beyond the banks. The series INSIDE “If there’s trees, you’re trespassing,” game warden Tom Gallenbach had said. Retired Brig. Gen. There were no trees on this sandbar. Photographer Jacob Croft Botter and I weren’t budging. ■ Thursday: Getting started Ezell Ware Jr. ■ Friday: The fi rst test told about 300 After dark, two hoot owls called to each other, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?” The shadowy ■ Saturday: Unwelcome people Saturday thicket surrounded our camp on three sides. Something rustled in the brush. guests at the annual ■ Today: “Redneck heaven” NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet in Longview “Did you hear that?” I asked. that “each of us must rise to the challenge CONTINUED ON PAGE 10A of our defi ning moments.” Page 1B

TODAY’S Partly cloudy, hot. High of 97. THE MORNING RUSH WEATHER SEVEN-DAY FORECAST, PAGE 9A

Tell us what you think LIFESTYLE Index The Longview News-Journal wants to What women want Advice ...... 5C Lifestyle ...... 1C Business ...... 1E Movie times ...... 7D hear what you have to say. This summer, What are you seeking in a relation- we will be holding informal focus groups East Texas ...... 1B Obituaries ...... 8-9D to get your thoughts, opinions and sug- ship? If you’re a woman having a Letters ...... 3B Opinion ...... 2B gestions for the paper. These sessions hard time fi guring that out, a new Leisure ...... 7D Weddings ...... 3C will be held Aug. 5 and 6, will last about book called “Date Decoder” might 1 be the key. Page 1C 1 ⁄2 hours and participants will receive Saturday’s lottery an incentive for participation. For more information or to sign up for a session, BUSINESS Pick Three A.M. Cash Five call Judy Stratton at (903) 237-7754...... 9-7-9 .....12-14-20-30-33 SPORTS ‘Eye’ on Longview Pick Three P.M. Powerball FIND IT ONLINE .....1-5-9 .....6-28-46-53-55 AROUND THE WORLD The Longview Economic Develop- National honor Interstate 20 pileup Lotto Texas PB: 2 Obama in Afghanistan ment Corp. premiered Thursday a .....8-25-30-35-41-42 for Lady Lobo segment of the national TV series A chain-reaction wreck in the rain Friday on Presidential candidate Barack Obama Senior Longview point guard “Eye on America” that focuses on Interstate 20 involving about 30 vehicles meets with U.S. troops and Afghan lead- Brittany Turner has been chosen the city. Page 1E sent at least 29 people to the hospital. ers on a congressional delegation trip. to participate in the USA Junior See a slide show from the pileup, Page 3A Nationals in Ohio. Page 1D only at news-journal.com. 10A Longview News-Journal, Sunday, July 20, 2008 LIFE ON THE SABINE news-journal.com

Justin Alonzo takes a leap into the Sabine River at the Yellow Dog Campground in Panola County. ‘River rats’ find good times on water

From Page 1A The noises seemed to be getting About our journey louder. ■ Day 1, June 24: The Old Sabine “It sounds like people talking in Bottom Wildlife Management Area, the woods,” Jake said. northeast of Lindale, to FM 14, south He fetched his shotgun from the of Hawkins. tent and lai d it across his lap. We ■ Day 2, June 25: U.S. 271 in Gladewa- sat in our chairs at the water’s edge, ter to Texas 42, south of White Oak and waited. Twigs and branches (not a public boat ramp). crackled in the forest. There was a ■ Day 3, June 26: Texas 149 in loud crash. Whatever it was, it was Lakeport to U.S. 79, about 10 miles nearby, and it was getting closer. northeast of Carthage. Then came the squeals and ■ Day 4, June 27: U.S. 79 to the Yellow grunts. Dog campsite in southeastern Panola “Oh, hogs,” Jake said. County. They rooted around for a while ■ About our boat: Shipp’s Marine before returning to the forest. in Gladewater supplied a 16-foot We left early the next morning. aluminum boat. The two-stroke, 25 We didn’t see the people again. hp Yamaha motor ran the river like a Slippery otter slides champion. We used about fi ve gallons of fuel a day. East Texans who have only seen ■ When to go: The river is higher and the Sabine from bridges around faster in winter and spring, but the Longview might be surprised by a water is murkier. In late summer and glimpse of the river as it winds to- early fall, the Sabine is much lower ward the Louisiana border. and slower. The sediment settles and Above Longview, the Sabine is Bill Dennis, left, and Jeffrey Anderson check Dennis’ trot line near the Yellow Dog. Dennis says he loves to fi sh, but gives away most of what he catches to his fellow campers. the water is clearer. A greater variety muddy and narrow, with banks of of topography is exposed, but it can slick, red clay. Young oaks, elms and “We’re gonna have a fi sh fry,” Den- be much harder to navigate. other hardwoods crowd the water ■ Camping on the river: The public below tall bluffs where skinny pine nis said. “Y’all stick around; we’ll feed you.” may legally camp on the banks of trees stand. navigable rivers in Texas, as long As the river travels southeast, First wild hog sausage, and now catfi sh. Who could say no? as they stay below the permanent the brown water takes on a green- vegetation line. That means you can’t ish hue. Drooping willows line wide, Living at Yellow Dog venture from banks and sandbars gentle banks and sandbars. We motored the 10 or 20 minutes without a good reason. On a few of the steeper banks we ■ to Dennis’ home at the Yellow Dog What about mosquitoes?: We took thought we saw “otter slides,” places lots of bug spray, and they weren’t where playful river otters slip on campground near Louisiana, and we pulled our boat onto the bank. much of a nuisance. their bellies, face-fi rst, into the wa- ■ Was it trashy?: Nope. Logjams ter. Once killed for being predators, Dennis had been living in a travel trailer by the public boat ramp for occasionally snagged plastic bottles the sleek, web-footed mammals are downstream from highway crossings, on the return, said state wildlife bi- the past couple of months, and jugs of water and camping and cooking but that was about it. ologist Ricky Maxey. ■ supplies were conveniently strewn Why is the river brown?: When “They’re very curious animals,” acorns and leaves decompose, they he said. “On my encounter with on and around the picnic table. “It’s like a community down leach yellow-brown tannin into the them, I was deer hunting, leaning This cross on the edge of the Sabine at the Yellow Dog is in honor of a man who was a water. Biologists say tannin is healthy against a tree being very quiet, when frequent visitor at the campground. His ashes were scattered in the river. here,” he said. “You’ve got a lot of good people, and a few that are not for fi sh. one popped its head up and looked at ■ Who uses Sabine River water?: me. Then fi ve more popped up their so good. Everybody keeps an eye on each other’s equipment. The major- Longview, Henderson and Kilgore heads, and they took off.” has gotten wider and shallower in low it’s too dangerous,” he said. “It’s are among the cities that pipe water the years since then, after construc- never just right.” ity of people respect my stuff.” What’s in the sausage? Dennis wore patched blue jeans from the river. Eastman Chemical tion of Toledo Bend in the late 1960s. The changing conditions keep the Co.-Texas Operations and Luminant Only a few miles downstream “It wasn’t anything to just wade river guide on her toes, especially and a T-shirt that might have been white at some earlier time. He’s are two local operations that also use from our campsite, a tall bluff of lay- across the river,” in the summertime when she’s leading people to prime river water. ered gray rock rose from the bank, when she was a child, she said. Now fi shing spots, she said. The Gallen- from Laneville, and he used to drive wrapping around a long river bend. her section of the Sabine can stretch bachs own the River Ridge camp- a truck for a living. Now that he’s It stretched on for several minutes a mile wide during the fl ood season. ground and guide service south of retired, he said, he’s a river rat. offered sled rides through the mud before descending into the water. “The river’s getting wider, but it’s Carthage. “A river rat just sits here and en- puddles. Later, Slim Barber, an 81-year-old getting shallower,” she said. “It’s Every spring, thousands of people joys the river, loves the river,” he “I grew up here,” Williams said. “I man from De Berry, told us we had changing every time the river comes from across the nation descend on said. “You hang out, and a bunch was actually born on the Sabine Riv- seen a seam of lignite coal that is up, and I think a lot of that has to the spot upriver from Toledo Bend to of people infi ltrate the place. They er, because Mama and Daddy had a famous among people who run the do with trees that are being cut up fi sh for white bass. The fi sh, which love to be around people who live fl at on the (FM) 2517 bridge.” river. It’s the Pulaski bluff, he said, closer to the banks. It’s just washing were introduced to the reservoir a down here.” Texas country music blared from the site of an old town that served as away.” few decades back, swim upstream to Anderson hung the catfi sh from Anderson’s pickup. By nightfall, the seat for Harrison County in 1841 Gallenbach said logging compa- spawn in river tributaries. a large hook and pulled away the nearly 30 children were swimming and Panola County in 1846. nies own much of the land along “I can remember in my late teens skin, and Dennis fi lleted the fi sh in the moonlight, as their parents re- By midmorning, we were getting the Sabine River in her county, and my dad just having a fi t because the and dropped the pieces into a buck- laxed around Dennis’ camp. hungry. We cruised under FM 2517, some of them clear-cut their timber white bass were getting on his trot et for later. He said he checks his “Redneck heaven,” they called the last highway crossing before To- to the riverbank. lines,” she said. “We do much more trot lines throughout the day, but this place. ledo Bend, where several men fi shed When those trees are gone, she white bass than we do catfi shing he rarely tastes what he catches. Saying goodbye from boats in spots along the banks. said, the force of the rising current now.” “I eat fi sh maybe three or four We planned our next stop to coin- eats away the banks, and the sedi- times a year. I just love to fi sh. I give From Yellow Dog, the Sabine fl ows cide with lunch time, and it paid off: ment fi lls in the riverbed. When the Catfi sh is still king enough away to sink a battleship,” into Toledo Bend. It fi lls the reser- river guide Jane Gallenbach greeted water drops after a big storm, some- River rat Bill Dennis was running he said. voir and heads south, marking the us with slices of homemade pizza, times sandbars have shifted from his trot lines on a Friday afternoon It was a Friday. He fi gured he’d boundary between Texas and Loui- topped with spicy sausage ground one side of the river to the other. when we bumped into him down be giving away plenty that night. siana. It reaches the Gulf of Mexico from wild hogs — hogs that had been river from the Gallenbachs’ place. Some kind of heaven after a journey of 555 miles. shot on her property. Too high, or too low? “I’m catching fi sh,” he said. Some people, like the trapper El- “We don’t buy a lot of meat,” she On the Sabine River, expect to get “That’s why everybody keeps com- As the lazy afternoon wore on, ton Woodall, have gone as far as a said. “Every once in a while you muddy, and expect to get wet. ing down here, because they want more and more people showed up. person can get, from the headwa- need real beef, but most of what we “That’s just the way it is,” said some fi sh.” Children leaped from a tall bank into ters south of Greenville to Sabine eat is wild.” Gallenbach’s husband, Tom. A game Dennis steered the boat while Jef- a cove in the river, and the women Lake in Port Arthur. warden who patrols the Sabine, he frey Anderson fi shed the hooks from splashed mud on each other. But our journey was over. We said A Sabine queen said the river can rise or fall 6 feet in the water. Anderson, of Carthage, Anderson tended the fi sh fryer. His goodbye to the people at Yellow Dog, Gallenbach, the “queen of the Sa- a day. felt something tugging on the line, girlfriend, Ginger Williams, went off and we drove back to Longview. bine,” grew up hustling bait for her “A lot of people say when it’s too and he pulled out a catfi sh about as to fi nd an old car hood. She chained We crossed the river at I-20. From fi sherman father. She said the river high, it’s too dangerous, when it’s long as his arm. Dinner. it to the back of her four-wheeler and the bridge, we couldn’t see a thing.