Download or read book Big Thicket Legacy written by Campbell Loughmiller and published by University of North Texas Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Big Thicket Legacy, Campbell and Lynn Loughmiller present the stories of people living in the Big Thicket of southeast Texas. Many of the storytellers were close to one hundred years old when interviewed, with some being the great-grandchildren of the first settlers. Here are tales about robbing a bee tree, hunting wild boar, plowing all day and dancing all night, wading five miles to church through a cypress brake, and making soap using hickory ashes.
Download or read book The Big Thicket Guidebook written by Lorraine G. Bonney and published by University of North Texas Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 865 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Follow the backroads, the historical paths, and the scenic landscape that were fashioned by geologic Ice Ages and traveled by Big Thicket explorers as well as contemporary park advocates as you explore this diverse area. From Spanish missionaries to Jayhawkers, and from timber barons to public officials, travel along fifteen tours, with maps included.
Download or read book Reflections on the Neches written by Geraldine Ellis Watson and published by University of North Texas Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Annotation Having been a plant ecologist and park ranger for the US National Park Service, Watson has now returned to her native east Texas and settled in her private nature preserve. She documents a voyage (accompanied by her old blind dog) down the river Neches River, called Snow River by natives. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).
Download or read book Nameless Towns written by Thad Sitton and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive history of the sawmill towns of East Texas in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Sawmill communities were once the thriving centers of East Texas life. Many sprang up almost overnight in a pine forest clearing, and many disappeared just as quickly after the company “cut out” its last trees. But during their heyday, these company towns made Texas the nation’s third-largest lumber producer and created a colorful way of life that lingers in the memories of the remaining former residents and their children and grandchildren. Drawing on oral history, company records, and other archival sources, Sitton and Conrad recreate the lifeways of the sawmill communities. They describe the companies that ran the mills and the different kinds of jobs involved in logging and milling. They depict the usually rough-hewn towns, with their central mill, unpainted houses, company store, and schools, churches, and community centers. And they characterize the lives of the people, from the hard, awesomely dangerous mill work to the dances, picnics, and other recreations that offered welcome diversions. Winner, T. H. Fehrenbach Award, Texas Historical Commission “After completing the book, I truly understood life in the sawmill communities, intellectually and emotionally. It was very satisfying. Conrad and Sitton write in such a manner to make one feel the hard life, smell the sawdust, and share the danger of the mills. The book is compelling and stimulating.” —Robert L. Schaadt, Director-Archivist, Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center
Download or read book Backwoodsmen written by Thad Sitton and published by . This book was released on 1995-01 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: People allowed livestock to run free to forage for themselves in the river bottoms and pine uplands; there were no fences except those around cultivated fields. By long-established custom, everything outside the fenced fields was "open range", a wooded commons in which hogs, cattle, and backwoodsmen were free to roam. And roam they did - not only stockmen, with their "rooter hogs" and "woods cattle," but also tie cutters, grey-moss gatherers, hunters, trappers,
Download or read book Big Thicket Legacy written by Campbell Loughmiller and published by . This book was released on 1994-07-01 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of oral histories of the inhabitants of East Texas' Big Thicket region. Topics include hunting, ghost stories, natural history and flora and fauna.
Download or read book Saving the Big Thicket written by James Cozine and published by University of North Texas Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Big Thicket of East Texas, which at one time covered over two million acres, served as a barrier to civilizations throughout most of historic times. This text is a classic account of the region's history and a play-by-play narrative of the prolonged fight for the Big Thicket Preserve.
Download or read book Da Mayor of Fifth Ward written by Robert Bob E. Lee and published by Prairie View A&m University. This book was released on 2021-11-19 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In March 2017, Bob Lee--freelance writer, community organizer, social worker, social justice warrior, child of Houston's Fifth Ward and its advocate, former Chicago Black Panther--died at the age of 74. Alongside his larger legacy, he left behind this collection of fourteen stories published in the Houston Chronicle's Sunday Texas Magazine between 1989 and 2000. Framed by journalist and scholar Michael Berryhill, these youthful recollections and tales of his East Texas relatives reveal Lee's shock at learning that his elderly aunt and uncle, who lived in Jasper, Texas, were lifelong Republicans; recount his discovery at the age of 19 that white people, too, could be poor; recall integrating a small-town restaurant with the help of the white rancher who hired him; explore the world of Black longshoremen and offer meditations on the mysteries of death. As he lay suffering from cancer, Lee told Berryhill that he wasn't thinking about dying, but focusing on love. Berryhill, who was Lee's first editor at the Houston Chronicle, has lovingly collected and edited Lee's stories, which are complemented by an introduction and biographical essay. Treasured storyteller Bob Lee's essays offer to readers the experience of Black history in both urban and rural settings by invoking the simple details and events of everyday life.
Download or read book The Thicket written by Joe R. Lansdale and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2013-09-10 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now a Tubi original film starring Peter Dinklage and Juliette Lewis, this rip-roaring adventure set at the dark dawn of the East Texas oil boom is the perfect introduction to Joe R. Lansdale, whose work has been called "as funny and frightening as anything that could have been dreamed up by the Brothers Grimm — or Mark Twain" (New York Times Book Review). Jack Parker thought he'd already seen his fair share of tragedy. His grandmother was killed in a farm accident when he was barely five years old. His parents have just succumbed to the smallpox epidemic sweeping turn-of-the-century East Texas -- orphaning him and his younger sister, Lula. Then catastrophe strikes on the way to their uncle's farm, when a traveling group of bank-robbing bandits murder Jack's grandfather and kidnap his sister. With no elders left for miles, Jack must grow up fast and enlist a band of heroes the likes of which has never been seen if his sister stands any chance at survival. But the best he can come up with is a charismatic, bounty-hunting dwarf named Shorty, a grave-digging son of an ex-slave named Eustace, and a street-smart woman-for-hire named Jimmie Sue who's come into some very intimate knowledge about the bandits (and a few members of Jack's extended family to boot). In the throes of being civilized, East Texas is still a wild, feral place. Oil wells spurt liquid money from the ground. But as Jack's about to find out, blood and redemption rule supreme. In The Thicket, award-winning novelist Joe R. Lansdale lets loose like never before, in an action-packed adventure that's equal parts True Grit and Stand by Me.
Download or read book Big Thicket Plant Ecology written by Geraldine Ellis Watson and published by University of North Texas Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1979, Geraldine Ellis Watson's Big Thicket Plant Ecology is now back in print. This updated edition explores the plant biology, ecology, geology, and environmental regions of the Big Thicket National Preserve. After decades of research on the Big Thicket, Watson concluded that the Big Thicket was unique for its biological diversity, due mainly to interactions of geology and climate. A visitor in the Big Thicket could look in four different directions from one spot and view scenes typical of the Appalachians, the Florida Everglades, a southwestern desert, or the pine barrens of the Carolinas. Watson covers the ecological and geological history of the Big Thicket and introduces its plant life, from longleaf pines and tupelo swamps to savannah wetlands and hardwood flats. "This is the work on the plant biology of the Big Thicket."--Pete A.Y. Gunter, author of The Big Thicket (UNT Press) GERALDINE ELLIS WATSON was a native of Tyler County and lived on her private nature preserve in East Texas. She was a plant ecologist and park ranger for the National Park Service for fifteen years. She authored Reflections on the Neches, also published by the University of North Texas Press.
Download or read book Big Thicket People written by Larry Jene Fisher and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2009-09-15 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Living off the land—hunting, fishing, and farming, along with a range of specialized crafts that provided barter or cash income—was a way of life that persisted well into the twentieth century in the Big Thicket of southeast Texas. Before this way of life ended with World War II, professional photographer Larry Jene Fisher spent a decade between the 1930s and 1940s photographing Big Thicket people living and working in the old ways. His photographs, the only known collection on this subject, constitute an irreplaceable record of lifeways that first took root in the southeastern woodlands of the colonial United States and eventually spread all across the Southern frontier. Big Thicket People presents Fisher's photographs in suites that document a wide slice of Big Thicket life-people, dogs, camps, deer hunts, farming, syrup mills, rooter hogs and stock raising, railroad tie making, barrel stave making, chimney building, peckerwood sawmills, logging, turpentining, town life, church services and picnics, funerals and golden weddings, and dances and other amusements. Accompanying each suite of images is a cultural essay by Thad Sitton, who also introduces the book with a historical overview of life in the Big Thicket. C. E. Hunt provides an informative biography of Larry Jene Fisher.
Download or read book The Long Shadow of the Civil War written by Victoria E. Bynum and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2010-04-15 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Long Shadow of the Civil War relates uncommon narratives about common Southern folks who fought not with the Confederacy, but against it. Focusing on regions in three Southern states--North Carolina, Mississippi, and Texas--Victoria E. Bynum introduces Unionist supporters, guerrilla soldiers, defiant women, socialists, populists, free blacks, and large interracial kin groups that belie stereotypes of Southerners as uniformly supportive of the Confederate cause. Centered on the concepts of place, family, and community, Bynum's insightful and carefully documented work effectively counters the idea of a unified South caught in the grip of the Lost Cause.
Download or read book Herping Texas written by Michael A. Smith and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2018-10-12 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Coiled beneath discarded trash or rocky slabs, basking along river edges, and tucked into rock cuts beside the highway, reptiles and amphibians constantly surround us. While many people go out of their way to avoid snakes or shudder at the thought of touching a toad, herpers take to the field armed with cameras, hooks, and notebooks hoping to come across a horned lizard, green tree frog, or even a diamondback rattlesnake. In Herping Texas: The Quest for Reptiles and Amphibians, Michael Smith and Clint King, expert naturalists and field herpers, take readers on their adventures across the state as they search for favorite herps and rare finds. Organized by ecoregion, Herping Texas describes some of the state’s most spectacular natural places, from Big Bend to the Big Thicket. Each chapter contains photographs of the various snakes, lizards, toads, and turtles Smith and King have encountered on their trips. Part nature travel writing and part guide to field herping, Herping Texas also includes a section on getting started, where the authors give readers necessary background on best field herping practices. A glossary defines herping lingo and scientific terms for newcomers, and an appendix lists threatened and endangered species at the state and federal level. Herping Texas promotes experiencing natural places and wildlife equipped with solid information and a responsible conservation ethic. Throughout their decades tracking herps, Smith and King have collected humorous anecdotes and fascinating facts about reptiles and amphibians. By sharing those, they hope to dispel some of the stigma and false ideas people have about these misunderstood animals.
Download or read book Hidden History of East Texas written by Tex Midkiff and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2020 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The heritage of East Texas partakes in the same degree of unexpected turns and hidden depths as its backroads and bayous. One line of inquiry meanders into another. Start out searching for La Salle's grave and end up chasing Spanish gold in Upshur County. From Sam Houston's Bible to the Longview nightclub that hosted both Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, one tale follows another and introduces a cast of characters that includes Candace and Peter Ellis Bean, Old Rip, Jack Lummus and Vernon Wayne Howell. Part the Pine Curtain with Tex Midkiff for a history as heated as the La Grange Chicken Ranch's parlor and irresistible as a batch of Golden sweet potatoes.
Download or read book Texas Far Wide written by E.R. Bills and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2007-04-01 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Fascinating information…little-known facts about remarkable Texans and events across the state.”—North Dallas Gazette Texas is renowned for its legendary and colorful history—but even the state’s famous storytellers don’t know it all. Ever hear about the escaped ape in the Big Thicket? Or the "Interplanetary Capital of the Universe" that sat on the Gulf Coast? Does the cowboy hat that warmed U.S.-China relations ring a bell? From the Staked Plain Quakers to the Kaiser Burnout, E.R. Bills delves into some of the most fascinating chapters of overlooked Texas lore. Includes photos
Download or read book Paradise Alley written by Kevin Baker and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-03-17 with total page 708 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: They came by boat from a starving land—and by the Underground Railroad from Southern chains—seeking refuge in a crowded, filthy corner of hell at the bottom of a great metropolis. But in the terrible July of 1863, the poor and desperate of Paradise Alley would face a new catastrophe—as flames from the war that was tearing America in two reached out to set their city on fire.
Download or read book The Texas Landscape Project written by David A. Todd and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2016-06-14 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Texas Landscape Project explores conservation and ecology in Texas by presenting a highly visual and deeply researched view of the widespread changes that have affected the state as its population and economy have boomed and as Texans have worked ever harder to safeguard its bountiful but limited natural resources. Covering the entire state, from Pineywoods bottomlands and Panhandle playas to Hill Country springs and Big Bend canyons, the project examines a host of familiar and not so familiar environmental issues. A companion volume to The Texas Legacy Project, this book tracks specific environmental changes that have occurred in Texas using more than 300 color maps, expertly crafted by cartographer Jonathan Ogren, and over 100 photographs that coalesce to fashion a broad portrait of the modern Texas landscape. The rich data, compiled by author David Todd, are presented in clearly written yet marvelously detailed text that gives historical context and contemporary statistics for environmental trends connected to the land, water, air, energy, and built world of the second-largest and second-most populated state in the nation. An engaging read for any environmentalist or conscientious citizen, The Texas Landscape Project provides a true sense of the grand scope of the Lone Star State and the high stakes of protecting it. To learn more about The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, sponsors of this book's series, please click here.
