First Cast...
from Honey Hole Magazine - Aug/Sept/Oct 2002 issue
While a river may be described technically as inanimate it contains a living world all its own, and life around it as well flourishes or succumbs depending on its continuity of flow. Prehistoric man, various American Indian tribes, and the pioneers who settled the land making way for our current lifestyles all depended on the Clear Fork as a source of fresh water in this area of Texas. Water has, and always will draw both man and animal to its promise of life-sustaining liquid.
Lueders Spillway
The "bushes" you see in the photo are actually 20-foot tall trees!
Arid land, meaning insufficient rainfall not necessarily desert, lies only a short distance from the river's banks. The settlers who came before us to ranch or farm had no stock tanks or windmills at that time. What they did have was constant flowing, clean water in this tributary of the Brazos River. As far as we know, the Clear Fork received its name not because it was clear sparkling water, but because the other tributaries (Salt and Double Mountain) of the Brazos contain heavy amounts of gypsum and other salts leaving their water brackish and unpalatable to man and animal alike. The current erosion problems, caused by overgrazing which certainly hasn't helped the amount of silt carried downstream after every rain, were not present in the 1850's. Written accounts of the Clear Fork still described it sometimes as red and muddy.
Prior to the growth of civilization we have now, as well as the consequent reckless consumption of water that comes with it, and before the still spreading overgrowth of both salt cedars and mesquite trees, this section of Texas had numerous underground springs which flowed to the surface. Not only the river itself, but most of the creeks shown on our map (next page) held a continuous discharge of life-giving liquid. Thus the Clear Fork became a major trail for settlers and others headed west, or southwest, through northern Texas - the same as it had for prehistoric man, Indians, and the Spanish explorers who sought both food and water in their day to day struggle to survive the harsh environment in which they lived and traveled through.
In our desire to seek adventure, as well as outline the history of this relatively small but important part of Texas, Bob Hood and I chose to follow the course of this same river. Those before us walked on foot, rode on horseback, or in wagons, following and sometimes crossing at shallow fords in the stream since canoes were seldom used in this part of the country. We wanted to see more of it up close. We wished to feel the history. We wanted to follow the river's course that brought life to this part of our state.
Why Bob and I chose the Clear Fork for an extended canoe trek is almost a story in itself, and will be explained shortly. We'll tell you how this trip came about at the end. Here at the beginning I'll tell you that it ended successfully after 32 days of hardship and struggle. Days-on-end of hardship that had us both covered in cuts, scratches, bruises and blisters that soon turned into hands and feet that were almost completely covered in hard calluses. We loved (almost) every minute of it.
Join us on this true adventure that we are obviously proud and willing to share with you. I promise we won't grow tired of the telling of the story, if you'll try not to get tired of hearing about it.
