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This story really began with a fellow by the name of John Graves and a book he published back in 1960 titled Goodbye to A River. A classic in its own right, John's book detailed his 21-day trip in 1957 by canoe down the Brazos River from the dam at Possum Kingdom Lake. His observations on the river, the land and history that surrounded it, and his thoughts along the way are worth reading whether you care about paddling a canoe or not. A gifted writer, John's feelings for "his" river were, and are, strong. I want to thank him publicly for granting us his time to be interviewed for our TV special. Our good friend Dr. Bill Harvey Ph. D, who works for Texas Parks and Wildlife in the Natural Resource Protection division, duplicated Mr. Graves trip several years ago after reading the book. Bill felt strongly about the Brazos as well since he grew up at a marina his dad owned at Possum Kingdom. Bill and I have camped and fished together out of canoes for a number of years now on several Texas rivers including the Brazos, Colorado and the secluded Devils River at the state park above Lake Amistad. Harvey and I have a close, but unusual relationship in that his education overshadows mine immensely. Still, we share a fondness of the outdoors including wildlife observation and bird watching, a true love of fishing, camping, river exploration and history, which has helped us form a warm friendship. We share deep philosophical thoughts when we're together or even on the phone, and yet he loves to point out when I might happen to use a five-syllable word. Playing and picking at each other is part of the friendship that has developed, so it was natural for me to tell him a couple of years ago that sooner or later I was going to spend 22 days on a river trip just to best his record. I have spent my entire life camping, hunting and fishing, the outdoors is my life. My first boat as a youngster was a wooden pirogue dad traded a .30.30 hex-barreled Winchester for, and I carved my own paddle to scull it with. And although I'll never give up bass fishing on our reservoirs, creeks and rivers were where I learned to fish. Camping out for up to 10 days on several occasions had always been a pleasure, stretching that to 22 didn't seem "undoable." Then last July, when the temperature was actually 107 degrees, I called my buddy Bob Hood and told him I wanted to spend a couple of days canoeing the section of the Brazos where it comes into Possum Kingdom Lake. We regularly do guided canoe trips below PK, but I had never paddled above the lake. Bob, who obviously doesn't know any better than I do to stay out of the sun in the middle of a Texas summer, immediately agreed. It was so hot we made "cold camp" at night, but still enjoyed the trip and each other's company. Somehow Bill's name came up, and the story about a 22-day excursion developed into a plan. Eventually, after scouring books and maps, I found the Clear Fork to be a reasonable choice, except for the fact that it seemed no one had ever made the trip from one end to the other. The reason being was a lack of sufficient water flow. Bob and I talked it over and the plan began to develop. Reasonable or not, we knew we were going to do it. It was our destiny. |
 The telling of this story has to include the many new friends we made along the course of the river, people who went out of their way to assist us. There's not nearly the space to tell all the stories and thank all those like Buzz Wylie, Brian Stovall, and Marilyn Beall helping us at put-in. Folks like Joe Don Hicks, Curtis Dawson, Dennis Hill and C.B. Stroud, who helped us at portages. Ranchers John Blue and Zohn Milam who allowed us to rendezvous on their land, as Lester Galbreath, the park manager, at Fort Griffin did. Then there were others who welcomed us on their property like Roy and Becky Wilson who operate Texas Best Outfitters at the Krooked River, Ardon and Rue Judd, John Burns, and John Mathews, descendents of the Lambshead families along with neighbor Linda Perry, John and Janna Caldwell at the Caldwell spread, Lanny and Tonya Vinson just down river, and John Moss at Indian Springs. Sheriffs like John Hobson, and Larry Moore of Jones County whose family has ranched the land since the 1870's, state game wardens like Brian Huckabay and Shea Guinn who were all very helpful. Then, too, there were the sponsors of the trip who helped make it possible, Fishing Hot Spots Maps, Texas Outdoors, Outdoor Texas Adventures, and most of all Miller Distributing of Fort Worth. To each and every one we owe our thanks for their help, support and friendship. For additional information on the trek you can read Bob Hoods columns in the Fort Worth Star Telegram at www.dfw.com/sports. |