Country Lifestyles
Restoring more than just cabins…restoring history
By staff writer Jessica Bartel
Bill Marquis, of Stoney, TX, has the unique occupation of restoring cabins all over the state of Texas. An historian at heart, Marquis comes in contact with 16′ X 16′ cabins and restores them to their original state.
Marquis has always enjoyed wood work and working with his hands. Through the restoration, Marquis works closely with cities so that the site qualifies for an historical marker. Marquis’s main goal when doing a job is to get children involved. Most communities have an historical council that Marquis works with to involve local kids and get them interested in their local history.
Many of the stories Marquis encounters can not be found in a history book. If not for Marquis, the tales would be lost like the deteriorating wood of the cabins. Marquis was raised in the small community of Greenwood, in Wise County, and has spent the last 55 years of his life in Stoney alongside wife June.
His passion for his work is evident all around his property. One piece, in-particular, is a cabin with a rock chimney and bois d’arc fence surrounding it. This cabin has a noteworthy tale. The cabin was built by Jonathan Bird in 1836 along Denton Creek near Stoney.
Bird was an Alabama man who traveled around that countryside building cabins. Prior to that, in 1835, during the Texas Revolution, Sam Houston commissioned Bird to do some work. Bird was to build a fort and call it Bird’s Fort; this in present day would be in the Euless-Arlington area. Houston told Bird the government would compensate him for his work. To read more pick up the April 2014 issue of North Texas Farm & Ranch.
By Lacey Vilhauer
Ingredients:
1 whole lemon, seeded and roughly chopped
2 cups sugar
2 pounds strawberries, hulled
Juice of 1 to 2 lemons
¼ cup water
Directions:
Place the chopped lemon and sugar in a food processor and pulse until combined. Transfer to a large bowl. Puree the strawberries in a food processor and add to the lemon mixture along with juice of one lemon and water. Taste and add more juice as desired.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Nicholas Waters
As winter plods along – come Spring and gopher mounds – homeowners and farmers find themselves playing a familiar song – fiddling while Rome is burning.
Let’s make a mountain out of a molehill. Those mounds on your lawn and pasture could be moles, but they’re more than likely gophers; Plains Pocket Gophers to be pragmatic – Geomys bursarius to be scientific.
These rodents dig and chew, and the damage they can do goes beyond the mounds we mow over. Iowa State University cited a study in Nebraska showing a 35 percent loss in irrigated alfalfa fields due to the presence of pocket gophers; the number jumped to 46 percent in decreased production of non-irrigated alfalfa fields.
The internet is replete with academic research from coast-to-coast on how to curtail gopher populations, or at least control them. Kansas State University – then called Kansas State Agricultural College – also published a book [Bulletin 152] in February 1908 focused exclusively on the pocket gopher.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Annette Bridges
Everyone needs a room with a view that makes their heart happy. My honest favorite panorama would be either the mountains or the ocean. I have yet to convince my hubby to make permanent moves to either, although he does enjoy the visits as much as I do.
The location of our house on our ranch does not provide the expansive field of vision of our land that I would enjoy. So, I have created a room decorated and furnished in a way that gives me smiles, giggles, and a wonderful peace-filled feeling when I am hanging out in it. I am in that place right now writing this column. I am in a lounging position with my computer in my lap on the chaise that was once my sweet mama’s. I had it reupholstered this year to give it a fresh look.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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Ella Jo Miller
May 12, 2019 at 11:34 pm
Bill, I have 7 old wooden structures and a corn crib ,all from when the German and Check people came to Tex. in the 1830 ,on my property in Old Dime Box Tx. I don’t know how to save them. I would like to preserve them some way.l would love to talk to you, please. I am a saver of the old things in life. My name is Ella Jo ,I live in College Station..