Outdoor
Visions, memories and tales from Texas’ past
By contributing writer Jerry Williams
In 2008 real estate agent Jerry Williams traveled to Buffalo Springs in southern Clay County to view a property that was for sale. He found a clear water spring ankle deep and four feet wide. The trees beside it had wide canopies and kept the water cool.
The powerful scene brought up images of ghosts of the past in the 19th century. John Anderson, an elder friend of Williams, grew up in Buffalo Springs and told him that the spring has never stopped flowing.
Williams remembered a story about Charlie Norris in the 1906 issue of Scribner’s Magazine. Charlie found 200 buffalo watering there in the spring of 1886. Charlie was there to deliver a small herd of horses in Buffalo Springs. He rode in among the herd of buffalo. He said, “Back home in Coldwater (In the Panhandle of Texas) they rarely saw buffalo anymore.”
Two days later the herd showed up at his outfit’s camp next to a small lake. Charlie said, “They drank very heavily and played about like calves.” A few years later Charlie learned that someone killed four buffalo at Buffalo Springs in 1889, “They were the very last individuals that I have knowledge of.”
Williams supposed the lake was likely the one built by the army in 1867, perhaps the first Army Engineering project in the State of Texas. He took photos of what was left of the dam built by the soldiers. They could not maintain enough water in their lake for them and their horses so they moved back to Fort Richardson in Jacksboro.
The story caused Williams to reflect from his experience raising buffalo. He remembered when the stock tank went dry his two buffalo each drank five to 10 gallons of water a day that he hauled bucket by bucket to the corral. Imagine the 200 buffalo visiting the small lake at Buffalo Springs that could have drunk up to 2,000 gallons of water on each visit. To read more pick up the April 2014 issue of North Texas Farm & Ranch.
By Jelly Cocanougher
Brazen rumbles cut through the daylight stillness. Enamored by the grandiose symphony of the firmament, tinged in anticipation from where the light will snap next.
The clouds dance in the sky as a love letter to the electrically-charged synergy of the ground and air. It moves unashamed, reckless, and bold. It is raw power that could command attention for any being, a reminder that we are attuned to the primal opus of flora and fauna. The spirit of the prairie was awakened, the hands of a cowboy rests at the heart of it all, a symphony in combination.
By Tony Dean, [email protected]
There are a handful of mean-spirited plants that seem to have developed a liking to growing in places where they are a nuisance on North Texas grazing lands. One of those plants is definitely tasajillo. I can not count the number of gates I have had to open that required a fight with this prickly foe.
I now realize there is a plausible reason why so many fence lines and gates are home to tasajillo, being that birds eat the seeds, and then deposit them along the fences thus creating a virtual nursery for this unfriendly species.
Tasajillo is a perennial member of the cactus family and can be found in all areas of the state, but with less presence in deep East Texas. It grows as individual plants or as thicket-forming clumps. This cactus seems to be most adapted to loamy soils and is often found in association with mesquite.
To read more, pick up a copy of the March issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Norman Winter | Horticulturist, Author, Speaker
This time of the year you see stories not only looking back at 2023 but, of course, the prognostications for 2024. This is fun to do in the gardening world, too. For instance, the Proven Winners ‘Caladium of the Year’ for 2023 was Heart to Heart Scarlet Flame. This was an eye-opener for a lot of gardeners.
You see we think of caladiums in two basic types or forms, fancy leaves and strap leaves. Fancy leaves are large, heart or semi-heart shaped. Strap or lance-leaves are narrow, some ruffled, and generally shorter. So, this has led many gardeners to choose sides, as in bigger is better.
Scarlet Flame, the 2023 Caladium of the Year, is a strap-leaved selection and won our hearts with the number of leaves produced, vibrancy of color and the ability to work in mixes or partnerships most of us have never dreamed about.
I’ll never forget the combination with Blue Mohawk rush and Sweet Caroline Medusa Green ornamental sweet potato. It is also a caladium for sun or shade. Those of us who paid attention, will never roll our eyes at the suggestion of a strap-leaved variety again.
To read more, pick up a copy of the March issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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