Tales from the Big Thicket

The Big Thicket of East Texas is one of the few areas left in the United States where people can still establish a close and friendly intimacy with untamed nature. The secretive beauty and mystery of this pocket of wilderness lying between the sandy East Texas forests and the prairies of the Gulf Coastal region would inevitably inspire tales-and the pioneers who came to terms with this land were an individualistic and legend-creating lot. In Tales from the Big Thicket, Francis E. Abernethy presents a collection of stories about the Big Thicket and its people. He begins with a background history of the area and a brief survey of the geological conditions that created it, then turns to the bulk of the book collecting anecdotes and tales that introduce us to the people of the Big Thicket and to the land. The reader will find herein the history and folklore of the area, including a collection of Alabama-Coushatta tales, a Civil War episode involving a search for hidden Jayhawkers, a travel account from the nineteenth century, and a history of one of the region's legendary families, the Hooks. "An enjoyable escape to the wood-culture of the past, to the thrill of the bear hunt of yesterday, to the quiet, natural retreat in the middle of an increasingly urban world."-Southwestern Historical Quarterly "This is local history and folklore at its best."-Journal of the West "Tales from the Big Thicket should encourage Texans to visit this area of 'unspoiled nature' before it is destroyed."-Texas Observer Francis E. Abernethy is Regents Professor Emeritus of English at Stephen F. Austin State University, the Executive Secretary and Editor of the Texas Folklore Society, the Curator of Exhibits for the East Texas Historical Association, and a member of the Texas Institute of Letters. He is the author or editor of three volumes of the history of the Texas Folklore Society, Singin' Texas, Built in Texas, and nineteen Texas Folklore Society publications, all published by the University of North Texas Press.