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When Environmentalism Began
Page 2


"The County Line Magnolia"
&
General Sam Houston Cypress


by Bob Bowman

‹ Page 1.....

As a part of his tour, Douglas asked to see a 1,000-year-old magnolia tree, a prize attraction in the Big Thicket, known as "the county line magnolia" because of its location at the intersection of Polk, Hardin and Liberty counties.

However, the tree was deliberately killed by an injection of a metallic poison before Douglas arrived. The assassin's identity was never discovered. Douglas grieved over the ragged remnants of the tree and his concerns set off a storm of protests in the Beaumont area, fueling the campaign to create a national preserve. Some proponents of the preserve blamed timbermen for the tree's death.


Douglas also saw another large tree -- this one also doomed, but for a different reason.

McEloy carried Douglas deep into the Sabine River bottomlands to the old community of East Hamilton to see the General Sam Houston Cypress, one of the largest such trees in East Texas.

The tree was later cut because it stood in the path of Toledo Bend Reservoir.



© Bob Bowman

December 16 , 2001
Published by permission.

Bob Bowman is a former president of the East Texas Historical Society and the author of 28 books on East Texas history and folklore.


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Forum:

Subject: General Sam Houston Cypress

My family and I are spending a night at Presidio La Bahia in Goliad and refreshing our memories on Texas History. The Topic of General Sam Houston Cypress close to the Sabine River before Toledo Bend Reservoir was impounded came up. I am 64 years old and I remember my parents used to tie one end of a rope to an aluminum boat and the other end to trailer hitch on their car. They would lower boat down a 60 foot sand cliff to be able to fish in the Sabine River. One trip I remember my parents taking my brother and I a few yards into the woods from this high cliff which was also close to East Hamilton Community area and showing us that giant Cypress tree. I was only 8-9 years old at the time and but seeing things like that giant Cypress Tree stays with you.

The reason I am writing is because it is a big mystery to us; Why was that giant Cypress named after Sam Houston? If anyone has knowledge on this topic I would love to know the reason the giant Cypress was named after Sam Houston. - Sincerely, Gordon Peavy, August 15, 2020

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