DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Half a mile to the west of where this marker stands, something rises up out of the Hunt County earth that doesn't look like much — just water finding its way out of the ground. But that quiet little trickle?
That's the Sabine River getting its start. And the Sabine has had some serious work to do over the centuries. Its lower channel once drew the line between the New World empires of France and Spain — two powers staking their claims on land they were still trying to wrap their minds around.
Then came 1836, and that same river became the border between the Republic of Texas and the United States. One river. A whole lot of history riding on it.
Now, the fork right here at this spot is called Cow Leach — named for an Indian chief who lived in this area. That name has been on this land a long time. But here's where this marker really starts to earn its place in the world, because what you're standing on isn't just the headwaters of one river.
This is a three-way watershed. Three ways. Water that flows to the north heads into the Sulphur and then on to the Mississippi.
Water that drains to the west finds its way into the Trinity. And water that heads south? That's the Sabine's water, working its way down to form the Texas-Louisiana boundary and eventually pouring out into the Gulf of Mexico.
How much water are we talking? Six million, four hundred thousand acre feet annually. Every single year.
More water into the Gulf than any other Texas river. All of it starting from a half mile west of here. That's the thing about headwaters — they never look like what they're about to become.
What the marker says
A half mile to the west rises the Sabine River, lower channel of which separated New World empires of France and Spain and in 1836 became Republic of Texas - United States border. Fork here is called Cow Leach, for Indian chief who lived in the area. This marker is on a 3-way watershed: flow to the north goes into the Sulphur and to the Mississippi; the west drains to the Trinity; south goes into the Sabine, which forms Texas-Louisiana boundary and pours more water into Gulf of Mexico than any other Texas river (6,400,000 acre feet annually).