DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Richard E. Jackson, conservationist, and the wild, tangled heart of the Big Thicket. Now, every now and then you come across a man who looks at a piece of land everybody else sees as something to cut down or drill through — and he sees something worth saving.
Richard E. Jackson was that kind of man. He was born August 12, 1880, in Leary, Georgia.
By 1886, his family had made their way to Jasper, Texas, where they opened a general mercantile store. Young Richard worked that store as a teenager and, if that wasn't enough, carried mail between Jasper and Woodville. The boy wasn't one for sitting still.
In 1896 — still just a young man — he became the first ticket agent for the GB and CK Railroad at Silsbee Junction. That word 'first' tends to follow certain people around. By 1904, he was working as a conductor for the Santa Fe, hauling freight out to sawmills and oilfields.
He knew this part of Texas. He knew it from the ground up, from the rails, from the roads between towns. In 1907, he married Velma Ophelia Byrum, of Gainesville, and the two of them settled in Silsbee.
And it was there, rooted in that corner of East Texas, that Jackson's great love affair with the Big Thicket took hold. Now, the Big Thicket was something else. Dense, peculiar, alive in ways that scientists would travel a long way to study.
But it was also threatened — by development, by timber activity, by oil explorations. Jackson saw all of it coming. And instead of wringing his hands, he started leasing land.
Acre by acre, he built those leases up until they exceeded eighteen thousand acres. Eighteen thousand. He formed the Hardin County Co-operative Pasture and Game Preserve Group, envisioning a park, a hunting club, a future where the Thicket still stood.
In 1929, he began a formal push for preservation and started attracting wide support. He hosted field studies for scientists out on his leases. He offered tours to public leaders.
He gave speeches publicizing the Big Thicket throughout the state and the region. The man was part conservationist, part showman, and all true believer. Then, in 1936, Jackson called a meeting in the offices of the Beaumont Chamber of Commerce and organized the East Texas Big Thicket Association — fifty-two members strong right out of the gate.
But here's where the story gets harder. The Great Depression had already been grinding people down, and then came World War II. Those forces, among others, contributed to the collapse of that early organization.
Lesser men would've walked away. Jackson didn't. He kept at his conservation efforts — quietly, stubbornly — until his death in 1957.
He didn't live to see the finish line. But the people who'd followed him didn't forget. Many of them later joined together to establish the Big Thicket Association, and the work went on.
In 1974 — seventeen years after Jackson was gone — a national preserve was finally created here. The marker puts it plain: due to his early initiative and vision in preserving the unique landscape he loved, that preserve came to be. And because of what the marker calls his unselfish dedication, R.E.
Jackson is widely recognized as the Father of the Big Thicket. A man born in Georgia, raised in a mercantile in Jasper, runnin' mail routes and railroad lines — and somewhere in all of that motion, he stopped long enough to look at the Thicket and decide it was worth standing still for. That's the story the marker tells, and it's one worth knowing.
What the marker says
Richard E. Jackson Conservationist Richard E. Jackson was born August 12, 1880, in Leary, Georgia. In 1886, he came with his parents to Jasper, Texas, where they opened a general mercantile store. As a teenager, he worked for the family store and carried mail from Jasper to Woodville. In 1896, he was the first ticket agent for the GB & CK Railroad at Silsbee "Junction." Working as a conductor for the Santa Fe by 1904, he carried freight to sawmills and oilfields. In 1907, he married Velma Ophelia (Byrum), of Gainesville, and settled in Silsbee. Because of his admiration for the Big Thicket, Jackson began leasing land in the region, which was threatened by development, timber activity and oil explorations. His leases exceeded 18,000 acres, and he formed the Hardin County Co-operative Pasture and Game Preserve Group. Envisioning a park and hunting club, in 1929, he began an effort for the area's preservation and attracted wide support. In 1936, Jackson called a meeting in the offices of the Beaumont Chamber of Commerce and organized the East Texas Big Thicket Association with 52 members. He hosted field studies for scientists, offered tours for public leaders, used his leases to show off the Big Thicket and delivered speeches publicizing it throughout the state and the region. Among other factors, the Great Depression and World War II contributed to the collapse of this early organization, but Jackson continued his conservation efforts until his death in 1957. Many of his followers later joined to establish the Big Thicket Association. Due to Jackson's early initiative and vision in preserving the unique landscape he loved, a national preserve was finally created here in 1974. Because of his unselfish dedication, R.E. Jackson is widely recognized as the "Father of the Big Thicket." (2003)