DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker at The Narrows tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, picture yourself standing on a crest of land out in Knox County, Texas — and I mean a *crest*, a genuine dividing line written into the earth itself. Everything on one side of you drains into the Wichita River, which eventually finds its way all the way to the Mississippi.
Everything on the other side drains into the Brazos, which winds its long winding way down through Texas and empties into the Gulf of Mexico. Two great river systems, and this ridge is where they part ways. You are standing on the seam of the continent.
That alone ought to give you pause. But wait — there's more to this ground than geography. This place had a name, and that name was The Narrows.
And The Narrows had a reputation. Buffalo grass grew here. Fresh springs bubbled up here.
And herds of mustangs roamed here — actual wild horses, free for the catching, free for the riding if you had the nerve and the skill. In other words, this was good hunting ground. Word travels fast when a place has everything a people need, and word traveled far.
The Comanche came through here. The Wichita came through. The Kiowa, the Apache, the Seminole, and the Tonkawa — all of them crossed this ground, all of them knew these paths.
The evidence of their battles and their camps is still being found to this day, tucked into the canyons and ravines like the land itself is holding onto the memory. Then came the settlers, following those same well-worn paths that generations of feet and hooves had already pressed into the earth. And today?
Today those same canyons and ravines that once echoed with everything this place has seen are used for ranching. The Narrows is quieter now. But it remembers every crossing.
What the marker says
This crest separates the drainage basins of the Wichita River, whose waters flow into the Mississippi, and the Brazos River, which winds through Texas to the Gulf of Mexico. Known as good hunting grounds because of buffalo grass, fresh springs and herds of mustangs from which to get mounts, The Narrows were crossed by the Comanche, Wichita, Kiowa, Apache, Seminole and Tonkawa Indians. Evidences of battles and camps are still being found. Later, settlers used the well-worn paths. Today its canyons and ravines are used for ranching. (1965)