Big Thicket

The Big Thicket is a forested area in Southeast Texas in the United States. It is part of the mixed pine-hardwood forests, also called the "Piney Woods" of the Southeast US. In 1974, the National Park Service created the Big Thicket National Preserve within this region, and it is recognized as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO.

This area is special because of its many different plants and animals. It has more than 500 types of vertebrates and a rich mix of ecosystems. Scientists have found different ecosystems in the Big Thicket. There are many kinds of trees, herbs, vines, and grasses.

For a long time, Native Americans lived and hunted in the area. Later, the Alabama–Coushatta settled there around 1780. Spanish explorers visited the region. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, logging cut down many trees. People started trying to protect the Big Thicket from damage as early as the 1920s.

The Big Thicket mainly covers all of Hardin County, most of Polk and Tyler Counties, and parts of Jasper, Liberty and San Jacinto Counties. Some wider ideas about the area include parts of Montgomery, Newton, Trinity, and Walker Counties. The habitat also goes into Louisiana.

Geography

The Big Thicket is a special area in Southeast Texas with many different plants and animals. It has many types of soil that help plants grow. The land is mostly flat in the south and has gentle hills in the north. There are also many wetlands, like swamps and small lakes.

The weather there is warm and wet, with hot summers and mild winters. Rain is common, and sometimes tropical storms bring more rain. Many people live in small towns in this area, and jobs are often found in timber, oil, and farming.

Biology

The Big Thicket area has many different plants and animals. It is part of the Piney Woods region and has many types of ecosystems, like uplands, sandylands, and floodplains. These ecosystems help many plants and animals live there.

The area has over 500 kinds of animals with backbones, such as mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Common mammals include the Virginia opossum, nine-banded armadillo, and white-tailed deer. Birds like the red-cockaded woodpecker and Bachman's sparrow live here too. Reptiles such as the American alligator and many turtles and snakes are also found in the area. Amphibians like salamanders and frogs live here as well. The Big Thicket has many insects, including almost 1,800 kinds of butterflies and moths, plus many dragonflies and damselflies.

The mix of ecosystems and plants makes the Big Thicket a special and important home for wildlife.

Exact numbers of plant and animal species in the Big Thicket are hard to know because of many factors.

Flora

The area has over 100 kinds of trees and shrubs. Longleaf pine trees once grew all over the region. Big Thicket National Preserve has programs to bring back these trees, including one of the US's most active prescribed burn programs. With the National Park Service's centennial in 2016, they planted many longleaf pines. The National Park Service says there are more than one thousand kinds of flowering plants and ferns in the thicket, including 20 orchids and four types of special plants that eat animals.

Fauna

Long ago, during the last ice age, many different plants and animals moved into the area.

Well over 500 kinds of animals with backbones live in the Big Thicket region. These include more than 50 mammals, 300 birds, 60 reptiles, 30 amphibians, and over 90 fish.

Mammals: About 54 kinds of mammals live in the Big Thicket, such as the Virginia opossum, nine-banded armadillo, and white-tailed deer. Some animals that used to live here are no longer found in the area.

Birds: Three hundred kinds of birds live in the Big Thicket, including the red-cockaded woodpecker. The extinct ivory-billed woodpecker used to live here too.

Reptiles: Sixty-one kinds of reptiles live in the Big Thicket area, including the alligator, turtles, lizards, and snakes. Alligators live where there is enough water.

Snakes: There are 33 kinds of snakes in the area, including five kinds that are venomous.

Amphibians: There are 31 kinds of amphibians, including salamanders and frogs and toads.

Fishes: Well over 90 kinds of fish are known from the area.

Insects: Studies have found nearly 1,800 kinds of butterflies and moths in the Big Thicket.

History

In ancient times, people of the Caddoan Mississippian culture lived just north of the Big Thicket area. The Atakapa-Ishak people lived in the Big Thicket, moving along the Gulf of Mexico in Southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana. They left behind signs of their camps, but the Big Thicket was not a major settlement.

The Spaniards ruled the area from about 1521 to 1810. They set its borders with trails and rivers, such as El Camino Real de los Tejas to the north and the Brazos River to the west. They built a small settlement called Atascosito, later renamed Liberty. Other spots like Beaumont were mainly stops for river travelers.

After Mexico gained independence, the area stayed mostly quiet. A French scientist named Jean Louis Berlandier visited nearby areas in the 1820s and described the forests and local villages.

When Texas became part of the United States, more people began to move into the Big Thicket. Some were looking for opportunities, while others were trying to avoid military service. By the late 1800s, many mills were built to cut down the forests for lumber. This led to the discovery of oil at Spindletop in 1901, bringing more growth and change.

Efforts to protect parts of the Big Thicket began in the 1920s. After many years of trying, Congress passed a law in 1974 to create the Big Thicket National Preserve.

Protected and public land

The Big Thicket National Preserve (BTNP) is in Southeast Texas, about 8 miles north of Kountze, Texas and 30 miles north of Beaumont. It is managed by the National Park Service and was created in 1974 to protect plants and animals. The BTNP covers over 113,000 acres and includes parts of seven counties. It was the first national preserve in the United States National Park System, along with the Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida. Some activities like hunting and oil exploration are allowed here, which is different from national parks.

Several other protected areas are nearby, including Huntsville State Park, Lake Houston Wilderness Park, Martin Dies Jr. State Park, Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary, Sam Houston National Forest, Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge, and Village Creek State Park.

Ghost Road

Main article: Light of Saratoga

A dirt road called Bragg Road, built in 1934 near Saratoga, has many strange stories. People say they see a mysterious light on the road at night, called the Light of Saratoga. There are many ideas about what it could be, like old tales of hidden treasure or natural things such as swamp gas or car lights through the trees.

Notable people

Some famous people were born or lived in the Big Thicket area.

• John Alexander (born 1945, Beaumont, Jefferson County) is an American painter who often paints the landscapes of Southeast Texas.
• Brian Philip Babin (born 1948, resident of Woodville, Tyler County) has been a U.S. representative from Texas's 36th congressional district since January 2015.
• Annette Gordon-Reed (born 1958, Livingston, Polk County) is a historian and author who won a Pulitzer Prize.
• George Glenn Jones (1931, Saratoga, Hardin County – 2013) was a famous country musician and songwriter.
• Margo Jones (1913, Livingston, Polk County – 1955) was a stage and theater director known as "The Texas Tornado."
• Aubrey Wilson Mullican (1909, Polk County – 1967), nicknamed "Moon Mullican, King of the Hillbilly Piano Players," was a country-western musician and songwriter.