By Christina Cavazos

Growing up just outside of Longview near the Elderville-Lakeport area, Shawn Hara’s family traveled across the Sabine River nearly every day to go into town.

A family that loved the outdoors, the Haras took vacations to places like Arkansas and North Carolina where they’d canoe and spend time exploring the natural landscape. However, they never did those same activities at home on the river that they traveled over every day.

Its brown water nestled between muddy, red clay embankments adorned with pine trees and hardwoods, the Sabine River wasn’t thought of as a place for recreation. In fact, it wasn’t really thought of at all.

In 2019, well into adulthood, he took his first trip on the Sabine River with a small group of friends. That’s when he realized just how beautiful the river really is and all the potential that it holds.

“You’re only a couple of miles away from Longview, but it feels like you are miles away because you’re just completely in the East Texas Piney Wood forest,” he said. “There’s a beauty there that you don’t always expect.”

The River

Archaeological evidence shows the Sabine River has been inhabited for more than 12,000 years to when, according to the Texas State Historical Association, the Clovis tribe, an ancient culture in North America, lived there. The Caddos likely arrived in the area by about the year 780 A.D., according to the state historical association. Early Caddo mounds have been discovered along the river. The Caddos culture flourished until the late 13th century.

Europeans arrived in the area in the 16th century. In 1716, Spanish explorer Domingo Ramón gave the river its name, according to the Texas State Historical Association. The name Sabine River, or Río de Sabinas, comes from the Spanish word for “cypress” as cypress trees are prevalent along certain portions of the river.

When standing at the river bridge on a clear day, the scenery is iconic to East Texas. Oil derricks stand tall amid pine trees with the water of the Sabine River flowing below.

SABINE RIVER

Fast Facts:

• Three forks of the Sabine River that start in Collin and Hunt Counties merge in Lake Tawakoni to form the Sabine River proper.

• From Hunt County it flows southeast to Panola County where it turns south and flows until it discharges in Lake Sabine at the Gulf of Mexico.

• Spanish explorer Domingo Ramón gave the river its name. The name, “Sabine” comes from the Spanish word for “cypress.”