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Sabinal Canyon Family
History/Genealogy Bandera/Uvalde County, Texas |
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Sabinal Canyon Family
History/Genealogy Bandera/Uvalde County, Texas |
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My page links:
Cantrells HOME page Cantrell Family Line Davis Family Line Cug Davis, Sabinal Fletcher/Evans,Real Co. Petty/McKinney, Uvalde Co. Brown/Davis, Bandera Co. John Maddox, Uvalde Jobes/Allen, Junction, TX Thomas Sylvester of Texas William Cox, Fannin Co. John Cox, Real Co. Mary Cantrell of Uvalde & Travis Co. Martin/Ansley, Uvalde Co. Brooks/Carta, Kinney Co. includes Beckett & Cox Parsons/Brooks Brooks/Bates, Uvalde Co. Griner/Brooks, Uvalde Co. Bell/Lyon Photos, NY Oak Grove Cem., Austin Travis Co., Texas Vanderpool, TX Cemetery in SW Bandera, Co. Uvalde, TX facts and records Bible: Nichols/Bierschwale of Kendall Co., TX Sabinal, TX MAPQUEST |
How long has there been people in the Sabinal Canyon? Well, how far back do you want to go? About 80,000 years (or so) ago, this land was covered with water. The earth shook and volcanoes formed. Several extinct volcanoes are near Uvalde: one 10 miles west of Uvalde; one on F.M. 140 1.5-miles south of Uvalde; one near the Frio River and Hwy 90 crossing near Knippa. Geological Survey: "A mile southwest of Knippa is a prominent knoll known as Chatfield Hill, caused by a mass of hard diabase which has been intruded in the Cretaceous strata." Read more about it. The water receded slowly and formed rivers which grew smaller with time. At one time the Sabinal River was a roaring rush of water and filled the whole canyon. In July of 2002, the Sabinal Canyon was flooded 3 times in 5 days. Each time the rushing water came from a different direction. It flooded straight down the river first, then it came from the West, next it came from the North East. Almost every building in Utopia was flooded at one time or another. When you live near a river, you learn to have great respect for it. Artifacts found at the Kincaid Shelter (Read about it.) go back more than 13,000 years. This shelter is just NW of Sabinal, Texas. Not yet open to the public. Fossils of extinct species: horse, alligator, elephant, mammoth, bison and lion have been found in the shelter. Early humans left scattered ash, bits of charcoal, chips of flint from making of stone tools. Later, we find pottery sherds, bullets and buttons. They all give hints to the activities of human daily life. The Sabinal River Canyon had fish, birds, wildlife and vegetation that humans needed to survive. The river is shaded by cypress, pecan, oaks, sycamores, and Big Tooth Maples near headwaters above Vanderpool at Lost Maples Natural Area. You can still find places where cool clear spring water seeps from mossy banks. The Sabinal can be narrow and deep, then widen and shallow as it spreads out over solid limestone. The limestone may be marked with foot prints of prehistoric animals or worn tracks from covered wagons. Walk along the river bank or across the pastures after a rain and see what the land tells you. It is not unusual to find fossils or artifacts form earlier inhabitants. Sabinal is derived from the word "sabina (sas-bee'na)," the Spanish name for juniper, misapplied by the Mexicans to the cypress tree of which line the Sabinal River for many miles. The National Park Service lists details of the Frio, Nueces and Sabinal. Read about Texas Rivers. L. J. (Cug) Davis brought his family to the Sabinal Canyon in the late 1880s. They came down from Llano and Tow Valley to Southwestern Bandera County. Before that, they were in Limestone County. Cug Davis worked for Mr. Thompson near Vanderpool for several years. The family lived on the ranch in an old frame house with a wide front porch. On hot nights, they moved most of the beds out on the porch. It was not rare to wake up with the chickens..... Really! |
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