Running the River

Growing up near the Sabine, journalist Wes Ferguson, like most East Texans, steered clear of its murky, debris-filled waters, where alligators lived in the backwater sloughs and an occasional body was pulled from some out-of-the-way crossing. While writing a newspaper series about the river, he and photographer Jacob Croft Botter became entranced by the river’s subtle beauty and the solitude. They came to admire the self-described “river rats” who hunted, fished, and swapped stories along the muddy water. WES FERGUSON is a journalist, freelance writer, and newspaper editor in Kilgore. JACOB CROFT BOTTER is an award-winning photographer and photography teacher.