Caddo ─ Visions of a Southern Cypress Lake

In a stunning tribute to one of Texas’ most enigmatic waterways, a veteran East Texas historian and a professional photographer have together created an homage to a lake like no other—half Texas, half Louisiana, a swampy labyrinth of bald cypress and water plants filled with mystery, legend, and a staggering amount of biological complexity.

Classified as a Category 1 Habitat for wildlife by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and encompassing a state wildlife management area as well as a state park, Caddo Lake and adjacent areas have also been designated as a Ramsar Site under the international convention to preserve world-class wetlands and their waterfowl. In both words and pictures, writer Thad Sitton and photographer Carolyn Brown have captured the human, animal, and plant life of Caddo, as well as the history of the lake itself, better likened to an ever-changing network of cypress woodlands, bayou-like channels, water-plant meadows, and hardwood bottoms covered more or less by water.

THAD SITTON, a Texas historian and author best known for his expertise in oral history and East Texas, is the author or coauthor of numerous books, including the award-winningEvery Sun That Rises: Wyatt Moore of Caddo Lake. He lives in Austin, Texas. CAROLYN BROWN is a professional photographer based in Dallas, Texas. Her photography of Dallas, Mexico, and Egypt has appeared in solo and group exhibitions in Texas and beyond, and she has been photographer and coauthor of several books, including four promotional books on Dallas.