Johnny Nance knows Jefferson’s Big Cypress River as well as Mark Twain knew the Mississippi at Hannibal.  He knows every historic mile and its links to Jefferson’s riverboat era, the Civil War, and the economic decline.  He knows every alligator, gar, and turtle willing to expose itself to human eyes.  He knows every cypress, mayhaw, and bois d’arc that has witnessed the historic drama along the stream.  He knows every eddy, cove, and sand bar along the river course.

And the historian/storyteller/naturalist/musician/boatman is preparing to share his trove of fascinating stories with visitors to Jefferson during his fourteenth season as owner of Turning Basin Tours.  He has been guiding boat excursions on the river for twenty-nine years. 

Nance's picturesque riverboat service on the south bank of Big Cypress River at 200 West Bayou Street is just south of the Marion County Courthouse in downtown Jefferson.  His family-oriented tours along the river take passengers across the former steamboat turning basin that made Jefferson the riverport to the southwest. 

The water route on the Big Cypress led boats through Caddo Lake to ten-mile bayou, then southward on the Red River to Shreveport, and on to the Mississippi.  A right turn then led to New Orleans, or a right turn up the Mississippi to St. Louis and other ports.

In his trip back in time, Nance tells passengers about Jefferson’s role as an important  cotton port and the world’s leading exporter of bois d’arc seed for living fences on the Midwest prairies.  He spins a lively tale, punctuated by documented facts, about the Red River log jam that raised the water level for the steamboat entry into Jefferson, about Jay Gould’s interest in bringing the railroad and his alleged curse on Jefferson, about the economic disaster following removal of the log jam with nitroglycerine, and the region’s efforts to recover its financial status.

Nance has an insider’s details of the legendary parade of Jefferson headliners:  Diamond Bessie, Abe Rothschild, Jay Gould, Allen Urquhart, Dan Allen, George Washington “Dog” Smith, Ruth Lester, Lucille Terry, Marcia Thomas, Dorothy Craver, Clarence Braden, the Pulpwood Queens, and the ladies of the Jessie Allen Wise Garden Club.  His tours have attracted their share of celebrities, including Alex Haley, Bob Phillips, Cybill Sheppard, an astronaut, educators, statesmen, and wrestlers. 

 

His enthusiasm and loyalty about historic Jefferson make each riverboat tour conducted by Nance a unique experience as he picks up on the interests of each group and delivers a customized variation from his repertoire of stories.  He delivers standard accounts of navigation into the riverport and highlights of Jefferson history before selecting topics that will appeal to interests of specific boat passengers.  When he learns their hometowns, he usually has accounts of Jefferson’s ties to those areas.

 

“I always learn from visitors,” Nance says.  “They tell me many family legends involving Jefferson.  And they spot things I have not commented on.  One group saw a creature along the banks that I could not identify.  I went home and looked the critter up, discovering it was a South American rodent.  Now I point them out whenever they appear.  No two river tours are the same,” Nance added.

           

The single historic structure remaining along the portion of Big Cypress on Nance’s tours beyond those in downtown Jefferson and the turning basin is the powder magazine storage building east of the turning basin, used during the Civil War when steamboats had to stash cargoes that might explode inside the city. 

 

 

Nance’s storytelling skills create vivid images of boats and personalities arriving by water in the East Texas metropolis.  Jefferson was the most important population center in the region before Dallas sprang up at the intersection of north-south, east-west railroads in the 1870s.  For botanists and zoologists, especially birders, the forested banks of the river are alive with plants and animals entertaining the river boat tourists.  Nance is particularly fond of an authoritative owl greeting his passengers with great restraint.

Turning Basin Tours operates three passenger boats.  Tours depart daily at 12 noon, 2, and 4 during the early and late months of the season, from March until late fall.  During the prime summer season, daily tours are scheduled at 10, 12, 2, and 4. 

A telephone call to Nance at 903-665-2222 or an email to www.jeffersonbayoutours.com will obtain additional information about tour times and tickets.