BOIS D'ARC CREEK (Grayson County). Bois d'Arc Creek rises two miles northwest of Whitewright in southeastern Grayson County (at 33°32' N, 96°26' W), runs northeast across Fannin County, and eventually forms a natural boundary between Fannin and Lamar counties before its confluence with the Red River (at 33°50' N, 95°51' W). The stream, intermittent in its upper reaches, is sixty miles long. It flows over the permeable, clayey soils of Grayson County and the highly calcareous Catalpa clay of Fannin County. South of Bois d'Arc Creek in Fannin County is a cove, part of a chalk escarpment. As a sizable tributary to the Red River, Bois d'Arc Creek was significant to the early history of Fannin County. Along it the settlement of the county progressed rapidly after the arrival of Daniel Rowlett and six families in early 1836. En route to the Alamo, David Crockett wrote to his family about "Bodark Bayou," the richness of the area, and the possibility that he would settle in the vicinity. Fort Inglish, which provided protection for the early settlers of Fannin County, was located on Bois d'Arc Creek. The stream also provided the original name of the county seat, which was called Bois d'Arc at its establishment in 1843 but renamed Bonham in 1844.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: R. L. Jones, "Folk Life in Early Texas: The Autobiography of Andrew Davis," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 43 (October 1939, January 1940). Rex Wallace Strickland, "History of Fannin County, Texas, 1836–1843," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 33, 34 (April, July 1930).
