Kickapoo Mountain In The Background, Anderson County Texas ...

that is my 1983 Jeep in the foreground. This picture was probably taken around 1984 or so. There are actually three mountains in the area. I drove the Jeep up on top of one of two smaller unnamed mountains. That is the Kickapoo Mountain in the background. It is covered in trees and there are no roads going up to it. There is a Texas Power and Light right of way that goes across the smaller mountain. The two unnamed mountains had roads going up and down and made for great hill climbing in the Jeep. Dudleys wife's family owned a small 150 acre farm in the area. The northwest fence line cut across the east end of Kickapoo Mountain. It was a long steep hike up there. One year my father in law "Sparky" built a stand just inside the fence line in a large oak tree two thirds of the way up the mountain. One cold December morning , he was quietly sitting in the stand when three whitetail bucks walked down the trail in single file. He shot the biggest one a nice ten point buck. One beautiful Fall afternoon, I hiked up the hill, crossed the fence and hiked up to the top of the mountain. When I got to the top, I was surprised to see it was as flat as the dining room table. The trees and brush were thick up there. I found an old camp site on the side of the mountain where it was open and you could see all the way to the town of Frankston to the north. I circled around the mountain and when I got to the west end, I jumped a deer which I heard crashing through the brush and leaves down the hill. I did not see the deer but it may have been a big buck. It would have been a great hiding place. I never did go back up there. I was trespassing which I did not like doing. When I was up on top of Kickapoo Mountain, I was alone with God and that unseen deer. I thought of the Caddo Indians who inhabited the area before the white man came along. I think Kickapoo Mountain is a spiritual place, I bet the Indians thought so too. I felt closer to God up on that mountain that afternoon than I ever did sitting in a church.