The Bois d ’ Arc furniture fashioned by Bud Hanzlick opened my eyes and changed my attitude . The same features that made the tree seem ugly in the wild , were turned to beauty in his hands . I wasn ’ t the only one to be inspired . Local Commerce educator and artist , Jerry Lytle , began creating sculptures made from Bois d ’ Arc by coaxing images , most famously of a ballerina , from its gnarly limbs . Photographer and writer Rick Vanderpool fell in love with Bois d ’ Arc and was the first to make a now iconic photograph of Big Max and bring the tree to the attention of state certifiers . Graphic artists James Green and John Lenington dedicated hours to sketching Big Max , horse apples , and all things Bois d ’ Arc leading to decades of amazing paintings , posters , and T-shirts promoting the tree . And Texas AM Commerce scholar Dr . Jim Conrad published a small book in 1994 entitled “ A Brief History of the Bois d ’ Arc Tree ” that is now considered a definitive resource for Bois d ’ Arc enthusiasts . Dr . Conrad even became my patron for a series of Bois d ’ Arc photographs produced to complement Jerry Lytle ’ s sculptures . We were all in love with the tree . But far too soon almost everyone I ’ ve mentioned either passed away or moved on . Only resident Commerce artist David Zvanut kept the torch alive when he installed a rotating Bois d ’ Arc sculpture at the Commerce City Park a few years ago .
The Bois d ’ Arc Bash continued to have a wonderful zany parade , dozens of booths and the best food , but aside from occasional demonstrations by local woodworker associations , the Bois d ’ Arc artists were missing , until last year , when John Baecht showed up with a hand-made pair of life-size , bright yellow Bois d ’ Arc angel wings . Baecht ’ s stunning display also included Bois d ’ Arc benches , stools , axe handles , bows , a Bois d ’ Arc butterfly , and a whimsical giant daisy , each pedal formed from a single yellow slice of Bois d ’ Arc stump . Bois d ’ Arc art on steroids ! But more importantly , John Baecht also brought to the bash an unbridled passion to spread the Bois d ’ Arc gospel to anyone who would listen .
When we get to the grove Baecht leaps from his truck and spins around , arms spread wide open in the air , and I am stunned , not by his enthusiasm , but by the 54 Bois d ’ Arcs surrounding me . Not all were Big Max size , but at least a dozen could vie easily with the record-holder . John says , “ The original range of the Bois d ’ Arc was small- north Texas , parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas , now it ’ s growing everywhere , but I think it likes the soil of the Red River Valley the best .” Looking at the size of these trees , I ’ d say that was a pretty good guess .
The Bois d ’ Arc is a remarkable tree . Over three million years old , it evolved as a food source for the megafauna ( think giant sloths and woolly mammoths ) that thrived after most of the dinosaurs were erased by a comet . In those days the range of the Bois d ’ Arc extended all across North America , but
during an ice age , one theory posits , glaciers stripped the tree from the continent leaving it living only in a confined range .
“ That was fine with the First Nations , they knew the value of the wood ,” said Baecht , “ Bois d ’ Arc was the best for making bows , which were important for trade .”
Because the wood “ Is very elastic [ and ] practically incorruptible ,” one bow was worth “ a horse and a blanket ” according to an 1804 memoir by Scottish traveler William Dunbar .
Said Baecht , “ That ’ s how the Bois d ’ Arc got its name , from French traders , meaning ‘ wood of the bow ’.” Originally , the Osage people guarded the distribution of the seed , said Baecht , “ The First Nations didn ’ t want anyone else growing it .” That changed , like everything else , when the European settlers arrived .
More Bois d ’ Arcs besides these giants , Baecht tells me , are on the other side of the paved road , so we cross , and then navigate a short dirt lane that leads to possibly the biggest Bois d ’ Arc tree I ’ ve ever seen . Farther down a slope in the dense woods beyond the colossus , the forest is filled with even more Bois d ’ Arcs and I get a sense that in another time these trees were part of the same extended grove . I try to imagine the place before pavement cut the grove in two . Down the slope in a clearing , John Baecht ’ s woodworking tools are spread out in a carefully curated display .
Indeed it was the wood that made the Bois d ’ Arc really special . Bright yellow when
GREENVILLE LIFE 10 SUMMER 2024