Time

SABINE RIVER . The Sabine River rises in three main branches-the Cowleech Fork, the Caddo Fork, and the South Fork. A fourth branch known as the Lake Fork of the Sabine or Lake Fork Creek, joins the main stream forty miles downstream from the junction of the other three branches. The Cowleech Branch rises in northwestern Hunt County and flows southeast for thirty-five miles to the extreme southwestern corner of the county, where its confluence with the Caddo Fork and the South Fork forms the Sabine River proper (at 32°48' N, 95°55' W). The former juncture is now inundated by Lake Tawakoni, constructed in 1958. The Caddo Fork rises in two tributary forks, the East Caddo Fork and the West Caddo Fork, in northwestern Hunt County. These streams unite in the southern part of the county to form the Caddo Fork, which flows southeast to its junction with the South Fork and the Cowleech Fork. The South Fork rises in the southwestern corner of Hunt County and flows east for eighteen miles to join the Caddo Fork and Cowleech Fork. From this point the Sabine River runs southeast, forming the boundary lines between Rains and Van Zandt, Van Zandt and Wood, Wood and Smith, and Smith and Upshur counties. After crossing most of Gregg County, the river forms portions of the county lines between Gregg and Harrison, Harrison and Rusk, and Harrison and Panola counties before it bends more sharply across Panola County. At the thirty-second parallel in the southeastern corner of Panola County the Sabine becomes the state boundary between Texas and Louisiana, and thus the eastern boundary of Shelby, Sabine, Newton, Orange, and Jefferson counties. The river empties into Sabine Lake (at 29°59' N, 93°47' W), which is formed by the confluence of the Neches qv and the Sabine rivers; the lake is drained by Sabine Pass into the Gulf of Mexico.