I had a similar experience with these trees. The bois d¹arc (³bodocks² in
the local lingo) were effective site location markers when I was doing a
survey in search of 19-20th c. northern mississippi tenant farmer
homesites at a plantation called Strawberry Plains (which was reclaimed by
an audubon chapter and reforested). They were usually right next to the
wood frame houses I found. I often found the trees in clusters or
sometimes in looser scatters and would follow them until I found the house.

Terrance  Weik
Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology
University of South Carolina


 

On 6/26/15, 8:04 PM, "David Parkhill" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Yes, bois d'arc  was used as fence post among other choices items.
>Indians and early pioneers used thorns for needles along with mesquite
>trees. Indians also used Bois d'arc for bows. If you can find the write
>up by Bill Holm he shows plots on his maps where the Indians took very
>young saplings along with them on the War Trail, in West Texas. The
>camping spots shows part of the Comanche War Trails  which are many. A
>very dear friend of mine made some of the most beautiful bows which were
>valued by his friends.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
>Barbara Hickman
>Sent: Friday, June 26, 2015 4:04 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Selective bibliography - ICOMOS Documentation centre
>
>Linda, this anecdotal, but it seems a good example. My grandfather
>(1863-1951) used bois d'arc  along some property lines here in central
>Texas in lieu of barb wire. He is said to have thought 'bodark' was more
>effective at keeping cattle inside the property than wire. It grew
>quickly into an almost impenetrable hedge.
>
>David T. Parkhill
>Avocational Archaeologist
>
>Barbara J Hickman
>Archeologist III
>Archeological Studies Program
>Environmental Affairs Division
>Texas Department of Transportation
>125 East 11th Street
>Austin TX 78701
>512-416-2637
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kate
>Johnson
>Sent: Friday, June 26, 2015 3:58 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Selective bibliography - ICOMOS Documentation centre
>
>Linda,
>
>I read a couple papers that describe the use of osage orange hedge
>specifically as fencing and meant to distinguish specific boundaries.The
>3rd footnote to the second paper (Hewes & Jung 1981) also references
>several sources that note the use of ditches alone or ditches plus fence
>/ hedge as being used to demarcate legal property boundaries. Hopefully
>one of these sources can be of use!
>
>
>
>* Hewes, L. 1981. Early fencing on the western margins of the prairie.
>Annals of the Association of American Geographers 71 (4):499­526. Hewes,
>L., and C. L. Jung. 1981. Early Fencing on the Middle Western Prairie.
>Annals of the Association of American Geographers 71 (2):177­201.*
>
>Footnote from Hewes & Jung 1981:
>
>Herbert G. Schmidt, *Agriculture in New Jersey* (New Brunswick: Rutgers
>University Press, 1973),  p.73, cites ditches as legal enclosures as
>early as 1730. Lewis Cecil Gray, *History of Agriculture in the Southern
>United States to 1860*, Vol. 1 (New York: Peter Smith, 1941), p. 540,
>refers to the occasional use of ditches and sod fences supplemented by
>small post and rail fences on the embankments. Stevenson Whitecomb
>Fletcher, *Pennsylvania Agriculture and** Country Life, 1640-1840*
>(Harrisburg:
>PennsylvaniaHistorical and Museum Commission, 1950), p. 87, cites the use
>of ditches with hedges in 1778. See also John A. Warder, *Hedges and
>Evergreens: A complete Manual for the Cultivation, Pruning, and
>Management of all Plants suitable for American Hedging; especially the
>Maclura, or Osage Orange* (New York: Orange Judd Company, Agriculture
>Book Publishers,Press, 1858),  pp. 174, 195, 201.
>
>Best wishes,
>Kate
>
>On Fri, Jun 26, 2015 at 2:35 PM, Linda Derry <[log in to unmask]>
>wrote:
>
>> Histarchers,
>>
>> I need your help. There is a cemetery in our archaeological park that
>> was established by the Alabama legislature in 1851 but we can't find
>> any legal records that describe the boundaries.  However there are
>> historical records (newspaper reports mostly) that say that the
>> cemetery was "surrounded by a ditch" and a few years after it was
>> created, an osage orange hedge was planted just inside the ditch.
>>
>> Today, the ditch is still very apparent, and there are a few  aged
>> osage orange trees too.
>>
>> Our attorney has told us he does't think that he can use the ditch as
>> evidence of the boundary, because of the word "surrounds" since, as he
>> says, "its like saying that  the Indians surrounded the fort  and that
>> doesn't imply  they were establishing a boundary."  A fence he would
>> accept, and he may consider the osage orange, but he doesn't seem to
>> think we can protect the ditch from our neighbor's bulldozers.
>>
>> So, I am turning to you for help.  Are there other examples of
>> graveyards that were enclosed by ditches, or documented  evidence that
>> ditches were used as boundary markers.  I'm trying to argue that
>> historically ditches were just as real as fences in establishing
>>boundaries.
>>
>> Linda Derry
>> Site Director, Old Cahawba Archaeological Park Alabama Historical
>> Commission
>> 719 Tremont Street, Selma, AL 36701
>> office:  334/875-2529
>> park:  334/ 872-8058
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
>
>--
>*Katharine Johnson*
>PhD Candidate, Dept of Geography
>Geospatial Data & Web Development Specialist Map and Geographic
>Information Center Connecticut State Data Center University of
>Connecticut [log in to unmask]
>http://geomorphology.uconn.edu/research-group/kate-johnson/
><http://uconn.academia.edu/KatharineJohnson>
>Talk. Text. Crash.
>
>
>[Talk. Text. 
>Crash.]<http://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/division/traffic/safety/share-ro
>ad/distracted.html>