The Canadian River Breaks
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The area around Phillips, Texas, was quite ugly to most,
But we all learned to love it, and sometimes did even boast.
The poem describes the area where we used to roam.
And believed in the old saying, there’s no place like home.
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The Canadian River Breaks
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The Canadian River Breaks formed thousands of years ago,
When the Canadian River was flowing big and out of control.
Rocky hills and valleys were formed in the Texas Panhandle
This cut the surface, and the flatlands were surely dismantled.
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I was born in the Breaks and lived there until I was twenty.
The Breaks were fun and the rocky hills there were plenty.
The canyons around Phillips were just some of these hills
That I grew up in hunting and exploring for those big thrills.
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There was a large stone that we called the elephant rock
That nearly everyone in town climbed at least once to the top.
It became somewhat of a famous local historical land mark,
That we all still remember as if it was very dear to our heart.
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In than that same canyon we often would hike on down,
Until we came to the Dixon Creek where game did abound.
We hunted the fast cotton tail rabbit with our old 22 rifles,
But most of the time, the young hunters the rabbits did stifle.
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Dixon Creek ran into the Canadian River a few miles from there.
As we got a little older, we hunted quail there with much care.
We didn’t use birddogs so the birds had a fair chance with us.
I had a very old double barrel shotgun, so I didn’t hit too much.
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In 1967 when I was twenty three, they damed the Canadian River
Near Sanford,Texas, and it became Lake Meredith forever.
The Breaks formed the natural basin for this huge body of water.
And again was about to become a fun place for us to gather.
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In the spring of the year, we fished for large Wall Eye Pike,
And had lots of fish fries that the our family in the area did like.
We deep fried the Wall Eye chunks to a nice golden brown.
With sweet corn and fried potatoes, how does that sound?
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In the summer we caught white, brown, and large mouth bass.
When the white bass were running we caught them real fast.
We caught brown bass in water where big rocks we could see.
And large mouth bass in Blue West Cove by submerged trees.
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In fall months, we would head for the upper end of the lake,
And catch large strings of crappie, a pan fish that tastes great.
Sometimes we caught large carp just to have some good fun,
And threw them on the bank so our lake would be less some.
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In winter months, we duck hunted on the bank of Blue West.
The cove was on the duck flyway and here they wanted to rest.
So we had many species of ducks there which we could hunt.
Craig and I shot many types of ducks during winter months.
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The Canadian Breaks entertained us as local kids on the run,
And again as adults living in the area just looking for fun.
The Canadian Breaks would never qualify as a scenic view,
If you ever visit the area, I know you might just pass through.
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By Bill
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Thanks for reading The Canadian River Breaks again,
Bill
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