Second Saturday: Eternal Bois d’Arc: Dinosaurs tempered It, Caddo Nation Tamed It and America Built On It

Columbian mammoths—reaching up to 9 tons—and giant ground sloths, weighing around 2 tons, once fed on the small, orange fruit of the Bois d’Arc tree. As these bus-sized animals climbed, pushed, and broke branches to reach the fruit, the tree adapted to survive immense pressure. Today, Bois d’Arc is one of the strongest, most elastic, and most rot-resistant woods in North America—a legacy of evolving alongside these prehistoric giants.

The natural range of Bois d’Arc shrank dramatically during the advancing ice age. After the ice retreated, the tree found a refuge in the Red River Valley of present-day Texas and Oklahoma. There, the Caddo Nation developed a thriving trade network, exchanging Bois d’Arc wood—especially prized for bows—across vast distances, reaching as far as the Great Lakes region. These bows were so valuable that they were often worth more than a horse.

As settlers moved into North Texas, they encountered dense groves of Bois d’Arc along creeks and rivers, sometimes making passage difficult. Wagon makers in towns like Bonham quickly recognized the value of this durable wood, crafting long-lasting wagons from it. During the hedge-planting boom of the 1850s, Bois d’Arc seeds became extremely valuable—at times even compared to gold by weight—because the trees were widely used for living fences.

With the arrival of barbed wire, Bois d’Arc became the preferred material for fence posts due to its remarkable resistance to rot. It played a key role in shaping agriculture and settlement across the region. For decades, its wood was also used in structural supports for buildings throughout Texas.

Bois d’Arc—known scientifically as Maclura pomifera—continues to attract interest today. Its oils contain powerful antioxidants, and researchers are studying its potential benefits for health and medicine.

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