November 15th, 2026
7pm – The Wild Detectives, Dallas
Event webpage here.
Join us for the Dallas launch of The River That Made Texas: A Forgotten History of the Trinity, the first comprehensive historical account on Texas’ Trinity River, with a Q&A by naturalist Ben Sandifer and TRPA Secretary Alexander Neal.
River historian Scot McFarlane will be in attendance for the Q&A about the book, followed by a signing and storytelling session featuring dedicated conservationists, river rats, hunters and whistleblowers, including the East Texas-based organization Save The Cutoff.
Buy the book here!
About the author
Dr. Scot McFarlane is a Maine-based historian who grew up along the banks of the Trinity River in East Texas. Scot is one of the leading scholars on the history of rivers and is the founder of the Oxbow History Company. Prior to founding the company, Scot held research roles at the American Historical Association and the Recovering New England’s Voices initiative of Historic New England. His published works have largely focused on people’s relationships with streams and have been featured in Environmental History, the journals of Southern History, Slavery and Abolition, Texas History, many Texas-based magazines and newspapers, and more.
About the book
In the first history of this vital river, historian Scot McFarlane illuminates how the Trinity has defined Texas history. Its floods enriched the soil and destroyed crops, its channel served as both a route and barrier to freedom, and its once-polluted waters now sustain a significant portion of the state. McFarlane’s captivating narrative brims with stories of the people who called the Trinity home over the centuries: the Comanche, steamboat pilots, enslaved and freed people, sharecroppers, inmates, and millions of urban residents. The result is a fresh perspective on economic development, slavery, and the environment—revealing the Trinity not as a backdrop to Texas history but as a force that shaped it.
About the speakers
Ben Sandifer is a Dallas-based author, photographer, and environmental advocate for parks and open spaces where he can often be found with camera in hand. His award-winning nature photographs have been featured in local, state and national publications. He is a Certified Master Birder through the Audubon Dallas sponsored North Central Texas Master Birder Program. In 2016, he was named an Honorary Lifetime Texas Master Naturalist for his substantial contributions to the furtherance of the activities of the organization. In addition to his professional life as an accountant, Ben serves as a citizen scientist for the Texas Stream Team and as the naturalist for the historic Dallas Hunting and Fishing Club.
Alexander Neal is a water resources professional living near the banks of the Brazos River in Burleson County. A former Dallasite, Alexander attended Townview Magnet Center where he discovered his passion for open spaces and Texas’ waterways. His career within the state government has allowed him to work across the state in far flung places such as Big Bend Ranch State Park, Pedernales Falls, Jacob’s Well, and Deep East Texas as a park ranger, wildland firefighter, and water resources specialist. Outside of work, Alexander serves as a volunteer firefighter for the Cooks Point Volunteer Fire Department.
Save The Cutoff is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit conservation organization created in 2022 by a coalition of hunters and fishermen in Henderson County that seeks to reestablish rightful access to a historic section of the Old Trinity River. The preserved waterway, known locally as “The Cutoff”, is both a vestige of the pre-industrialized river and of the hunting and fishing culture that drew many of Texas’ early inhabitants to Trinity River region. Save The Cutoff works to ensure that unimpeded access is restored to the waterway so that Texas families and recreationists can enjoy its waters for generations to come. To do so, they are engaged in several lawsuits as plaintiff against forces that have sought to illegally impede access to the multi-generational fishing hole and cherished community asset.
