The Cast Iron Forest: A Natural and Cultural History of the North American Cross Timbers

A complex mosaic of post oak and blackjack oak forests interspersed with prairies, the Cross Timbers cover large portions of southeastern Kansas, eastern Oklahoma, and north central Texas. Home to Native Americans over several thousand years, the Cross Timbers were considered a barrier to westward expansion in the nineteenth century, until roads and railroads opened up the region to farmers, ranchers, coal miners, and modern city developers, all of whom changed its character in far-reaching ways…