What is Your Slash-Line?

Over 300 hundred years ago, my first ancestor in North America, Juan Bautista Chapa was the secretary to Governor-General Alonso de Leon of Nuevo León in what is now northern Mexico. Along with the head priest, Damien Massanet, these three were tasked to find some French scoundrel named René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. La Salle was highly rumored to have established a French colony on what is now the Texas shoreline. The Spanish crown considered all of the land bordering the Gulf of Mexico their territory and ordered their northernmost Governor of New Spain, Alonso de Leon, to mount an expedition to find and expel the intruding Frenchmen and his settlers.

These three were also tasked to write down what the saw, who they met, and what they encountered. In essence these three were the very first Texas outdoor writers as they ventured across our state in several expeditions. Their journals exist to this day and they detail the animals they shot with their arqebus’ like deer, antelope, prairie chickens, “spotted cats without tails,” bison, etc. This was one of the earliest documented use of firearms in Texas.

These journals also mentioned the fish they found such as robalo (bass), bagre (catfish), mojarra (?), trucha (trout), and besugo (perch). Some of the flora they had seen included willow, cypress, pecan, mesquite, and live oak trees.

Whenever an unnamed river was encountered, the priest was asked if there any religious significance for that particular day. This happened on April 25, 1689 when a new river was crossed. The priest looked in his book and found it was the Feast Day of St. Mark so it was named the San Marcos River. Over the course of four expeditions, four additional rivers were named in this fashion, including the Guadalupe, the Medina, the Nueces, and the Trinity.

To survive, the men on these expeditions had to adapt to new terrain, new animals, and new surroundings. They had to adapt to what I call a “Slasher Mentality.” They were soldiers/hunters/explorers/adventurers/writers/horsemen and so on.

To survive, we also have to adapt. The only thing constant is constant change. For example typewriters are long gone. Now laptops are the norm. Camera film is obsolete in favor of memory cards used in digital cameras.

To survive in this changing world, you have to adapt to the specific water your personal boat is floating on. This group as a whole is very good at expanding the readers/viewers/listeners horizons. Perhaps it is time to think about expanding your horizons to thrive.

50 years ago most of our members wrote for newspapers and that was their only job, now that has changed to a minority. Today it might be a teaching job that pays the bills or a consulting job that enables travel to outdoor locales that allows the outdoor stories to be written or the outdoor photos to be captured.

Developing a slasher mentality will allow you to stay afloat, possibly make more money, and continue to be relevant in the outdoor field. While not most of us can be a “writer/photographer/book author/blogger/consultant/instructor/lecturer/radio host/TV personality/volunteer,” some of us can expand beyond the one or two categories listed that we are already doing.

A good example of this is when I found my Tejano music photography business plummeting when the economy took a down turn. My financial tide was dropping, so I investigated/adopted/adapted “waterfowling.” I asked a lot of questions, researched, and traveled to new places . . . (sounds like a typical outdoor writer).

In the 2011-12 duck season, I went on eight duck hunting trips, with only a camera. Nine months later my first duck photo came out in a national magazine. In 2013, I received my first 1st place TOWA award for a duck hunting story.

Prior to 2011, I had never owned a firearm, never shot at anything, nor had been on any hunting trips, ever. My realms really only consisted of fly fishing topics. Since then I have purchased 7 shotguns and own over a dozen camo caps. I adapted. While I am far from being very knowledgeable about waterfowling, it is the opportunity to learn something new every season that is my attraction and the bonus is making money doing it.

By expanding my personal horizon, I can now regain the financial loss from the music business. My slash-line is now “outdoor photographer/outdoor writer/fly fishing instructor/slideshow lecturer/kayak instructor/consultant/waterfowler.”

What is your slash-line?

Lefty Ray Chapa
President