Herding Ducks on Decker Lake: Tom & May Kendrick’s Industrious Legacy
The Kendrick family were among the early settlers of Granger, owning land that stretched north of 3100 South and east of 2700 West — land that included the well-known Decker Lake
Gathering Ducks on Decker Lake
Among May Kendrick’s many industrious ventures, one of the most memorable was raising large flocks of white ducks on the family property near Decker Lake. Each spring and summer, Tom and May turned their ducks loose on the calm waters of the lake, where they thrived on the natural feed and open space.
Come autumn, it was time to gather them up for market. May and Tom would push off in rowboats, working together to herd the ducks across the water. They often fed the ducks grain at Buckholt’s Point on their side of the lake to keep them close, but when it came time to bring them in, the ducks could be scattered clear to the far north end—nearly a third of a mile from the Kendrick barnyard.
It was quite a sight to see: May, skillfully guiding her boat alongside Tom’s, steering hundreds of ducks ahead of them like a living tide. Once the flock was corralled to shore, the ducks were driven up to the barnyard and penned in an enclosure near the well pond. There, May fed them grain to fatten them up before selling them in town.
May’s duck herding on Decker Lake became one of the many ways she turned the land and water into a livelihood—providing extra income for the family and reinforcing her reputation as a resourceful, hardworking pioneer woman who could handle any chore, on land or lake alike.
