Depleted Texas lakes expose ghost towns, graves.....

As the drought continues, receding lakes are exposing long-hidden artifacts in Texas. A marble headstone marking an infant’s grave from 1882 and concrete foundations from the old town of Bluffton have appeared in Lake Buchanan. The lake created in the 1930s is now shrinking.

A prehistoric skull, ancient tools and fossils have been found in dry areas of other lakes in recent months. A small cemetery that appears to contain the graves of freed slaves was discovered at a Navarro County reservoir.

Some artifacts have attracted interest from historians, and looters also have scavenged for pieces of history.

Texas finished its driest 12 months ever through September. Water levels in many of the region’s lakes have dropped by more than a dozen feet.