Ike Sablosky was a businessman from Pennsylvania who came to Texas in 1906 to regain his health. At the time, Mineral Wells, TX was famous for the Baker Hotel and Spa, which offered mineral water treatments rumored to cure various ailments. While living in Mineral Wells, Ike discovered the business of Cedar hacking. Cedar wood was extremely valuable because of how resistant it was to rot- this made it excellent for building. Ike hired two men to do the hard labor of cedar hacking out at Johnson’s Bend for him.  The men had to ride for three days on horses from Mineral Wells before they could start their work. While out there, they encountered large amounts of ill-tempered, giant possums. They captured the possum and took them to show Ike. Once Ike saw the beautiful cream-colored fur on the possum, he went into the fur trading business. The two men became so good at capturing and skinning possums that Ike began to refer to them as “The boys from Possum Kingdom”. The area soon became known as an excellent place to trap and trade possum hide. When the lake was created in the 1940’s, officials named the lake Possum Kingdom Lake after the legend of our giant, fierce, possum population. Because our name attracts those seeking out the giant possum, the population has taken a ginormous hit. It is extremely rare to see these animals in the area today.