1891 White River Convention: Ozark Key to Transportation

Highlighting the Upper White River Region. 
Taken from George F. Cram’s book Cram's Unrivaled Family Atlas of the World, published in 1883.

The wheels of change seem to move faster in some regions of the world than others. In the Ozarks, time & progress sometimes seems to mosey at a snail’s pace. For those with fire shut up in their bones & passion flowing in their veins, it seems they have a prime directive to spread their pyromania to others and replicate their vision and fervor. 

The culmination of smoldering cinders erupted into a flame of progress in the latter part of the 1880’s and on into the 1890’s in the Ozarks. Folks of vision & industry set aside their small town thinking and castigated their petty rivalries. As communities rebuilt and evolved after the Civil War on the White River, citizens assembled and formed organizations to bring about attention to their economic needs and situation. The stepping stone to progress was the permanent clearing of the boulder riddled, channel swerving, and snag choked White River in the Ozarks. At the time, the river steamboats were the major modes of transportation for hauling in necessities and exporting cash crops (cotton) and minerals from the region. As the river had fits & bouts of consistency, a meeting of the minds was called to order, and the White River Convention met for the first time. Their goal was to ensure access for consistent steamboat transportation from Forsyth, Missouri, down river to Batesville, Arkansas. Delegates assembled at Batesville, Arkansas, on May 22, 1891, representing nine Arkansas and two Missouri counties:

Melvin Nathaniel Dyer, Baxter County, Arkansas

Milton Y. Todisman, Independence County, Arkansas

C. B. Woodberry, Independence County, Arkansas

Judge Richard Henry Powell, Izard County, Arkansas

A. B. Smith, Jackson County, Arkansas

Augustus S. Layton, Marion County, Arkansas

J. N. McBride, Searcy County, Arkansas

George Richard Case, of Stone County, Arkansas

R. H. Poe, Van Buren County, Arkansas

John Robison Reed, Ozark County, Missouri

M. Y. Moore, Taney County, Missouri

The delegates amassed with the objective of further opening navigation and removing snags along the Upper White River region. The convention, tantamount to the Little Rock Board of Trade, was called to order, and it was immediately decided to form a permanent organization. The initial election rallied Melvin Nathaniel Dyer as the Chairman of the Convention and Milton Y. Todisman garnered the poll as Secretary of the organization. 

The Vice-presidents elected were:

G. R. Case, of Stone County

Capt. Richard Henry Powell, Izard County

R. H. Poe, Van Buren County

J. N. McBride, Searcy County

A. S. Layton, Marion County

Capt. C. B. Woodbury, Independence County (Steamboat Captain)

Capt. Albert B. Smith, Jackson County (Steamboat Captain) [1]

The Committee on River Statistics consisted of:
Theo Maxfield
C. R. Hanford
Capt. C. B. Woodbury [2]

Capt. Henry Sheldon Taber,
U. S. Army Corps of Engineers

Following, U.S. Senators James Henderson Berry and James Kimbrough Jones gave approving speeches at the inaugural meeting, along with Congressman William Henderson Cate of the 1^st Arkansas District and William Leake Terry, Congressman-elect of Arkansas’s 4^th District. Additionally, one other guest attending the convention made the event a hallmark of the occasion, and he had proven to be a facilitator who could deliver the federal funds and manpower to transform the White River and its future: Capt. Henry Sheldon Taber of the U.S. Corps of Engineers, Little Rock District. All county delegates present took the opportunity to give their speech, and the leading oration was made by the editor of the Mountain Echo, W. R. Jones, of Yellville, Arkansas. Mr. Jones' oratory was an empassioned and pointed speech as he laid bare the facts, mingling his pleas & exhortations that would contend with any revival preacher.

Click to read W.R. Jones' speech
W. R. Jones by William Yates, Find a Grave

After the morning speeches, festivities, and lunch, all the delegates gathered at the local steamboat landing to board the Ralph at one o’clock for an inspection trip. The distinguished flotilla viewed obstructions to navigation up the White River. 
Among those on the assessment excursion were:

Senators Jones and Berry

Congressman Terry and William Henderson Cate

Edgar L. Givens, editor of the Batesville Guard

Judge James Weatherald Butler

Capt.  Albert B. Smith, owner the steamboats Alberta, Alberta No. 2, Alberta No. 3, Batesville, and the Winnie

John Calvin Yancey

Col. Neill and several other prominent citizens of Batesville, Arkansas.[4]

After the inspection tour on the river, Senators U.S. Berry and Jones stated in the meeting that they would “ask for a million dollars if Capt. Taber would recommend that much,” and Capt. Taber gave the impression that he would do it “if the condition of things demanded it.” Mr. W. R. Jones made the declaration that, “It is now the business of every man in this section to give Capt. Taber all the information possible. In addition to the work of various statistical committees will do, every enterprising man in this section of the State should write Mr. Taber a personal letter at Little Rock.” [5]

Ironically, according to W. R. Jones, if Capt. Taber proved to be successful in clearing the White River, Taber's improvements & plans would eventually show the necessity for railroad transportation along the White River. The railroads would eventually dwarf the need for river transportation. Eventually, there would no longer be the need for steamboats laboring up the White River. Nevertheless, Capt. Taber chose to set his intentions on the desires of the Upper White River above his own long term ambitions. [6]

Reflection:
I ask you Dear Reader: Are you willing to give up your own desires to fulfill the dreams & needs of others? It's not an answer that should be discounted as elementary. American economist, Milton Friedman stated, "I want people to take thought about their condition and to recognize that the maintenance of a free society is a very difficult and complicated thing and it requires a self-denying ordinance of the most extreme kind."[7] 

The epitaph at the base of Capt. Taber's monument in Little Rock, Arkansas, declares an objective he emulated and goal set forth on behalf of future leaders: And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. [8]

So, I ask myself, and you too: Are we wise enough to shine? Enjoy your Ozarks' History.

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Bibliography:
1. W. R. Jones, “Upper White River: A Plea for Better Transportation,” Mountain Echo, June 5, 1891. 
2. W. R. Jones, “Local Echoes,” Mountain Echo, June 12, 1891.
3. W. R. Jones, “Upper White River," Mountain Echo, June 5, 1891. 
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Milton Friedman, Interview with Richard Heffner on The Open Mind, 7 December, 1975.  
8. Daniel 12:3, King James Version.