Godforsaken' & The Poor Man's Country

What was it like in the Ozarks in 1889?

 

Growing up in the beautiful hills and valleys of the Ozarks, a native can swiftly discount the harshness of the terrain & elements our Ozark pioneer parents endured. In search for a snapshot in time, I came across a newspaper from Spirit Lake, Iowa. In its’ time worn leaves, a young writer, Hale Knox, journals regarding his travels and sentiments about Baxter, Marion, and Boone County, Arkansas.

One of the treasures in this column is a sentence contained in the last paragraph, which states, “The more I see of this country the more I am convinced that this is 'The Poor Man's Country' in every sense of the word.” Though this comment seems comical, I have heard this echoed many times in my life. Even though there may be a nugget of truth in this statement, I do not look at it as a statement of despair and doom. I believe it is a declaration of determination and faith to persevere no matter the circumstances.

I hope you enjoy the column.

Walks from Abroad

Hale Knox, who is now in Baxter county, Arkansas, writes to his friends here about as follows:

MOUNTAIN HOME, ARKANSAS; March 10, 1889

The people here are sowing oats. Some oats and a few potatoes were put in the ground before I came here. The farmers are really just beginning their spring work now. Their plows here are similar to our one-shovel corn plow. They sow oats by hand and plow them in with one horse with these plows. Some harrow afterwards. Some hardly ever use two-horse teams on the farm. If one man farms from 15 to 20 acres he does well. A few farmers have cleared the stumps and stones so as to use reapers in harvest. The majority of farmers cut with the old fashioned cradle. Nearly all farmers raise corn and oats, but not enough for home consumption. And they don't feed nearly as much as we do in Dickinson county. If perchance more is raised than is needed there is no sale for it at all.

This country, I think, will not amount to anything if a railroad is not built into it, that is, in the way of farming. I think money could be made here raising horses, mules and cattle. Mules are in good demand. Cattle are low now. A drove of steers going through town the other day were purchased at $15.00 per head—three and four years old.

I went over to the mines in Marion county last week. Passed through some of the roughest, most rockiest and, 'Godforsaken' country I ever went to see. Couldn't get a horse in town for less than $1.75 per day (one livery in Mountain Home), and the horses had had the distemper. I started out on foot, thinking I could get a horse on the way, but had to loot it for two days before I got one, and then had to pay more than if I had got one at the start.

The first day out my boot heels began to wear out, the nails began to work through, and before night my feet were blistered all over. My boots are too limber and loose for walking over stones and climbing mountains. I am going west again Tuesday. Am going to hire, or buy a horse or a pair of the heaviest cow hide boots I can find. The people here lie so I cannot tell anything about distances.

They said it was twenty miles to Rush Creek mines, but after I had walked eight or ten miles I inquired the distance of an old farmer. He said it was twenty miles and good long ones, too, from his place, and I don't think he stretched it, either. The natives here are good and accommodating. I stopped the first night with a man who had just moved into the state. He charged me 75 cents for lodging. The next night I stopped with a native, and he charged me 25 cents, and that is about the difference between the two classes in everything.

If I don't get work of some kind this week I think I shall start for home, but don't know much about it yet. There are people from all over the United States coming here all the time. Several went to California from here last fall, but all have come back.

There are a few cases of rheumatism here, but I can hear of none of the inflammatory kind. It is said that a number have been entirely cured of severe cases, of inflammatory rheumatism. My own rheumatism is nearly gone.

I went to church today. Got sister Laura's letter coming back (that is, while I was coming back). There is to be two weddings in the Baptist church this evening, I hear.

The more I see of this country the more I am convinced that this is 'The Poor Man's Country' in every sense of the word. I expect to start for Boone county next week Tuesday, if nothing hinders. Have a chance to go through with a man going to Harrison, county seat of Boone county. Until then I shall work on a farm at 50 cents a day. If I can't find out what kind of a country this is without working for 50 cents a day I don't want to know anything about it.

1875-Silver Dollar 

Source:

“Walks from Abroad.” The Spirit Lake Beacon 198.18 (22 Mar. 1889): 3. Access Newspaper Archive Access. Baxter County Library, Mountain Home, AR. 1 Nov. 2009 <http://access.newspaperarchive.com/>.

The Rhyme of History

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme."

                                                                        -  Mark Twain

Since the founding of Baxter County on March 24^th, 1873, the Spanish–American War was the first multi-national military conflicts Baxter County men had the opportunity to serve in. This convenient war took place between the United States and Spain between April & August, 1898. To many Americans, this was not a war of aggression, but it was a needful war for peace on behalf of the liberation of Cuba from Spain.

Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt & the Rough Riders

charging up San Juan Hill

The acting Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas was the Honorable Jerry C. South of Mountain Home, Arkansas. He led a 65 mile march with 17 young men from Mountain Home, Arkansas, to the train station at Newport, Arkansas. The contingent that left on the spring morning on April 29, 1898 consisted of not only young men from Baxter County, but men from Baxter, Fulton, and Izard County .It was a true sampling of the Ozarks.

Lt. Governor South was commissioned as a Captain in the United States Army. Captain South led Second Arkansas Voluntary Infantry, Company M, until they were mustered out on February 25, 1899. Of the 75 regiments enlisted in the Spanish–American War, Arkansas was well represented with two of them.

How can this be a representation with distinction?

During training for combat, a target competition was made, and the boys from Baxter County won the distinction as the best shots. The title of “Highland Sharpshooters” was conferred on the small group from the Arkansas Company by Major General John. W. Brooks, commanding officer at Camp Thomas, Georgia.

Model 1898 "Krag-Jorgensen" bolt-action rifle .30-40

manufactured by the Springfield Armory in 1898.

On the national scope, it was a small war with 208 men killed in action. Our boys came back without the need to serve outside in continental U. S.  Yet, it was the careful and crowning jewel of a war that enabled us to flex our military might in the Gilded Age. Our young men saw machinery, weapons, cities, and organizations that would forever transform their thinking.

Political partisanship in the U. S. was diverse.

1900 McKinley / Roosevelt

Presidential Campaign Poster

After President William McKinley's assassination on September 14^th, 1901, the Progressive Republican Vice President, Theodore Roosevelt, came into his own right. There was also a sense that government intervention in the economy inevitably led to favoritism, bribery, kickbacks, inefficiency, waste, and corruption. Mudslinging gained as a favored ploy for the polls. Republicans carried the North; Democrats garnered the South.  The Ozarks showed its’ diversity as border regions with a fair representation for both parties. Local 1900 newspapers reported debates in Baxter & Izard Counties were spirited & cordial.

Here in Baxter County, the Republican Committee was lead by Captain Bodenhamer advanced the charge of this new change in our nation. Many men who supported the advancing efforts of this progressive thinking were members of this club. When McKinley & Roosevelt ran for the Republican ticket, their campaign advertisements were ran on the adage of “Change.”
This continued through 1908 according to The Baxter Bulletin.

August 14, 1908: Political Speaking…Notice. The Democratic and Republican Nominees for the various offices in Baxter County will address the voters of Baxter County on the political issues of the day. Signed B. F. Bodenhamer, Chairman of the Republican Committee & W. F. Eatman, Chairman of the Democratic Committee.

September 18, 1908: There probably never was a race in Baxter County on any cleaner grounds than the representative race in this election between Hon. Ed Smothers, Chairman, and Capt. B. F. Bodenhamer, Republican. There was no personal abuse, no mudslinging. Both of their talks on the stump were forceful talks on the issues, both state and national, of both parties. Such campaigning is a pleasure to the voters and was much enjoyed by the large crowds that greeted them.

There are so many similarities to this era I have been drawn to…it’s almost eerie. Karl Marx said history is linear. But, I  have to agree with Mark Twain. If history doesn’t repeat itself, it must unquestionably rhyme.

Its’ cadence can be seen, pulse felt, and stanzas reverberate.

With the rise if Progressivism…

The veneration of the past Republican Progressive Teddy Roosevelt by today's Hilary Clinton, John McCain, and Barak Obama…

Partisans in Politics…

The mantra of “Change”…

The chant for a war for “Humanities’ Sake”…

And the Banking & Financial chaos in the midst of profit.

As ideas ebb on the scale of history, it is always inspiring to look out and see the past dedication & patriotism that has made the Ozarks History part of the American song.

Sources:

Krag-Jorgensen Model 1898, bolt-action rifle .30-40 of the Springfield Armory, Springfield Massachusetts. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington D. C., 1898.

Marx, Karl. Selected Writings. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, pp. ix-xxxv, 54-68, 209-213. Dean, M. 1994.

(1900) Neill, Arthur. Report of the Adjutant General of the Arkansas State Guard, 1897-1900: Including the Period of the Spanish-American War. Thompson Lithograph and Printing Company. Little Rock, AR.

Remington, Frederic S. Charge of the Rough Riders at San Juan Hill. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington D. C.. 1908.

Shiras-McClelland, Francis H. History of Baxter County to 1939. Mountain Home, AR: J. W. Daniel and Shiras Bros. Print Shop, 1940.

Shiras, Tom “Political Speaking.” The Baxter Bulletin 14 Aug. 1908, Volume 7, Number 35 ed.: 1A1-1.

Shiras, Tom “The Debates.” The Baxter Bulletin 18 Sept. 1908, Volume 7, Number 40 ed.: 1A1-5.

Twain, Mark. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington D. C.. Photograph of Samuel Langhorne Clemens. 1907.

William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt Campaign. Advertisement. Administration's Promises Have Been Kept. Aug. 1900. www.ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/ohiopix.

Growing Up in the Ozarks

I grew up in the heart of the Ozarks, surrounded by a time and culture that has slowly ebbed away. It was in a small place called Mammoth, Missouri. It's south of Gainesville, Missouri, and just a few miles north of the Missouri/ Arkansas state-line. Literally, it was in Ozark County, and you can’t get any more Ozark than that.

Vincent Anderson, Lesa Anderson-Pulliam, Dana Long-Headrick, Lynn Anderson,

Jereldene Anderson, and Jimmy Anderson on Granny's front porch banister

Living in today’s culture, is a totally different time or era than when I was growing up. I am really not that old; I’m only 44. But, times have changed so much. Many people spend hours occupying their time in endeavors that would have been foreign to me. I’ll admit, sometimes I catch myself in trivial pursuits that really have no eternal value. This could be surfing the Internet, texting for hours, and even watching TV. It does sound somewhat hypocritical for me mentioning the Internet, since this is a blog…and it’s posted on the Internet. But as I grew up, TV was sometimes a luxury. We lived so low in the valley that TV reception was not that viable. Therefore, we didn’t have a TV for years. We listened to the radio. We also spent many of those hours we could have been watching TV and did other things. Though at times I complained about not having TV, I was saved from fruitless hours and rewarded with memories I cherish, such as:

• Going visiting…that’s what we called it. We didn’t need to call ahead of time or make a special time on the calendar. We would just show up…
• Sleeping with the windows open and positioning for the perfect breeze through the screened windows…
• Sleeping with the roar of the attic fan on high…
• The smell of the fresh & humid air as it saturated the sheets at night…
• The chorus of tree frogs, bullfrogs, crickets, and whip-poor-wills chanting in the night…
• The huffs of the hoot owls and the haunting shrill of the screech owl’s phantom call…
• The yelps of the coyotes and the barking yaps of the gray fox…
• The cry of the bobcat or the scream of a mountain lion/ panther echoing on the banks of Lick Creek which sounds like a lady convulsing in terror…
• Fishing Possum Walk and Lick Creek for small mouth bass, blue gill, perch, and sunfish…
• Catching grasshoppers, crickets, and crawdads for bait…
• Finding and flipping the perfect 4 to 5 day old cow pile that held the juiciest night crawlers for fishing…
• Stepping on thorns and old nails and soaking my foot in kerosene because Granny said so…
• Helping my dad load the old aluminum V-bottom boat into the pickup bed and going to Liner Creek on Norfork Lake…
• Watching the spring floods inundate the Possum Walk Creek & Bridge...
  
• The fear of failure I felt… before I pulled the trigger on my rifle and dropped my first deer…
• The pride of trapping my first gray fox…
• The panic I felt when it came back to life in my hands…
• The relief I felt when my dad helped me put it out of its misery for the second time…
• The dread I felt in seeing my first skunk in a trap…
• The joy I felt in the sense of knowledge in skinning my own animals on the trap line…
• The wonder of seeing a herd of 60 white-tailed deer in the fields in front of the Mammoth Church…
  
• The early morning breakfasts at Granny Anderson’s saucering hot coffee, eating biscuits, twice toasted toast, soakie, greasy gravy, black-eyed gravy, fried eggs, bacon, and sausage all covered in flour gravy made from grease…basically…a lot of grease…By the way, if you haven’t “saucered your coffee or had “soakie”,” you haven’t lived…
• The mornings she spent reading to me from the Bible and the afternoons she spent reading to me The Ozark County Times, The Baxter Bulletin, or The History of Baxter County. Then, she would talk about the people she read about or how we were related…

• Her lunches of black-eyed peas, rice with sugar, or cooked cabbage…all with cornbread…
• The summer days I spent at her front porch and swatting flies…
• Covering cousins up in the fallen maple leaves…pretending they were in graves…and jumping out and screaming like it was the Resurrection Morning…

Aunt Phylis, Aunt Velma, Aunt Jesse, Aunt Ruby...and me eying in Christmas dinner at Granny Anderson's.

• Uncles, aunts, and cousins gathering a Granny’s house every Thanksgiving & Christmas Eve…

Kim Long-Sinor, Lesa Anderson-Pulliam, Roger Anderson
Jimmy Anderson, Dana Long-Headrick, Lynn Anderson, Jereldene Anderson
Jackie Anderson-Jennings, and me

• Listening to KTLO Radio out of Mountain Home, Arkansas, to hear the most important news of the day…the hospital report, listing all the names of the people who were admitted and released, and the list of the people who died in the area…
• Going to brush harbor meetings and using funeral home fans to keep cool…
• Swimming at the Possum Walk Bridge, ole' Baptizing Hole, the Big Rock, or the Hoggard Hole…
• Skidding down the icy cemetery hill on sheets of plastic & inner-tubes…
• New Year’s Eve hike & camp-outs…
• Playing football for Gainesville and always hoping for the next game to be a win...(long story)
  
• The glee of watching spot-lighters chasing deer in the field in front of our house…knowing the game warden, Ralph McNair, was watching them from a hay barn...
  
  
• And the work…
• Hauling & splitting wood…
• Feeding the chickens & protecting them from the coons…
• Picking up rocks…gardening…picking up rocks…
• Picking up beer bottles & beer cans on T Highway because Baxter County, Arkansas, was a dry county until 1978. Therefore, our road was the shortest distance between the honky-tonks on the Missouri / Arkansas state line on Highway 201 North & Highway 5 North…
  
  

This whole list thing could go on….and on.

Although no time or era is perfect, in the past or present, these times have helped to mold and form me into the person I am today. Though I cannot go back, I still hold these memories in my heart. At times, I am quickly swept away by some sight, smell, taste, word, or phrase to a little place called Mammoth. After all these years, it is still part of my essence. It is my sampling & experience of the Ozark’s History.

Thanks Dad & Mom.

The old smoke house behind Granny Anderson's house.