USA > Arkansas > Biographical and historical memoirs of western Arkansas : comprising a condensed history of the state, a number of biographies of distinguished citizens of the same, a brief descriptive history of each of the counties mentioned, and numerous biographical sketches of the citizens of such counties > Part 2
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Smith. Terre Noir River runs from northwest to the southeast in Clark County and empties into Ouachita River. Sulphur Fork of Red River en- ters the State from Texas, about the center of the west line of Miller County, and running a little south of east empties into Red River. Sabine River flows south through the central southern portions of the State, and empties into the Ouachita River near the south line of the State.
There are numerous creeks forming tributa- ries to the-streams mentioned, equally distributed over the State, which are fully described in the re- spective counties. Besides these water-courses mention should properly be made of the nineteen bayous within the State's borders.
The Ozark Mountains pass through the north- ern portion of Arkansas, from west to east, and form the great divide in the watersheds of the State. Rich Mountains are in the central western part, and run east from its west line, forming the dividing line between Scott and Polk Counties, and also between Scott and Montgomery Counties, and run into Yell County.
South and east of the Rich Mountains are the Silver Leaf Mountains, also running east and west from Polk County, through Montgomery to Gar- land County. These are the mountain formations seen about Hot Springs. Sugar Loaf Mountain is in Cleburne County, and receives its name from its peculiar shape. It is in the northern central part of the State. Another mountain of the same name, containing the highest point in the State, is in Sebastian County, and extends into the Indian Territory. Boston Mountains are in the northwest- ern part of the State, running east and west in Washington, Crawford and other counties. These include the main mountainous formations. There are many points in these ranges that have local names.
It would require volumes to give a complete account of the variety of the innumerable springs which burst forth with their delicious waters- warm, hot and cold, salt, mineral and medicated. The fame of some of the medical, and the Hot Springs of Arkansas, are known throughout the civilized world, and pilgrims from all nations come
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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
to be washed and healed in them. They were known to and celebrated by the pre-historic peoples of America; and the migrating buffaloes, ages and ages ago, came annually from the land of the Da- kotas to the spring waters of Arkansas. The in- stincts of the wild beasts antedate the knowledge of man of the virtues and values of the delicious waters so bountifully given to the State. Nearly all over its territory is one wonder after another, filling every known range of springs and spring waters, which, both in abundance of flow and in medicinal properties, mock the world's previous comprehension of the possibilities of nature in this respect.
When De Soto, in June, 1542, discovered the Mississippi River and crossed into (now) Arkansas, and had traveled north into the territory of Mis- souri, he heard of the "hot lakes" and turned about and arrived in time where is now Hot Springs. Even then, to the aborigines, this was the best- known spot on the continent, and was, and had been for centuries, their great sanitarium. The tribes of the Mississippi Valley had long been in the habit of sending here their invalids, and even long after they were in the possession of the whites it was a common sight to see the camp of repre- sentatives of many different tribes. The whites made no improvement in the locality until 1807. Now there is a flourishing city of 10,000 inhab- itants, and an annual arrival of visitors of many thousands. The waters, climate. mountain air and grand scenery combine to make this the great world's resort for health and pleasure seekers, and at all seasons of the year. The seasons round, with rarest exceptions, are the May and October months of the North.
In the confined spot in the valley called Hot Springs there are now known seventy-one springs. In 1860 the State geologist, D. D. Owen, only knew of forty. Others will no doubt be added to the list. These range in temperature from. 93º to 150º Fahrenheit. They discharge over 500,000 gallons of water daily. The waters are clear, taste- less and inodorous; they come from the sides of the ridge pure and sparkling as the pellucid Neva; hold- ing in solution, as they rush up hot and bubbling
from nature's most wonderful alembic, every valua- ble mineral constituent. In the cure, especially of nearly all manner of blood and chronic diseases, they are unequaled, and their wonders have be- come mainly known to all the world by the liv- ing and breathing advertisements of those who have proven in their own persons their wonderful curative powers. To reach Hot Springs and be healed, is the hope and aspiration of the invalid, when all other remedies have failed. And it is but just now that the pleasure seeker, the tourist, the scientist, and the intelligence and culture of the world are beginning to understand that this is one of the world's most inviting places to see and enjoy.
But the marvels of the district are not confined to the immediate locality of Hot Springs. Here is indeed a wide district, with a quantity and variety of medical springs that are simply inapproachable on the globe. Going west from Hot Springs are sys- tems of springs running into Montgomery County a distance of forty miles. As continued discov- eries of other springs in Hot Springs are being made, and as these widely distributed outlying springs are comparatively of recent disclosure, it may be assumed that for many years to come new and valuable springs will become celebrated.
In Carroll County, in the northwest part of the State, are Eureka Springs, only second to Hot Springs in the wide celebrity of fame as healing waters. They, too, may well be considered one of the world's wonders. There are forty-two of these springs within the corporate limits of the city that has grown up about them. They received no pub- lic notice until 1879, when with a bound they became advertised to the world. Their wonderful cures, especially in cases of rheumatism, cancer, dyspepsia and other, if not nearly all, chronic diseases, have bordered on the marvelous, if not the miraculous.
In White County are the noted White Sulphur Springs, at Searcy, and the sulphur and chalyb. eate springs, known as the Armstrong and the Griffin Springs, and the medical springs-Blan- chard Springs-in Union County; the Ravenden Springs, in Randolph County, and the Sugar Loaf
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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
Springs, in Cleburne County; the very recently dis- covered Lithia Springs, near Hope, in Hempstead County, pronounced by a leading medical journal, in its January issue, 1889, to be the most remark- able discovery of this class of medical waters of this century. These are some of the leading springs of the State which possess unusual medicinal properties. By a glance at the map it will be seen they are distributed nearly equally all over its ter- ritory. Simply to catalogue them and give accom- panying analyses of the waters would make a pon- derous volume of itself. In the above list have been omitted mention of the fine Bethseda Springs in Polk County, or the fine iron and chalybeate springs near Magnolia; Bussey's Springs, near Eldorado, Union County; Butler's Saline Chalyb- eate Springs, in Columbia County; the double mineral spring of J. I. Holdernist, in Calhoun County; a large number of saline chalybeate springs in Township 10 south, Range 23 west, in Hempstead County, called Hubbard's Springs; or Crawford's Sulphur Springs; or those others in Section 16, Township 12 south, Range 10 west; or Murphy's or Leag's Mineral Springs, all in Brad- ley County; or Gen. Royston's noted chalybeate springs in Pike County, and still many others that are known to possess mineral qualities, though no complete examination of them has yet been made.
Special mention should not be omitted of the Mountain Valley Springs, twelve miles northwest of Hot Springs. The fame of these springs has demanded the shipment of water, lately, to distant localities in vast and constantly increasing quan- tities. The knowledge of them is but compara- tively recent, and yet their wonderful healing qualities are already widely known.
Innumerable, apparently, as are the health springs of Arkansas, they are far surpassed by the common springs found nearly all over the State.
Mammoth Spring is in Fulton County, and is unrivaled in the country. The water boils up from an opening 120 feet in circumference, and flows uninterruptedly at the rate of 9,000 barrels a minute. From the compression of so large an amount of carbonic acid held in solution, the whole
surface of this water basin is in a continual state of effervescence. Spring River, a bold stream, is produced by this spring, and gives an unlimited amount of water power.
The general division of the surface of the State is uplands and lowlands. It is a timber State, with a large number of small prairies. East and near Little Rock is Lonoke Prairie, and other small prairies are in the southwest part. In its northeast portion are some large strips of prairie, and there are many other small spots bare of tim- ber growths, but these altogether compose only a small portion of the State's surface.
The variety and excellence of soils are not sur- passed by any State in the Union. The dark alluvial prevails in nearly all the lowlands, while on many sections of the uplands are the umber red soils of the noted tobacco lands of Cuba. About two-thirds of the State's surface shows yellow pine growth, the great tall trees standing side by side with the hardwoods, walnut, maple, grapevines, sumac, etc. `A careful analysis of the soils and subsoils of every county in the State by the eminent geologist, Prof. D. D. Owen, shows this result: The best soils of Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota are inferior to the best soils of Arkan- sas in fertilizing properties. The following re- ports of State geologists tell the story :
Ark.
Minn.
Iowa.
Wis.
Organic and Volatile Matter
14,150
6,334
6,028
6,580
Alumnia.
8,715;
5,585
3,288
4,610
Carbonate Lime.
21,865
690
940
665
In fertilizing qualities the only comparative results to the Arkansas soils are found in the blue limestone districts of Central Kentucky.
Analysis of the soils shows the derivative geo- logical formation of soils, and their agricultural values; their losses by cultivation, and what soils lying convenient will repair the waste. Arkansas County, the mother of counties in the State, lying in the southeast, shows the tertiary formations. Benton County, at the opposite northwest corner, has the subcarboniferous. The tertiary is found
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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
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in Newton County; Clark, Hempstead and Sevier show the cretaceous; Conway, Crawford, Jobnson, Ouachita, Perry, Polk, Pope, Prairie, Pulaski, Scott, Van Buren, White, Garland and Montgom- ery, the novaculite, or whetstone grit; Greene, Jackson, Poinsett and Union, the quaternary. In addition to Benton, given above, are Independence, Madison, Monroe, Searcy and Washington, subcar- boniferous. The lower silurian is represented in Fulton, Izard, Lawrence, Marion and Randolph. These give the horizons of the rock formations of the State. The State has 28,000,000 acres of woodland-eighty-one and one-half per cent of her soil. Of this twenty-eight per cent is in cleared farms.
If there be drawn a line on the map, beginning a few miles west of longitude 91°, in the direction of Little Rock, thence to the north boundary line of Clark County, just west of the Iron Mountain Railroad, then nearly due west to the west line of the State, the portion north of this line will be the uplands, and south the lowlands. The uplands correspond with the Paleozoic, and lowlands with the Neozoic.
The granitic axis outbursts in Pulaski, Saline, Hot Springs, Montgomery, Pike and Sevier Coun- ties, and runs from the northeast to the southwest through the State. In Northern Arkansas the dis- turbance shows itself in small faults, gentle folds and slightly indurated shales; but nearer the gran- ite axis, greater faults, strata with high dip and talcose slate, intersected with quartz and calcite veins, become common. These disturbances are intimately connected with, and determine to some extent, the character of the mineral deposits of the State. The veins along the granite axis were filled probably with hot alkaline waters depositing the metalliferous compounds they contained.
Almost every variety of land known to the agriculturist can be found, and, for fertility, the soils of the State are justly celebrated. Composed as they are of uplands and lowlands, and a variety of climate, they give a wide range of products. In the south and central portions are produced the finest cotton in the markets, while the uplands yield fruits in abundance and variety. No .place
in the great valley excels it in variety of garden vegetables, small and orchard fruits, grasses, grains, and other field crops. Among agriculturists in Arkansas, truly cotton has been king. It is grown upon lands that would produce a hundred bushels of corn to the acre. All over the State a bale of cotton to the acre is the average-worth at this time $50. Per acre it is about the same labor to raise as corn. In the varied and deep rich soils of the State are produced the vegetation- fruits, vegetables and plants-of the semi-tropic re- gions, and also the whole range of the staple prod- ucts of the north. Cereals, fruits and cotton grow as well here as anywhere. In the uplands will some day be raised grapes and tobacco that will be world famous.
That portion of the hilly lands in Clay, Greene, Craighead, Poinsett, St. Francis, Lee and Phillips Counties, known as Crowley's ridge, has a soil and vegetable growth distinctive from any other por- tion of the State. Its principal forest growth is yellow poplar, which is found in immense size. With this timber are the oak, gum, hickory, wal- nut, sugar and maple. The soil is generally of a light yellowish or gray color, often gravelly, very friable and easily cultivated, producing abundant crops of cotton, corn, oats, clover, timothy and red top, and is most excellent for fruits.
The prevailing soil is alluvial, with more or. less diluvial soils. The alluvial soils, especially along the streams, are from three to thirty feet deep, and these rich bottoms are often miles in width. There are no stronger or more productive lands than these anywhere, and centuries of cul- tivation create no necessity for fertilizers.
The swamp lands or slashes as a general thing lie stretched along between the alluvial lands and second bottoms. They are usually covered with water during the winter and spring, and are too wet for cultivation. though dry in the summer and fall. They can be easily reclaimed by draining.
The second bottoms are principally on the east- ern side of the State, extending from the slashes to the hills. The soil is mostly gray color, sometimes yellowish, resting upon a subsoil of yellowish or mulatto clay. The rich, black lands prevail largely
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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
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in Hempstead, Little River, Sevier, Nevada, Clark, Searcy, Stone, Izard and Independence Counties.
In the mountainous range of the Ozarks, in Independence County, are remarkable cave forma- tions. They are mostly nitre caves and from these and others in the southeast and west of Batesville, the Confederacy obtained much of this necessity. Near Cushman, Independence County, are the won- derful caves. The extent and marvelous beauty of formations are in the great arched room, the "King's Palace." This cave has been explored for miles under the earth, and many wonders and beauties are seen on every hand. On the side of the mouth of one of the caves in this vicinity a strong spring leaps from the mountain's side and into the cave, and the rumbling of the rushing waters beneath the earth can be heard quite a dis- tance. The notable saltpetre caves are in Marion, Newton, Carroll, Independence, Washington and Benton Counties.
There are gold mines in Arkansas, yet no re- markable finds that is, no marvelous wonders have as yet been uncovered. The universal diffusion of milky quartz in veins, seams and beds, as well as all the other geological tokens which lead on to fortune, are recent discoveries, and the intelligent gold hunters are here in abundance. Who can tell what the future may have in store? But should no rich paying gold fields ever be found, still in the resources of the State are ores of silver, antimony, zinc, iron, lead, copper, manganese, marble, granite, whet and honestone, rock-crystal, paints, nitre earths, kaolin, marls, freestone, limestone, buhr and grindstone and slate, which may well justify the bold assertion of that eminent geologist, Prof. D. D. Owen, in 1860, after care- fully looking over the State, "that Arkansas is destined to rank as one of the richest mineral States in the Union." Its zinc ores compare favorably with those of Silesia, and its argentif- erous galena far exceeds in percentage of silver the average of such ores of other countries. Its novaculite (whetstone) rock can not be excelled in fineness of texture, beauty of color, and sharpness of grit. Its crystal mountains for extent, and their products for beauty, brilliancy and transpar-
ency, have no rivals in the world. Its mineral waters are in variety and values equalled only by its mineral products.
Anticipating the natural questions as to why the mines of Arkansas are not better developed, it will be sufficient to condense to the utmost Prof. Owen's words in reference to the Bellah mine in Sevier County: "It is the same vein that is found in Pulaski County, and runs northeast and south- west nearly through the State. Some years ago the Bellah mine was explored and six shafts were sunk. Three of the principal shafts were about thirty feet deep. The work was done under the supervision of Richard W. Bellah, afterward of Texas. There was a continuous vein, increasing in thickness as far as he went. On the line other shafts were sunk from six to twelve feet deep, all showing the ore to be continuous. About five tons of ore were taken out. A portion of this was sent to Liverpool, England, to be tested, and the statement in return was 'seventy-three per cent lead, and 148 ounces of silver to the ton.'" Mr. Bellah wrote to Prof. Owen: "I am not willing to lease the mines; but I will sell for a reasonable price, provided my brother and sister will sell at the same. I have put the price upon the mines, and value it altogether [460 acres of land] at $10,000." Such was the condition of affairs at this mine when the war came. Substantially, this is the ante bellum history of the Arkansas mining interests. Prof. Owen reports picking up from the debris of these deserted shafts ore that anal- yzed seventy-three per cent lead and fifty-two and one-half ounces of silver to the ton of lead.
That these rich fields should lie fallow-ground through the generations can now be accounted for only from the blight of slavery upon the enter- prise and industry of people, the evils of a great civil war, and the natural adaptation of the soil and slavery to the raising of cotton.
On the line of this vein, in Saline County, from very superficial explorations, were discovered veins bearing argentiferous lead and copper.
Lead is found in about every county in North- ern Arkansas. These are a continuation of the Missouri lead ores. The richest argentiferous lead
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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
ores reported are in Pulaski, Saline, Montgomery, Polk, Pike, Ashley and Sevier Counties, being found in the quartz and calcite gangues. It is as- sociated in the north of the State with zinc, cop- per, and with antimony in Sevier County.
One of the latest discoveries is the value of the antimony mines of Polk and Sevier Counties. A mine is being worked successfully for antimony, and the increase of silver is improving as the shaft goes down. At any hour in the progress of the work, according to the opinions of the best scientific mining experts, this shaft may reach one of the noted silver deposits of the world. In the Jeff Clark antimony mine, at a distance of 100 feet down, was found a rich pocket of silver. In every particular, so far, this mine is a transcript of that of the noted Comstock mine. The Comstock mine showed silver on the surface; so did the Sev- ier County mine; then it passed down 100 feet, following a vein of antimony; so has the Sevier mine; then in each has silver been found.
There is an unchanging law which governs the rock and mineral formations. Nature never lies, and there is no doubt that the Arkansas mineral belt, through Montgomery, Polk, Howard and Sev- ier Counties, will prove to be one of the richest mining districts of the world.
The antimony mine has been quite successfully worked the past two years. The Bob Wolf mine, Antimony Bluff mine, and Stewart Lode are being profitably worked. Capital and the facilities for reducing ores by their absence are now the only drawback to the mineral products of the State.
Iron is found native in the State only in meteor- ites. The magnatite ore is found plentiful in Mag- net Cove. Lodestones from this place are shipped abroad, and have a high reputation. This is one of the best iron ores, and the scarcity of fuel and transportation in the vicinity are the causes of its not being worked. The limonite iron ore is the common ore of all Northern Arkansas; immense deposits are found in Lawrence, where several furnaces are operated. In the southern part of the State is the bog iron ore. The brown hematite is found in Lawrence, Randolph, Fulton and other counties. Workable veins of manganese are found
in Independence County. This valuable ore is im- ported now from Spain; it is used in making Spie- gel iron.
Bituminous and semi-anthracite coal is found in the true coal measures of the uplands of Ar- kansas. That of the northwest is free from sul- phur. The semi-anthracite is found in the valley of the Arkansas River. These coal fields cover 10,000 acres. There are four defined coal hori- zons-the subconglomerate, lower, middle and up- per. The coal fields of this State belong to the lowest-the subcarboniferous-in the shale or millstone grit less than 100 feet above the Archi- medes limestone. In the Arkansas Valley these veins aggregate over six feet. The veins lie high in the Boston Mountains, dipping south into the Arkansas Valley. Shaft mining is done at Coal Hill, Spadra and many other points. It is shipped down the river in quantities to New Orleans.
Aluminum, corundum, sapphire, oriental ruby, topaz and amethysts are found in Howard and Sevier Counties. Strontianite is found in Mag- net Cove-valuable in the purification of sugar. In the synclinal folds of Upper Arkansas common salt is easily obtained. Good salt springs are in Sevier County, also in Dallas and Hot Springs Counties. Chalcedony, of all colors, cornelian, agates, novaculite, honestone, buhrstone, varieties of granite, eight kinds of elegant marble, sand- stones, white, gray, red, brown and yellow, are common in the grit horizon; flagstones, roofing and pencil slates, talc, kaolin, abound in Saline, Washington, St. Francis and Greene Counties. The potter's clay of Miller, Saline and Washington is extensively worked. "Rock oil" has been dis- covered in large pockets in Northwest Arkansas.
In the development of its mineral resources the State is still in its infancy, so much so, indeed, that what will prove yet to be the great sources of wealth are not even now produced as a commer- cial commodity. In some respects this is most re- markable. For instance, Arkansas might supply the world, if necessity required, with lime and cement, can produce the best of each at the least cost, and yet practically all these consumed are imported here from other States. Years ago Prof.
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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
D. D. Owen called attention to the valuable marls in the southwest part of the State, but the great beds lie untouched and cotton planters send off for other fertilizers. So also of the great beds of gypsum that lie uncovered and untouched. The cutside world wants unlimited supplies of kaolin, fire-clays and such other clays as the State pos- sesses in inestimable quantities, and yet the thrifty people seem to be oblivious of the fact that here is the way to easy sources of wealth.
People can live here too easily it seems: In this way only can a reason be found for not strik- ing boldly out in new fields of venture, with that vigor of desperation which comes of stern and hard necessity. Where nature is stubborn and un- yielding, man puts forth his supremest efforts.
Magnet Cove probably furnishes more remark- able formations than any other district in the world. The "Sunk Lands" in the northeast part of the State, the result of the disturbance of the New Madrid earthquake 1811-12, present features of interest to both lay and scientific investigators. The curious spectacle of deep lakes, beneath which can be seen standing in their natural position the great forest trees, is presented; and instead of the land animals roving and feeding among them are the inhabitants of the deep waters.
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