Additional Notes on Our Trip East

During our tour of the Country Music Museum we talked to a docent at the museum who was very kind to inform us that there was to be a reenactment of an impromptu jam session which took place on December 4th, 1956 at the Sun Record Studio in Memphis,Tennessee. The show, called "Million Dollar Quartet", would be in a Bristol theater the next day, a one time evening show. The quartet that happened to be in the Sun Record Studio in 1956 were: Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, and Johnny Cash. After touring the museum we immediately made a stop at the theater to successfully purchase  the tickets.

What a very entertaining evening for us! The actor playing Jerry Lee Lewis performed all the wild antics which he did on the piano. Remember his song "Great Balls of Fire"? We heard that as well as some of his other memorable rock and roll songs. There was a bit of t dialogue -between the recording producer of the studio and Johnny Cash, as Cash was not willing to sign another contract with the Sun recording studio. And Carl Perkins expressed his unhappiness with Elvis Presley getting rich off the song which he, Perkins, composed- that was "Blue Suede Shoes".  Of course, just hearing the actors playing the popular songs of Cash and Presley was just alone great!

I also want to give a shout out to the wonderful bed and breakfast inn where we stayed during our time in Virginia. It is called the "Donkey Lodge", which is a donkey sanctuary for eight abused miniature donkeys.  However, one is not so miniature!

Pictured above is a Mammoth Donkey, a species of donkey rare in the United States. It was brought over here from Europe during the late 18th century, and bred specifically for breeding to draft horses for farm work. They may be the size of a horse, but don't plan on riding them because they go at their own pace! The inn was also delightful to me just because I enjoy waking up early to the sounds of roosters crowing and donkeys braying.

I can't finish off my posting of Virginia without showing you some of the pretty mountain scenery which we enjoyed. We spent the part of one day driving to the top of Whitetop Mountain, the second highest summit in the commonwealth. On that winding drive we saw a variety of scenic forests and meadows, as well as some awesome mountain vistas.

Our Road Trip East

Planning for this trip started several months back, when I realized that a niece of ours would be graduating from high school in May. John and I had promised her that we would be there to celebrate the occasion. Her grandmother, my sister Linda, was also planning to be there at that time- as well as another sister,Julia. By "there" I mean Marietta, Georgia. Sister Linda said that her trip would begin in Savannah, where she was meeting up with a friend. I loved Savannah when John and I were there some years back, so without thinking too much about it, I said that we would meet up with her there before heading to Marietta. My, I did not realize at the time the extra miles I was adding to our trip! As it turned out, the time we spent in Savannah was spent in a hospital because John had a fainting spell the day we were planning on touring the city. After he was discharged from the hospital we drove to Marietta. We spent several days there, celebrating the graduation with a dinner at a local restaurant and doing some shopping with Ellie and my two sisters. Then John and I drove north to Abingdon, Virginia to spend some time with our son Dan  and his wife Amanda.

We had a couple of days to spend with them so we did some touring around, checking out the local places of interest. I do not pay much attention when John plans our trips, so I was surprised that Bristol, Virginia/Tennessee (the city lies in two states)  is the birthplace of country music. Could have fooled me- I thought it was Nashville! Pictured above is the museum we toured, giving us the complete story of how the "Big Bang" of country music began. By the way, the museum is an affiliate of the Smithsonian.

The entrance hall of the museum is pictured above. An orientation film "Bound to Bristol", narrated by Johnny Carter Cash (grandson of Johnny Cash), told us the story of how, in 1927, Ralph Peer came to Bristol to record the songs of the people of Appalachia. He was a record producer  from Victor Talking Machine Company, located in New York City. Prior to this time any vocal or instrumental artists had to bring their music to New York- quite a distance for many Southerners to travel in 1927.  Peer recorded 76 songs by 19 different acts over the course of two weeks. According to Johnny Cash "these recordings are the single most important event in the history of country music". The museum also has exhibits showing the technology that shaped the success of the recordings, as well as a gallery demonstrating the vocals, guitar, fiddle, banjo, autoharp and mandolin which made the new industry of country music successful.  Capping off our afternoon at the museum was a jam session of local country music artists, which we were able to attend in one of the museum's rooms. That evening we also attended a country music concert at the Carter Family Fold music theater in Hiltons, Virginia.

The rustic concert hall was built in 1976, and enlarged in 2005. Before the concert we walked over to the Carter family cabin, built in the mid 1800s. The Carter Family, known as "The First Family of Country Music"  was comprised of A.P.Carter, his wife Sara, and her sister Maybelle. The cabin was the home of A.P.'s parents who raised 8 children in it.

We were able to tour the cabin, which had been moved in 2003 and relocated near the Fold concert hall. An interesting item to add here is that Maybelle's son-in-law was Johnny Cash. Our son Daniel took the opportunity to sit a moment in Johnny's rocking chair.

That was our first day in southern Virginia. I will share more with you in the next posting about the rest of our adventures in this interesting and very beautiful part of our country.

Off the Beaten Path in Missouri

 By off the beaten path, I am referring to State Highway 36- which John and I concentrated on during our trip to northwest Missouri. South of that highway, we visited the town of Gallatin, on state highway 6. John had read about a squirrel cage jail, one of three such jails left in our nation. This jail was built in 1889 and used until 1975.

The jail consists of three levels,cage-like cylinders that can rotate like a Lazy Susan,with each containing 10 pie-shaped cells. There is just one way out,so a single jailer could guard all the prisoners. The jail was not opened for tours when we were there, but later after returning home,we learned more about that particular kind of jail in the Post Dispatch  newspaper. The article was concerning the attractions of Council Bluffs,Iowa- one of which is a squirrel cage jail built in 1885 and in use until 1969.

The town of Excelsior Springs was the western-most town on our trip and, as Gallatin, not on state Highway 36. Excelsior Springs is actually part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. We drove around the town looking for any signs directing us to one of the town's springs. Unfortunately we had not done our homework for this town, so wandered around it for a time looking for any signs to springs. Found none, only a pretty gazebo with wooden benches and a concrete round table in its middle- possibly some springs boarded up. Then we drove past a tall building with the words on it " Hall of Waters".  That looked promising. We drove around the building to the front side of it.

I eagerly jumped out of the car to see if the building was opened. No, it had closed at 4:45- which was the current time. We did look at the historical marker in front of the building, which answered some of our questions about the springs. The building is the site of the original springs, as well as city hall. It has the " world's longest mineral bar as well as a health spa". My research later, upon returning home, revealed that the town at one time had about 20 springs, some of which contained a variety of different minerals. There once was a bottling company in the Hall of Waters, which went bankrupt in 1967. In 2003 the town bought licensed rights to that company. That was all we had found in the town of Excelsior Springs, other than some beautiful murals.

A Unique Highway

 If you do a road trip in Missouri on Missouri Highway 36, anywhere between Hannibal and St.Joseph, you may probably understand why this road is called the Genius Highway. It has also been called the VFW Highway. Along this road are the childhood homes of General John J.Pershing (World War 2) as well as General Omar Bradley(the Great War). Three Civil War battles were also fought in places along this route. The Pony Express began in St.Joseph in 1860, and in Hannibal is the boyhood home of the famous author Samuel Clemens. Moving along from great generals and one author, we have two entrepreneurs. John and I visited the childhood home of Walt Disney in Marceline, Mo.last year, this time we visited the home of J.C.Penney in Hamilton. 

The J.C. Penney stores were started by the man pictured above. He at first worked his way up in the Golden Rule Stores, became a partner in those stores, and by 1913 bought out those partners. The new store he called J.C.Penney. In 1924 he opened his 500th store in Hamilton, his boyhood home.  By 1941 he opened store number 1600. We toured the Penney museum, in which his picture( above)was seen. We toured his childhood home, which had been moved from the countryside, just out of town, to a park within the city limits. It has two bedrooms- he was the seventh of twelve children. His father's untimely early death forced young James Cash Penney to work after high school and not carry out his plans for further education.

The Quilt Trail  can also be found along Highway 36, many of those sewing stores can be found just off the highway or within the Highway 36 corridor. It has been proclaimed 200 miles of fun, if you are a quilter. The mural below, on a building in Hamilton, announces the town's pride in being the home of Penney and "Quilt town USA"

The town of Chillicothe is another quilt town- there are two stores there. However, that town has another claim to fame: it was the place where the first bread slicing machine was invented in 1928. We found that machine at the Great River Historical Society Museum.

Otto Frederick Rohwedder is known as the "Father of Sliced Bread".  Pictured above is the second such machine- its first home was in the Smithsonian Museum, and is now on loan to the Great River Museum. We spent a wonderful afternoon at that museum, finding many other old treasures there; as a  Knabe square baby grand piano made in 1885, a hand-quilted Crazy Quilt made in 1880, and a printing machine (linotype 1872) - to name but a few interesting items which we saw there.                                                                      That was the highlights of our trip last weekend along Highway 36. I have not listed all the points of interest along that road, maybe you can discover the ones I missed. Wait, let us not forget the ladies!  Nellie Tayloe Ross, governor of Wyoming in 1925 and first female governor in the nation, was born in St.Joseph.                                                                       

 

Boone's Lick, and Lexington Missouri

Yes, we have returned from Arkansas, been home a couple of weeks and ready to hit the road again. This time our trip is within the state borders. I have lived in Missouri forty plus years and never attempted to discover what is at Boone's Lick.  I have often gone west on Highway 70, but never took tine to venture north off it after passing Boonville. To orientate you, Boonville comes shortly after passing Columbia as you are traveling west on Interstate 70. John and I do know that Daniel Boone and family settled in St.Charles in the early 1800s. Daughters of the American Revolution have a marker (placed in 1913) at this historic site of Boone's Lick which claims that he, Daniel Boone, discovered the saline creek.  However, it was his sons Nathan and Daniel who found the site and set up an extraction operation for the production of salt.

John and I hiked a short distance into some woods to find the salt lick, which amounts to a small stream of water. And why is it called a salt lick?  At one time deer, elk and bison came to this area to lick the ground. Yum! Salty dirt. Consequently it was easy for the early pioneers and native Americans to kill big game at such sites. Saline creeks were important to the early pioneers- salt was needed for preserving food, seasoning and curing and tanning of hides. This area is quiet now with very few people around. Back in the early 1800s it was a major salt production site. The process back then required placement of water wheels and reservoirs, as well as aqueducts.

Pictured above is a spring box, or water reservoir, only one left. An interpretive sign nearby noted the wooden box had been preserved or pickled by the salt water. Also in the area is an upturned kettle which was used to boil the water down to extract the salt. The Boone brothers started with 12 kettles, later 40 more were needed. Furnaces were built of limestone to boil down the water. I could well imagine the big production it was back in the day to extract salt!  Many men and animals were used before the product could be packed up in boxes, and shipped downstream on the Missouri River. The Boons sold their rights to the mine in 1818 because of frequent confrontations with native Americans. The salt lick changed owners a couple more times before stopping production in about 1838.

 

From Boone's Lick we drove to Lexington, Missouri. In that town we found the Lafayette County Courthouse built in 1847. In 1854 a wing was added, and later a second floor. On the upper part of the last column on the left there is still a cannonball embedded in it. Notice the black dot in the picture above at the top of the column. Even with enlarging the picture it is a bit difficult to see. The bloody 3-day battle, fought in1861, was a win for the Missouri pro-Confederate State Guard.  The battlefield in Lexington  has a short-loop trail to walk. However, it was a cold windy day and we passed on doing that. From the history I read of the town, it once was a much larger,bustling town than it is now. We drove around some of the streets and found two older brick buildings- one built in 1846, and another in 1844. There is plenty of United States/Missouri history to be found in our state. What I wrote in this posting was just the first day of our weekend trip. Our goal the next day was to drive on highway 36. also dubbed as the "Genius Highway".  More Missouri history to be learned yet for sure, which will be covered in my next posting.

Site of Lexington Battlefield

 

The Rest of our Arkansas Visit

 After our visit to the Hot Springs area, John and I traveled down to Crater of Diamonds State Park. Our daughter Melissa, husband and children, joined us there as the grandchildren had time off for spring break. This park is a 37-acre field where visitors from around the world can search for diamonds. There are other semi- precious stones to be found there, as amethyst,agate,jasper, quartz and calcite- but the chance of finding a diamond is what attracts many to the field. In this area many years ago a volcanic pipe brought many diamonds to the surface.

Diamond Field

 Yes, it is just an open field surrounded by pine trees. Over 30,000 diamonds have been found by people here since 1972. They had on display, in the visitor's center, one of them which has been mounted on a ring. It was found in 1990 and weighted 3.03 carrots. In 1998 it was certified by the American Gem Society as a perfect grade of 0/0/0 (ideal cut/color/flawless). A diamond like this is estimated to occur one time in a billion. And it is even more rare for a diamond like this coming from a non-commercial diamond mine!

Our grandson Nathan and his father Spencer spent probably a good six hours searching   for a diamond and found none. It did rain during that time, which supposedly may bring  diamonds to the surface, but that did not happen for anyone. The rain did bring down          some golf- ball size hail. So far on our spring vacation to Arkansas John and I                    experienced  snow,  hail and freezing temperatures, none of which we expected to happen at that time of the year.  However, we still had a great time in Arkansas.   

 

             

 

 On our way home back to St.Peters we had our grandson Nathan with us. We decided to show him a couple of historic areas in Arkansas to make the trip more interesting. Our first stop was at historic Washington State Park, which gave us a look into a nineteenth century community. Washington was an important stop on the Southwest Trail leading to Texas. It was a raw rainy day when we were there and Nathan was not too happy walking around some old buildings. However, the blacksmith building perked him up. The blacksmith promised him a souvenir forged from iron if he acted as his apprentice. Together they created a small leaf from an iron rod. He also showed Nathan a Bowie knife made at the shop. The first kind of this particular knife was made for Jim Bowie in Washington during the 1830s.

There is an interesting part of Arkansas history in Washington Park which I was not aware of. The Hempstead County Courthouse, pictured below, served as the state's Confederate capitol in 1863 during the Civil War. The Union Army had burned down the state's capitol in Little Rock.

There is another piece of United States history in Arkansas, which we stopped to see on our trip back, and that is the Louisiana Purchase Historic State Park in east central Arkansas. In 1682 LaSalle explored the Mississippi and declared all the lands drained by that river for France. He named the region Louisiana. The territory went to Spain in exchange for their assistance against England during the French and Indian War.  It went back to France in 1800, and then Napoleon Bonaparte sold it to the United States for $15,000,000. An official land survey was begun in 1815 to facilitate distribution of land to war veterans. Two men were commissioned to begin this survey by establishing a point from which other surveys would originate. This site went unnoticed until 1921 when two surveyors recognized a pair of large trees marked as "witness trees" by by the two men back in 1815. In 1926 the DAR dedicated a monument on this spot in commemoration of the acquisition of the Louisiana Purchase. Back then it was not a wetland. It was necessary for us to traverse a boardwalk through an upland swamp to find this National Historic Landmark. This 37.5 acre park protects a headwater swamp- a natural environment once common in the mid-South. Walking over the swamp reminded us of our time in Florida, where swamps like this one are plentiful. The granite monument of the Louisiana Purchase survey site is pictured below.

 

 

 

A Visit to Fordyce Bathhouse

 Bathhouse row is located in the National Park of Hot Springs. The hot spring waters were first found by Native Americans. In the 1540 Hernando de Soto also discovered this area. The sculpture below, of de Soto greeting a native who presents him with a container of the spring water, we saw immediately as we entered  the Fordyce bathhouse.

 In the early 1800s crude huts sprung up around the springs. People soon found the spring waters to be physically restorative. The promise of improved health also drew Civil War veterans and others with disabling conditions to the springs. In 1876 the Supreme Court ruled against any private land claims and assured that the thermal waters would be available to all. From 1892 to 1923 eight public bathhouses were built,compromising of what is now know as Bathhouse Row. Presently the Fordyce, built in 1915, is the park visitor center and museum. The Buckstaff, built in 1912, is the only operating bathhouse. We had 4 floors to explore at the Fordyce which has been restored back to its 1915 appearance.

The Fordyce is the largest and thought to be the most ornate of the bathhouses. It has stained glass skylights and windows, as well as stone fireplaces. The bathhouse is divided into a men's area as well as a women's section. The men's area was deemed to be quite more sumptuous than the facilities for the women.  Pictured below are the steam cabinets for use by the men. It was thought that by using the steam cabinet skin secretions would be stimulated. Besides tub baths and steam cabinets there was a hydrotherapy room which included sun-ray cabinets, frigid cabinets,Sitz baths, sprays, electric baths and so forth. 

The women felt there were not enough tubs for them. One more was added. The first room which we toured in their section is pictured below. Notice the stained glass windows.

The women had a hot pack room as well as a cooling down room, and a state room to rest in afterwards.  Maybe I need to digress here and explain the uniqueness of these waters, as explained in the park's brochure. Rain and snow trickle down the ridges of the Ouachita Mountains. Gravity pulls the water further downward into into the earth's crust. The rock temperature increases with depth and the water emerges from the springs with a temperature of 143 degrees F. When the water reaches a major fault, pressure forces it upward. It is not a volcanic process that creates the hot springs. There are a total of 47 springs in Hot Springs. The water has been analyzed- it has a variety of minerals in the water; silica and calcium are the major ones- as well as free carbon dioxide and oxygen. While bathing the patrons would be given a glass of the water to drink.  And today there are fountains around Hot Springs where one may take a drink or fill up a jug..

Hubbard Tub -for the disabled to be lowered into the waters

Practice of medicine was a bit strange back then. We found a chiropody room in the bathhouse. In the 1930s, people could have their feet massaged, pedicures done as well as corns and bunions removed. In 1936 doctors came up with an electrical massage room which later was converted to a mercury rub room. Needless to say,we saw a few very curious equipment in some of the rooms!

A Body-Encompassing Needle Shower

The "crown jewel" of the Fordyce is the Assembly Room where both sexes could gather and socialize. A grand piano was in this room. The building also had a pool table in the men's parlor.

Assembly Room

Our final stop in the Fordyce was in the basement where we could see the original Fordyce Spring, as well as all the plumbing equipment once used to deliver the water to the bathing rooms. The bathhouse industry went into decline during mid-twentieth century as modern medicine was found to be the better treatment for many illnesses.

 

 

Hot Springs

 The national park of Hot Springs straddles a horseshoe-shaped ridge formed by Sugarloaf Mountain(north),Music Mountain(west), and and North mountains(south). The city of Hot Springs is on its west side. In 1804 a team of two men explored this area and made a report to President Jefferson. In 1832 President A.Jackson signs legislation to establish Hot Springs Reservation In 1820 Arkansas Territory asks Congress to reserve the hot springs for public use. In 1921 the reservation is named a national park. About half of the city of Hot Springs is the national park.

 

The above picture was taken from Hot Springs tower. That tower looms above the national park,offering views for 140-miles in all directions. Taking the tower elevator 12 flights up was one of the first things we did on our first day of visiting Hot Springs.

About a year ago I wrote about Hot Springs and said something to the effect that it did not have much- just a bunch of old bath houses. I was so wrong, which I discovered this time we visited the city. At the visitor's center for the national park we boarded a trolley owned by the park. The trolley conductor gave us a history of the town as he drove us around to see the major sights of the city and park. As seen above, there was a gangster era in the town from the 1920s to the 1940. If you do not know the character above, that is Al Capone. He had a suite on the fourth floor of the prestigious Arlington Hotel for his frequent visits to town. Shortly after we started out the conductor also pointed out an area of town where Jesse James and his gang held up a stagecoach. For more information on the gangster history of the town there is a Hot Springs Gangster Museum. Maybe we will visit the next time we visit the town.

 This picture may seem weird. The town has kept the home plate of Whittington sports field where Babe Ruth hit his first 500-foot-plus home run while playing ball there. The ball went in the direction of the upper right corner of the picture,where the cars are parked. Hot Springs was the birthplace of Major League Baseball Spring Training. Cities that trained their teams here in the spa city were : Brooklyn Jets,Pittsburgh Pirates,Chicago Cubs,and the Boston Red Sox. There is a Historic Baseball Trail in Hot Springs with a lot more information pertaining to this subject. Our driver even slowed the trolley to point out where the old baseball seats can still be seen.

Our driver also drove us around some of the older homes of the town, mostly Victorian in style. We also saw the home where President Clinton attended day care, as well as high school. His childhood home was not on the tour,but with some inquiring around we did find it.

We had about an hour and half trolley tour and learned so much about Hot Springs! I have written here only about a small part of the tour. The bath houses are part of the national park and I will write about them in the next posting

Pottery and Fur Fun

John and I had a delightful time visiting two Arkansas artisans at work. The first place we stopped was Dryden Pottery in Hot Springs. The brochure we had seen regarding that store indicated that visitors could view demos of pottery being made. When we first came to Dryden Pottery place the building seemed quiet and the door locked. We waited a few minutes and soon Zachery Dryden let us in. He looked a bit tired, said he had been ill but would show us around. We thought that very kind of him.

  Very quickly he started making a bowl out of what he called "mud". He explained that the mud was not just any mud, but a combination of materials which included clay. His Grandfather, James Dryden, started Dryden Pottery in Kansas. He later moved the business to Hot Springs because of the clay known to be available there. He was a chemical engineer and figured out what material worked best for making pottery. Zachery is the third generation of Drydens in the business- which makes for a culmination of 75 years in the pottery business for that family. After Zachery finished making the bowl he gave us a tour, showing us his three kilns ,warehouse and the store. The largest of his kilns is pictured below.

 And speaking of large, check out the picture of the "World's Tallest Wheel Thrown Vase".

There are mirrors surrounding the vase, which gives it a three dimensional look,but it is one piece. If I remember correctly, Zachery said his Grandfather made it. His store is filled with many pottery pieces created by all three generations of Drydens. Quite an impressive inventory!

On another day we visited Chez Fur Fiber Farm, located in Malvern Arkansas. This is a working fiber farm of alpacas,sheep and goats. Their fiber is made into yarn which is carded,spun and knitted into cloth products. Bob Schafer, the owner, graciously let us feed and pet his animals.

The goats are pictured above, they were quite anxious for the corn we had in our hands. I did not know that true cashmere comes from kashmir goats. Bob's wife Kim uses all the fiber from the animals of their farm and turns them into finished goods. Bob also makes pottery, and one of their daughters does resin jewelry. After playing with the animals we entered their store which also had a very impressive inventory.

One very interesting story, which Bob told us, I would like to share here with my readers before closing this post. He has two Pyrenees sheep dogs, because of the presence of coyotes in the area. If there is danger present one of the dogs will gather the sheep into one corner of their pen and protect them, while the other will attack the coyote. That is in their natural instincts to react in that manner. He never has to worry about the safety of his animals because of those dogs.

Queen Wilhelmina State Park

 The bad winter weather we were expecting in Hot Springs did come. That was a new experience for   us- to  be residing in a camper trailer and see two inches of snow outside! Our snow-covered car is pictured below. Fortunately most of the snow was gone in another day

We just had one day of sitting around and waiting for things to warm up. One thing John wanted to do, which we could not do a year ago when we were leaving Arkansas, was travel the Talimena National Scenic Byway. At that time the byway, over Rich Mountain,was socked in with fog. John called the park this time and received assurances that it was a clear day for us to make the trip. It was a good 4 hours drive from Hot Springs, so it was necessary to make that call. The park is in western Arkansas,along the Oklahoma state line.

 Halfway through our drive we stopped for lunch at the state park lodge, and took a moment to look at the view. It so happened that the park's small train was coming by at the same time. At the lodge we came to more of an understanding as to how the park happened to be named after Queen Wilhelmina. The first lodge at the park was built in 1898, the time of her inauguration- the lodge was named for her. This was before the land on Rich Mountain became a park, which was in1957. A railroad at the time of the 1890s; the Kansas City Pittsburgh,and Gulf railroad, would stop at the lodge for the comfort of its passengers. That railroad line was financed by Dutch capitalists. Over our lunch break at the lodge we questioned the waitress about the park's connection with the queen. Apparently she wanted to visit the park but never did. The waitress then brought out a scrapbook,kept in lobby of the lodge, which had many articles on the reign of Queen Wilhelmina, as well as the royal family dynasty. I learned later that Arkansas has always, in it's newspapers, kept an interesting fascination with Queen Wilhelmina and all events connected with her. At the time however, I found it puzzling; what did that scrapbook have to do with the park? 

 

After lunch we continued on the scenic byway over Rich Mountain and found many historical markers.  Forget European history, this mountain has a lot to offer in American history! Pictured above is known as the Wonder House, built in 1931 by Carlos Hill and Phil Lance. It is a nine level house, two of the levels in the front and seven in the back section.

Above is a graveyard from the 1800s,which gives testimony to the pioneers who once resided on this mountain. Twenty graves are here, what was written on them is no longer decipherable. Story has it that one little girl, buried here, had gone out on a cold day to get firewood for her family. She was soon surrounded by wolves, so she climbed a tree. Her frozen body was found the next day.

Pictured above is a marker denoting the Oklahoma and Arkansas state lines. A survey  was was completed in 1877, favoring Arkansas. The interpretive sign noted: "only after many months of negotiations would the Choctaw Nation"(located in Oklahoma)" be compensated for the loss of over 136,000 acres". The Native American tribe had been in legal disputes over the land since 1820. We had one last stop before leaving Rich Mountain, the second highest mountain in Arkansas. It is called Sunset Point Vista. Unfortunately it was not that time of day for us!