The Odyssey Has Begun...

Passing the ruins of
Monte Ne

The Indians living along its banks called it Unica, which means "white,"  referring to how clear it was.   French colonists later memorialized it as the Riviere Blanche.  Today we call it the White River, the queen of the Ozarks and the king of Arkansas Delta.

Ballad Hunter: Listening To the White River is a river journey by author-photographer, Chris Engholm, who is canoeing the 720-mile length of the White River  from its headwaters in the Ozark Mountains to its mouth where it marries the Mississippi River.

Along his river journey, Engholm is meeting with families who have lived in harmony with the river, in many cases since before the Civil War. He is encountering remnants of the old 'cracker culture' in the hills and hollows of the Ozark Plateau and vestiges of plantation life in the Delta, meeting itinerant  musicians, curmudgeonly fisherman, cantankerous environmentalists, and even "rewilders"---young people going back to the land, getting off the grid and settling along the river.

A swimming hole near the headwaters of the
West Fork of the White River

A Liquid Legend

Few Americans outside Arkansas have ever heard of the mighty White River, minus a contingent of savvy fly fishers who know its Bull Shoals tailwater as America's trout Mecca. When I first met the White it was love at first cast.  This was partly because I'd been imagining a river like it for most of my life.  This site tells the story of my personal journey to comprehend  this mighty waterway, its natural rhythms, flora and fauna, and how man has lived in tandem with it for centuries.

The hook-shaped White River
and the spots the author has visited so far.

 




         

Chris Engholm can be reached at

chris@chrisengholm.com

Look Who's In the Canoe ! (On Sunday, Mar 4th--9am)

On Sunday at 9am, we'll be at Monte Ne put-in to paddle BalladHunter along the ruins.  More importantly, I will have local historian Allyn Lord (Director of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History) in the bow  answering questions about Coin Harvey, the history of the old resort, and recent efforts to preserve it.  Come down and paddle around with us.  The weather is supposed to be fine.  


Incidentally, Allyn is a partner with me on White River Memoirs, an oral history project described here.


Update: The "ruins float" was most satisfying and informative. It was freezing and socked in when we left the shore but by the time I got the camera running, the sky cleared and the sun struck the old Monte Ne Tower like a cymbal.  Allyn proved once again to be the 'professor of Coin Harvey,' and a great on-camera presence even with a nasty spider bite on her forehead...which we adroitly covered with a ski cap.  I will get some video clips up asap. 

Big Phil in Bull Shoals Says Read "Ozark Trout Tales"

I phoned Big Phil up in Bull Shoals yesterday.  Benitia, his wife, answered.  Pardon my spelling on your name, Benitia, which might be Venetia.  Either way, I love your homemade donuts and coffee at your tackle shop, especially when you serve them before dawn on a freezing fall morning.

Jim Fortune, the riverman from Searcy who has sentenced himself to following me down the river from the dam, needed to know whether his V-bottom bass boat would get through the stretch down to Cotter.  Phil asked what kind of motor was he planning to run, and of course, I had no idea.  Then he said, "if they've got three or four generators running, it shouldn't be a problem."  The issue is, he said, is that you only get a one-day warning on what they'll be running by looking at the internet.

Realizing (again) that this Californian doesn't know his hindside from a raccoon tail, Phil recommended a book to me.  It's called "Ozark Trout Tales," and it's hard to find.  Anyone heard of it, and used it?  It's a guide to fishing the "White River System."  Most copies go for fifty bucks and up, but I found one for $20 and ordered it (used).  I think the author is Steven Wright.  Anyone know him?  He sounds like someone I should talk to.  I hope he's still around.

Anyway, thanks for the recommendation, Phil.  Oh...and incidentally, Phil says he had a party out last week and they hooked up with 44 trout...browns, rainbow, even a cutthroat.  For more about Phil, see: http://www.bullshoals.com/marmar/guide.htm.

A Walk In the Ozarks

White River Canoe Voyage Starts March 4, 2012

The plans are now in place for my canoe journey to begin on March 4, 2012, at 10am at Monte Ne Ruins put-in.  I have visited the river at twenty different places during the past six months, and feel the reconnaissance is complete.

 I will begin at the headwaters of the White River near Pettigrew and Elkins, then proceed across the various impoundments, ultimately arriving in Bull Shoals Dam in early April, weather permitting.  

From the Bull Shoals tail water, I will enjoy the support of an experienced river man who has offered to follow me in a motorboat during my paddle to Batesville and beyond.  

As you may know by now, I have partnered with the Shiloh Museum of the Ozarks to create White River Memoirs, the Spoken History of a Liquid Legend.  The majority of the interviews will be recorded during my adventure in April, 2012.

I looking forward to meeting you along the way!

Many thanks to Jim Fortune of Searcy

Many thanks to Jim Fortune, a knowledgeable advisor on this project, for his hospitality over the weekend during our discussions and day trip through his long-time haunts near the mouth of the Red River (where it enters the White River).  Highlights included filming Jim as he recounted hilarious tales of fishing and hunting with his father, tracking deer and beaver prints along the bank and into the woods, and running "Silver Bullet" aground trying to investigate a phantom sand bar. Jim knows the river as well as anyone I've met and I'm overwhelmed by his gracious assistance and willingness to educate a greenhorn.  He's even offered to follow my canoe in a "support boat" as I descend the White from Bull Shoals a few months from now.

Start Digging Up Your Old Photos of the White River

Good news!  I've teamed up with the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Northwest Arkansas on an exciting project to create White River Memoirs, The Spoken History of a Liquid Legend.

Here is the copy of the "invitation" to folks whose stories we want to record and publish.  Please read and help us out if you can....

Awe-inspiring Bull Shoals Journey

Yesterday I returned from a three-day Bull Shoals adventure where I visited some of the fishing guides there, filmed the fall colors, and ducked in at a few of the famed flyfishing resorts between the dam and Cotter.

I also picked up a fine read called Rivers to Run by Larry Dablemont that tells the story of fishing and john-boating along Ozark streams since the 1920s.  I had BalladHunter on the roof of the Pathfinder--a great conversation starter I discovered--and upon meeting Tony at Stetson's Resort the first thing did was recommend Larry's book, since it provides plans for building an authentic wooden johnboat, "like the ones they used to use on the river."  The book is available at Sodie's in Flippin and at most of the resorts.

Many thanks to Phil, Tony, Benitia, Lacey, Bob, and Butch for spending some time informing me of the local scene at Bull Shoals.

Just Home from Lower White River

Update: I have just returned from a five-day trip to the Lower White River, a fascinating adventure that included film shooting at Arkansas Post, the Museum of the White River, Clarendon, DeWitt, Des Arc, and even the Blues Museum in Helena on the Mississippi River.

Many thanks to everyone who helped me out, especially Alex, Janice, Marlon, Raymond, Jim, Daniel, Christina, Ida, and Beth.

Arkansas Post-Bound Under a Hunter's Moon

Fall colors are electrifying today after yesterday's rain, on the 540 near Devil's Den on my way east to Arkansas Post and the White River Wildlife Refuge.  The moon is full tonight, a hunter's moon it's called...the first one 'after' the autumn equinox.  I hope you're able to see it in NWA tonight, though more thunderstorms are predicted.  It's sunny will high clouds here, the little puffs looking like backflipping hound dogs.

Purpose of this trip:  First, to catch the moon and fall colors on film and video.   Second, to visit the Arkansas Post Museum.  And third, to catch a buffalo....the 'fish,' that is.

Lastly, I hope to hook up with Jim Fortune, a long-time habitue of the Red and White and other rivers for a road trip to environs near Newport.  Lots of interesting history along those parts, says Jim.  I'm looking forward to that.

Take care everyone and I'll post some details on this adventure as I go....

Day Trip: Lake Sequoyaw and Upper White

If you get a free afternoon this fall, head out Hwy 16 east of Fayetteville and check out Lake Sequoyaw (that might not be the exact spelling).  It's the first impoundment on the White River and offers great scenics and sometimes, great fishing for perch, bass, and crappie.  I visited the dam at its north end to photograph the 'ripa' there and get the lo-down on the fishing from some locals.

The footpath to the dam area at the north end of the
lake leaves from the parking area.

Weapon of choice in the weeds and
logs: a weedless rubber frog.

Gilbert, Larry, and friends traverse the dam hunting bass.

Great bass and perch holds in the grass at the north end of
the lake, this shot taken from the spillway. 

The spillway appears slimy and treacherous to walk upon
 it's actually a breeze to walk out the 100 yards to the dam. 

The dam and the White River continuing below.  The pond
was occupied by a 40-pound carp, a paddlefish,
and a small black gar. 

Riparian biome extends from the
spillway into the tree line. 

A log across the spillway with a water moccasin hiding
beneath it.  Luckily, Gilbert there warned me about it
before I sat down. 

On the Trail of Schoolcraft: Theodosia and Beyond

The explorer Schoolcraft passed this way in the 1800s.  I just finished reading his historic “journal” where he describes his canoe voyage down the White to Batesville, then called Poke Bayou.  He was a scientist, traveler and a pretty decent naturalist and geologist for his time.  His description of Calico Rock reads like nature writing at its best; in fact, Quincy Wolf, Sr quoted the passage in his famous Ozark memoir, Life in the Leatherwoods.  I must say, however, that the effect is a little disturbing because the White River isn’t as clear and pristine as Schoolcraft describes it, nor quite so brimming with aquatic life.  It’s beautiful in sections, to be sure, but reading a personal journal of how it was -- before dams, chemical pollutants and channeling – gives one pause.  What would it be like to see it again through Schoolcraft’s eyes?  And what ‘is’ the state of the White in regards to its ecological health?  I’m sure it’s better than most large American rivers, but is it as good as it can and should be?

White River and Mall Pond in Branson, MO

The bridge over Bull Shoals Lake
in Theodosia, MO.  A few miles further
is Pontiac, a settlement that Schoolcraft
visited.

A Canoe Called "BalladHunter"

Here is "BalladHunter," a 16-foot cedar-strip design from Ted Moores called "The Prospector."  We purchased the hull half-built and spent 5 weeks finishing with maple decks, cheery thwart, and cedar mast and boom.  Yes, we converted it into a canoe-sailor for the obvious reason that there are three huge lakes on the 720-mile journey.  Easier to sit back and sail than paddle those. 

   

A Mosey in the Ozark Cultural Center

In preparation for our three-day planned trip to the Mountain Man Gathering on October 5-7, we drove out to Mountain View and engaged in a late-afternoon walking tour of the Ozark Cultural Center.

I met  a bladesmith there, Tom, who filled me in on the goings-on, among other craftspeople and musicians.  We learned a few things about green woodworking, glass making, weaving, and hand-press printing.  

We also met some musicians and made a preliminary recording of some mountain music.  Most important perhaps, we saw inside of a few authentically constructed Ozark cabins, one of which we plan to build on our property as a garden shed and a shop.

Goldmine In Huntsville at the Madison County Historical Society

On a recent journey to the “White River Trout Capitol” town of Cotter, driving on Highway 412, we decided to check in with the public library in Huntsville, the seat of Madison Country to see what historical gems they might have in the stacks. The friendly librarian there clued me into the active genealogical society in town, which we aimed to visit.  There I met Duane, who tends the historical society, and he showed me around the collection. The society’s growing library of volumes documenting the families, stories, and cemeteries of the county made a deep impression; I hadn’t seen this sort of folk archeology being done anywhere in southern California, nor in Central America where my family had recently been living. One volume recently published we like is titled, “Pettigrew: Hardwood Capital of the World.”  Pettigrew is situated along the White River very close to its headwaters southeast of Fayetteville some twenty or thirty miles. 

Duane kindly provided us some key contacts for future interviews and showed us his method for scanning family photos.  Tragic-comically, his recent efforts in backing up the collection left something to be desired.  The moral was: if you erase the files on your desktop because you have a ‘backup’ on an external hard drive, then the hard drive is no longer a ‘backup.’ At any rate, a big thanks to Duane at the Madison County Historical Society in Huntsville!