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.

A Walk In the Ozarks

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 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!

Daytrips To the Lower (and Upper) White River

A couple of interesting day trips to the White River you might consider for a weekend when the trees change...

1.  Last week I drove out to Des Arc to see the Lower White River Museum.  The museum is small  but a great introduction to the river, and the town has a lot of history that you can learn about at the local library. The river is huge here and comes under an impressive steel bridge that's a major photo opp.  Upstream you can find easy fishing lakes and other river towns like Georgetown, which was nearly inundated by flood waters last May.  The Red River joins the White in this area and is a clear-water fishing stream this time of year--just a purdy as a spotted puppy.

2.  Yesterday, after dropping my son at his girlfriend's in Huntsville, I drove along Hwy 74 from there down to Elkins.  It was raining at first but cleared as the sun set by the time I went over the White River on a bridge into Elkins.  Wow, the light set the slow-moving waters and lush banks alflame -- I've never seen a more spectacular river view.  Photographers beware, however, the bridge has no sidewalk and the drivers here are cityfolk heading to Fayetteville late for appointments.  One false step and you'll end up like the deer carcass I saw at the foot of a piling under the bridge!  Take a good map with you and try the blue highways the head north from 74 and pass through the rolling farm estates along Richland Creek and end up in either Goshen or Lake Sequoia just east of Fayetteville.  You'll find yourself house hunting for sure.

Maiden Voyage of "BalladHunter" at Monte Ne Ruins

If you listen closely at the very end of this short clip, you can hear me drop the tackle box in the river...great start to an expedition.  

The Upper White: War Eagle Creek

 Over the weekend we ventured up War Eagle Creek, a tributary of the White River that originates near Huntsville.  Here are some views.  I'll provide more information about this watershed soon.

I reached a bridge over a river after dark
thinking I was still near Eagle Creek.  Looking at
the topo map later, I found I had found an
incredible spooky stretch of the King's River.

Eagle Creek and cumulus after it
passes under Hwy 412.

Special Thanks to a Special Museum--the Shiloh Museum of the Ozarks in Springdale, AR

If you haven't visited the Shiloh Museum of the Ozarks, it's time to do so.  The exhibits rock, the photo archive is incredible, and the dedicated folks running it have already been extremely helpful to the Ballad Hunter project.  Thank you so much!   Please check out their website and Facebook sites:
   www.shilohmuseum.org http://www.shilohmuseum.org
   Shiloh Museum on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Springdale-AR/Shiloh-Museum-of-Ozark-History/134176676598852  
Here are two views from their outdoor exhibit---an original Ozark cabin and fully-restored barn. 

"Down But Not Out" After Joplin Tornado (video)

Three days after the Joplin tornado struck, we made a pilgrimage to the damaged downtown area.  What we witnessed changed us forever.  The outpouring of well-organized help and volunteer initiative blew us away.  This is what the town looked like then.  I heard yesterday from a women who is selling birdhouses constructed of Joplin debris (20% going to the Salvation Army), that the area you see in these pictures is almost completely cleaned up and reconstruction well underway.  

Shannondale Folk School -- Anyone recall?

Does anyone recall the Shannondale Folk School in Shannon County, Mussouri that Rayburn mentions in his book, Ozark Country?  He recounts that its teachers taught “basketry, rug weaving, animal husbandry, breeding, and various “art crafts.” I suppose we could say that the Ozark Cultural Center is carrying forth some of this education today.  Any recollections? 

Okay, You Paddle and I'll Steer

I'm just back from Cali and itching to get back on the river.  The canoe sat under the carport motionless for almost three weeks as temperatures reached 113 degrees in the Ozarks last week!  I lifted the cover off of my new cedar-plank canoe-yacht and a swallow flew out, a stowaway seeking refuge from the sweltering sky.

Out on the coast I found more than a few interested candidates for White River day-trips, the idea being for me to sit in the rear and steer while the guest provides locomotion.  Yea, that'll work.  Anyhow, I roped in a writer-friend, a number of my parents, and brother (at least they all expressed something more than outright rejection of the notion of participatory floating on a liquid legend).

The White River at Blue Heron Campground at the 412 Bridge