 |
| 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 places
Chris Engholm has visited and floated so far.
|
Chris Engholm can be reached at
chris@chrisengholm.com
