David Wright
In the year 1816 David
Wright a noted gun smith came to this country. He was a genous [genius]
and could make almost anything that he took a notiion to make. He
would take a bar of iron and make a gun barrel out of it with his shop
tools with as much accuracy as it is done now with the finest of machinery.
He could make a gun, out, and out in six days, lock, stock, barrel
and triggers.
Probably you would like to know how a gun barrel is made; I will tell you how it is done, or at least, how he made them. In the first place he got a bar of iron similar to a new wagon tire and of the required length that the barrel was to be, most generally four feet long. He called this a gun scalp. He took this to the shop and hammered it on either side until he got it beat out to a feather edge and perfectly true and straight.
He now took a steel rod of which he had several of different sizes, and, having a man to hold the rod for him, he would bend the edges of the scalp or barrel around the largest rod by heating the barrel a little, say two inches at a time, until he got it all bent down; then he would take the next smaller rod and bend down to it; and so on until he got it the right size required for the bore of the gun. He now welded the barrel with the last used rod in int, by heating and welding about one inch at a time. This man he had helping him was to slip the rod in the barrel as the smith hammered, so that it would not become tight.
In riffling the barrel, or cutting the groves he had a frame with a device something similar to a force drill, which made only so many revolutions in a given length; with this he held a steel rod with leads and saws which were used to cut the groves, giving them the proper twist ect. He could make a gun complete in one week, and would sell it for twelve dollars.
His guns were well
make, nicely finished and accurate I have one of his make that I have owned
fifty years; it has been in use about sixty five years, and is a good gun
yet. In my young days I have killed a many a deer with it from one
side of White River to the other. It has also been teh death of numerous
bear, as in them days here they were very plenty, destroying lots of stock
and crops of all kinds. It was no uncommon
thing to find bruin lying in some thicket leisurely waiting till night
fall to make a raid on some inviting corn patch.
In that day this valley
was surely a hunters paradise as game and wild animals of all kinds indigenous
to this country were here very plenty. People who cared to
hunt could have all the sport that heart could wish, besides they could
have their tables laden with the choicest game of the forest; fish too,
of the finest flavor, were in White River, very numerous from the size
of the last minnow to that of the thirty pound buffalo, that could be had
for the taking. I have seen schools of them in White river that would
have covered several acres of land. They appeared to be so plenty
that they would almost crowd each other out of the water at the banks of
the river. The cane on the river bottoms was about six to ten, and
sometimes fifteen feet high, and when the river got high and the back water
got among this cane, you could take a gig or harpoon and wade out to these
brakes and kill all the fish you wanted. When you got to work with
your harpoon the fish would twist the cane and make it rattle trying to
get away till it would make you think there was
a gang of shoats running through it.
Nor was this all, the woods was full of wild bees and honey. I have
known one man to find as many as one dozen trees of honey in one day.
The way they
managed they would go out and kill a deer,
commence and skin him taking his hide of whole, that is without ripping
it; then tie the leg holes up, with whangs.
They would wash the hides out good inside, when it would be ready to put their honey in, they cut the tree and put the honey in at the opening in the neck of the hide. When the hide or case, as they called it, was full, they fastened it up with whangs strung it on their back shot-pouch fashion and pulled out for home, which was sometimes miles away. I have seen as many as three of these honey cases hung up on one smokehouse at one time.
Chapter
31
The Aikin Family
In the year 1817 James Aikin came from Kentuckey with the Teels, Hardens, Martins, Elms and Tuckers. Aikin was a brother in law to Richard and Thomas Teel. He settled at the crossing of the Military road at the mouth of Salado Creek twelve miles below Batesville in Independence County, Arkansas. He run a ferry and blacksmith shop there. Some time about 1825 he sold out his ferry and moved near Batesville on the farm afterwards owned and improved by Judge Wm Byler. he then sold and moved to Van Buron County and settled eight miles above Clinton on the South fork of Little Red River.
In 1838 Joshua Aikin
a full brother of Jas. Aikin and Alexander Aikin a half brother of James,
sold out, Joshua in Burk County, North Carolina, and Alexander in York
District, South
Carolina, and moved in the fall of 1839 to
Van Buren the county to Jas. Aikin's.
Joshua remained in Van Buren County, and Alexander moved to Conway County, thence to Izard County in 1841 and stopped at Sylamore which is now a part of Stone County. He then moved up the river to opposite the Soldiers Rock, stayed one year then bought land at the mouth of Piney Bayough, lived there five years, thence he moved to the mouth of Livingston's Creek, where in April 1850 Alexander Aikin died. His wife's name was Margaret. Uncle Alex and aunt Peggy as they were familiarly called were of Scotch and Irish decent, and were old side Presbyterians, and so strict was Uncle Alex. that he would not kneel to pray at church where everyone else knelt. He would stand up.
He was the most exact
farmer I ever saw. Kept ever weed cut around the trees and stumps
and out of the fence corner . He had his rows as straight as a line.
Kept everything in order. I got
many a pointer from him on farming.
He always raised an abundence of vegetables of all kinds, especially water
and musk melons, and was free to give them to his neighbors. But
woe to anyone who entered his melon patch without asking. He was
a Calhoun Democrat, and in every way a model citizen. Aunt Peggy
was as good as uncle Alex. She survived him some twelve years, living
with her eldest daughter, Mary E. Harris. Uncle Alex and her raised
four children, Mary E.,W.M., Susan M. and Jas. M. Aikin. In 1842
Mary E., at Sylamore, married Augustus W. Harris, a well to do farmer who
owned a farm above and across the river from Sylamore. He lived through
the war and died there in 1866, of hemorage of the lungs. They were
very prosperous but lost their slaves during the war. After Harris,
died Mary E. and her two children, Sophy and Tom Harris, moved to Batesville,
Independence County. There Sophy married a man by the name of
William I. Alexander and moved to St. Clara County California. Tom and
his mother followed a year or two afterwards. Mary E. died there
in 1890. Sophy and Tom still live there. Susan M.
Aikin, in 1842, at Sylamore, als o married
Jas. A. Harris, a nephew of Augustus W. Harris, making her a niece of her
oldest sister by marriage. She had five children by Harris, three
boys
and two girls. The two oldest boys died
before becoming of age.
The youngest boy, Jas. A. Harris is married and living near Calico Rock Izard County. William M. Aikin, or Uncle Bill as he is called, the older son, who survives, married Kate W. Rudolph in 1851, and lived at Sylamore until 1862, then moved to Calico Rock where he now lives.
His wife died in 1871
and he married Mrs. Mary Ann Hixson in 1891. He raised one son, Charles
R. Aikin, who lives and has three children, two girls and one boy.
W.M. Aikin had one
daughter who married Dr. Joseph ? Case,
at Batesville, who died leaving one daughter.
William M. Aikin has
followed farming and merchandising. Was Deputy Sheriff one term, 1844,
and 1845; has lived an upright life, sometimes writes witty squibs for
the papers. He is
seventy two years old. Jas. M. Aikin
the youngest son of Alexander Aikin married Mary B. Harris, a daughter
of Augustus W. Harris, his brother in law by a former wife, making him
his older sisters stepson in law and his younger sisters cousin.
He went to California in 1853 with his brother and came back in 1855. His
wife died in 1858. They had two sons.
Jas. M. never married again. He went into the Southern army and served as captain one year. He moved to Crittendon County just before the surrender and died there in 1866. One son, Frank Aikin survives; he lives at Calico Rock, is married and has two children, one daughter and one son.
There has been no
better citizens than the Aikins on White River. While not rich nor
prominent in politics, nor religion, they were honest, moral and industrious
and filled well their
stations in society.
Chapter
32
Hardships in the Early Times
In this chapter I will tell you something about the hardships we had here in 1819 and so on to 1832, how the newcomers were put to ill conveniences to get salt, iron ect..David Wright, Jehoida Jeffrey, John Langston and Nathan Langston had got out of salt, and Wright wanted some iron to make some rifle gun barrels. There was none nearer than Cape Jarideaw on the Mississippi River, fifty or sixty miles about Cairo, then called the mouth of the Ohio River.
They knew they could get what they wanted by going to the Cape, they had formerly lived in Illinois near Jonesborough, Union County, which borders on the Mississippi opposite to the Cape or very near so. They held a consultation and set the day to start. There were no roads here in those days, nor wagons either; people come here on pack horses. People after they go there make truck wagon with wooden wheels to do their little hauling on their patches.
Well the four men
figgered each of them a pony to ride and each a pony to lead to pack their
merchandise on and each his gun and equipments and a dog or two apiece
and away they got to the
Cape about one hundred and seventy five miles
across the hills and swamps through the woods and brush with scarcely a
house to pass on the way. In due time they arrived there and bought
their iron, salt, amunition and a small lot of steel. They gave thirty
dollars for one barrel of salt, a small barrel at that only weighing about
two hundred pounds. Their iron cost them twenty two cents per pound.
Steel fifty cents per pound. They payed for all this in gold and
silver.
They bought sixty
pounds of iron and sixty of steel, which they took to an old shop and got
brush and het(?) and cut the bars in two pieces, each lashed them together
and throwed across
one of the led ponies. The salt they
divided into three parts for the other three led ponies to carry.
It took them seventeen days to go and come back. They sold some fo the salt for twenty five cents a pound and could have sold it all at that price.[1997 note:they had paid 18 cents a lb)
In the year 1832 two
men brought a keep boat up White River, mostly loaded with salt; they had
a few dry goods. Their names were, John Dearmore and Thomas B. Stallions,
father of our
present Thomas Stallions, who was the owner
of the steam boat, "Home".
These men sold their
salt by the sack for thirteen dollars a sack. I saw two men buy five
sacks at one time and one of them said he would take three sacks while
it was cheap. These men had
to keel boat their merchandise from the mouth
of White River to the mouth of Big North Fork of White River. Those
men who were buying this cheap salt payed for the same the next fall with
cotton in the seed at one dollar and fifty
cents a hundred. I know this myself, and that was the customary price
for cotton at that time; and coffee was only worth sixty five cents a pound,
and sugar was twenty five cents a pound, as for molasses we did not use
the article.
Chapter
33
Mrs. McFeltch and the Bear
I will tellyou of
an occurance here on White River in 1817. There was a man lived on upper
White River by the name of McFeltch. He was a man that was away from
home a great deal of
his time trading. At the tiime of which
I write he was away from home and only Mrs. McFeltch, and her baby was
there. It was in August. Bear were veryplenty here on White
River and they would collect in droves, and were very saucy. The
settlements were scarce. If you had neighbors five and ten miles
apart you thought they were close. Mrs. McFeltch said she heard a
tremendous squalling taking place on teh opposite side of the river one
morning and every once in awhile it would break out a new and of all the
squalling they would have at it. While she was standing at the door
listening she saw a bear put into the river opposite to the house and come
straight to the house. She being frightened she said, she went to
the cellar and raised a puncheon thinking that maybe that would be a safe
place to get. But then another idea struck her, that of getting in the
loft of the scaffold in which they lived. So she goes up in the loft
with her child which was about ten months old. The bear come on in
the house, sniffed around and went to the puncheon that she
had lifted up and sniffs in the cellar then
goes to where she had climbed he looked about the house and went out.
There was a calf in the yard and the bear seized on it and went to eating
on it
before it was dead. When he had eat
his fill he went back to the river and swam back to where he had left.
She told me that that
was one of the times she was scared when the bear come in the house.
In August when they are saucy they wont give way to any person. They
are generally in thickets
and steep hollows and hunters happen on them
before they know it,and as soon as one of them sees the hunter he rears
up on his hind feet, turns his hair the wrong way and sticks his lip out.
This generally makes the hunter run like fury.
At this time they very often fight with each other and frequently they kill each other in these fights, and the ones that comes off victorious will then get off some distance and gnaw the bark off a tree with their tusks. They always do this on a pine sapling when there is one handy. You may think this is a yarn but it ain't for I have seen them do it myself. I have seen the sign on trees all my life and once in a while I see it now, but very old.
But what is still stranger still just before a cold spell of weather bear go to a cave or hollow tree and make themselves a bed and lie down and suck the inside of their paws until about the first of March. In warm days they begin to want water and will come out, go and get it, and then go right back to their beds. They will go every day to get water and will step in the same tracks every time. I have seen their tracks six inches deep they had made in the leaves. They follow this until the first of April, then they come out for the balance of the year. About this time the dogwood is in bloom and then the old bear hunter goes out to catch cubs, but mind you he kills the old bear first, for if he did not he is sure in trouble when he gets hold of the cub as it is sure to squall when caught, and if the hnter has not previously killed her she will be sure to come with every hair the wrong way, mouth open and her under lip stuck out about two inches with her white teeth shining, which was enough to scare the oldest man on earth I have thought.
When she gets her cub a way from the hunter she will growl and start off muttering as bead as a human. She will keep her cubs before her all the time and when they come to a log that they can't get over she will take one of her paws and flirt them over as quick as a man could.
Chapter
34
Abram Ruddle Carried off by Indians
Here is something ancient to be told, which I will tell for the benefit of the Culp generation that may be living yet, as I have the least idea they know any thing about it, and what I write is true beyond doubt. It is as follws: Abraham Ruddle was a brother in law to Dr. Thomas Culp, my stepfather, and his wife's maiden name was Polly Culp. She was the oldest of the children and Dr. Thos. Culp was the youngest.
This Abe Ruddle was captured by the Seminole Indians when a boy of five years old. He and an older sister went to the spring for water to get breakfast, when they saw the Indians coming after them. They made back as fast as they could, with him on his sisters shoulder, until she saw that they both would be captured, and she dropped him and made her escape and the Indians captured Abe and took him off with them.
He said when they
got to their camp they gave him to an Indian man and his wife to raise,
who took as good care of him as the circumstances would admit. Sometimes
he said it would be two
and three days at a time the y would have
nothing to eat but parched corn and very little of that. He said
his daddy and mama were very tender with him.
When he was about nineteen
years old he said he set his head to get away from them but could see no
chance at that time. As soon as he was large enough they gave him
a gun and let him hunt
game like the rest of them, but they
would always send two or three out with him to keep him from getting away.
He finally made up his mind that the next time there was a battle with
the
Americans, for they had then been fighting
several days he would, when they were shooting have a white cloth, slip
it on his gun and run into the American ranks. So the next morning
they were
into it sure enough. This was the battle
of Tipecano. While the battle was raging Abe saw a bunch of Americans
making ready to charge on the Indians when he throwed down his gun, put
his white rag on his gun stick and run with all his might. When they
saw him they hollowed to him to come on and he ran in among them before
he stopped.
When they saw him
coming they stopped shooting that was until he got to them. He was
then ordered to the rear to give an account of himself. After the
fight they come to see who he was
and how long he had been living with the Indians.
He had lived with them sixteen years, and this was the first chance he
had ever had to get away.
Abe spoke very broken
English. He stayed with the army sometime before he went home.
There was one of his mothers neighbors in the army who had heard her tell
about her child
being taken off by the Indians many years
ago whom she supposed they had killed as she had never heard of him.
While he was
with teh army there was an exchange of prisoners and Abe went with
them and when they got to the Indian lines they had to cross a river, and
after they crossed and were
going up the bank he saw his daddy and mama,
and heard his mama say in their language, "There is Abe" and he being muffled
up in his blanket the old man said "No, that is not Abe".
After a time they
gave this man Davis a furlough to go home with Abe Ruddle, and after they
got to Abe's mother's and Davis passed compliments, Abe laid his gun down
by the door and stood
there for some time, until his mother said
for him to come in, which he done. He set there for some time looking
at his mother, her not having the least idea that he was her lost son.
At last
Mr Davis told her that he saw a man in camp
who he believed was her lost son; that he said his name is Abe Ruddle,
that he said the Indians captured him when he was a small boy. Davis
told her that Abe had talked of coming to see her, and Abe setting there,
then, with, Indian uniform; cap on, buckskin pants and hunting shirt, big
butcher knife, and tomahawk stuck in his belt. Davis then said to
her "There sets your son".
She said, "no, it is not possible," and Abe got up and took her by the hand and said, "how do you do mama" and his mother said, "what is your name, and do you remember your father's name: He told her that his father's name was John Ruddle. His mother says to him, "if it is Abe he has a red mark on his left side" He opened his hunting shirt and there was the mark sure enough, and she owned him right then , and said,"It is my lost son".
Chapter
35
Dr. Thoms Culp Sr.
I see some of the
history in regard to the Culp family and there is some mistakes in it about
where they came from. Dr. Thoms Culp Sr. came from Kentucky, five
miles from Bolingreen,
was born and raised there. I see from
the late history of Arkansas that the said Dr. Culp was a Tennessean, and
I hear of some new Culps coming in the state.
Dr. Thos. Culp Sr. come from Kentuckey in 1816. He left a young wife and two children, one son and one daughter. His son's name was Samuel, and his daughter's name was Rebecca, Dr. Culp never went back to Kentuckey and never went back to see them. Samuel, his son, came here to see his father in 1839 and stayed here on a visit one year, and then went back to Kentuckey and never come to this country any more. He told his father that Rebecca was married the name of her man I have forgotton. After a time Samuel wrote to his father that he was living in some town in Missouri and was editor of a paper, that was the last I ever heard of him.
Dr. Culp had three
brothers, Daniel, Josiah and James. James was a Presbyterian minister.
Daniel was the oldest of the four brothers. I have heard the old
Dr. Culp read a letter from
Daniel several tiems in regard to what he
must do with his part of their mother's estate. The Dr. said he wrote
to him to use the six hundred dollars in schooling his two children, Samuel
and
Rebecca, which he left there in Kentuckey.
Chapter
36
Three Indian Mimics
An incident of myself,
Elijah Jeffrey and Hiram Langston going to my mother's one evening.
We all dressed ourselves in Indian uniform. Painted up, took our
guns and went to Dr. Culp's
my stepfather. We got there just at
dusk and hollowed at teh fence. The Dr. come to the door and told
us to come in which we did. When we were in the house he ask us what
made us so late.
We told him that we had been out hunting and
had got lost back here in these mountains.
We talked very broken
English. I pretended that I could not understand English at all.
Lige Jeffrey could understand just a little pretendingly and Lalngston
done the talking and would
interpret to us. At last Langston says
to them, "we are very hungry, have you any cold bread we no eat some to
day". Mother says "I will cook your suppers" and she went to cooking we
three
setting there acting the Indi an full out,
the old Dr. talking to Langston all the time, and Langston interpreting
to me and Lige.
So mother got our
suppers done and told us to eat, we went and set down and eat very heartily
mother waiting on us all the time, and insisting on us to eat more, we
all shaking our heads.
When we had eaten our supp ers we sit down
by the fire and Langston and the old Dr. talked about two hours, I suppose;
then Langston says we must go to old man Jeffreys. When we got up
and
started off mother says to the old Dr., "that
Indian boy walks very much like Jehoida Sams". So we went off without
being detected, and the next morning we three went back to see the Dr.
he ask us if we saw the three Indians last night, we told him we did not,
and he went on to tell us all about what they said and done, and that they
went to Jeffreys, said there were two grown ones and a boy about the size
of Jehoida Sams.
At last we told him
that we were the three Indians who eat with him the night before.
After that if we wanted to beat him we would ask him if any Indians had
been here lately, that was enough. Old Dr. Culp was of Dutch decent,
tolerable dark complected. I have heard him say in a jokular way
that he was of the white Dutch. H was none of the flap-eared Dutch.
He has two grandsons and one grand daughter lives in Mammoth Spring and
one of the other grand daughters lives near Wild Cherry. The
other lives in Baxter County Arkansas. He has several nieces and
grand
children living in Missouri.
Chapter
37
Morgan Carter Tied and
Carried On A
Pole like a hog by the Indians
Morgan Carter was
a noted man here in the White River valley in his day. He was a regular
thief, and it made no difference what come in his way he had his hands
on it. He and his crew
would steal Indian ponies and hide them out
as much as possible, until the Indians would give out finding them, then
Carter would take them and send them off to Tennessee or Kentuckey and
sell
them. Then they would stay there awhile
and look around until they could get hold of some good horses which they
would bring back with them to the Arkansas Territory.
One time Carter stole four Indian ponies and hid them in a cane brake opposite the White house on White River, one mile above the mouth of Piney Bayough.
The Indians hunted
the woods through and through; at last one Indian boy found the ponies
tied up and proceeded to untie them when Carter, who was lying in ambush
close by, shot him and
killed him outright. Carter then starts
down the river to Old Daniel Jeffrey to cross the river to keep the Indians
from suspecting him of killing the boy. But, as he was slipping along
two Indians saw him, and they went on a short distance and then met some
more Indians and told them, that the ponies were found and the boy
was killed close by them, and that they had found the
bed of a man who has been watching the ponies.
They said that they had seen Morgan Carter slipping in the brush and that
"he be the man" and away they went on his trail. They followed
him down the river opposite Old Daniel Jeffrey where he had holloed for
the canoe to cross the river in. While he was waiting for the canoe they
come up and captured him.
Old Daniel Jeffrey
takes the canoe and goes over the river and there he found them with Carter.
They had taken off their leggin strings and tied him in the manner that
hogs are tied, his hands tied together and his feet tied the same way.
They then got a pole and put it between his hands and feet and carried
him to the canoe like carrying a hog, and layed him down in the
bottom of the canoe on his back. They
took him as far as Jehoida Jeffrey's that night, landed the canoe and took
the pole and carried him up the bank and to the house and stayed there
all
night. In the morning they carried him,
as before on the pole and lays him down on his back as before, and went
on up the river until they got up to the mouth of Piney Bayough, where
they
landed and carried him up the bank as usual,
on the pole, layed him down on the ground, on his back, and placed a guard
around him.
While he was lying
there the mother of the boy he had killed, came down with a pine knot concealed
under a blanket to gether with a large butcher knife, and slipped up unknown
to the
guard and set in on old Morgan Carter with
the pineknot. She hit him on the nose mashing it down flat to his
face. Carter was naturally very hard favored and mashing his nose
diden't help his looks a bit. When she was took away they found under
the squaw's blanket the knife. She intended the next thing to kill
Carter with the knife, and of all screams ever heard she made because they
prevented her from killing Old Morgan Carter.
So they kept Carter under a strong guard until they sent for Old Sylamore, the Chief. He had gone to headquarters near where Yellville is and he could not be found. The runner come back and the Indians held a council as to what to do. They decided to send for Jehoida Jeffrey and Dr. Thomas Culp. When they got there the question come up as to how they would try Carter.
They concluded that
Jehoida Jeffrey, Dr. Culp, and the second and third Chiefs, Sanders and
Bill John, should try Carter accordingly court went into session and evidence
was tried to be
produced, but none could be found. So
the four Chiefs retired to themselves and made up their verdict, in this
way, "for Carter to leave the country immediately, and never come back
here any
more".
Jeffrey got on a log,
Sanders, his interpreter by him, and gave the Indians a long talk.
Then Sanders got up and told them the conclusions of the four Chiefs.
Then Dr. Culp got up and
made a long speech, his interpreter Billy
John, by him. Then Billy John got up and told the Indians that their decision
was that "Old Morgan Carter leave the country and never return, that
they all believed Carter killed the boy but
they did not have any plain proof on Him". He said, " for all that
was in favor of the decision to get up", and they all stood up and said
for Carter to
go.
Carter said he would
not leave unless he was guarded away, as he had seen some Indians going
up the road with their guns and he was afraid they would kill him before
he could get away. The
four chiefs guarded him off a mile or so and
told him to get and they said that the last time they saw him he was going
through the brush at full speed.
After the Indians
had moved off to their new country in the far west, and in about fifteen
years from the time Carter was released, here comes Old Morgan Carter on
White River. I was
plowing in my field, in May or June, and saw
some man coming up by the farm, and as I drove out, up rides Old Morgan.
He says to me "how do, Jehoida Sams." I said, "what is your name"
for I had forgotten him. He says to me, "don't know old Morgan Carter,
that man that the D----- Old Squaw hit on the nose with a pineknot and
mashed it flat" he says "look here" and put his hand
on his nose, or on the place where his nose
ought to be.
He said he stayed at my uncles the night before and had come up to see all of his old quaintences. I told him it was near dinner time to come and we would have dinner. After dinner he commenced telling his travels, and his stealing Indian ponies, in the conversation he told about killing the Indian boy. He said he had always been sorry that he killed him, and said if it been one of the old ones he would not have cared. Then he commenced asking questions about Old Jehoida Jeffrey, and Old Mike Wolf and old Jake Wolf and others, and I said, "don't you think they ought to make a divide with old Morgan, for he has stolen and made them all rich, and old Morgan is needy now:" and then gave a big laugh.
After that he moved here and lived two or three years and lived two or three years in Missouri. I learned that he died there, which was the last I ever heard of the family.
Chapter
38
Old Bear Walkers Last Bear Hunt
In an early day here
there were a great many bear hunters amoung us, and one of the first as
well as the most notd was Old Blair Walker and his brother Andrew.
They killed on all
occasions, and too numerous to mention.
They were great hunters of other game than bear, but their bear hunts were
their favorite sport.
I was personally acquainted with Blair for fifty years or more. I heard one of his brothers say that when Blair died he would be found dead on a bear chase, and sure enough he was.
He and his brother
Andy went out in the Buffalo and Sylamore mountains on a bear hunt and
was out some three or four days. They had had very good luck killin bear,
and the last morning
they broke up camp and had gone a short distance
when their old start dogjumped a bear. The two brothers started at
a gallop on their horses after the dogs and bear. At last the dogs
treed the
bear. It was not more than half a mile
to the dogs straight through, but they had to ride around a cliff and steep
hollow in order to get to them. They were riding as fast as their
horses could take them, for an old bear hunter fools away no time when
he hears his dogs treed. On the run Andy hears some noise behind
and lookiing around he saw Old Blair falling off his horse. Andy
turned his horse back but before he could
get to him he was dead.
So there he was, his brother dead and the dogs with a bear treed. Andy told me of all the cases he ever had this was the hardest to decide what to do, as there lay his brother dead and he could not bring him to life again. At last he concluded to go and kill the bear, which he did, and come back to where his brother was bringing the bear with him.
He took Blair's horse
and hitched him by his dead rider and starts to tie Blair's start dog by
his side, but concluded to see if she would stay without being tied, which
she did. He now goes
home, which was ten miles away, to get help.
The next morning a crowd went back and when they got there the corpse,
horse and dog was all there as Andy had left them.
Now comes a mess of
trouble again the old favorite dog sees the crowd coming and meets them
off about thirty yards from the corpse and horse hair turned the wrong
way, as good as to say
"you shan't come any closer". They coaxing
and scolding the trying to give her something to eat, which done no good.
Finally they took
a rope and made a noose, hung it on a stick and all gathered around her
and slipped it over her head and tied her to a bush. They then layed
the dead man across the
horse, then one man led the horse. Andy
then untied the old dog, and she went to her old master lying across the
horse and smelt all around him. The crowd went on home with the corpse,
the dog right at the heels of the horse all the time. When they got
home she followed her master's body into the house, and they all stepped
back, when the old dog stepped up to her dead master and sniffs around
him and then lay down by him.
They tried to get her to eat, but she would eat only a bite or so. The old dog lay there until they got ready to bury the old man. When they started with him the dog went right behind him and when they layed him in the grave the dog stood on the edge looking in, and then stepped off until they covered it up. She stayed there for some time after all had left, and she howled some of the lonesomest howls you ever heard; she then went to the house and they got her to eat some at last.
This all happened in Baxter county Arkansas, near a place called Lone Rock, on the south side of White River.
I have been somewhat
tedious on this subject, but it was to show the reader how well a dog like
his master, more especially a bear dog. A bear hunter won't let their
dog run anything in the
woods but bear. The first thing they
learn them is to stop when they speak to them. When they say "stop"
the dog drops down, and when they say "come on" he will rise and follow.
Dogs are somewhat
like men. A fool man can't be learned anything nor any sense, nor
a fool dog either. You can't give a bear hunter a fool dogl
They will commence muching (?) the fool
dog and if he don't suit them at once they
will say "I would kill that fool dog if he were mine".
Chapter
39
Old Sy Daugherty the Steamboat Captain
I will tell you something of Old Sy Dougherty. He was the Captain and owner of the Steam Boat, "Mary L. Dougherty" which run up White River and other waters to Memphis and New Orleans. He was well known at all the ports along these rivers. He came to Napolion at the mouth of the Arkansas River one time in the summer of 1850, and stayed several days, as boatmen sometimes have to do, for repairs.
It being very hot
weather there came on the boat several men one day, and after being there
sometime, they concluded to jump into the Mississippi, off the boat.
So they stripped themselves
and into the rivere they went right in view
of ladies and gentlemen in the cabin. Captain Dougherty went out
and politely told them to come out or go further off, but one smart aleck,
by
the name of James Jones, commenced cursing
him for all that was mean and said a greatdeal of unnecessary words about
him.
Dougherty went the second time and told them it was a scandal for decent men to act that way. Jones says, "you are a d--- liar" The Captain steps back and sees if his double barrel shot gun was all right, and had it ready, and when they all come out of the river, Jones come onto the boat rearing, and cursing the Captain and calling him all sorts of hard names. The Captain said, "you git off my boat". Jones says, "I will when I git ready sir, " The Captain says to the crowd, "git away my gun scatters like Hades."
Jones saw him raise the gun and started to run. Old Sy fired away and put thirty two bird shot in Jones's hips, and of all the hollowing ever heard, Jones done it; he would run and fall, then rise and run again. Jones lay under the doctor about six weeks before he could walk.
When Circuit Court set the Grand Jury found a bill against Captain Dougherty for an attempt to kill Jones. At teh first trial the jury hung. The case was then continued till the next term of court.
Old Captain Sy goes
and tells old Bill Cumby that he wants him to help him beat the case, and
old Bill says, "all right Captain," This all happened in Desha County Arkansas.
Old Sy knew tht
Cumby always had a few men around him to do
and do his bidding, as old Bill was a noted man there that day and time.
Your writer was well acquainted with Old Bill, and a short history of him
here might be of interest to the reader.
He had a large farm sixmiles below the mouth of White river and owned several
slaves.
When you saw him away
from home you say at once "what old chap is that". He was an old
bear hunter. He wore his leather pants, and if the weather was cool,
his hunting shirt, and always
carried his gun and belt and butcher knife.
When old Captain Doughoerty's trial come up Old Bill Cumby was there with
his picked men. The case was called and the parties ready for trial
with these picked men on the jury. The jury retires just long
enough to write a verdict of not guilty.
Old Captain Sy told
me that fully half of the jurors were so drunk they could not keep from
nodding when the testimony was being given. Bill Cumby was the man
that killed Old Jenu
Falenash the great outlaw and first white
man that came to the White River Valley. Falenash came to this valley
in the year 1801.
Chapter
40
John Livingston The Colored Bear Hunter
In the year 1849,
John Livingston, a colored man had got to be a considerable bear hunter,
killing them frequently in the mountains with his two large dogs and butcher
knife. His dogs
would take hold of anything he told them to.
There come a big snow
and John went out and found a large bear in a cave, and he concluded that
he must have him. So he made a pine torch and tied it to a long pole,
as all bear hunters
do, and in the cave he goes, his gun in one
hand and torch in the other, he crawling on his all fours as people have
to do in caves sometimes. His dogs were standing at the mouth of
the cave
waiting for the bear to come out of the cave,
ready to take hold of him. Dogs have more fear of a cave than some
men, for if there is a bear in a cave a dog won't go in, it makes no difference
how fierce he is. So John goes on until he sees the bear lying curled up
in his bed. He shot the bear and cripled him, but the bear went with
John right after him as fast as he could go.
When the bear got
to the mouth of the cave the dogs grabbed him and when John got out the
dogs and bear were rolling down the hill, sometimes the dogs on top and
sometimes the bear on top. A man will risk his life for his dogs
in a fight with a bear. So John saw he could get no chance to shoot the
bear with safety, and drew his hunting knife and run up close to them he
saw that the bear was getting the best of his dogs, and the first chance
he got he plung- ed his knife in the near side of the bear, as quick as
the knife struck the bear he let the dog loose which he had in his mouth
and grabbed John by the arm and bit it through and through. He told
me that that was one of the times he was in a tight, sure, but he hollowed
manfully to his dogs and they hurt
the bear so bad that he turned his arm loose.
Then he stabbed the bear on the far side from him and the bear snapped
so quick he almost caught his hand.
So that stab killed the bear, and he was a fine one, too. I was out bear hunting a few days afterwards and saw the head of the bear. John said to me that he did not think for a few minutes he was hurt, but says he, "I tell you massa Sams I soon began to feel bad and lay down for a while and felt better, only my arm, and I had to butcher the bear with one hand. My arm pained me so bad I tore off a piece of my shirtail and bound it up the best I could, then I hampered up my bear, tuck him to a log and put him on my pony, and went home".
This took place in
the Sylamore mountains, in Stone County, Arkansas, in the year 1849.
His arm was so bad hurt he could do nothing for six weeks. He told
me often, that he was no more a
bear hunter by himself, and I never heard
of John Luck going a bear hunting by himself again. "John Luck" was
a nickname that he was known by. He died in 1895.
Chapter
41
Old Daniel Hively In A Bear's Den
Old uncle Daniel Hively, as we always called him, was not a bear hunter, but he always said if he ever found a bear in a cave he would go in after him, and take him out. So one day there came a man along and told uncle Dan that he had found a bear in a hole just up on the creek some two miles off and that he was afraid to go in after it, and that he wanted to find somebody who was not afraid to go in and take it out. He told unlce Dan if he would go in and take the bear out he should have half the meat when it was killed. Uncle Dan says, "I will go and take the bear out". This was the first chance uncle Dan had ever had on the bear in the cave thing. So he fixed up his tricks, and away they go to the cave, and when they got there uncle Dan fixed a pine torch and tied it to the end of a pole about six feet long, and commenced crawling in; and goes a short distance and come to a narrow place in the cave, but gets through finally; then the cave got large enough that he could walk nearly straight in it.
Uncle Dan was looking close for the bear moving his light around as he could see anywhere in the cave, and in moving the light he comes near enough to the bear for it to knock the light out, which it done, leaving uncle Dan in the dark. When the bear struck the light and knocked it out it made for the place to get out of the cave, which they always do when they put out the light.
Uncle Dan was in the
notion to go out, too, and made his way to the narrow place in the cave
just ahead of the bear and was crawling on his belly, when the next thing
he knew, he felt the
bear on top of him, trying to scrough through
to get out. Of all the scoughing and clawing commenced.
At last the bear best
him out. He said he was glad when he got off of him for he was about
out of breath from being mashed so severely, and was desperately scared.
Uncle Dan said "he had
on good home made clothing, and nearly new
at that, and when he got out of the cave, his coat, vest, shirt and pants
were torn in strings," and "that his back was scratched all to pieces,
soome
of the scratches eight and ten inches long,
and some of the bear's nails had gone in a half inch deep.
I says to uncle Dan,
"how do you like taking a bear out of a cave:. "Not one bit", said
he, "it will be the last of next week before I take another bear out of
a cave". I never heard of him
going in another cave after bear. This
happened here on PineyBayough near where it empties into White River
in Izard County, Arkansas, in the year 1852. When the
bear got to the mouth of the cave the man out there who was watching, shot
the bear dead, which was about two year
old and fine pork, too.
Chapter
42
Old Strod Adams In A Bear Cave
Old Strod Adams as we called him was another bear hunter who was broke from going into a cave to bring bear out here in the White River Valley. He was a half brother to Peter F. Adams who killed Dr Haiff on the North Fork of White River, near its mouth.
Strod Adams went, one day a hunting by himself. It seemed to always be his choice to go by himself. On the days hunt he finds a bear in a cave, and went in, killed the bear, brought it out and took it home.
Not long after this some of his folks finds a bear in a hole and goes to get Strod to take it out for them, as he had been in the habit of going in their caves and bringing out their bear, as they were too cowardly to go in themselves. He told them, "no, you go in and bring out you own bear; I have killed bear for you long enough; I will not fo for you anymore" and he did not go either, and they wanted to know the reason, as he had never refused before. He told them that he had reasons and that was sufficient for them to know.
They wondered what was the matter with Strod, or what had happened to him in the last cave he went in, that he would not go in any more. he had made a heap of fun of them for being cowardly, and had run a heap of jokes on them. His relatives have talked to me often about his getting a dread of going in caves, after bear, and said he never did tell anyone his reasons for quitting it; the supposition was that he saw danger that he never had seen before in a bear cave, and he never went in no kind of a cave after that.
He was a great hunter
after that, but not after bear. This happened in the Buffalo Mountains,
in Izard County, Arkansas, in 1845. He died in 1854, while attending
a big meeting. He was
sitting in a chair, when he fell over dead.
Chapter
43
Negro Ben Tracy and The Panther
Over in Stone County
the colored brethren have go a very good church house, and one night there
came a long a straggling panther hollowing. He come up close to the
church, which was in
session, and fetched on unearth ly scream
which brought the congregation's hair all on end right in the midst of
a big revival, which had the effect to break up the meeting the congregation
going away in squads of about a dozen in a gang, almost scared to death;
them that could think at all for being scared, though that the Gabriel-horn-blowing-period
had come. Not long after this, one evening I was sitting on my porch, at
my place on White River, I heard it hollowing again. I heard it at
first very faintly. It was not more than a hundred yard from my house,
but across the river from my house. I knew it was a panther, for
I had heard a many one hollowing in my boyhood. Let
one of them hollow and me asleep it will wake
me up immediately.
The next morning they gathered up a crowd and followed on his course and killed him. He was a very large one. In a few days, I met Ben Tracy, and says to him, " I wish that panther would catch some of you darkeys but not hurt you much for not killin it" He says Lor bless you Mr. ams we done killed him long "go". "But, not long after this" he says "I was out in the hills to get my hoss and I hear some noise over the ridge, an I looks to see what it is an sees a deer coming with all its might, right toward me an I stans still an it come in six foot of me, its tounge out an runnin fo' life, and never see me; an I look back de way de deer come an in a moment I sees a panther coming on the trail of de deer, and I stans still an it come in six foot of me. When he got right opposite me, I jumps out an hollows loud at him, thinken I scare him, when he squares hisself and turns his hair de wrong way anstans up on his hine legs, lookin me right in de eye, an Lor bless yo soul Mr Sams dis darkey was scart bout dat time. Right den and dere he jind de infantry. He run over tree tops and break and aey was not one bit in his way, an he never stop to look back for fear it would be on im. He diden stop neither fo six hundred yads; and dats de last panter dis darkey will ever try to scare sho; hes got nuf.
Chapter
44
Adam Dennis' Fight With A Hungry Panther
In 1842 I took a trip
to Springfield Missouri. I stayed one night with a man, up on Swan
Creek while on the trip, who told me of a circumstance that had happened
on Swan Creek, a tributary of
White River, about a fearful encounter Adam
Dennis had with a panther.
Dennis was going to the little store in the neighborhood with a very large role of peltry on his shoulder. He was traveling through a pathway, and a panther had seen him coming and hid behind a tree root that was by the path. When the man came up the panther sprung on him. They had it round and round for sometime. Every time the man got a chance he would plunge his buthcher knife in the panther, until he killed it.
It was a very large
panther, and so old its teeth was all wore off to its gums. Its tusks
were entirely gone and it was so poor that it could hardly walk.
In the shuffle he had with the
panther it took all of his clothes off of
him and scratched him all over, and every chance it got it would try to
cut him with its hind claws. The way a panther does his ripping is to hug
anything with his front feet and rip with his hind feet, which are armed
with very long sharp claws. This panther on measurement was found
to be eight feet from the nose to the end of the tail.