Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-09-09
A Trip Over the Ozark Noun
tains.
From the Lewisburg (Pa.) Chronicle.l
ST. LOUIS, Aug. 20, 80.

From the Lewisburg (Pa.) Chronicle.
ST. LOUIS, Aug. 20, 80.
| Mr.. Editor and Friends
Two weeks ago, Mr.. Hendricks and
myself took a trip over the mountains
of Southeast Missouri, and l thought
| that description of the scenery would
be interesting to the readers of tue
Chronicle. We took the Iron Noun
tain and Southern r.. r., and were
whirled through the greatest iron re-
giOns in the world. Irondale, Iron
Mountain, IrOnton and Pilot Knob.
and a host of other points on the road
are all given up to iron industry. Iron
Mountain, where the ore is almost pure,
in completely honey-combed with tun-
nels. The smoke of immense furnaces
was seen in the valleys, and ths,yery
earth was red with the fninerai. The
mountains rear their lofty heads on ei-
ther side, and in the low lands nestle
pretty villages, or the broad acres of
thrifty farmers. Such was the scene
all the way to Piedmont, thriving
town in Wayne county, Mo. 1t has
the entire trade Of vast agricultural
region of over fifty miles in width, be-
sides being an importa mt railroad point.
1t is largely interested in the charcoal
trade. 1 noticed large sheds where
thousands of tons were stored, await
ing transportation. We left the cars
at Piedmont, secured light but strong
buggy, with a span of good horses, then
turned our faces toward the Ozark
mountains. Here met with a new and
at first rather startling experience, to
wit, fording rivers. The wateris remark
ably clear, with a stony bed that seems
near the surface, till you drive into the
of IN at niGh In M
the water rises to the hub of the wheel.
After crossing a few streams, the
feeling left me, and l rather enjoyed
the plunging of the horses as they
stemmed the current.
Leaving Wayne county, we crossed
a corner Of Reynolds county, then en-
tered Carter, and reached Van Buren,,
the county seat, at 3 o'clock p. NJ, a dis
tance of over thirty miles. Here we
were stopped by rain, and were, COM
PEELED to stay till the next morning.
Van Buren, is struggling little town,
on Current river, situated 80 that
stranger thinks of "chills" at the first
glance. The hotel, a long, one-story
building, used to be the courthouse, but
within a year or two they have finish
now the temple of Justice.
journey in a northwesterly direction,
leading us over mountains and through
valleys into Shannon county. The val
leys were eight to ten miles long, as lev
ell as floor, covered with luxurient wild
grass, without a living thing to eat it. |
The woods on the mountain sides are |
free from underbrush, so they form fine |
grazing fields as well as the valleys
Thousands of cattle and sheep might |
feed here from April to December with |
no expense to the owner, but for salt. |
Mr.. Hendricks measured the height of
the grass, and il ranged from 8 to feet.
We had been ascending all the way
from Van Buren,, and when we reached /
the county seat of Shannon,
l thought it was rightly named, for it
is built on the side of one of the highest
of the Ozark range. The
town is small, and the courthouse SIM
liar to the one at Van Buren,, but the
air is SO pure, the springs that gush
from the living rock so clear and cold,
and the people so kind and hospitable,
that, to us from dusty st. Louis, 1t
seemed pleasure enough just to breathe
the mountain air. The streams abound
in fish, which they catch with a spear,
and our kind host never rested till he
loaded his table with this relishable
food for our especial benefit. We spent
a few days with these simple, kindly
people, then took our way down the
mountain. We reached Piedmont i'm
safety, after most pleasant drive thro'
grand and romantic scenery. The trees
On the mountains We're mostly yellow
pine, while along the streams in the val
eys, hickory, oak, and elm abounded.
After taking such a pleasant trip, and
seeing SO many natural wonders, have