Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-01-10
The Sunk LANDS Of Arkansas.

The Sunk Lands, in southeastern Missouri
and northeastern Arkansas. are a sort of terra
incogaitd. The average newspaper reader knows
more OF either Central Africa or Central Asia.
The country was formerly as beautiful and fertile
plot of land as any on the globe. Rolling
rraries were shaded by heavy forests and trav-
ersed by two beautiful streams. the Little and
st. Francois rivers. The rivers still exist but
the general face of the country was niarveousiy
changed by the great earthquake Of 1Sil-'12
These streams instead OF meandering through
ro!I.n.. praIrieS and priMevai forests, now keep
Their tortuous courses by Q chain OF lakes and
s"amps of cypress and tupelo gum, draped
art!sticaily with elk vine ami gray moss. 1t is a
paradise CT low land scenery. from which millions
of Photographic views might be taken, leaving
millions more of equal beauty untouched
The Sunk Lands proper are 100 miles long
and average sixty miles wide. Tl.ey are di-
versifed with beautiful lakes, rolling prairies
and dense forests. The lakes contain much
open water, and vary in depth from five to
thirty feet. Some are covered with forests of
cypress and tupelo gum. festOoned with moss
ard vines. While canoeing your way over these
weird timber-grown lakes, long vistas beneath
overarching trees and vines open up to view,
and in the dim distance. seemingly miles away.
SO marvellous Is the perspective. the waters of
some open lake are tremuiOus with SunbeamS
These timbered lakes are a favorte resort for
trappers and hunters. They annually capture
thousands of dollars worth of furs. Offers.
beavers. raccOOns. OpOsSums and muskrats are
trapped by tie hundreds. Fine game fish are
also caught here. You can take the black and
southern bass on fly. the trout and silver fish,
the sun perch and the silver side perch, the last
the prettiest and gamest fish ever saw. have
caught them weighing two and one-half pounds,
and black bass and trout weighing from five to
seven pounds Catfish have been taken weigh
ing ninety pounds, and gars eleven feet long
have been killed in these lakes.
The land is unusually fertile. Large farms
under cultivation yield immense crops of corn,
cotton. wheat, rye, oats, sOrgum, potatoes and
other vegetables; yet to stranger the country
seems like an unbrOken forest The timber in
cludcs the most valuable timber known to COM
merce. black walnut, ash, white oak OF the finest
sh!pbuilding quality. post oak. cherry, maple
hickory, blackberry. cypress, catalpa and sas-
safras.
The agricultural possibilities of these Sunk
Lands are great. Before the war it was thought
impracticabe to grow cotton so far north Now
the average yield is about fifteen hundred pounds
seed Gotten, equal to three-quarters OF bale lint
cotton to the acre. This county raised and shipped
last year. in round numbers. fifteen thousand bales
OF cotton. although lying in latitude 36o north.
Hay is also great product. Everything grows
luXuriantly. The peculiar formation of the land
renders 1t dry, and yet perfectly invulnerable to
tine ravages of the most continued drought.
During the dr:cst season of the year it Is not
more than from six to eight feet down to the
level OF the surrounding lakes. The land is a
rich sandy loan, highly porous. The moisture
rises to the surface. Every morning the ground
Is moist and fresh, notwithstanding that on the
day previous it may have been parched SEEM
ingy almost to a cinder by the burning sun and
dry winds.
Watermelons are the crop of crops. richer,
redder, tuicier product does not exist than a
watermelon grown in the Sunk Lands. From
what has been said about the nearness of the
water to the top of the ground. you might be
Eiv,l/t
overflow. Such is not the case. 1t never has
been overflowed within the memory of man.