Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-23
WONDERS OF THE OZARKS
A Region Where Freaks Of Nature Abound
on Every Hand.
Remarkable Box Canyon Rooted over
With a Ciin-waterfau No
One Has Ever Seen
From the ST, Louis Globe Democrat.

| ~ in south Missouri and north Arkansas
| Time and the elements have wrought mar
| Neis above and below ground Riding out
| OF Springfield to the southwark the traveller
| looks from the car window upon what nj
| first sight appears TO be the fossilized form
| of a prehistoric monster. Body legs and
| mead are there I'm massive proportions The
| animal, as 1t appears TO be. stands firmly
! on It's feet. But nearer inspection reveals
| that the mammoth is product of the work
of water course upon an enormous mass
| of lime rock
Along White river. about twenty miles
| below the town of Forsyth is a collection
| OF strange effects The water has nodded
| and left standing erect pillars of rock thirty
| ana forty and nifty feet high. There are
| places on the Buffalo where. as one ap-
| proaches, the towering rocks take on a
startling likeness to castles with walls and
battiements. The cliffs even have natural
| openings which at a distance seem to be
| port holes of fortihcations.
| These rivers make great circuits of miles.
then return upon their courses so nearly
| that only a mighty mass OF rock 800 feet
thick separates. The water on one side or
| this narrow partition is a dozen feet or
| more higher than on the other side, the
| equivalent of the natural fall in the cir
cult of miles.
On Pine mountain, near the MIssouri-Ar-
kansas border, scattered the Murder
| Rocks" as they are known far and wide.
4
| blotched the gray limestone like splashes
| Of blood. 1t was among the Murder Rocks
that ALI Bolen. a bushwhacker, during the
civil war, killed forty men and made the
| name seem historically appropriate
| South of White river, in fancy county, is
| Iron mountain. Nobody knows how much
| or the great hill Is ore, because Iron noun
tain waits, like many other resources of
| the OZarks, upon practical development.
But scattered over the surface are what
seem to be rocks and boulders, but which
| upon examination are discovered 10 be
| masses of red hematite. Specimens Of this
| ore have been tested, and analyses have
| shown high average of purity. Many years
| ago company was formed with a plan TO
| barge this iron down White river. 300 miles
| to the nearest railroad point. A road was
built to the river, warehouses were erected.
1 some tons of ore were hauled and stored.
| With that the exploitation of the fancy
county Iron mountain ended.
| Where Bee creek empties into the White
there is distinctly visible crevasse extend
| ing across the rock bottom Of the larger
stream from bank to bank. That crevasse
| is filled with lead. pure galena, if II had
been melted and run into mold. Fisher
men floating down White river can see this
| streak Of lead through ten or fifteen feet OF
water.
The box canyon is a striking feature Of
| the Ozark topography Cataract creek in
| Baxter county, Ark, may be taken as
| type of the peculiar formation. Riding his
| sure-footed mule up the gorge the traveller
suddenly comes face TO face with lofty,
| overhanging cliffs which bar further pro-
gresS and present an enormous amphtthea-
| ter closing in two-thirds Of a mile. The
| tops of the cliffs are 80 feet from the
| ground. They project over far enough TO
| shelter the space in which regiment OF
men might camp. In two places streams
| of water from springs, one of them TWO
| feet wide flow to the edge and plunge
| downward, becoming spray before they
reach the rocks below. The mountain
brook into which the two streams unite in
the center of the amphitheater noisly
| passes down the gorge loo yards and sinks
out of sight. Under the cliffs OF the box
| canyons are the favorite rOosting places
| for wild turkeys. In the early days, when
hunting was limited to home needs, Hooks
| numbering 800 might be found there, shell
tered from the winter storms Away back
| in the ages when the different strata were
being deposited and before they had mad
| time to harden, mammoth Whirlpool ate
out the amphitheater and LETT 1t Tor man
wonderment. The Ozark country pioneers
could think of no better name for this par
ticular box canyon than Slow Joe, be-
cause a hunter of most deliberate move
ment used TO camp there and wait Tor the
turkeys to come to him. And Slow Joe II
is today There is much that is picturesque
in the Ozark country and very little that
is picturesque in the nomenclature.
The bottomless well is still shown 10
travellers near the south bank Of White
river Descendants of the man who settled
near it and gave his name to Lanerty
creek preserve the story Of the wonderful
phenomenon of 1911. That was the year OF
the New Madrid earthquake which shooh
all of this region, and which may be re-
sponeible for some of the geological mar
wells "Old Man Lafferty told the people
that there came a great shock. He looked
out toward the river and saw muddy wa
ter squirt in great quantity to consldera-
bile height There was an explosion at a
spot near the bank When the disturbance
was over he went to the place where the
explosion had been and found TINS bottom
less well. All attempts TO sound 1t have
failed.
Marble Falls is the Lodore Of the Ozarks.
There are two falls, distinct and separated
by distance of three-quarters of a mile
One Of these falls is hidden. The other Is
i'm full view A stream OF water three feet
deep and ten feet wide rushes forth at The
foot of the cliff. 1t comes from much
higher level, but how much higher no one
knows. STOPPING down and peering under
the stratum of rock from beneath which
the water rushes one can see that short
distance within this water has consider
able fall. 1t tumbles down from some
where above with a rush and a roar and an
accompaniment of foam which tell OF con-
tinuous and rapid descent for some space
A view of this stream bursting forth from
bounds with the muffled rumble com
ing from underground is even more i'm
pressive than that nearly a mile below
where the mass slides off ledge and drops
in beautiful sheet, crystal clear, sixty
five feet
Lost rivers are innumerable. In fact the
stream which does not lose itself several
times before It concludes to run along on
Top IN an ouerly ldSnIOn Is an
exception. r ride of half day along a
north Arkansas valley will furnish re-
peated illustrations Of the peculiar charac-
ter of the channels. A creek running half
way to the wagon hubs will be in sight
for a mile or two. Then will come a
crossing where the channel is a bed OF
gravel, dry and dusty, without water in
sight above or below. A mile further
the creek is pursuing its joyous. ripping
way. Stretches of dry bed and of dancing
water alternate Inc water sinks noise
lessly and entirely into a bed of sand at
one place and appears without any fuss
oozng up from another bed further down.
Even when the Buffalo and the White. the
main rivers of this region. have attained
large proportions they do not wholly avoid
the underground channels. In places these
rivers will show a much smaller volume
than at points miles above. In other places
notable additions are made by openings in
the door close beside the river from which
the water boils up and Joins the river.
There few of the caves Of considera-
BILE size which do not have their lost rfv-
ers." Through them flow streams of con-
siderable volume. The lost river comes
out Of one side, crosses the cave and dis
appears In the other side. Often there is
not a sound, not so much as a ripple OF