The Marshall republican., 1912-03-29
LIVELY YARNS OF
EARLY SALINE.


Services were usually heiu =" "
,o;obbor,s cabin. Notice OF a
ameetingr was promptly and gen
cr,llv circulated and the settlers
,,tended uniformly bringing their
rife. to guard against possible
surprises or to obtain game on the
w,v To or from the service. The
inactive OF carrying firearms was
not abandoned or suspended even
IN the Sabbath. An old pioneer
st,tes that on one occasion rem
,,o,. seryices we're held In IA
line County when the preacher pro
c,,;med the gospel OF peace with
nj. hand and his clothing cover
Cd with blood from 4 deer That
no had killed and ~butchered on
he vay 10 the meeting that morn
ing. The pioneer preachers labor
ed without money and without
price. They gained their subsis-
tence, a. did their neighbors' by
the rifle and by their daily toll
in the clesrings and the corn
fields.
Rev. Justinian williams, Metho-
dist. and Rev. Peyton Nowlin and
Rev. Thomas Kinney, Baptists'
were the frs, preachers In Saline
County. They preached on Ed
mondson's Creek and in the Big
Bottom. "o.d MdH Nowlip,' IS
he was called, was a ssdite gcH-
tleman, dry ss 20 and sHr
mons but with a kind heart and
good intention. His colleague
kinney. however, was Of a jovial
disposition and very popular. He
was without literary Attachments
but Invariably provoked his tom
gregation to Laughter Nowlin
took him TO task upon n oeea-
sion for his levity. Kinney an
swered: "well. I'd rather preach
TO laughing devils than to sleepy
ores, as you do. You make them
sleep and I make them laugh. My
congregation will pass yours on
the road TO heaven ! pct you u
coonskin they will"
Rev. Jesse Green, 4 cabinet maxi
or during the week, and a Metho-
dist minister on Sundays, was a
pioneer preacher who lived near
Arrow Rock. In his shop George
c. Bingham, Missouri's greatest
artist, worked and sketched his
frat pictures with chalk.
In the first days OF Its settle
ment Central Missouri was n hunt
er's paradise. The woods and the
prairies abounded in game and the
iakes ar1 streams in fine fish.
Even the "little prairie pots" as
certain email POOLS OF water were
called, contained fish fully large
enough for the pan. The prlneipa'
fish were crappie, bass, b'ue, ye'-
low and channel catfish, perch,
buffalo and drum.
In the winter OF 1sis-i9 a thick
sleet covered Central Missouri for
weeks, driving ths Eluirre.s from
the snug quarters in tn, hollow
trees to the feds aad corn cribs
by hundreds. The gray and red,
or fox, squirrel e the best
known varieties. They were sell
dom killed, as hunters preferred
larger game. Occasionally one
would be shot to furnish food for
an invalid. The hunter would con
trive to shoot ut the animal W hilc
il WIS on the limb Of 4 tree, send
ing the bullet just under the Gquir-
rel's head and grazing the bark OF
the limb. The conclusion Of the
ball was sufficient to bring The
little animal to the ground. This
was called Barking" the squirrel
Bee tree hunting has been a pop
ular pasttime In Missouri since the
days of the earliest settlers. VIII
liam McMahan, In 1916, led a party
OF hunters who went in canoes up
the Missouri river TO the Little
Rush Bottom after honey. The
hunt occupied three weeks and the
party returned with fifty-eight gal
Ions OF strained honey. They con-
~siderately left seven bee trees Tor
the use OF the next corners.
No elk have been seen in Cen
trail Missouri since 1886. Prior to
that time they were reasonably
plenty. They were attracted by
the prevalence OF the salt licks. Ma
thaniei Walker, or "Uncle Natty,"
as he was Familiarity called, a fam
u pioneer hunter, claims to have
counted fifty elk in a drove an the
knoll near the present Saline CO.
nnty Courthouse. The bear disap-
peared about the year 1910, though
1910. ~ A-sn.I Al /