The Pulaskian., 1918-11-15
OUR OWN STORY TELLERS
THE Observation-Disclosures CAVE.
80 Mrs. George Prothro.

disturbances no doubt all over the
Cnited States, and the neighborhood
OF Maumelle, Ark, was no exception
to the rule. Rumors of war were
hailed with delight; no forethought of
starvation and ruin, of death and des-
olation, occurred to the hearty settlers
of the beautiful Maumelle Valley
Around the old Methodist camp
ground they met to practice arms.
and even the good old preacher found
plenty of Scripture in favor Of wars.
The women cheered and encouraged
their men folk, and one bright, spring
morning they met before the old
church door and formed line to
march away.
There they bid their loved ones
goodbye cheerfully, for they expected
to be back soon. No longer than nine
ty days at most would they be gone,
when the brave, hot-blodded Southern
er expected to have taught the med
ding Yankee lesson, and be little
worse off for the teaching
The most prominent men of the
neighborhood were Prof. Henry Lyle
and j. B. Mills, having adjoining
farms and many ideas in common
they were great friends. They work
ed together as if both farms We're
one, and each consulted the other in
business affairs. Owning some forty
or fifty slaves apiece they were purse
proud aristocratic types of the veal
thy Southerners Of that day When
the war came Prof. Lytle made active
preparations for entering the army.
Let us go together and volunteer, :,
said Lyle. Perhaps we can get an
official position if we are in time ;,
Why, l can't &c" said Mills. "You
know | am physically incapable, and
there are our wives and children that
Will have to be protected l had bet
ter stay and watch after them and
there will be enough without me any
way" Lyle modified his troops
and went to the front, while the 9th
ers stayed at home and when stran-
gers approached, disappeared in the
woods He looked after both farms
in a fashion, but most of his time
was spent with some others in the
woods and no one knew exactly where
to find him
There was a class here as every
where else in the South, locally known
as poor whites who, secretly wish
ed for the defeat of the South, as by
iberating the slaves it would bring
White people more on an equality.
Some Of them in fear Of public opin-
ion and also for glory went to war
Others skulked in the woods and
fought friend and foe alike In and
out, here and there, pilfering and
plundering, intimidating and killing,
they were much more to be feared
than the soldiers. This class was
known in some sections as "Jayhaw-
kers" and had a permanent organiza-
ton, but at Maumelle these loose,
unorganized bands were known as
"Bushwhackers.
Little Maumelle' as it is called (for
there is a Little and a Big Maumelle)
is very mountainous district. 1t is
composed of hills and valleys, valleys
and hills alternately. Towering above
all the rest, is the mountain known
far and near, as the pinnacle" It
rises to point twelve hundred feet
above the surrounding country. 1t is
only about three miles around the
base, and its steep, rocky sides defy
II o.
it's summit 1t would seem as if Ma
ture in a childish freak had brought
it from afar, and after shaping it like
high peaked hat, had put it down
here between the Little Maumelle
Greek and the Arkansas River
During the war the Pinnacle was a
fayorite abiding place for the lawless
"Bushwhackers" Though it had no
prodigious caves, yet there were bas-
ms followed out, large boulders be-
hind which to hide and on one side
near the base there was a deep gulley
with a cleft of rock over hanging,
which formed retreat sufficient for
the needs of the motley gangs of
men that slept there in the day and
hid their stolen goods there at night
Many interesting and thrilling tales it
could tell, if it had power of speech
But all the sayings and deeds con-
nected with it, will never come TO
light. Yet the following incidents
have gotten to be local history. And
travellers flying by on the cars can
see traces of what was once the
"Bushwhacker's Cave; and if one Of
our old settlers should be present, he
can point out the spot where the rail
road cut through the long closed up
tunnel, and tell the story of it about
the same as it is here.
John Johnson was an overseer on
the farm of Lyle and there was en-
nifty between him and Mills. Mills
had often tried to get Lyle to dis
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