The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1920-01-09
A WEALTHY AND
PICTURESQUE COUNTRY

MED lengthy write-up of the meet
ing of the Missouri Field Trial CLUB,
which was held at Iron Mountain, in
this county, on Nov. 18th and 18th.
The article appeared in The Ameri-
can Field, sportsman's paper pub
lished in Chicago, of Nov. 18th, and
was written by regular correspond
ent for that paper:
In the foothills of the Ozarks, only
eighty miles from st. Louis, lies a
picturesque bit of country surround
ed by a range of granite-enforced,
low-topped mountains, brown in the
garb of autumn, variegated IN the
summer, but ever the same from year
to year, going through their cycle OF
changes as they have been doing since
time began. Nestled among these
hills is Pleasant Valley, rich in farm
lands, but still richer in iron ore, for
here, during the past seventy-tVe
years or more, this precious and most
useful metal has been mined. At one
time the hum of industry sounded
through these sombcr hills, standing
there like pumed sentinels with their
growth of jack oaks ranging to the
yery crests of the knobs. The val
lev is five miles square The country
was operated by the old Iron Noun
tain company, but for some time no.
thing has been done, one Of the reas-
ons in the past being the inaccessi-
bility and the high cost of transport
ing the ore to the marts of the world.
A railroad now comes within work
ing distance of the place and only
during the last thirty days a change
has come over the place, for in the
near future the noise of the crushers
and the droning of the engines, will
again be heard in these OZARK mis-:
In addition to this, it is IA section OF
country which, from all outward IN.
dicctions, should be the home OF
game in abundance, but they say that
the miners Of the old days were no
;espectors of the game laws and that
Bob White, which was originally so
plentiful here, in years gone by, has
been diminished to the extent, al
most, OF extinction But with the rise
of new conditions Pleasant Valley can |
once more be made the game refuge |
of the State of Missouri. Sixteen
thousand acres of this country is UNI
der lease by John T. Burks. Ten thou
sand of these acres are tillable and ne
is working them and raising wheat and
larger grain on scale that Is Deyonh
the conception of those who know no.
thing of farming under such a plan
Mr.. Burks pays $4,000 year for the
lease and confidently expects 1t to be
a paving venture. Mr.. Burks IS the
kind of a man who will succeed. One
can determine that after few mo-
ments' talk with him. He may have
other plans in reference to the min
ing privileges, that he did not divulge,
but it is certain that the lessee of
Pleasant Valley is figuring in large
numbers, with an idea for the future.
Perhaps the general reader is not
particularly interested in this pream-
Bile, but it has been introduced simply !
to give him an idea Of the place and
tie possibilities that it contains, and
also of things that are in store for the
Missouri Field Trial Club, which has
the privilege to run its trials in this
section.
The trials were scheduled to begin
on November II, and they took place
on the dates set. For once the wealth
err man did not interfere. 1t was the
best brand of weather. Soft, balmy
Indian Summer had come to those ,
sleeping hills guarding the Ozark
chains. Weeks of wet weather had
givcn way to days of sunshine and the
two devoted to the running of the :
Missouri trials were the best we have
experienced so far this season, since
we left the Northwest coast.
Iron Mountain is only little town
of few hundred inhabitants. The
club expected to make headquarters !
in Bismarck, six miles away, and /;
drive out to the grounds each morn ,
ing, but some of the handlers went :
down the day before and it was final :
ly arranged to open the hotel which !
is a much larger structure than one :
might expect for town Of this size !
for the benefit of the field trial con-
tingent, quarters being provided for !
all of the very small party that came
to attend the trials. Naturally, ac-
commodations were of the makeshift, +
hurried variety, for the chef was man.
ager, clerk, dishwasher, maid-of ALI .
work and what not, during the stay. =
It was here that we were transported +
rom Bismarck and here, in the din
ng-room with tables and chairs !;
stacked in one corner, we sat around h
he lamp and talked in the evenings. q
In reference to attendance, that was y
disappointment. Missouri, once the U
tome Of some of the greatest pointer i,
md setter kennels, could scarcely pro- g
luce dozen people for it's trials, de- f
,pite the fact that they took place /,
within eighty miles of st. Louis. y
seems to be radically 4
wrong when State the size of this +
nd with so many sportsmen among G
Is inhabitants, cannot do better for s
eld trials. Perhaps it was because 4
he trials were not generally adver- n
ised or perhaps it might have been i
ue to other causes, one being mis- a
of the dates, but The fact a
emains that among the handlers, on
: j. M. Avent, w. ]. (Okaw) Wilson, g
zee Kneedler and George Payton were
vacant Apoopo, tho cnactators ware