Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1921-08-04
Arcadia Valley.

Ob. Louis Cultural muuenc66 are
more and more 'looking unto the
hills for their summer outings. Ar
cadia, in the Ozarks, ninety-two
miles from st. Louis, is in this respect
name to conjure by. Hilltop as
semblies in this beautiful and historic
district have taken permanent root.
Methodist and Baptist assemblies on
their separate, denominationally.-
owned mountains, have built taber-
nacles and dining room, with "bunga-
lettes' and tents, and their colonies
this year are enjoying the best attend
ance they ever had. Increasing
fringes of city families are seen in
summer homes on the well-paved
"St. Louis lane," leading out from
the Arcadia village, or on "Maple
way" which branches off amid many
shade trees, near the ''mile of sugar
naples" owned by the new Baptist
Home for the Aged.
Farther into the wilds, rough drive
over mountain shale and phosphore'
scent tree trunks discloses a "clear-
ing" of the Tricity and Edwardsville
Boy Scouts, between mountains, and
Stout's Creek, such scenery as j.
Fenimore Cooper would have well
coined into his Leather Stocking
Tales, Here are orderly, mannerly
boys, doing their "kind actevery day."
Notwithstanding all their boisterous
games, their swimming, their scout
ing for frewood, and their building
of bridges out of material from the
forest. Twenty three miles away, at
Irondale, on the Iron Mountain Rail-
road, the same as Arcadia, are Boy
Scouts from st. Louis troops, likewise
building up sinew by camp life, send
ing out "signals," playing baseball
and hiking to Lake Killarney.
These green mountain tops and the
Arcadian countryside were piquantly
described by Rev. o. Fl. Dnggins,
presiding elder, in welcoming ad-
dress on the evening of July 10, to
the first of the Arcadia Methodist AS
semblies, the Epworth League.
"The st. Louis Conference" he
said, sis divided, like 'all Gaul,' into
three parts. To the north is the
great city, to the south are Missouri's
aluvial swamps, and sandwiched in
the center between them both is the
Pennington District, which contains
Arcadia. We who live here are in
clined to think that the center of the
st. Louis Conference sandwich is the
best part of it,"
The peak Pilot Knob, among geolo-
gists, has been spoken of as antedat-
ing the food. 1t was the first piece of
land, say some of the scientists, that
arose above the universal submer-
genoe. This is not common tradition;
most of the inhabitants of Arcadia
know nothing of it; it is simply
pragmatic laboratory theory, accept
ed unless something else comes in to
disprove it.
Pilot Knob, to- be sure, looks the
part. It's irregular outline stands out
distinctively, higher than all the other
mountains, and bearing no verdure
on its crown, solitary bald head. 1t
has given to the world magnificent
supply of iron ore in the last fifty
years. A decade or more ago it was
let alone for considerable period
and people said that Pilot Kdob was
s'exhausted." Such was not the case,
however; mining there at the time
was abandoned because iron could
then be obtained elsewhere with less
effort and expense. But Pilot Knob
is now being worked again in a moder-
ate way.
Shepherds Mountain, near by, is
not as big or as distinguished as Pilot
Knob. 1t cannot say "The land that
you see from the steeple belonged to
us all from the food" but 1t has a
civil war history. Here stood Fort
Davidson, and the battle of Pilot
Knob was fought, and the old land
marks are pointed out from the cir
cular drive seven miles around the
base of the mountain.
Fort Hill of the civil war stood on
the present site of Arcadia's Method
ist Church. The Southern people
thereabouts had brought brick and
stone to build them church at this
place, but they built fort instead
which was later destroyed by fede raj
guns. After the war ended a church
was finally built.
Gen. Grant received his commits
sion as General on the grounds at
Irontop, a mile from Arcadia, where
brace of cannon, heap of cannon
4 balls and statue commemorate the
spot. He had been here with his regi-
ment in 1861. Twenty five years
ofte,u,o rd tho man xuho hod onrva1