All Around Arkansas: Plantation Agriculture Museum

                

                Just outside my hometown of North Little Rock (Pulaski County) lies the small unincorporated community of Scott, Arkansas (located in both Pulaski and Lonoke Counties). I used to visit Scott often, as my favorite burger restaurant in The Natural State was located there—Cotham’s Mercantile. Sadly, the general store-turned-restaurant burned to the ground in 2017. As a result, I don’t travel to Scott as much as I once did, but it’s always an interesting place to go to with lots of things to see and do.

                The community of Scott started in 1871, when the St. Louis Southwestern Railroad (commonly known as the Cotton Belt) was constructed through the area. The new rail station was built on property belonging to Conoway Scott Sr., who was one of the sons of one of the area’s first white settlers, John Scott, who arrived in 1844. The depot was named Scott’s Crossing. A gentleman by the name of Thomas Steele built a plantation in the area in 1850. In 1912, Conoway Scott built a large brick building to house his proposed general store. The store eventually did open, but was opened by the Foster Family and was called Foster's General Store. A U.S. post office was opened in the store in 1929. Eventually, the name of the community was shortened from Scott’s Crossing to Scott.

                In 1885, William Dortch married into the Steele family. By 1904, Dortch built his own plantation on Bearskin Lake, as well as an elegant mansion he named Marlsgate. The home was designed by noted architect Charles L. Thompson. Thompson designed Little Rock’s city hall, as well as several county courthouses across Arkansas. In January 1975, Marlsgate was added to the National Register of Historic Places and is open to the public for weddings, parties and receptions. In fact, yours truly has performed a couple of weddings on the grounds of the elegant estate.

                While “King Cotton” was the main crop grown on the plantations in Scott, that would change, as Robert Dortch—the youngest son of William Dortch—began to experiment with other crops, such as soybeans. Dortch created a hybrid cotton seed which he marketed as “Roldo Rowden.” In 1964, he opened a small museum featuring farm equipment that had once been used on the old Dortch plantation. The museum was located in a stately brick building that had been built in 1912. William Dortch passed away in 1972, and the struggling museum closed its doors in 1978. However, at the urging of local residents and politicians, the Arkansas General Assembly voted in 1985 to fund the purchase and renovation of the property, which led to the creation of the Arkansas state park, known as Plantation Agricultural Museum. The museum officially opened to the public in June 1989. Its mission was to “collect, preserve, record, and interpret the history of cotton agriculture, with an emphasis on Arkansas plantations.” Today, Plantation Agriculture Museum’s collection consists of more than 10,000 artifacts. Its exhibits take visitors “from the field to the gin” and demonstrate how cotton was grown and harvested in the pre-mechanized era. 

                Outside the museum building, the Dortch Gin Exhibit building features a 1920s Munger cotton gin and cotton press that has been accurately restored and assembled in its original condition by ginning experts. William Dortch’s 10,000-square-foot seed warehouse was also restored to its original condition. The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in January 2010. Other outside exhibits include a cotton pen, a variety of steam traction engines and a collection of antique tractors and farm implements. 

                Admission to Plantation Agriculture Museum is free. For more information on times of operation and special events, visit the park’s website at www.arkansasstateparks.com/plantationagriculturemuseum.

            Also nearby in Scott is Plum Bayou (formerly Toltec Mounds) Archaeological State Park, which is a must-see if you’re in the Scott area.  I’ll be writing more about that park in a future column.

            Scott is indeed an interesting place especially for history buffs that enjoy learning about the agricultural aspect of Arkansas of the mid-1800s and early 1900s. But if you visit, just don’t go expecting to find a hubcap burger.

All Around Arkansas: Louisiana Purchase State Park

                

                In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson made one of the greatest real estate deals in history when he purchased 800,000 square acres of land west of the Mississippi River from France for $15 million. 

                The Louisiana Purchase, as it came to be called, allowed the United States to open up lands in the west for settlement, secured the nation’s borders against foreign invaders and gave traders the right to deposit goods duty-free at port cities, especially in the larger port cities such as New Orleans. 

                In what would eventually become the state of Arkansas, the deal helped end French and Spanish control, as Americans from the East Coast settled the area.

                The Louisiana Purchase more than doubled the size of the country and brought all the territory that would become Arkansas under U.S. ownership. In 1815, President James Madison ordered a survey be conducted to establish a system for distributing free land to veterans of the War of 1812. In November 1815, Prospect K. Robbins led a group of men to survey a north-south line that would be known as the fifth principal meridian, which crossed an east-west baseline that had been surveyed by a party led by Joseph Brown. The crossing of these lines became the inaugural point from which future surveys of Louisiana Purchase lands began. Robbins’s party marked two trees in a murky swamp about eighteen inches in diameter as witness trees to delineate the crossing.

                While re-surveying the boundary between Lee and Phillips counties in 1921, surveyors Tom Jacks and Eldridge Douglas of Helena-West Helena (Phillips County) discovered those witness trees. As a result, the L’Anguille Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters’ of the American Revolution in Marianna (Lee County) placed a granite marker at the site and held a dedication ceremony there on Oct. 27, 1926.

                The Arkansas General Assembly authorized a state park to be built at and around the marker’s site in 1961. Early development of the park began with the help from local citizens and civic organizations. The monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on Feb. 23, 1972. In April 1977, the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission added the swamp in which the stone marker sat to the Arkansas State Registry of Natural Areas and gave money to buy the park site. The Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism granted the commission a conservation easement on the site, which helped provide legal protection for its natural and historical features. Further development of park facilities began in 1977, and was completed in 1980. A 950-foot boardwalk was built from the swamp’s edge to the monument. 

                In June 1981, the boardwalk to the marker in Louisiana Purchase State Park was designated as a National Recreation Trail by the U.S. Department of the Interior. In April 1993, the National Park Service designated the point a National Historic Landmark. In preparation of the Louisiana Purchase’s bicentennial celebration in 2003, numerous upgrades and renovations were made to the park.

                Not only is the park famous for the stone marker, but it is well-known for the fauna and wildlife that inhabit its swamp. The swamp is home to swamp tupelo, bald cypress, black willow and buttonbush, in proximity with upland species such as sweet gum, mulberry, Nuttall oak and sassafras. Many species of birds such as the belted kingfisher, the pileated woodpecker and the barred owl can often be seen.

                Louisiana Purchase State Park sits at the end of Arkansas 362, two miles east of U.S. Highway 49, about 19 miles southeast of Brinkley (Monroe County) and about 30 miles northwest of Helena-West Helena. The park has no amenities — there's no visitors’ center, campgrounds or picnic areas. But public restrooms were added in April 2021. That same year, state park employees raised the granite monument and set it on a new base, so that it would no longer be submerged during times of high water.

                And while the park is a bit off the beaten path, its natural beauty and historical significance not just to Arkansas, but the entire country, is well worth the time you’ll spend in the swamp that is Louisiana Purchase State Park.

All Around Arkansas: Natural Steps, Arkansas

                

                Eighteen miles north of Little Rock on Highway 300 is the community of Natural Steps, which takes its name from an unusual geological formation called “Natural Steps.” The Natural Steps are two parallel, vertical sandstone walls that stand about 20 feet apart. The rocks form natural steps that rise about 51 feet above the bank of the Arkansas River. The Natural Steps still stand today and are used as a marker for river runners. Unfortunately, the Natural Steps are now on private property and not open to the public.

                Local legend states that French explorer Bernard de la Harpe spent time in the area. La Harpe is most famous for discovering the sandstone outcropping known as “La Petit Roche,” or "the Little Rock." La Harpe and his party were returning from their trip up the Arkansas River and back down to the little rock when they spotted the Natural Steps.

                Naturalist Thomas Nuttall wrote “A Journal of Travels into the Arkansas Territory During the Year 1819” about his travels from 1819–1821 along the Arkansas River. Nuttall noted in his journal that he encountered Native Americans, mostly Quapaw, in the Natural Steps area in 1819.

                Beginning in 1822, the "Natural Steps" provided a convenient stop for visitors by riverboat to disembark for their hike to nearby Maumelle Mountain, which is now known as Pinnacle Mountain. Visitation to the mountain from Natural Steps increased with the construction of the local railroad in the 1890s. With common use of the automobile and improved roads in the early 20th century, climbing the pinnacle became even more popular and accessible.

                The Natural Steps were first written about by Arkansas’ state geologist, David D. Owen, in his Second Report of a Geological Reconnaissance of the Middle and Southern Counties of Arkansas, which was commissioned by Gov. Elias Conway in 1859. Owen also made detailed sketches of the Natural Steps that he included as his report. 

                In 1870, Col. John Macomb and S.T. Abert of the Little Rock District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, set out to map the Arkansas River and show low-water depths and other features important to river travel. In their maps, a drawing and location of the "Natural Steps" were included.

                A small skirmish in the Brooks-Baxter War took place on the Arkansas River at Natural Steps in May 1874, when the steamboat “Hallie” was deployed to intercept a flatboat reportedly coming down the river carrying weapons for the supporters of Joseph Brooks, whose loyalists along the bank were successful in disabling the steamboat.

                Many stories and legends are associated with Natural Steps. One legend has it that Jesse James and his gang spent the night in Natural Steps and robbed a Benton stagecoach the following day as they traveled to Hot Springs. Another says that Confederate forces sunk one of their gunboats at the Natural Steps to keep Union soldiers from getting the gold on board. In the late 19th century, a man waiting to catch a steamboat at the foot of the steps found a $5 gold piece. But no gold has been found in the Natural Steps area since.

                Natural Steps also has its own ghost story. Supposedly, a young woman named Martha married Gustavus Sanders in October 1888. But Gustavus died shortly after. The grief-stricken widow, known as the “Woman in White,” vanished a few days later, and it was thought she committed suicide by jumping off the Natural Steps into the Arkansas River. It has long been claimed that Martha can be seen each year in late October wandering the Natural Steps Cemetery.

                I hope the Natural Steps are opened to visitors someday, as I would love to see this unusual geographic formation that has been at the heart of several important events in our great state’s history. I’ll keep my fingers crossed!

All Around Arkansas: Lake DeGray

                With summer officially here, thousands of Arkansans will flock to the state's many beautiful lakes. Arkansas is blessed with both natural and man-made lakes that are perfect for boating, swimming, fishing and other recreational activities. One of those bodies of water is Lake DeGray near Arkadelphia (Clark County). 

                The lake and dam take its name from the misspelling of a French fur trader named DeGraff, who settled the Lake DeGray region in the early 1800s. 

                The site where DeGray Dam was built had been considered for a dam since 1908, when Harvey Couch, founder of Arkansas Power & Light (now Entergy Arkansas Inc.), visited the area with the idea of creating another hydroelectric project. In 1950, as part of the River and Harbors Act, Congress authorized a dam to be built on the Caddo River. But funding was delayed due to the Korean War. At the urging of U.S. Sen. John McClellan and U.S Rep. Oren Harris, both of Arkansas, Congress added money for the dam in the 1959 Water Supply Act.

                The Vicksburg District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, began work on DeGray Dam in 1962 and completed it in 1972 at a cost of $63.8 million. Potashnick Construction Co. of Cape Girardeau, Missouri built the dam and dike, while Arkansas Rock & Gravel Co. in nearby Murfreesboro (Pike County) built the spillway. 

                The 14,000-acre lake has an average depth of 47 feet. While Lake DeGray’s main purpose was initially for flood control, it has become an important water source and recreational area. DeGray Dam is also a producer of hydroelectric power, which makes the lake one of the most efficient and energy producing projects in the southern U.S.

                The Corps owns and operates nine campgrounds around the lake, including two playgrounds, five swim areas, several miles of biking trails, five miles of hiking trails and 11 boat ramps. A visitors’ center, featuring the history of the area and the construction of the dam and lake, is operated near DeGray Dam.

                With a lease from the Corps, the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism opened DeGray Lake Resort State Park in 1974 just a few miles north of DeGray Dam. By 1975, an 18-hole golf course was added to the park. Other amenities include campsites with electric and water hookups, an amphitheater, a visitors’ center, tennis and basketball courts, a horseback riding stable, hiking trails, picnic areas, boat ramps and swimming beaches.

                The centerpiece of DeGray Lake Resort State Park is the 94-room lodge and convention center. The center is available for family reunions, company retreats, conventions and lakefront weddings. A restaurant and day spa are also located there. The lodge was privately managed from 1975 until the state parks division of the Department of Parks & Tourism assumed operation in 1985.

                Thanks to the state's one-eighth conservation tax, which voters approved in 1996 to provide funds for the Department of Parks & Tourism, the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, and Keep Arkansas Beautiful, $10 million has been spent on improvements and renovations at the park. 

                And Lake DeGray is a fisherman’s mecca. The lake hosts numerous fishing tournaments and is home to large populations of catfish and crappie. It's also known for its excellent hybrid striped bass fishery. These fish are stocked in the lake, since no natural reproduction takes place in its waters. 

                Lake DeGray’s shoreline is pristine with beautiful views of the Ouachita Mountains and forests. No houses are allowed to be built on Lake DeGray, which helps preserve the natural shoreline.

                Whether it’s a day trip to the lake for swimming or boating or a weekend spent camping or staying in the state park lodge, Lake DeGray is the perfect place this time of year. And the natural beauty you’ll find there helps give Arkansas its nickname, “The Natural State.”