C. M. Jones and Company, Pettigrew (Madison County), 1910s. Bob Besom Collection (S-82-213-53)

When the first settlers came to Northwest Arkansas, they found forests thick with large, ancient trees—one-hundred-foot-tall white oaks, red cedar trees two to four feet in diameter, huge stands of hickory and walnut flanking the hillsides. The settlers cleared the land for crops and used the timber to build new lives. Then the railroads came, opening new markets for the region’s greatest natural resource.

Hardwoods were the first to be logged, the old-growth timber perfect for railroad ties and mine props. Commercial uses were found for other woods—ash and hickory for making tool handles, locust for making fence posts. In Newton County red cedar trees were virtually ignored until 1903, when the Houston, Ligett and Canada Cedar Company began harvesting them and floating the logs down the Buffalo River to Searcy County, over 50 miles downstream. All that hard and dangerous work to make pencils!

“Many thousands of acres of valuable farm lands [have been opened up] . . . Hence, the removal of our vast forest is merely opening the way for greater possibilities.”
Green Forest Tribune, 1913

Sawmill near the Little Buffalo River, Possum Hollow (Newton County), 1900s–1910s. On the left stands a wagonload of logs waiting to be off-loaded onto the skids (center), before being rolled onto the log carriage. A ramshackle shed offers weather protection to the mill equipment inside. In the foreground boards are loosely stacked for air-drying. Richard and Melba Holland Collection (S-98-2-403)

Once an area had been heavily logged of the first- and second-growth timber, there often wasn’t enough vegetation to hold back erosion. Soil washed down the hillsides, exposing bare rock. Habitat for animals was destroyed and new plant species took over. Some folks tried to farm these areas or use them for grazing animals, but found it difficult. In some places the land was left to heal itself. In others it was burned to clear vegetation after which low-value plants (at least in the lumberman’s eyes) moved in.

Others thought to “reclaim” the land for different purposes. Scientists with the U.S. Soil Conservation Service and other agencies believed that the “low-grade” trees in “much of the so-called Ozark Forest [was] not true forest.” In 1953, at a time when Texas and other southwestern states were experiencing drought, cattlemen looked to the Arkansas Ozarks and neighboring states as possible places to graze their herds. They bought Arkansas land and sprayed chemicals to kill off blackjack and post oaks and other “useless” scrub plants to allow bluestem and other native grasses to grow.

“If trees were planted on this land, and even down in the fertile valleys, the seed would come up and grow. It is too bad the landowners and others did not look to the future of reforesting the cedar brakes.”
Daniel Boone Lackey
Newton County Homestead, April 1960

Stacks of railroad ties, split-rail fencing, and boards await shipment in downtown Pettigrew (Madison County), 1900s–1910s. R. W. Schroll Collection (S-89-51-20)

For a time it seemed that anyone with a saw could turn hard work into a fortune. Near War Eagle (Benton County), Peter Van Winkle and his enslaved workers began a lumber empire in the 1850s, supplying material for many fine area homes. Over in Carroll County in the late 1870s, Franizisca Massman and her logging crews were hurriedly chopping down trees (sometimes without the landowner’s permission) in the fast-growing town of Eureka Springs. By 1887 Hugh F. McDanield of Washington County had exported over $2 million in railroad ties at about 25 cents each. That’s about eight million ties!

McDanield was among the first to exploit the railroad. He bought thousands of acres of land along the Frisco and sent out his loggers. Once he exhausted the resources of southern Washington County he looked east. In 1886 he began building a railroad line from Fayette Junction to Madison County (later the St. Paul branch of the Frisco), sparking a string of lumber boomtowns like Baldwin, Elkins, Durham, Crosses, Delaney, Patrick, Combs, and St. Paul. People flocked to the hills to get in on the action. Towns sprang up overnight with all the amenities of bigger cities. At one time St. Paul had three hotels, a number of businesses and churches, a baseball team, a brass band, and twelve nearby sawmills. Today its population is less than 200.

A few miles east of St. Paul, Pettigrew sprang up virtually overnight because of the logging industry. Although the town’s population was small, a number of businesses were started to meet the needs of the lumber industry and offer amenities to the surrounding population. Since Pettigrew was the end of the line for the Frisco’s St. Paul branch, lumber from the surrounding hills and communities was brought there and piled as closely as possible to the railroad tracks to make loading easier. Lightweight fence posts could be loaded easily by teenage boys but it took strong men to load the heavy railroad ties. At the Frisco tie yard in Rogers in the early 1900s, it was said the African-American workers were able to load ties singlehandedly. Unlike the rest of the local black population, which was sometimes harassed or threatened in those days, these tough men were left alone.

Saturdays were often busy as that was the day many folks hauled their lumber into town to sell. They took their payment vouchers to the bank, cashed them in, purchased food and supplies, and perhaps grabbed a bite to eat at a café. In the morning a bank’s cash reserves were depleted; by evening they had been replenished, thanks to the merchants depositing the day’s take.

“Before noon wagons were lined for from a quarter to a mile along all roads heading into town. At times the timber was stacked so high that only a narrow road remained for wagons to move between.”
Robert G. Winn
Northwest Arkansas Times, March 10, 1986

Stacks of railroad ties, split-rail fencing, and boards await shipment in downtown Pettigrew (Madison County), 1900s–1910s. R. W. Schroll Collection (S-89-51-20)

For a time it seemed that anyone with a saw could turn hard work into a fortune. Near War Eagle (Benton County), Peter Van Winkle and his enslaved workers began a lumber empire in the 1850s, supplying material for many fine area homes. Over in Carroll County in the late 1870s, Franizisca Massman and her logging crews were hurriedly chopping down trees (sometimes without the landowner’s permission) in the fast-growing town of Eureka Springs. By 1887 Hugh F. McDanield of Washington County had exported over $2 million in railroad ties at about 25 cents each. That’s about eight million ties!

McDanield was among the first to exploit the railroad. He bought thousands of acres of land along the Frisco and sent out his loggers. Once he exhausted the resources of southern Washington County he looked east. In 1886 he began building a railroad line from Fayette Junction to Madison County (later the St. Paul branch of the Frisco), sparking a string of lumber boomtowns like Baldwin, Elkins, Durham, Crosses, Delaney, Patrick, Combs, and St. Paul. People flocked to the hills to get in on the action. Towns sprang up overnight with all the amenities of bigger cities. At one time St. Paul had three hotels, a number of businesses and churches, a baseball team, a brass band, and twelve nearby sawmills. Today its population is less than 200.

A few miles east of St. Paul, Pettigrew sprang up virtually overnight because of the logging industry. Although the town’s population was small, a number of businesses were started to meet the needs of the lumber industry and offer amenities to the surrounding population. Since Pettigrew was the end of the line for the Frisco’s St. Paul branch, lumber from the surrounding hills and communities was brought there and piled as closely as possible to the railroad tracks to make loading easier. Lightweight fence posts could be loaded easily by teenage boys but it took strong men to load the heavy railroad ties. At the Frisco tie yard in Rogers in the early 1900s, it was said the African-American workers were able to load ties singlehandedly. Unlike the rest of the local black population, which was sometimes harassed or threatened in those days, these tough men were left alone.

Saturdays were often busy as that was the day many folks hauled their lumber into town to sell. They took their payment vouchers to the bank, cashed them in, purchased food and supplies, and perhaps grabbed a bite to eat at a café. In the morning a bank’s cash reserves were depleted; by evening they had been replenished, thanks to the merchants depositing the day’s take.

“Before noon wagons were lined for from a quarter to a mile along all roads heading into town. At times the timber was stacked so high that only a narrow road remained for wagons to move between.”
Robert G. Winn
Northwest Arkansas Times, March 10, 1986

Moving the Johnson sawmill’s boiler from Red Star (Madison County), about 1920. Oscar Bennett rides the mule nearest the wagon. Rope has been used to help stabilize the heavy, round boiler on the wagon. Jim Bennett Collection (S-96-38-8)

When Northwest Arkansas lumber baron Peter Van Winkle rebuilt his sawmill after the Civil War, the huge steam boilers and other heavy equipment he purchased in St. Louis were shipped down the Mississippi River and then up the Arkansas River to Van Buren. From there they were loaded onto oxcarts and hauled over the Boston Mountains. There were few roads then. The men had to hack their way through the forest and ford dangerous streams. As one worker said, it was “a nightmare every foot of the journey.” In a time before paved roads and gasoline-powered vehicles, horses and mules were used to transport logs, lumber, and sawmill equipment from forest to mill to railroad depot. Sure-footed animals were able to navigate the rocky and hilly mountains. Even after logging trucks began to be used, mules were sometimes needed to pull a stuck vehicle from a muddy rut in the road.

Sawmill, Bentonville/Hiwasse area (Benton County), 1900s-1910s. Wagons loaded with logs and boards wait near the mill set (center) which is powered by a steam engine (right). A large pile of sawdust sits nearby. Monte Harris Collection (S-86-319-80)

Most of the area’s sawmills were temporary. The mill set (the engine, saw blade, tracks, and carriage) were set up where timber and water for the boiler were plentiful. When the trees were depleted, the equipment was packed up and moved to the next location.

“[As a “dust doodler”] I had to keep the sawdust out from under the saw. . . .We would fill a number three washtub with dust, drag it away from the saw, dump it, then go back and fill it again. This went on all day—a pretty tough job for a six-year-old.”
Farrel Henson
White River Valley News, September 7, 2000

Sawmill, Hickory Creek (Benton County), 1910s. The sawyer stands near the edge of the log carriage and saw blade (left). Underneath is a pit where sawdust collects. At center a man holds a slab of wood removed from the log. On the right sits an upright boiler on a long, stone firebox. The engine and flywheel used to operate the machinery can be seen behind the men on the right. Don Reynolds Collection (S-2005-11-5)

A good sawyer worked quickly to keep from wasting time and energy. He constantly evaluated the log he was working, deciding which way to turn it, watching for hidden problems like rot or knotholes. A wrong decision would mean the loss of valuable lumber.

Children often worked in the timber woods and at the sawmill. And just like the men’s work, their work was long, exhausting, and sometimes dangerous. Young boys moved logs around, hauled wood for the boilers, and took care of the mounting pile of sawdust. Sometimes whole families worked at the mill. When she was a young girl in the early 1920s, Ruby Norton Watson of Newton County lived in a stave-bolt camp with her parents. Every morning she had to make the beds in the mill hands’ tents and sweep the floor. For fun she and the other kids in camp would play on the huge pile of staves. The shifting pile of wood was a dangerous place. According to Ruby, if the kids had fallen, “it would have killed them.”

“My dad [Orville Martin] went to work as soon as he was big enough to work—fifteen or sixteen—doing a man’s work every day. Boys that age would be put on one end of a crosscut saw—a “misery whip,” they called it—with an older man on the other end of the saw. . . . The old men took advantage of the boys, working the living God out of them. It made them tough, I guess.”
Wayne Martin
Pettigrew, Arkansas: Hardwood Capital of the World, 2010

Sawmill, Goshen (Washington County), 1900s–1910s. The men in front hold cant hooks (metal hooks on wood poles) to turn the log on the carriage. Attached to the upright headblocks on the carriage are “dogs” which hold the log in place. Ruth Flanagan Collection (S-84-234-6)

“When the sawyer sends the log through the saw you catch the slab that’s been sawed off, throw it in one pile, and turn back in time to grab up each eight-foot section of one-by or two-by and stack ‘em. . . . [Off-bearing is] not only a tough job, it’s a dangerous one. I’ve seen splinters of wood driven two or three inches into a shed wall.”
Farrel Henson
White River Valley News, September 7, 2000

Firing the boiler at the Albright sawmill, Red Star, (Madison County), 1930s. The round, metal boiler is seen next to the shoulder of the fireman who appears to be wearing a key-operated clock used to record various duties. The engine’s flywheel is seen in the shadows on the right. Otto Bennett Collection (S-99-66-750)

Early sawmills were powered by steam. A round, metal boiler was placed in a stone or brick enclosure or balanced on a few logs. Slabs and other scrap wood were fed into the firebox underneath the water-filled boiler. The resulting heat turned the water into steam. Steam pressure forced pistons to move, which then powered the sawmill blade and other machinery. Exhausted steam left through a tall flue pipe. If the boiler ran out of water the pressure would build quickly, causing the boiler to explode.

The boiler wasn’t the only danger. With a huge quantity of sawdust flying in the air, scrap wood piled everywhere, and a boiler needing constant supervision, fire was a constant danger. Many mills burned down. Sawyers lost fingers, hands, and more due to distraction, stuck pieces of wood, or equipment failure. At the Johnson mill in Madison County, Richmond Johnson lost two fingers at the cutoff table saw while his brother, Will, lost one on the bandsaw. Their father Noah lost a finger to another machine. In Prairie Grove (Washington County), Henry Brotherton was killed in 1915 when he fell against a circular saw while trying to reset the log carriage back on its track. He was cut into three pieces.

“Green Burgess and Luker [Luke] Carter were killed instantly about noon Tuesday near Wharton [Madison County] when the boiler of a sawmill [exploded]. . . . Burgess was blown through the roof of the mill shed and his horrible mangled body fell only a few feet from where he had stood. Both legs were broken, one ear about torn off, and his head and face practically bursted open. Carter was found about fifty yards from the mill, having been hurled over a fence into a potato patch. . . . So terrific was the explosion that the boiler was blown about 25 feet from its base.”
Rogers Democrat, August 26, 1915

Cutoff table saw at the Albright sawmill, Red Star, 1930s. Otto Bennett Collection (S-99-66-762)

Samuel Arthur “Buddie” Bivens holding the leading reins of a log wagon, possibly Pruitt (Newton County), 1910s–1920s. Richard and Melba Holland Collection (S-98-2-227)

Horses and mules were critical in the logging industry. They “snaked” (dragged) newly cut logs out of the woods, pulled lumber wagons, and moved mill sets from place to place. Out in the timber woods, some mules were accustomed to the sound of falling trees and wouldn’t react, but others would get spooked. Some animals were smart and patiently backed up to the log, ready to be hitched to the sled dog, a tool used to grab hold of the log. It was important for the mule driver to be uphill of the log, just in case the animal decided to bolt forward once it was hitched to the log.

In Carroll County in the 1920s, Darius Quigley was proud of his matched teams of Belgian Red draft horses. Sometimes the horses would get spooked and run away while they were hitched to the wagon, scattering lumber everywhere. On one occasion, the wagon nudged too closely to the team before the brakes could be applied. The animals ran two miles home before they could be stopped.

“The road such as it was went up the creek bed to the foot of the hill, and then up a long steep hill. It was about all those poor mules could do to pull that loaded wagon up the hill . . .  After a lot of grunting and pushing and resting . . . we finally got to the cross tie yard at Winslow.”
Raymond L. Jones
Washington County Observer, December 10, 1981

Rufie Martin’s logging truck at the Martin sawmill, Pettigrew, 1928. S. D. Albright bought this and a similar truck in 1919 for use at his sawmill in Red Star. Martin later got both trucks after they had been beaten up while working the timber. He salvaged enough parts to make one truck. Wayne Martin Collection (S-85-322-44)

The gasoline-powered engine transformed the lumber industry. What was once done by man and beast now could be accomplished more quickly with engines. Beginning in the early 1900s trucks replaced mule-driven wagons. Old steam boilers made way for gas or diesel engines. Drag saws (reciprocating power saws) were the forerunners of chain saws. At six-feet long and weighing around 300 pounds they weren’t terribly portable, but they made quick work when bucking (cutting) logs to length. The first mills were steam powered, but later ran on gas.

Log train at J. H. Phipps Lumber Company, Fayetteville (Washington County), 1912. Burch Grabill, photographer. Robert Saunders Collection (S-96-2-452)

J. H. Phipps started as a railway agent in St. Paul (Madison County) on the newly built Frisco branch line. Watching car after railroad car of lumber being shipped out, he realized he was in the wrong business. He and a partner started their own lumber company, where they would “work up the raw material into what the world wanted.” By 1898 the business was headquartered in Fayetteville. In a 15-year time period 15,000 cars of logs were shipped in, with 6,164 cars of finished product shipped out. At times there were more than 200 workers.

Phipps was just one of the many hardwood milling operations in the Fayette Junction area, southwest of Fayetteville. Others included the Sligo Wagon Wood Company, the Charlesworth Hardwood Lumber Company (handles), Pitkin and Mayes (wagon parts), and the J. P. Bower Walnut Veneer and Lumber Company. When Addie Lee Lister was a little girl in 1922, she used to sneak off to the Bower mill’s “log bath,” even though her mother forbade her to go. Standing on the concrete walk around the open vat, she was fascinated by the giant walnut logs bobbing around in the bubbling hot water. Soaking off the bark was the first step in turning the wood into veneer, thin sheets of wood used in furniture making.

“Those industries which have to do with the manufacture of various articles from hard wood timber are probably among Fayetteville’s most important enterprises. There are four factories devoted to the manufacture of wood wagon materials alone. Their product is shipped to many foreign parts . . . as well as to every large manufacturing center in our own country.”
Fayetteville City Directory, 1904

J. A. C. Blackburn’s planing mill and a Frisco Railroad train, Rogers (Benton County), 1890s. Marilyn Larner Hicks Collection (S-99-66-504)

James Austin Cameron Blackburn succeeded his father-in-law Peter Van Winkle as the “lumber king” of Benton County. He managed the sawmill near War Eagle for many years and also ran a lumberyard and planing mill in Rogers, starting in 1881, when the first train steamed into town.

From her childhood home east of Rogers, Sadie Trimble saw great teams of horses and mules bringing unfinished boards from War Eagle to town. The mill could produce 20,000 board feet of lumber daily. By 1889 annual output was over three million feet. When Blackburn finally moved to Rogers he found that it was cheaper to supply his operations with materials from his other three mills, including one in Madison County. He shut down the old Van Winkle mill just as the timber was becoming depleted.

Hacking ties, possibly the Combs area (Madison County), mid 1910s. L. A. “Andrew” Nelson, center. To the left a scored log is being hacked into shape. On the right are finished railroad ties. Gov. Orval E. Faubus Collection (S-88-144-29)

Hacking ties provided a welcome source of income to many, but the work was strenuous and dangerous and required much skill. Hackers used a two-man crosscut saw, a broadax, a double-bit ax, and other tools to cut down trees and fashion 300-pound crossties. First the log was placed on two smaller logs to raise it up off the ground. The hacker used a broadax to notch (or score) the length of the log, using the shallow cuts as a guide to “slab off” (chop) large flakes of wood called “chinks” or “juggle chips.” As the round log was shaped into a square tie, the rising pile of soft woodchips minimized damage to the ax as it was swung close to the rocky ground.

Finished ties were dragged out of the forest by mules or placed on mule-drawn wagons. The ties were hauled miles over rough terrain to bring them to a tie buyer, either an independent company or a railroad agent. A good hacker might make from six to twelve ties a day. In the 1930s some ties sold for 35 cents each, as long as they were straight, the proper dimension, and free of rot and knotholes. Some hackers tried to disguise a knothole with a plug of wood and a bit of dirt.

Ties were always in demand as railroads pushed westward. It took about 3,000 crossties to complete a mile of track. In 1900 the average tie lasted four to six years, so replacements were needed frequently. Later on, coal-tar creosote was used as a preservative, adding a few more years to a tie’s lifespan.

“[The Hobart-Lee Tie Company] owned a lot of land in and around Pettigrew, and it was common practice for people to cut trees on Hobart-Lee land, make ties, and then sell the ties [to the company]. They were ties made from trees Hobart-Lee owned to begin with, but the company never objected so long as they got their ties.”
Wayne Martin
Pettigrew, Arkansas: Hardwood Capital of the World, 2010

Stave bolt cutters, Pettigrew area, mid 1910s. Hubert Walker, second from left. The men hold (from left) a steel wedge, a cutting ax, a splitting maul, a double-bit ax, and one end of a crosscut saw. Doris Bryant Denzer and Vaughn Denzer Collection (S-2007-32-3)

Stave bolts are the blanks used for making barrel staves. Barrels were used for storing and shipping fruit, alcohol, agricultural lime, and other products. After a tree was sawn down, it was cut into pieces and split lengthwise into six-inch, curved, wedge-shaped chunks (and sometimes further split into two-inch thick slabs). The wood was stacked loosely and air-dried before being fed into a drum saw fitted with curved knives. The saw trimmed off the top and bottom of the bolt, putting a curve into the stave.

In the early 1900s there was a big stave mill at Mill Camp on Beckham Creek (Newton County). The timber cutters, bolt makers, and teamsters who drove the wagons lived in the “sleep shack,” two large tents joined together. Nearby tents housed families and other workers such as the blacksmith who put shoes on the work animals and maintained the metal parts of the machines and wagons.

Hiram Norton was the mill foreman. His wife Mattie worked as a stave catcher. She’d stand in a pit under the drum saw and catch the finished staves before stacking them on a table for them to be edged (finished). She also helped feed the mill hands. When the whistle blew mid-morning, the mill shut down and the blades were sharpened. That’s when Mattie turned her attention to the biscuits, gravy, and potatoes needed for the two o’clock dinner.

“For the timber cutters and bolt makers and the haulers, Mama [Mattie Norton] would pack their lunches and they would take it with them to the woods. They would have to be real careful where they put their lunch pail. The ants would get in their lunches.”
Ruby Norton Watson
Newton County Times, October 21, 1993

Wagon bow yard at Noah Johnson’s sawmill, Drakes Creek (Madison County), 1908. Richland Handle Company Collection (S-84-166-39)

Much labor went into making wagon bows, arched pieces of wood attached to a wagon bed and covered with a canvas “bonnet” to shelter the wagon’s contents. After the wood was cut into strips, five strips were bundled and tied with tar string to hold them together. The bundle was placed into a big wood steam vat and heated. Once the wood was flexible it was quickly placed on an arched form, bent, secured, and left to dry so the bows would keep their shape.

In its heyday, Noah Johnson’s sawmill made about 40,000 wagon bows a year, most of which were used on wagons in the Texas cotton fields and for sheltering grazing sheep in Montana. The workers also made singletrees (a bar used to help an animal better pull a wagon) and neck yokes for harnessing a team of oxen. In the 1850s Johnson had a lathe brought by oxcart from Springfield, Missouri, for use in turning square stock into round wagon-wheel spokes, singletrees, and neck yokes. The machine was still in use by the company 150 years later.

Burton C. Hull in his blacksmith shop at the B. C. Hull Lumber Company, Eureka Springs (Carroll County), 1967. Tim Garrison Collection (S-2012-76-48)

In 1909 over two billion board feet of lumber were cut in Arkansas. But by the early 1930s the vast stands of old-growth and second-growth forest throughout Northwest Arkansas had been exhausted. In the rush to make money, nearly every usable tree was felled. Boomtowns dwindled, production at sawmills fell, and railroad service on the St. Paul branch ended. The tracks and equipment were removed in 1937.

Some businesses were shuttered for a time. The barrel-stave industry fell victim to Prohibition, when liquor sales were illegal. But with the passage of the Cullen-Harrison Act in 1933 allowing the legal sale of beer, loggers and sawmills in Madison County were back in business. In February 1933 one mill reported an order for three million staves for beer kegs, ranging in price from nine to eleven cents each. In Kingston, D. C. Combs logged a tree which was turned into 1,145 staves. He made $38.50. The demand for staves helped some folks weather the Great Depression.

Some lumbermen did their best to adjust to the times and made a go of it. Burton C. Hull (see photo) of Eureka Springs began milling wood in the 1910s and supplied lumber for many of the town’s buildings, including Quigley Castle. When he lost part of his arm in a sawmill accident in the 1930s, he made his own prosthetic device with a metal hook on the end. Hull continued milling until about 1970.

Burton C. Hull in his blacksmith shop at the B. C. Hull Lumber Company, Eureka Springs (Carroll County), 1967. Tim Garrison Collection (S-2012-76-48)

In 1909 over two billion board feet of lumber were cut in Arkansas. But by the early 1930s the vast stands of old-growth and second-growth forest throughout Northwest Arkansas had been exhausted. In the rush to make money, nearly every usable tree was felled. Boomtowns dwindled, production at sawmills fell, and railroad service on the St. Paul branch ended. The tracks and equipment were removed in 1937.

Some businesses were shuttered for a time. The barrel-stave industry fell victim to Prohibition, when liquor sales were illegal. But with the passage of the Cullen-Harrison Act in 1933 allowing the legal sale of beer, loggers and sawmills in Madison County were back in business. In February 1933 one mill reported an order for three million staves for beer kegs, ranging in price from nine to eleven cents each. In Kingston, D. C. Combs logged a tree which was turned into 1,145 staves. He made $38.50. The demand for staves helped some folks weather the Great Depression.

Some lumbermen did their best to adjust to the times and made a go of it. Burton C. Hull (see photo) of Eureka Springs began milling wood in the 1910s and supplied lumber for many of the town’s buildings, including Quigley Castle. When he lost part of his arm in a sawmill accident in the 1930s, he made his own prosthetic device with a metal hook on the end. Hull continued milling until about 1970.

Anderson Lumber Company, Pettigrew area (Madison County), 1900s–1910s. The mill equipment was housed in the sheds in back. The yard is full of railroad ties and boards set out to air-dry. Joy Anderson Russell Collection (S-99-1-182)

Although the heyday of the lumber industry was over by the early 1930s, logging continued at a slower pace. In 1953 the lumber industry in and around Harrison had a combined payroll of over $2 million. Men were employed in cutting and milling logs and, increasingly, turning wood into finished products such as gunstocks and furniture.

“[Darius Quigley] was always known for his exact measures and could figure the laden [amount] of lumber quicker than many men around. He had little formal education and was self taught. He often remarked: ‘No one had to stay dumb if they weren’t lazy.’”
Evelyn Johnson
Carroll County Historical Quarterly, Spring 1979

Loading walnut gunstock blanks into a railroad car at the Carl Erwin sawmill, Harrison, about 1950. From left: Ben Walker, unidentified, and Carl Browne Erwin. Steve Erwin Collection (S-97-144-34)

Manufacturing products closer to home—rather than shipping out unfinished or semi-finished wood—increased employment directly (at the mills and factories) and indirectly (workers spent their paycheck in the community). The lack of extensive timberlands didn’t matter. Increased transportation opportunities, such as additional railroad lines and paved highways, made it easier to ship products.

“If you are a young man and want to take out insurance and have no premiums to pay, plant 20 acres of walnut trees. That is the opinion of a timber gang here [at Lead Hill] moving walnut logs from this section of Boone County. . . . Any young man between 15 and 20, who will plant 20 acres of walnut trees, figuring 16 trees to the acre, can cash in for $10,000 at 60 years of age at the price being paid now. In from 40 to 45 years this price will more than double, perhaps triple.”
Arkansas Gazette, December 17, 1925

I. C. Sutton Handle Factory’s display of shovel and hoe handles and baseball bats, Harrison (Boone County), 1950s. Harry Sutton Collection (S-89-140-55)

When I. C. Sutton moved to Newton County he ran a general store in Lurton. He couldn’t help but notice the surrounding trees and thought there must be a way to make money from them. In the 1920s he began making rustic chairs with hickory-bark seats. Sutton bought a small handle mill from a neighbor in 1929. Soon the whole family became involved in making ash and hickory tool handles and baseball bats. By 1949 the company, with its 30 or so workers, was netting about $160,000 a year. The business moved to Harrison in 1952 and shipped products throughout the United States for a number of years.

“The amazing thing about this business is that Arkansas is a leader in manufacturing [implement handles], part of which go out all over the world.”
Neil Johnson
Springdale News, August 30, 1966

Lumber pile at I. C. Sutton Handle Factory, Harrison, 1950s. Harry Sutton Collection (S-89-140-54)

Probably the Van Winkle sawmill, War Eagle area (Benton County), 1880s–1890s. In the center foreground sits a wagon with its bed removed to make it easier to load logs and decrease the wagon’s weight. Behind are wagons taking logs to the mill. A mountain of boards (about 22 feet tall!) dry to the right. The once-forested hillside boasts a few spindly trees. Dr. William C. Donovan Collection (S-91-6-9)

As the early loggers found out, not only did overharvesting wipe out the trees needed to maintain the industry, it also led to environmental problems such as soil runoff, air and water pollution, and loss of habitat. Today logging can be a hot-button issue, pitting environmental ideals against employment opportunities.

When Mountain Pine Timber began logging near Jasper (Newton County) in the late 1980s, environmental groups called it clear-cutting and feared that it would “irreparably damage” the environment and impact residents and the tourists who came for the natural beauty of the Buffalo River. Some residents didn’t want the logging to continue while others felt that if it didn’t, their livelihoods would be taken away. Others wanted to be sure that landowners’ property rights were upheld.

Probably the Van Winkle sawmill, War Eagle area (Benton County), 1880s–1890s. In the center foreground sits a wagon with its bed removed to make it easier to load logs and decrease the wagon’s weight. Behind are wagons taking logs to the mill. A mountain of boards (about 22 feet tall!) dry to the right. The once-forested hillside boasts a few spindly trees. Dr. William C. Donovan Collection (S-91-6-9)

As the early loggers found out, not only did overharvesting wipe out the trees needed to maintain the industry, it also led to environmental problems such as soil runoff, air and water pollution, and loss of habitat. Today logging can be a hot-button issue, pitting environmental ideals against employment opportunities.

When Mountain Pine Timber began logging near Jasper (Newton County) in the late 1980s, environmental groups called it clear-cutting and feared that it would “irreparably damage” the environment and impact residents and the tourists who came for the natural beauty of the Buffalo River. Some residents didn’t want the logging to continue while others felt that if it didn’t, their livelihoods would be taken away. Others wanted to be sure that landowners’ property rights were upheld.

Wayne Martin with his log truck, Pettigrew, circa 1988. Wayne Martin Collection (S-88-220-15)

Logging has continued, but on a much smaller scale. The Martin family of Pettigrew (Madison County) began logging just as the timber was playing out. But because they were a small-scale operation, they didn’t need an inexhaustible number of trees. They were able to log selectively, leaving the smaller specimens for the next generation to harvest. By 1992, when Wayne Martin finally quit the family business, he had likely logged the same hills as his father and grandfather.

Today in Madison County, Willhite Forest Products in St. Paul makes railroad ties, flooring, and slats for wood pallets. In Wesley the Richland Handle Company makes handles for tools and implements such as rakes, shovels, hammers, and picks. J. R. Banks Lumber in Marble (Newton County) has made railroad ties since the 1960s. They’ve also begun producing lumber and pre-cut pallet stock. These are just a few of the companies that continue the long tradition of lumbering in Northwest Arkansas.

“Like my dad, I too was in the woods by the time I was fifteen, but not on a daily basis. I quit in 1992, so I worked in the timber about forty years. . . . The roads were good enough, and the vehicles were good enough. I had a friend who harped at me constantly, saying that I was going to get killed out there. One day I got tired of it. I said, ‘If I do, I’ll die happy.’”
Wayne Martin
Pettigrew, Arkansas: Hardwood Capital of the World, 2010

Wayne Martin with his log truck, Pettigrew, circa 1988. Wayne Martin Collection (S-88-220-15)

Logging has continued, but on a much smaller scale. The Martin family of Pettigrew (Madison County) began logging just as the timber was playing out. But because they were a small-scale operation, they didn’t need an inexhaustible number of trees. They were able to log selectively, leaving the smaller specimens for the next generation to harvest. By 1992, when Wayne Martin finally quit the family business, he had likely logged the same hills as his father and grandfather.

Today in Madison County, Willhite Forest Products in St. Paul makes railroad ties, flooring, and slats for wood pallets. In Wesley the Richland Handle Company makes handles for tools and implements such as rakes, shovels, hammers, and picks. J. R. Banks Lumber in Marble (Newton County) has made railroad ties since the 1960s. They’ve also begun producing lumber and pre-cut pallet stock. These are just a few of the companies that continue the long tradition of lumbering in Northwest Arkansas.

“Like my dad, I too was in the woods by the time I was fifteen, but not on a daily basis. I quit in 1992, so I worked in the timber about forty years. . . . The roads were good enough, and the vehicles were good enough. I had a friend who harped at me constantly, saying that I was going to get killed out there. One day I got tired of it. I said, ‘If I do, I’ll die happy.’”
Wayne Martin
Pettigrew, Arkansas: Hardwood Capital of the World, 2010

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Frisco (Fort Smith Subdivision) tunnel, Winslow, October 1907. Bob Besom Collection (S-82-213-46)

In 1880 the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway (Frisco) was prevented from expanding further into Kansas. Seeing Northwest Arkansas’ lumber wealth, the rapid growth of Eureka Springs as a health resort, and Benton County’s then-thriving tobacco industry, the company decided to build south. Work crews entered Benton County during the winter of 1880-1881. Citizens of the future city of Rogers were later rewarded for their land and cash contributions to the railroad with the construction of a roundhouse (for turning around engines) and by the town’s selection as a “freight division” site, a place where train crews changed. Further south the railroad faced huge challenges through the Boston Mountains. A tunnel was blasted through a mountain in Winslow and three long, high, iron trestles (bridges) were built across deep ravines. The work was hard and dangerous. One contractor hired seventy Irishmen and 400 African-Americans from Kansas to build the tunnel, but an outbreak of smallpox killed dozens. While the white men were buried in a cemetery, the Black men were buried in their blankets in mass graves. In 1891 Arkansas’ “Separate Coach Law” required at least one railroad car per race. The senator who proposed the law dividing the races saw its consequences on the day it went into effect. He boarded a Fayetteville train with three cars, two jam-packed with a crowd of 117 whites and one for the two African-Americans on board. The legislation was amended two years later to allow riders of both races in each car, provided there was a physical barrier between them. The law stayed on the books for eighty-two years. Early passengers traveled in all-wood cars heated by coal stoves, lighted by kerosene lamps, and often filled with cigar smoke. The trip from Fayetteville to St. Louis cost a hefty $14. Travelers sometimes experienced train wrecks due to the railroad’s use of lightweight rail. A head-on collision in Lowell in 1897 killed two men and an unidentified tramp. In 1911, two engineers died a few months apart when their respective trains wrecked at the same location in Garfield. During the 1910s the Children’s Aid Society of New York City sent groups of youngsters on so-called “Orphan Trains,” seeking to find homes for them. One group arrived in Rogers in 1912; all were placed with families. Passenger service declined with the rise of the automobile and the airline industry. The last passenger train ran September 1965.

Frisco (Fort Smith Subdivision) peach shipment, Springdale, 1910s. Betty Lou Boyd Collection (S-2001-25-20)

Freight service was the Frisco’s moneymaker. The first shipment of local apples occurred in 1887. As the apple industry ramped up, the Frisco took advantage. It produced the 1904 booklet, Fruit Growing Along the Frisco, to tempt would-be farmers to move to Northwest Arkansas. More apple growers meant more profit for the Frisco. Other crops shipped fresh or canned included peaches, strawberries, grapes, tomatoes, green beans, and spinach. During the 1940s coal trains became a common sight. From the 1950s to the 1970s feed and antibiotics were shipped into the area for the fast-growing poultry industry. Local manufacturers like Heekin Can (Springdale), Baldwin Piano and Organ (Fayetteville), and Daisy Manufacturing (Rogers) shipped in supplies and shipped out finished products. The Burlington Northern Railroad (BN) bought the entire Frisco system in 1980, which, combined with its other holdings, gave it access to industrial markets in the south, allowing Wyoming coal to be shipped through the region to southern coal-fired power plants. With limited local freight, the BN began combining operations. The Rogers and Bentonville agents joined the Springdale agent in a small, steel building. Freight cars were tracked by computer. To save money, the company removed surplus rails and ties and cut back on track maintenance. But when the large railroad couldn’t make a profit from this small segment, it decided to sell. In 1986 the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad (A & M) entered into a lease-sale agreement for the Frisco’s old Fort Smith subdivision, from Monett, Missouri, to Fort Smith, plus the short Bentonville Branch out of Rogers. The BN’s poor maintenance led to several accidents for the new railroad. Freight service continued. Sand from Fort Smith was shipped to Northwest Arkansas to take advantage of the area’s building boom. Aggressive business development combined with personalized service no longer seen within larger railroads got the company close to an operating profit in 1989. Today, improvements such as an extensive track rehabilitation program and the addition of a $2.5 million locomotive repair facility in Springdale helps the railroad remain competitive. Recent shipments include construction materials, corn and soybean meal for poultry, and scrap metal for recycling.

Arkansas & Missouri locomotive repair facility, Springdale, 1999. Charles Bickford, photographer. Springdale News Collection (SN 4-20-1999)

The A & M started an excursion (tourist) business in 1991, offering short trips to places like Van Buren by combining a tourist car with its regular haul of freight. Over the years, antique rail cars were lovingly restored and an 1880s-style wood depot was built in Springdale. While that business ended around 2000, today the A & M once again offers excursion trips. Although the Frisco’s historic depots in Rogers and Springdale were torn down decades ago, Fayetteville’s 1926 southwestern-style depot and outbuildings still stand and have been repurposed as restaurants. The depot was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. Bricks from the platform of Rogers’ 1912 depot form a small patio next to the Key Wing of the Rogers Historical Museum.

BENTONVILLE BRANCH
After the Frisco chose not to pass through the Benton County seat of Bentonville, a group of businessmen formed the Bentonville Railroad Company to connect the town with Rogers, on the Frisco’s main line. Passenger and freight service began in 1883 from the Bentonville square. To save money, rather than turning the engine around, the twice-daily train ran forwards to Rogers and backwards to Bentonville with the aid of a cowcatcher-equipped caboose, designed to push away stray cattle or other items on the track. But the railroad lost money. It was sold at auction in 1890. All along, Bentonville businessmen wanted a second railroad to force competitive freight rates with the Frisco. In 1889 a group of them formed the Kansas City, Bentonville, & Southeastern Railroad, with the idea of connecting from Missouri to Johnson County, Arkansas, through Bentonville and Springdale. With an estimated cost to the Missouri border of $7,000 per mile, the project began and ended in 1891, after having accomplished a small amount of roadbed construction, some of which traces, in part, a segment of the Rock Trail at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. Rogers banker William R. Felker and his partner made Bentonville an offer. In exchange for the existing railroad, land for a right of way, and a sum of money, they would build a railroad west to connect with the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf at Gravette. They formed the Arkansas & Oklahoma Railroad (A & O) in 1898. After repairing the existing railroad’s damaged roadbed, a two-story, brick-and-stone depot was built in Bentonville in 1898 on South Main Street. The new line was built quickly towards Gravette before it turned towards Grove, Oklahoma, in early 1900. From there, passengers had the option of two daily round trips to Rogers and one to Gravette. When Felker’s partner talked about his desire to build further west in order to link with other railroads, the Frisco took note. Rather than risk competition, it bought the A & O in 1900.

Fictional St. Louis Midland Railroad engine on the Frisco’s Bentonville Branch, Benton County, 1938. Marion E. Bayles Sr. Memorial Collection (S-85-49-25)

In 1900 Mittie M. Lee of Centerton began working for the Frisco’s Bentonville Branch. At the time she was the only female freight and ticket agent in the male-dominated Frisco system. While the railroad had some lumber-related traffic, apples were the money maker. At its peak in 1919, Benton County shipped out five million bushels of apples. Due to a number of factors, by 1928 apple production had dropped off sharply. Still, Hiwasse managed to ship 117 cars of apples while Bentonville shipped 153 cars. In the 1930s the broiler industry was on the rise, but live chickens were hauled to Midwestern processors by truck, not by rail. Seeing little freight traffic, a small portion of track at Hiwasse was turned into the fictional St. Louis Midland Railroad, part of the 1939 movie Jesse James, staring Henry Fonda and Tyrone Power. Dwindling revenues and costly line maintenance led to the 1940 abandonment of 41 miles of track between Bentonville and Grove. By the 1980s the remaining six miles were used by several commercial and industrial customers such as Walmart, but even that use has declined over time. The old Bentonville depot still stands, although greatly modified. For a time it was home to the Bentonville Chamber of Commerce.

MUSKOGEE BRANCH
Between 1885 and 1888 the citizens of Prairie Grove tried (and failed) to build a railroad twelve miles east to Fayetteville. They wanted market access for their produce via the Frisco. A second attempt in 1899 saw the formation of the North Arkansas & Western Railway, made up of organizers from the two towns. Railroad contractor W.A. Bright hired one hundred convicts from the Arkansas State Board of Penitentiary Commissioners to grade the line between Fayetteville and Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). But financial problems meant he couldn’t obtain the needed rails.

Ozark & Cherokee Central train, Fayetteville, July 1901. Washington County Historical Society Collection (P-4445)

Both Bright and the company’s directors were replaced and the railroad underwent a name change in 1901, becoming the Ozark & Cherokee Central Railway (O & CC). Track was laid and a depot built in Fayetteville. But in 1903 the Frisco worked quietly to purchase the railroad. Investors of the O & CC wondered whether being bought by the debt-heavy Frisco was to their advantage, so they commissioned a study. It found that the railroad’s track was in terrible shape due to poor engineering. Frisco ownership was preferable.

Frisco (Muskogee Branch) train, Washington County, about 1903. Washington County Historical Society Collection (P-4444)

Passenger service on the Frisco’s Muskogee Branch was scheduled to coincide with connections along the Fort Smith Subdivision’s long-distance trains. In 1911 the Frisco purchased several efficient, self-propelled, gasoline-electric cars known as “doodlebugs” to facilitate round-trip passenger service between Fayetteville and Muskogee. In terms of freight, the Oklahoma portion of the line had oil, gas, and crops like corn, oats, and cotton. Western Washington County’s main marketable product was apples, later replaced by strawberries. In 1929 Farmington shipped out 47 railroad cars of apples, 55 of grapes, and 127 of strawberries. The latter had a high value and a short shelf life, lasting only five days. The Frisco’s special berry trains ensured the crop got to market fast in refrigerated cars. In the 1930s both passenger and freight service declined. The line operated at a loss as there were more expenses than revenue. Shortly after the start of World War II, the railroad petitioned to abandon the line. Although some parties objected, the War Production Board decided that the route was not essential. The track was removed in 1942 and transferred to the U.S. Army and Navy to be refashioned into much-needed war materials.

ST. PAUL BRANCH
The Fayetteville & Little Rock Railroad was formed in 1886 by Fayetteville resident Hugh McDanield, a former tie-buyer and experienced railroad builder. The line was built west from Fayette Junction, just south of Fayetteville, into Madison County to St. Paul, where McDanield owned sizable timber holdings. The following year he shipped out a whopping 15,000 railroad cars of mine props and ties valued at $2 million. As it did with other competing railroads, the Frisco purchased the line, effectively owning it by 1887. The final merger didn’t occur until many years later.

Frisco (St. Paul Branch) tie loading, St. Paul, 1910s. Washington County Historical Society Collection (P-1394)

By 1898 the Frisco’s St. Paul Branch extended to Pettigrew. Boom towns like St. Paul and Pettigrew attracted their fair share of saloons and fights. Longtime St. Paul agent Mattie Williams recalled seeing five to six hundred drunk men fighting in the street on Saturday nights. Conductor John F. Mulrenin had his own way of dealing with unruly lumberjacks. When tempers flared he signaled the engineer to stop the train and forced the men to go outside to settle their differences. Once resolved, they completed their trip. During Madison County’s timber peak, trees were clear cut in large tracts, leaving thinly soiled mountains unprotected from erosion. By 1920 much of the timber was gone. With workers leaving the area, passenger service declined along with freight. One bright spot occurred from 1913 to 1925, when carloads of lumber arrived at Combs for shipment by the Combs, Cass & Eastern Railroad. Poor track maintenance, the arrival of Arkansas Highway 16 in 1929, a slowing industry, and the Great Depression all took its toll. The line was abandoned in 1937.

Frisco (St. Paul Branch) wreck, Pettigrew, 1910s. James Bayles Collection (S-88-73-12)

Combs, Cass & Eastern construction of trestle #2, Franklin County, 1914. Burch Grabill, photographer. Winslow Museum Collection (S-2017-23-2)

The Black Mountain & Eastern Railroad was the last line constructed in Northwest Arkansas. Built beginning in 1913 by the J. H. Phipps Lumber Company of Fayetteville, it stretched south from Combs in Madison County into Franklin County, to reach a large stand of old-growth oak. The fine-grained wood was needed for wagon and automobile parts. The line traveled through rugged and rocky terrain, reaching an elevation of 1,900 feet at its highest point. It took tremendous effort to build four large, wood trestles which spanned deep ravines within the Ozark National Forest. At 385 feet in length and 70 feet high, Trestle Four must have seemed pretty scary. When Joy Williams rode the train to attend high school in Cass, she didn’t look down when she was on the trestles. The railroad changed its name to the Combs, Cass & Eastern Railroad in 1916. Later bought by Jay Fulbright, it was never profitable. In 1923 it took in a little over $9,300 worth of freight revenue, not enough to cover its operating expenses. Two years later Fulbright’s son, future U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright, asked permission of the Interstate Commerce Commission to abandon over one half of the line; the rest followed a few years later. By 1928 the railroad was no more.

KANSAS CITY & MEMPHIS RAILWAY–WESTERN DIVISION
The Rogers Southwestern Railway was formed in 1904 to build a line between Frisco-served Rogers in eastern Benton County and Kansas City Southern-served Siloam Springs in the west. Principal promoter William R. Felker of Rogers and his business partner thought the proposed route couldn’t lose. Roadbed grading began the following year and moved quickly, with eighteen teams at work at one point. The lightweight track they used meant that extra maintenance would be needed to keep the roadbed from washing out and causing accidents. Although he claimed Siloam Springs as the western end point, Felker kept his options open, looking for the best deal. Siloam Springs and Gentry vied for the line, offering high-dollar awards and rights-of-way; Siloam won.

Kansas City & Memphis–Western Division depot, Cave Springs, about 1912. W. Guy Howard Estate (S-71-5-4)

It’s unclear why, but the railroad’s assets were purchased for one dollar in 1907 by the Arkansas, Oklahoma & Western Railroad, which was formed by Felker and his son, John E. Felker. Perhaps the men bought out some of the other investors. It seems the builders took every shortcut possible when constructing the line towards Siloam Springs. Rather than reducing the grade (elevation) when approaching a hill, the builders left it as it was, forcing the train’s engineer to back up several miles to take a run at it, in an effort to climb it by building up a good head of steam. Completed in 1907 and nicknamed the “Fruit Belt Line,” the new railroad gave farmers the ability to ship their produce to market easily. Plus, it gave Rogers businessmen a shipping alternative to the Frisco. In 1910 the line’s name changed to the Kansas City & Memphis Railway. A special electric-battery storage car, designed for lines with light passenger needs, was purchased in 1913. It was pulled out of service the following year. While the car had enough charge to climb the hill at Springtown, its exhausted batteries couldn’t make the trip back. A steam train had to be sent to haul it to Rogers for recharging.

KANSAS CITY & MEMPHIS RAILWAY–EASTERN DIVISION
Developer William Hope “Coin” Harvey worked with the Frisco Railroad in 1902 to build the Monte Ne Railway, a four-mile line from Lowell east to his resort at Monte Ne. Its depot was unique—a large log-and-stone building, much like the resort’s signature hotels. When excursion trains filled with vacationers arrived at the depot, they traveled across the lagoon to their lodging in gondolas imported from Venice. After a few years the resort’s charms dimmed, as folks began traveling by automobile according to their own schedule, not the railroad’s. Built for passengers, the line was more successful in hauling freight like hardwood logs harvested in Madison County and carloads of lime from the Rogers White Lime Company at Cross Hollow. The latter’s president, Fleming F. Freeman, bought the railroad in 1909. Married to William Felker’s daughter, he knew the railroad would fit into his father-in-law’s plans. A year later, Felker began building a short extension west between Lowell and Hazelwood, connecting the eastern division to the western. Between 1912 and 1913 the Ozark Land & Lumber Company extended the line five miles east of Monte Ne, building a bridge over the White River in order to access the timber lands of the late lumber baron, Peter Van Winkle. In 1918 the company shipped 128 cars worth of railroad ties.

Monte Ne depot, train, and gondola, Monte Ne, about 1908. Speece and Aaron, photographers. Mrs. Kenneth Tillotson Collection (S-90-91-17)

KANSAS CITY & MEMPHIS RAILWAY–MAIN LINE
Felker turned his sights south. In 1910 he began building a route from Cave Springs to the Washington County communities of Tontitown and Elm Springs. His goal was Fayetteville and beyond, despite the Frisco’s dominance. Later that year he changed the names of his various railroads to the Kansas City & Memphis Railroad (KC & M), aiming to build towards Huntsville and Little Rock before heading to Memphis. Fayetteville’s businessmen were all for it, hoping that the competition might cause the Frisco to reduce its freight rates. The Fayetteville Commercial League offered a cash bonus, provided certain conditions were met. Construction began in 1911. The railroad arrived in Fayetteville more than a year later, over budget and behind schedule. There were no speeches or parades, perhaps in consideration of the Frisco, which fought to maintain its monopoly, using whatever legal means it could. During this time the KC & M’s unstable financial structure was exposed. That, combined with larger issues such as the order to ship freight by the shortest possible route during World War I and the state’s mandated low freight rates on certain products, doomed the railroad. Its assets were sold to the highest builder in 1918. Farmers along the line were forced to find other ways to get their crops to market. One young man coming home from World War I found he had to walk to Cave Springs from Rogers because the line was gone.

Kansas City & Memphis (Main Line) construction crew, Washington County, August 1910. Bonnie Hanks Collection (S-2001-70-16)

Kansas City Southern “Flying Crow” passenger train, Gravette, early 1900s. Noel-Ozark Photo Shop, photographer. Mrs. Bobbie Kennard Collection (S-86-121-3)

Matthias Splitlog founded the Kansas City, Fort Smith & Southern Railway (KCFS & S) in 1887. A wealthy Native American of Wyandotte ancestry, he became convinced that large deposits of silver and gold could be found in southwest Missouri. Splitlog began building a railroad between Joplin and the town of Splitlog, near the Arkansas border, but lost control of his company. In 1890 new owners pushed on towards Sulphur Springs, causing the Benton County community to consider using its mineral springs to establish a health-based tourism industry. The railroad’s investors considered expanding further south, but instead sold to another investor, who eventually transferred the line to the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad (KCP & G) in 1893. Arthur Edward Stilwell, the line’s president, was an entrepreneur and land speculator. He extended the Splitlog railroad south to Siloam Springs, which helped establish the apple industry in western Benton County. From there he built through Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) and into Texas. But he underestimated the amount of equipment needed to operate the line. This and industry-wide freight troubles weakened the railroad’s financial strength. A group of investors bought the struggling company in 1900.

Kansas City Southern pile driver, Siloam Springs, early 1900s. Maggie Smith Collection (S-83-92-12)

Renamed the Kansas City Southern Railway (KCS), one of the company’s early tasks was to address the broken-down condition of the line. Lightweight tracks were replaced, dangerous curves reduced, and powerful steam engines were purchased to move heavy freight through the mountains. The success of the KCS led to the growth of Sulphur Springs in the early 1900s. Hotels, restaurants, and bathhouses were built and large excursion trains brought visitors to town during the health resort’s short-lived period of popularity. Much of the line’s local freight traffic was produce. In 1914 Decatur, which had a population of 500 people, shipped $102,000 worth of blackberries, tomatoes, green beans, strawberries, apples, and other fruits to market. The railroad moved passengers, too. During the 1940s travelers could choose from six passenger trains daily. But dwindling revenues due to changing transportation patterns forced the line to end passenger service in 1969. Years of limited track maintenance led to a multi-car accident at Sulphur Springs in 1972, closing the line for eighty-six hours. Track upgrades took place in time to take advantage of emerging coal shipments from Wyoming. Today the KCS is a well-maintained railroad which hauls commodities to customers in ten states. In Arkansas coal is sent to Simmons Foods’ propane and poultry feed operation in Decatur and to Southwestern Energy & Power Company’s Flint Creek power plant in Gentry.

Arkansas Northwestern (Interurban) car near Massey Hotel, Bentonville, 1914–1916. Washington County Historical Society Collection (P-4329)

Several attempts were made to build an interurban transportation system in Benton County to provide low-cost travel between cities in lightly populated urban areas. One proposal finally got off the ground. The Arkansas Northwestern Railroad Company was organized in 1912 with the idea of connecting Pea Ridge, Rogers, Cave Springs, and Springtown. Scaled-back plans focused on Rogers and Bentonville, with a gasoline-powered car traveling partly on the existing tracks of the Frisco’s Bentonville Branch, and partly on tracks laid down the center of city streets. The Bentonville tracks ended at the Park Springs Hotel, a former health resort owned by J.D. Sutherland, who also owned the interurban. Guests coming in by train at Rogers took a thirty-two-minute ride on the interurban to get to the hotel. The car was so powerful that nearly 200 men and a group of musicians travelled to Rogers in 1914 to celebrate the start of service. Reasonable fares meant that locals could easily conduct business between the two towns and attend baseball games, agricultural fairs, and carnivals. But the railroad was short-lived. It folded in 1916 because of failure to pay track-rental charges to the Frisco.

Eureka Springs train crossing the trestle at Beaver, about 1900. F. F. Fyler, photographer. Eureka Springs Library Collection (S-83-325-61)

When the health resort of Eureka Springs was founded in 1879, the nearest railroad stop was Pierce City, Missouri. To get to town, travelers took the “Nine Hour Stage” coach. Former Arkansas Governor Powell Clayton organized the Eureka Springs Railway to construct a line from Seligman, just north of the Arkansas state line. The Frisco owned 20% of the company’s common stock and had a favorable agreement to share freight and passenger revenues. It even offered Pullman sleeping-car service directly from St. Louis. The railroad opened for business in 1883. A few years later it and the Frisco jointly built the majestic 100-room Crescent Hotel, still in operation. The company got in trouble with the Interstate Commerce Commission when it found that the line’s fares were too high and that it charged lower rates for outside shippers than it did for those in town. The railroad began losing money by 1897.

Berryville citizens greeting the first St. Louis & North Arkansas passenger train, June 15, 1901. McCollister, photographer. Carroll County Heritage Center Collection (S-84-211-63)

The line was taken over in 1900 by its St. Louis investors and renamed the St. Louis & North Arkansas Railroad. To increase revenue, they decided to expand east into Boone County to take advantage of nearby marble and zinc deposits. The company began building the new line two miles north of Eureka, making its way to Harrison in 1901, with a short spur line to Berryville. Thrilled by the town’s upcoming railroad-related prosperity, about 2,000 folks attended a celebration welcoming the first train. The line soon continued sixty miles east to Searcy County to connect with a major manufacturer of wood barrels. Ultimately the railroad was unsuccessful. The track’s many curves and steep grades meant that its trains had to run slowly and use more power, making the line expensive to run. There also wasn’t enough freight traffic to operate profitably. Headquartered in Harrison, the newly chartered Missouri & North Arkansas Railroad (M & NA) took over in 1906. It transformed itself into a “bridge carrier,” a railroad which took freight from one railroad and transported it to another. It also tried to encourage long-distance passenger service by putting out the booklet, Heart of the Ozarks, claiming “The air of the Ozarks is a life-giving blend of distilled sunbeams and of the healing oils and odors of the piney woods.” Even though freight traffic increased in 1910, the railroad lost money. It was dealt a further blow in 1918 when it came under control of the United States Railroad Administration (USRA). The agency was created during World War I to oversee those railroads deemed necessary for the war effort. When the M & NA couldn’t pay its union employees a higher wage as required by USRA, USRA paid it during the war’s duration. When the line lost its monetary assistance, it reduced wages by twenty percent. Harrison’s railroad workers went on strike in 1921. They had the town’s support, at first, but that changed with higher transport costs and upon learning that the strikers had turned violent, burning trestles and cutting air-brake hoses on railroad cars. The union’s national leaders were run out of town. Tensions and violence continued into 1923 when a union shop worker was forcibly taken from jail and hanged from a trestle. Fearing for themselves and their families, many railroad employees left. The strike was over. Continued financial problems and the Great Depression led to the railroad’s end. It was bought by Frank Kell in 1935 and renamed the Missouri & Arkansas Railway. Poorly maintained track, high operating expenses, and frequent annual losses continued to sap the line’s finances. It didn’t help that the Kell family took company profits and salaries that could have been used towards track repair. A major washout in 1945 isolated a huge stretch of track for several months. When the employees went on strike for higher wages, the Kells sold the line. It was not in operation from 1946 through 1949.

Arkansas & Ozarks freight train, Beaver, about 1960. Carroll County Heritage Center Collection (S-84-211-105)

But hope springs eternal. The Arkansas & Ozarks Railway was organized in 1949. It abandoned much of the line, retaining the Seligman-to-Harrison segment with service to Eureka Springs and Berryville. Track improvements were made and freight business picked up. Harrison shipped out barrel staves and railroad ties; Eureka shipped out Ozarka spring water in glass-lined tanks. Still, the railroad’s annual deficits grew. In 1960 a flash flood near Eureka caused miles of track damage. The trouble-plagued line was finally abandoned the following year.

Missouri Pacific depot, Zinc, 1926. Robert G. Winn Collection (S-96-162-451

The main line of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway ran diagonally through Arkansas, from St. Louis to Little Rock to Texarkana and into Texas. Between 1902 and 1905 it built the White River Division, a branch line from Branson, Missouri, which ran across the northeast corner of Boone County before heading to Newport, Arkansas. Builders made a deep “cut” (passage) through a mountainous area west of Bergman. It also built an expensive tunnel through Omaha and a large trestle across the Wooded Hills valley, where one of the workers fell to his death. Farmers and merchants benefitted from the railroad. Cedar posts, crossties, and stave bolts for making barrels were shipped out of Bergman, along with cotton brought over from Lead Hill. One of the line’s most productive stops for a time was Zinc, home to zinc ore. With two passenger and two freight trains daily, some Bergman residents spent part of their Sunday afternoons at the depot, watching the activity. There was some talk over the years of building a line between Harrison, served by the Missouri & North Arkansas, and the Iron Mountain line, but nothing came of it. By 1917 the entire Iron Mountain system was absorbed by the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The African-Americans who worked on the railroad often made better money than they would have in other jobs, but they still faced discrimination. When Black workers stayed in the Cricket area, they lived in bunk cars parked on a side track; they weren’t allowed to wander in the community. John Parton grew up in Cricket and remembered going with his family to a bluff to watch the men, saying that some of them gambled and drank while others sang and worshipped. The last passenger train came through in 1960, the same year mail service ended. Both losses took a toll on the line. The company merged with the Union Pacific Railroad in 1982. Ten years later the line was bought by the Missouri & Northern Arkansas Railroad. Today it ships commodities like coal, steel, asphalt, and grain, and it services the area’s growing poultry industry. The Branson Scenic Railway offers excursion trains out of Branson, sometimes traveling across the Arkansas state line into Bergman.

Pacific & Great Eastern former roadbed, Buckner, November 1990. Chris Lord, photographer. Chris Lord Collection (S-90-178-6) 

With railroad fever in the air, in 1884 an Arkansas company announced plans to build the Pacific & Great Eastern Railway from northern Arkansas west to Cincinnati on Washington County’s western border. They made a bold promise to complete the 350-mile long route within seven years. It took some doing, but Fayetteville investors raised $25,000 to build a roundhouse and fifteen miles of track from Fayetteville east to the Madison County line. But the line only got as far as Wyman, about seven miles away. Male-only “swim trains” during the summer brought passengers to the White River, but because there was no way to turn the train around, it ran backwards on the return trip to Fayetteville. Never profitable, the line existed for only a few years.

BOSTON MOUNTAIN RAILROAD EXCURSION COMPANY
In 1990 the Boston Mountain Railroad Excursion Company used the tracks of the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad (A & M) to offer sightseers a chance to ride the rails between Rogers and Van Buren and later Exeter, Missouri. The A & M’s locomotives pulled the company’s antique cars, one of which offered lunch service. Members of the Boston Mountains Chapter (Springdale) of the National Railway Historical Society served as hosts. The operation ended in 1992 when the A & M determined that the passenger cars did not meet standards for safe operation. The cars found a new home on the White River Scenic Railway, based in Flippin, Arkansas.

Eureka Springs Railroad tourists, near Beaver, 1974. Larry L. Logan, photographer. Frances Deane Alexander Collection (S-2012-137-39)

EUREKA SPRINGS RAILROAD
Brothers and railroad historians Reat and Dreat Younger formed the Eureka Springs Railroad in the 1970s. Located near Eureka Springs in Beaver, it featured two steam engines, a museum, and a rebuilt steel bridge once used over the White River at Missouri’s Table Rock Lake. It operated for short periods in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with a full tourist season in 1982. That same year it was featured in the Civil War television mini-series, The Blue and the Gray. The railroad ended operations in 1985 following significant flood damage to its tracks and bridge. Two years later the equipment was sold to the Krazy Horse Ranch near Branson. The museum is now part of the Boone County Historical Society.

Eureka Springs & North Arkansas train, Eureka Springs, 1981. (S-2007-44-1)

EUREKA SPRINGS & NORTH ARKANSAS RAILWAY
The Robert Dortch Jr. family began operating the Eureka Springs & North Arkansas Railway in 1981, after moving equipment from their south Arkansas cotton plantation to Eureka Springs. The tourist line operates on the old roadbed of the Arkansas & Ozarks Railroad and uses the grand stone depot built by the Missouri & North Arkansas Railroad in 1912–1913 for its ticketing operations. Steam engines were used at first, but because their boilers require expensive rebuilding, the vintage passenger cars are now pulled by a 1948 diesel engine. In 1989 the railway began an excursion business in Fayetteville. It hauled its antique railroad cars by truck to Springdale to use the A & M’s tracks and locomotive. While that business failed, the line still operates out of Eureka, offering sightseeing and dining options.