Montgomery County ArkansasGenWeb Project
Free land. "The Homestead Act 1862 which became law on Jan. 1, 1863, allowed anyone to file for a quarter-section of free land (160 acres). The land was yours at the end of five years if you had built a house on it, dug a well, broken (plowed) 10 acres, fenced a specified amount, and actually lived there."
1812 war soldiers were given land grants for service rendered. The 1854 Homestead Act authorized land that was unsold for ten years and more to be sold at reduced rates. No specific residence or improvement requirements and a 320 acre limitation. For each set increment beyond ten years the price per acre was reduced. For example, if ten years and unsold the price was $1.00 per acre, 15 years 75 cents per acre, 20 years and more 50 cents per acre, 20 years or more 25 cents per acre. The applicant was required to make affidavit that they were entering the land for their own use and for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, or for the use of an adjoining farm or plantation owned or occupied by them. The law was repealed with the passage of the Homestead Act of 1862. Information can be found at www.glorecords.blm.gov
Good hunting, fishing, water, timber and cattle grazing country
Seeking better farm land. Fertile soil in the Ouachita River valley attracted settlers
Some were heading west but decided to stay in Montgomery Co. AR because they heard there was a drought in Texas or to the California goldfields and got lost or family member became ill so never continued their journey west
Delayed by weather. By the time the conditions were right, they had settled and stayed in the area.
Some liked the land they saw on the way through Montgomery Co. and decided to go no further
After the Civil War some settlers were harassed for their stance so moved west and settled in Montgomery Co.
Northerners moved south to take over during the reconstruction
Others were seeking a warmer climate, a healthier environment away from the swamps, mosquitoes and over crowding on the east coast
Others wanted a better prospects for their children instead of the coal mines in the east
Some settlers wanted a quiet environment to relocate to e.g. a writer or backwoodsman
Some followed relatives who had already established themselves in Montgomery County
Magazine advertisements for sharecroppers on the Rowton estate, Black Springs in the 1880s attracted the Herring and Brunt families from Kosciuko, Mississippi as well as another family and they traveled by wagon train
Mining camps at Bear and Silver Cities sprang up but by 1890 had been practically abandoned
1900s lumber companies offered an opportunity for employment
"Itchy feet". Some were just not the kind of people to settle in one place for generations.
If things got very bad economically, folks were likely to hitch up and move on west to were there was new land for a fresh start, leaving the land in many cases for creditors, tax collectors and others to fight over.
Ministers would gather their stricken congregations and set out to form a new parish.
In the summer they were able to cut trees down and make rafts, on which they floated the wagons. Others used flat boats to cross while some embarked on keelboats and ferries to go down the Mississippi river and up the Arkansas River to Little Rock and some even went up the Ouachita River. In the winter, they waited until the ice was over two feet deep. First, they would send a horse (without rider) across the river. If that went okay, they would send a loaded wagon without people across. If that was okay, they would all go across, spacing the wagons so as to not create too much strain on the ice. Everyone who could, would walk.
"The Ouachita River rises in Polk Co, and affords steam navigation to Arkadelphia, 200 miles, furnishing transportation to neighboring counties including Montgomery." Resources of the State of Arkansas 1872 by James P. Herry.
Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, 7 April 1855, Page 3
The San Francisco Herald, of January 1st,
The rivers of this State have not been known to be so low for many years ; those of Oregon are in the same condition, and by an extraordinary coincidence, those east of the Rocky Mountains were for months previous to our last advices in a similar state. The Ohio at Pittsburg was fordable; a rocky bar in the Mississippi, opposite Natchez, that had not been seen for thirty years was exposed in consequence of the low stage of water in the river, while travellers could wade across the Arkansas. Altogether, it has been the driest Fall known for many years, both upon the Atlantic and Pacific coast.
Ox cart. Joseph Fair came by an oxen wagon train in the 1870s from Alabama
In 1890 the closest railroad point was Hot Springs. In 1904 there was a Missouri - Pacific rail connection to Womble (now Norman). From here the migrants would travel by horseback and wagon to the communities where they decided to settle. Train depots were at Fort Smith and Mena in 1896.
Wagon trains. The Old Southwest Trail (an Indian trail), later called the Old Military road came down from the NE corner of AR and then down through Little Rock and on to Texas and was largely used by pioneers. There were ferries in operation to cross the large rivers in most cases by 1850. Settlers carried food, clothing, cooking utensils with them, and camped and bartered along the wayside and hunted with their rifles. They would bring their cow and horses with them and even some chickens. Cooking was done in a spider skillet (Dutch oven). The cow was led behind one of the wagons. Milk, kept fresh in a bucket with a wet cloth around, hanging under the Concord wagon, so they had fresh milk and butter for the entire trip. Sometimes traded e.g. a wagon and team for 40 acres of land to settle on. About 1865 James Henderson Willhite established a claim to one of the springs in what is now Hot Springs and traded it for a horse and saddle so he could head further west to join his relatives in Oden, Montgomery Co.
Early 1840's - Spakes came from Georgia in a sixty - wagon caravan in thirty days and settled in the upper Caddo area
1848 - Goodners, Fryars, Singletons and Willhites traveled together in a wagon train and by horseback from Tippah Co. MS crossing the Mississippi river by raft. The original wagon parts which Hal Goodner (1911-1990) stored in his barn at Oden was sold at auction in the early 1990s.
1849 - The related Jefferson Bates, Robbins and Wood families came to Montgomery Co. AR from Georgia seeking land.
1850 - Moore, Wacaster, Weston, Kinsey, Lizenby, McGrew and possibly the Powell families traveled by wagon train. in the early 1850s from Blount County, Alabama through Louisiana to near Mount Ida, Montgomery Co. AR.
1852 - Shirley family and possibly Mullenix and Fryar families traveled by wagon train from Alabama briefly stopping in east Texas and settled around Huddleston, Montgomery Co.
1852 - A ten wagon caravan with about seventy people left Georgia. One wagon was drawn by two horses and owned by Flemming Bates, the others being drawn by oxen. The horse team went ahead and selected camp sites and crossings. Bates's, the Edwards, the Abernathys and the Vandivers, came to Big Fork, and the McBeeles and Andersons, who stopped at Black Springs. They were six weeks on the road. E.B. Goss from Georgia came the year before and the Chaneys and Wehunts were on the upper Big Fork before the coming of the Bates caravan.
1854 - Brown family from Shelly, Co. TN and the Scotts and Wheelers arrived by a large ox wagon caravan
1865 + Hopper family from Lincoln Co. TN joined a wagon train with their oxcart and settled in the Parks community.
1865 - McLean family traveled by wagon train from Durant, Mississippi via Pine Bluff and settled near Glenwood
1870 -1880 Marietta, GA by a wagon train. Bates family settled around Hurricane Grove and the Carr family in Clark Co.
1880s - Horn family settled at Oak Grove after arriving by wagon train from Talladega, Alabama
1886 - The Stewarts, Lassetters, Bonners, Johnsons and Nixes traveled by wagon train from Georgia and Alabama and settled in the Story and Union Hill area.
1893 - Hamilton family came by wagon train from Carrol Co. TN to Middlebuster later Black Springs.
Late 1880s - An eighteen unit wagon train left Johnson Co., AR with the Willeys, Emerys, Cumbies, Adamsons and several Qualls families for the Story area
References: Montgomery County, Our Heritage : compiled and edited by Montgomery County Historical Society 1987 Vols. 1 & 2
Suggested Reading: Marcy Randolph Barnes 1812-1887 The Prairies Traveler : A Hand-Book For Overland Expeditions with maps, illus., and itineraries of the principal routes between the Mississippi and the Pacific. 340 p. illus. Pub. by authority of the War Department. Published Harper, c1968. Describes camp supplies necessary for journey across the country. The clothing section was enough to outfit a man for a 3 month journey. Several pages are devoted to fording rivers. The book describes how to get to Fort Smith, AR, (about 1859) in order to go further west. "This road is accessible to persons desiring to make the entire journey with their own transportation from TN or MS, by crossing the Mississippi River at Memphis or Helena, passing Little Rock, and thence through Washington Co., intersecting with the road at Preston. It may also be reached by taking steamers up Red River to Shreveport or Jefferson, from either of which places there are roads running through a populated country and intersecting the Fort Smith Rd near Preston..."
Coleman, Roger - Excavations in the Shady Lake recreation area and vicinity, 1992-1993, Ouachita National Forest
Coleman, Roger E. Novaculite acquisition and
use at Little Missouri Falls: an early middle archaic site in Montgomery County,
Arkansas
The Arkansas Archeologist: Bulletin of the Arkansas Archeological Society
42:15-43 2001 (published in 2003) maps, tables, diagrams, graphs, bibl. Subject
Excavations (Archaeology), Indians of North America--Implements
Early, Ann. Turquoise beads from the Standridge site, 3MN53 At time of publication, the only known instance of turquoise artifacts found in Arkansas. The Arkansas Archeologist: Bulletin of the Arkansas Archeological Society 19:25-30 1978. Illustration photo, table, bibl. Montgomery County (Ark.)--Antiquities
The Arkansas Archeologist: Bulletin of the
Arkansas Archeological Society 38:1-54 1997 (published in 1999)
Eight sites in Polk County were investigated, six prehistoric and two historic,
One prehistoric site proved to have significant deposits dating to the Middle
Archaic, and the Moore Homestead contained important data concerning the nature
of short-term mountain occupations. A manganese mill site is described
Waldon, George. Mining: crystal clear; in the realm of metaphysics, Arkansas
has itself a real gem. Arkansas Business 4(21):18-19 Oct 12-25, 1987
Map: A single
copy of a map of ROADS, OLD TRAILS, and TRACES of HISTORICAL PLACES of ARKANSAS is
available when requested in person at the office of Cooperative Extension Service in each
of the 75 counties of Arkansas. Or write: Cooperative Extension Service, University
of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture, Fayetteville AR 72701 and request publication
MP149. $2.00 fee covers postage & handling.
US map showing progress west
