[Old Fossil]

I have Posted here before that you can "explore" in the comfort of your own home and not go out crashing through the brush, briars, and climbing mountains. Yesterday I was rearranging some "stuff" in the back of my closet to make room for more stuff when I uncovered a large, framed, Certificate appointing my great grandpa as Justice of the Peace of Pike County. It was dated 30 October 1890.

[Old Fossil]

Pike County - Scroll up to Page 113 Post 1123 and Page 114 Post 1133 to see where this all started. My archeologist buddy and I finally got "boots on the ground" Friday April the 26th to see what's there. From the LIDAR maps we couldn't tell if the lines were walls or trenches, but we found they are ditches that appear to be hand dug. CD will not take my plotted map because it is too "big" so I'll have to get it downsized before I can Post it. I can however Post here the results of the trek. Saw briars were thick and ticks plentiful.


Oh, since I can no longer drive, my daughter drove me to Malvern to meet the archeologist and he drove from there, then daughter came back to pick me up at the end of the day.

[Old Fossil]

Pike County LIDAR - Hey it worked! Some of the lines faded out when scanned but can be seen on my monitor so I have "dotted" the faded lines. We found ditches that appear to have been hand dug. They are about 18 inches deep, 18 inches wide at the bottom, and 30 inches wide at the top. The back dirt was piled on the edge of the down-slope side which made LIDAR "see" a wall. What were they for? We don't have a clue, but have ruled out several things.


CIVIL WAR - I have seen Civil War defensive positions in similar configuration as this, but if it was that, there would have been trenches a few feet wide and several feet deep. Also, there was no Civil War activity in this area.


FIRE PLOW FIRE LINES - The plowed lines would not have been this close together, and there would be no purpose for the semicircle feature on the south side of the lines. That semicircle is on the north side of a hill crest.


DRAINAGE DITCHES - See FIRE LINES above.


FARM FIELD TERRACES - They are too deep and the back dirt would have been an obstacle for the farmer.


So, if anyone has an idea, jump in here. I will report it as an Archeology Site.


Ooops I just realized I didn't add any measurements to the map, so here they are.
The semicircle is 100 Meters east/west and 69 meters north/south. From the east end of the circle to the first line is 23 Meters and from that line to the next line is 34 Meters. The two parallel lines are about 3/10 mile long.


Enjoy

[Old Fossil]

14 March 2000 - Where? I don't have a clue. What? Later. I recently found floppy's from my old camera and this one was in the batch. I didn't remember these photos so asked my archeologist buddy if he remembered them in case it was from one of our treks. He didn't, so that means it was from a trip I took alone, which I was doing a lot of during that time. I checked my log book and it isn't listed.


So what is it? The floppy was labeled "Cave Site" which means I saw, at that time, evidence of prehistoric activity. If the photos uploaded in order I intended, the first photo is a long shot of a cave or shelter, second photo a closer view, the third shows novaculite rocks that have been battered by the Indians to get material for tools, and the fourth/last is what appears to be an ancient trench quarry from long ago.


There were interesting rock formation photos on the floppy that I'll Post later.


Now where in the is it? It's gotta be in the Ouachita Mountains 'cause that's the only location of novaculite in Arkansas.

[prerunner1982]

Man OF those briars tore you up. Glad to see you are still getting out there.

The ditches to me look like perhaps erosion control given they are around a peak and elevated area.
I tried to locate the area on google maps for grins, but was unable to locate it. Figure it is probably covered in trees anyway.

[Old Fossil]

Originally Posted by prerunner1982

Man OF those briars tore you up. Glad to see you are still getting out there.

The ditches to me look like perhaps erosion control given they are around a peak and elevated area.
I tried to locate the area on google maps for grins, but was unable to locate it. Figure it is probably covered in trees anyway.

Good thought, but, nope. Too close together on south end and too far apart on west end. I backed up the time-line and found the area had been clear-cut in 2006 which explains the small saplings. When we saw them we gustimated they were about 10/15 years old, and that confirmed it. Also, knowing the ditches are there, I can see them in the clear-cut. To find it on Google Earth, search for GRAYSONIA then follow the river north until you see the landform. After you find it, back up on the time-line and you will see that the ditches were there. When I file my Archeology Site Form I'll recommend that someone walk the ditches end-to-end and see if they originally went into the river, and decide which came first, the ditches or the railroad. Ain't it fun?

[Old Fossil]

14 March 2000 - These rock formations go with the Post above with the same date. I still don't know where it was/is, but I took 10 photos on that floppy between 0933 and 1001 on that date.

[CaneyCreek]

Could the ditches not be from logging mules when the virgin timber was first logged?

[Terry Reynolds]

I am in the process of writing a book about Arkansas' cinnabar mining district and would like to use to Parker Hill mine photo from c1940 in the book. Who would I contact to get permission to use the photo?

[Terry Reynolds]

Originally Posted by ArkansasSlim

Although we spend most of our time locating lost and abandoned pioneer cemeteries, from time-to-time we do accidentally find some other good stuff. While looking for the "Mr. Pebbles" grave we saw water running out of the brush on the side of the road. No big deal because there are many seep springs in the area, but this was flowing and leaving a redish orange sediment. We decided to stop and check it out and found it was flowing from a trench dug into the side of the mountain. We were running out of daylight so added this to our "do list". Later I went back and located Mr. Pebbles grave which was across the road from this trench, and while there, I also checked out the trench and mapped it.

The open trench ran horizontally 35 meters into the steep mountain, was about five meters wide at the top and probably had been that wide at the bottom but has slumped in, started at ground level but at the back was about five meters deep. Across the road is a very large mine dump which I calculate had contained over 10,000 cubic meters, but some of it had been hauled off. The open trench probably contained less than 1,000 cubic meters, so where did the rest of the dump come from? When I got home I dug into my books and found this trench was one of four in the vicinity and was access to a mine. The five meter deep wall I had found at the back side was in fact a caved in adit to the mine and with the volume of the mine dump there is no telling how far it went, and possibly had a shaft inside also.

Now, if the attachments come out in the proper order the first one is at the road looking up the trench, the second is about mid-way looking down, and the third is on top of the back wall looking down. The fourth is the inside the Parker cinnabar mine on the west end of the Mercury District and is now under Lake Greeson. The Parker mine photo was given to me by my geologist friend Charles Steuart and was taken ca. 1940 by his uncle Robert B. McElwaine who was also a geologist.

treynold@mtu.edu
I've completed a book-length manuscript on the history of Arkansas cinnabar/mercury/quicksilver mining and am currently looking for photographs to illustrate the manuscript. Any idea how I could secure permission to use the photo taken underground in the Parker Hill mine. It is one of only two decent underground photos of Arkansas mercury mining that I have seen.