In my growing-up “years”, one of the most enchanting things about my Wayne County home was the mountains. They are relatively small mountains, but many of them are much too big to qualify as hills. The highest of them, Clark’s Mountain, is supposed to be something like 600 feet above surrounding terrain. I scaled the sides and explored the tops of all the mountains in my immediate “stomping ground,” and some others outside my usual range. Those mountains comprised a part of the hunting territory my brothers and I frequently tramped over in the early days.
Wild life of all kinds native to this area, flourished on the mountains, as well as hickory trees, which furnished abundance of nuts for the squirrels and wild hogs. However, only the red fox-squirrel was found in the mountains. The gray squirrel lived along the streams and lower ridges. The fox squirrel grew very large and fat, prime “table variety.” A few men trapped for red fox. A red fox hide brought a fair price, probably next to mink. The county gave a bounty for the scalp of gray timber wolves. Almer Wilson caught several one winter, so many, in fact, that the price rapidly decreased from $25. to $5., and I think Almer went out of business!
At one time virgin pine covered the mountains, in fact, this whole country. With the coming of the railroad around 1871, the pine started to disappear. By my time, pine, although by no means scarce, had declined considerably, leaving room for large stands of oak. Woods were burned off every year. This did not hurt the timber or the- animals; only burned the leaves and sprouts, making the woods much more “open” than they are now. It also made for a better condition of things for all animal life, as grass and other vegetation could grow luxuriantly through out the woods, providing food for herbivorous animals, many of them farm animals turned on the open range. At that time, rabbits lived, and produced prolifically, in the woods, making up a large part of the “menu” for all carnivorous animals, who today might be hard-put to find enough to eat, because rabbits have been forced to live near human habitations in order to find their food.
Some of our mountains came to be known by the names of the people whose lives were associated with them. Mr. Botts lived on Botts Mountain, the Firebaugh’s on Firebaugh Mountain, the McFadden’s at the foot of McFadden Mountain. At one time a man by the name of Kenesloo came –from Illinois, cleared up about ten acres in a basin near the top of Mudlick Mountain, built a nice log cabin, and lived there a number of year, finally giving up and going back to Illnois. However, Mudlick Mountain already had its name, so Mr. Kenesloo left no permanent mark on Wayne County. The Clark family lived near the Shut-ins at the foot of Clark’s Mountain, their name memorialized by the most prominent mountain in Wayne County. Sparks Mountain received its name from a family who lived near its base; and if we have forgotten anyone, please forgive! Bear Mountain acquired its name, so the story goes, because a man once killed a large bear on top of that mountain.
Between the years 1901 and 1909, my family lived on Upper Camp Creek. Our own “private” canyon ran between Bear Mountain and Firebaugh Mountain, to the south and east of us. Des Arc Mountain, where Camp Creek originates, towered to the north of us, and lesser mountains and hills joined in completing the encircling embrace that closed us in. Those mountains had an irresistible power to draw boys from their valley homes and the farm duties which persistently sought to shackle them, this bewitching influence affected not only boys; at that time a number of people in the county “lived high” in the most literal sense of the word. One “high living” couple, the Firebaugh’s, I knew quite well.
At the time we lived at Upper Camp Creek, the Firebaughs had already left their name on Firebaugh Mountain, and had moved to another mountain top near Jewett, in Madison County, where to my knowledge, they lived the remainder of their lives. When I was 13 years old, we moved to Brunot. Located just this side of the Madison County line, bringing us to within a few miles of the mountain on which the Firebaugh’s lived. The Firebaugh’s made occasional trips to Brunot, a thriving little vi11age at that time to do their “trading” and bring work. To be done at Pa’s blacksmith shop. They always took dinner and spent the day with us. There was a store at Jewett, closer to them, but no blacksmith shop. However, one reason they preferred Brunot, they liked to visit with us, Pa being their “pastor.” When Pa filled his weekend appointments, usually once a month, at Jewett, he” often stayed on the mountain with the Firebaughs.
Uncle Daniel Firebaugh was a rather small man with a scrubby little beard, and with a wife who matched him exactly, both of them past the meridian of life, yet still full of work and independence. Their children had married and lived on a lower level, but nearby. The Firebaughs had a good life on their mountain-top. The experience of being on the mountain was worth every inch of the long, hard climb up the rough wagon road. Uncle Daniel had cleared a few acres for his homestead where they lived in all comfort, according to the conveniences of the time, indoor facilities and plumbing being unknown in our parts, either on or off a mountain!
Uncle Daniel specialized in peaches and honeybees. The honeybees produced from a profusion of wild flowers and neighboring hay fields and the peaches seldom failed, as they so often did in the valleys. Cold spring winds, sweeping over the mountain tops, held the buds back until all danger of frost was past. On the other hand, many times the sun shone warmly on the mountain tops in the late fall, while frost and teeth- chattering chill lay over the valleys. Like all country people of that time, Uncle Daniel produced most of his food direct from the soil, with the exception of hay for the animals. His mountain-top farm” furnished only enough land for a moderate corn crop, truck patches and fruits: nothing for hay. Uncle Daniel kept no unnecessary animals. Just a span of horses, a cow, chickens, and probably a few hogs. But hay presented no problem: being in plentiful supply, it could be obtained easily, often by a trade. With nuts, berries and other wild foods, both vegetable and animal, from the woods and streams along with an abundant supply of firewood for the cutting the Firebaughs fared sumptuously. And besides all this, they had a magnificent view!
Many times my brother and I, and sometimes a company of friends climbed one or another of the mountains, simply for the exhilarating experience.
Even the girls sometimes got “mountain” fever! It was not unusual for f1eecy cumulus clouds, swirling around the mountain-top to enclose us as they drifted by and often they floated along beneath us. At times hiding much of the country-side and casting deep shadows on the valley below. From a valley. a mountain never looks to be as big as it is. But standing on the summit of even a small mountain, one has the sensation of being at a lofty height.
Of all the mountains I ever climbed. I liked Des Arc Mountain best. It featured something none of the others had an old granite quarry and an artesian well. Around the veal 1880, soon after the railroad was extended from Ironton southward granite was blasted from Des Arc Mountain, taken to St. Louis and made into granitoid side-walks. During the time of the quarry operation, according to old timers. while a drill was on the sight, they went down 1300 feet prospecting for minerals, lost the drill point and abandoned the project. Water bubbled out the pipe constantly. I know of no other mountain that offered you a drink! In my early days, the quarries looked fresh and clean, but the last time I saw them, many year ago, rock had fallen, largely filling up the quarries and age had made a considerable difference in appearance.
The latter part of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century saw the biggest saw-milling boom in the history of Wayne County Big saw mills flourished in numerous places, one at the foot of Des Arc Mountain, one at Gad’s Hill, one at Clear Water near Piedmont, one at Lowndes on the east side of the county, to mention a few. Greenville it was said, boasted the biggest mill of all. Many present-day places where there is little or nothing at that time were thriving little towns, due almost entirely to the saw mills. In 1880 Gad’s Hill had a population of 375 in comparison to only 666 for Piedmont. Wayne County showed population of 9096, less than a thousand short of the present day population, revealing quite a shift in distribution.
Another industry of those days, almost forgotten, was the making of charcoal for fuel. St. Louis depended largely on charcoal; even steamboats
sometimes fired with it. In my childhood days, I have known blacksmiths to use it, but it was not as suitable for the forge as coal because it burned more quickly. When we lived in the valley, the remains of an old coal hearth could be seen on our place, and another some distance up the mountain-side. Charcoal was made from pine, split into cord wood and placed a certain way in a pit where it was fired. After it got to burning well, it was covered with dirt and kept damp so as to smother the fire. In due time and by proper tending charcoal resulted. Large amounts of this fuel went to St. Louis by the carload, until coal-mining got well underway and railroad lines became sufficient to serve
