Road Trip: DeValls Bluff

            On a cold, rainy dreary day, what could we do but head out on a road trip, the ladies and I? We heard that there was a museum in nearby DeValls Bluff, Arkansas so off we went.

            Now if you study about the Civil War in Arkansas, you know what a pivotal location this place turned out to be. Armies heading west to Little Rock or east to Helena crossed the White River at DeValls Bluff. At one time there was something like 32,000 federal troops encamped there in three separate forts. Photographs depict a river clogged with steamboats ferrying troops and supplies. What a spot. I suspect my great-grandfather, George Washington Harris, crossed there with the First Indiana Cavalry.

            So we found the museum. It is in the old high school auditorium, abandoned due to consolidation and now serving as a community center. A gracious and hyper-enthusiastic lady named Debbie Cook gave us a “cook’s” tour, perhaps more precisely the “Cook” tour” She is one of those dedicated and selfless people found so often in our state.
            The Civil War section proved fascinating, but then we were treated to a unique piece of history. DeValls Bluff was, along with other sites on the White River, a location for the pearl button industry of years gone by. The museum houses one of two known remaining machines that punched buttons from mussel shells. They were harvested from the bottom of the river by braver souls than I. The machine still works and is proudly put into action for school groups.
            Then we learned of a “favorite son” from the town, RCA recording artist Jim Minor. He performed with them all and was inducted into Michigan's Country Music Hall of Fame. Later, when I looked up a recording of his on the internet, I found he was backed by the immortal guitarist Hank Garland. Oh my.
            The museum is a non-profit operation of the Bill and Sharon Arnold Foundation. They are a couple from the town who left, came back wealthy, and are spending a large part of their fortune to help their home town. More can be found at the annual festival website.



            If you don’t visit local museums, you are missing out on great treasures. In the case of DeValls Bluff, a trip could include lunch at Craig’s Barbecue and, on selected days, a piece of pie at Miss Lena’s. It just doesn’t get much better than that.

Curator Debbie Cook and the button machine.

"History is a cyclic poem written by time upon the memories of man." -  Percy Bysshe Shelley

 

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