Wing - A town the World Forgot - Conclusion

SPREADING WING  is now available at Julie's Frames and Gifts in Malvern and Scooter's in Sheridan, as well as Covenant Book Store in Arkadelphia,  Hasting's  Book  Store in Russellville, Two River's Grocery in Wing, Bonnie's Cafe in Watson, and Barne's and Noble in Little Rock. Please tell your friends who aren't local that it is available on amazon.com, and Amazon Europe, book or Kindle. Thanks!
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Like I said, it just seems that Wing is a town the world forgot. Wing was first named Mineral Springs, due to the large amount of fresh spring water produced right behind the old church. Wing was a thriving area around 1898, when the Gillum's first arrived. At that time, there were said to be seventeen houses up Wing Hollow, right behind the old church, with every cleared spot as large as a wagon sheet growing cotton. There were none in my days at Wing, just old home sites. In 1898, the rich bottom land carved out by the river was dotted with small farmers rapidly clearing more land, more cotton and other row crops appearing. A cotton gin, a sawmill, and a grist mill sat at the mouth of Wing Hollow, with the very large spring producing a large amount of cold water year around, producing steam power.

      Wing and the surrounding area was then an educational mecca. In 1915, fifteen school teachers lived around Wing. The old school room above the church was only an overflow classroom. Mineral Springs Academy took in many boarding students from miles around, advertising, “Room and board with a nice local family for two dollars a month.” Thousands of acres of prime, virgin forests covered the mountainsides. The walls of many of those old houses were made from 1x20 pine boards from that virgin timber. The mountains were free range land, with large numbers of cattle ranged out into those hills. My family often had to ride horseback for many, many miles to locate their cattle. A bell cow, wearing a cowbell around its neck, was with each herd to help locate them.

      But all this was not to last. By the time I came along in 1944, many changes had taken place in the valley. The thin rich topsoil was rapidly wearing out, and cotton and other row crops were becoming less productive. Cotton gins disappeared. Nimrod lake was built, taking much of the richest bottom land. Hundreds of acres of cropland were reclaimed by the forests. Most of the small landowners lived by grubbing out a living from the soil, and had to put the wagon sheet back on the wagon and move on.

     The word was out. The delta land of southeast Arkansas was now a mecca for farmers, and the exodus from Yell County to the delta was in full swing. I met the love of my life at the Delta Dip in Dumas, home of the Ding Dong Daddy. I also learned while I hung around nearby Watson, trying to win her heart, that many, many farmers in that area came to the delta from Fourche Valley during that time period. The larger landowners, including the Gillums, began to depend, more and more, upon cattle as a money source. 

      The virgin timber was gone. In the 1920's, a rail line was built up the South Fourche River Valley, to reach that virgin harvest. This brought about temporary prosperity. Saw mill towns sprang up, large bustling towns. Once the virgin timber was harvested, these towns disappeared, and were reclaimed by nature. The only signs remaining to show they ever existed is rusting chunks of metal and concrete littering the forest floor here and there. In 1927, the harvesting was winding down in the south mountains. The flood of 1927 destroyed the rail line, wrapping rails around trees. Two of the large train engines were trapped at line's end. One was moved to the rail bridge during the height of the flood, to help keep it from washing out. Afterwords, the rail line had to be rebuilt to get the engines out, taking up the track behind the engines as they were moved out.

     The government bought up much of this timberland for as little as fifty cents an acre during and after the Depression, which became part of the Ouachita National Forest. The free range mountains were no more. Without that free range land, many of the cattle farmers had to move on. Hundreds of old, deserted home sites dotted the valley.

      But that is not the end of my story.

      In our day and time, all of these factors, many of which seemed so negative when they were brought to bear, have come together to produce an area which is an ideal place to be, whether it be living there or visiting. The pollution problems of most of our world, whether it be air, sound, chemical, vast areas of concrete, an excessive number of large lights, or too many people crowded together in a small space, just don't exist in Wing or the valley. Having next door neighbors a mile away helps assure they stay good neighbors. Even in my day, Fourche Valley School was one of the largest school districts in the state, yet twelve students graduated with me. Even the old abandoned home sites that dotted the landscape in my day have been pretty well reclaimed by nature. Hard to find one today. 

     The river still runs clean and pure, without an excessive number of canoes or boats all crowded up on it, as with most of our beautiful rivers. The Fourche is a good river to float in the spring, but gets a little too shallow in the summer for a long float.  The deer, which had mostly been chased down and eaten up in my time, are back in large numbers. Furry wild animals, no longer considered very valuable for their pretty fur as they were in my time, have returned. The squirrels, a regular source of meat to eat in my day, can rest a little easier. The trees on the mountainside are large and beautiful once more. Pull up at Two Rivers Grocery in Wing, and Joan will be happy to sell you Spreading Wing, complete with an official “Sold at Wing, Arkansas” stamp. Nothing like buying a book from right where it all took place. Or, if you've already bought Spreading Wing at Wing, come by, and Joan will be glad to put the official stamp on your book. Right across the road, Pastor Dan and Mary will fix you up with a great pizza at a fair price on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Top's Pizza. Those two about sum up the businesses you will see as you drive through Wing.

      Maybe I named this story wrong. Maybe, in this day and age, I should have named it, “The town today's world has not yet discovered.” Take a day sometime and make a slow drive up highway 28 from Rover to Needmore, where highway 28 hits 71. Stop along the way, and meet those friendly people of the valley. You will discover a world new to your experiences in Arkansas. Take a little time and explore, and get to know, that long, narrow strip of land along the Fourche La Fave River. A place like no other. Once you spend a full day in Fourche Valley, you will always want to return.