Mister and Lady: Arkansas Vacation - Day 3 - Part 3 - War Eagle Mill, Beaver Lake Dam, Blue Spring Heritage Center

This is the day that just keeps on going and we are loving it. After leaving Quigley's Castle, we are still en route to the War Eagle Mill. When we arrive, the War Eagle Bridge catches our attention and I am drawn in instantly. Up on the bridge I go. It's not really a pedestrian bridge, so I need to be aware if a vehicle is approaching.

On the other side -

Spotting a path down to the water's edge, another view is obtained.

Mister points out that I can get closer to the water wheel now --- YES!! Climbing rocks I go. A tree full of buzzards is also spotted. Okaaaay -

Back up and into the Mill we go. History on the mill: In 1832, Sylvanus Blackburn left Tennessee with a wagon and four oxen, and came to the War Eagle River valley in Arkansas. He spent the winter building a log home and clearing the land of his homestead. He brought his wife from Tennessee the next year. One of Sylvanus' first projects was a water-powered grist mill. In 1838, a flood on War Eagle destroyed the mill. A second mill, four stories tall, was soon erected. Five of Blackburn's sons joined the Confederate Army and the rest of the family went to Texas. The retreating Confederate Army burned the mill on War Eagle to prevent its use by Federal troops. Sylvanus' sixth son, James Austin Cameron Blackburn, built the third mill in 1873. The village of War Eagle grew around the grist mill. There was a sawmill, carpentry shop, and a blacksmith shop, but the grist mill was the center of activities -- socializing, square dancing, and weddings. In 1924, once again the mill burned. For nearly 50 years only the dam and a raceway remained. In 1973, centennial year of the original mill, Jewell A., Leta Medlin and Zoe Medlin Caywood built the existing fourth mill on the same foundation as an authentic reproduction of the first mill to preserve the history of grist milling."

Now, when I first read about this place, it gave the illusion that they were milling every day and I would be able to watch. Either COVID has impacted that or it is just not true. The mill usually has a restaurant and that was closed (I had expected lunch), and it's mostly just a store now. Drat.

They do still mill here, but not from 8-5 as indicated on the web page.

We now have to punt. Food is required and backtracking will take too long. It appears we are closer to Rogers than we thought so, away we go. I've looked up Rendezvous Junction Brewing and they are open and have food. Woohoo.

Once again today, the internet has let me down. There is a brewery at this location. It is VERY small and is not open to the public in any way. EVER. I do peek through the windows and read the website once again. Near the address it says, "Located in Foster's Pint and Plate." Well, there IS a bar next door but it is called something else. It looks like it has food, so we give it a try.

From inside the bar, we can see Rendezvous Junction Brewing. SOOOOO STRANGE.

They do serve a couple of the RJ beer, so we give a try and order some food. I do not recommend much here although the burger was amazing. Too bad I can't remember the name of the place.

A second brewery in Rogers is Natural State Beer Company. We are willing to try once again today. This brewery is located in a beautiful setting and that catches my attention right away. As I'm watching, a blue heron flies in and lands. You'd have to look really close to see it below the crosses and right at the water's edge. My close ups were all blurred.

Looking the other way --- oh so beautiful.

In we go and order a couple of beverages. Every now and then we discover that we do not care for the beer in a location and this is one of them. We have learned that it is rare for us to just dislike one type. Either the brewer hits the mark or doesn't. This one doesn't. Drat. We are just not on a roll right now.

It's time to make the upper look to Eureka Springs once again. As we go merrily along, Mister suddenly turns into a parking lot and I look up to see CHOCOLATE! Woohoo, gotta love this man of mine.

We are at Martin Greer's Candies and I can't wait to see what they have. I spot a few dark chocolate covered coffee bean clusters and ask for three of those. Mister gets two of this, two of that, two of this, two of that, etc.

A bag of taffy makes the cut as well and we are soon off with a bag of yummy goodness.

And away we go --- Next stop is Beaver Dam and, damn, it is gorgeous here.

In 1926 and 1927, heavy rains brought rising water levels to the Mississippi River and its tributaries, including the White River. The Great Flood of 1927 began when multiple levees gave way, releasing floodwater that covered an estimated 27,000 square miles of land in seven states and displacing over 700,000 people. Arkansas was hardest hit with about 13% of its land covered by flooding. The Great Flood of 1927 forced Congress to rethink the flood control plan for the lower Mississippi River. The Flood Control Act of 1928 expanded the "levees only" approach to flood control to include floodways, reservoirs, dams, and spillways. However, it wasn't until 1960 that funds were provided, this site was selected and the construction bid was awarded.

Beaver Dam is a solid concrete and earthen gravity dam. The massive weight of the dam holds back water to make the lake, technically called a reservoir. The dam is constructed on a straight line and includes a non-overflow and an overflow section (spillway). The quarter-mile-long concrete portion of the dam is constructed of 28 sections or monoliths. The counteract tremendous water pressure at the bottom of the reservoir, the monoliths are designed thicker at the base. Seven spillway gates allow for release of floodwater.

The dam was completed in March of 1964 and the waters of the White River began to fill and create Beaver Lake. While many new dam projects are celebrated with formal events, no dedication ceremony was held for Beaver Dam. Plans were set aside because the nation was in mourning over the assassination a few months earlier of President John F. Kennedy. Power went online in 1965 and the entire project was completed by June 1966 at a cost of $42.6 million.

It is simply beautiful out today and even with the clouds low an the skies not so bright, I'm loving it.

Back on the road --- a stop a Inspiration Point -- right? Must do. We saw this yesterday as we drove through here, but there was not a chance of seeing anything due to the clouds. We'll try today.

Nice ---- still clouds, but color too. I'm feeling inspired --- hmmmm

The Blue Spring Heritage Center is close and we have time before it closes so . . . . in we go. Just past the gift shop, there is a wonderful water wheel. How's that for alliteration? A nearby building has a movie to watch, but inside I spot a quilt first. Gotta check it out. The note reads, "The spirit of a young Native American woman approached the artist and said: 'Please make a good medicine blanket for the bad medicine blankets, to honor those who died.' In the mid 1800s, a large group of Native people had been taken from their homes and gathered in an open field. It was winter and they were cold and homeless. The government ordered that each Indian was to be given an army blanket. And so it was, and ever blanket was infected with Smallpox. Two thirds of these innocent people died and this young woman was the only survivor in her family. This is the story quilt she requested. The light green squares with silver beads represent those who died. The dark green squares are those who suffered bu lived. The buffalo indicates the Happy Hunting Ground where they went. The black shows that they were surrounded by death. The black string knots are the smallpox. It is bound in black cotton to protect future generations from another germ warfare on innocent people. Those who died have been honored.

After the movie, we start our walk down to the Blue Spring. I just want you to enjoy the beauty of the area as much as I did.

The color of the water from Blue Spring varies greatly. Most often is is a deep cobalt, but other times it appears in different shades of green. With our rainy, cloudy day today, we are happy with the color it is.

Originally, the banks of the lagoon were totally native soil. There is naturally a lot of sand in the areas near the White River. During long periods of rain,t he ground would become very heavy and "slough off" or give way in sections all along the length of the lagoon. The banks, therefore, had to be stabilized before an irrigation system or garden areas could be constructed. The magnesium limestone for this project was quarried about 1/4 mile from this location, hauled to the site, and placed in position one by one with a back hoe using the "natural dry stack method." Some of the larger stones weigh in excess of 2 tons each. The base of the wall is 5 to 6 feet thick, tapering down approximately 2 feet on its top. The 1,000 feet of bank stabilization work took three months to complete. Magnesium limestone has been used extensively throughout the Eureka Springs area in buildings, sidewalks, and retaining walls, as well as in carvings by local artists.

The Spring Wall --- originally Blue Spring flowed freely from its 10' diameter opening down what is now our lagoon, and then into the famous White River. Sometime in the late 1880s a circular wall of cut stone about 10' high and 70' in diameter was erected around the spring. In 1908 the small dam, just to the northwest of the spring was built, the area between the small dam and spring filled in, and a trough was installed to take the water from the spring to the lagoon. Also at this time a concrete cap was established on top of the circular spring wall.

Circa 1880 the Blue Spring Inn was built on this site. Perishable food items were kept in the 54 degree Blue Spring water since the cold water was the only refrigeration available at the time. The owners of the Inn used another common Ozark invention, a "Water Boy." The "Water Boy" was installed on top of the hill above the spring where a residence now exists. This apparatus allowed a weighted bucket to be cranked via a large wheel on top of the hill, with a smaller wheel on the opposite side of the spring circle. A rope "belt" circled the two wheels. When the weighted bucket hit the surface of the spring, the bucket would tip on its side and fill with water. The water-filled bucket was then cranked back up the hill. Pretty cool.

Blue Spring at maximum flows 30,000,000 gallons of water every 24 hours. Although local recharge is the norm with all springs, it is thought that some of the water from Blue Spring originates in the Pacific NW. The spring maintains a temperature of 54 degrees year round and the pool is 70 feet in diameter at the surface. The actual opening of the spring, 25 feet below the surface of the pool is about 10' across. Blue Spring is shaped like a big funnel and at the sounded depth of 510 ft - the estimated width of the rock fissure is 2 1/4".

The Trail of Tears was so named by the group of Cherokee who traveled it on their sad journey from Echota, Georgia to Parkhill, Oklahoma, which was near the present town of Tahlequah. These Cherokee had lived in the Echota Valley for 500 years and were a settle people but were ordered to leave for lands set aside for them in what was later Oklahoma. Thirteen thousand left Echota on a forced march the last of September 1838. After a winter's march of much distress, privation and grievous losses of their numbers in treacherous fords and losses of provisions, only seven thousand lived to see their new home. Some Cherokee camped by the side of Blue Spring for several days, resting and waiting for stragglers to catch up. This portion of the trail will always be held as a memorial to a staunch and valiant people.

This hydraulic ram (weight 612 lbs.), a device for pumping water by means of water power, was used at Blue Spring around 1909. It pumped water 2 miles down and across the White River to the railroad at Walden Switch where the water was loaded on the tank cars to be shipped to other states as "Health Water."

The original survey on this property, completed in 1846 made note of a large 4-story mill on the north side of the dam. The exact date of construction of the dam and original mill is unknown. The dam is of cut stone design utilizing the native magnesium limestone. The waterfall over the dam is "normally" 5-6 feet. The water goes into the White River (or the upper reaches of Table Rock Lake). The waterfall is higher or lower as Table Rock Lake rises and falls due to local rainfall and generation our of Beaver Lake. (Beaver Lake is some 200 feet higher than where we are standing and just 2 miles away.) The first Blue Spring mill was an overshoot design (water falls over the top of the wheel) like the mill wheel I showed in the beginning of this post. The mill was a combination sawmill and gristmill. During times of low water, access to the mill was directly across the White River just a few hundred feet away.

Walking back to the center takes us on a route through the grounds. The Bluff Shelf - artifacts have been found here that date as far back as BC 8000.