THE FIRST SETTLERS TRAVELING TO NORTHEAST ARKANSAS FOLLOWED CROWLEYS RIDGE INTO THE WILDERNESS BECAUSE IT OFFERED A HIGH DRY TRAIL EVEN THOUGH IT WAS A LONG HARD JOURNEY INTO THE UNTAMED LAND. MOST PIONEERS ENTERING NORTHEAST ARKANSAS TRAVELED THIS ROUTE. THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE STATE WAS SLOW IN BECOMING SETTLED AS COMPARED WITH AREAS NEAR LITTLE ROCK AND IN THE CENTER OF THE STATE.

THIS WAS DUE NO DOUBT TO THE CHANGES IN THE TERRAIN CAUSED BY THE NEW MADRID EARTHQUAKE OF 1811 AND 1812, WHEN NEARLY 2000 SHOCKS TORE THE EARTH AND COMPLETELY CHANGED THE WAY THE LAND ONCE WAS. THE QUAKE ACTUALLY A SERIES OF ABOUT 2,000 TREMORS LASTED MORE THAN THREE MONTHS.

LARGE SECTIONS , SANK WHILE OTHER PARTS OPENED UP THE ST. FRANCIS SWAMPS OR "SUNKEN LANDS " AS KNOWN TODAY , MAKING PORTIONS OF NORTHEASTERN ARKANSAS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO TRAVELERS OR NEW SETTLEMENTS . GREENE COUNTY IS FORMED ON THE EAST BY THE ST. FRANCIS SWAMP LANDS AND CROWLEY'S RIDGE LIES ON THE WEST.

THE NEW MADRID EARTHQUAKE WAS A HORRIBLE NIGHTMARE TO OUR ANCESTORS AS TOLD IN SOME OF THE OLD NEWSPAPERS THAT I HAVE RESEARCHED AS REPORTED BELOW. THE NEW MADRID FAULT ZONE RUNS ROUGHLY FROM THE VICINITY OF CARMI, ILL. SOUTHWEST TO THE VICINITY OF TRUMAN, ARK. A DISTANCE OF ABOUT 175 MILES. THE MOST ACTIVE PART OF THE SYSTEM IS THOUGHT TO BE IN THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL AREA.

THE FAULT ZONE TOUCHES SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS, WESTERN KENTUCKY AND TENNESSEE AND NORTHEASTERN ARKANSAS. WITHIN A 160-MILE RADIUS OF NEW MADRID, MO. LIE THE CITIES OF ST. LOUIS, MEMPHIS AND NASHVILLE, TENN.

IT IS HERE THAT AN AMERICAN EARTHQUAKE LEGEND WAS BORN, THE STORIES PASSED DOWN TO THE GENERATIONS AFTER. ONLY A FEW PIONEERS AND INDIANS INHABITED THE SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI BOOTHEEL AREA IN MID -DECEMBER OF 1811 WHEN THE MOST SEVERE EARTHQUAKE IN U.S. HISTORY CHANGED OUR WHOLE REGION FOR OUR ANCESTORS AND THEIR LIVES TILL THIS DAY. MAKING EXTREME CHANGES IN NATURES COURSE AND THE TERRAIN OF THE LAND.

AFTER THE 1811-1812 QUAKE AND INTO THE 1900 'S IT WAS DESCRIBED AS THE EARTHS SHAKING AS BEING OF SOMETHING THAT HAD COME TO BE A NORMAL OCCURANCE IN THAT REGION. EVEN YEARS LATER THE PEOPLE THAT LIVED OR WAS JUST PASSING THROUGH THE AREA STILL FEARED THE GREAT FAULT AS DESCRIBED BELOW . THESE RECOLLECTIONS OF THE HORRIBLE EARTHQUAKE PLACE A VERY IMPORANT ROLE IN OUR TRI- STATES HISTORY. THE CITIZENS REPORTING TO THE NEWSPAPERS OR OTHER SETTLERS TELLING THEIR EYE WITNESS ACCOUNTS OF WHAT THEY SAW OR A WHAT A NEIGHBOR EXPERIENCED. THIS TYPE OF RESOURCE IS THE ACTUAL WORDS WRITTEN OR TOLD BY THE SETTLERS PROBALLY WITHIN HOURS OR DAYS OF TAKING PLACE. THESE TYPES OF RECOLLECTIONS IS A PRIMARY SOURCE AND THE CHANGES IN LAND, RIDGES, RIVERS AND LAKES ARE JUST PROOF OF HOW POWERFUL THESE QUAKES REALLY WERE.

LET YOUR MIND WANDER, NO ELECTRIC, NO TELEVISION, NO TELEPHONES, NOT ANY OF THE TECHNOLOGY THAT WE TAKE FOR GRANTED, TODAY. OF HOW THE SETTLERS MUST HAVE BEEN FEELING, THE PANIC, THE AMAZEMENT, THE SHOCK, THE FEAR OF THE EARTH OPENING UP “WAS IT GOING TO SWALLOW THEM WHOLE? “. GEOLOGISTS SAY THE QUAKES WERE THE MOST SEVERE ON THE NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT SINCE THE COMING OF THE WHITE MAN.

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IT IS REPORTED A LITTLE AFTER TWO O'CLOCK ON THE MORNING OF DECEMBER 16, 1811, THE SETTLERS WERE AWAKENED BY THE GROANING AND REAKING OF THEIR HOMES, FUNITURE FALLING, AND THE EARTHS HEAVING. TERRIFIED THEY FLED THEIR WAY BLINDLY INTO THE NIGHT. THE GROUND RISING AND FALLING LEAVING GREAT CRACKS IN THE GROUND UNDER THEIR FEET BENEATH THEM. GASES, SAND, MUD AND WATER ERUPTED FROM THE EARTH. AS THEY FLED IN PANIC FROM THEIR HOMES. NOT KNOWING WHAT TO EXPECT OR AS WHAT WAS TO COME IN THE DAYS, MONTHS, YEARS TO FOLLOW.

TWO OTHER MAJOR CONVULSIONS ROCKED THE REGION IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY AND 1,800 LESSER TREMORS FOLLOWED BEFORE THE WINTER OF 1811 WAS OVER. SHOCKS WERE REPORTED AS FAR AWAY AS BOSTON, DETROIT AND WASHINGTON D.C. IT WAS REPORTED IN ST. LOUIS, MO. FURNITURE WALKED ACROSS ROOMS AND CHICKENS FELL FROM THEIR ROOSTS.THE WORST EFFECTS WERE FELT AT FORT MASSAE, WHAT IS NOW CARRUTHERSVILLE, MO. (IN 1811 LITTLE PRAIRIE) AND NEW MADRID.

THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPIALMOST IMMEDIATELY THE “MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI" BEGAN ITS ATTACK ON THE VILLIAGE OF NEW MADRID. PLAT RECORDS SHOW IN 1810 COMPARED TO PLAT RECORDS OF 1820. MUCH OF THE ORIGINAL SITE OF THE VILLIAGE WAS WASHED AWAY. BY 1820 THE SETTLERS HAD RETREATED TO A NEW SITE BUILT BY THE FEARFUL BUT UNDEFEATED SETTLERS. PRESENT DAY NEW MADRID IS SEVERAL MILES INLAND FROM THE SITE OF THE ORIGINAL TOWN.
IN NEW MADRID HISTORY IT IS TOLD THAT THE SETTLERS CONSTRUCTED THEIR STORES , HOTELS , WHARF HOUSES AND OTHER BUILDINGS , BUILT ON THE LEVEES , ON ROLLERS SO THAT AS THE RIVER BANKS FLOODED , THE TOWN COULD ROLL BACK FROM THE RISING WATERS . BUT THEY JUST DID NOT HAVE THE TIME TO GET OUT OF HARMS WAY OF THE MASSIVE RIVER TURNED INTO A RIVER OF DESTRUCTION FROM THE QUAKES.

AT THE MISSISSIPPI PORT OF NEW MADRID IT WAS REPORTED AS MANY AS 100 NEW ORLEANS BOUND BARGES, FLATBOATS, AND KEELBOATS DOCKED AT THE RIVERS EDGE. THE RIVERMEN ON THE BOATS SAW A WAVE RISE 30 FEET ABOVE THE WATERS NORMAL LEVEL.THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI FLOWED BACKWARDS FROM THE QUAKES OF 1811 IT WAS REPORTED IN HISTORY BY SEVERAL EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS. THE RIVER HISSED, BOILED AND TURNED A MUDDY RED, ISLANDS DISAPPEARED, THE RIVER BANKS CRUMBLED AND TREES TWISTED AND FELL AS THE EARTH BELOW GAVE WAY.

THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER WAS TOSSED FROM ITS RIVER BED AND ONTO THE HILLSIDES; IT SWEPT AWAY ENTIRE FORESTS THAT LIE IN ITS WAKE. WITH YEARS OF GROWTH OF THE TALL TIMBERS DESTROYED IN A INSTANT.
WITHIN THE 50,000 SQUARE MILES HIT BY THE QUAKES, MUCH OF THE LAND WAS RUINED FOR FARMING FOR YEARS AFTER. ONE REASON "SAND BLOWS " OR "SCATTERS " MOUNDS OF PURE WHITE SAND FROM FISSURES FROM THE EARTH BELOW. IT MIGHT EXPLAIN WHY WE HAVE SO MANY SAND MOUNDS ALSO KNOWN AS INDIAN MOUNDS ALONG THE ST. FRANCIS RIVER STILL TODAY. COVERED WITH ARROWHEAD CHIPS OR POTTERY FROM THE LONG AGO INDIANS THAT SOUGHT OUT THE HIGHER SAND MOUNDS FOR SHELTER IN THE SUNKEN LANDS.

IN WESTERN TENNESSEE, THE SETTLERS AWOKE TO FIND REELFOOT LAKE EMERGED FROM THE EARTH OVERNIGHT, WHEN THE LAND SANK BELOW THE RIVER LEVEL.IT WAS TOLD THE ANIMALS SENSED THE FORECOMING DANGER BEFORE THE FIRST SHOCKS EVER HAPPENED. SQUIRRELS BY THE THOUSANDS WERE SEEN MIGRATING TOWARD THE SOUTH AND HORSES REFUSED TO MOVE. THE PEOPLE REPORTED ABOUT THE ODD WARM WEATHER FOR DECEMBER, ONE WRITER DESCRIBED THE SUN, ON THE DAY BEFORE AS " A GLOBE OF RED HOT IRON, THE COLOR BRIGHTENED AT NOON, AND EVEN AS IT SANK BELOW THE HORIZON THAT EVENING ".

AFTER THE EARTHQUAKESPECTATORS CAME IN AND TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THE HORRIFIED LANDOWNERS , WHO WERE SELLING EVERYTHING THEY COULD FOR THE PRICE OF A MULE AND WAGON TO GET OUT OF THIS LAND THAT WAS COME TO BE KNOWN AS THE DEVIL'S LAND . OF SOME 500 CLAIMS PROVIDED BY THE GOVERMENT RELIEF ACT, JUST A FEW WERE CLAIMED BY THE HORRIFIED LANDOWNERS MOST WERE GRABBED BY THE SPECULATORS.

EARTHQUAKE CHRISTIANSSINNERS , MINISTERS AND PREACHERS , SEEN THE QUAKES AS A SIGN OF GOD'S DISAPPOINTMENT IN THE SETTLERS OF THE NEW LAND , OF THE BOOTHEEL AND MISSISSIPPI VALLEY OF A WARNING AS WHAT MIGHT COME TO THE UNFAITHFUL.

THE DAY BEFORE THE QUAKE IT WAS TOLD " ONE MINISTER STOOD ON A TABLE AT A HOUSE-RAISING AND SHOUTED "FOR THE GREAT DAY OF HIS WRATH HAS COME, AND WHO SHALL BE ABLE TO STAND?" IT IS SAID AFTER THE QUAKE DOZENS OF THE UN-CHRISTIANS WOULD REMEMBER THE MINISTERS WORDS FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES.AFTER THE QUAKE CHRISTIAN MEMBERSHIP SOARED , BAPTIST , METHODIST AND EPOSICAL MINISTERS TRAVELED THE SUNK LANDS AND THE BOOTHEEL ON HORSEBACK, HOLDING REVIVALS AND STARTING CHURCHES TAKING IN THE PENITENTS .COMING TO BE KNOWN AS THE TRAVELING PREACHERS . ONE MINISTER IN THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL BAPTIZED 500 PENITENTS DURING A TWO-YEAR REVIVAL.

IT WAS REPORTED A BAND OF FANATICAL PILGRIMS APPEARED IN NEW MADRID, A GROUP OF RAGGED, UNBATHED, UNSHAVEN PEOPLE. WITH HOLLOW FACES, THAT MARCHED ABOUT, CHANTING “PRAISE GOD! PRAISE GOD! REPENT! REPENT! A VERY UNWANTED GROUP FOR THIS CIVILIZED COMMUNITY AND WITH VERY BAD TIMING.
THOUGH IT WAS TOLD EVERY BUILDING WITHIN 50,000 SQUARE MILES OF NEW MADRID WAS DESTROYED FIGURES SHOW FEWER THAN 100 SETTLERS AND INDIANS DIED, IN THE SPARSELY SETTLED REGION.ON CHRISTMAS DAY OF 1876 A HUNTING PARTY IN THE " SUNK LANDS " OF THE ST. FRANCIS SAID , THERE WAS A SHOCK OF THE GROUND OF AN EARTHQUAKE , WHICH SHOOK WATER OUT OF THEIR BUCKETS AND RATTLED THEIR CULINARY ARTICLES IN SUCH A MANNER AS TO CREATE AN ALARM . SUCH SHOCKS ARE OF FREQUENT OCCURRENCE IN THAT REGION.

IN 1811 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NEW MADRID OCCURED , AND OVER AN EXTENT OF THE COUNTRY THREE HUNDRED MILES IN LENGTH , FROM THE MOUTH OF THE OHIO TO THAT OF THE ST. FRANCIS , THE GROUND ROSE AND SUNK IN GREAT UNDULATIONS , AND LAKES WERE FORMED AND AGAIN DRAINED. THE COUNTRY IS STILL CALLED THE "SUNK COUNTRY” OR "SUNKEN LANDS”.

THE QUAKES CONTINUED UNTIL THE DESTRUCTION OF THE CITY OF CARACAS, WHICH TOOK PLACE MARCH 12TH , 1826 . ONE EVENING , IT IS DESCRIBED BY THE CITIZENS OF NEW MADRID AS BRILLIANT AND CLOUDLESS , DURING WHICH TIME THE WESTERN SKY WAS A CONTINUED GLARE OF VIVID FLASHES OF LIGHTNING AND PEALS OF THUNDER WERE INCESSANTLY HEARD , PROCEEDING APPARENTLY AS DID THE FLASHES FROM BELOW THE HORIZON .

WHEN WE REMEMBER THE LOSS OF LIFE BY THE NEW MADRID EARTHQUAKE , RECALL THE LOSS OF TWELVE THOUSAND INHABITANTS AT CARACAS AND PUT THIS AND THAT TOGETHER WE WOULD RATHER CHOOSE A HUNTING PLACE WHERE THERE IS LESS GAME AND FEWER QUAKES.

THE HUNTING PARTY.....REPORTED FROM THE DAILY COURIER, 1856 SUNK LANDS ON THE ST. FRANCIS RIVER, THE STEAMER OBERON, JAMES CREIGHTON, MASTER RECENTLY MADE A PLEASURE TRIP TO THE SUNK LANDS OF THE ST. FRANCIS RIVER. THE ARKANSAS MESSENGER GIVES THE FOLLOWING DESCRIPTION OF THE SO CALLED SUNK LANDS.

"ON THE SECOND DAY, ABOUT 10 0' CLOCK WE ARRIVED AT THE FOOT OF THE SUNK LANDS. TO GIVE AN ADEQUATE DESCRIPTION OF THIS WONDER OF NATURE IS BEYOND OUR POWER. MOST OF OUR READERS , DOUBTLESS , RECOLLECT THAT DURING THE EARTHQUAKE OF 1811 , A LARGE SCOPE OF LAND , ALONG THE ST. FRANCIS RIVER , WAS SUNK TEN OR FIFTEEN FEET AND IMMEDIATELY COVERED WITH WATER . IT HAS BEEN CALLED THE SUNK LANDS, FROM THAT TIME. IT IS SOME SEVENTY FIVE MILES IN LENGTH, AND TWO TO FOUR IN WIDTH. IT IS STUDDED WITH SMALL ISLANDS OF WILLOW, BUT, AT THE PRESENT STAGE OF WATER, VERY FEW OF THEM ARE ABOVE THE OVERFLOW. THE WHOLE LAKE AS IT MIGHT MORE PROPERLY BE CALLED ABOUNDS WITH FISH, OF ALL SORTS AND SIZES. THE WATER IS ALMOST PERFECTLY TRANSPARENT, AND THEY MAY BE SEEN DISTINCTLY TO THE DEPTH OF TEN FEET. WE HAD HEARD MUCH SAID OF THE FISH IN THE SUNK LANDS, BUT WE WERE HARDLY PREPARED FOR THE SIGHTS WE WITNESSED. SUFFICE IT, THAT WE HAVE NEVER SEEN THE LIKE BEFORE, NOR DO WE EVER EXPECT TO SEE IT AGAIN, ANYWHERE BUT IN THE SUNK LANDS. "

I KNOW THE EARTHQUAKES WERE A TRAGEDY BUT FROM THE COURSE OF THESE EARTHQUAKES AND THE HELP OF MOTHER NATURE FORMED WHAT WE HAVE KNOWN IN MY LIFETIME AS THE SPORTSMENS PARADISE IN NORTHEAST ARKANSAS. THE WILD FRONTIER BROUGHT SPORTSMEN, FISHERMEN, BEAR HUNTERS, DEER HUNTERS, DUCK HUNTERS TO THE AREA FROM ALL OVER THE SURROUNDING STATES. WHICH IN TURN ALSO PROVIDE A WAY OF LIFE FOR MANY OF OUR ANCESTORS, AS GUIDES FOR HUNTY PARTIES, HUNTED WILD GAME THAT WAS SHIPPED NORTH ON THE TRAINS TO CITIES LIKE ST. LOUIS AND CHICAGO BY THE BARRELS FULL FOR THEIR FINE RESTAURANTS. THE SPORTSMENS PARADISE BROUGHT MORE SETTLERS TO THE WILDS OF NORTHEAST ARKANSAS.

IT IS THIS AREA THAT IS TOUCHED BY THE NEW MADRID FAULT AND ALSO NEAR WHERE THE ORIGINAL CROWLEY CLAIM SHOWS HAVE BEEN LOCATED. FOR THIS REASON THE CROWLEY FAMILY HAD TO FIND A NEW LOCATION ON WHICH TO SETTLE.OTHER PIONEERS INTO ARKANSAS WERE IN THE SAME PREDICAMENT AS THE CROWLEY'S AND CHOSE TO HAVE THEIR CLAIMS RE-LOCATED ON HIGHER GROUND ALONG THE RIDGE . THESE SECOND GRANTS ARE MARKED IN GREENE COUNTY RECORDS WHERE MANY FIRST TITLES HAVE BEEN RECORDED AS "NEW MADRID CERTIFICATES”. THOSE SEEKING RE-LOCATION HAD TO TRAVEL TO NEW MADRID, MISSOURI TO MAKE APPLICATION FOR NEW LANDS.

IN 1821 WHEN THE FIRST SETTLERS CAME TO GREENE COUNTY, POCAHONTAS IN LAWRENCE COUNTY WAS THEN A TRADING POST AND WAS THE NEAREST SETTLEMENT. WHEN WORD WAS SENT BACK TO KENTUCKY THAT A CONGENIAL SPOT HAD BEEN FOUND THE CROWLEYS WERE JOINED BY FORMER NEIGHBORS, RELATIVES AND FRIENDS FROM THEIR KENTUCKY HOME. FAMILIES WHO FOLLOWED THE CROWLEYS INTO ARKANSAS INCLUDED THE THOMPSONS, ROBERTSONS, PEVEHOUSE, GAGE, WILCOCKSONS, MCDANIELS, PAYNE, MATTIX AND HUTCHINS, AND WITHIN A FEW YEARS MANY OTHERS. IT WAS THIS GROUP THAT ORIGINATED THE MOVEMENT TO ORGANIZE A NEW COUNTY CALLED GREENE COUNTY.A POST OFFICE NAMED CROWLEY WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1832, AND THE FIRST COURT WAS HELD IN 1833, WHEN A BILL WAS DRAWN AND PRESENTED TO THE LEGISLATURE OF ARKANSAS TERRITORY PETITIONING FOR A NEW COUNTY. MANY OF THE NEW SETTLERS NAMED BEING FOUND ON THE EARLY RECORDS OF GREENE COUNTY. MANY OF THE DECENDENTS REACHING INTO THE FIFTH AND SIXTH GENERATIONS BEARING THESE FAMILIAR NAMES STILL LIVE IN GREENE COUNTY TODAY. A 174 YEARS AFTER THE FIRST SETTLEMENT ON CROWLEY RIDGE.

EVEN THOUGH THE DESTRUCTION FROM THE LEGENDARY EARTHQUAKES THESE PIONEERS STILL CAME TO THE LANDS OF ARKANSAS. VILLIAGES, TRADING POST, CHURCHES, DEPOTS, BUSINESS OF ALL KINDS STILL EMERGED FROM THE VAST AREA AGAINST ALL ODDS FROM MOTHER NATURE. THE DAMAGING QUAKES, FLOODS, CYCLONES THAT REPEATS IN OUR BELOVED STATE AND BELOVED GREENE COUNTIES HISTORY. DID NOT FRIGHTEN THE NEW PIONEERS FROM THE TERRITORY OF ARKANSAS. OUR ANCESTORS EXPERIENCED MORE TRAGEDY, DESTRUCTION, AND THE HARD WAYS OF LIFE THAT WILL EVER BE KNOWN TO US, THEY HAD SUCH GREAT ENDURANCE FOR LIFE THEY WERE PROUD AND TOUGH THEY HAD TO BE IN THIS EARLY TIMES OF OUR HISTORY IN THE WILD UNTAMED FRONTIERS. IN MY RESEARCH, I HAVE RUN ACROSS SO MANY EVENTS IN HISTORY THAT JUST AMAZES ME ON HOW HARD IT MUST HAVE REALLY BEEN FOR OUR FOREFATHERS.......
GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERYONE