What Lies Beneath...

This is not a horror story, based on a movie, like the title would suggest. It is merely a recounting of going beyond appearances and finding out...."What Lies Beneath".

On August 23, 1894, Howell County Surveyor, Thomas Franklin (T.F.) Adams established the South Quarter-Corner of Section 35, Township 25 North, Range 8 West. You can see physically where this corner is on Google Maps by clicking HERE.

Referring to the image of the survey below, (Recorded in Survey Record Book B at Page 218) the corner would be referenced as "F" and is highlighted on the plat on the right-hand page. Highlighted on the left-hand page is the record of what Mr. Adams set as a monument for the corner and the witness trees he took as accessories to the corner. I probably need to interpret for all the non-surveyor blog readers (and maybe some of the surveyors....)

The dittos before the "F" denote "Corner at". "San stone" is...Sand Stone. Then Adams dimensions the stone in inches 24x11x6 which is 24 inches long x 11 inches wide x 6 inches thick. By past experience of finding other "Adams" stones, I suspected that if this stone was found, it would have about 6 inches of the 24 inch length visible above ground.

Between the lines where the stone is recorded, to the far right, is the record of the witness trees that Adams took to "witness" the position of the stone, in case it ever was destroyed. It was typical to mark the trees in some fashion, either by a "blaze" or a "hack" cut into the tree with an ax.

The trees Adams took as witnesses are as follows:
B oak 5  N 15 E 143
(5" dia. Black Oak, North 15° East, 143 links or 143 x .66 feet = 94.4 feet)

P oak 5 N 7½ W 151
(5" dia. Post Oak, North 7½° West 151 links or 151 x .66 feet = 99.7 feet)

Now most people would calculate and say "That's almost 122 years since those witness trees were referenced. There's no way they could still be alive!" (There's even some surveyors that would say this...) If you've been in the business as long as I have, you know that Post Oak trees are notoriously long-lived and in most conditions, Veeeeery slow growing. Black Oaks on the other hand, in most conditions, grow faster and larger and die quicker. And there is the fact that Black Oaks are more marketable for timber than Post Oaks. So I had hopes that the Post Oak witness tree could still be standing.

I had ascertained the general area of the corner by GPS distance ties to other "known" corners east and west. When I navigated to the area with my GPS, I found an old Bois D'arc or Hedgeapple fence corner post with old fences east, west and north. There was a cow pasture south of the fence corner and forest with fairly large trees north of the fence corner. (See the Google Map link)

I started out by using my compass and taking a bearing of N 7½° W from the old Bois D'Arc post. I taped out the distance of 99.7 feet (151 links) to where the post oak "should be". Lo and Behold, about six feet from where I measured out was a large Post Oak tree!

The Post Oak measured 19" in diameter which meant, if it was the Adams' witness tree, it had only grown 14" in diameter or 7" in radius in 122 years! This calculates out to be 1/16" of growth (width of the tree growth ring) per year. Again, from other living Post Oak witness trees I have found, this is entirely possible.

When I measured back from the tree toward the fence corner, I was about 6-7 feet out in the pasture, south of the post.

From that position, I again used my compass and took a bearing of N 15° E and taped out 94.4 feet (143 links) to see if I could find any evidence of the 5" Black Oak. At about 95½ feet, I found the stumphole where the Black Oak had stood.

Stumpholes do not show up good in pictures. But in the picture above, at the base of the dogwood with the machete stuck in it, is the Black Oak stumphole. I cleared the leaves away and then I could see where the lateral roots had grown into the ground. I could also see the "ground heave" where the tree growth had pushed the dirt and stones outward as it grew. (In the background, above the machete handle, you can see the Post Oak witness tree.)

Now...I had evidence of both witness trees...so...Where was the Sand Stone? The position where the Post Oak and the Black Oak stumphole "witnessed" the corner to be, was in the pasture...Which was (to use the old colloquialism) as bare and smooth as a baby's bottom.

Here's where we find out "What Lies Beneath..."

I grabbed a sharp-shooter shovel out of my truck and went to work. First, I just probed with the sharp-shooter to see if there was a stone within a foot or so of the ground surface. Sure enough, I hit several stones, which in the Missouri Ozarks, is not that hard to do. I started removing the grass sod and dirt until several of the stones were exposed. I began to dig around them and remove the ones that were either too small or not Sand Stone.

As I widened the hole, I hit a larger stone and could tell by the way the shovel scraped that it was a Sand Stone. When I pried it loose, I could see that it was approximately the right width and thickness but was way, way too short. However, when I examined it further, I could see that the top was very flat with sharp edges, like it had been broken off. The bottom of the stone was naturally rounded like a normal stone would appear.

At this time, I was totally convinced that I had found Adams' Sand Stone that had been broken off by farming activity. There was one final piece of information to be checked...the width and thickness of the stone. The pictures below show how closely the measurements of the found stone matched the dimensions given by Adams.

In these pictures, I had set the stone back in it's original position (before I pried it out) and tamped it in with dirt and rocks.

There were other more technical things that convinced me this was Adams' stone, such as the distances to the Section Corners east and west. However, I believe the "tripod" test of evidence applies to this corner (Surveyors will understand).

So...be careful the next time you're walking through the cow pasture, dodging "meadow muffins" and "horse apples" because you never know "What Lies Beneath!"

Pawpaw and Lucas

I just couldn't resist blogging this picture. Lucas is getting ready to open his gifts at the Riggs' Christmas get together. He's a fast learner and found out real quick how to rip off wrapping paper and pull tissue paper out of bags! Books and noise-making toys were the order of the day!

Whose Present Is Whose?

It was always exciting at our house before Christmas. Somehow Mom and Dad always managed to get Ralph and I at least a couple of presents that we really, really wanted. Of course, we helped them out...by circling what we wanted in the "Sears and Roebuck Christmas Wishbook" and the "Montgomery (Monkey) Ward Christmas Catalog"! Every now and again, they would surprise us by getting something totally off the list, like the year Dad bought me my first hunting knife. An Edge Brand, "Original Buffalo Skinner"! We were blessed with wonderful parents!

One of the great things about having presents under the tree, was trying to figure out what was in your present. To do this, you would use at least four of the five senses. You would squeeze the present (touch), shake it (hearing), size it up (sight) and in desperation, sniff around on it (smell). Taste? Let me tell you, all Christmas wrapping paper tastes just about the same...trust me...

However, the real big question at the Riggs house was "whose present was whose?".  You say "Just look at the tag dummy!" It weren't that simple... My Mom had this little game she played every year...No tags on any of our presents! But...Just because there were no tags didn't mean she did not know whose was whose. Somewhere on the gift, in microscopic handwriting... letters so small you would need a magnifying glass to read them...was "Ray" or "Ralph". Needless to say, you don't want to waste time analyzing the WRONG gift! So...we would go over every gift with a "fine tooth comb!" Every fold, every corner, on every pattern on the paper, until we found our name (or our brother's name).

Sometimes though, this plan would backfire. I do remember times when we were passing out gifts, we would come to one that had no tag and that we hadn't found our names on. "Whose is this one Mom?" we'd ask. "Let me see it" she'd say. She would search all over the present for the name, puzzle around counting the gifts... "Now Ralph has three... Ray has three... Dad has two...hmmm....Let me look at it again". She would finally get it figured out and somebody got another gift. It was her "way" and it did make things more challenging... and it makes for good memories now!

My First Christmas Memories

I have many recollections of our farmhouse at county line. We sold out and moved to the Conklin house at Junction Hill in the late 60's so I spent at least four and maybe five years at the farmhouse.

We never bought a Christmas tree because our farm had just enough poor ground to grow some good cedar trees. It took the whole family (and our dogs, Midgee and Queenie) to select the right tree. We would drive east, up through the barn lot, past the trash dump, along the fence line to the gap that led into the alfalfa field. Along the north side of the alfalfa field, there was lots of sage grass (indicating poor soil) and plenty of good "Christmas Tree" shaped cedars. After we chose the "right" one, Dad would cut it down, trim up the bottom so it would fit in the stand, load it up in the truck bed and then we would head for the house.

Our decorations weren't fancy like folks have today. Although...I do know that history repeats itself...I have seen trees decorated this year with the old type, big bulb lights like we had back then.  There were the usual glass and silk covered ornaments and the tinfoil "icicles" draped over the cedar limbs. For the top of the tree we had big tin star with a light in it that was almost more weight than the top of the tree could take! We also had a cardboard "fireplace" with some contraption in it that made it look like there was a cheery fire a'burnin'! It seems like I always got my birthday pictures (the 19th) standing in front of that fireplace...

The very first gift that I remember receiving, was some little wind-up Jeep trucks.  There were two or three of them and they came with a plastic "track", maybe two or tree foot long with several "hills". You would wind up one of the little Jeeps, set in on one end of the track and it would "zippity-do-da-day" uphill and down until it ran off the other end of the track! Hours upon hours of fun!

One of the most memorable gifts I received at the farmhouse, was a "Johnny Service" gas station and garage. It was a plastic frame "building" with cardboard "walls", with a fully functional "lift" or "rack" for a car. It came with a car that you could take the engine out of, change the tires and put on the rack to change the oil!

It seems like to me, that back then when we received Christmas gifts, we actually played with them...more that just ten minutes like kid do now-a-days. We didn't have a whole room full of toys but what we had, we wore out playing with them!

"I Still Can't Say Goodbye..."

"I Still Can't Say Goodbye", sung by the late Chet Atkins, kinda sums up my thoughts this morning.  Thirty years ago this morning, my Dad, Leamon Harold Riggs, made his journey to the Celestial City.  There is not a day goes by that he does not come to my mind...either by memory or reminder.

This picture was taken at our Sweetheart Banquet in February, 1985.

One of Dads many occupations was Clerking for Earl "Red" Hall, Auctioneer

L-R Bonnie and Red Hall, Gary Don Brower, Dad, Clarence Renfrow

Dad served in the US Air Force in the early 1950's as a Clerk Typist and came home with the Air Force Eagle, tattooed on his arm!

Hand-Me-Downs

Hand-Me-Downs... If there be some rich, elite, snooty, snobbish member of the aristocracy that reads my blog, let me explain.  When a piece of clothing no longer fits because it has been outgrown, it is given, passed down, handed down to a younger family member.  This can cause a lot of problems within the family unit.  My Uncle Elvin said when he was growing up, the only clothes he had were hand-me-downs.  He said "I had three older sisters and no brothers...Boy-O-Boy I Hated Wearing Them Dresses!!!"

Hand-Me-Downs are not always outgrown clothing.  Other things are outgrown also.  And handed down.

My brother, Ralph, was born in January of 1960.  Mom and Dad were living at the County Line, I'm guessing at the little house just east of James Bales store. Sometime in that year, they moved to the old house on the farm that Dad bought from Ruby Vonallmen.  Also during that year, they bought a high-chair. Now ...I can hear some blog reader saying "Well, Big Whoopedoo"! Just remember...I'm writing about hand-me-downs.

After Ralph out-grew the high-chair, it was put away until 1963 when I discovered America (actually it was probably 1964, since I was born in December.) When I was big enough to sit at the table, the little high-chair was put away. It was brought out on the rare occasions when we had some little shaver visit, but basically, it was not used.  We moved from the farm to the Conklin house at Junction Hill, then to the Farley house, then we moved into town to the house on the south side of Third Street.  In a couple of months, Dad bought the house across the street and we moved again! This was in 1976 and we stayed on Third Street until we built at the Homeplace in 1978.  After Dad passed away in 1985, Mom sold the Homeplace and moved to Sixth Street in 1986. During ALL of these moves, the little high-chair was packed up and carried along.

Then...In October of 1986, a red-headed little Riggs was born....Stephanie Mariah!  In a few months the old high-chair was brought out, dusted off and "handed-down" to the next generation. The chair was kept at Grandma Riggs' house, So, in 1987, Tabitha Raeanne Riggs took over the high-chair (again, it was probably 1988 since her birthday is in December!)  Ryan Levi Riggs followed his sister and cousin in April 1990 and then Regan Lewis Riggs in November 1994.  And then...the high-chair was mothballed again.

Mom passed away in August of 2006 and later that fall, we sold her house. Our families got together and divided up the keepsakes and then had a yard sale for all the things that were left.  Somehow, Tami and I wound up with the high-chair!

Little did we know that the old high-chair would soon be put into use again.  In June 2007, another Riggs generation was born when Stephanie had a bouncing baby girl, Clarie Marie!  When we had family get-togethers at our house she was queen for a day in the old high-chair! Then, in September 2013, Ryan and Shayla had another little Riggs, Isabella DeAnn!  Now, Bella was soon introduced to Texas so I'm not sure whether she ever got to use the old high-chair.

And finally...about a year ago, Tabitha and Anson promoted Tami and I to the elevated, noteworthy, and august position of "Mayme and Pawpaw"!  Right before Christmas last year, Lucas Rey Miller was introduced to the Ozark Hills! For several months, you didn't find him just laying around the Grand's house! He was held from the time he came in the house 'til I carried him to the car. But it was soon time to get out the old hand-me-down...the old yellow, metal high-chair! (which still has the chips on the tray where Ralph beat it with his spoon!!)

This is what was written on the bottom of the high-chair in Mom's handwriting...

And...I do have a few pictures of Lucas making use of the old high-chair...

My Dad always said "When you buy, buy the best quality you can afford."  I think this old "Hand-me-down" high-chair has passed the test...

Mountain Town Christmas Parade

I love the Ozarks.  And one of the many reasons I do, is the uniqueness of its towns and peoples.  This originality was on full display at the annual Eminence Christmas Parade last night.  We have made an annual pilgrimage to this "Mecca" for many years now and are never disappointed at the production.  I know there are bigger parades with more "stuff" but the folks in this little mountain town put all they have into it and you know...sometimes "less is more".  Enjoy the pictures and narrative!

The Shannon County Court House was all decked out!

Fried Oreos and Funnel Cakes.   We also partook of grilled hamburgers and Tami cast her vote in the Chili Makin' Contest!

How many of you remember Sinclair Gasoline?  I didn't realize that they were still in business.  The little guy in the pedal car was just too cute for words!

 This is a parade entry for an oil company...with little kids riding in...oil drums!

I'll "Gar-On-Double-Dog-T-U" that you wouldn't see this in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade!  (Or even the West Plains Christmas Parade, for that matter...)  We were on the wrong side to see the full banner (the parade judges were on the courthouse side) but it was something about celebrating Christmas, "Shannon County Style!" and all the little boys...and girls on the float had their hunting rifles!  Now they were just BB guns and pellet guns but can you imagine what the Anti-Gun people would think of this?  I loved it!!

The "float" in the following picture is just too funny for words! A John Boat...cut in two...and attached to the front and back of a four-wheeler.  If that wasn't enough, there is a CAMEL riding on the bow and a SNOWMAN riding on the stern!! There are no words....

And since this is river country with floating being a large part of the economy...A Canoegocart!! 

There were more floats from churches and religious organizations than from the businesses and schools.  They take their faith seriously and the float below was just one example.

When I looked down the street toward the end of the parade, I could see that the street was filled up by a massive float...

As it got closer, I could see that it was a Ginormous front-end loader, on the order of a Caterpillar 950E

And in the bucket was...Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus! The sign on the front reads "If I be lifted up, I'll draw all men to Me" and the "float" was sponsored by the Church of God of Prophesy.  The rest of the machine was made to look like the Inn of Bethlehem, complete with an "Inn" sign, a "No Vacancy" sign and a chimney (covering the diesel exhaust pipe!!!)

When they got to the judging area, they "Lifted" the bucket and Christ was lifted up!!  It was impressive! 

This next picture gives you the perspective of how massive this machine is.

There was a heart on the back with a sign that read "Jesus is the Heartbeat of Christmas"

Now folks, if that ain't unique, I don't know what is!!