Bill Earngey

Topographically, Arkansas can be divided into distinct sections: mountains to the north and west, alluvial plains to the east and south.

  This topography and the major rivers dictated animal traces, early Indian paths, later European trails and roads, railroads, and today's highways, many of which parallel or overlay each other.

  After 1819 (Arkansas Territory) the trails, single-file and impassable by wagon, were slowly improved by settlers and by the federal government for troop movement, and after 1832 for the removal of Indian nations from east of the Mississippi.

  Other public roads, the majority of traffic, were a local responsibility, whereby, "all free male inhabitants between the ages of 16 and 45 years and all slave inhabitants" of the township could be drafted into roadwork.

  After roads were cleared to accommodate wagons, what remained were narrow corridors of stumps, mud, and water made worse, if possible, by churning hooves and wagon wheels.

  Also keep in mind that most roads were a collection or series of trails broadened by necessity. Like a magician's handkerchief trick these trails became roads joining roads, joining roads, and so on. Marked by blazed trees in thick forests, getting lost was not just possible, it was probable.

  However, backtracking to the right road, repairing broken wagon wheels and gouging gumbo mud were only a small part of the hazards.

  Bridges were nonexistent. Fording countless rivers, creeks, and bayous presented real danger of drowning, illness from exposure during cold weather and loss of possessions, including draft animals and the entire wagon.

  For example, a trip from the Missouri state line to Texas, using the Southwest Trail (the best road in 1836 Arkansas), involved no less than 45 fordings.

  If all this fording business sounds foreign, pack a lunch some fine spring day (after a thunderstorm), ditch the cell phone, put your favorite couch in the pickup, and explore the Madison County Wildlife Area.