The End Of An Era In Helena

The Raping Of Phillips County

Drive in almost any direction out of Helena and you can see the results of the "rape" of old growth hardwoods that started not too many years after the end of the Civil War.

About the only places left untouched after decades of clear cutting by farmers and carpet-bagger timber barons is that part of the national forest north of Helena and the bottom-lands of the White River.  

CHICAGO MILL OFFICE  ITAWAMBA COUNTY, MS.

No one gave a tinker's darn about forest conservation, water runoff or soil erosion at that time. The logging is called a "rape" because the "potential" exists, given the right long-term weather conditions, for a "dust bowl" situation with nothing to hold the topsoil in place.

The one concern back during the logging heyday was making money as fast as was possible and nothing else mattered.  Many of the huge homes in Helena owe their existence to timber profits. 

A trip south out of Helena down Arkansas 20 and then on 85 the results of clear-cutting can be readily seen. Except for scrub trees outlining sloughs, or perhaps a combine or tractor, the view is unobstructed all the way to the horizon.  The only place to really see old-growth hardwoods are those actually in the water of Old Town Lake.

From the late 1800s to the middle of the 1900s the land was cleared with rapid abandon. Land around Lambrook, a wide spot on Arkansas 20 west of Elaine, for instance, was cleared in rapid succession by one of those northern immigrants intent on making it big.  The man even laid a railroad spur right up to the logging operation.

The clear-cutting, however, was not just something unique to Phillips County.  It was happening all over the central Mississippi Delta in Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. 

One of the biggest clear-cutters in Phillips County and throughout the Delta was Chicago Mill & Lumber Company of Chicago.  There are estimates that nearly 17 million acres of forestland were lost in the lower Mississippi River flood plain primarily due to timber harvesting by companies such as Chicago Mill and from the conversion of forests to farmland.  Chicago Mill opened a veneer processing plant in Helena and had another plant near Jonesboro.  Like most timber companies of the time, they bought up vast tracts of land, harvesting the timber and transporting it to company-owned mills before manufacturing the lumber and shipping it out to lumber yards, either by barge or rail. Located in a port town, the Greenville location played an important role in transporting timber and lumber up and down the Mississippi River.

CHICAGO MILL ENGINE USED IN LOUISIANA

The Chicago company even had numerous shortline railroads in the Delta to speed its products to market

Chicago Mill, owned by German immigrant Hermann Paepcke, opened the in 1892 and made corrugated boxes for such clients as Sears Roebuck & Co. It is quite possible at the time a Phillips County resident receiving a Sears boxed item could be holding a box made from Phillips County trees.  

The one advantage for Phillips County sharecropping residents was that during the downtime for crops they could go work for the timber companies.  Chicago Mill was not the only timber company operating in the county, but it was the largest.

Paepcke struck it rich with his timber business and moved to the silk stocking, high rent district along Chicago's Lakeshore Drive.  The company still exists in Mississippi, but it is a mere skeleton of its former self. 

There was never any attempt, then or now, by anyone for reforest any of the hardwoods that were native to Phillips County.

Logging operations are still active in Phillips County and the rest of Arkansas. There are nearly 500 such companies involved in the logging industry employing nearly 4,000 people and with annual sales of more than $288 million. There are five such companies in Phillips County:  Ameritech of Arkansas, West Helena; Delta Lumber, Lexa; Faust Big Cypress, Marvell; McKnight Plywood, West Helena; and Smith Lumber & Tie, Barton.

Helena Ghosts In Residence?

A 1893 View Of Helena To Friars Point Via Modoc

A 1893 book published by Army Capt. Willard Glazier details his descent down the Mississippi.

Of particular interest in this volume published Hubbard Brothers Publishers of Philadelphia is Glazier's visit to Helena, Modoc and on to Friars Point.  On the 93rd day of the trip he landed by steamer at Helena and lodged at the Delmonico Hotel.  We Pick up the narration at that point.

MODOC,  ARKANSAS

Delmonico Hotel,

Helena, Arkansas,

October Twenty-second.

As soon as we had finished breakfast at the cabin of our colored host, Robert Green, we called for the Alice, and, accompanied by all the Greens, large and small, hurried down to the river and pushed off. Nothing of an unusual character was seen until about twelve o'clock, when, as we rounded a bend we saw in the distance Helena, the most enterprising city ofArkansas. We struck the beach at one o'clock, and on stepping ashore received a welcome from Arnot Harris and W. L. Morris. These gentlemen escorted us to the "Delmonico" for dinner, and extended many courtesies during our brief stay in their city.

Helena, standing on the right bank of the river, in Phillips County, Arkansas, has become, since the Civil War, a very progressive town, and is growing rapidly in importance. It offers many advantages for navigation and commerce, and the only drawback to its still greater advancement is the destructive agency of the Mississippi, which occasionally threatens it with inundation. If it can protect itself against the overflows, Helena, from its peculiarly favorable position, is destined to become one of the first cities on the Lower Mississippi. Located in a fertile cotton section, the facilities for shipment of that staple to other ports is apparent. It is eighty miles below Memphis, and if the terminus of the Arkansas Midland, and the Iron Mountain and Helena railroads.

In the summer of 1863 Helena was held by a Union force under General Prentiss, strongly intrenched, the river also being commanded by a gunboat. July Fourth, an unsuccessful attempt to seize the town was made by a superior Confederate force under General Holmes. In the action which followed, the Confederates lost one thousand six hundred and thirty-six men, and the Unionists two hundred and fifty.

The present population of Helena is about four thousand, and it supports two banks and five newspapers.

Plantation House,

Near Modoc, Arkansas

October Twenty-third.

Wind, rain, and a chopped sea greeted us as we stepped into our canoe at an early hour in the morning. A persistent use of our paddles supported by a brisk current brought us to Friar's Point at eleven o'clock. Here we landed, and after climbing over a levee walked, or rather waded, up to town through several inches of mud and water.

After dinner, which we had at a restaurant, we took a hurried stroll through this forlorn-looking place, confining our walk chiefly to high ground and streets favored with paved or board sidewalks. Should the majestic Mississippi conclude some fine day to take Friar's Point on an excursion to the Gulf, it is doubtful if anything but the " point" would be missed.

Just before re-embarking we were invited aboard the "Doremus Floating Photograph Gallery," which has been upon the river for the past six years, under the direction of J. P. Doremus, of Paterson, New Jersey. Mr. Doremus explained that he made his floating gallery his home during the summer months, and that he had photographed every object of interest between Minneapolis and Vicksburg. Many of the views submitted for our inspection were faithful representations of Mississippi scenery, and will prove a valuable contribution to the illustrated history of the Great River.

The weather was showery throughout the afternoon, but in anticipation of several days more of the same sort we thought it best to continue our voyage, and pressed forward determined to cover as many miles as possible before nightfall.

The small landing and postal station known as Modoc was reached a few minutes before six o'clock. Here we spent the night with J. R. McGuire and family, a wealthy and enterprising cotton-planter, who named the place and established a post-office soon after the Modoc War. We were much gratified to note in our log a gain of forty-eight miles for our ninety-fourth day.

No Shortage of African American Newspapers

During a 75 year period -- 1880 to 1955 -- Helena had no shortage of newspapers targeting Helena's and Phillips County's large African American Population.

Most, however, were short lived.

Below is the list of those publications and dates of publication:

Arkansas Mule 1890-91

Arkansas Survey-Journal 1934-1955

Baptist Reporter 1891-1907

Colored American 1902-1903

Golden Epoch 1881-1888

Informer 1939

Interstate reporter 1891-1934

Jacob's Friend 1888-1890

New Era 1888-1891

People's Friend 1888-1890

Press 1937-1938

Progress 1880-1902

Reporter 1891-1901

Royal Messenger 1909-1922

Southern Modiator Journal 1940

Southern Review 1882-1890

Times 1886

World Picture 1950



Life In A Helena Military Hospital

Written By Leander Stillwell Company D - 61st Illinois Infantry

HELENA, ARKANSAS-
AUGUST, 1863
   General Sherman soon drove General Johnston out of Jackson, and beyond Pearl river, and then his column returned to the vicinity of Vicksburg.

   On July 22nd our division marched back to Snyder's Bluff, and resumed our old camp. But we had not been here long before it was rumored that we were under marching orders, and would soon leave for some point in Arkansas. Sure enough, on July 29th we marched to the Yazoo river and filed on board the side-wheel steamer "Sultana," steamed down the river to its mouth, and there turned up the Mississippi, headed north.

   I will remark here that one of the most tragical and distressing incidents of the war was directly connected with a frightful disaster that later befell the above named steamboat. It left Vicksburg for the north on or about April 25, 1865, having on board nearly 1,900 Union soldiers, all of whom (with few exceptions) were paroled prisoners. On the morning of April 27th, while near Memphis, the boilers of the boat exploded, and it was burnt to the water's edge.

   Over 1100 of these unfortunate men perished in the wreck, in different ways; some scalded to death by escaping steam, some by fire, others (and the greatest number) by drowning. Besides the soldiers, cabin passengers and members of the boat's crew, to the number of about 140, also perished. It was the greatest disaster, of that kind, that ever occurred on the Mississippi.

It may, perhaps, be noticed that the regiment is leaving the vicinity of Vicksburg without my saying a word about the appearance, at that time, of that celebrated stronghold. There is good reason for it; namely, it so happened that we never were in the place. We were close to it, on the north and on the east, but that was all. And I never yet have seen Vicksburg, and it is not probable now that I ever shall.