These Hills Are Everlastin'

Plains & Hills

Growing up on the Oklahoma plains really gave me a huge appreciation for my family’s original home in the Ozark mountains. Fall in Oklahoma can be very beautiful but there is just something incredible about an Ozark autumn. The plains give a since of openness and freedom - a sense of an endless world. The Ozarks are a place that give a subconscious feeling of being hidden away in a secret place or that you are truly in the middle of nowhere. To me the area I grew up in has a sense of the “western frontier” mindset, where everything is moving forward - out with the old, in with the new. The Ozarks, on the other hand, give off a truly ancient feeling, not only in the architecture of the mills, native stone buildings, and spring houses, but also in the hills themselves.

Heritage

Both my mom and dad’s parents lived in the Ozark mountains, and going to visit them was always something that I remember fondly. The inevitable car sickness induced by the old curvy roads that wind through the mountains was something I dreaded but now view as a sort of acclimation to a totally different world.

Downtown Harrison, Arakansas

At the time I didn’t realize what a special place these hills would become to me. My mother’s grandparents were older than most people’s my age and because of this, their involvement in their community wasn’t as much as it used to be. When visiting them the most I saw of Harrison was their house, their church, and the occasional trip to the public library. This in combination with me being a young child and only being worried about playing games, getting new toys, and going to McDonald’s for a Happy Meal prevented me from having more experiences with the area while they were still alive.

Dad’s side was a bit different. Grandma and Grandpa would take my sister and I with our 6 other cousins and we would have a week long summer “cousin camp”. Thanks to this, my cousins are some of my best friends to this day. They took us all over Siloam Springs, Arkansas. To the parks, trails, and community/church events. As we got older we would go to Devil’s Den state park and explore the caves (which as of the time of writing this is closed) and hills.

Homecoming

Going back today to both of these places makes me extremely homesick for towns that I didn’t ever live in. It’s like that for a lot of people from what I hear. Even those that don’t have a familial connection! These hills have that effect on people I suppose.

It wasn’t until I went to college in Arkansas that I really developed a true understanding of what that feeling of homesickness really was for me. I discovered that this was the place my family was from for at least 200 years prior. Whether it was coincidence that it felt like home or it was in my blood, I knew that this was where I was going to stay.

Sugar Creek

I moved to Northwest Arkansas with my wife after graduating college and it has been a bittersweet experience for me. The beautiful mountains, close family, and plentiful job opportunities are a blessing but the rapidly changing culture of the area can be disheartening.

Ozarks Today

I am trying to become a “folklorist”. What that means I don’t know if I could fully tell you. Closest thing I could describe is a love for Old Time music, genealogy, geology, history, photography, and story telling.

I am struggling to find any groups near me that are promoting and practicing old ozark lifestyles, traditions, and folklore. The Northwestern part of the Arkansas Ozarks has evolved into a totally different place from what it used to be even 10 years ago. In 2017 stats said that Northwest Arkansas added 31 people every day to its population from newcomers moving into the area.

With such a high level of growth coming from other regions of the US, this part of the Ozarks is barely hanging on to it’s old culture by a thread, quickly being replaced by a culture imported from the largest demographic moving to the area: Texans and Californians.

Traditions once well regarded and practiced by many such as gardening and old time music are considered rarities. Most remnants of these practices are being pushed out of the community. At one time “pickin’ on the square” occurred every Friday night. It was moved to the first Friday of summer months, then completely removed from the community events list.

Bentonville, Arkansas

I don’t blame the newcomers to the area (as I am one myself). They are here because it is such a beautiful place. Who could blame them? The culprit, from my observation, seems to be this thing called the internet. Most of the traditions and community events that were widely held in the Ozarks were because people were entertaining themselves. With the advent of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other websites centered around “building communities”, we have lost our true communities.

No longer do people go to the farmer’s market to socialize, meet their friends, chat with their neighbors, and get some good food. Now people go to wear a new outfit for a picture to post online to show how they “support local” - constantly refreshing their phones to see how many new people “liked” their post.

The Future

No one can stop time, I get that. I also understand that there were probably people just like me every time something changed in the Ozarks. First the railroad, then cars, then the highways. All of these things brought massive change to the area that I could never truly understand. Yet here I am still complaining. Although, isn’t that what Ozarkers do? It runs in our blood to be untrusting, suspicious, and overly change averse. I suppose in a way this is something that every Ozarker has dealt with to a certain extent in their lives.

As Uncle Green says in the Bodacious Ozarks:

“Used to be a real happy land for us outlaws… But I still say that whichever the country, hit’s the backhills that stay interestin’ and closest to everlastin’…”

Its a dirty trick your mind plays on you to make you feel like you missed “the good ol’ days” by just a decade or a few years. Longing too hard for the past can cause bitterness for the future. It is never those who bitterly wish the past wasn’t so far gone that make new traditions. It is those who are happy with the present and look to make the future a better place for all of us.

For those of us who still love our heritage and well-remembered past we should carry our treasured memories and traditions with us into the future and share them with others in hopes that they will also see the value in them that we do.

Buffalo River

An Ozarker writing about self-reliance, doing things that are meaningful, and staying connected to reality in a digital world.
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