Family Adventure

A Day From the Past Remembered

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This day happened when I was the ripe old age of 14. We used to spend a whole week every year at a place called Many Islands in Arkansas, trout fishing on the Spring River. Well, my dad had bought a trolling motor to help in getting around on Spring River. The owner of the campground had poured a concrete pad to aid in loading gear into boats and canoes.

He rented a boat and pulled it up to the pad where our gear was waiting to be loaded into the boat. My dad had one foot in the front of the boat and one foot on the pad. He had me hand him the gear and he loaded it into the boat. He assured me that his knot would hold and keep the boat in place.

Well, everything seemed to be going pretty well and then I noticed the boat was getting farther from the concrete pad, but my dad would pull the boat back to the pad with his leg. As long as the knot held, everything would be fine.

Then it happened. The knot failed and my dad was struggling to pull it back. I stared in horror as I realized he was approaching the point of no return. My gut told me this wasn’t going to end well and it sure wasn’t going to be pretty. Then it happened. The gap between the concrete pad where my dad’s foot was planted and the boat where his other foot was planted became too wide for him to recover and into the water he went. FYI the water temp is cold and colder. His head went under water and then after what seemed like an eternity, he emerged from the water resembling the Phoenix rising from the ashes. I learned a whole bunch of new adjectives that I would never be able to use in school. Needless to say, we didn’t go fishing that morning.

Bollinger Mill State Historic Site

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The Bollinger Mill State Historic Site is located in Cape Girardeau County in Missouri. The park was established in 1967 to preserve the mill and the Bufordville Covered Bridge that predates the American Civil War in Bufordville. The bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The park offers tours of the mill and picnicking. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has the responsibility of managing the park.

Around 1800 a gentleman by the name of George Frederick Bollinger began building a wooden dam and the mill on the Whitewater River only to rebuild the mill and dam using limestone. upon his death, his daughter Sarah Daughtery along with her sons kept the mill operating until the Civil War. In an effort to prevent the supply of flour and meal to the Confederate Army, Union soldiers burned the mill.

After the war Solomon R Burford bought the mill site and 1867 completed the current four-story brick mill. It is built on the limestone foundation of the original mill. He kept the mill operating until 1953 at which time the Cape County Milling Company took over the operations and continued operating until 1953 when the Vandivort family bought the site. In 1961 it was donated to the Cape Girardeau County Historical Society and in 1967 it was donated to the State of Missouri. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

The Whitewater River was used to power the mill. When water levels are sufficient, milling demonstrations are performed using the original milling equipment.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and read about the Bollinger Mill.

“The power of imagination makes us infinite.” -John Muir

A Little Trip Down Memory Lane

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During my teenage years my family would vacation every summer for a week at a campground in Mammoth Spring, Arkansas called Many Islands. It was located on the Spring River and offered premier trout fishing.

Our first year we camped for a week in a tent. It didn’t take long to realize that this was not the best of ideas. The following years we rented a cabin with all the comforts of home.

Spring River had several springs that flowed into it. The water temperature was cold and colder. Remember this little bit of information. The shock of hitting the water would take your breath away.

Generally we would wade the water to trout fish. On this one particular morning my dad informed me he was renting a boat and trolling motor so he and I could get where the big trout hung out.

There was a concrete slab where one could pull the boat up to and tie it off. My dad had pulled the boat up to the slab and informed me he was going to show me how to tie the boat up properly.

I was thirteen and excited about my dad sharing his knowledge with me. I watched attentively as he explained the proper knot to use as he tied it off. He then instructed me to retrieve our tackle boxes and rods and reels. He began loading the boat with our gear. He took one load aboard and came back to get another load.

On this trip he set his foot on the front seat of the John boat and still had one foot on the slab. At this point the boat began to drift away from the slab. Little did I know my vocabulary was going to expand with words that if I had ever used would have ended with me getting my mouth washed out with soap.

Now you have to picture my dad with one foot in the boat and the other planted on the slab and the boat slowly backing away. The gap between the boat and slab has widened. At this point I began to wonder if at the age of thirty four if my dad could physically do the splits.

My dad is trying frantically to pull the boat back to the slab with his leg. I stood there in disbelief as I watched the knot my dad had tied begin to unravel and the boat was now free and it occurred to me my dad was now at the point of no return.

All of a sudden I was overcome with the urge to laugh. I immediately started biting my tongue and realized how much I enjoyed life. I didn’t want to be standing in front of the pearly gates at such a young age so with great determination I was able to suppress my laughter.

I watched in horror, but laughing on the inside, as the gap became too wide for my dad to maintain his balance. SPLASH!!! Did I mention how cold the water is? He rises out of the water and onto the slab with the agility of a teenager. Like the Phoenix rising from the ashes!! My vocabulary was expanding with the speed of light. His language would have made a sailor proud!

Needless to say that pretty much ended our day in the boat exploring Spring River and a trophy Trout was spared. When we got back to the cabin we had a real good laugh. Ahh the memories of growing up.