sign in sign up
<<
Home , Cross Timbers, Ouachita Mountains

Historical Reflections on the

Don C. Bragg USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station Room 111, Forest Resources Buildlng P.0. Box 3510 UAM Monticello, All 710.iO

Abstract

Kuclller's original rnap of potential natural vegetation suggested that the eastern-most extension of the "Cross Timbers" oak-dominated reached into extreme western Arkansas. Iiecellt investigations have found possible old-gl-owth Cross Timber comnlunities in rial-row strips along steep, rocky and shale ridges near Fort Chaffee and Hackett. However, many decades of 1:uroarnerican intervention have altered vegetation composition and structure in west-, nlakillg field evaluation difficult. I.'ortunately, historical accounts of the area provide con side^-able supporting docun~entation. General IJand Office surveyors, fbr instance, traversed this portion of western Arkansas before 18.50. 'They reported tnany ridges and slopes dominated by grassy, stunted oak , with extensive and richer bottomland terraces. Early explorers, missionaries, and botanists also found similar conditions. 1:or example, both the botanist l'hoinas Nuttall (in 1819) and the Iieverend William Graham (in 1845) mentioned abundant oak woodlands interspersed with glades and grasslands on the stony hills south of 120rt Smith. These historical accounts help show that, though far more restricted in theis extent than comparable stands in or , Cross Timber communities are possible in Arkansas.

Introduction from site factors like slope, aspect, parent materials, and other large-scale geographic information, fine-scale The "CIoss Tlrnbe~s" covers mlll~onsof hectai es f~ om cornrnunity rep-esentation within a given region could differ southeastel n through Oklahoma tnto northeastel n substantially. Hence, the actual presence of' the Cross lbxas (FI~IIIe 1) These woodlands a1 e cha~actel~~ed by Tilllbers in Arkansas is uncertain. Recent investigations by open fo~ests of post oak (Qu~rcurrtelluta Liar-ig.), often with a the author and Ilr. David Stahle of the Uiliversity of large coinponent of blackjack oak (Quercuc murzlandzca Arkitnsas have found old-growth communities sirnilar to the Muenchh ) and occasionally othe~t~ cc specles hke hlckol~es Cross Tinlbers in narrow strips along steep, rocky sandstone ((,'urya spp.), eastel n I edcedai uunzperur vzrgznzana I,.), and, and shale ridges near Fort Chaffee and Hackett (Fipre 2). mole I 'llely, shol tleaf pine (I'znut echznata M111.) Understory 'These remnants could provide confirmation of the Arkansas vcgetat~on1s usually dom~natcdby praille type gasses (e g , Cross Timbers as suggested by Kuchler's map. Andropogon spp), folbs llkc Agrzmonza spp , woody shrubs The difficult access, low site productivity, and pool- (e.g , Vuccznzum spp ), and scatteled tree seedl~ngs(Druner, co~nmercialcluality of the trees in the Cross Timbers has I!) 'The Gloss Timber s l~csat the ecoto~lebctween the resulted in the preservation of surprisingly large areas of' eastern deciduous fo~estand the Great I'lalns and IS thought old-growth ('Therrell and Stahle, I!)!lH). However, many to lellect a cllrnat~cand edaph~c/one In w111ch thele 1s decades of grazing, logging, agricultul-a1 clearing, herbicide sufflc~cntso11 ~nolstuieto suppolt llaldy tree specles (with application, military training, and I-esidential development Quercur ctelluta ,ind Quenur murzlundzta ~ons~delcd cl~n~,~x), have altered the composition and structure of I-emnant generally at low density (131unel, I!)JI; Dykster huls, 19 18, stands, making field evaluation of the potential examples of Kice and I'enfound, IO.i!)) Old g~owthexamples of these the Arkansas Cross Timbers difficult. l+'ortunately,historical woodlands '11 e dom~natedby stunted (<20 m tall) post oaks, accounts of the area have provided considerable supporting most of wll~chale gnarled, hollow, and often qulte auc~e~lt inlbrmation. 'I'his paper reviews sotne of the key ecological (Thcr ]ell and Stahle, 1908) descriptions included in this historical documentation and 'Though the Cross T~n~belsI egon has tl ad~t~otlallybeen relates these accounts to the current knowledge of the Cross thought to occul p~~mar~lyin Oklalloma and Texas, we 'ire r.I imbers conlmunity type. unce~t,nnCIS to how fa1 cast 1111s assoc~atlonleaches 131unc1 (1!),$1) extended his o,~khtcko~y sdvd~in~lh type lion1 ce~ltldl Materials and Methods (>kldhoma long the Aikctnsc~sRive1 V'illey to 'it le'ist the Aikanjas state line Kuchlei's map of potentla1 natu~al Study Region 'Tl~e legion In Atkansas ~dent~ficdas vegetation for thc c otc~m~nous lln~ted States suggested that Ctoss Ttmbe~s by Kuchler 's 1!)04 rnap ~ncludesSebastl'ln the Gloss 'T~lnbetsextended ~ntoext~c~ne western A~I\ansas County and pol t~onsof soi~thernF~anklln, iv~ste~r~ I,ogan, (Kuchlei, 100 1.) Slrtce 111s m~lpW'LS bdsed on ~nfciences 'ind rxtl enle nor the1 n Scott couiltles (FI~,IIcs 2) 111 geneial,

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 58, 2004

Historical Reflections on the Arkansas Cross Timbers

Kuchler's (1964) Cross Timbers Zone

Kansas III Missouri ------I Oklahoma ;------I I

I I / Arkansas

Fig. 1. An enlarged portion of Kiichler's original map of Fig. 2. Western Arkansas, with probable Cross Timbers the Cross Timbers ecosysten~,showing an extension into old-growth locations (triangles) found in preliminary Arkansas (adapted fi-oin Kiichler, l!)li4). investigations in 2004. the aiea is bounded to the south by the main sputs of the and Glenn, 1!)!)1; l'ot~,2001, B~agg,200J) 'The desc~lpt~on and to the north by the AI kailsas rive^ of domliiant trees, foiests, and landfo~mtypes along the floodpla~n Wlthtn th~sI eglon, sandstone and shale- traverses a1 e part~rularlyuseiul ~nfoimat~on prov~ded by the dom~natcd11dgr5 were of pal tic111a1 interest, espec~ally GIJO notes As an example, GLO surveyols listed most those wlth Mountainbu~gsandy loams and assoc~atedso11 A~kansas ttcc specles, even tilough some taxa ai e complexes These so~lsate shallow, droughty, often stony undeniably vague and a few weie rn~s~dent~fied(Bragg, and ftequelltly lound on steep slopes (Cox et a1 , 1975) 2002). Vegetat~onalso helped to dehne the ieg~o~iof llltetest Eat ly exploi el s, botail~sts,and missloilal les sornetl~nes Cox et a1 (1!)75) described likely C~ossTlinbe~ sites in i ecoi ded then tl avels th~ough westei n AI kansas 7'11ci1 Sebast~an County as poo~lysulted for cult~vation but narlat~ves prov~de many qualitative descr~pt~onsof ~~cceptablelange lands, w~th"sc~ubby" oak 'ind Il~ckory p~esettlernentlandscapes and have cont~lbutedgleatly to dominated overstor ies and glassy undel sto~~esSlow our knowledge of plcsettlement forests 111 Arkansas, glowtng and shade ~ntole~ant,both post and blacklack oak inclurl~lrg posslble Cross T1n1be1 commu~l~tles FOI fa~epooily on sttes whe~c mole tolerant species c,~n example, both the icnowned botanist Thomas Nutt,tll and est'~bllsl1'ind ovri take them Thus, untle~meslc coiidlt~ons, M.1jor Stephell H I'ong conducted expedit~onsthi ough thc post .tnd blachjack oak are cons~de~edti anslttonal, typically 'iica of lllterest 111 1810 1820, and cach left detalled ~ecoids I eplaccd by wlitte anti led oaks, h~ckotles,gums, and p111e of the vt~getatlonhe encounte~ed 13ottonliand lo1 ests (such as those along the Arl\c~nsas12ivc1) and 'uettc~quality s~teslound 111 the Ouachlta Mountatrts Results and Discussion 11mtt the cxtcilt of Closs 'Tlmbel s 111 ArkCinscls Aleas with ex11 cnir.ly stony, cl'iyey, o~ vet y sh,~llowsotls In tlic Cross 'Thc (;1,0 ~~11\1ryo1sin westell1 Aihansas iepoltcd 'T~mbcls often experience extlcnlc glowing season many I ~dgcsatld slopes domlnatc~clby glassy, stunted post dtoughts, ,lnd a1 e commonly occuplcd by g~,~ssyopen~iigs oak woodlancls with extellsive pi~lltles and 11cl1e1 Data Sources Inlot rnat~on on h~sto~~calveget'ition bottomland tcilaces (Ilanicls, 2000) I:oi ~nstance,depi~ty patte~us 111 wester 11 At l\ansas wet e de~~ved ti om multiple su~vcyoiWill~am Clal hson desc~ibcdmuch of tl~elartdstape soul ccs, ~nclucfingGenetal 1,aiid Office ((;I,()) sui veys from LLS ''poo~"01 "th~ll,"often rocky, diid I '~ielyht fo~cult~v~ttlon thc illid 1820s to the e,111y 1840s (Ilan~cls,2000) These On 1:ebtualy 21 22, 1827, Cla~kson tepeatedly passed " I ecol ds, ,tlthougli not ol lginally intentfed to descrlbe between small PI all ~esIntel spe~sed w~th glove[sl of ecologlcc~lfeatures, have show11 cons~de~ablcplomlse fo~ small I'ost Oah & Blach Jacks," wli~ch he also cdlled ~nte~pi et~ng p~ esettlemcnt vegctatloil in Arkclnsas (e g , 120tl "woodlands " Blacl\~r~ckoak dominated some r~dges,w~th

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 58, 2004 Don C. Bragg

occasional references to black oak (probably Quercus velutina treeless , any type of forest may have seemed Lam. and several other species of Quercus) and unspecified exceptionally productive. Long's expedition continued hickories (Carya spp.). along the Canadia~l River to its confluence with the Other early visitors to the area witnessed similar , which they then followed to the Fort Smith environmental conditions. In 1819 Thomas Nuttall area. While they primarily followed river bottoms, collected plants in the lands south of present-day Fort Smith. occasionally the party scaled the uplands, traveling through Even though Nuttall made scarce mention of donii~lant oak woodlands and pockets of as they entered the trees, his other vegetation descriptions are I-evealing: . Like an immense meadow, the expanse was now Native American land cessations opened the region to covered with a luxuriartt herbage, and beautifully settlement after 182.5, and waves of settlers soon followed. decorated with flowers, amongst which I was By the early 1840s, Indian missionaries and traveling pleased to see the I'ainted Cup of the eastern states, preachers roamed the landscapes to minister to their accompanied by occasional clusters of a white dispersed congregations. In lX4/C, a Methodist preacher flowered L)odecatheon or American primrose. The from I'ennsylvania named William Graham was assigned a numerous rounded elevations which chequer [sic] wide-ranging circuit that included I.'oi-t Smith and ran this verdant plain, are so many partial attempts at southward to the Ouachita Mountains. Reverend Graham, shrubby and arborescent vegetation, which nature though trained in religious matters and not botany, has repeatedly made, and which have only been frequently described natural features. For instance, he subdued by the reiterated operation of annual viewed the landscapes south of Fort Smith as follows: burning, employed by the natives, for the purpose Some of the prairie lands are moderately of hunting with more facility, and of affording a productive, while others are slaty, hard, and barren. tender pasturage for the game (Nuttall, 1980, p. 158- The upland is generally thin, and but poorly repays 150). cultivation. The valleys are more fertile, and yet The use of fire to keep prairies and woodlands open was inferior in qualities of soil to most countries: common practice in the territory (Key, 2000). The presence besides, they are very narrow and irregular. The of large numbers of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus country is but thinly wooded with indifferent Zimm.), (Bison bison L.), and (Cervus elaphus I,.) also growths of black-jack and white-oak, and is every- appeared in Nuttall's and other explorers' reports of the where covered with long grass and beautiful flowers Arkansas Cross Timbers region. of every hue. (Graham, lX(i3, p. 539). Following a rambling expedition to the Kocky Graham's "white-oak" was almost certainly post oak Mountains, Major Stephen H. 1,ong and his company since the area in question was too harsh for Quercus alba. passed through the Cross Timbers of Oklahoma into Typical of the hills were Blackjack Ridge (near the present- extreme \vestern Arkansas by the late summer of 1820. day village of Mansfield), for which Graham (lX(i3, p. 54.0) Long was accompanied by a physician, Edwin ,James, who described as "...covered in tall grass and the stunted species later wrote a detailed account of their travels (Thwaites, of oak called black-jack ..." or the Sugar Loaf Mountains 1905). Dr. James' knowledge of botany and geoloby along the Arkansas-Oklahoma state line, which were produced insightful comme~ltarieson the Cross Timbers, covered with a " ...stunted g~owthof timber.. .". An excerpt including this observation along- the Canadian River in fi-om Iieverelld Graham's autobiography further described eastern 6klahoma: the region: The sandstone which appears in the beds of the The general character of the country was that ol' streams, and the sides of the hills, is coarse and open barrens, with but few dense forests, with but hard, of a dark gray colour, and a horizontally few tall large h-ees. The timber was mostly thinly laminated structure. It is deeply covered with a soil scattered, light and scraggy with glades and of considerable fertility, sustaining heavy forests of openings, and the bare spaces covered with grass, oak. Amo~igthese trees the upland white oak is and flecked with flowers. The soil is not very rich, common, but is of rather dimirlutive size, and often except in the valleys and bottoms, and yet is not hollow. 111 a tree of this description we observed, as wholly unproductive. In the valleys and flats the we passed, the habitation of a swart11 of bees.. . hickory walnut and pecan grow larger, and where ('l'hwaites, 1'105, p. 162). the soil is wet the Cyprus lsicl and cycan~orc[sic] James appeared to conf~lsepost oak wit11 truc white oak abounds. Mostly, however, the timber is light and (Q~ercusalba I,.). IIis positive appraisal of thc fertility of the thin, and the country is easily cleared. I'ortioils of hillslope soils belied the stunted ("diminutive") stature of the it lai-c] rocky, but that is true only of the ridges, a11cl oaks, b~ttgiven that they had just crossed the hot, dry, hills. There are some pine forests.. . [in] the

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 58, 2004 Historical Reflections on the Arkansas Cross Timbers

mountain glens and bluffs giows the beautiful t~lm I'lains and eastern forests indicates that the Arkansas Cross holley [SIC].. . [tlhe whole count^ y 1s beautiful and Timbers may be particularly v~tlnerableto environmental variegated, w~th w~ld flowers of every hue. change and conversion to other community types. (I'arman, 1998, p. J27). Residei~tialand industrial development also threatens the Giaham also 1epo1ted an abundat~ceof hawks, vultures, remaining exanlples. Further lield work is needed to and the now ext~nct Cat ol~na pal akeet (O'onuropizr conclusively confirn~the presence of Cross Timbers ill curolznenrzr L.), the latter of whlcl~he colo~fullydesciibed as Arkansas, and to suggest management and conservation ". . .of beaut~fulplumage, but of ho11td music.. " (Par man, options. 1008, p. J28) A ieconnalssance speat headed by geologist llavld 1). ACKNOWLEDGMENTS-1 would l~kcto thank Eilc Owen covered much of the state in 1X,i!) and 1800 (Owen et Heit/man (Unlvei sity of Ai kansas Monticello), Ilavid al., 1800). Owen's wo~k concentrated on the desci~ptionof Stahlc (University of Ai kansas Fayettevllle), and sever a1 obv~ousgeological chaiacte~ist~csof the tegion, especially a~~onymousreferees foi the~rthoughtful ~ev~ewsof this the extensive coal beds and sed~mentaryfoimations that ~ilanuscr~pt domlnate Sebastlan and 1,ogan counties south of the Arkansas R~vcifloodplain. M 1,eo 1,esquer eux, the botanist Literature Cited attached to the cxpcdltlon, assoelated vegctat~onw~th the obsclved He placed the g~asslandsol Scbastlan Bragg, D. C. 2002 Checklist of majoi plant species in and I:I anklin count~cs wltll "p~allies of Carbonlfe~ous Ashley County, Arkansas noted by Geneial Land shalcs," call~ngthein ~elat~\elysterile di~ddifficult to Office su~veyols. J. Aikansas Acad Sci. 5032 41 culttvate but rxcrllcnt for pastuie (Owen et al., 1800). The Bragg, D. C. 200J. Natural prescttlenle~ltfeatures of the "sandy, dry, and ste~ilc"summits ol the low R~lls'111d ~ldges Ashley County, AI kansas a1 ea Am. Midl. Nat. 14!). 1 20. ~IIIi oundtng these pran-ies wci r often ti ccless or covered by Bruner, W. E. ]!I31 T11e vegetahon of Oklahoma. Ecol opeit oak doniln'~ted woodlands 1,esclucl cux ~rite~p~eted Monographs 1 100 188. the lack of tiees 'ind the bunda dance ol sh~ubs as evlden~eof Cox, J. B., B. A. Garner, and F. M Vodrazka. 1!)7.i Soil I~ccluent ftle, although he 111~1deno spcc~f~cmctltlon of suivey ol Scbastian County, Alkansas USDA So11 rcccrltly btliilcd lands long thc~~ioutc Conse~vat~onSetvlce, USIIA 1:olest Seivice, and VIItuaily ail of the ea1 ly vts~tots to the At kansas Ci oss h~kansai Ag Exp. Sta Go\ 1'1-lilting Officc, 'Timbers reglon commei~tedon the extetls~vegtasslancfs WCishlngton,I) C. 00 pp Most recognl/cd that thcsc praliies alose I~oniextienle so11 Daniels, C. [commissioner]. 2000 AI kansas oi iginal condihons, ,xltIiough some (l~keI,csque~eux) ath~buted ~II~II Gencial 1,ancI Olfice survey notes and plats. Ark. State Land Office, 1,lttlc Rock, AR (10 compact dlsks). pl ese11ce to ti cquent fi~c. Such open~ngsai e corn111011 th~ortghotttthe CIoss Timbei 5, as nlay b(1 cxpcctetl along Dyksterhuis, E. J. 1048 The vegetation of thc Wcstc~n the Gi edt I'lains/ Eastei n Woodland ecotone The p~esence CIoss 'Tlrribei s Ecol. Monog~aphs18:320-,i70. Foti, T. L. 2001. Piesettleme~ltfoiests of the ]{lack Swamp ol Anthrpogon 'tnd ot11e1 "p~a11 lc glasses" (as called by GI,O a1 ca, Ca~hcIitvei, Woodruff County, Ai kansas, I1 om sui veyo~s) li11 tlle~ su11po1ts the occul i cncc ol the CIoss the notes ol the fnst land sut vey I'p. 7 1.5 In Bottomland 'I'iinbe~ woodlands m westc~n At h,lnsas ha~dwoods ol the Miisi\sippl illluv~al V,tlley t 11ar ,tc tc~lst~cs ,~nd mailage~ncnt of natuial ft~nct~on, Conclusions st~uttu~e,'ind compos~t~on(I'D Hamel ,lnd TI, 1:ot1, cds) USIIA 1:oi Seiv (;en 'Iccll Rep SRS E2 liel~~~tcdhisto1 lcal desc~ipt~ons ol open, g~assy, Foti, T. L., and S. M. Glenn. 0 Thc CIuach~t,~ d\vn~lcd post aiid blachjack oak woodlands 111 wc>stc~i~ Mounta~tllallciscapc 'it the ttmc of scttlcmcnt. l'p. l!) Ai kCxnsc~s'11 e conststcilt wltll model 11 0klahon1,ln (11 'Exan 0.5 Irr licstoi,tt~onol old gio~rthfo~ests ~n the ~rttc~~or e~~iml~lesol CI oss 'I'inlbcr 5 'I'lic pi escncc of thcsc h~gliland\ol Aikatis,is ,tnd Ol

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 58, 2004 Don C. Bragg

Nuttall, T. 1!)80. A journal of travels into the Arkansas Territory dur~ngthe year 181!). S. Lottinville (ed). University of Oklahoma I'ress, Norman, OK. 301 pp. Owen, D. D., R. Peter, M. L. Lesquereux, and E. Cox. 1800. Sccond report of a geological i-econnoissance [SIC] of the middle and southern counties of Arka~lsas made during the years 18,5!) and 1800. C. Sherman and Son, Ph~ladelphia,I'A. 433 pp. Parman, D. L. 1098. Riding circult in Arkansas, 1814- 184.5: an excerpt from the autobiography of Iieverend Willlain Graham. Ark. Hist. Quart. 02:30!1-:3,1!1. Rice, E. L., and W T. Penfound. 11159. The upland forests of Oklahoma. Ecoloby 40:.5!1:1-008. Therrell, M. D., and D. W. Stahle. 1!198. A predictive model to locate ancient forests 111 the Cross Tiinbers of Osage County, Oklahoma. J. Biogeogaphy 25:847-8\54. Thwaites, R G. [editor]. 1!)05. Early western travels 1718- 1840, volume XVI: I'ai-t I11 ofJames's account of S.1-I. Long's expedition, 181')-1820. Arthur H. Clark Company, Cleveland, OH. 201 pp.

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 58, 2004

3 6