Ouachita National Forest

THE OUACHITA NATIONAL FOREST has a colorful and picturesque history. The first inhabitants that can be traced in this section were the Rock Shelter people or Bluff Dwellers. Still later came the Mound Builders, and then, of course, the Red Men.

The crafty Osage Indians lived north of the Arkansas River, while the fearless, happy Quapaws lived south of the river. Tradition has it that this tribe called itself "Ug-a-pah". White people who came later and could not quite understand the word called it "Quapaw" and then "Ac-cau-paw". It was next written "Ar-kan-sa" and thus the land of the Arkansas had its name. There are other interesting legends as to how the State got its name, but all seem to agree that the name is of Indian origin.

Hernando De Soto was the first white man to penetrate the mountain vastness of the Quapaw Indians. He crossed the Mississippi into Arkansas in 1541 with a small band of explorers and traveled up the Arkansas River Valley, turning southward and crossing the Fourche Mountains through country that is now the Ouachita National Forest. The Spaniards discovered Hot Springs and wondered if they had indeed found the Fountain of Youth for which Ponce de Leon had searched. They stopped to refresh their sick with the healing waters, and, true to the law of the Valley of Vapors, the hostile Indians allowed them to rest there.

HEWING TIMBERS AND RIVING SHAKES WAS COMMON WITH EARLY SETTLERS This practice still exists in many rural sections of the forest F—314335

It is not definitely known whether La Salle or De Tonti, who is often called the father of Arkansas, visited this locality first. Undoubtedly the early French exploring parties did pass through the region, which accounts for the many French names found here, such as Fourche La Flave River, Ouachita River, Petit Jean Mountain. "Ouachita" is the French way of spelling the sound of the Indian word "Washita", which means "good hunting grounds".

After the purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1803, English-speaking settlers from Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Missouri began to come in. In 1819 there were large settlements near what is now Dardanelle and at Hot Springs, Fort Smith, and Boston. The main agricultural valleys were largely settled by the close of the Civil War.

The settlers learned many crafts from the Indians. And, like the Indians, they took from the forests most of the necessities of life. They hewed logs for their homes and farm buildings. The trees furnished lumber for furniture, wagons, and farming tools. Their food consisted largely of game which the forests supplied.

The industrial expansion of the Nation during the nineteenth century was the most amazing in the history of the world and imposed great demands on every forest resource. Forest lands were laid bare to make way for towns and farms. The products of the forest were largely the sinews of early trade and development. Boats and schooners were made of wood and the railroads were laid on wooden ties.

Heavy expenditures for building railroads into Arkansas were largely justified by the vast timber resources of the State. Development of the country went hand in hand with the development of its timber resources. The lumber industry is now, and has been for many years, one of the leading industries in the State.

Many communities were maintained largely by this utilization of the forests. Unfortunately, however, this necessary forest use was attended by avoidable and disastrous waste. Lumbering expanded into large scale operations and the timber crops from whole watersheds were harvested ruthlessly. Many large logging operations were followed by fire which com pletely destroyed the young growth.

ACQUISITION AND RESTORATION

IN 1907 President Theodore Roosevelt, by proclamation, set aside from the unreserved and unappropriated public lands of Arkansas, 1,663,300 acres to be known and administered as the Arkansas National Forest. In 1926 President Calvin Coolidge renamed this forest Ouachita for the mountains which it embraces and for the principal river which drains it.

Soon after its establishment as a national forest, the area was greatly reduced in size by a proclamation providing for the homesteading of lands which were considered more suitable for agriculture than for forestry purposes.

A FOREST-COVERED WATERSHED The forests of this region play an important part in watershed protection F—209376

The Weeks law, which was passed by Congress in 1911, provided for Federal acquisition of forest lands for the protection of the headwaters of navigable streams. By the terms of the Clarke-McNary law, enacted in 1924, the original authority was broadened to include purchase of land for timber production as well as stream-flow protection. This enabled the Forest Service to acquire and put under administration large areas of cut over timber lands and submarginal farm lands. Today the gross area of the Ouachita National Forest is 2,476,576 acres within the purchase unit boundaries. Many submarginal farms, best suited to growing trees, have been purchased and planted or allowed to reseed to pine trees.

As soon as this area was put under the administration of the United States Forest Service, work was begun on a system for the development of this great natural resource in the public interest. Organized effort was directed toward the protection of these mountain watersheds against timber waste, burning, and soil erosion, and for the perpetuation of the valuable timber stands by the application of fire control and proper cutting methods. Careful planning was required to offset the damage done by repeated forest fires and the removal of timber without protection to the young growth and to provide for the restoration of the forest.

The national forests were created to insure a perpetual supply of timber for industrial and commercial use; to preserve the forest cover which regulates the flow of streams for irrigation, domestic use, and water-power development; and to provide for the use of all forest resources in ways which wlll make them of greatest ultimate service. This means the utilization through multiple-use management of all the resources of national forest lands as a means of assuring social advantages and stable livelihood to the greatest possible number of people.

The preservation and wise use of all resources in the national forests are absolutely dependent on adequate fire prevention. Without fire prevention much timber would be destroyed, stream flow would be diminished by the destruction of the timber and ground cover which protects valuable watersheds, productivity of lands would be lessened by erosion of soil, fish would be destroyed by lack of water, and game animals would be injured or killed. Fire prevention is, therefore, one of the prime concerns of the conservation program of the Forest Service. It is the most important part of fire control.

FOREST FIRES ARE BEING PREVENTED This is the first step toward increasing forest land productivity F—258877

The majority of fires in the South are man-caused—usually through carelessness. The Forest Service has struggled for years with the task of arousing the public consciousness to fire danger and damage. The hunter, the fisherman, the tourist, the camper, the lumberman—in fact, all persons who for any reason are in or near the forests—are urged to exercise the same degree of caution with matches, smokes, and fires that they would use in a powder or gasoline storage plant. The suppression of fire is vital to our continued forest prosperity.