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Mill at Pioneer |
Pioneer by Emily Davis Hedgpeth
Cassville’s salute to Pioneer days this month brings to mind a beautiful little village called Pioneer, which we used to know. It was located near the northern border of Barry County some twenty miles from Cassville.
Memory pictures it as a pleasant little valley on the west bank of Shoal Creek. The valley was only about three city blocks wide and was flanked on its west by a sharply rising, tree-covered ridge, such as is well known in the foothills of the Ozarks.
A dam had been placed across the creek creating a wide expanse of clear water known as the mill pond. This because a gristmill was built at one end of the valley and a millrace created which turned a large water wheel furnishing power for grinding flour and corn meal.
The mill was Pioneer’s only industry. It was owned by three brothers, Ike, Willie and Johnny Hutchins, and operated by them and Johnny’s sons, Harry and George for many years. Pioneer was surrounded by well kept farms and the farmers brought their grain to the mill for grinding and depended on it for their supply of flour and corn meal.
The Hutchins brothers lived just across the valley from the mill at the foot of the ridge. There a beautiful spring flowed from the hillside and the brothers built a springhouse over the spring branch. Their homes were built, one on each side of the spring. The little amphitheater which surrounded the spring was made into a small park with a low rock wall forming a semi-circle. The owners had thoughtfully placed a bench all along the wall to seat visitors who came to drink, to admire the spring and its surroundings and to meet and visit with friends.
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Dam on Shoal Creek |
A huge pinoak tree stands over the spring furnishing ample shade and other trees grew on the lawns of the two houses and on the ridge above the spring. I remember also many flowers growing above the wall. Altogether it was a delightful spot. Tho’ it was privately owned, the kindly owners seemed happy to have everyone enjoy it with them.
Not only was the spring and the park enjoyed by the entire neighborhood but the springhouse was built large enough so anyone who wished might bring jars of milk and butter, ripe melons, or whatever they wished to place in the cool water as it rippled over flat rocks. That was before REA and few farmers indeed knew the luxury of ice in summer. And so it came about that the spring and the springhouse was thought of a s public property. We once heard the late Mr. Hutchins remark that in all the years he lived there, none ever had cause to complain that anything left in the springhouse had ever been molested.
A footbridge crossed the spring branch just at the edge of the park and across it tripped the children on their way up the hill to the schoolhouse. In summer most boys preferred to wade thru the cooling water in their bare feet.
In time of drought many a farmer from miles around came to the spring with wagons carrying barrels to fill with water to eke out his own failing supply until rains might fill his cisterns again. The Spring never known to fail to supply all who wished water. |
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Town of Pioneer in 1912. Horsemen are Fred McMillen, George and Dave Dobbins and Tom McMillen and Grover Stark--other--Rufus Brown, Billy McMillen, Alva Stark, Harry Hutchens, Walter Allen. |
Besides the mill, Pioneer boasted a general store, which was also the post office and a blacksmith ship. At one time there was a small millinery shop. At the opposite end of the valley from the mill stood a little white church beside a lovely grove of trees. These buildings and some two dozen small but neat homes made up the town. There were trees along the bank of the mill pond and a grassy spot for games and strolling. In winter gay skating parties were enjoyed on the mill pond by the young people of the neighborhood.
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In the summer the young people liked to gather at the spring on Sunday afternoons, sometimes sharing a picnic supper and attending church later in the evening. We have seen the grove behind the church dotted with tents and a large tabernacle where a camp meeting furnished much interest and some excitement for as much as two weeks at a time.
This idyllic life was shared by a generation of boys and girls who grew up and scattered far and wide. After many years someone thought of planning a reunion. It was thought perhaps a hundred or more might return to renew old friendships. When the day arrived, more than a thousand persons from east, west, north and south, arrived in Pioneer, What a reunion it was. Someone said, “I think this is what Heaven is like.” How the local people managed it I will never know but there was ample food for all and it seemed as much more was left as eaten. There was a brief program, the day was spent mostly just walking about, meeting people one had known and loved an recalling happy experiences shared long ago.
The reunion was fortunately well-timed. Only a few years later the mill burned and a flood raced down shoal Creek, washing away most of the town. It was never rebuilt. Most of the older generation had passed away to their reward and others had moved away.
So- Pioneer- memory in the minds of some thousand or more people.
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Pioneer Mine |
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Pioneer School in 1934 |
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