72 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[Jan. 23, 1904. 
gray squirrels frisked about in those hickories and on 
the ground, devoting no attention whatever to me, 
although their keen eyes had made me out. They 
seemed to know I could never get across the creek to 
their side, and also to understand that to shoot them 
would have been mere waste, as a landing for the canoe 
was a matter of paddling a long distance and wading a 
half mile; therefore, not v/orth the trouble, seeing that 
there were other squirrels nearer camp. But those 
along the bluffs and in the wooded hollows were dif- 
ficult to find, the leaves being so thick and the character 
of the country such that we earned every gray squir- 
rel we killed. No fox squirrels were seen, save one, 
and that one the last day but one of our cruise. In 
former days these beautiful animals were almost, if not 
quite, as abundant as their smaller cousins, the grays; 
and being more like their namesake, it was a greater 
pleasure to bag three of them than a dozen grays, one 
being compelled to exercise all his skill as a still- 
hunter before he could hold his foresight fairly on the 
little brown head and be reasonably certain of a kill. 
Helen had her first experience in going squirrel 
hunting one afternoon, and for a beginner she gave 
promise of being good company, at least, although she 
has a natural fondness for the woods and is growing 
to notice things of interest. At first she wanted to 
prattle at every opportunity; but after being cautioned 
in a whisper and by the holding up of a warning 
finger, she took to whispering herself, and seemed to 
take pride in the lark. Only when she was left alone 
for a few moments did she break out, and the firing of 
our nfles caused her to_ bubble over with keen delight; 
but it was with real grief that she declared, on seeing 
the fresh blood on a squirrel, that the "poor kitty had 
a sore foot," though the wound was olten in the head. 
In few other places can one feel safe in going away 
from camp for hours, leaving his canoe and camp 
traps at the mercy of every two or four-footed pilferer 
that may happen along; but we had nothing to fear but 
the razor-back hogs, and even they visited us but twice, 
each time while we were in camp, so nothing was lost. 
There were too many things of interest to be seen 
and visited for us to remain in camp long, and the 
wealth of bird life was a continual source of wonder to 
my wife, who had never before seen and heard so many 
winged creatures in so short a time. At first the owls 
kept her awake at night, but she soon ceased to fear 
their weird cries, although in few other places can 
one hear four or five owls of different species calling 
at the same time, a nightly occurrence at Turkey 
Hollow. 
Time passed and one day our "Henna house" — 
Helen's own ciiriou,-^ name for her brown tent — -was 
struck, and the canoe headed toward Harrington's 
Shoal. For the reason that our time was short, and 
we had been too long content to haunt old familiar 
places near Painted Rock, we did not ascend the Osage 
further, but turned back at the shoal, passing the bal- 
ance of our vacation in idling here and there, crossing 
and recrossing the river, doubling back, and drifting 
for hours, as the whim suited our moods. As, how- 
ever, the long reaches of the river above and beyond 
the shoal mentioned have been cruised again and again 
by me, for the benefit of fellow canoeists I will, de- 
scribe as briefly as possibly the places of interest. 
Harrington's Shoal, distant from the mouth of the 
Osage about twenty-seven miles, is rather long and 
somewhat swift. Its wing-dam reaches from the left 
hand or eastern shore to a point two-thirtfS*the width 
of the river, the chute confined within a long line of 
riprapping which follows the lines of the western 
shore. From this side a spur extends a short distance 
into the channel, making the ascent of the shoal by 
Early Morning on the Osage River. 
paddling slow work. It is possible at high water to 
cross the low dam with ease by hugging the right-hand 
shore, or in passing through a break inside the wing- 
dam at any other stage than low water, while at medium 
stages "cordelling," as the raftsmen call towing a craft 
through quick water, is a simple matter along these 
stone dykes, which are so water-worn as to give safe 
footing. This work is rendered far easier than pad- 
dling, when the canoe is laden, by joining the bow 
and stern painters, making a continuous line from 
bow to stern. Grasp this a little- forward of its cen- 
ter, and at the first attempt the canoeist will be as- 
tonished t6 see how rapidly the canoe will tow, and 
with almost no other effort than walking on the part 
of he who holds the joined painters. It is necessary to 
h6ld the lirie so that the canoe will continually head 
av/ay from you tjie merest trifle, the lateral resistance 
of the current on the bow preventing the craft from 
swinging toward you as it --would do were the line made 
fast to the bow alone. 
Above Harringt6n's Shoal there is a long reach of 
dead water, or an eddy, as the river men, call these , 
stretches of almost quiet water. On the, left-hand 
side one passes Profis . Greek, whose woods-bordered 
shores were one*' swa|fipy and the hauiits o£ much 
small gahie. . Further kin one turns , to the right and 
the left, but if the river is not too low it is easier to 
hug the right-hand shore and pass through a break in 
a short dam extending from^ that side to a long tow- 
head in midstream. Just where this crossdam lies one 
should go ashore and climb the bank, then look about 
him for a large cave that is worthy of his investiga- 
tion. Its entrance is gained by a descent of fifteen 
feet, which finds one in a large chamber which turns 
sharply to the right a hundred feet from its entrance. 
The natives say one can walk for miles in the different 
galleries, but this I doubt. A fine spring is not far dis- 
tant, and there is a pretty spot a short distance beyond 
the cave for a one-night camp near open woods, where 
m the autumn one may see not only squirrels, but 
turkeys. I cafhped at this spot one night because a 
flock of turkeys crossed the river just as I was about to 
run the rapid, and going ashore in pursuit, we— for 
there were two of us— got a fine hen and a gobbler, and 
a couple of squirrels the next morning. 
Dixon's Shoal follows, and is long, but the current 
is not too swift for leisurely paddling. Osage Bluffs is 
on the right-hand shore one mile further on, and here 
one can replenish his larder. There is a ferry at this 
point, on the county road, and the village marks the 
upper curve in the neck of Round Bottom. Jefferson 
Gity, the State Gapital, is just thirteen miles distant 
by this road, while by water it is almost fifty. Gon- 
tinuing, one finds islands here and there, the river 
gradually curving toward the left once more, then in 
the opposite direction for a short distance to the Brule, 
Meramec River. 
once a famous stream for fishing, and its bottoms for 
squirrels. When I saw it the last time it was shaded 
by the largest trees then to be found on the lower 
reaches of the Osage— giants of the primeval forest- 
so that when one brought down a squirrel from their 
topmost branches he had cause to feel proud of his 
skill with the rifle.' One follows the western shore 
through the next shoal, whose name 1 cannot now re- 
call, which is both long and crooked, but deep and 
somewhat rapid at its head, gaining which, one turns 
abruptly to the right, and is immediately in a wide 
deadwater. At Teal supplies can be purchased, while the 
farmers' will help one out with farm produce at reason- 
able prices. 
At Schuyler's Ferry there is the nearest approach to 
a fall so far to be encountered, the shoal being narrow 
and with a marked drop, but with sufficient water for 
canoe navigation at all stages. For a short distance 
, the going is s\oW. Swinging still to the right hand, one 
comes to Sugar Greek Shoal. The channel turns sharp- 
ly to tlre'^^left throughout its short course, while on 
approaching its head I have found it easier to tow the 
canoe, walking along the shingle of the island until 
within ten yards of the crest, then paddling across to 
the deadwater above, requiring one's best efforts for 
five minutes. This point, according to various esti- 
mates of river men and others, is some forty miles 
from the mouth of the river; but the distances I have 
given I will not vouch for, as Government data are 
not at hand to make corrections, and the farmers seem 
to know little concerning the subject. As an example, 
we stopped at a farmhouse near Schujder's Ferry one 
day to purchase eggs and sweet potatoes, and on ask- 
ing, were told' the Big Tavern River was twenty miles 
distant. "But," we protested, "some men down the river 
told us yesterday afternoon the Tavern was just twenty, 
miles distant, and we have been paddling hard ever 
since." "Well," came the reply, "it may not be more 
than ten miles." The truth is the distance was less 
than ten. Kirkman's Shoal comes next, and the chan- 
nel is on the left, swift for a short distance only. Here 
the great Brouse's Bend commences, and if the canoe- 
ist is fond of fishing or of shooting in season, he will 
be well satisfied to- limit his meanderings to Kirkman's 
at this end and the Devil's Elbow at the other extreme, 
which will give him some fine country and two grand' 
streams, the Big and Little Tavern. Some day in the 
near future, I hope to be able to tell readers of Forest 
AND SxiiEAM that a railway which will cross the Osage 
in this region has been completed, and that one may 
ship direct to this point and cruise down the Osage, a 
trip that cannot be excelled for variety of scenery and 
sport, in the foothills of the Ozarks at least. 
There are bluff's of cottonstone everywhere along 
the river; but in the eddy below Little Tavern Greek 
some of the most picturesque ones are to be found, and 
her? the camera will be wanted, as the surroundings 
are grand and well worthy of reproduction through 
photographic processes. The Little Tavern will scarce- 
ly be noticed unless one wishes to explore it, as it en- 
ters the Gsage at a point where one's attention is taken 
aw'ay because of a roar of water coming from above 
an exceedingly sharp turn to the left hand; but the 
creek enters from the right-hand side, its course for a 
short distance being just the opposite of that of the 
main river. Grapple and bass may be caught in its clear 
waters, and there is game in the surrounding woods. 
This brings us to the hardest propositibn so far, a 
shoal that is very narrow, has a marked fall, and 
through which a large volume of water rushes. Two 
single blades will take the canoe up to its head, how- 
ever, but only when the paddlers have dodged into all 
the little eddies and hugged -the left-hand shore as 
closely as, possible, towing being out the question 
because- j)f the high and steep clay bank along that: 
side. Cffiice the eddy above is .gained, hQ^wever^ one 
Will forget- t|i4t % is |)r?athiag 4^|^y, fotr ltisi t|ie|-f § 
great chff rises almost from the water's edge, and 
near its summit a cave is to be seen whose entrance 
would <::!..sily accommodate a tally-ho coach. Ropes or 
ladders, liowever, are necessary in reaching and ex- 
pJormg Its uumerous galleries. Beyond the bluffs bear 
away Ir.'.mi the river, and following that shore, the left- 
hand, one fancies he is about to pass a large island, 
and may paddle a mile in the Big Tavern before Ihe 
realizes that he is in another stream. Do not make 
haste to leave this charming waterway, but make camp 
m the woods, where a pretty spot may be selected al- 
most anywhere and pass a few days in exploring the 
upper pools and shallows of the Tavern, or in fishing 
for bass. Ten years ago the low bottomland along the 
Tavern was ideal for squirrel shooting; we killed 
numerous turkeys about the small fields, and bob- 
cats grew so hold as to visit our camp on dark nights 
and fight over scraps thrown away by us. There are 
numerous caves in the cliffs, and these were occupied 
by these interesting animals. One of the cliffs is 
pierced by a cave of large size, reached by a climb of 
fifty feet. Across the Tavern, in woods where syca- 
mores predominated, there was a blue heron roost, or 
more properly a nesting place. Their nests were four 
to five feet in diameter, composed of sticks and grass 
or rushes, placed in the highest forks of the great trees. 
Twenty or more of the nests were to be seen in that 
group of trees, while the going and coming of the im- 
mense birds added to the attractiveness of the place. 
The Tavern is very crooked, and when the river is not 
low one can paddle far up the former, fishing the 
shallows or watching for squirrels along the low banks. 
Gontinuing the ascent of the river, one passes Reynolds 
and the Devil's Elbow Shoals, the latter crooked but 
short ; past Capps, a tie camp now probably deserted, and 
finally .bringing up on the beach at Tuscumbia, a some- 
what wild and woolly village as we found it one day when 
we stopped there for supplies and were almost mobbed 
by a crowd of half-drunken backwoodsmen, who had 
never before seen anything so curious as our old canoes 
and modest outfit, while I innocently called down the 
righteous wrath of the mob by saying, truthfully, in 
answer to a query as -to the contents of a quart hottie 
lying in my canoe, that it contained black coffee we had 
saved from the last meal for the purpose of quenching 
our thirst. And that in a country where moonshhie 
whisky could be had at less than fifty cents per gallon I 
- From Tuscumbia one must either follow the chute 
through the long shoal just above or pass through a break 
in the wing-dam, in this case keeping to the western side, 
according to the stage of water. Brockton • Shoal is the 
next one of importance, marked by a long and low bhitif 
full of caves near the water's edge. Take the right-hand 
and tow the canoe, for the current and the rock-strewn 
channel make this shoal the most difficult one to be 
encountered so far. Then follow numerous islands and 
small shallows, and Bagnell comes into view on the west- 
ern shore. This is the terminus of the Lebanon branch 
of the Missouri Pacific Railway, and one can ship his out- 
fit and go himself to the capital, taking the morning train 
to Bagnell, distant about fifty miles, and descend the 
Osage from there, a most delightful cruise. It is a half 
day's paddle from this point to the Big Gravois River, 
which enters the Osage from the right at the foot of a 
long island, and should never be passed by, as its clear 
pools contain game fish and there is a large cave hard by 
which merits exploration. 
Leave this stream by way of the smaller channel, behind 
the island. Miles of still water, alternating with short 
shallows, and beautified by high bluffs dotted here and 
there with small pines, reminding one that he is approach- 
ing the Ozarks, follow, and when an unusually loud roar- 
ing comes to one's ears he can look for Zebra dam and 
The Osage River.— Painted Rock on the I'iighl; Bloody Island in 
the Distance. 
prepare for a bit of quick water, the ascent of which sug- 
gests wading, so shoal is the water in the channel, but 
towing from shore is possible. At its head the Grand au 
Glaize enters the Osage, and one should ascend it to the 
first shallow, camp there, and pass a day in fishing. Im- 
mense channel catfish will be caught, whether he wants 
them or not, but an occasional bass or crappie may re- 
ward his efforts. Anyhow the stream is a pretty one, and 
a camp there will be long remembered. At Zebra, the 
village at the mouth of this stream, I have purchased 
grand eggs at six cents per dozen, and other supplies as 
well. But as'the distance to Linn Creek and the village of 
that name is not far, one should wait until he arrives there 
before bujdng more plunder. Linn Greek is midway of a 
shoal that deserves the name, but at its head a landing 
should be made and a tramp of a mile east will surprise 
the canoeist^ for a pretty village lies at that point on the 
creek, and for a change a hotel meal may be enjoyed, 
while groceries of almost any sort may be had. 
Afloat again, one sees an immense bluff on the left, 
while what resembles a large island is just ahead. Turn 
to the left hand and enter the Niangua River, the largest 
feeder of the Osage, and one of the finest strearns for 
fishing to be found in the West. Its course is almost due 
north, its water clear and sparkling, its pools abounding 
•^ittt-gainy fish. I arn almost .a.f raid to lia^ar4 ^.-st^t^ei^f 
