398 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
and gradually the matter began to attract attention in the two cities named, until 
Mr. J. A. O’Hara was sent by a Memphis firm to investigate. On his arrival, he found 
the conditions to be such that he promptly forwarded his resignation to the house, 
and went into pearl- collecting on his own account. Hon. J. J. Williams, of Shelby 
County, Tenn., then visited the region, with experts from St. Louis. In three days 
they found over forty pearls up to “the size of an acorn,” valued at several hundred 
dollars, generally perfect in form, the larger pink and the smaller white. Mr. Williams 
immediately arranged with Mr. George 0. Griffiths, of Bald Knob, the owner of the 
land, for a lease of the property on which Murphy Lake is situated. A Memphis 
syndicate was formed, which claimed entire control of the waters, set up notices of 
warning against trespass, built a house on the shore, and proposes to make a complete 
and systematic exploration of the mud by means of dredges. 
The waters included in this lease are those of Murphy (or Crooked) and Walker 
(or Miller) lakes; these are bayous or expansions of tributaries of White Biver, about 
100 miles west of Memphis. They are beautiful sheets of water, surrounded by a 
dense growth of cypress, and have long been favorite resorts for hunting and fishing 
for all the region around. Murphy Lake is about 2 miles long and some 800 feet in 
its greatest width; Walker Lake is only half as long, but much deeper, being 15 feet 
or more, even in low-water seasons, while Murphy Lake can be waded through at 
many points. The waters are somewhat impregnated with iron, and the district is 
reported to be malarious. The lease was drawn for five years, at the price of $4,500. 
As soon as it became known, much local opposition was aroused, and legal obstacles 
were interposed, on the ground that portions of the shore were Government land, 
school land, etc., and that the lakes were part of a public waterway and could not be 
preempted. The Williams-Memphis syndicate had operated from Bald Knob, White 
County, which is the nearest town on a main railroad line (the St. Louis and Iron 
Mountain), and the opposition was especially developed at Searcy, the county seat of 
White County, some 10 miles west. A party from that place, headed by the mayor, 
with several leading citizens, went to Murphy Lake to insist upon their right to hunt 
pearls there, despite the posted notices of the lessees. Both sides were armed with 
legal papers to prove their claims, and with shotguns also — presumably intended for 
game. After considerable friendly controversy, matters were left to the courts, and 
the Searcy party withdrew to another neighboring lake, of similar character but not 
preempted, to conduct pearl-hunting there in peace. The Memphis company has 
remained in possession and been actively at work, the lake being guarded by an armed 
patrol, and illuminated at night by a chain of gasoline lights, to prevent trespassing. 
At last advices they were paying all expenses and making some profit, though no 
particulars are given. 
Other accounts of separate origin are reported from several points. An inmate 
of the Confederate Soldiers’ Home, near Little Bock, while on a leave of absence, 
obtained some pearls on the Saline Biver; finding them to be valuable, he applied 
for an extension of furlough; and soon the story got abroad, and the furore began all 
along that stream. At the other end of the State, on Black Biver, a farmer while 
fishing opened a shell for bait, and found a pink pearl; this was late in July. A local 
jeweler gave him $25 for it and sold it in St. Louis for $200. The craze broke out in 
consequence, and the Black and Cache Bivers were soon lined with pearl-hunters. 
About the middle of September Mr. J. M. Pass, a well-known planter, while fishing 
in Dorcheat Lake, Columbia County (the southwestern part of the State), opened a 
