|
History and Genealogy of the South Shore The north central area of Arkansas has been home to many different native peoples for thousands of years, beginning with a group known as the Cliff Dwellers. These people inhabited rock shelters and caves in the cliffs above area rivers. Later came the Mound Builders, and current residents who spend a lot of time walking the countryside say the mounds are still here. When the Spaniards searching for silver reached the area in the 1540s, they found Osage, Delaware, Shawnees and Cherokee -- as many as 14 tribes once called the Ozarks home. Three centuries later, a part of the Trail of Tears, which went from Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee to Oklahoma, passed through the region; and research and documentation of that route (Benge's Route) is being spearheaded by a Baxter County historian. Early in the 1800s, families from the eastern and southern areas of the United States, mostly of Scots-Irish and German descent, began to push west into the Ozarks, searching for a better life and, probably, a little more solitude. They and their descendants stayed awhile; then many moved on to Oklahoma or Texas or further west. Those that stayed here have enjoyed the beauty of our area and watched it change and grow. These "old timers" have been joined by "newcomers," immigrants to the area from the colder north and more hectic west, looking for a good place to raise their families and live quality lives. And they find it here in the Ozarks. If your family is one of the many who've passed through and spent a while here, these local history and genealogy links may help you find just what you're looking for! Good luck in your research, and may you find fifteen well-documented generations at the end of one of these links. History is alive and well on Main Street in Gassville where the Baxter County Historical and Genealogical Society has developed the Baxter County Heritage Museum, which includes the Garr-Jackson Genealogy Library, in the historic Rollins Hospital Building. Local History and Genealogy Links Baxter Boone Izard Marion Trail of Tears Some Great Free General Genealogy Sites
|
||||||||||||
10.29.2002
bjm332a2f0
©2000-2002. All rights reserved.
