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People of the Hills
• ELIAS TUCKER from the Holler |
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| ELIAS TUCKER ’13 • ...To Go Fishin’ ’12 • Wooley Creek • Jam Sessions ’11 • Huffman Ford • Branson Changes • General Stores • Easter Springtime • World Fest • Ozark Strawberries • Elias Goes To War • Christmas, City-Style ’10 • Moon Plantin’ • Ozark Winter • Ozark Easter • Aunt Pena • River Baptism • Salebarns • Hay Hauling • Apple Butter ’09 • Dutch Ovens' • Stargazing • Eatin’ Greens • Berry Pickin’ • Summer Catfish • Tearin’ Mountains • Fox Huntin’ • Starvy Creek • Giggin’ • Cedar Christmas People of the Hills Index • ELIAS TUCKER • DON BILYEU • CINDY CLARK • CHICK ALLEN • VIOLET HENSLEY • VIRGINIA SNYDER Culture Index • Agriculture • Book Learning • Cooking • Craftsmanship • Faith in the Hills • History • Music • People of the Hills • Storytelling • Tourism |
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PLATE 1
GRAVEL ROADS
By DALE GRUBAUGH
Sometimes ya just gotta slow down.
On the interstate we drive 70 or more miles per hour. On the secondary paved roads, it’s 55-65 miles per hour. On city streets we push the speed limit as far as we can. We are in a blamed big hurry to get… somewhere.
There’s one type of road ya just can’t get in a big hurry on — a gravel road. The gravel road is made out of just what it’s called. Gravel. And that gravel is mostly loose which doesn’t lend itself well to high speeds so ya just naturally have to slow down.
One thing ya can count on traveling’ down a gravel road, yer gonna get yer vehicle dirty. In dry weather it will be dusty. In wet weather yer gonna have mud. Not too many ways ’round it.
PLATE 2 (above), PLATE, 3 (below)
When I was a youngin’, a gravel road (now named Four Mile Road) ran behind our house and property. In 1972 the same road began runnin’ in front of our house. No, the road didn’t move. We did.
That gravel road holds a lot of fond memories for me. It was on that road I learned to ride a bicycle. I learned to drive a truck on that old road. And I did a lot of walkin’ on that gravel road.
I walked to the neighbors to mow yards and do chores and such. I walked to visit friends. I walked to the creek to go fishin’ and sometimes swimmin’ (but don’t tell pa).
Now, whether or not Four Mile Road is actually four miles long is still a mystery to me. Never have actually clocked it, but there sure was — and still are — a lot of things to do and see on that stretch of gravel road. It crosses Indian Creek and Brush Creek two times each. I could walk to Indian Creek to fish and set traps. Dad and I would take the truck to Brush Creek to go fishin, giggin’, mushroom huntin and coon huntin’.
My baby sitter lived on Four Mile Road. Most of the farmers I worked for hauling hay and doin’ other chores lived on that road. I even rode the school bus on that old gravel road.
PLATE 4
But Four Mile Road isn’t the only gravel road in that part of the country. Spurgeon Road, Strothcamp Road, Taylor Hill Road and Jakes Prairie Road all were branches on or off of Four Mile Road itself.
Other gravel roads that I traveled down were Warnoff Road, The Old German Road, Wildcat Road, The Royal, Enke Road, Eickhoff Road, Stubblefield Road, Stovall Road, Glauser Road, Souder Road, Hogtrough Road, Wright Road and many others that I never knew or just can’t remember the names of.
The road names derived mostly from the residents who had lived on the road the longest. Sometimes from landmarks on the road. Others, got their names from old timers that have long gone and no one knows how, who or why they were named so.
When I get to feelin’ rushed and pressed in on, I go back home, crawl in the pick-up truck (which is the best way to travel a gravel road) and just start to wander. Rememberin’ and thinkin’, sometimes shown’ my youngins or friends the places I grew up with and talking ’bout the things I used to do. It’s kinda like recharging’ the old battery or rebootin’ the computer.
Ya can’t safely travel fast on a gravel road. A gravel road just naturally forces ya to slow down and take life a little easier. I think I need to do it more often. How ’bout you gettin’ in and goin’ with me next time. Your truck or mine, we’ll throw a couple of quarters in the ashtray to wash the dust and mud off……..or not.
’Til next time,
Elias
MARCH , 2012
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E-mail DALE GRUBAUGH
by clicking HERE.
About the columnist —
Dale Grubaugh, writing as “Elias Tucker from The Holler” is a valued contributor to State of the Ozarks. He is a man who loves his Ozark culture deeply.
As a Southern Baptist preacher and pastor, Dale has dedicated his life to the people of these hills.
Also, he has worked hard in many facets of the Branson show industry. And he has lived the Ozarks, fishing, hunting, appreciating the wilds that are so close — but so closely forgotten.
— Joshua Heston, editor
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GRAVEL ROAD photo plates
Photo credits: ALL PLATES DALE GRUBAUGH.