Unbroken Forest

Unbroken Forest. . , Imagine unbroken forests of huge hardwoods , white oak, red gum, sap gum, cottonwood, beech, cypress, hickory, black walnut, poplar, sycamore, catalpa, ash, hackberry, elm , many as much as ten feet in diameter. This was the Arkansas Delta before our country was formed. , Settlers Clear the Virgin Forest , In the early 1800s, settlers came to farm the fertile soil deposited over eons by the floodwaters of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. To them, the forest was an obstacle to be overcome. , Vines and underbrush had to be removed and huge root systems cleared. Men worked sunup to sundown in heat and cold, dealing with frequent rain and seemingly bottomless mud. Despite the difficulty, by 1820 landowners large and small , using slave labor, tenants, and hired help , had carved out rough farms and plantations. They planted their first crops among the stumps marking the newly cleared land. , Birth of an Industry , A Helena entrepreneur saw opportunity in others' efforts to clear the forest and erected the first sawmill in the area in 1826. Others followed his lead. The fledgling industry had access to plenty of timber, and there was a demand for lumber. The difficulty lay in transporting the finished product to customers. , Railroads Open Markets , Milling remained a local industry until railroads connected Helena to distant markets in the 1870s. Within months, the timber industry exploded , much of the investment coming from established companies headquartered elsewhere. By 1900, lumberyards and mills extended down the old Little Rock Road from Hanks Lane to a mile below Helena Crossing. , Support generously provided by Southern Bancorp Community Partners and Helena-West Helena Advertising and Promotion Commissions.