BUFFALO Let The River Be: A History of the Ozark's Buffalo River

1. T.C. Hopkins, Marbles and Other Limestones (Little Rock: Brown Printing Company, 1893), p. 8.

2. United States, Army Corps of Engineers, Survey of Buffalo Fork of White River, Arkansas, H. Doc. 207, 54th Cong., 2nd Sess., Serial 3524, 1897, pp. 1-2.

3. W.N. Gladson, Water Power of Arkansas: A Preliminary Report on White River and Some of its Tributaries (Fayetteville: n.p., 1911), p. 97.

4. David E. Lilienthal, TVA: Democracy on the March (New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1944), pp. 17-19, 38-39, 47; Wilmon Henry Droze, High Dams and Slack Waters: TVA Rebuilds a River (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1965), pp. 67-68.

5. United States, Statutes at Large, "An Act authorizing the construction of certain public works on rivers and harbors for flood control, and for other purposes," June 22, 1936, vol. XLIX, p. 1570; Ibid., "An Act authorizing the construction, repair, and preservation of certain public works on rivers and harbors, and for other purposes," August 30, 1935, vol. XLIX, p. 1028.

6. United States, Drainage Basin [Joint] Committee, Reports for the Arkansas, Upper White, and St. Francis Basins (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1937), p. 32.

7. Ibid.

8. United States, Statutes at Large, "An Act authorizing the construction of certain public works on rivers and harbors for flood control, and for other purposes," June 28, 1938, vol. LII, pp. 1215-1218.

9. United States, Army Corps of Engineers, Report of the Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army 1939, vol. I, Part 1 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1939), p. 1107.

10. United States, Army Corps of Engineers, White River and Tributaries, Missouri and Arkansas, H. Doc. 499, 83rd Cong., 2nd Sess., Serial 11779, 1954, pp. 40-45.

11. United States, Congressional Record, 84th Cong., 2nd Sess., CII, Part 10, July 23, 1956, p. 14054.

12. Dwight D. Eisenhower, "Memorandum of Disapproval of Bill authorizing Navigation, Shore Protection, and Flood Control Projects," in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower 1956: Containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President January 1 to December 31, 1956 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1958), pp. 680-683.

13. United States, Arkansas-White-Red River Basins Inter-agency Committee, Development of Water and Land Resources of the Arkansas-White and Red River Basins, S. Doc. 13, 85th Cong., 1st Sess., Serial 11994, 1957, pp. x, 60; United States, Congressional Record, 85th Cong., 1st Sess., CIII, Part 4, March 27, 1957, pp. 4534-4535.

14. Dwight D. Eisenhower, "Veto of Bill Authorizing Appropriations for Rivers, Harbors, and Flood Control Projects," in Public Papers of the Presidents...1958 (1959), pp. 307-310.

15. United States, Congressional Record, 85th Cong., 2nd Sess., CIV, Part 6, April 25, 1958, p. 7382.

16. The 1954 Army Corps of Engineers' report specifically stated that "There are no known objections at this time to either of these two reservoirs Lone Rock or Gilbert." United States, Army Corps of Engineers, White River and Tributaries, p. 50.

17. United States, Congressional Record, 87th Cong., 1st Sess., CVII, Part 1, January 4, 1961, p. 119.

18. Arkansas Nature Conservancy, Objectives and Purposes, March 3, 1961, in File "Jan.-June 1962," Box 219-B1/2, Ozark Society Papers, in Special Collections Library, University of Arkansas. As a result of the Nature Conservancy's efforts, the state of Arkansas created Lost Valley State Park in 1966. Thirty years earlier the Arkansas legislature had created Buffalo River State Park on the lower reaches of the river south of Yellville. Established in March 1938, the park was initially developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps which operated a camp there between 1939 and 1941. Following the war, the state continued the development of the site and administered it until 1973 when it conveyed the property to the federal government. The National Park Service subsequently changed the name to Buffalo Point.

19. Senator J.W. Fulbright to Neil Compton, July 8, 1961, in File "Sen. Fulbright 1959-1966," Box 219-B1/2, Ozark Society Papers.

20. Little Rock Arkansas Gazette, October 10, 1961, p. 1; Little Rock Arkansas Democrat, October 15, 1961, p. 6B.

21. File "Ozark Society/Buffalo River Jan.-June 1962," Box 219-B1/2, Ozark Society Papers.

22. The Truth About the Buffalo River (Marshall, Arkansas: Buffalo River Improvement Association, 1962), p. 28.

23. Neil Compton to Jim Trimble, May 31, 1962, in File "Cong. Trimble, 1959-1966," Box 219-B1/2, Ozark Society Papers; File "NPS 1963-1966," Box 219-B2/2, Ozark Society Papers.

24. Little Rock Arkansas Gazette, April 30, 1962, p. 1.

25. Constitution of Ozark Society, in File "Ozark Society/Buffalo River, Jan.-June, 1962," Box 219-B1/2, Ozark Society Papers.

26. Little Rock Arkansas Gazette, May 25, 1962, p. 2.

27. United States, National Park Service, Field Investigation Report: Suggested Buffalo National River, Arkansas (Richmond: National Park Service, 1963), pp. 26-27.

28. Life, August 31, 1962, p. 4; National Wildlife News, November 1962, p. 6; Rogers (Arkansas) Daily News, February 16, 1963; Bill Potter, "Potting Around," Fairfield (Iowa) Ledger, March 15, 1963; Little Rock Arkansas Democrat, May 26, 1963, p. 5B; Little Rock Arkansas Gazette, June 3, 1963, p. 4A; Ray Heady, "The Fight to Save Our Wild Rivers," National Wildlife, I (June-July 1963), pp. 27-29; Pine Bluff (Arkansas) Commercial, November 14, 1965, p. 6; Ibid., May 4, 1966.

29. Little Rock Arkansas Gazette, May 20, 1964, p. lB.

30. Ibid., November 13, 1964, p. 1.

31. File "Corps' Hearing at Marshall—1964," Box 219-B2/2, Ozark Society Papers; Kansas City (Missouri) Star, December 13, 1964, p. 5B.

32. File "Corps' Hearing at Marshall—1964," Box 219-B2/2, Ozark Society Papers.

33. Ibid.

34. Little Rock Arkansas Gazette, November 18, 1964.

35. United States, Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo River Basin, Arkansas, White River Basin Comprehensive Study, Missouri and Arkansas, vol. I (Little Rock: Corps of Engineers, 1964), p. 1.

36. File "Corps of Engineers Review of Gilbert Project," Box 219-B2/2, Ozark Society Papers.

37. John Heuston, "Put in on the Buffalo: Arkansas' Accessible River Leads to Canoeing Pleasure," Better Camping, VI (January-February 1965), pp. 14-17; John Heuston, "Both Real and Intrinsic Value of Buffalo is in Its Status as a River," Kansas City (Missouri) Star, January 31, 1965; "Local Club Opposes River Dam," Fort Smith (Arkansas) Southwest American, February 2, 1965; Fort Smith (Arkansas) Southwest-Times Record, February 7, 1965, p. 4A; Richard Starnes, "Shall Our Wild Rivers be Eternally Dammed?" Field & Stream, LXIX (March 1965), p. 14-16, 103; Dan Bradley, "Rivers in Crisis," American White Water, X (Spring 1965), pp. 21-23.

38. Hank Bradshaw, "Brown Bass of the Buffalo," Outdoor Life, CXXV (April 1965), pp. 56-59, 88-90.

39. File "Ozark Society/Buffalo River, March & April 1965," Box 219-B2/2, Ozark Society Papers.

40. Pine Bluff (Arkansas) Commercial, June 13, 1965.

41. Orval Faubus to Lt. Gen. William F. Cassidy, December 10, 1965, copy, in File "Ozark Society/Buffalo River, Sept.-Dec., 1965," Box 219-B2/2, Ozark Society Papers.

42. Little Rock Arkansas Gazette, April 15, 1966.

43. Ibid., April 16, 1966.

44. Ibid., November 10, 1966.

45. United States, Congressional Record, 90th Cong., 1st Sess., CXIII, Part 2, January 30, 1967, p. 1875; Ibid., Part 5, March 9, 1967, p. 6189.

46. Ibid., 91st Cong., 1st Sess., CXV, Part 2, February 4, 1969, p. 2570; Ibid., Part 7, April 17, 1969, p. 9467; Ibid., Part 18, September 3, 1969, pp. 24086-24088; Ibid., 92nd Cong., 1st Sess., CXVII, Part 12, May 12, 1971, pp. 16378-16379.

47. United States, Congress, House, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, Hearings Before the Subcommittee on National Parks and Recreation of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-second Congress, First Session on H.R. 9119, H.R. 8382. S. 7, Bills to Provide for the Establishment of the Buffalo National River in the State of Arkansas, and for Other Purposes (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1971).

48. The Buffalo River Conservation and Recreation Council later filed suit against the National Park Service on the grounds that the government's practice of acquiring land through the right of eminent domain was unconstitutional. The suit, which was later modified to protest an incomplete environmental impact statement, resulted in a court injunction that prohibited the Service from obtaining land through condemnation. The court lifted the injunction three years later in September 1975. Donald M. Spalding, first superintendent of Buffalo National River (Harrison, Arkansas) to Dwight Pitcaithley, March 12, 1976, interview, Southwest Collection, Texas Tech University.

49. Statement of Garner Milum, Jasper, Arkansas, in United States, Congress, House, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, Hearings Before the Subcommittee..., p. 182.

50. Statement of Joe Culver, Catoosa, Oklahoma, ibid., p. 184.

51. Ibid.

52. United States, Congressional Record, 92nd Cong., 2nd Sess., CXVIII, Part 3, February 7, 1972, p. 2892.

53. United States, Statutes at Large, "An Act to provide for the establishment of the Buffalo National River in the State of Arkansas, and for other purposes," March 1, 1972, vol. LXXXVI, pp. 44-46.