Wanda Free

The wanderings of two women and their dog

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Days 37 & 38 – Parkin mounds and a park for Gracie

October 22 and 23 were free days for us. As we have tried to do on this trip, we looked for things to do that could include Gracie. On the 22nd we visited Parkin Archeological State Park in Parkin, Arkansas, about a half hour drive from where we were staying. This turned out to be another hidden gem.

Parkin has the the most extensive archeological excavations of Mississippian mound culture in the country. If you’ve never heard of the Mississippians, you’re in good company. We were not aware of them before this trip either. They were a widespread civilization that occupied the Mississippi River drainage and that of some of its tributaries from around 800 AD to 1600 AD. A common characteristic of their culture was the construction of mounds. Huge mounds. They built them by hand and used them for a variety of purposes: defense, worship and ceremonies, residence for the tribal chief, burial. At Parkin and other locations near a river, they often dug a ditch around them that connected to the river. When the river level rose the ditch would fill, creating a moat surrounding their village that increased its defenses.

Much evidence of the Mississippian culture was destroyed when the area was cleared and plowed for farmland. The Parkin mound is welk preserved because a logging company used the site for a sawmill. A small village was built there on top of the remains of the mound village. When the milling operation ended in the early 20th century, the village remained for a time. Archeological investigation turned up a trove of evidence of the Mississippian village that had previously been there. Some of the items indicated that the village had been visited by Hernando de Soto and his party of Spanish explorers during their search for riches in the New World. In addition to the trinkets discovered by the archeologists, they also left behind yellow fever, plague, and other diseases that eventually killed off the Mississippian people. By around 1600 they were gone.

The state park offers a self-guided walk around the site of the Mississippian village and a schoolhouse and cemetery remaining from the sawmill village. We were able to take Gracie with us on our trek through the park. We all enjoyed the beautiful walk through the area.

Des and Gracie on the walk out to the village trail
An unusual monument in the cemetery. There were two of these that were similar in design. Upon closer inspection I found that they were beautifully carved to look like trees.
One of the monuments was for a German immigrant who had worked for the lumber company that ran the sawmill.
The deceased logger was a member of the Woodnen of the World. This benevolent society was formed to provide aid and support for the loggers who cleared the forests, many of whom were immigrants with no families here. The group was committed to ensuring that all of their members received a proper burial complete with these beautiful monuments.
This bridge crosses the ditch that surrounds the Mississippian village. It’s a wide ditch, all dug by hand.
The bridge leads to the schoolhouse built by the lumber company for the children of its workers.
The design of the schoolhouse is similar to the designs used for the Rosenwald schools that we learned about at the Civil Rights Museum.
The facilities at the schoolhouse
The chief’s mound in the Mississippian village. The chief’s house was on the top of the mound. As many as 200 houses for tribal members were on the flat area. There were gardens there too, growing corn, squash and beans.
These bridges cross another section of the ditch
Love Gracie’s bouncy walk!
The St Francis River borders the village site on one side. The ditch connects to the river and surrounds the village on its remaining three sides, forming a large square.
A view of the village from the far edge. The chief’s mound is in the center of the photo
We stopped for dinner at a local shake shop. We enjoyed a nice fried fish meal. This poster was on the wall next to our table.

The next day we joined Sheila and Michelle for breakfast at the Arcade in Memphis. We then went in search of a dog park to give Gracie some time to run around. The first one we found had a lot of dogs, too many for Gracie, and for us. We found another one a couple miles away. Many dogs there too, as it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. The people were watching their dogs much more closely at this one, though, so we thought we’d give it a try. We threw a ball for Gracie which immediately attracted the attention of a few other dogs. And this is where Gracie spent most of her time after that:

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