(dulcimer music) - James, my grandson, he come up. He'd stood around me
for a long time there. He's a little bit shy and don't talk much. He said, "Grandpa." He said, "I've got two whittlin' sticks." I said, "You have?" "Yeah." I said, "One for me?" He said, "Yeah, and one for you." Brought out, reached in
his pocket and brought out two little pieces of cedar. And he got out his knife and
we stood there and whittled, or sat there and whittled. It was a big thing to him,
and a big thing to me. Shoot, you boys'll know
sometimes you like to whittle with your grandsons. Just like to sit down and
whittle with 'em. (laughs) And we whittled 'til we-- And we cut our shavin's
pretty fine to make those good cedar whittlin' sticks last. We run out of whittlin'
sticks about the same time. That done me good, to know that he'd think of me in that way. "Grandpa, I brought you a whittlin' stick. I brought two whittlin' sticks." (chuckles) Yeah, I liked that. - [Narrator] This is about
a place and the people who have made it their home. It's about a county in the Ozark
Region of Southern Missouri that hasn't changed
quite as fast as the rest of the country. The families who live here
have been here for generations, and their attachment to the
place and its traditions is an intimate one. (gentle dulcimer music) The first settlers began
coming here soon after 1800. They came from the highlands
of Kentucky and Tennessee and the Carolinas. They built their homes along
the creeks and in the hollows, wherever they could find
a fertile piece of land. And they stayed. - [Man] Martha Rebecca Hines
was born July 10, 1886, at Ink, Missouri. Becky passed away November
26, 1978, in her home at the age of 92 years,
four months, and 16 days. She is survived by four
children, 12 grand-- - [Narrator] Becky Hines was
the county's oldest resident, a direct descendant of
the first pioneer family. - I think every heart
here today is grateful that we have had her so many years. That she's been such a
blessing to so many lives. And now that she has gone-- - [Narrator] With the passing
of Becky's generation, another tie with the past is lost. But in this county, for a while at least, the old values, traditions,
and kinships endure. It's 5:30 in the morning. Seaman Rayfield, Edward Piatt,
and Edward's nephew, Eugene, are taking their dogs on a fox hunt. - Go on, Bruno. Get outta there. Come here, Wheeler. Alright, go out there and
see what you can find. - [Narrator] In a lifetime of hunting, Seaman Rayfield has never killed a fox. It's not part of the sport. - Did you have runnin' up here then? - No, I seen them boys,
that's Jerry's dog box. - [Seaman] I see there's a
dog box sittin' over here. - [Narrator] These men
are here simply to listen to their dogs run and to
visit with each other. - Fog might be a little
bad to see 'em very far. (dogs barking) They've hit. - [Interviewer] How can you
tell what's going on out there? - Well, up through the
years and since I was a boy, why my ears been trained to
tell you what, to know what that dog was a doin'. And it's just like watchin' a horse race. Edward and I both can tell
ya which dog's a carryin' the lead, even they may not be
50 foot distance between 'em. And we'll tell ya when
another dog's takin' over. Tell ya the lead and course it's-- - And what dog it is.
- And what dog it is. We know all our mounts,
they may be but very little difference in 'em, but
they'll be enough difference that we'll know. - [Interviewer] Why is
it that dogs mean so much to the men around here? - I can tell ya for me. I can come in from work and be wore out, aggravated and goin' huntin'
and have a good race, and come home and be in a good humor. That's what it is. It shore is. And lots of people, they
just rely on that dog. A guy that 'coon hunts,
he may rely on that dog a lot of it for his livin'. Just the love of animal I guess. - A lot of men may come home,
or before they get home, they'll stop at the neighborhood bar, and that's their thing. They stop at the bar and
have a few beers and maybe come home and eat and go
back to the bar that night and spend some time there. Well, I'd a way rather go
feed my dogs, or get up and go have a fox race, than
to go to the neighborhood bar, and drink that stuff that they have there. Of course that's one leverage maybe I hold with my wife. Edward and I will say,
well, there's other sports that we can pursue that men have. (laughs) Take your choice. We don't necessarily say
that in so many words, but it's kinda an unwritten law that we're gonna do somethin' now. So if you stop us from fox
huntin' and put the pressure on hard enough, you never
can tell what we might break out to doin'. (cross talk)
(baby jabbering) - [Narrator] Willie and Vella Cutts have been married 59 years. Today is their anniversary celebration. - [Woman] That's quite an
accomplishment, wouldn't you say? - [Man] I'd say so. - When we first started out,
why it was really hard work, because you didn't have no
conveniences and we washed on a board, water in the
tub, and we milked cows, and we fed the hogs. (chuckles) Everything ya done was hard work. - [Man] She said she don't
know ya, so she don't wanna come up and see ya. - Why, no, I'm not a Cutts, I'm a Julian. (cross talk) - She was young, was with her mother yet, and I got after them and run
'em all day and finally run 'em in the corral out here
this side of Wynona, and set this little thing up,
wasn't any bigger'n a rabbit. And I've got that horse yet. - [Interviewer] She must
be about 20 years old? - Oh, she's just pretty near
as old as I am. (laughs) But I believe she's right back here, and I'd like for you to see her. And I bent over a little bit for her. (whistles)
Come on, Ribbon. (whistles)
Come, Ribbon. I don't know whether it's
good looks or good treatment. I don't never have to wait
for my horse nor my cows. There's two little calves. (whistles)
Come, Ribbon. - [Narrator] Willie came to
this farm with his father when he was nine years old. That was over 70 years ago. - Now if you men'll just step
right back there and she'll come right out this gate
and we'll let her come in. Come on, Ribbon. (whistles) - [Narrator] Willie Cutts
is a prosperous farmer. Yet each spring he still
prefers to work his garden with his favorite horse, Ribbon. - [Interviewer] How come
you still plow with a horse? - I wanna do a good job. Right here's what I plow with. My double shovel's layin' over yonder. Well, the woman says for
me to show you my hog, and I sure wanna do that. Come out here. You know a feller's got to know his hogs to go in there with that. That pig was give to me. My neighbor up here, he sold
some pigs, and he wanted me to haul 'em all. I didn't charge him anything. I was wantin' to buy a little
old pig for a slop pig. He says, I'll just give ya one. I've just owned it a week now. But now the next time you
come back, if it's a livin', it won't look like that. - [Interviewer] What's going on here? What's happening, what are you making? - Oh, we're just buildin' a brush arbor. - [Interviewer] Where did
the cuts for the brush arbor come in, do you know? - Oh goodness. Dad, did they have brush arbors
when you was a little boy? He's 81. (laughs) I don't know, I guess they've
always had brush arbors in this country. Well, I suppose actually,
all they ever had is church. They just gather together and
they just make 'em a shade. Then usually in the spring
and then about winter maybe they had enough
congregation to build a church, or move inside. - [Interviewer] Is it
like the church service? - We don't have a program. We just kinda get together
and start singin' songs. We're even lettin' God do the thing. We just start singin'
songs and praisin' God, and there may be a half a
dozen of us preach one night. I don't worry about who's gonna preach, because I always get my
15 cents worth in anyway. I get up and-- We do that. We believe in the freedom
of the Spirit and letting everybody take part. People will come to a brush
arbor that you can't get into a church house at
all, because they'll come and they can sit in their car. God can get ahold of 'em
in the car just the same. They come to hear the singing
and the preaching and so on, so forth, and music. God gets ahold of 'em. ♪ Oh I want to see him,
look upon his face ♪ ♪ Let us sing forever
on his saving grace ♪ ♪ On the streets of glory
let me lift my voice ♪ ♪ Cares all past, home at
last, ever to rejoice ♪ ♪ For the billows rise up high and free ♪ ♪ Then my Lord let's my
heart's spirit take me ♪ ♪ And he leads me gently all
through this world below ♪ ♪ He's a real friend to
me, oh I love him so ♪ ♪ Oh I want to see him,
look upon his face ♪ ♪ Let us sing forever
on his saving grace ♪ ♪ On the streets of glory
let me lift my voice ♪ ♪ Cares all past, home at
last, ever to rejoice ♪ - [Man] I thank God for
Brother Monroe, our new preacher just startin' out. And we wanna get behind him
100% and pray the power of God down on him, amen. Pray then on him, 'cause he
can't preach a lick without the anointing no more than
any the rest of us can. Lord, when the power of
God comes down and gets on that ol' boy, I'll tell
ya, he'll preach us a sermon. Praise God, Brother Monroe. - You know, I'm kinda nervous still maybe. I think when it comes time,
God give us what to say. You know He kinda enter my mind and
once, and maybe I have studied the Bible today about Job. But you know, they took Job's cattle and everything else, I reckon. And Job, he kept a
hangin' in there though, because he's serving God. He knew-- - [Man] Yes, amen, hallelujah. - [Monroe] And I'll tell you
what, that's what we have done, people, we're servin' God too. We gotta catch hope and hang in there too. - [Man] Amen, yes we have. - But it don't say in the
Bible it's gonna be easy. I ain't never felt any hell,
but I'll tell you what, I know that Jesus is comin'. Oh hallelujah, hallelujah. Will you let Jesus take
care of that pain tonight? Will you let the blood of Jesus
be a blot on that human sin? Let's hallelujah if you got Him. Hallelujah. (many people praying) (bullfrogs croaking)
(crickets chirping) - Just hold this side over here, John. And a little bit faster. Missed him. Meat, meat in the boat. Now John, there's fish right over there. Right in there, a lot of 'em. I wanna run that one time
right there, you bet your life. We need to turn it around. Yeah, turn it around. (gentle music) - [Narrator] Since the
1880s, working in the timber has been the main source
of income for many people in Shannon County. Today there are about
100 families that still make their living cutting
stave bolts for barrels, cord wood for charcoal,
or like Keith Roberts and Dave Bland, cutting logs
to supply the dozen or so lumber mills in the area. - When I was a kid, I
started goin' with my uncle. He was a loggin' and I'd go with him. In the time I got big
enough to do it, why I knew a little bit about what was goin' on. Then I just started in. It's pretty independent. We don't have a boss or anything. We just work as we want to,
that's about all the time. It's mainly, it's about
all there is to do right around here, and I like it. I don't know. Always did like it. Here, whoop, whoop. Whoa now, come back. Whoa, what we got anyhow, 12 of these? - [Interviewer] How long can
you work a horse like that? - You can work 'em steady
about a half a day's about all one can, about
all he'll wanna stand. They'll work longer and still do alright, but it's a lot easier on 'em, work 'em 'bout half a day. He gets hot while he works,
but he'll cool back off again. - [Interview] What about mules? - They're about the same. - They all work on the same pace. - Well, we had a team of
mules before I started doin' the horses. They was about between 20
and 25 years old, I guess, when we sold 'em. But a mule lives to about
30, and where a horse lives about 20 or a little better. A mule's fine where you got
a lot of different people for workin' 'em, 'cause a horse
is pretty, kinda bashful like. They want one man work 'em all the time. They don't want to change off. And a mule, he don't care. He ain't gonna do no more
than he just has to anyway. You can get more out of a horse. - You can't possibly get a
mule to ever learn anything. Mule knows one thing, and
that's he'll bite ya, kick ya, and eat and sleep. That's all a mule ever did know. - [Interviewer] How come you're
still usin' a horse instead of one of those big tractor skidders? - Fuel's too high. - They're quite a bit cheaper. A skidder will get out a lot more stuff, probably four or five times as much. Then a lot of the reason
everybody's goin' to the skidders, it's gettin' hard to find
anybody that can work a horse. - Mule skidder's just about over with. - It's somethin' that it
takes three or four years to learn it right. - I'm natural born, son,
what are you talkin' about? I'm the natural born mule skidder. You got the cream of the crop. - [Son] Yeah, it was a bad year. - Bad on me. - We've been thinkin'
'bout goin' to skidder, but I don't know whether we will or not. Won't for awhile. - One thing this old thing
here, you can work a plow garden or you can ride him or
do anything you want to. And an old skidder when you
get on him out in the woods, that's just 'bout as far
as that thing's gonna go. Well, you 'bout ready to load these? I guess you know it's-- We're headin' for 10:00 right now, accordin' to my time. - [Son] Well, it's wrong. - No, my time ain't wrong. My time's always right, 'cause
I'm gettin' it for the hour. $6 an hour ain't nothin'. 'Cause the bean pot don't get a lot. Gonna get me a pole after ya. (gentle music) - [Narrator] There are 1000
square miles in Shannon County, most of them covered with timber. There are two rivers, and
hundreds of creeks, springs, hills and hollows, many with
the names of families that once lived nearby. Like much of the Ozarks,
it's a rugged land, easier to go around than to cross. So for most of its
history, it was isolated from the main stream of American life. But in the 1880s, that
isolation was interrupted by a 40-year timber boon
that left these hills barren for a generation. It began with the expansion
of the nation's railroads and their need for millions of cross ties. The need was for oak trees
and men skill with an ax. And Shannon County had both. Tie hacking, rafting and hauling
were the first wage-paying jobs most of the men had ever had. And for the first time, people
began to have cash to spend. Then came the sawmills, and
more jobs, and more cash, and brass bands, and baseball
teams, and the company stores. (festive music) With this new prosperity came new people. The population swelled from 3000 to 15000. New communities sprang up with names like Ink and Rat and Desolate. One of the largest grew up along
the creek known as Blair's. - [Resident] There used to
be oodles of people lived on Blair Creek here
(mumbles) on Blair's Creek. - Were you born on this
place or on down the creek? - I was born down here
at the Dillard place, five or six miles south
right down Blair's Creek. - [Interviewer] Used to
work in the timber up here? - Worked in timber all my life, yeah. Born and raised right here in the timber. I's in here when ol' S. J.
Bunker came in and pulled the first virgin timber
out of Blair's Creek. That's been 72 years ago. You think you could use one? (laughs) - [Man Holding Ax] Left
handed one, ain't it? - [Old Man] Yeah, left handed. - [Man Holding Ax] Yeah,
right hand the bevel's on this side. Yeah, you got quite a broadax there. - Old Joe wanted to buy it and I said, I don't wanna sell it. So I got it yet. You're tired when you pull it for 18 ties. I used to work hard. I never stopped a day 'til
after dark when I's young. I worked, enjoyed it. I used to head 'fore I looked,
but I don't do that no more. My eyes have got too bad the glamour. Old age comes on, and you've
had sweat in your eyes where you work in the
hay and you've hewed ties and worked hard. The eyesight decays away, as
you toss along with old age. The way I figure it, if I'm right. (laughs) - [Man] The Lord bless the heart of men. - I used to be stout, but I
ain't got the strength no more. You ever split any pine to go a'fishin'? Now you set that afire and it'll burn. (gentle music) - [Narrator] By the
early '20s, the big mills had sawed out. Jobs became scarce, and money was tight. Many families followed the
mills to the Pacific Northwest. But most remained. To earn a living, a man had few choices: go back to farming, hack
ties, or if he was literate, he could teach school. - Did I ever tell you how
I got my first school, from a tie hacker? Rural schools were
political in getting them. You had to go get your own school. There was three board members
in each school district, and they hired you according
to maybe whether they liked you or not, whether they knew
your father or for a lot of reasons other than whether you was a good school teacher or not. Because I just graduated
from high school when I first went out and made this application. I'd taken the state teacher's
exam right outta high school. I had a good friend, Hubert
Wright, that lived down in Horner School District down on Rocky, and he was a school board member. And I thought my chances
might be pretty good, so I went down to talk to Hubert. He said, well, Everett
Williams is the other director, but said now he'll be
for a certain teacher, I don't remember who it was. There's one elected every
year, and said we'll have to put in a new board
member that'll be for you. It's the only chance you
have of gettin' this school. I said, well, Alva Norris
is a good friend of mine. He's a fox hunter and I was
a fox hunter, and my dad was. So I went and talked to Alva
and he said, yeah, I'll serve and be for you. So it was left up to me then
to go around over the community and see the people and get
'em to come to the election, and put Alva Norris in. Of course, when I started to campaign, and the other teacher started
to campaign for a director to get elected, it would be for them or go with Everett Williams. I was ridin' a good saddle
horse and I could make the community pretty easy. I went to one fella's house
to see him, to get him to come and vote, and this was
runnin' right up to the night of the election. It was gonna be the next day,
and it looked awful close. I couldn't find this
fella, and someone told me he was back in, over on Mud Springs Holler hackin' ties and camped away. Been over there all winter. So I went over and found him that night. He was there at his tent, and
he had about six children. This is around just a canvas tent. He'd been there all winter hackin' ties. And I asked him if he'd
come over to the meeting, election next day, and he
said, no, I can't do that. Said I've got six kids
here to make a livin' for. He said, I have to work
every day to make a livin'. And I said, well, what
are you makin' a day? He said, well, I've already
got the tie sticks cut and my woman and I cut 'em yesterday. And he said, we'll hack 'em
out tomorrow, or I will, and said, I can hack about
15 ties in a day's time and I get 10 cents a stick for 'em. And he said, that's a dollar and a 1/2. Well, I don't know where
I got the dollar and 1/2, but I did have one, and
I said, well now, Oliver, if you'll come and
vote, you and your wife, why I'll pay ya for a day's work. And he said, I'd sure rather
come to vote as to hack ties a day, and he did. Well, the next day, they
put him in as chairman of the meeting, the election. And chairman don't get
a vote, and I thought well I wasted my dollar and 1/2. But he come up and that vote was tied, and Oliver had to untie the
vote, and he voted for Alva, Alva Norris, and I got
my first school that way. There was 46 people
enrolled that first day. There was a few of them older than I was, and through the year I used
to laugh that a salesman would come there or something. The only way they could tell
the teacher from the students, since some of 'em was older
than me, I had shoes on. (gentle music) - [Narrator] There used to be
over 100 one-room schoolhouses in Shannon County. Now there are none. (gentle music) During the late '40s, after the Depression and after the war, many
families left for the cities in search of jobs. And in the '50s, when
electricity was brought into the county, it
came only to the towns. So the small, scattered
communities gradually died, leaving only quaint
place names and memories of what used to be home. And on Blair's Creek,
only Henry Gore remains. - [Man] Peaceful out here. - [Henry] Yes, it is. - [Man] Used to have a lot
of square dances on Blair? - Quite a few, yeah, that used to be one of our old pastimes, old square dance. - Did you dance all night? - Yeah, we'd dance all night. - Did you used to call the sets? - Never did call, I danced. And after we got to drinkin',
I drank whiskey and danced. (laughs) - [Interviewer] How 'bout jig dancin'? Would they jig dance on Blair? - Oh yeah, Paul Bales used
to be in here from Eminence. You saw Paul? - Oh yeah, I knew Paul. - Yeah, old Tom Bamble
raised on Dickens Valley, cross county on Logan. He used to, him and Paul Bales,
used to be the dancin'est guys I ever looked at. (laughs) Paul Bales, he was a case, wasn't he? - [Man] You was a tellin' me
last Friday about the ol' boy that come in from Tennessee
that didn't nobody used to make whiskey or anything. Tell me again about that. - That was Arthur Keith,
he come from Tennessee to this country, and showed
us how to make liquor. It goes into cold water and condenses, as you boilt it in the tank. Some of you might've saw
it operate, I don't know. - [Interviewer] People
here didn't make whiskey before he came in? - No, they didn't know how. He come in and showed 'em. That was back when I was 23 year old. Come from Tennessee, Arthur Keith. He married across yon Logan. Married Steve Ferguson's
girl on Logan's Creek. Red-headed man, Arthur Keith,
I'd say he's 35 when he came here from Tennessee. Learned the world how to make liquor. (chuckles) We need to do some leaves
at the house and leaves are all fallin' now,
but that's real water. - [Interviewer] Tell me
about the spring. Does it run year 'round? - Yeah. I reckon I've been, soon be here 74 year, and I never saw it dry. - [Interviewer] You got
any water in your house? - No. No, it's just 18 foot to the door, and I didn't want no water
in the house. (chuckles) - [Interviewer] People still
pretty friendly around here? - Well, yeah. There ain't very many of
us to be friendly. (laughs) They're scarce. We used to have a big
population of people here. But they're gone now. - [Man] You must be the
keeper of Blair's Creek, the last one left. - Yeah, I never did marry
and stayed with my parents. They've passed away, so I'm just yet here. I ain't satisfied, but-- this is my home, you've got to be satisfied. (puppies yelping) - [Interviewer] Their eyes
aren't even open yet, are they? - No, they come two
nights before Halloween. I never ordered those dogs. But the Lord wanted me
to have 'em and I guess, I guess it's alright. Did any of you ever try a bachelor's life? I never did marry. I never did think I wanted to marry. I stayed with my parents
'til they passed away. - [Interviewer] Do you
regret that at all now? - Well, a man mighta lived a
better life if he'd a married. - [Interviewer] Where
will you be buried, Henry? - On Big Creek across here. You've been on Big Creek? Over here at the Turner graveyard. My parents are buried over there. Lee Gore and Elizabeth. Dad was 87 and seven days when he died, and Mother's 86 and six days. Of course, I may not make that many years. And if I don't, it'll be alright,
'cause we owe death's debt and we'll pay it. (chuckles) - I'll bring ya one the next time I come. - I'd rather pay you for that light now, it cost you something. I'd rather pay ya if you'll take it. - You let that light burn
when ya need a light, or you just turn it on. Then the other one goes
dead, we'll go and get a battery and then
you'll always have one. - Alright.
- We'll get it, and it runs out and you
don't have it that away, well you'll have light. - I thank you a whole lot. - And you're welcome. And we really appreciate ya. - And come back, boys,
everyone of you when you can. - [Man] We'll sure try to do it. (bluegrass music) - [Narrator] Today, 8000
people live in Shannon County. There are three towns, the
largest has a population of 850. This is Eminence, the
county seat, population 630. The county has no doctors, no
dentists, no shopping centers, no bowling alleys, no theaters. There is one county
newspaper, The Current Wave. It's been published since the
1870s, and its motto is, "Shannon County first,
the world afterward." - Hear ye, hear ye. Shannon County Magistrate
Court is now in session. With the Honorable Judge Greene presiding. Thank you and please be seated. - Let's see, first case
is State versus Wood. That goes over, doesn't it? - Yes, sir. - I was 79 years old when
I come on to the bench. State versus Mike Kernel. Grimet, grivet? - Mr. Benedict. - So I'd had the world of
experience with people, and being chairman of the
Ration Board during the war, I had met everybody in
the county, I think. Most of them had cussed me. We can take it up after awhile. He might show up. But I doubt it. People are clannish in
this county to an extent, often a very large extent. They like to know that
their public officials are either native sons or have
been accepted by the people that they regard as
leaders in the community. They don't like interlopers. I recall an instance, a
case was filed against two prominent citizens, of
Carter and Shannon County, on a contract for the sale
of staves, barrel staves. There was no question about the evidence. But they had a very astute
attorney from St. Louis representing the plaintiff. And after he had made his
opening statements to the jury, he just wilted because
he could see that he, being a foreigner, as the
old timers would call him, he wasn't going to impress
that jury one whit, and of course, they
didn't even leave the box 'til they returned the
verdict for the defendants. And the defendants didn't
have a leg to stand on, actually at law. And it's well known among
the legal fraternity that a country lawyer's got
no business trying a case in the city, and a city
lawyer's got no business trying a case in the country,
because they don't speak the same language someway. We'll take it up when we
get back on the bench. - Alright. I think his grandpa can make the bond. You know Mr. Pierce? - Those Pierces are pretty solid people. Who is his grandpa, Roy? Gore. - Doyle Pierce. - Yeah, I know him. He'll be okay. (fiddle music) - I's just a little ol'
farmer, live back up here at Flat Rock. Decided to run for Circuit
Clerk and Recorder. So I come down here at Eminence and filed. Runnin' against the fellers named
Earl Williams and Freeman Powell. That's where I got my
schoolin', my first politics. But I got my bill branded, they beat me. I just laughed and went on about it. So I take a run for sheriff then. Got elected sheriff four years. Then after Hubert Wright
defeated me in that, why I decided to run for
presidin' judge at County Court. So I got elected presidin'
judge, and I been elected this makes seven terms,
four year terms, straight. I don't know whether it's what
I done or whether the people just kinda like me. I don't know what it was. (bluegrass music) - [Interviewer] Both you
gentlemen been in politics around here a long time. What are campaigns like? - Well, depends on the kind you pick. You can pick a stump
campaign where there's thunder and lightning. Or you can bushwhack. Or you just go out and see the people. That's the best kind. - [Interviewer] Was there
a lot of speech-makin' in those days? - Oh yeah, we used to
have stump campaigns. Boy, them was interestin'. Get to gouge each other a little. Plus some twists. And I's a little bit of a
gouger, not bad, just enough to make 'em sweat a little. - I think the sheriff's race is always the most interesting here. There's most generally
several running for sheriff. I remember one race with 14 in it. The first time I ran for office, there was 14 runnin' for sheriff. - [Interviewer] What party were they? - All Democratic, all on
the Democratic ticket. - Lot of fun in it. If you let it, it'd
aggravate ya and worry ya, but some fellas against ya,
why don't never treat him, if ya do, try to treat him a little good for the next four year. Nah, don't quit him,
don't let 'em quit ya. If ya wanna really get even
with 'em, take 'em a poke of little red apples or
somethin' and give 'em when they're fightin', and that'll
win better'n anything you do. (waltz music) (bell tolls) - [Narrator] Memorial Day. (organ music) ♪ There's a place near to me ♪ ♪ Where I'm longing to be ♪ ♪ With my friends at
the old country church ♪ ♪ There with Mother we went ♪ ♪ And our Sundays were spent ♪ ♪ With our friends at
the old country church ♪ ♪ Precious years of memories ♪ ♪ Oh what joy they bring to me ♪ Memorial Day is an important
event in Shannon County. It's a time when people
gather at country churches and family graveyards to join
in a kind of celebration. ♪ With my friends at
the old country church ♪ (cross talk) - Every Memorial Day. I've never missed one, only
when I was in the service. I never missed a one since. Used to, boy, wagons'd be tied all the way from where we lived to a half
a mile down the road there. I've seen that. Dad and Mother, they raised all of us four children right there. - Randolph there, Tom, and Dillards, Rayfields, they all went
to this school up here. And I was from seven
'til nine, I lived there. I went to school with 'em for two years. - [Interviewer] Comin'
back home for Memorial Day? - Well, we went away for 42 years. And we came back. - [Interviewer] How come you came back? - 'Cause I was born and raised here, and Mother's buried here, and my sister. - He's retired. - I retired. - [Interviewer] All your family's here? - My momma. - You old coot, you did
come down, didn't ya? I'm glad you came. - You did?
- Yeah. Instead of sittin' there
on the porch waitin' for everybody to come. - I wanted to come down
here help some of them, but my wife wouldn't do it. - Oh, your wife wouldn't let ya. - My children, I hope they
grow up and stay right here. - [Interviewer] You
think they'll be able to? - Yeah, they can make it here. I did, and I'm givin'
them everything that I can create now and I hope that
at the end of my time, my last dollar and I give
it to my children so that give them a chance to where
they can make it in this area. ♪ Precious years of memories ♪ ♪ Oh what joy they bring to me ♪ ♪ How I long once more to be ♪ ♪ With my friends at
the old country church ♪ (gentle banjo music) - [Narrator] Late November,
the beginning of a most important season in Shannon
County: deer season. For about 10 days, timber work
stops, the schools let out, and most of the families go hunting. These are the Piatts, a close-knit
clan and one of the most respected families in the county. They live far from any town,
and spend their lives working and hunting in the timber. Willie and his seven sons
live for days like this. - I doubt if I've got any
boys can walk as far in a day as I walked and worked. You've walked from Arkansas,
ain't ya, back and forth? That's what we used to do, I know you did. - And you walked where?
- Arkansas. - I walked from just below Jerktail;
Arkansas in two days, corner of Arkansas. - Walked.
- Walked. - People didn't think nothin'
about walkin' doggone, just takin' off and walkin'. - The younger generation
wouldn't believe the way people used to hunt here, used to
take axes, dogs, no gun at all. And they'd go out and they'd
hunt all day, and they'd bring in more game than most
people does with guns now. They'd kill rabbits, squirrels,
possum hunt, coon hunt. - [Interviewer] Why did you
used to hunt the way you did? - Couldn't afford shells. Back in the '30s it was for eatin'. It was hard times here, wasn't it, Willie? - [Willie] We always had
a few hogs and cattle. Had our milk and butter
and hogs to butcher. Still, our meat'd run out,
you know, we'd just have to kill it in the winter time. Folks didn't have a deep
freeze, nothin' like that. You'd run pretty short
before butcherin' time again. - One of them used to hunt and
had them big ol' grab hooks you grab fish with, and climb
a tree and they'd tie them on the end of a pole
and reach down in a hole and pull a coon out. Boy here, he's a pretty
good shot, ain't he? - [Willie] I guess, you
can figure it out yourself. (laughs) How many times did ya shoot? - Four. - He woulda hit it but he
laid his gun over his back and then pulled the trigger. (laughs) Oh shoot, it's too close to him. - They don't get too close. (cross talk) - Get too close for you, don't they? - [Man] Had to been well
down the road about a quarter when it hit it, he'd a killed it. - It went down there at the
river somewhere down there by Fish Trap, or right below the cave. - [Man] Did you faint, did you pass out? - [Willie] No, but he thought about it. - His little brother
done told me he'd missed in seven shots. - Seven? - That's what he said. - Three times. - Now we heard four.
- He said seven. - Well, I shot four times. - [Man] Sure he didn't shoot seven? - He took that after Grandma. (laughs) - [Man] Took that after Grandma, did he? - Well, as I was watchin' that place and some guy come along, I didn't know him. I turned and talked to him. - Did you kill her the first shot? - [Hunter] Yeah, sure did. - How close was she to ya? - Oh, 'bout as far as that pig down there.
The last one down there. - Uncle Bill. Where you gonna hang it at,
across this limb right here? - We was goin' home and, I looked out in the woods and there was three standin' there. It was the biggest one. (cross talk) (banjo music) - [Interviewer] Why do you
suppose all your boys decided to live pretty close around here? - I don't know, but they ever leave, they don't stay gone no time. They like all of us was I guess. I never did like to be
away from home, never did. Don't you like to go back to
your home where you was raised? It's just nature. I don't know, it is just nature of people. Brings back memories of
whenever you was a kid. Times you've had, good
times and the likes of that. When we lived on the river,
I guarantee that I dream about livin' down there
two or three times a year. I sure do, I had the best time,
I lived the best I ever did in my life. Shucks, didn't have to work,
make a crop in the summer. If I wanted to take
off all winter and hunt, I could do it. Didn't take no money. Like I say, didn't have no
electric, no telephone bill, or no dang payments. I never owned a dang car
'til, I guess it's around 50. It's sad how much money it takes, but a man ain't a gonna spend it. It ain't gonna do him
no good no how, is it? I'm a lot like Ralph Lucas that a'way. He said if a man had a
dollar in one hand and a rock in the other, if he didn't ever
intend to spend that dollar, wasn't worth nothin' to him. And that's about right. So I would like to have
a little to put me away whenever I die. Use the rest of it, wouldn't you? (laughs) Hell, these men don't
get a little enjoyment, what's life worth? It ain't, is it? - [Interviewer] What do
you do for enjoyment? - Fish and hunt and like that. Yep, fish and hunt. That's pretty clean sport. I tell ya, a man if he's
a huntin' or a fishin', he ain't gonna get into mud that he oughtn't to, is he? - [Interviewer] What
happens if the dogs do get after a wolf? - Well, they'll follow that
wolf as far as it goes, and sometimes they go 30 miles. It's very possible my waiting
here will be all in vain. They may not come back here 'til tomorrow. - [Interviewer] Your dad
was tellin' us that boys always come home, they don't
seem to like it away from here. Why is that? - Well, to me, when you
get off away from here, you don't really meet anybody
that's a friendly guy. I guess one thing, us raised
here, about all of us, we know everybody. We personally know 'em. Then you get out there,
you don't know nobody and they don't care if
you know 'em or not, and it's just so much different. I just don't care nothin' about it. - [Interviewer] What kind
of a frog sticker you got? - That's a Browning. - [Interviewer] People trade
a lot of knives around here? - Yeah. Knife tradin' is a big thing. It isn't my thing, but a
lot of people sure like to, they sure like to trade knives. - [Edward] A lot of 'em
call it "poke knives." - [Interviewer] What's that again? - Well, just like, if I take
my knife outta my pocket and Seaman never seen
it, and I'd say, well, we're just poke knives, and
he'd just reach in a pocket. I'd give him mine, and he'd give me his. Just how it went. We'd never look at the other knife. They do a lot of that. - You won't get hurt very
bad, because neither one of the knives will be any good. (laughs) Drop a knife with maybe no blade in it, or just a half of one. (laughs) Gettin' the better with
somebody in any trade, that's a big thing. - [Edward] Kenny Swinney's the
fella that's hard to get ahead of. - Oh, you bet. Kenny Swinney'll skin ya
every time ya trade with him. I've traded with him lots and got skinned every time I traded him. Traded dogs with him once. He won't lie to you about
a dog, but he won't tell ya all the truth about one. (laughs) That dog can have some qualities-- It can have some good qualities
that you'll recognize, but he'll also have some
qualities that you won't put up with, that Kenny'll
never tell ya anything about it. You just have to find out
about that after it's too late, after the trade and after
you fed the dog for awhile, you'll find out. Boy, he sure popped it to me a few times. I'd have to go up and stay with
him a few days to get even. (laughs) - Sook, sook, sook, sook, sook. Hey. (cow moos) Sook, sook, sook, sook, sook. (cow moos) Sook. (gentle music) Don't look like it did
when you saw it, does it? - [Interviewer] That's the same one, huh? - That's the same one. (gentle music) (bluegrass music)
