Marion Co TOC

All the people of Marion County - past, present, and future - can be proud of the history of their county. The white settlers moving westward probably encountered greater hardships in this area than during their emigration. The landscape is vastly different when Marion became a county in 1836. There were many barrens and flats where it was said the grass was so thick and tall, a man would have to follow the trails made by the great buffalo herds to ride his horse through it. Mountains and hollows divided these prairies from each other. Trees grew mostly along the creeks and riverbanks and some were on the mountainsides; the cedar glades of today were just barren shelf rock plateaus then. Wild life was vastly more abundant then than now; hunting for deer, wild turkey, bear, and buffalo was not only a necessity for survival, but also great sport. It was said a man could stand in the doorway of his house and kill most any kind of game. Many of the buffalo wallows are still evident today as large indentures in the earth; one such wallow is in the southern part of the county. Some of the wild life - panthers, bear, wolves - were hazards and detrimental to domestic livestock. Fish of all sorts were also abundant, and the best fishing was on the Buffalo and White Rivers.

In 1849 Yellville was just a wide spot in a dirt road with a log building for a courthouse and a log stable for a jail. It was known as "a wild and wooly" place. Around this time no one in this part of the state was safe. If a man were running from the law, the mountains and hollows made it easy for him to hide out and many lawless individuals made their way to Marion County. Horse thieves, moonshiners, counterfeiters, even murders were all evident. The western boundary was Indian Territory and the lawless and dishonest flocked there to sell whiskey, guns, and cheap merchandise to the Indians. There were many killings, whiskey flowed freely, and several family and political disputes erupted. One of these disputes was the famous Tutt and Everett War. Eventually the lawabiding citizens took a stand and the lawless were driven out. The influx of criminals was checked and better law enforcement emerged.

Hunting and trapping were the most common source of income. Tanning vats were common in Yellville. Oak bark ooze was used in these vats, and it took several months to tan a hide. These brought good money in St. Louis and Memphis. A milk cow could be bought for $5 and corn was 10 cents a bushel. Trading was the most common way to acquire the material necessities of life. A man could trade a good horse, saddle and bridle for a farm.

The earliest land recorded in Marion County was that of William McGarrah on 22 February 1830 and was on the banks of White River in White River Township. The next was that of Thomas Terry on 6 June 1838 and was further north on White river in James Creek Township.

In 1840 Marion County had a population of 1,286 - 649 men and boys, 572 women and girls and 65 free colored. By 1850 her populations had climbed to 1,991 free persons. Over the past 140 years it has steadily grown until, in 1990, it was 12,001.