Folklore by definition should not be written down; but, as society has changed and grown, it has become necessary to put them to paper so that they are not lost in the bustle of a changing world. The Grimm brothers were the first to catalog folklore. They became famous for their fairy tales, which are a kind of folktale. They have to do with things that could never happen in the real world--things involving the supernatural and magic (Dorson 1).

"A folktale may be defined as a traditional oral prose narrative." So "A folktale lives in spoken word and dies on the printed page." Every society--from the ancient African tribe to the fast-paced American yuppy--has its own folk tales. Storytellers can be children sitting around a campfire telling stories of the ghosts and goblins that lurk just outside the ring of light or American Indians telling stories of the spirits, but one thing remains the same. They usually show no difference between fact and fiction in their tales (Dorson 1).

The Indians lived on these lands long before Europeans even dreamed it existed. So naturally much folklore was handed down from their tribes.

According to Cherokee legend, when their tribe invaded what is now part of Arkansas, near the head of the Little Tennessee River, they found a race of "white" people. The legend says that when they arrived they found the land inhabited ". . . by certain moon-eyed people, who could not see in the daytime." These people lived on land that the Cherokee wanted, so they drove the moon-eyed people away. Through the years the moon-eyed people have been considered a race of albinos. Despite the fact that many people believe strongly in them, it has never been proven that they, in fact, existed (Allopp I 1).

Many Indian tribes worshiped the sun, fire, and water. The Cherokee have an old myth very similar to Pandora's box. This legend goes as follows: The creators of Earth intended for man to live forever. After the sun closely inspected the planet, he decided it was not fit for a race of immortals, and he made it so that men died after a given time. However, the sun's daughter was the first to die when she was bitten by a poisonous snake. That made him change his mind, and he gave men back their immortality. He sent some people to find his daughter's spirit and bring it back, sealed in a box that was never to be opened. Unfortunately, the people became curious and opened the box. "Immortality fled, and all men must die" (Allsopp I 30).

The waters of the hot springs are said to cure whatever ails a person. Many Indian tribes used these curative waters, and some of these tribes were at war with each other. The springs were in a valley of peace where no fighting was supposed to take place. If there was ever a fight between two Indians while they were in the valley, at twilight, a beautiful maiden would appear in the steam from the largest pool. She would hold in her hand an emblem, usually an eagle's wing feather, which represented peace. If it were a brave who had started the fight, she would come to him and lay the emblem at his feet. It if were the chief, she would lay the feather on his shoulder. Usually, this warning was heeded, but there is a tale of a chief who paid no attention, and the object of his anger lured him into the forest outside the valley and killed him (Allsopp I 146).

There are many tales told by people today. Since folklore is no written down, we can assume that the oldest tales have changed immensely through the years, while the newer tales have more elements of truth.

Human beings have always had a thirst for power and riches, giving up good, steady lives to run out west in search of gold, or leaving a "civilized" land to go to a vast wilderness in search of golden cities. So it is natural for people to cling to stories that tell of riches to be had.

One such story told about Arkansas. According to legend and history, the infamous James gang, after a stagecoach robbery near Hot Springs, hid 32,000 dollars near Pulluck's Bluff. They would not have left their bounty behind had they not been closely pressured by United State Marshals. Before leaving the area, James told an acquaintance where he had hidden the money. The man's son, who lived in California, made an annual trip back to Arkansas to search for it. However, it has never been found (Allsopp I 3).

Jesse James was a guilty man who deserved punishment for his crimes, but were others who died in the gallows possibly innocent? There is a story of a Cherokee Indian who was hanged at Old Lawrenceville in Monroe County. With his dying breath, he professed his innocence and cursed the entire county. He prayed to the Great Father of the Waters that the Mississippi and White Rivers would rise and engulf the inhabitants of the county. Naturally, the people did not believe in the curse, but the floods of 1900, 1916, and 1927 did more damage to Monroe County that to any other in the state of Arkansas (Allsopp I 160).

Many places are said to be cursed or damned. One such place is called Hell's Half Acre. Another in the same area is an unbelievably deep hole in the earth which seems almost endless. There is a pleasant tale about the creation of this place. When the Great Spirit made the hot springs, he had a lot of left over rock. He was not sure what to do with it, so he stuck his enormous finger into the earth and made a hole to dump the rock into. However pleasant that story is, there is another which is more widely accepted in that area. In this one, the hole is a bottomless pit created to house a demon which is chained within it. It is said that hunters caught after dark have heard its ". . . groans of pain and shrieks of savage profanity." Naturally, the place is greatly avoided after nightfall (Allsopp I 142).

Ghost stories simply beg to be told. Wherever people live, people die. This is a fact of life (or death). People often cannot stand the loss of someone that they love, and it seems easier to imagine that they are still nearby, even if they manifest themselves in common household occurrences such as a light bulb exploding with a surge of energy or a vase falling from a shelf and shattering when there is no one around. Most things can be explained by the laws of science. But what of those that cannot? These stories are told by sane, sober people who believe every word.

According to legend, the form of a huge black horse carrying a military figure rose from the earth and galloped to the graveyard of the family of Albert Pike, an important figure in Arkansas history. It then jumped the fence surrounding the cemetery and disappeared (Allsopp II 254).

Another Arkansas ghost story is told by Mrs. Coral Almy Wilson of Zink.
 

"She tells of a couple who tried to sleep all night in a haunted house. They barred the door with a hickory stick as thick as a man's arm. The ghost caved in the door with one blow but was invisible to the couple. A moment later they heard something like a big marble or billiard ball rolling over the floor. They got up and lit a candle but saw nothing out of the ordinary. The man barred the door again, and he and his wife were about to lie down again when the ghost resumed its labors. The door hurled open for a second time . . . so the couple gave up the project and rushed out into the night" (Randolph 216).

There is a story of a cabin in which a peddler or traveler was murdered. A large bloodstain on the floor became wet with fresh blood every year on the second of February. On the same date, a person sitting in the cabin could see animals of all types dash in the open door and plunge into the fireplace, vanishing up the chimney (Randolph 223).

In yet another story, a young man saw a woman in a long white robe standing at the gate of a deserted house. A fuzzy white dog ran out in front of him and seemed to be barking, though he heard no sound. He threw a rock at it, and the dog seemed to separate into two parts, letting the rock go through. It then rejoined (Randolph 225).

Arkansas is a very diverse place, rich in folklore. The folklore of this great state has been passed down from generation to generation for centuries. Now, in a century of fast-paced change, these stories are dying out. Children have "more important" things to do than to listen to the stories of their grandparents. This rich heritage must be preserved for the children of future generations.

Allsopp, Fred W. Folklore of Romantic Arkansas: Volume I. United States of America: The Grolier Society, 1931.

Allsopp, Fred W. Folklore of Romantic Arkansas: Volume II. United States of America: The Grolier Society, 1931.

Dorson, Richard M. "Folktale." Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc., 1995.

Randolph, Vance. Ozark Magic and Folklore. New York: Dover Publications, 1964.

Wagley, Charles. "Folklore." Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc., 1995.