Access "C" 34.86220°,
93.03460° (Old
road trace leaving trail)
Access "D" 34.85933°, 93.03948° (Drainage heading north leaving old road
trace)
Access "E" 34.85893°, 93.04098° (Drainage heading north leaving old road
trace and centerline creek)
Access Road "1" 34.87328°, 93.04192° (Timber Road #29147)
Parking Area #3 34.86563°, 93.04580°
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Parking Area #1 34.86098°,
93.04420° |
Access #2 34.87400°, 93.03072° |
Access "A" 34.86332°,
93.03470° |
Parking Area #2 34.86368°,
93.03467° |
Gate "B" 34.86330°,
93.03428° |
Primitive Camping at Parking Area #2 |
Little Cedar Creek Falls
34.86017°, 93.03500° |
Old road to Forked Mt. Falls |
_small.jpg)
Forked Mountain Falls
34.85497°, 93.03075° |
Face profile above falls |
Toilet 34.85069°, 93.03610° |
Twist Cascade
34.84935°, 93.03567° |
| |
|
|
Forked Mt. 34.86340°, 93.04235°
THE LEGEND OF FORKED MOUNTAIN
Many trails converge on the sacred Valley of Vapors bringing Indians of
all tribes from north, south, east and west. When they made their camps in this
Valley of Peace where the healing waters flowed, they lay down their weapons and
sat together around fires at night, smoking the calumet has brothers telling
stories of long ago. Here, friendship was often established among the various
groups, but ancient rivalries persisted and sometimes led to events that recall
the tragic story of Romero and Juliet; for this was a romantic place where young
people, far from their homelands, met and fell in love. This is the tale of one
such unfortunate couple as told by white storytellers who lived near the strange
mountain with two peaks that overlooks the Ouachita Forest near Hollis.
Once in the valley of Manataka, a lovely maiden from the south caught the eye of
a brave warrior from the north. Even though their tribes were different, the two
seemed to belong together. He was tall and straight and strong; she, gentle and
loving as well as beautiful. When they looked into each other's eyes, they felt
as though their spirits were joined and could never more be parted. But her
father was a powerful chief who could not think of giving his daughter to a
stranger who would take her away. As the days passed, the two lovers grew closer
and closer. They spent all their time together, bathing in the magic waters,
gathering healing herbs and berries in the forest, fishing in the streams, and
sitting by the campfires at night.
When her jealous father saw them so much together, he could not accept the
thought that they might be joined forever and vowed to separate them. He could
not kill the young lover or make war on his tribe because they were in the
Valley of Peace where the Great Spirit had decreed that no blood should be
spilled. Therefore, he called his people together and prepared them to leave the
very next day.
The young lovers, hearing this, were distraught. So strong was their love that
they knew they could not live without one another. In desperation, they slipped
away during the night and, taking two swift horses, fled toward the north hoping
to find a friendly village where they could be married and live happily
together. All night they rode, and all the next day until, exhausted, they came
to a tall mountain and could go no farther. Leaving their horses, they climbed
as far as they could go and hid among the rocks to rest.
That morning when the chief had made ready to leave the valley he found his
daughter missing. In a great fury, he took his strongest men and flew in pursuit
of the couple, following their tracks up the trail to the north until he came
upon their horses at the foot of the mountain. When he looked high up to the
top, he saw the lovers asleep in each other's arms under a rocky shelter.
Remembering his vow to separate them, the angry chief called upon the Great
Spirit to help him.
There was a great clash of thunder and a lightening bolt split the mountain at
it summit. The two younger lovers disappeared, but the Great Spirit took pity on
their love. The maiden's spirit remained in one peak and the brave's took its
place in the other, forever joined at the base.
NOTE:
Through the years, one peak of this mountain has been partially worn away, but
the other still stands tall like a sentinel, symbolizing the joining of two
brave spirits.
Credits: "The Legend of Forked Mountain" by Sandra Long and Marcus Phillips is
from the "Indian Folklore Atlas of Hot Springs National Park" (1994
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