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Historical Sketch of James HENDRICKS and Drusilla DORRIS
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BASIC MAP
I based this map upon a 1984 USGS
map
. I removed
most modern landmarks, creating in their place contour lines, section boundaries,
county boundaries, and other map features. I left some roads to place historic locations in their modern context.
If you don't understand townships, sections, and lot descriptions, it may be helpful to learn about the rectangular
survey system used by the government land office for the sale of public lands. A good basic introduction can be found
at "Rectangular Survey System," www.glorecords.blm.gov/Visitors/PLSS.asp, Bureau of Land Management, as of 28 August 2004.
LOCATION OF THE BATTLE OF CROOKED RIVER
Several years ago, I read in Oscarson and Kimball's The Travelers' Guide to Historic Mormon America, that the exact
site of the battle was unknown. Later I found a tantalizing map in Holzapfel and Cottle's Old Mormon Kirtland and
Missouri, but it was too ambiguous for me to figure out.
Finally, I found a description of the location in a book in the Harold B. Lee Library of Brigham Young University, the LDS Church History Atlas, Volume 2, by the Department of Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, p. 148 (BX 8672 .R311). Citing the "Manuscript History, Missouri," the book stated, "CROOKED RIVER BATTLE GROUND / It is in the west half of the northeast quarter of Section 14. Mr. Field's house is 1/2 mile north of the battle ground in Section 11."
Finally, I came across a map by John Hamer on the Far West Cultural Center's website showing the location of the
battle. Hamer's map seems to agree with descriptions of the battle, the geography, Holzapfel's map, and the citation from
the Manuscript History (although the battle probably spilled down to the ford in the E ½ of the NW ¼ of
Section 14). ("Map of Crooked River Battle,"
www.farwesthistory.com/crbmap.htm, map by John Hamer, 7 November
2003, as accessed 13 August 2004.)
Accordingly, I've marked the location of the battle just east of the ford and just inside the W ½ of the NE ¼ of the section. I imagine the battle started a little further up the road and continued down to the ford. This is indeed private property and public roads don't get much closer than ½ mile (judging from the maps). While I've included enough informtion that you could travel to the spot, please ask permission before entering private property.
PROPERTY LOCATIONS
The property locations of James Emett, James Hendricks, Stephen Winchester, and Henry Snyder are from "List
of Members of Rich Branch Area on Log Creek,"
www.farwesthistory.com/rbranch2.htm,
Mike Riggs, 7 December 2002, as accessed on 26 August 2004. I placed squares at the center of lots I suspected the owners
to live upon, based upon information in Drusilla's account. But these locations are my conjecture. Having placed squares
at the center of these lots, I found most were on the banks of streams. This gave some credence to the locations, as I
suppose before indoor running water, one would want to locate near a supply of fresh water.
I placed the square for James Hendricks' house at the center of his first property purchase (SE ¼ of NW ¼ of Mirabile section 35). As you can see, this location was on Tub Creek. Today, it is on the bank of a small reservoir which I believe is known as Simmons Lake. Drusilla alludes to this purchase in chapter 4, "Persecutions."
I placed the square for the James Emett house on the first lot he bought. That the Hendricks and the Emetts were on adjacent lots is shown in Drusilla's account. She says, "Finally I saw Bro. Emit coming through the timber. I watched and saw that he did not stop at home but he hollered something about Bro. Hendricks. I could not tell what it was but he was on express to Farwest." (Chapter 5, "Tragedy at Crooked River.")
Drusilla refers to "one of our neighbors, Brother Winchester." (Chapter 5,
"Tragedy at Crooked River.")
According to Riggs, Stephen Winchester
built and lived on his property immediately to the west of the Hendricks. I placed the square at the center of the
property, although if a spring further to the south feeds Tub Creek, he probably located near it.
I placed Henry Snyder's square at the center of his property on the bank of Log Creek.
THE ROAD FROM FAR WEST
I wanted to locate the historic road from Far West to the crossing of the Crooked River.
I imagine back in horse and buggy days that roads were constrained by different needs than modern roads. Roads needed to
be flat; pulling a wagon or buggy up and down hills and through gullies was to be avoided if possible.
Bridges were non-existant; river crossings would require good fords. Unlike railroads which
required extensive grading to avoid twists and turns, I imagine roads twisted and turned to avoid the expense of grading.
I think you'd want to minimize the distance between towns, so roads would run obliquely rather than North/South and
East/West.
I looked at a modern map for clues to the historic route and I noticed that current roads follow section, half-section, or quarter-section boundaries, forming a vast checkerboard pattern. I imagine over the years, as modern farming techniques and equipment came into use, farmers consolidated fields by moving oblique roads to the boundaries of their property. What farmer wants his field divided into two by a public road?
Since route D is the main north/south route through the central intersection of old Far West, it seemed the natural place to start my search. Like the Utah towns planned later under the direction of Brigham Young, Far West streets were laid out by Joseph Smith along compass directions. Interestingly, as route D heads south towards Crooked River, it wanders obliquely off quarter-section boundaries. I found these sections met my expectations for the historic route and concluded that route D is the modern descendent of the original road.
As today's route D approaches section 34 of Mirabile township it shifts west to a half-section boundary. South of Mirabile it shifts eastward with two hard right-angle turns to a quarter-section boundary (in section 3 of Rockford township). On the map, I've shown my guess that the historic route probably pursued a straighter line on more level ground.
As it is known the road passed Henry Snyder's house at Log Creek (section 11), and as this is one of route D's non-aligned portions, I believe route D follows the historic road through this section.
In section 14, south of the Snyder's, when the oblique road hits level ground it takes an abrupt S-turn to the west, lining up on the section boundary—probably a farmer's rerouting, I think. From here, route D follows the section boundary south to state road 116. Again, on the map I've shown my guess that the historic route probably wasn't aligned on the boundary, and probably stayed on more level ground.
I then went to the bottom of the map and started working north. I depended on
Hamer's map for the
route of the road from the Crooked River ford north nearly to the Caldwell county line. That left just a two mile gap
from highway 116 to the Caldwell county line. To fill in this gap, I drew in a route that crossed the minimum number of
contour lines. The resulting route was fairly direct and quite level.
I was initially concerned that the route I laid out didn't pass next to the Hendricks' property. In Drusilla's account she says, "I got the children up and walked the floor and watched the road." Then I noticed that my route for the road passes along the high ground between Goose and Tub creeks. Drusilla could have been able to see the road just ¾ of a mile up a gentle slope. Further, her mention of "Bro. Emit coming through the timber" is consistent with a route that doesn't come directly by their properties.
Historical Sketch of James HENDRICKS and Drusilla DORRIS
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My many edits, changes, and additions are original artistic creations making my derivative map a copyrightable work.
Permission is given to copy for private, non-commercial use only. All other rights are reserved.
Tuesday, 28-Sep-2004 21:08:00 MDT