Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Cane Hill’s ‘Habitat’ invites exploration
CANE HILL — A locally curated Smithsonian Institution exhibit titled “Habitat: Protecting Habitats Protects Life” continues until the end of November, with fall offering cooler temperatures to explore exhibit stops along trails, meadows and inside Cane Hill Gallery.
While more than half the exhibit stops are easy walking, some involve careful footwork and, depending on the route selected, a bit of scrambling. That part of the trail appears tailor-made for sure-footed people, including youngsters, who crave something a little different.
Sturdy shoes, walking sticks, bug spray and water are good companions for those of any age who cross the newly built bridge over Jordan Creek and head to the bluff line trail to visit exhibit stops 3 through 8. Keep an eye out along this part for green brier and poison ivy if going off trail, which isn’t encouraged. All of the other exhibit stops are easy to get to and see, and most of those are handicap accessible on level surfaces.
The exhibit has basically three locations: trails that begin directly across Arkansas 45 from Jenkins Grocery and follow on both sides of Jordan Creek; an exhibit in Cane Hill Gallery next door to the Cane Hill Museum and Visitor Center (both of which are air-conditioned and have outlets to charge electronics); and two stops behind those buildings on the west side of Arkansas 45. Maps are available in the Cane Hill Gallery.
Near the starting point of the main outdoor exhibit trails, situated behind the historic Zeb Edmiston house, are tables with umbrellas that are available for picnics or just sitting before or after a hike. Historic Cane Hill volunteer and Cane Hill resident John Mitchell said, “We love to see people using them. The picnic tables are there to be used.”
The exhibit took nearly a year and a half to be ready for its April 2022 opening, according to Lawrence McElroy, Historic Cane Hill director of arts and culture.
He said the exhibit is going on in various locations around the country and each location had to adjust in interesting ways to accommodate the Smithsonian’s preset exhibit themes.
One example is Foundations of the Sea. McElroy nodded to the obvious issue of no sea in the Ozarks, so he modified the panel material to teach that this part of North America used to be a large, shallow ocean. Fossil evidence of this is all around in the limestone bluffs.
Another example is Sheltering Branches. The Smithsonian materials focus on live oak trees, which do not grow this far north. McElroy said he added a small panel to draw attention to the other types of oak trees that grow in the Ozark landscape.
McElroy said this exhibit called on his grant- and proposal- writing experience, love of research, construction, landscaping and trail-building know-how, ability to coordinate resources and diverse talents, and his ability to see possibilities and employ foresight.
An example of foresight is the Monarchs and Meadows stop. He said he realized he needed to plant wildflower seeds last fall so they would have time to sprout and grow in order to exemplify information on those panels. Visitors will see the wetland meadow now as a profusion of flowering plant life that supports Monarch butterflies.
He said the UA School of Art helped him with the exhibit panels, and he commissioned Fayetteville metal artist Paul Siebenthal to create two insect sculptures.
The new bridge over Jordan Creek, the wetland meadow and the sculptures will remain after the exhibit is taken down at the end of November.
McElroy said he learned a lot in the process just as he hopes the same will happen for those who visit the exhibit.
McElroy’s instinct to learn and teach is not new to Cane Hill.
Cane Hill is famous for having the “first formally organized school in Northwest in Arkansas” in 1834 as well as the “first public library in the state,” according to the Historic Cane Hill Walking Tour & Trail Map brochure. In 1850, the school was renamed Cane Hill Collegiate Institute and “could grant year college degrees.” The name changed to Cane Hill College in 1852 when it was granted a state charter, becoming one of the earliest four-year colleges in Arkansas.
Despite losing buildings to fire during the Civil War, the college survived and became coed in 1875, but a fire set by a disgruntled moonshiner in 1885 burned the last building.
The current college building was built in 1886, and classes resumed in 1887, according to the brochure, but the college “closed for good in 1891.” No reason is given why, but J. Ray Fisher offered a possible clue in his Sept. 17 presentation as part of Cane Hill Harvest Festival.
In what might be called a throw-away line in a presentation on insects, Fisher mentioned that a railroad company decided around that time to establish a depot in Prairie Grove instead of Cane Hill. Might that have dealt a killing blow to the college?
No railroad went there, and now cell phone service for texting is hard to come by. Visitors might want to text while still up on the ridge before dropping down into the town. Cane Hill is located in between two high ridges and is built along Jordan Creek and Arkansas 45. This lack of digital connection that most take for granted makes a visit there even more mystical.
Visiting Cane Hill with its numerous restored historic buildings, museum in the Visitor Center, old-fashioned playground equipment by the College, unpaved streets, and an art gallery with pressed-tin ceilings and wood flooring is like stepping back in time.