Wildcat Adventure 3/10/06

What a glorious day in the hills of Mt. Sherman Arkansas! My two fellow travelers (my two sons whom I love with all my heart) Richard and Jeff, began our quest to find the original Ted Richmond Wildcat Cabin.

Rick and Jeff posing by a beautiful creek, just a 100 yards from Ted's cabin
This is the cabin that Ted lived in when he homesteaded his land on Mount Sherman over 70 years ago. We knew the remains of the cabin were still there, we just did not know what shape they would be in after I had last seen it over 25 years ago.

After some good hiking through the rough and beautiful Ozark hills, we stumbled upon a spring that was flowing cool clear water from somewhere deep in the mountainside. As Rick and Jeff explored the spring I stood watching on a nearby hill. As I looked to my right, I noticed the hill had what appeared to be a well-traveled path at one time, the top of the hill trampled flatter than most of the area we had been over. As I started down this path, I reach a small hilltop and before me was the Wildcat Cabin. Thrilled, I hollered to the boys to come, we had found it!

Excitedly we quickly surveyed the area, that was littered with remnants of Teds existence here many years ago. There was not much left standing of the old homestead, but it was definately all his home.

The remains of Ted's original Wildcat Cabin & Wilderness Library
As I stood taking pictures, Rick bounded off over the hills exploring the surrounding area. The next I heard from him was, "Dad, come here, there's another cabin". I gathered a few things and went to see what he had found down the hill. This was indeed Ted's second cabin. After his original cabin filled with books, it became his 'full-time' library and he built this second cabin to live in. It was 19' by 10' with one door and two windows. This log building still had the remains of two walls standing.


Ted's second cabin (Built after the Wildcat was full of books, newspapers, and magazines.)
Behind the cabin, was this spring fed pool that would have been perfect for his goats to get fresh water.


Spring fed pool/pond behind the Wildcat Cabin
It was a great find and a fantastic day for us, needless to say. The cabin measured 17' deep by 16' wide. The second cabin was 19' wide by 10' deep.

As we wound down our surveying of the area, I stumbled upon this spot, with two beautiful flowers, sprouting near his cabin. It only made me think of two beautiful people, Ted and his mother, Etta who passed away while living in the cabin.