Barry County Missouri  James River 

The James River By Elizabeth Periman

George Periman tells stories about himself and his brother Eulane (Jack)
Periman growing up in Barry County

He told about when he was a kid hearing a panther scream. There used  to
be a den of bobcats back in there but he never found them.  He  used  to
see signs around the springs where they watered the horses. That's where
he and Jack were taking the horses when  old  "Pet"  drug  him  under  a
branch and dislocated his arm. She was tenderfooted  because  her  shoes
were worn out. Grandad Segraves and his step father, Manford Fly set his
arm.

The first time I ever went hunting by myself, Dad and Jack had gone  off
in the woods and I wanted to go, too. Mama finally said to  go  down  to
the creek. I found a squirrel laying on a limb. I shot him  through  the
head and brought him home. After that, there was no stopping me. It  was
an old twenty-two single shot. I  only  got  one  bullet  to  shoot  one
squirrel. They were too expensive to waste.

One time the James (river) had flooded and backed up into a stream. Jack
and I could see great big schools of fish. We got  a  couple  clubs  and
tired to kill the fish. We never got a one.

After the river went back down, we found a snapping turtle. That  sucker
took out after me and started chasing me. Jack finally got a  board  and
killed it. It was running faster than I was.

Man was trying to cross James on a horse during a flood. He got  out  in
the middle of the river and the mare threw him off. He was able to  grab
a bush out in the stream. Grandad  and  Jack  got  out  the  boat.  They
finally got him in the boat. Bill Wilson, it was. Jack was only about 13
and Granddad was old. Don't know how they did it. River must  have  been
two or three miles wide. It came almost to the barn.

We had a bunch of shoats. They got down in the cockleburrs and ate them.
Poisoned ever one of them.

That was the winter the James froze over so solid people drove  over  it
with a team of horses and a wagon. There was no bridge  so  people  used
the ford to cross.

(This was written pretty well the way he told it with as little  editing
as possible to make it legible. Elizabeth Periman)

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