In years gone by, tanning yards were located all over Benton County. The tanning yards would buy cow hides and other animal hides, including raccoons and possums, from hunters and farmers, to make leather that they in turn sold to manufacturers of shoes and other leather products.
According to Wikipedia, "tanning is the process of treating skins of animals to produce leather. ... Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name (tannin is in turn named after an old German word for oak or fir trees, from which the compound was derived)."
Sometime in the first couple of decades of the 1900s, a tanning yard was set up on the bluff above where Lake Windsor is now located in Bella Vista. According to a 1903 map at the Bella Vista Historical Museum, the creek running through that valley was called Cedar Valley Creek.
At some point, the name was changed to Tanyard Creek because of the tanning yard. Longtime resident Ralph Squires, who moved to this area in the 1930s and lived some of his childhood years at the homesite which is still visible on the Tanyard Creek nature trail, always knew the creek as Tanyard Creek, so its name was evidently changed sometime after the publication of the 1903 map, but prior to the 1930s.
Tanyard Creek now comes out of Lake Windsor and makes its way north to join Little Sugar Creek alongside the 14th green of the Bella Vista Country Club golf course. Joining it, flowing down from Lake Avalon, is another creek that in 1965, when Cooper opened Bella Vista Village, was called Sturgeon Creek, after the Sturgeon family who lived on a farm in Tanyard Hollow in the early 1950s. At some point, it was also known as Sunshine Creek, according to trail signs along the Tanyard Creek nature trail. Now it is referred to as Avalon Branch.
There were a number of farms located in the area, where the nature trail and Lake Windsor are now located. Some of the other family names were Bertschy, Edwards, Howard, Casey, Lawson, Kirkham, Coleman, Coon, McMillan, Clark and Cox. They carried their drinking water from the creek, and stored their milk and butter in caves to keep it cold. They raised livestock, including cows, pigs, and chickens, and planted crops to sell or to feed their livestock.
In 1991, a nature trail was started along Avalon and Tanyard creeks. The March 13, 1991, Weekly Vista published a picture of volunteers Dave Wiemer and Larry Kinsey starting to work on the trail. Other workers pictured or named in that issue were Glen Stockman, Bob Sterrett, George Mank, Bob Steigleman, Ray Hostetler and Allan Harrington.
Initially, the trail was spearheaded by the local VFW post and the Welcome Wagon Club, with financial assistance from the POA, but over the years volunteers from all over Bella Vista, alongside POA employees, have worked hard to maintain and upgrade the trail.
Major work had to be done following the August 2013 flood. Now when you take a hike on the Tanyard Creek Trail, remember to appreciate the efforts of all those people while you enjoy the beautiful scenery, but also reflect on the history of the area, on those families who lived on the farms in Tanyard Hollow, and those who operated the tanning yard.
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Xyta Lucas is a docent at the Bella Vista Historical Museum, located at Highway 71 and Kingsland, next to the American Legion. Visitors are welcome, Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. For more information, see www.bellavistamuseum.org or check the museum out on Facebook.
Community on 09/30/2015