As the Settlers Cabin arrived at its new home on the grounds of the Bella Vista History Museum, it brought some unexpected consequences. Historical Society Chair Xyta Lucas was contacted by the great-grandson of the man who built the cabin.
Ernie Pendegraft has never lived in Bella Vista but he remembers visiting his grandparents in town. His grandfather, Clyde Cooper, grew up in the cabin when it was located near the Highlands Gate. He collected arrowheads. In the late 1970s a relative gave Ernie his grandfather's arrowhead collection. It was in need of a new home. Would the museum want the collection?
Lucas agreed and the arrowheads, mounted under glass, were shipped to the history museum.
Most of them were collected in what is now the Highlands or close by in Hiwasse, Lucas said. When she received the collection, she brought it to Matt Rowe, the curator of the Native American Museum in Bentonville. He told her the arrowheads are prehistoric and were made by members of the Hopewell culture.
Unfortunately, prehistoric arrowheads have little monetary value, Lucas said, but they are very valuable to the museum.
Although many of the exhibits that make up the Bella Vista History Museum relate to more modern history, the arrowheads will join a few other antiquities.
One exhibit includes fossils and artifacts found on the site as the museum building was put in. There's also a report from a 1970 archeological dig at the Hay Bluffs along Highway 71.
Lucas has also collected some items that belong to the families that farmed in the area before John Cooper started buying land for his retirement community. It wasn't an easy life for those families.
After the enthusiastic acceptance of the arrowheads, Pendegraft had another donation. His other grandfather, Hayden Pendegraft was also an area resident. He had a small farm just north of Hiwasse that he farmed with the help of mule in the '40s. The museum now has the mule harness that Hayden Pendegraft used.
General News on 06/26/2019