The Wandering Adventurers

May 19

We didn’t have time yesterday to see the Sam Walton Museum so we went back to Bentonville today. The museum pays tribute to Sam Walton, businessman and entrepreneur, who founded Walmart in 1962 followed by Sam’s Club. For a time in the 1980’s, he was the richest man in the US. He began with a Ben Franklin store and then a local 5 and dime right here in Bentonville. A woman who has been working for Walmart for 17 years struck up a conversation with me. Her eyes lit up when she was talking about her early days with Walmart. All the things the museum displays were emphasizing seemed to be true. He was a hands on businessman and really cared about his “team” trying to make their lives better while offering “more for less” for the shopper. His thought was, if you can offer essentials for less money, families will have more to spend on other things. She thought it was a very positive work environment. In the years since he died, that has changed and she is very disheartened with her job. Instead of positive reinforcement it seems to be negative with a demerit system. In years past the managers would be out and about and know the “team” but now they sit in their offices. This was her take and follows with what I hear and read. I know the foundations associated with Walmart continue to make wonderful donations by the millions but the business seems to have a different slant today than it did when Sam was around. We walked around the great looking farmer’s market across the street at the town square and had lunch at a local café.

Sam Walton's 5-10
Now this houses the Sam Walton Museum.

Sam's Office
He would rather be out in the field than in his office.

Before going home we went to Blue Spring Heritage Center and took the loop walk down to the spring and through the lush woodlands and gardens. The spring pours 38 million gallons of cold water every 24 hours into the White River! One of the routes of the Trail of Tears came by the spring in 1838. A mill site goes back to 1840, and the bluff shelter is on the National Register of Historic Places. Ancient people used the bluff shelter back to 8,000 years BC. It has been a tourist attraction since 1948, and then in 1993, it opened with a nice path/boardwalk and gardens.

Blue Spring Heritage Center

Quigley’s Castle just south of Eureka Springs was our last stop for the day. I would agree that it is the Ozark’s strangest dwelling. Elsie Quigley’s grand daughter gave us an introduction and then we were able to wander through the house and yard. Elsie married Albert in the 1920’s leaving her sizable rock collection behind. They moved into his cabin and were soon raising a family of five kids. He promised to build her the house of her dreams but it kept getting put off with the depression and WWII. WWII brought with it a shortage of glass which was a big part of her future home. Finally in 1943, her patience had run out and she organized the kids into a work party. By the end of the day the cabin was torn down. I can only imagine the look on Albert’s face when he got home from work. His house was gone and live wires were everywhere. They moved into an old chicken house and began building the home she had planned. She didn’t know how to draw up plans but she had made a model. Since they couldn’t get glass, they sewed seven layers of flour sacks together to cover the 28 large windows in the winter. They remained that way for three years. She wanted to bring nature indoors. She accomplished that by having 28 huge windows and four feet of earth between the inside walls and the flooring. The plants she planted 68 years ago are still flowering and growing to the ceiling of this two story home. One of the bedrooms has a butterfly wall made of panels of butterflies covered in glass. Her fascination with rocks continued all through her life. After they were married, Albert had brought her childhood rock collection over to their cabin by the cart loads. She covered the entire house with rocks she carefully selected and then continued to make garden pieces out of rocks all her life! She certainly carried out her dream, a little strange but she was happy.