The Message Tree

H I S T O R Y O F H E R E

The Ghost Pond of Reeds Spring

By James F. (Jim) Barrett

I promised you that we would one day talk about the criminals and other villains that have played upon the green stage of our Ozark Mountains. It's going to take more than just one column to get it done because there were bunches of them, starting with the Bushwhackers who raided in the Ozarks during and after the Civil War, and going on through the Bald Knobbers and a host of more contemporary ruffians.

Did you know, for instance, that there was an honest to goodness shootout in and around Reeds Spring involving that infamous pair Bonnie and Clyde? There was, sure thing, and I'll tell you all about it in a later issue. For now we're going to start with the first villains of record, the notorious Bushwhackers - and some of them are exciting enough for anybody's gory taste.

These less than pleasant fellows were called Bushwhackers because, unlike regular army troops, these people hid in the bushes and whacked the enemy who were passing by. Whacked them with guns from cover or leaped out and literally whacked them down with clubs, swords or knives. Some started out as guerrilla fighters and were rather like today's special strike forces, working concealed and with stealth. Others were never anything but criminals, and many of the type eventually degenerated into something far worse.

These people of whom we'll be chatting were not any sort of soldier, though many of them had served in the various armies of the North or South and might at one time have been legitimate guerrilla fighters. Many of these were cruel and most dangerous renegades, criminals and opportunists preying upon those who could not well fight back. These Bushwhackers came out of the night or out of cover to raid farms, attack travelers or individuals peacefully riding their horses or driving their wagons to town, to church or going home to their families.

There is a very early record of a famous Bushwhacker incident and the story has been told over and over, but it remains fairly unchanged so we are led to believe the facts are pretty accurate. The incident centers around Galena and a place near Reeds Spring once called Ghost Pond, sometimes called Deadman's Pond and today known as Morrill's Pond.

It seems that a powerful Bushwhacker leader joined many small groups together and brought that strong band of 120 or more men up from Arkansas. They rode the Old Wilderness Road (Trail) which ran 120 wandering miles from Berryville to Springfield and crossed the White River near what is now Kimberling City. The Wilderness Road ran through where the supermarket (flea market) now stands, climbed the hills to Lynchpin (Branson West), came within a hundred yards of Morrill's Pond, went upon the hills above Railey Creek at Reeds Spring and then on up to Springfield.

The mob of Bushwhackers intended to round up all the cattle, horses and valuables in Stone and Christian Countys and take them back to Arkansas to sell or butcher. They camped their first night at Ghost Pond and laid their plans. The next morning they rode on to Galena. Here, just across the James River in a pitched fight, they killed three prominent citizens who were old gentlemen, Cox, Davis and Baker. (Some versions say that Baker was hanged because he wouldn't give up his hidden wealth.) They later returned and had rounded up 150 head of cattle and some 50 horses by this time. Taking the herd and what plunder they could carry they started back for Railey Creek, the Old Wilderness Road and Arkansas.

The alarm was sounded and the Stone County part of the Home Guard rallied as fast as their horses would bring them over the rough trails and through the woods. The son of the murdered Mr. Baker, a Captain Baker, organized the Guard and began the pursuit with his lieutenant, Charles Edward Philibert, favored son of the Mid Ozarks first settler, Joe Philibert. They caught up with the casually riding, self satisfied Bushwhackers up on Railey Creek.

The Guard knew the area well and spread out on the hillsides above Railey Creek. From their vantage points and concealed among the thick brush and rocks they fired down on the guerrillas and their caravan. A great firefight broke out with more than a hundred rifles firing from each side. Just as the Guard was running low on ammunition the Bushwhackers abandoned most of their cattle and fled. Since the Guard didn't seem to follow up their advantage the renegades thought they had pulled clear.

They camped once more at Ghost Pond, probably griping around their campfires over the loss of the cattle and horses, but admiring the other plunder they had on their packhorses, in their bedrolls and saddlebags. They were also probably quite pleased that they had outfought and run off the Home Guard which was camped some four miles away, apparently defeated. In reality, the Guard had replenished their ammunition, followed the caravan and prepared a trap. In the dead of night they crawled up from all sides around the Bushwhacker camp at Ghost Pond and murdered the Bushwhacker sentries.

At the crack of dawn the Home Guard attacked. They fired at close range into the waking camp and the bedded down guerrillas. Though the Bushwhackers fought back savagely, it was a slaughter. Of the 120 men who had come up out of Arkansas for the raid, only 20 or so returned, for the Guard followed and harried them all the way to the State line. There were Bushwhacker bodies all down Railey Creek and in piles around Ghost Pond. Nine bodies were pulled from the pond itself and others were never recovered from the waters.

The pond instantly became known as Dead Man's Pond. Some accounts say that cattle could not be made to drink there because of the putrefying bodies beneath the water. Others say that spirits were clearly seen at night around the pond and that's how it got the name Ghost Pond. There is also an account of a Mr. Will Sharp, in 1886 or so, finding a human skull in the pond and wedging it into a stump where it remained for many years. There are tales of the finding of human bones, miniballs and gun parts every time the pond was cleaned and the farm ground plowed.

The tales have grown old and are nearly forgotten. Ghost Pond or Dead Man's Pond, is simply Morrill's Pond these days, and no one has lately claimed to find bones and skulls there where the cattle and wild animals now freely drink. But like young John D. Harris, one of my several sources of information, I hope the incident is never really forgotten, it's a great and exciting part of the History of Here and an important part of The Wilderness Road.

Bibliography and references:
"The Story of Deadman's Pond" High school Essay, by John D. Harris, 1975
(Furnished by Ms. Cuttbirth, Reeds Spring MO)
"The Legend of Ghost Pond" Stone Cy. Hist. Society, Book I, Fern Angus
"The Bald Knobbers" pages 29-31, Lucile Morris Upton, 1939
"Missouri, the Center State" pages 121-122, Walter B. Stevens, 1915
"Galena" The Crane Chronicle Souvenir Edition, Mary Scott Hair

Copyright James F (Jim) Barrett © 2001 All rights reserved, may not be reproduced without writen consent.

Back to top of page