Mysterious Ozarks

Ozark Hellbender

Spring River

Fulton County, Arkansas

Photo by Stan Trauth

(Image from Ozark Hellbender)

The image above is of a local critter whose name I was loath to pronounce back in my youth, but I've since gotten over that inhibition and now take joy in speaking loudly of the notorious HELLBENDER.

What a name!

Apparently, nobody knows the etymology for certain. According to Wikipedia, the Missouri Department of Conservation speculates:

The name "hellbender" probably comes from the animal's odd look. Perhaps it was named by settlers who thought "it was a creature from hell where it's bent on returning." Another rendition says the undulating skin of a hellbender reminded observers of "horrible tortures of the infernal regions." In reality, it's a harmless aquatic salamander.

I doubt that "bender" comes from "bent on" . . . but the name certainly stumps me. One reader who knows that I hail from the Ozarks sent me some information on these critters, which are sometimes found in Ozark 'fens', it seems, and that led to a discussion of what a fen is. I suggested "swamp," and the reader replied:

As to "fens" -- best I can tell is that you are mostly correct, kinda like a wetland. I did get in phone contact with somebody at Arkansas Geological Survey [AGS] and found that "fens" are really a spring-fed area, not usually a large area, an exception being the "hellbender" of Spring River from the spring itself to just toward Hardy. The range being now, apparently from about the spring itself to about 7 miles down-river. Hellbenders used to be found near Black Rock.

I presume what my interlocutor meant was a stretch of the Spring River known as a 'hellbender region', but I'm not sure of the actual length from this description. I can't imagine a fen extending for the length of this fifty-seven-mile river -- or for the seventeen miles to Hardy, or even for just seven miles -- so I may have to leave this unexplained unless the reader clarifies the point. Meantime, the anonymous individual provided some further information:

The "Old Folk," if they found a hellbender in their "spring-fed pool," knew they had good, pure water and that that place was a great place to build a cabin and settle.

The female with AGS I spoke with had an "opinion." I had asked, "How the hell was having a 'hellbender' present considered a good place to live?" (Methodists and Baptists you know -- well maybe Presbyterians too.) Anyway, her opinion was that the women who did the clothes washing named the creature. Her opinion.

I'm also puzzled about the lady's opinion. Did she mean that the Ozark women considered their washing lives hell? In an Ozark paradise? God forbid! But I suppose that there's always a snake in the grass, and as we know from Milton, hell is wherever Satan happens to be: "Which way I flie is Hell; my self am Hell" (Paradise Lost 4.75). But let's return to the words of the unknown but faithful reader, who has perused Gypsy Scholar enough to know even of Uncle Cran:

Maybe your Uncle Cran can give a picture of a twenty-two foot man eating hellbender -- but then again, were a twenty-two foot man-eating hellbender around, I can't see any man building a cabin. Even if, he had a woman nearby. Your Uncle Cran excluded.

I think that I've seen only the very young hellbenders, no larger than my little finger, but Uncle Cran can let us know if he's seen any of the really big ones. I don't think that they reach twenty-two feet, but I've heard claims that the critters can reach lengths up to two-and-one-half feet. Confirmation, please.

The anonymous reader also provided a link to an Ozark Partnership with the United States Geological Survey, and this site has some exceedingly fascinating information:

The Ozarks include much of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas and small portions of Illinois, Kansas and Oklahoma. The area consists of the Ozark Highlands to the north and the the Boston Mountains to the southwest. The Boston Mountains are the highest and most rugged portion of the Ozarks. A quarter billion years of years of erosion and weathering have resulted in a thoroughly dissected plateau with landform diversity ranging from rolling plains to deeply dissected hills and valleys. Subterranean dissolution of carbonate bedrock has resulted in dominant karst features with many streams losing water to underground passages and others fed by springs and seepage, often from areas beyond the surface watershed.

The Ozarks are one of the oldest continually exposed landscapes on earth. The high, gently rolling plains once supported prairies, savannahs and open woodlands; the dissected hills and valleys supported oak and oak-pine woodlands and forest interspersed with glades, fens, springs, caves and cliffs harboring many unique species. Plants and animals have had over 200 million years to adapt to the rugged landscape or take refuge from continental climate change. Geographic isolation, topographic relief, and karst geology have resulted in remarkable biodiversity in the Ozarks. Over 200 species are largely restricted to the Ozarks, of which approximately 160 species occur nowhere else in the world. More than 100 fish species live in Ozarks streams, including 56 species and subspecies that are restricted to, or have very limited distribution outside of the Ozarks. Overall, the Ozarks provide habitat for nearly two-thirds of the threatened and endangered species in Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Illinois.

Similar remarks are offered on the site's homepage:

Ozark biodiversity is due in part to the age of the landscape. Nearly a quarter billion years of erosion and weathering have resulted in a thoroughly dissected plateau of remarkable geologic, topographic and hydrologic diversity. Subterranean dissolution of carbonate bedrock has formed world-renowned karst features of springs, sinkholes and caves. The Ozarks have continuously supported plant and animal life for 225 million years; perhaps longer than any other region in the United States. No glaciers or oceans covered the Ozarks during this time, providing opportunity for species to diversify. During glacial maxima, the Ozarks provided refuge for plant and animal species displaced from more northern latitudes. Isolated populations of some of these species survive today in caves, springs and other isolated damp, cool areas. Over 200 species are largely restricted to the Ozarks; of these, approximately 160 species occur nowhere else in the world.

Growing up in this region, I always felt that it was a deeply mysterious place, and I now know why -- it's an isolated but very old and richly diverse area, ever unexpectedly surprising in what it offers.

For more information on the Ozarks, see Wikipedia's site (with links), this touristy site (with videos), this National Park Service site (on history and culture), this other National Park Service site (on nature and science), yet another National Park Service site (on scenic rivers), or this National Geographic site (with photos).