Legend of the Big Hole – Adventure of the Week

Last Updated on June 1, 2018 by Terry

We They ruined it for Everyone

Several people have asked me about the broken rope on the leaning tree on my website. Easy, it is a great memory from the past. Allow me share it with you.

Once upon a time, there were four young fellows who were brothers and cousins, brothers and brothers, and some were both. They loved the water. They grew up fishing creeks and small lakes throughout Pulaski County, and even west Little Rock. Remember, in the late 1960s, west Little Rock ended at Shackleford Road.

They also loved swimming in some of those same bodies of water. There was a special place in the Ferndale area on Little Maumelle Creek called The Big Hole. It was located across a field from where Garrison Road tees at Ferndale Cutoff. This was one of the most popular swimming holes at the time. On a Saturday afternoon there may be thirty to forty young people participating in the many activities this section of the creek offered. The pool itself was probably near one hundred yards long, and had some 8-10 feet deep water.

It had a tall tree on the southeast side leaning out over the water. There was a small board fastened at the top, about thirty feet above the water. It wasn’t easy, but a fellow could climb to the top and pretend you were diving off an Olympic style platform. The tree itself had a few leaf filled limbs, and they were all near the top. So, in order to understand how one would reach the diving position, you need to picture in your mind how someone would climb a slightly leaning palm tree. It was the same concept for obtaining the platform at the Big Hole tree.

Just below the platform, someone had secured a large diameter rope to the tree. A person in the water could sling the rope towards the bank and the next person in line could catch it, back up, take off running sideways, and launch themselves out over the water and let go as they reached the length of the rope and literally feel like you were flying over the water until you splashed in.

At this particular time on this particular day, the youngest brother/cousin was perched on the platform. The other three had a great idea; they would all three take off running sideways and see how far all three could fly out over the water. So, they all grasped the rope and took off. As they flew out, one thing was forgotten, when to let go. As the boys reached the full length of the rope, all three were still hanging on. The combined weight of the boys put an unacceptable strain on the tree itself. It broke just above ground level and came crashing in on top of the fun-seekers. They did realize what was happening, and assumed the diving technique in order to get to the bottom as soon as they hit the water, hoping to not be crushed by the falling tree. The youngest brother was still on the platform as the tree suddenly began dropping out from under him. He was only left with one option and dove out as far as he could as he fell with the tree.

The older boys began bobbing up in and around upper limbs of the tree.  They had landed in the water first, and therefore were able to surface first. As the older brother began calling names, it was a relief when he verified that the older three were ok.

He was suddenly stricken with the idea of having to face his mother, and tell her about the loss of the younger son. It was a fair assessment that the younger brother was killed by the toppling tree.

It’s called collateral damage.

These kinds of things can happen when you’re having fun. The older brother was in the act of going under to attempt to recover the body when a head popped up at the end of the tree. Right beside the platform!

Two things can be made known at this time:

1. They have determined that they owe the entire area in, and around Ferndale an apology for ruining the best swimming hole in Pulaski County. Due to the fact that it was forty-five years ago, they’re hoping your anger has become a distant memory by this time.
2. Upon realizing that no one was killed in the disaster, the first thoughts of all four of the boys can now become known.

Older brother: “Let’s get out of here before someone finds out it was us.”

Cousin: “Wow man! Can we do that again?”

Second brother: “Everybody but me is stupid.”

Younger brother: “Can we go to the swimming hole on highway 10 so we can dive off the bridge?”

“It’s fun to have fun but you have to know how” – The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Suess

The good doctor must have been thinking about those boys when he wrote that. They always knew how to have fun! (Still do!)