Читать книгу Smokey and the Fouke Monster: A True Story - Smokey Crabtree - Страница 5

All my life I have drawn a wide line between right and wrong. I will not lie to a fellowman for my personal gain.

I have a temper and I am fast to take action on what I think is wrong. When I was raising cows, if I saw a cow with long horns haul off and hook another old cow that had no horns at all. I would take up the fight. I might run that old cow for five minutes or slam her upside of the head with something.

I cannot stand to see anything. man or beast, take away the rights of another I will fight for something else, or someone else's right as quick as I will my own.

I have always stayed away from politics because I am too strong for right and I could never turn my back on right for money and I know I would, at times, be required to do this. I Sincerely believe that right is right. regardless of who it belongs to, even if it belongs to a cow When someone takes away the rights of me and my family, the Lord and I will straighten it up between us. As a rule I let the Lord try it first, if it is a large job. If he seems to be busy I give him a little help.

I feel like I am stronger for right than any man I know I insist on treating a man right and I see that he treats me at least half way right. That is what this book is all about. I am trying to get back the feelings and what I had before this movie was filmed.

I will unfold parts of my life to you and what went on behind the scenes while this movie was being filmed. Everything I have to say will be the gospel truth and you can believe it. I will work hard on this story to make you acquainted with me. You will need to know me as I am in true life to understand what has been done to me, my family, and friends.

My father died soon after the time my brothers had their mishap. I can still remember things that he said and did. I have been told by many people that he had more friends than any man in this country, in his time.

Mother was left to raise us seven children. She was a school teacher by trade, when she had worked long before. She looked into going back to teaching school. The world had changed a lot by then and you had to have more college and things that she didn't have. She was told she couldn't qualify.

Our house was sitting on forty acres of land. Dad had it half paid for at his death. Mother went to the people we were buying the land from and told them it would be impossible for us to pay for the place. She told them we would get off it as soon as we could find a place to go.

The people were kind and told us to consider it paid for as long as we made it our home. We never forgot that.

Mother is a wonderful woman. She was forty-two years old when Dad passed away She devoted her entire life to us children. She never remarried or at any time dated or gave another man a minute of her time.

She told us that we were her life and that there was no room for anyone else.

She is the type of person who can make it with what she has. She would prove it to us, she wanted us to learn to make it with what we had.

She would say, "Don't quit because you need something, you might set there from. now on. Just think things out, and make it with what you have. Don't give up because you need something that you can't have."

For an example, one time when I was a small boy, I wanted a small wagon.

She said, "We will make you a wagon."

I said, "Out of what? We don't have a thing to even start with."

She said, "We will see what we have."

She got out the crosscut saw and some tools, We went down in the woods and cut down a tree about eight inches in diameter Then we cut some cuts off the tree about one and one half inches long which formed the shape of a wheel. She used four of these and drilled holes in the center with a brace and. bit. She then got some hickory limbs for the axles. She actually built a wagon, that worked, right there in front of our eyes. We used the wagon for a long time. There was no limit to what she could do.

I inherited a lot of her Ideas and they are priceless .to me. They save me money every day, even now.

I would not take a million dollars for being raised back in the woods on the river or for the knowledge I gained.

I have worked very hard to make it possible for my boys to enjoy some of the things that I did as a boy I think it puts something into a boy that he needs badly to make a real man out of him.

I see people that have not had that opportunity and I feel sorry for them. They are helpless and cannot enjoy life.

Things shaped up and Mom got a job working in a government sewing room.

It was a relief project of some kind like the W P. A. that President Roosevelt established to help poor people.

The job site was in Fouke, Ark., our small town seven miles away. The closest grocery store to our home was in Fouke too.

Mother walked fourteen miles a day through dense woods with only a wagon road most of the way Her wage was $29.00 a month. In time she gained enough to get her a small horse and saddle and she rode to work horseback.

When it was raining she would put on a slicker coat and ride fourteen miles in the rain and cold to supply our needs.

We children were walking three miles one way, barefoot through the mud and cold to school.

We were eating out of bucket lids for plates but as a rule we had plenty of food to eat. It came out of the woods and the river Our budget allowed us $5.00 a month to spend on food. Five dollars a month was feeding Mother and seven of us children, so we only bought what we could not raise or catch. As a rule we only needed sugar, flour, and coffee from the store.

We had twelve of our forty acres in cultivation. We milked two or three cows, for milk and butter We usually had a hog or two to kill in the winter We never owned an icebox. We salted the meat down and cured it out to keep it from ruining.

Most of our meat carne out of the woods or the river. We never had money to buy shells or fishing tackle. We had to make it with what we had.

At the age of seven I could dive off the river bank and come up with a fish in my hand. I have done that for money and. guaranteed to come up with a fish in each hand. I can still do just that.

There is a real art to this. I will spend a little time on it with you.

A long time ago the timber people had no roads or any way of hauling the large logs to the mills.

They cut the logs and dragged them by mule teams to the river's edge. There, they would dump them into the river, crib them together to make a raft of a sort. They put plates, with the owner's name and address on them. They turned the raft of logs loose down the river

It was fifty miles or so down the river to Shreveport, La. to the mill. They had crews working down there that would catch the logs, pull them in, mill them up, and mail the money to the owner

Thousands of these logs did not reach their destination. They would hang up and sink for some reason or other In the bottom of Sulphur River these logs are bedded up in clusters and some are scattered out by themselves.

The catfish wallow out holes under these logs and den up under them. Some of the holes are big enough for a man to actually go under the logs himself. Some of the holes are only big enough to get your arm or leg under them. When I first started catching fish with my hands, was to live.

Things were very serious and I had to figure out ways of outdoing the fish. Practice and experience will payoff. You will never catch a catfish like that until you gather some experience and knowledge.

First of all you need to know the habits of the catfish.

The catfish will not let anything but his own kind live under the log that he's claiming for his home.

When you find his home you can forget sticking your hand in a turtle's mouth when you are feeling around. There will not be one with the catfish.

Turtles and catfish live in two entirely different kinds of places. The catfish will not live in a place that a turtle likes to bed up and the turtle does not prefer the places where a catfish will live.

The bad turtles that can ruin a man's hand or leg are usually living in shallow water, where trash and debris has settled and filled in places.

They have a built-in worm-like tongue. He will bed himself down in the trash, disguising himself. He holds his mouth open and only moves the worm like tongue. When the small fish or crawfish come in close trying to get the worm for his own food, he is in trouble. The snapping turtle is very fast, and he snaps out catching the food he has lured to his location.

The catfish will be in a hole wallowed out under a log in the deepest part of the river The ground around and under the log will be as smooth and slick as glass. Most of the time you can tell how big he is or if there is more than one living there by the size of the hole and the condition around the log. Check to see if there is another hole where he can come out, before you feel under the log. You might need someone at that hole. Don't disturb the fish until you plan your strategy There will be only one successful trip under there, at least until they come back. They will come back a time or two within ten minutes or so, then they stay away for hours. If you think there is a fish too large for you to handle, you can tie a strong line to something on the bank. Secure a large hook on the other end, ease down there, hook the hook into him and you can go back to the bank and handle him from there.

Once you go down under the log you must not be afraid. This is very important. If you touch a catfish and jump or flinch, he is gone. When you touch him, keep moving very slowly You can't stop and start again, it scares the fish away Keep moving, you can handle him all over You can, at times, turn him completely over, or turn him around where his head is where you want it.

You can ease your fingers around his mouth very slow and easy He will open his mouth and squirt water on your hand, as if he is trying to wash your hand away from him.

When he does this you can ease your fingers or your arm, depending on the size of the fish, into his mouth. Once your hand is in his mouth far enough to clamp down, you will have a good chance of landing him.

A scale fish is different. They don't live under logs. You will find them on the bottom in deep and shallow water both. They will try to get by a limb, a small log, or between two limbs. Sometimes there will be a group of them, often side by side. You can pick out the one you want. Go easy and don't jump back when you touch them, keep moving. Spread out one hand as wide as you can. Turn your finger down and ease your hand down in front of his nose and head. He can't swim backward so well, that will block him from going forward. Bring this hand in on him first, keeping him from swinging his head and turning to the side. As this hand is closing in, bring your other hand in on his tail. Clinch his tail, this forces him into your hand in front. All in the same instant, crimp the fish, try to make his head touch his tail. When you bend the fish, it will paralyze him, to a certain extent, and he will not move. You can carry him to the bank, and as a rule, there will be no struggle out of him at all.

This is one of the ways we caught our food, so T am talking from experience, not hearsay I have often told people that if they had never dived down in the bottom of the river, went under a log and put their arms around a big catfish they have never really lived.

Life went on, we would gather bullfrogs at night, during the time of the year they were out.

We had no way of securing a store bought light. We selected pieces of lightered pine from the woods. This is pine trees that have died and decayed, leaving only the heart. This part has lots of rosin in it and burns well.

We would make long splinters, three feet long or longer by splitting it with an ax. Some of the pine will split straight. We selected splinters about one inch in diameter and long enough to last a good while, They would stay lit and burn better by putting three or four of these together They also gave more light. You light one end of the torch and hold the lit end in an upward position making them burn slower and last longer.

Rosin drips from the torch while it is burning. It is like hot tar or rubber, it keeps burning. It is mighty rough. on a boy's bare arms and legs. You must pay attention and look out for that. This was our light .to blind the frogs. We still had to out do them.

This was done by one of us staying in front of the frog with the light. We kept the light moving around slowly to keep the frog watching the light. Another one of us would ease up on the blind side of the frog and grab him with our hands, using the same quick action of the snapping turtle.

This was a· struggle for survival. A minute never passed that our lives were not at stake on these hunts.

The torch was the only light we had. You cannot see very well with a torch, even if you have perfect eyesight. You can take my word for it. Where there are frogs, there are snakes. The bottom land is infested with them.

The Cottonmouths are very deadly They are vicious and aren't afraid of man or beast. At times they actually attack you. They will not move from your path like other snakes. They stay ready for trouble. They are always hiding, trying to catch the frogs for their own food. At times you could see twice as many snakes as frogs.

My sisters would help with catching the frogs. It would take about four of us to make it all work. It took one holding the torch, one to carry the extra splinters, one to watch for snakes, and one to catch the frog.

I think the only pair of shoes in the family was girl's shoes., My sisters took turns wearing them. We were all barefooted and barelegged. It was seven miles on foot, one way, to the doctor and twenty-six miles to the nearest hospital. We had no way to get there. We knew if one of those bad snakes bit us the game would be over for the one that had been bitten.

Keen eyesight, good coordination and determination is what kept our family alive.

We had a dog that contributed a lot to our survival. His name was Sputter Someone gave him to us after Dad died. He could run down a rabbit flat footed. He would bring them back to us in his mouth, still alive, kicking its feet and hollering. We had no need for a gun to get a rabbit as long as we had Old Sputter. We went out in the woods and let him know what we wanted. He would find one in a short time and the race was on. The rabbit had two choices, take a hollow tree or try to outrun Old Sputter. If his choice was to run the race never lasted long. If he took a hollow tree, that meant meat on the table tonight. Old Sputter would sit down at the hole where the rabbit went in. He would start barking so we could go straight to him.

We cut a long stick or switch with a small fork on the end. We would run the switch up the hollow, press the forked end against his body, and twist the stick around until it became twisted into his fur and hide, We would pull the rabbit down the hollow tree until we could reach him with our hand.

Old Sputter devoted all his time to taking care of us and helping with what we were doing.

When we were diving for fish he was on the bank watching. He never took his eyes off us.

If we caught a fish and threw him on the bank Old Sputter would start trying to keep the fish from getting back in the water He would drag him back from the water if he started getting too close.

The dog knew how long we could stay down without coming up for air. If we were after a big catfish and had trouble, causing us to stay down longer than he thought we should, he would be out there swimming where we went down.

We teased him sometimes to watch him. We would stay down for an extra long time and when we came up he would be out there swimming in a circle, looking for us. We would start acting like we were unconscious. He would take our hand or arm in his mouth and start for the bank, dragging us In the water If we were really hot after a fish and stayed down too long, he would come out looking for us. When we came up and he saw we were okay he would go back and take his perch on the bank.

He was always keeping us from the snakes. We had to walk to church. It was a one-room building made out of rough lumber, called Jonesville Church. It was located two miles or so across the bottoms, up in the hill land across the creek. There was only a small trail, one foot wide or so. We had to walk a foot log across the main part of"the creek.

We never owned a light. We walked that trail in total darkness. You could tell when you were out of the trail because of the brush on both sides. We were barefooted and most of the time you couldn't see the person walking in front of you. Sometimes I would stop and let the person walking behind me run into me, for a gag.

Old Sputter was always outside the church waiting and watching for us to come out. He would go first and we would line up on the trail behind him. We could not see him but we knew he was there.

We would hear him killing a snake in the trail ahead of of us. We would stop and listen. When we couldn't hear him anymore, we knew the snake was dead. We would continue on.

The way he killed a bad snake was worth watching. I have seen him do it hundreds of times.

He was very smart and fast. He knew how dangerous the snake was.

He would circle the snake a few times. confusing him. He would jump at the snake, then back out of the snake's reach. He would fake the snake out until he caught him stretched out. Then, like lightning he would move in, grabbing the snake with his teeth. He would sling him like crazy You could hear the snake popping up against the dog's body He was whipping himself with the snake. It was so fast you couldn't see the snake until he threw him down. If the snake showed signs of life he would grab him and repeat the treatment. The snake would soon be unjoined, burst open in places, and helpless. He would kill from one to a dozen in front of us on our way home from church.

As Old Sputter grew older he could not move as fast and his eyes weren't as good. The snakes took advantage of this. He was bitten several times and lived over it. He was a mighty tough dog and he knew we needed him. The snakes finally got him. I did not see the snake that killed Old Sputter I know he was dead, for Old Sputter would never have walked away from him if he hadn't been. He hated snakes and fought them until he died.

It was a terrible day for me when he died. I dug him a grave and gave him a nice burial. I made him a tombstone out of wood. I took a piece of wire and heated one end red hot then burned his picture and his name on the tombstone .

I was putting this up on the head of the grave when a long-time friend of mine came to see me. Mother told him I was down at the dog's grave. He came down there. He saw the head board and started laughing. I hit him somewhere alongside the head and layed him flat on the ground. He was still on the ground in shock. I told him it was wrong for him to laugh at my feelings toward my dog.

I told him, "Now, you can see what can happen when you do something wrong."

Davie and Albert Crabtree Smokey's Mother and Dad.

Albert Crabtree, Smokey’s Dad with his Ford car. Dad could not bring his car home with him except a few months during the dry part of the year. It was left at the home of a friend two miles away.

This is our house, mentioned in the beginning, the fireplace and chimney built of mud, grass and slats. There are beautiful flowers next to the house, though not in color they look like weeds, I know.