It has been said that a small town is where everyone knows what everyone else is doing, and then you read the weekly paper to see if you have been caught in it.
Shortly after Janis and I began to see each other back in 2015, we had lunch together at Mather Lodge Restaurant, located on top of Petit Jean Mountain. This restaurant is out of the way and more than 50 miles from home. Wouldn’t you know it, an old friend we both knew came by our table and said “Hello.” This meant that soon everyone in our town would know we were seeing each other.
Really, this is just my way of introducing you to a great spot in The Natural State, which is loaded with great places and state parks to visit on a regular basis. Ever since that day this restaurant has been very special to us, and we try to make it up there as often as we can. The food is great — especially the “Possum Pie.”
There is a legacy about Petit Jean that is not common knowledge that I felt may be of interest to you, especially if you have a chance to visit one of our favorite spots. This story of adventure began with a young French nobleman named Chavet, who lived in the period of the French exploration of the Americas. He was said to be a kinsman of the King of France and asked the King for permission to explore a part of the Louisiana Territory. He also asked for a grant to whatever part of it he might find to his liking. The King agreed to his request.
Chavet was engaged to be married to a young girl in Paris, who when told of his plans, asked that they might be married before he left France so that she could accompany him. Thinking of the hardship and danger involved, Chavet refused her request. Here is where it really gets interesting. She proceeded to disguise herself as a boy and applied to the captain of Chavet’s ship to be a cabin boy, calling herself “Jean.”
The girl must have been incredibly clever in disguise, for it is said that even Chavet did not recognize her in her new persona. The sailors called her Petit Jean. The ocean was crossed in early spring, and the vessel then traveled the Mississippi River and the Arkansas River to the foot of a mountain. The Indians who lived on the mountain, seeing a ship for the first time, came down to the river and gave Chavet and his sailors a friendly and hospitable greeting. They invited Chavet and his sailors to spend some time there. They accepted and would spend the next several months with them.
When it came time to depart, they loaded the ship, but that night Petit Jean became ill with a malady that was strange to Chavet and his sailors. It was marked with fever, convulsions, delirium and finally a coma. Of course, at this time Petit Jean’s identity was discovered and she begged Chavet to forgive her. The next day she died, and the Indians made a stretcher of deer skins and bore her back up the mountain to their camp. Many years later, a mound of earth was found with rocks fitted so perfectly they could not have been there by accident. This is believed to be her grave. To this day, legend has it that the spirit of Petit Jean hovers over Petit Jean Mountain, giving it an air of strange enchantment.
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(Jim Davidson is an author, public speaker, syndicated columnist, and Founder of the Bookcase for Every Child project. Since its inception in the Log Cabin Democrat in 1995, Jim’s column has been self-syndicated in over 375 newspapers in 35 states. For a personalized copy of “Your Future Begins Today” send $20, which includes postage and handling, to Jim Davidson, 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034.)