Post by woodyz on Mar 18, 2015 17:55:53 GMT -7
My Mother still lives in Chanute KS. It is where I graduated High School and did 2 years of College (10 years later)
The Neosho River runs 3 miles East of Chanute, we lived 4 miles East of Chanute on highway 39, when I was in High School, my Mother still lives 6 miles East. My Grandfathers farm (now owned my my Uncles family is 10 miles East off of highway 39.
I lived there off and on when growing up, moving away then moving back several times.
Where 39 crosses the Neosho River there is a 20 acre pecan bottom where I hunted tree rats and deer since I was 8. The land on both sides of the River and on both sides of the bridge belongs to the Coopers. Old man Cooper (when I was growing up) let my brother and I have the run of the river there and he kept most everyone else out.
The river floods there almost every year, some times very badly, but almost every year it flooded his corn or wheat which was always insured and I don't remember him ever harvesting a full crop.
www.google.com/maps/@37.6823092,-95.4206147,426m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en
If you look at this map you can see the timber areas along both sides of the river. The buildings are a water plant that was closed before I was ever there.
On the south side of the bridge and the west side of the river you can see there is still a patch of woods left. Not as big as it used to be but it is still all pecans and if you want to get into some good fox tree rats hunting thats the place.
At the south edge of that wood lot is a creek. If you follow it back to town it is a drainage system for the main part of town, so it was always running and made the area of the river where it dumps in a very good fishing hole.
About a mile south on the river is an old dam that was blown back in the 40's but still keeps that area of the river deeper then down stream. You can follow the river North and find three dams that were "opened" in the 40's.
If you look at the river just to the North side of the bridge you can see an unusual bend and double track. Making a small island then a larger island to the North. The larger island is all pecan trees and most of the year you can take a flat bottom boat into it and hunt deer, tree rats and ducks. Yes it too is owned by the Coopers who kept everyone out (but my Brother and I) I like to think it was because we asked first when about 8 and we worked his fields some and we gave him deer meat and he and my Grandfather played dominos. But I think mostly he was just afraid of my Step Father like every one else in town and was afraid to tell us no.
We think the river was purposely cut that way to allow water into the old water plant, when the old bridge was built in the 30's. There is a newer one now from the 80's.
OK now we get to the point. As you can imaging the bend and the circle the river makes there backs up a lot of sand and anything else washed from the North when the river floods.
We would wade, noodle and net fish in the shallow water. You could trap some very large catfish in that bend.
So we knew for years there was a car buried in the sand there, just under the water, but it was always too buried to tell anything about it. After one very large flood it washed into that little wet area just south east of the smaller island and was about half in and half out of the water.
The idea at first was to dig the sand out of the trunk and "bait" the trunk with some corn and noodle a catfish or two. We found the guns digging the sand out.
If you follow the river North you will find one of those partial dams called "brown wells" people were always running stolen cars off into the river there. Plus a few accidents where cars ran off because they didn't stop in time. 7 members of my high school years drowned there at one time and 3 others another time. It was the first place (not the last) I was ever in a group/gang fight and had my first broken ribs from a tire iron. The next broken ribs there I was a little smarter about the tire iron but got hit with a log chain.
It was also the first place I ever got shot at with a rifle (just a .22 and it didn't go through the car door) the other .22 was just outside the town of Iola to the North on 169 and it broke out the back glass and caused me to total out a sweet 66 Chevelle. I did get hit three different times with shotgun pellets close to there, twice stealing water melons and once by a crazy woman in the cemetery.
Anyway, there you go. As Paul Harvey used to say "and that's the rest of the story"
The Neosho River runs 3 miles East of Chanute, we lived 4 miles East of Chanute on highway 39, when I was in High School, my Mother still lives 6 miles East. My Grandfathers farm (now owned my my Uncles family is 10 miles East off of highway 39.
I lived there off and on when growing up, moving away then moving back several times.
Where 39 crosses the Neosho River there is a 20 acre pecan bottom where I hunted tree rats and deer since I was 8. The land on both sides of the River and on both sides of the bridge belongs to the Coopers. Old man Cooper (when I was growing up) let my brother and I have the run of the river there and he kept most everyone else out.
The river floods there almost every year, some times very badly, but almost every year it flooded his corn or wheat which was always insured and I don't remember him ever harvesting a full crop.
www.google.com/maps/@37.6823092,-95.4206147,426m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en
If you look at this map you can see the timber areas along both sides of the river. The buildings are a water plant that was closed before I was ever there.
On the south side of the bridge and the west side of the river you can see there is still a patch of woods left. Not as big as it used to be but it is still all pecans and if you want to get into some good fox tree rats hunting thats the place.
At the south edge of that wood lot is a creek. If you follow it back to town it is a drainage system for the main part of town, so it was always running and made the area of the river where it dumps in a very good fishing hole.
About a mile south on the river is an old dam that was blown back in the 40's but still keeps that area of the river deeper then down stream. You can follow the river North and find three dams that were "opened" in the 40's.
If you look at the river just to the North side of the bridge you can see an unusual bend and double track. Making a small island then a larger island to the North. The larger island is all pecan trees and most of the year you can take a flat bottom boat into it and hunt deer, tree rats and ducks. Yes it too is owned by the Coopers who kept everyone out (but my Brother and I) I like to think it was because we asked first when about 8 and we worked his fields some and we gave him deer meat and he and my Grandfather played dominos. But I think mostly he was just afraid of my Step Father like every one else in town and was afraid to tell us no.
We think the river was purposely cut that way to allow water into the old water plant, when the old bridge was built in the 30's. There is a newer one now from the 80's.
OK now we get to the point. As you can imaging the bend and the circle the river makes there backs up a lot of sand and anything else washed from the North when the river floods.
We would wade, noodle and net fish in the shallow water. You could trap some very large catfish in that bend.
So we knew for years there was a car buried in the sand there, just under the water, but it was always too buried to tell anything about it. After one very large flood it washed into that little wet area just south east of the smaller island and was about half in and half out of the water.
The idea at first was to dig the sand out of the trunk and "bait" the trunk with some corn and noodle a catfish or two. We found the guns digging the sand out.
If you follow the river North you will find one of those partial dams called "brown wells" people were always running stolen cars off into the river there. Plus a few accidents where cars ran off because they didn't stop in time. 7 members of my high school years drowned there at one time and 3 others another time. It was the first place (not the last) I was ever in a group/gang fight and had my first broken ribs from a tire iron. The next broken ribs there I was a little smarter about the tire iron but got hit with a log chain.
It was also the first place I ever got shot at with a rifle (just a .22 and it didn't go through the car door) the other .22 was just outside the town of Iola to the North on 169 and it broke out the back glass and caused me to total out a sweet 66 Chevelle. I did get hit three different times with shotgun pellets close to there, twice stealing water melons and once by a crazy woman in the cemetery.
Anyway, there you go. As Paul Harvey used to say "and that's the rest of the story"
