Bull Shoals Lake: How it all began

Pontiac Dock as described in the old brochure: 100 Aluminum boats to serve the Pontiac area. Motors, baits, tackle, gas and guides. Bring your own boat and rent a stall. Reasonable rates. Floyd Crawford & San Robbins, Prop. Phone Gainesville, Osborn 9-2173.

The Pontiac Park property and the property that is now under water that the Corps of Engineers leased to build Pontiac Boat Dock was originally patented by John D. Porter of Springfield, Missouri on April 6, 1908. Porter patented several pieces of property in the Pontiac area on that same day. Most were not adjacent to each other and were acquired a little later than a lot of the other property in Pontiac. He must have just been picking up random properties that were left in the area. This particular tract was all of a particular 40-acre tract east of the Little North Fork of the White River, which covers most of the campground and the cove in which the marina is located. The river ran along the bluffs just north of the campground.

 Bull Shoals Lake from the Pontiac Bluffs as it looks today. 

Porter conveyed several tracts of land including the Pontiac Park property to Missouri Lincoln Trust Company of St. Louis, Missouri on May 11, 1908. William Tatlow acquired the property from Missouri Lincoln Trust on July 6, 1914. Tatlow held on to the property for several years before conveying it to Mr. Bilyeu in 1943. The Federal Government must have been purchasing properties that would be flooded by this time. Bilyeu only kept it for a couple of years before selling it to S.C. Wilbanks in 1945, who then sold it to Jasper and Maye Turnbo in 1947. With the changing of so many hands, I wonder if people were hoping to make a big profit on the land when the lake went in.

On August 24, 1951, the Turnbos sold the Pontiac Park property and some adjacent property that is now covered by water totaling 151.8 acres for $5,750 to the Corps of Engineers. When the Corps acquired property for the lake and surrounding area, they tried to negotiate a price with the owner. If an agreement could not be reached, the property was condemned and taken from the owners at what they considered to be a fair market value. During my research for surveying work around the lake I have seen some deeds written so that the property reverts back to the original owner if the lake ever goes away. Wouldn't that be interesting...

Bull Shoals Dam, circa 1952

Bull Shoals Dam was built to impound the White River for flood control and power production. It was built in response to severe flooding on the White River Valley in 1915 and 1927. President Roosevelt authorized the construction of the dam in the Flood Control Act of 1938. The dam is one of the largest solid concrete dams in the country and was the fifth largest in the world at its inception. Work on the dam began in 1947, was completed in 1951 and was dedicated by President Harry S. Truman in 1952. At least seven small family cemeteries and 20 larger ones were relocated to accommodate the new lake.

The Turnbo Cemetery was one of many cemeteries relocated to accommodate the lake.

Opinions on building the dam were not unanimous. It was said by some, "The man above the dam didn't favor a dam. The man below the dam favored it. The man at the dam didn't give a damn." In doing the research about the building of the dam I ran across an interesting story about the mystery of the Due Eddy Spring. As the lake began to fill, a noticeable increase in the flow at the Due Eddy Spring was observed. Then in 1954 when the lake level declined due to a prolonged drought, reports came in that water was running into holes along the shore of Jimmies Creek. The Corps conducted a study that probably took five years and determined that the loss of water was enough to try and plug the hole. They spent much more time and money on this theory, but when the lake filled again, the pressure at the spring increased again. The mystery remained unsolved. A spokesman for the Corps says there is really no mystery. There are some sinkholes on the Jimmies Creek arm of the lake that flow into Due Eddy Spring, and when the lake level reaches about 645, whirlpools are visible.

There are so many stories to tell about the history of Pontiac Boat Dock. I plan on breaking it down into several posts. This is the first.

Written by Cap'n T. Morgan

24-hour cold water challenge

It might be April 2, but the water is freezing!

Have you heard of this 24-hour cold water challenge thing? I was hoping to fly under the radar, but I was tagged by my cousin, Beth Morgan Strong, and I couldn't let her down. I did this to raise money for the Pontiac Fireworks. And I challenged Norman Eubank. Craig Mincke, Jackie Klineline, Betsy Stilley, Kelly Laurie, Mike MacPherson and the Honorable Judge Cynthia MacPherson. They pay me $20 if they accept; $50 if they do not. Hahaha. Good luck to all. 

Good-bye "old friend"

It's Wednesday, March 12th, 2014. It was over fifty years ago that I first set foot on the last section of boat dock that we said good-bye to today. This story is a little premature, as I am beginning to write articles about the history of Pontiac Boat Dock, but I had to tell this one now.

The last single-sided dock being hauled off for dismantling.

When my parents purchased the dock in 1964, there were five single-sided docks. They were usually placed along and parallel with the shore and were held off the shore with long pipes that slid through brackets on the shore side of the dock to the bottom of the lake and held close to shore with cables on each end. They were a real chore to move in and out as the lake fluctuated.

Pontiac Boat Dock as it looked in 1965

During the winter of 1966, we had a huge snow storm. With my brother in the Navy, it was up to me to help my dad shovel snow. We enlisted the help of Bob Schultz, who owned Home Comfort Resort. We shoveled snow until we could shovel no more. It seemed as though the snow had let up, so we decided to get some rest and planned to start again first thing in the morning. I was the first one up the next morning and could not believe my eyes when I looked down the hill from our mobile home that sat next to the restaurant.

 Mobile home in the park, where we lived for a while.

One of our docks had collapsed. I threw on my clothes and started down the hill. As I was running down the hill another dock collapsed. All I could think to do was get on the dock, cut boats loose and kick them out to try to keep them from being damaged if another roof collapsed. I was on one of the docks pushing boats out when it collapsed. I jumped off the dock into the water and swam/waded to shore. I couldn't save it.

Collapsed docks in 1966 snow storm (above and below).

We shoveled snow off the remaining docks before any more damage was done. My dad had his first experience with insurance companies. He found out we did not have coverage for loss due to weight of ice and snow. It almost put us out of business. The insurance company finally paid a portion of the loss, agreeing wind could have been a factor. We rebuilt all three docks. I vowed then that we would never lose another dock like that. We lost two of the five in a bad wind storm in the 1980's. I was out of town in the 1990's one time when another big snow storm hit. There were lots of volunteers this time, but they focused on the bigger docks and we lost the third of the five single-sided docks to snow again. We lost the fourth one last August during the big wind storm that also took out the 400 dock. And we lost the last one in December to a heavy snow and ice storm. We stripped the flattened roof off with hopes of saving some part of the old dock for high water walkways, but after much deliberation, I sadly gave the go ahead to dismantle what was left.

Walkway sections from the "Milt Hoefle" dock.

I have lots of fond memories of those old docks. One I probably shouldn't tell is when I was under the legal drinking age, a couple of my friends and I used to drink peach brandy (of all things). We needed a hiding place for our stash. We figured out that the round barrels that floated the docks left a pocket between the barrel and the floor joists. We had a particular walkway where we removed a deck board and hid the bottles of brandy underneath. I was kind of hoping to see an antique liquor bottle fall out of one of the dock sections as we hauled them off, but I guess they were already long gone.

We actually had names for the last two docks. The one we lost in August was known as the "Bill Allen Dock" or the "50 Dock." And the one that went down in December was called the "Milt Hoefle Dock." The Milt Hoefle dock is the one I was standing on when the roof collapsed (the first time) so many years ago. Those docks were like old friends, and I am going to miss them just as I miss my old friend Milt Hoefle. We saved some of the wood from the "Bill Allen" and "Milt Hoefle" docks and plan to build benches to commemorate the old docks. Stay tuned.

Written by Cap'n T. Morgan