Bushwhacker Bluff Shelter

Last week we visited one of the bluff shelters along the White River excavated in the 1920s by archaeologist Mark Harrington. From this work, Harrington concluded that there had been a distinct native American culture he called the Ozark Bluff Dwellers. While that notion is no longer considered valid — these were Caddoan people using the bluffs but they interacted with the larger Caddoan society — it still makes an interesting story. The bluff shelters Harrington visited are difficult to find — some may be inundated by Beaver Lake — but we can access this one through a friend’s lake property.