Moss Mountain rises above the Arkansas River not too far from Little Rock.
Most people know the area as the home of famed horticulturist and lifestyle expert P. Allen Smith. His beautiful Moss Mountain Farm draws visitors from around the region to see the gardens, farmhouse and sweeping views of the Arkansas River.
I’ve visited the farm myself, and beautiful is almost an understatement.
But apparently, Moss Mountain has a darker side.
There is an old story associated with the mountain involving an English naturalist, a terrible illness, an island in the Arkansas River and a mysterious massacre that supposedly happened on Halloween night in 1819.
And like many Arkansas legends, this one gets a little strange.
The Legend of Moss Mountain
The story begins with a real person named Thomas Nuttall.
And before we get into the spooky part, it helps to know which pieces of this story are history and which belong to folklore.
Because there is a little bit of both.
Who Was Thomas Nuttall?
Thomas Nuttall was an English naturalist born in 1786 who came to the United States in 1808.
In 1819, he traveled extensively through the newly created Arkansas Territory, studying and collecting plants while making observations about the landscape, wildlife and people he encountered.
His travels eventually became the book A Journal of Travels into the Arkansa Territory During the Year 1819, published in 1821. Nuttall wasn’t always particularly complimentary toward the people living in early Arkansas.
Let’s just say he had opinions.
But his journal became an important historical record of what this part of the country looked like more than 200 years ago.
Here are some other Arkansas legends that might interest you!
Thomas Nuttall Becomes Very Sick
During his travels in the late summer of 1819, Nuttall became seriously ill with fever. In fact, he was so ill that at one point he wrote that his mind became filled with what he called “horror and distraction.”
He spent time recovering in Fort Smith before restarting his travels back down the Arkansas River.
All of that is documented.
But after that the tale becomes a little more murky.
The Mystery of Beaver Island
According to the Moss Mountain legend, Nuttall and his party stopped at Beaver Island, a large island in the Arkansas River near the base of Moss Mountain.
You can actually see the island from Moss Mountain Farm today.
The story says the men made camp on the island for the night. Perhaps because they felt protected by the river surrounding them, the night watchmen fell into a deep sleep.
Then, during the early morning hours of October 31, 1819, something terrible supposedly happened.
The Halloween Massacre
It is said that Nuttall awoke to chaos. Something was attacking the camp. Most of the men were killed, with only Nuttall and four others surviving.
Some versions of the story say wild animals were responsible. But according to the legend repeated by P. Allen Smith, Nuttall insisted that what he saw looked human. Human forms in the darkness.
Other tellings of the legend get even stranger.
They describe a heavy fog over the island and unusually large, human-like figures moving through the mist. The creatures supposedly walked on two legs and were powerful enough to throw the men around with ease.
The story becomes pretty gruesome from there, with the attackers killing and dismembering members of the party.
According to these versions of the tale, Nuttall closed his eyes rather than watch the carnage, and when the attack was over, the mysterious figures disappeared back into the surrounding wilderness.
Who…or what…were they supposed to be?
The legend never really explains.
And as we’ll see, there’s an even bigger problem with the story…
But Did the Moss Mountain Massacre Really Happen?
Here’s the problem. Thomas Nuttall kept a detailed journal of his travels through Arkansas. And there is no account in that journal of his party being massacred on Beaver Island.
None.
He wrote about sickness, dangerous encounters, miserable nights, threatening situations and his own bouts of delirium. He even recorded leaving Fort Smith on October 16 and continuing his journey down the Arkansas River.
But he did not write about waking on Halloween morning to discover most of his companions dead.
I don’t know. That seems like a pretty big thing to leave out to me.
So, if Nuttall didn’t actually write about this incident, where did the story come from? Honestly, it doesn’t seem like anyone knows!
But, you can totally see how a legend might have grown around the real events. A naturalist traveling through the wild and sparsely settled Arkansas Territory. A serious fever. Delirium. An isolated island. Mist rising from the Arkansas River…
Add in a foggy Halloween night and a few mysterious figures, and you’ve got yourself a pretty good Arkansas legend.
The Ghosts of the Mountain
Today, according to the Moss Mountain ghost story, each Halloween night, the spirits of those who were massacred on the island come back to haunt Moss Mountain.
P. Allen Smith says on his website: “Each year the ghouls come up from the river; presumably the spirits of those who met their end on that isle.”
It gives me a whole different image of Moss Mountain when I picture ghostly figures climbing up the hillside from the Arkansas River.
Moss Mountain Today
Today, Moss Mountain is best known as the home of P. Allen Smith’s Moss Mountain Farm, a destination for gardening enthusiasts and lovers of natural beauty.
The farm, which includes an extensive gardens, a gorgeous farmhouse, and sweeping views of the Arkansas River, is open to the public for tours.
But while you’re there, take a look toward Beaver Island, where this strange Arkansas story began.
If you like legends like this one be sure and check out our post about even more Arkansas legends.
