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Kenneth ("Ken") Smith grew up in Hot Springs and, in 1952, enrolled at the University of Arkansas as a mechanical engineering major. During his freshman year he joined a university hiking group that developed his great love for the Buffalo River country of northwest Arkansas.
From 1956-1961 Smith lived in Crossett, AR working as an engineer. In 1962, Smith accepted a position with the National Park Service and worked for 12 years as a civil engineer in western parks (Mt. Rainer, Yosemite, Sequoyah, and Grand Collee Dam) and as a park planner in Washington, D.C. In 1974, Smith left the service and returned to Fayetteville, where he became a freelance writer, photographer and researcher. |
Ken Smith at Steel Creek
March 8, 2015 |
During his years outside of Arkansas, Smith retained his ties with environmentalists in the state, including members of the Ozark Society and has coordinated the trail building efforts around the Buffalo National River for over 35 years.
Ken has published 4 books:
The Buffalo River Country
1967
The Buffalo River Country is an excellent time capsule of the Buffalo River and its folk before the National Park Service took over management of the river in 1972. Smith recaptures the thrill of being an inexperienced canoeist while floating down the Buffalo River past the stunning bluffs and sharp white water turns of the river. He includes tales of how some of the bluffs and other prominent landmarks were names from the recollections of local residents.
Illinois River
1977
The Illinois River of NE Oklahoma and NW Arkansas originates near Hogeye, Arkansas, and flows north to Benton County, then heads west through the Ozark National Forest along AR 412 before flowing into Oklahoma. Ken Smith provides a guide for people canoeing the most endangered stream in Oklahoma. Poor development practices and run off from industrial chicken houses have impacted the Illinois River. The book includes striking photos and detailed maps covering the Illinois and its major tributaries that flow into the Arkansas River.
Sawmill: The Story of Cutting the Last Great Virgin Forest East of the Rockies
1986
Sawmill is a history of logging in the Arkansas and Oklahoma Ouachita Mountains from 1900 to 1950, a penetrating study of the lumber industry, and a significant view of man’s interaction with a major forest resource. It is also a social history in its account of the lumbermen’s quest for the last virgin timber and the effects of its depletion. The Caddo River Lumber Company and the Arkansas mill towns of Rosboro, Glenwood, and Forester provided jobs and homes for many during the brief heyday of the big sawmills. Smith takes a close look at several important timber companies, and at the personality of T. W. Rosborough, a man who bought and sold vast tracts of land and had an almost fatherly concern for both white and black sawmill workers. The book is richly illustrated with photographs from the time of the mills and includes a regional map.
The Buffalo River Handbook
2004
Ken Smith's life-long accumulation of knowledge about the Buffalo River country, including complete trail and river guides and a fascinating sourcebook for geology and history of the Buffalo river area is packed into this book. All in a compact size, with more than 170 photos, maps, and diagrams and coordinated with National Geographic Trails Illustrated maps.
The Buffalo River Country
1967
The Buffalo River Country is an excellent time capsule of the Buffalo River and its folk before the National Park Service took over management of the river in 1972. Smith recaptures the thrill of being an inexperienced canoeist while floating down the Buffalo River past the stunning bluffs and sharp white water turns of the river. He includes tales of how some of the bluffs and other prominent landmarks were names from the recollections of local residents.
Illinois River
1977
The Illinois River of NE Oklahoma and NW Arkansas originates near Hogeye, Arkansas, and flows north to Benton County, then heads west through the Ozark National Forest along AR 412 before flowing into Oklahoma. Ken Smith provides a guide for people canoeing the most endangered stream in Oklahoma. Poor development practices and run off from industrial chicken houses have impacted the Illinois River. The book includes striking photos and detailed maps covering the Illinois and its major tributaries that flow into the Arkansas River.
Sawmill: The Story of Cutting the Last Great Virgin Forest East of the Rockies
1986
Sawmill is a history of logging in the Arkansas and Oklahoma Ouachita Mountains from 1900 to 1950, a penetrating study of the lumber industry, and a significant view of man’s interaction with a major forest resource. It is also a social history in its account of the lumbermen’s quest for the last virgin timber and the effects of its depletion. The Caddo River Lumber Company and the Arkansas mill towns of Rosboro, Glenwood, and Forester provided jobs and homes for many during the brief heyday of the big sawmills. Smith takes a close look at several important timber companies, and at the personality of T. W. Rosborough, a man who bought and sold vast tracts of land and had an almost fatherly concern for both white and black sawmill workers. The book is richly illustrated with photographs from the time of the mills and includes a regional map.
The Buffalo River Handbook
2004
Ken Smith's life-long accumulation of knowledge about the Buffalo River country, including complete trail and river guides and a fascinating sourcebook for geology and history of the Buffalo river area is packed into this book. All in a compact size, with more than 170 photos, maps, and diagrams and coordinated with National Geographic Trails Illustrated maps.
