BULL NETTLE HILL
BY RICKEY ROBERTSON
Ouch! Boy that hurts! Have you ever been running around outside in the country and got in a bull nettle? Those things burn, sting, and hurt don't they? I learned as a boy right fast what a bull nettle will do to you and I stayed away from them! On Peason Ridge are many high sand hills that have been used by the Native Americans, the homesteaders and settlers of Peason Ridge, and the U.S. military for observation purposes. In the south/southwestern area of Peason Ridge on what we call the "Anacoco Side" of the range is the large sand hill known to everyone in our parts as Bull Nettle Hill.
On Peason Ridge has three large observation hills. One is Eagle Hill, once the second largest peak in Louisiana other than Driskoll Mountain, Tripod Hill, and Bull Nettle Hill. Every one of these hills are known for the Native American artifacts that have been found and that are still located in various spots. On these hills there is vast amounts of "bear grass" or Spanish bayonet as it is called out our way. The Native Americans used this bear grass for many purposes and the settlers and homesteaders when they arrived in the area around 1818 used this tough grass to hang their meat in the smokehouse for curing and smoking. Bull Nettle Hill has many, many clumps of bear grass and we know that the Native Americans brought the roots of these plants with them as they travelled and planted them at each new camp site. But Bull Nettle Hill is also covered with bull nettles! Not one but many, many of these plants grow in the deep sand on the hill. Yes, the bull nettle is pretty when it is covered with white blooms but it has its own protective system by the nettles all over each and every branch. Just as bear grass was used by the Native Americans we know that the bull nettle was also used for several types of medicinal purposes.
The settlers and homesteaders of Peason Ridge once had large herds of all types of livestock that lived and grazed on these lands, from cattle, horses, sheep, goats, and hogs. Every day or so the cattlemen and landowners would travel to Bull Nettle Hill to look across the lands of Peason Ridge and toward Eagle Hill and Tripod Hill checking on their livestock herds. The Peason Ridge settlers had a special area for all the livestock to graze. They set aside a total of sixteen sections of land where no one was allowed to settle or farm. This tradition was brought from England from the days where landowners set aside specific areas for livestock to graze and they policed the lands to keep the serfs from moving into these lands to settle them. On Peason Ridge, if anyone came and started to camp or attempt to build in the grazing area, the men would mount their horses, ride over for a visit, and give the "squatter" the information to pack up and be gone in a few days. This was especially prevalent during the great westward migration in the 1870s and 1880s. If the intruder had not left the grazing lands in at least three days, the men would again mount up and would ride over to have a talk. This time it was different. The intruder would be looking down the barrel of several Winchester rifles and was advised to be gone by daybreak the next morning. Looking down the barrel of a Winchester rifle would definitely make up a person's mind! But when the US government took all these lands after the 1941 Louisiana Maneuvers, the families had to leave and bring their livestock with them. Mr. Foster Dowden, a subsistence farmer and cattleman, had vast herds of stock. When forced to move he got all the men, boys, and cowboys in the area to come and help move his vast herd of stock. His herd was so big that it took three days to move the stock seven miles. That was some herd of stock wasn't it?
After the settlers and homesteaders moved it was noted some cattle, horses, and hogs had been left behind. But the Army showed some kindness to the Heritage Families. After Peason Ridge Artillery Range had been formed and World War II had been won, the families could obtain a permit to again graze livestock on the range. My grandfather, Ora Robertson, my Dad, Bud Robertson, Bryce McCollough, Dan Volk, Bill Herrington, Lev McInnis, Arnold Dowden, Leon Sneed, and others had cattle herds that grazed on the Peason or north side of the range, and down near Bull Nettle Hill, John Craft, Charlie and Chester McInnis , Tuck Belsha, Joe Dowden, Clyde Miller, and many others in the Cold Springs area grazed their cattle on those lands. And over on the southeast side of the range near Kurthwood, J. A. and J. D. Grant along with Finis Simmons had stock grazing. And all the folks in the Cold Springs Area and Kurthwood area came and gathered at Bull Nettle Hill as they checked all their cattle. And most of the time when everyone were checking their cattle they were on horseback so they could ride the creeks and baygalls, the cleared woodland meadows, and sand hills looking for their stock. And you would always ride up on your neighbor and have a good chat with them. As I grew up and my Dad ran his large herd of cattle on the range, it is remarkable how many cattle were actually grazing and ranging out there. When I tell folks that we have seen hundreds and hundreds of cattle grazing they are amazed. But they were sure there. And if we were missing some livestock we would ride over to Bull Nettle Hill and talk to the folks over there to see if they had any stray cattle mixed with their herd. And if so we would cut them out and herd them towards home.
In 1995 my Dad, the last cattleman running cattle on Peason Ridge, was advised by the JRTC and Ft. Polk that all cattle needed to be removed from the training area of Peason Ridge and that no longer would cattle and livestock grazing be allowed and no more permits would be issued. Another way of life was forever changed. Today there is no cattle grazing near Bull Nettle Hill or anywhere on Peason Ridge. But located there is a large observation tower that overlooks the large meadow near the wildlife runoff pond and the very large Live Fire Village. The military uses the tower to observe all the live fire and troop movements as the village is attacked by military units, and paratroop and air re-supply drops. Bull Nettle Hill is now used for this vital purpose by the military. Hope all those soldiers training there know what a bull nettle is and will do to them! And if you go on the annual Peason Ridge Tour with us you will get to see Bull Nettle Hill and the beautiful area around this location. And remember, don't get in that bull nettle!
A long green meadow leads up to Bull Nettle Hill located on Peason Ridge. This once was one of the locations where cattle and livestock grazed. (Robertson Collection)
