I think that the service that handles these messages truncates the longer links. It seems the last three digits got cut off. Anyways, try manually typing in ftp://msdis.missouri.edu/pub/drg/24k/unclipped/springfielde_24k_37092f1.tar. gz and see if that works. Make sure to include the ".gz" at the very end which is pushed to the next line on my screen. This is part of the Missouri Spatial Data Information Service, an excellent place to go if you are looking for digital maps of various types in Missouri. That is interesting about the shear bluffs of the Big Piney acting to channel the water and slow the current upstream, allowing silt to be deposited. I had never heard of this before but it makes perfect sense. This is a type of hydraulic choke that only occurs during floods. I have heard of Miller Spring but know nothing beyond the name. IF there is an interesting story, I would love to get the link on the area. Also, I am interested in the history of Slabtown Spring (I know some) and an overgrown resort structure a mile or two upstream on the Big Piney. I am also a caver and have been to quite a few caves in the Ozarks. There are over 5,000 in Missouri so I have been to just a tiny fraction of them all. If this is easily accessible (public or private with permission) and has a decent length of passage, I would be interested in checking it out. Glad you enjoy the articles. I enjoy the area and figure people at UMR should know there are things to do and places to see other than going to Wal Mart. See ya, Conor Watkins cwatkin@umr.edu UM-Rolla Department of Geological Engineering Visit Conor Watkins' Ozark Mountain Experience at www.umr.edu/~cwatkin/cwome -----Original Message----- From: Wayne Carroll [mailto:cwcarroll1@earthlink.net] Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2003 1:43 PM To: MOPULASK-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [MOPULASK] Connor Watkins "Big Piney" Hello Connor: I thought I would let you know that I couldn't get onto your site through the last ftp://msdis.missouri.edu/pub/drg/24k/unclipped/springfielde_24k_37092f1.tar but was able to get through on your www.umr.edu/~cwatkin/cwome I liked your picture of the Big Piney River at Devil's Elbow. From what I remember, Big Piney River looks pretty much the same in many locations. The scenic road picture along the river north of Devil's Elbow also looks very similar to another road along the river near Big Piney. As I recall, high bluffs were present in many locations along the river and it was able to channel the water most of the time, except for some of the low lands. Quite often it flooded the lower areas in the winter time when there was lots of rain. That helped the farmers in some respect by laying down layers of new soil from further up stream. I remember a couple of occasions when we couldn't get to our farm because of high waters. One time when we returned late, dad stopped just short of plunging into the muddy waters of the rain swollen Big Piney River. Have you read any articles on the Miller Spring located near Big Piney? If you have but have not heard about the Miller family and how it was located, let me know. I think that I did put a piece on our Pulaski site a year or so ago. I still have that and can send it if you like. There is also a cave located near Big Piney on the south side of Big Piney River. I had a chance many years ago, to explore it a little myself, but did not have the expertise to do more than a superficial exploration. There is room at the entrance of the cave to stand and walk about. The mouth does face the river and could have been used, and probably was, to live in at least temporarily. The cave is located high up above the river on the face of a bluff and does require some hiking to get to it. I have looked at only a couple of your articles and found them interesting and like you have indicated, it will take a lot of reading to go through them all. Yours truly, Wayne ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237