Descriptions of Boeuf River, as written in “By the Boeuf with Beth,” ca., 1963

The Richland Beacon-News, Rayville, Louisiana
16 Feb 1963, Sat  •  Page 5

BY THE BOEUF WITH BETH – About one hundred miles north of the Louisiana State line in the southeast corner of Arkansas, the Boeuf River has its head in Chicot County. Meandering south and southwest the river curves back and forth like a crawling snake with many deep hairpin bends. A bend around which one may spend a lazy summer’s afternoon of delightful drifting In hi flat bottom boat to get from one end of the bend to the other.

The bend was just the right distance back in the steamboat days for the “sporting man” to board the boat and enjoy his favorite brand of spirits without breaking the law. When the boat reached the end of the bend, the man got off and walked or wobbled back to his buggy. The last miles of the river flows southeast and enters the Ouachita River about six miles north-northeast of Harrisonburg. One historian writing in 1816 gave the length of the river as “two hundred and forty miles without attending to the complicated windings.” Today, attending to the windings, Boeuf River is said to be approximately three hundred miles long…

The Richland Beacon-News
Rayville, Louisiana
16 Feb 1963, Sat  •  Page 5