The Barrow Gang is fleeing from Springfield in 2 cars, one a stolen vehicle, being chased by officers from Galena. They abandon one car and continue towards Reeds Spring on what was then called the Wilderness Road. They pick up Joe Gunn walking home from the grist mill and demand he come with them to give directions to Berryville, AR.
But they are forced to change their route when they see the police roadblock in Reeds Spring near the RR underpass. Joe Gunn is still in the car and will later be one of the few who came in contact with Bonnie and Clyde and lived to tell the story.
The cache is not right at the RR underpass, but south on Rt 13
nearby. In 1870 the Reed brothers found water at the spring while
driving cattle from Texas. The town grew up around the spring, just south of the cache. The large culvert at the side of the road was where the spring would wind, and residents would use it to store milk, butter, eggs and cheese in a wooden box, keeping it fresh in the cold spring water. Note the historic stone houses along this route from the early 1900's. Reeds Spring was a boom town then when the RR was built to connect the town to Branson and Aurora, and then homesteaders harvested the white oak timber for RR ties. Later the cleared forest land was used for tomatoes, and canneries appeared throughout the countryside. The name given to them was Red Gold, with the last cannery closing in 1968.
Don't forget to log your find.
Location has been OK'd by owner.