Pine Log (Benton County)
The Pine Log community lies deep in the hills of the Lost Bridge area of Benton County. Union veteran Nathaniel Mattox Doke came to the area in about 1872. Families settled there at a time when northwestern Arkansas growth was starting to include post offices, churches, schools, and businesses. Railroad construction was moving westward, and farming was the livelihood for most people in the area. Nathaniel M. “Preacher” Doke owned 200 acres in Pine Log, and the White River ran through some of his acreage. (If it flooded, his crops were ruined.) He grew corn and developed orchards of peaches and apples, and had cows, hogs, and cashmere goats. Doke was a Civil War veteran, preacher, carpenter, blacksmith, and fiddler. …
