From the book "Buffalo Boogers" by Bud Phillips comes
this story called "The Prophetic Dream."
During the latter part of the Civil War, many Newton County men took
their families to Missouri in an effort to escape the roving bands of
bushwackers, which were a continual and ominous threat to the settlers
of Northern Arkansas.

Johnny Phillips (a brother of Bud Phillips' great grandfather) took
his wife and young family far north to St.Louis(most others stopped in
the vicinity of Springfield). While living in that city he often
observed undertakers as they drove about in their hearses, which were
always pulled by sleek, black horses. If per chance he saw them
stop at a house on his street he would know that a neighbor had died.

After the war, he and his family returned to Newton County, Arkansas.
He settled on Little Buffalo, just a short distance below the town of
Jasper. There he operated a water powered mill. His home was on the
mountain side above the mill site.

One morning he arose from his bed greatly troubled about a vividly
clear dream which had occurred three times throughout the night. In
that dream he had seen the sleek, black horses of his St.Louis days
pull a hearse up to his cabin door, and then drive away with a dead
body.

"One of the family will die today,"he solemnly told his wife.
But the duties of the day must continue on. One of those duties was to
go into the nearby woods and kill some meat for supper. Johnny took
his old muzzleloading rife, two of his younger children, and went on
his mission.

The meat was killed and the group started homeward. Coming to a rail
fence near their cabin, he set the children over, then reached back
and took hold of the barrel of his gun, intending to set it over also.
Somehow the gun slipped toward him and fired, killing him instantly.

Indeed, the black horses of his dream had come.

Bud Phillips is the author of several books. Some time back
he gave me permission to use his stories in my Kinfolks articles.
I am sure everyone has heard of his "Ozark Cousins" and
"New Ozark Cousins"books which contain short stories of many
of the families of Newton and Searcy County,Arkansas. Two more of
his books are "Buffalo Boogers" and "Buffalo Tales".
All of these
books are copyrighted.
Evelyn Flood
Rkinfolks@aol.com
Write me:
Rkinfolks@aol.com