This book is the publication of an unpublished manuscript found in the archives of the Oak Springs Enterprise office in early 1997. It is believed to have been gathered, written, and compiled by Alex McDonald and Jerry Potts as a Centennial publication. Apparently due to the Panic of 1873, money was not available to finish based on lack of subscriptions. It was put aside, only to be discovered many years later by members of the newly founded Oak Springs Historical and Genealogical Society. The earliest of the stories appear to have been written based on the journals kept by the first pioneers to settle the Oak Creek valley (later to become the Oak Creek Township) of Shannon County. These stories also chronicle the desolation and recovery of the town of Oak Springs during the Civil War period. This is a work of family saga historical fiction created as a part of the ongoing "The Homeplace Saga" series of stories created by author, William Leverne Smith. These stories are based on extensive research of the general area and the applicable periods of time so as to fairly represent one view of such events as they might have actually taken place. Names and activities described are based on actual names and events of the period and of the region, but are created here fictitiously.