Arkansas Backstories: Yurts
That’s right, yurts. You know, those portable, round, tent-like dwellings developed and used by nomads in Central Asia for better than 3,000 years now. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus left a written description of yurts half a millennium before Christ. When Marco Polo, the celebrated merchant and world traveler from Venice, visited Mongolia in the 14th century, he noticed the peculiar structures, writing, “They (the Mongols) have circular houses made of wood and covered with felt, which they carry about with them on four-wheeled wagons wherever they go. For the framework of rods is so neatly and skillfully constructed that it is light to carry. And every time they unfold their house and set it up, the door is always facing south.”
That southern orientation typically continues through today in Asia, primarily due to feng shui traditions and weather patterns. While the interior is open, hanging partitions are used to divide the space. The stove is positioned in the middle of the yurt for a couple of reasons: 1) it heats the structure more efficiently from that location; and 2) smoke can escape from the hole in the center of the yurt’s top. Floors are often covered by fleece carpets or rugs, while tapestries and quilts frequently drape from the walls.
Yurts were largely unknown in America until the 1960s. Most enthusiasts credit their arrival to a 1962 article in National Geographic covering Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas’ trip to Mongolia, an area seldom visited by Westerners at the time. Photographs of the indigenous yurts caught the attention of William Coperthwaite, a teacher at a Quaker school in New Hampshire where he and his pupils experimented with their own designs. Later, while working on a doctorate at Harvard, he continued his research on these unusual shelters, building yurts with other students. In 1971, Coperthwaite published a piece on “The Modern Yurt” in Mother Earth News, noting the unique spatial quality made possible by this atypical approach to construction. Then, in an extensive interview with the same magazine two years later, Coperthwaite expanded at length about his concept of “working with an ancient principle to design a modern structure using modern materials.” His message of using folk knowledge to deal with contemporary problems resonated with an eager and receptive audience. Shortly thereafter other creative entrepreneurs began offering plans and kits using high-tech materials — and a new concept in alternative housing was born.
We’ve had yurts in Arkansas for about 30 years now — and many are available for use by the curious traveler. A quick search on the Internet reveals that a surprising number of private operators in the state have constructed yurts specifically aimed at the tourism trade. In addition, at least five Arkansas State Parks — Daisy, DeGray, Lake Catherine, Lake Charles and Petit Jean — offer yurt opportunities at truly affordable rates, usually less than half the cost of renting a cabin or staying in a lodge. Each of these Americanized yurts is furnished with a double-burner gas cooking stove (with fuel), an ice chest, a folding table with chairs, a lantern and cots or bunk beds. Screened windows, a locking door and solid wood floors are the norm, and the exterior walls are a fabric made of an industrial-strength three-layer vinyl laminate. Guests will need to bring ice, food, bed linens and cooking utensils. Although not equipped with bathrooms, they’re all located near bathhouse facilities with flush toilets and hot showers.
The obvious question, of course, is this: Why would anyone want to spend the night in a yurt? Fervent yurt devotees insist that overnighting in a yurt is nothing short of a mystical happening, something everyone should experience at least once. It’s not uncommon to hear that people rest more soundly in yurts and have better dreams. Another argument is that yurts provide a welcome relief from the regimentation of modern society, that their circular form subliminally reminds us of the unity and interconnectedness of all things. Coperthwaite was of the opinion that yurts are critically important in developing an individual’s sensitivity to environmental quality. If nothing else, there are the bragging rights. Just how many of your friends and acquaintances can claim a yurt adventure?
Joe David Rice, former tourism director of Arkansas Parks and Tourism, has written Arkansas Backstories, a delightful book of short stories from A through Z that introduces readers to the state’s lesser-known aspects. Rice’s goal is to help readers acknowledge that Arkansas is a unique and fascinating combination of land and people – one to be proud of and one certainly worth sharing.
Each month, AY will share one of the 165 distinctive essays. We hope these stories will give you a new appreciation for this geographically compact but delightfully complex place we call home. These Arkansas Backstories columns appear courtesy of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies at the Central Arkansas Library System. The essays have been collected and published by Butler Center Books in a two-volume set, both of which are now available to purchase at Amazon and the University of Arkansas Press.
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