Historic Dyess Colony: Boyhood Home of Johnny Cash

It was worth the stop to learn about Dyess
Colony. The people at the visitor center were awesome. If we pass this way again when it’s not pouring rain we will definitely stop and explore.

Dyess, Arkansas was established in 1934 as a small farming town located in the rich Arkansas Delta. Initially, the town was formed as a “colony” to help sharecroppers and struggling farmers regain their footing during the Great Depression. In 1935 the Cash family, who resided in Kingsland, Arkansas, received 20 acres of land and a five-room house as part of Roosevelt’s resettling program.

Dyess became home to the 3-year-old Johnny, known as J.R. to locals and family. The young J.R. worked in the fields alongside his parents and six siblings. Music was always an integral part of everyday life in the Cash family. It was here that J.R. Cash got much of his inspiration for many of his early songs, like “Five Feet High and Rising.” Dyess was also the place where Jack Cash, the older brother of Johnny, died and is buried at the Bassett Cemetery on Highway 61, a short drive south of the town.

The day was Friday, May 12, 1944, when young J.R. begged his older brother to, “Please quit working and come fishing with me.” Jack answered, “No, I’ve got to do this because we need the $3.00. You go ahead and I’ll meet you later.” Jack was working inside the high school agricultural shop, where he was cutting oak trees into fence posts. J.R. left his brother and went fishing. While using the table saw, it jammed. 15-year old Jack leaned over to fix the problem and his clothes got caught in the saw, cutting into his midsection. Jack didn’t live to see his sixteenth birthday, dying one week later. At 12 years of age, the would-be country music legend helped dig his brother’s grave, according to his sister, Joanne. “At the service, his clothes were dirty from the effort, and he wore no shoes since his foot was swollen from stepping on a nail.” After Jack’s death, J.R. lost his child-like, carefree attitude towards life, becoming melancholy and withdrawn.

Johnny Cash lived in Dyess with his family until after high school graduation. He worked for a time at a GM assembly plant in Pontiac, Michigan before joining the Air Force in 1950. His father, Ray Cash, was one of the few in the Dyess Colony who successfully converted his farmstead to agricultural production and paid back the government for his home and land, allowing him to own it outright.