In a region of winding rivers and streams, the Buffalo River cuts one of the most tortuous paths of all. Deeply entrenched in the Ozark plateau, looping back and forth between sheer rock bluffs and densely forested hillsides, it meanders for 50 miles across a straight-line distance of less than 60 miles, from the Boston Mountains in northwest Arkansas to its confluence with the White River in north central Arkansas. Along its course it is fed by numerous tributaries. Navigable only by skiff or canoe through most of the summer and fall, the Buffalo River runs fast and high in late winter and...