Eureka Springs hunter John Gaskins met a man named Cowan in 1839 on the White River in Marion County who robbed bee trees for the honey. He stored the honey in a deer skin and hung it on the wall of his cabin. When he wanted honey, he simply untied a foreleg and the honey flowed out. Cowan had several children, and each had a small gourd that they would fill with the sweet treat.[1]
[1] John Gaskins, Life and Adventures of John Gaskins in the Early History of Northwest Arkansas (Eureka Springs, the author, 1893), 18.
Arkansas Wildlife History 