Springfield “a Gem of a City”

 James Fork of the White, Lens & Pen Press, See The Ozarks  No Responses »
Oct 222023
 

John T. Woodruff and the Chamber of Commerce had encouraged private companies in the 1920s and ’30s to harness the hydropower from Ozark streams. When they didn’t and the Army Corps of Engineers embarked on their massive White River multi-purpose dam campaign, Woodruff and packs of Springfield leaders traveled to Washington, DC, to testify before Congress on behalf of these projects.

An anonymous letter to the editor in the October 31, 1925, Springfield Leader captures the mystical association dams, roads, and prosperity had for that era’s believers in progress. Springfield, the author implies, should become the Queen City of Ozark water resource development. Transforming the free-flowing streams into reservoirs, along with “excellent highways,” would make the town a “fountainhead” of wealth:

“Springfield is the nipple on the breast of the Ozarks. Within the circumference of this Ozarkian breast are more stupendous hydro-electric projects than in any same area in America. No less than six enormous projects, involving $200,000,000! … Not dreams, but projects as sure to be developed as water runs down hill, and its running may be changed into gold. Why Florida is a piker compared to our Ozarks. And these enormous dams will empound vast inland lakes, converting the Ozarks into a wonderland for the tourists developing hotels and pleasure resorts rivaling the dreams of Florida. Now consider our excellent highways, draining like milk ducts, the wealth and patronage of these marvelous Ozarks into Springfield, its fountain’s head. Will Springfield grow? We guess yes.”

Taken from James Fork of the White: Transformation of an Ozark River, now on sale for $17.50 (half price) postage paid, at www.beautifulozarks.com

 

Evolution of Ozark Bridges

 James Fork of the White, Lens & Pen Press, Uncategorized  No Responses »
Aug 272023
 

Real photo postcard, 1920s, Ozark, Missouri. Wooden covered bridges were never common and very few survive. Iron bridges were abundant and with maintenance, many remain in use today.

The logo of the City of Ozark features the 1922 iron bridge under which flows the Finley River and the motto of the growing community is “Bridging strong tradition with bright futures.”

The flood of July 9, 1909 was the greatest on record (although records may be updated when the floods of the last few years are counted). Soon after this photograph was taken the covered bridge floated off its piers and crashed into the railroad bridge visible downstream.

The Christian County court advertised for bids for a replacement just five days after it washed away. That month they contracted with the Canton (Ohio) Bridge Company to build a metal span for $3,648.

Covered bridges evoke the past even more than old metal truss bridges. The popular belief that they were constructed to keep from spooking horses may have some validity, but primarily their enclosure was to protect the wood trusses from the elements. Few have survived anyway. Only four remain in Missouri.

Taken from James Fork of the White: Transformation of an Ozark River, now on sale for $17.50 (half price) postage paid, at www.beautifulozarks.com

Springfield’s Sequiota Park, once a Fish Hatchery

 Beautiful Ozarks, James Fork of the White, Uncategorized  No Responses »
Aug 012023
 

Domino Danzero photograph, circa 1922, of his family picnicking at Sequiota Park. In spite of changes in name, ownership, and utilization, the cave and spring at Sequiota Park still retain a natural ambience that visitors find picturesque.

In 2011 the Springfield-Greene County Park Board held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the completion of a $1.8 million “facelift to the much-needed natural water environment of Sequiota Park.” Considering the variety and intensity of utilizations of the place over the last century, that expenditure seems justified.

Fisher Cave, as the larger cave on the property was originally known, was bought in 1913 for $10,000 by H. E. Peterson, who renamed it Sequiota, which he claimed was an Indian word. The Frisco line ran a motor car service to what they called Se-qui-o-ta Park. Springfieldians flocked to picnic, fish in the small lake, and take boat rides in the cave whose water level was raised by a four-foot dam. More than a thousand feet can be viewed by boat. Cave explorers have mapped another 1,600 feet of passages.

The Missouri State Fish Commission bought the property in 1920 for $23,000 and used the strong spring that flowed from the cave to create a fish hatchery. Both smallmouth bass and rainbow trout were raised. When Table Rock Dam was completed and its discharges proved too cold for native fish, the Shepherd of the Hills Trout Hatchery was built below the dam. Sequiota’s hatchery equipment and manager went south in 1959 to the new facility at Branson. Springfield was deeded the property. It has continued to attract crowds, although boat tours of the main cave are limited and seasonal to protect hibernating endangered gray bats.

Taken from James Fork of the White: Transformation of an Ozark River, now on sale for $17.50 (half price) postage paid, at www.beautifulozarks.com

“So long, free flowing White River!”

 James Fork of the White  No Responses »
Sep 072022
 

Dewey Short and other VIPs say goodbye to the free-flowing White River

Photograph by Townsend Godsey.  Congressman Dewey Short and unidentified colleagues looking at the White River. On the back is written, “Table Rock dam site 9-14-4″

Dewey appears to be pointing out the location where the long-delayed dam would be built. Only a month earlier the President had signed the Flood Control Act of 1941, which included both Table Rock and Bull Shoals. Headline of the October 11, 1952, Kansas City Times announced: “Start A Big Dam Barbecue And Music At Launching of 76-Million-Dollar Reservoir.” Mayor Claude Binkley of Branson remarked he had ‘hurried to the Ozarks twenty-six years ago’ to be here for the construction start.”

Although a Republican dedicated to smaller government (mostly), like most politicians the lure of bringing big buckets of federal money to his district was strong. Congressman Short did get the appropriations for Table Rock Dam flowing again. Construction got underway in 1954, and the White River was backed up behind a $65 million, 252-foot-high dam three miles above Table Rock in 1958. Dedication ceremonies were held on June 14, 1959, when the powerhouse was completed.

Short had been a fiery opponent of FDR’s New Deal except when the federal handout was in his district. Dewey self-identified as a “hillbilly.” The term better fit his bank-robbing brother, Leonard, who perished while on the lam.

 

From James Fork of the White: Transformation of an Ozark River, 352 pages with more than 400 color illustrations, which examines the entire watershed of the famed Ozark float stream, a tributary of the White River. Lens & Pen Press is having a half-price sale for all titles. James Fork is now available on our website at www.dammingtheosage.com for $17.50 (half the original price of $35), postage paid.

 

DANCING AT PICNIC IN THE OZARKS, 1910s

 Beautiful Ozarks, James Fork of the White, See The Ozarks, Uncategorized  No Responses »
Jul 202022
 

Real photo postcard by George Hall

Unlike the posed hillbilly family real photo postcard we shared in June this is a straightforward document of the surviving folk culture on the upper White River, circa 1910.  Hillbilliness is based on these anachronisms.

Locals at this hoe-down appear to be wearing store bought clothes. Once the railroad made its way to southwest Missouri, Stone Countians had access to prêt-à-porter clothing just like the tourists.

Music and the moves it inspires have always been part of life in the Ozarks. Some of the Arcadian resorts built dance floors and natives joined in with visitors. Distinctions between locals and visitors were not always clear when melodies filled the air and boots and shoes started tapping. That tradition continues today in music festivals in the hills as well as regular weekly gatherings like Friday night parties at the old McClurg general store. The decades old weekly gathering was recently well represented at the Smithsonian Folklife Fest, on the Mall in Washington.

Lens & Pen Press is having a half-price sale for all titles. James Fork is now available on our website at www.dammingtheosage.com for $17.50 (half the original price of $35), postage paid.

CHARLEY BARNES, famed James River fishing guide, with brothers John and Herbert

 James Fork of the White, Lens & Pen Press  No Responses »
May 122022
 

Robert Page Lincoln profiled Charley Barnes, James River guide and john boat builder, in a long article titled “Floating Down the River” in the March 1948 issue of Fur-Fish-Game magazine.

The caption from the 1948 article reads, “This photo of Charley Barnes and his two brothers, Herbert and John, was taken in 1909 about the time that the Barnes float trip business at Galena, Mo., was at the height of its success. Barnes told Lincoln that the bass shown in this photo are the same average size as those taken now. Reading left to right are Herbert, John, and Charley Barnes.”

Charley later developed a distaste for trophy photos. Fishermen would keep more fish than they could eat to take an impressive picture. All the early river guides were supporters of the conservation movement and fish and game laws as they viewed the protection of natural resources to be in their business interests and encouraged an early form of catch-and-release.

Barnes was born near Mount Vernon in 1878. The family moved to a farm near the James three miles from Galena when he was eight. He and his brothers spent much time fishing this historic river and their catches were such that Barnes conceived of the idea of making boats and taking out fishing parties. At the age of 26, in 1904 Barnes started taking out his first parties.

Though his big city customers may have considered Barnes a “hillbilly” – he not only built the john boats they floated in, but with his brother he also owned the Galena Ford agency.

 

Lens & Pen Press is having a half-price sale for all titles. James Fork of the White, Damming the Osage, Mystery of the Irish Wilderness and other titles– all are now available on our website at www.dammingtheosage.com for half the original price, postage paid.

“Largest ever” – James River float trip for L. B Price Mercantile, 1923

 James Fork of the White, Lens & Pen Press  No Responses »
Apr 132022
 

Real photo postcard, by Fox. 1923

The L.B. Price Mercantile Company was incorporated 18 February 1898 and almost made it to 100 years, being dissolved in 1993. In its heyday it was a “great business house,” whose main offices and storerooms were at 13th and McGee in Kansas City. According to an undated (but likely early 1900s) article in the Kansas City Star profiling the firm, L.B. Price had retail stores selling “household specialties” across the southeast and into the Midwest and employed more than 600 people.

This 1923 photo most likely shows men of the company’s management. A short bio of L. B. Price called him one of Kansas City’s “millionaire merchants.” We speculated in James Fork of the White (p. 249) that the large, relaxed group might have been traveling salesman (then called drummers). However, the article lauded the company for annually bringing its managers from around the country to Kansas City to report on their year and plan the future.  Considering that, it’s more likely that this “largest ever” James River float trip might have been a reward to managers for a successful year of sales.

Urban clientele like this were no doubt entertained by the tall tales and witticisms of the colorful local guides. Doubtlessly the businessmen referred to them as hillbillies, but not in a derogatory fashion.

 

From James Fork of the White: Transformation of an Ozark River, 352 pages with more than 400 color illustrations, which examines the entire watershed of the famed Ozark float stream, a tributary of the White River. Lens & Pen Press is having a half-price sale for all titles. James Fork of the White is now available on our website at www.dammingtheosage.com for $17.50 (half the original price of $35), postage paid.

Progress comes to the Ozarks with the building of Powersite Dam

 James Fork of the White, Uncategorized  No Responses »
Feb 112020
 

Printed on back: “Views of White River Dam, Camp Ozark, by A. K. Bishop, Forsyth, Mo.” Written in pencil, “Taneycomo Dam, Ozarks, June–1912.” Real photo postcard.

Powersite Dam, originally called White River Dam, was built by the Ambursen Hydraulic Construction Company of Boston. It is a hollow cement-slab and buttress structure. As we wrote in James Fork of the White, “Powersite Dam was not architecturally blatantly industrial. The narrow, twenty mile-long lake it created became regarded as part of nature, indistinguishable from the free-flowing river it replaced.”

The dapper gents in the photo seem to find something hilarious about “Three toots of whistle means blasting.” Numerous similar real photo postcards were taken of the activities connected with building the dam; some large albums exist that have been put together from them. Allen Kitchel (A.K.) Bishop died in 1925, but his wife, Grace May (Lefler) Bishop, continued their postcard business in Branson under the name of the White River Art Company, selling primarily hand-tinted, colored views printed lithographically.

The construction phase brought in cash to the local economy and afterward boosted Branson and Hollister tourism. A village of shacks was constructed to house and service workers. Later Corps of Engineers’ dams took massive amounts of farmland and were more controversial.

 

Lens & Pen books are available on this website on amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble. Our most recent book is James Fork of the White: Transformation of an Ozark River.

See sample pages from our forthcoming book, Lover’s Leap Legends: From Sappho of Lesbos to Wah-Wah-Tee of Waco, on our website: hypercommon.com Available in February.

 

 

Dinner Time On The James

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Jul 082019
 

Stereo card stamped G.W. Sittler, 1880s.

Penciled on the back is the title, “Dinner time on the James.” Presumably this was an informal outing of family and friends, even though it appears to be winter.

Many real photo postcards, but few stereo cards of Ozarks scenes show up in antique shows or online. George Sittler had a thriving commercial photography studio in Springfield until his death in 1887. A story in the Wichita Eagle (September 24, 1887) recounted the circumstances of his demise under the headline “Death From A Trivial Cause.” In part the article read: “Visiting Perry Cave, (Percy’s Cave?) which had been newly illuminated with electric lights, the photographer collided against a stalactite, inflicting a bruise to which little attention was paid.” The next day, he passed out and died from the contusion.

Sittler’s widow Lizzie, also a photographer, continued to operate the studio.

James Fork of the White and all our books are available on this website, on amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble. We’ll let you know when Lover’s Leap Legends is published

James Fork of the White – Finalist in National Book Award Competition

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Jun 222019
 

We are excited to announce that James Fork of the White: Transformation of an Ozark River has earned national recognition! We recently received notice that our book is a finalist in the Regional Non-Fiction category of the 2019 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, the world’s largest not-for-profit book award program for independent publishers. These awards are judged by leaders of the book publishing industry including many with long careers at major publishing houses.

 

 

 

 

 

James Fork of the White’s 352 pages describe a celebrated Ozark float stream, which has endured challenges as Springfield, Missouri, the largest city in the Ozarks, is within its watershed. Research for this book included  exploration along back roads, feeder creeks, mill sites, fishing hot spots and flating past towering bluffs. The James is a classic Ozark stream that just happens to course through a major metropolitan area. Lessons learned along its length and through its watershed will apply to other streams as they too face the pressures of increased usage.

Even though transformed and changing, the James is in many places still scenic; where it lacks wilderness esthetics, its history remains intriguing.

Leland and I have collaborated on a dozen books on the Ozarks or pop culture. Our earlier river book, Damming the Osage: The Conflicted Story of Lake of the Ozarks and Truman Reservoir, was awarded a silver medal by the Independent Publishers’ Book Awards in 2013.

Our next book, Lover’s Leap Legends: From Sappho of Lesbos to Wah-Wah-Tee of Waco, will be published in February 2020. For the past three years, we have delved deeply into a remarkable sub-genre of legend and lore (“fakelore” some call it) tracing the source of the apocryphal stories attached to some of our most scenic landscape. In 352 pages with hundreds of color images (contemporary photographs as well as vintage images), we track these tales across America and to far flung precipices from Guam to Spain and points in between.

James Fork of the White and all our books are available on this website, on amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble. We’ll let you know when Lover’s Leap Legends is published

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