Portuguese Point on the Gasconade River

 Beautiful Ozarks, See The Ozarks, Uncategorized  No Responses »
Jul 072020
 

Real photo postcard, 1930s. Written on the postcard, “Looking down on Gasconade River from Portuguese Point. S-243.” Inevitably, photographs of the panoramic landscape contain a figure poised at the edge of the cliff.

There is a bluff called Portuguese Point overlooking the Gasconade River valley about eleven miles south of Dixon, Missouri. It has a splendid view, is easily reached, and photographers and artists, professional and amateur alike, exploit its graphic opportunities. The mystery is, what were the Portuguese doing in the Ozarks? We found a credible explanation in the KJPW’s Old Settlers Gazette, July 26, 1997, in an article by Gary Knehans. Apparently, John Anderson Smith immigrated to the Ozarks in 1858 and ended up in a fertile valley in a bend in the Gasconade. The pioneer had Cherokee blood and apparently, he and his children had Native American features. Fearing prejudice against Indians, he told his neighbors he was of Portuguese ancestry. Smith had a colorful life. Bushwhackers hung him but he survived somehow to die of dropsy in 1922. As he had voted twice for Henry Clay for President, his age was variously calculated at 110 or 116 years old. The article doesn’t cite any references but it’s an interesting and credible explanation.

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Lens & Pen books are available on this website, on amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble. You can see sample pages of our most recent book, Lover’s Leap Legends: From Sappho of Lesbos to Wah-Wah-Tee of Waco, on our website: hypercommon.com.

Lover’s Leap Legends won the bronze medal in the popular culture division of the 2020 Independent Publishers’ Book Awards, an international competition. This year there were entries from forty-four states, seven Canadian provinces and fifteen other countries.

James Fork of the White: Transformation of an Ozark River was a finalist in Regional Non-fiction in the 2019 Indie Book Awards. Lens & Pen Press’s 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.)

 

Newspaper article claims, “Paddlefish survive wild ride over dams.” Do they? Really?

 Damming the Osage, Uncategorized  No Responses »
Apr 262020
 

The Springfield News-Leader ran an intriguing article on paddlefish going over dams and surviving. Sadly, it didn’t mention that most are killed whether they go through the turbines or over the top in a flood. It’s common to see pieces of paddlefish below dams after they were sucked into turbines and chewed up. Our guess is one out of hundreds survive.

But it’s heartening to know that this incredible, giant prehistoric fish occasionally gets lucky. Corps of Engineers’ dams have contributed to their conceivably endangered future. While the adults thrive in reservoir pools, damming blocks access to their spawning grounds.

In our book, Damming the Osage: The Conflicted Story of Lake of the Ozarks and Truman Reservoir, the fate of the paddlefish occupies many pages. Truman Dam destroyed the best spawning grounds in the country. All the paddlefish in Missouri are hatchery-spawned and raised. We quoted a publication by the American Fisheries Society entitled, “The Paddlefish: Status, Management and Propagation” (1986):

Finally, a note of caution. Although techniques for producing and stocking paddlefish were presented in this symposium, we do not consider stocking to be an answer to habitat deterioration and management problems. These techniques were developed for special circumstances where stocking was the only way to maintain a population. Artificial propagation and stocking should not be used as a cure-all or substitute for wise or practical management. Trying to solve problems by treating symptoms is expensive and ineffective. In addition, stocking would affect the integrity of paddlefish gene pools and is ill-advised until we know a lot more about the genetics of this species.

The MICRA paddlefish-sturgeon committee issued a warning in 1998 that “the use of hatcheries to reduce population declines is not a substitute for solving the causes of declines.” In addition to genetic considerations, the paper listed six other problems with stocking,hatche of which “delaying habitat restoration” was the worst.

page 236, Damming the Osage

The Department of Conservation fisheries people are to be praised for keeping the paddlefish from vanishing from Missouri waters. It’s an expensive program and should there be a severe recession raising paddlefish might be defunded. MDC gets most of its money from a conservation sales tax. This largely bypasses political control. Some politicians wish to do away with this arrangement. It’s likely, should the state legislature control the MDC budget, urban interests might not be favorably disposed to maintaining the paddlefish-raising program. Paddlefish might be seen as expendable.

The fate of the paddlefish (or spoonbill) was central to a lawsuit to stop Truman Dam—which obviously failed. Our 304-page book, Damming the Osage, is available on amazon.com or this website at a discount, postage paid

Increased tourism justified mass-produced postcards

 See The Ozarks, Uncategorized  No Responses »
Mar 112020
 

Powersite Dam, 1920s postcard. White River Art Station.

Real photo postcards were produced one at a time, usually by the photographer himself, which made them ideal for small regional markets; it also means they are less common today on the collector’s market. As Ozark tourism grew, entrepreneurs turned to producing printed postcards, which could be printed in large runs. After A.K. Bishop, an early producer of real photo postcards, died in 1925, his widow, Mrs. Grace Bishop, continued in the picture-postcard business. Her stock and trade were mechanically reproduced postcards. A photograph was hand-colored then reproduced as a lithograph to be printed by the thousands. Mrs. Bishop operated a store in Branson, the White River Art Station, and labeled her postcards with that name.

When a large flood inundated Branson in 1927 an article in the Stone County News Oracle (April 27), Galena, gave an indication of the scale of the printed postcard business. The article noted she had not suffered as much damage: “Possibly one who suffered the least in the form of ruined stock was Mrs. Grace Bishop of the White River Art Station.” She had placed her stock on high shelves and was able to enter the studio in a rowboat and retrieve her stock: “Mrs. Bishop says she has a hundred thousand picture cards on hand and two hundred thousand ordered. She is ready for summer any day she wants to come.”

An abundance of White River Art Station printed postcards are for sale on eBay and through postcard dealers throughout America for a few dollars. George Hall’s real photo postcards, however, are rarely for sale and can bring $60 to $200.

 

Lens & Pen books are available for purchase on this website on amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble. See sample pages from our new book, Lover’s Leap Legends: From Sappho of Lesbos to Wah-Wah-Tee of Waco, on our website: hypercommon.com

Redings Mill is long gone, but survives as a place name

 James Fork of the White, Uncategorized  No Responses »
Feb 202020
 

Photographic print, 7” x 12” Unmarked but unmistakably Redings Mill.

There were actually two smaller early mills on Shoal Creek south of Joplin but the third mill was an impressive, multi-story structure of stone, burr and white oak, built in 1868 by John S. Reding. It burned on November 8, 1936, but its visual and historic influence survives. Before its demise, it was considered the most photographed structure in Southwest Missouri. There are many snapshots as well as postcards and professional photographs. This image is phenomenally detailed. Two women looking at boats below the dam give scale to the commanding building.

In the 1920s an extensive entertainment destination was developed, a resort with a swimming pool, golf course, and a hotel with a dining room to seat 150. A dance “palace” and casino opened in 1928. Of course, soon after, the Depression affected business. Two major fires hit the resort, one in 1932 and one in 1936 destroying the dance hall. The foreclosure sale in 1941 marked its official end.

Today, there is a village entity called Redings Mill, which is part of the Joplin area. Restaurants and services still attach Redings Mill to their name. Watermills were central to pioneer communities both economically and socially. That imprint is still alive today.

Lens & Pen books are available for purchase on this website on amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble. See sample pages from our new book, Lover’s Leap Legends: From Sappho of Lesbos to Wah-Wah-Tee of Waco, on our website: hypercommon.com

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.

 

 

Kaitlyn McConnell’s PASSPORT TO THE OZARKS

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Dec 272019
 

Probably like a lot of others, when Kaitlyn McConnell’s Passport to the Ozarks arrived, I immediately checked to see if some of my ‘memorable places’ had made the cut. Lo and behold – Windyville is having something of a (small) revival. The store has been reinvigorated – 15 cent bologna sandwiches! And who knew the tiny village was a hotbed of paranormal interest – it’s haunted. Turn the page and here was the Y Bridge in Galena. a beauty of a structure, graceful, elegant and historic. Kaitlyn gives the significant details.

For years as we’ve prowled the region for research or gathering photos for our own projects, we’ve seen properties in decline and hoped for their restoration. Several of those stories – Greenfield Opera House, the Boots Motel, are told, with photographs of them in their refurbished glory.

Passports open doors to far away, exotic places and unusual experiences. With Kaitlyn’s “Passport”, we rediscover the place we thought we knew. Visitors to the area will hit the standard highlights, but this Passport will take them to some off the beaten track places and events (like the Oldfield Opry, McClurg Jam or Lamar’s Movie scene – how long has it been since you’ve been to a drive-in movie?) that will enliven, educate, and entertain. And to help you sate your appetite, Kaitlyn discovers restaurant specialties to defy your Fitbit’s rules.

Photographs are crisp and well framed. The text is concise, readable and so informative. Every location (61 in all) has its own story, photographs, and contact information. Passport to the Ozarks is available on the Ozarks Alive website: https://www.ozarksalive.com/product/passport-to-the-ozarks/

Books may also be purchased by sending a check to Ozarks Alive at P.O. Box 2004, Springfield, MO 65801.

The book is available for purchase at Cooky’s Cafe in Golden City, the Douglas County Herald in Ava and the Webster County Citizen in Seymour.

Dalton Family Gathering at Arnhold’s Mill Fishing Club, 1920s

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Dec 102019
 

The Dalton family has been prominent in Missouri history. In 1925, they gathered in front of Arnhold’s Mill, a favorite family vacation destination. Photo courtesy of Mary Anderson.

Sidna Poague Dalton, second from right, became a Missouri Supreme Court justice (1950-1965). He was also an amateur archaeologist who discovered a transitional Paleo-Indian projectile point, which is named for him (the Dalton Point). His wife Edna is on the back row; three of their four kids are also in the picture: Ruth Rusk Anderson, aka “Rusk”, Jane Dalton Hess and Jim Dalton. Sidna’s brother Sam, far left, owned Dalton Coal and Concrete. Lelia, their sister, married George Denman. Their sons, John and Jim, are in the front row. Jim went on to be Mayor of Nevada, Missouri – much later in life of course.

Before Bagnell Dam created Lake of the Ozarks, there were few tourist attractions in this region. Arnhold’s Mill was a commercial mill site certainly, but also an early fishing camp/resort on the Niangua River in Camden County not far from Ha Ha Tonka’s springs. In 1896, J. W. (Joshua Williams) Vincent, editor of the Linn Creek Reveille, published a history of Camden County he had compiled by interviewing early settlers. In it he stated: “The Arnhold Mill, probably the most noted in the county, was founded in 1833 by a man named Kieth.”

George and Dorotha Arnhold, German immigrants, bought what by then was called Cleman Mill in 1878. Its scenic location, abundant game, good fishing and congenial owners attracted sportsmen from across the state. Eventually, cabins were built on the nearby hills to accommodate visitors who showed up in season. It was a family-friendly resort as evidenced by the Dalton family photo posed in front of the mill.

Ruth Rusk Anderson was Mary Anderson’s Grandma. She was 6 years old in 1925, when this photo was taken. She told Mary about “a fishing camp she went to as a child that she loved, and the heartache she felt when it flooded.” Arnhold’s Mill was covered by the backed-up waters of the Osage when Bagnell Dam closed.

Mary Anderson sent us these photos of the family vacation at Arnhold’s Mill in the 1925. She has scanned and made available to family members a horde of family snapshots. The Dalton and Poague families are prominent in Missouri history and this greatly adds to the genealogical archives of the family.

 

 

 

 

Damming the Osage and all Lens & Pen books are available on this website, on amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble.

Fishing at Arnhold’s Mill on the Niangua in the 1920s

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Nov 102019
 

Several kids of the Dalton family pose with their catch on a family vacation at Arnhold’s Mill in 1925. Jim Dalton became mayor of Nevada, Missouri – much later in life of course. (Courtesy of Mary Anderson)

The kids are members of the Dalton clan, but the men holding the string appear to be locals. The large, long-nosed gar is a puzzlement. It’s not a palatable fish.

More Dalton family members with evidence of the abundance of fish in the pre-dam Niangua. Courtesy of Mary Anderson.

German immigrants, George and Dorotha Arnhold, bought Cleman Mill on the Niangua River in Camden County in 1878. Its scenic location, abundant game, good fishing and congenial owners attracted sportsmen from across the state. Arnhold’s Mill became an early sportsmen’s resort.

Such was his popularity when George Arnhold died in 1896, sportsmen commissioned a monument, which was carved in Scotland and delivered to Versailles in 1899. More than 500 people attended the dedication ceremony. The inscription says: “Erected in the memory of Dorotha Arnhold and George Arnhold by many fishermen friends as a tribute to their unlimited generosity.”

Located on the Big Niangua two miles upstream from today’s Niangua bridge, Arnhold’s Mill and the adjacent outbuildings and houses were covered by the waters of Lake of the Ozarks when Bagnell Dam closed.

Mary Anderson, who sent us these photos, remembers: “My Grandma Rusk talked about a fishing camp she went to as a child that she loved, and the heartache she felt when it flooded. … I feel confident she was talking about Arnhold Mill. (These photos) are from 1925. My Grandma was 6 years old in 1925.”

Mary Anderson’s hours spent scanning the boxes of old black-and-white photos added to the extensive genealogy of the Dalton family, prominent in Missouri history. Digital technology provides a significant enhancement to family histories as images such as these can be attach to the written records of family members.

Damming the Osage and all Lens & Pen books are available on this website, on amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble.

OF DAYS REMEMBERED Quilt – Joe Dice’s Upper Swinging Bridge

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Nov 072019
 

Valorie Fauquier created this pieced and embroidered quilt for the 2015 Benton County Historical Society quilt raffle. Nine local landmarks are commemorated here. Members of the Historical Society sold raffle tickets through the summer and the drawing was held October 31. Mr. and Mrs. Troy Kessner of Independence Missouri won the drawing. They donated it to the Historical Society so everyone could enjoy it. We found it hanging in the Visitor Center, overlooking Truman Dam.

The center block commemorates the “Upper Swinging Bridge,” the last surviving Joe Dice bridge in Benton County. According to the explanatory legend posted nearby, “The Upper Swinging Bridge is the lone survivor of the 31 swinging bridges built in Benton County from 1895-1937. Built in 1904 by the famous local bridge builder Joe Dice, it was rebuilt by Dice after the original bridge was destroyed by a cyclone. It served highway 7 traffic until 1969.” It is now a pedestrian walkway over the Osage River outflow from Truman Dam.

Joseph A. Dice is one of the more interesting characters we discovered in our research for Damming the Osage (see pages 74-76). A self-taught engineer, Dice made his mark and living building swinging bridges across the Osage and its tributaries in what is now the Lake of the Ozarks region. Born in 1866, he built his first “swinger” in 1897 at a ferry crossing of the Osage near where US 65 crosses it today. “The Hackberry Bridge” cost $3,000.

A couple of Dice swingers remain on Aux Glaize Creek near Brumley as well. Driving across them is an adventure as they rattle loudly and sway slightly. From Damming the Osage, page 75:

Some of Dice’s smaller spans cost as little as $1,000. His 1905 Tuscumbia project, perhaps the most difficult, required an 80-foot wooden tower to connect up with a 250-foot cliff across the 600-foot wide Osage. All were constructed from locally obtained materials except the #9 galvanized wire. He worked in the summer and fall when local men were busy with crops, so most of his bridge crews were boys.

Frightened cattle or overloaded trucks broke the decks of some and tornadoes wrecked others, but no Dice bridge ever structurally failed.

Joseph Dice died in 1947 and is buried in the Riverside Cemetery in Warsaw on a high hill overlooking the Osage, with a view of a distant Truman Dam.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Damming the Osage and all Lens & Pen books are available on this website, on amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble.

Construction of Bagnell Dam Began Transformation of lower Osage River

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Oct 102019
 

Raines Family at their Rock House. Photo courtesy of Tim Helton.

Construction of Bagnell Dam brought great changes to the Osage River valley: road building, moving towns, graveyards, and people from its banks.

According to Tim Helton, son-in-law of Sally Raines, her father, William Maurice Raines, was “an attorney with a St. Louis firm retained by Union Electric to help secure land rights so they could create Lake of the Ozarks.”

Sally Raines on the porch of the family home. Photo courtesy of Tim Helton.

In Damming the Osage: The Conflicted Story of Lake of the Ozarks and Truman Reservoir, we made the case that Bagnell Dam, which created Lake of the Ozarks, was a complicated scheme by complicated schemers to financially benefit themselves, not the public. It was conceived of in the Roaring Twenties and finished in the early years of the Great Depression. It did finally become a major tourist nexus after World War Two, but it was little used or developed in the 1930s and early ‘40s. There is no denying that its land acquisition and construction phase brought financial benefits to the region.

The family’s old rock house, a classic Ozark adaptation of an Arts & Crafts/Craftsman bungalow-style dwelling faced in rock rubble, is still intact on the Niangua Arm of the Lake.

Tim Helton reports, “It’s amazingly in about the same ‘configuration’ that it was all those years ago.”

Raines family home in the 1920s. The building still exists on the Niangua arm of Lake of the Ozarks. Photo courtesy of Tim Helton.

Personal benefit of the construction of Lake of the Ozarks – Leland’s father, Louis Strader Payton, was employed as a highway engineer to create roads around the new project. The Kentucky engineer met and courted a local schoolteacher, Annie Lewis Daniels. They married in 1939.

Damming the Osage and all Lens & Pen books are available on this website, on amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble.

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