Shepherd of the Hills Country

I guess I could be considered what some folks might call a "hillbilly," and I'm proud of it! Growing up in the Ozark hills, in Taney County, MO, I am one who appreciates such values as God and Country, family, hard work, and just old fashioned living. That's how I was raised. I grew up in a good Christian home (Dad has pastored the Church I was raised in for nearly 20 years), attending Church and Sunday school regularly, I was taught right from wrong, and was raised in a family atmosphere. I treasure things like that. But all in all, it's been a tremendous blessing to get to grow up in this part of the country.

Missouri became a state in 1821, and Taney County was organized in January 1837. Greene County was the section of land that Taney was created from, and in those early years, Taney County's size was much larger than it is today. In 1841, land to the east was taken to organize Ozark County, and in 1851, land to the west helped create Stone County. Then in 1857 Douglas County was established (from the east) and to the north in 1859, Christian County was created.

Branson, Missouri was established as a post office in June of 1882, named from Reuben Spalding Branson, the first post office and store he opened near the mouth of Roark Creek at the White River (present day downtown Branson). By the late 1890s, Branson's first homes and buildings began to spring up on the hillside where the Taney Hills Library and Presbyterian Church are located today.

At the turn of the century there was talk of the Missouri Pacific Railroad building a line from Carthage, MO to Diaz, AR that would go thru Branson. By 1903 Railroad construction had begun, and over the next few years, the town kind of moved down the hill (present day Commercial Street) to be closer to the Railroad. Completed in early 1906, passenger trains began daily runs on the line bringing tourists to the area to see the country and go float fishing in the White River.

Things would change for the area in 1907 when Harold Bell Wright's novel "The Shepherd of the Hills" was published. Folks came in flocks to see the country and meet the people, and in a short amount of time, began to annoy most of the residents of the area. Wright's novel which was fiction took several years to write. He had spent a few summers in the area, getting to know the country and the people and based the story around the cabin owned by John and Anna Ross (who were known as Old Matt and Aunt Mollie in the story), life in the upper Roark Valley, Mutton Hollow, and the people living here and bringing into the story a stranger from the big city, who would be known as the Shepherd.

I read the "Shepherd of the Hills" when I was in the seventh grade and immediately I gained a huge respect and interest for the history of this area, plus the fact that 6 generations of my family had called this area home, sparked my interest even further. During the 8th grade I did my very first research paper on the history of Branson, MO and covered its beginnings in the 1880s to present day.

On Mom's side of the family, my Grandpa grew up not far from the Shepherd of the Hills Homestead, living in the Roark Valley in a little community known as Garber. Garber, Missouri's beginnings go back to about 1896, a minister, Joel Garber established a post office in the upper Roark Valley, in the land north of the present day Shepherd of the Hills Homestead. When Joel Garber's term as postmaster ended in 1901, William Fronabarger took the job and relocated the post office to his home, on the banks of Roark Creek. This home and property are still in use today over 100 years later. By 1904 the railroad was cutting its way thru the valley heading for Branson, and John Ross (Old Matt) and son Charles purchased some acreage next to the railroad, plotted mine lots and built a post office/general store, a mercantile, and a five room home. Later an inn, and a train depot made from a boxcar were built and in the years from 1907 thru Ross's death in 1923, the little town did well. Good roads into Garber never came to be, just well worn trails, the best way to get there was either on horseback, or ride the train, and in a short time the town quickly died down. Today all that remains of Garber are the foundations to the original buildings, and a stone building constructed in 1932 to be a church, but became the Garber post office. The post office remained active for a number of years, officially closing on June 1, 1956, mainly due to lack of interest and the fact that none of the ten families that still lived in the area wanted the job as postmaster! The pay wasn't all that great!

Grandpa grew up about a mile east of Garber and passed away there in December 2004 at the age of 82. It was always a great honor to pick Grandpa's brain on many occasions about the Garber history as he was the only Garber native left. I learned so much, still learned new things about the Garber community not long before he died. I always thought of him as my "chief Garber historian." Over time I do plan to release a book all about the Garber community using info from interviews with Grandpa, old photographs as well as some of the columns that John Ross himself wrote in the local newspaper during the years of 1901 to 1923.

Back to the Branson side of things, in April of 1912 the town was incorporated. Hacking railroad ties was a common job for most of the men in those days, and the Branson Canning Factory began during that time also. By this time, most of the buildings were on present day Commercial Street, all of them wood frame buildings except for the bank, which was brick. On August 29, 1912 a fire started in the Commercial Hotel. The fire spread up and down the street burning most of the buildings. Only four businesses survived, including the bank at the corner of Commercial and Main, Sullenger's Saloon, and the Branson Hotel. The town quickly rebuilt using brick and mortar this time, and those are the brick buildings you see along Commercial Street today.

The building and completion of the Powersite Dam downstream brought electricity to Branson and surrounding communities in 1913. But the constant threat of flooding on the White River each spring would destroy property and businesses close to the river on a continual basis until the building of Table Rock Dam, upstream from Branson in the 1950's. Over the years, 4 major floods on the White River occurred. The four that stand out were the floods of 1916, 1927, 1943 and 1945. Travel down Main Street today and imagine the water level halfway up the hill just below Commercial Street. That's how serious those floods could be. Imagine the business section of present day Hollister in almost 20 feet of water. Something had to be done to prevent this major flooding.

In 1941 a Flood Control Act was passed to provide funds for the building of a dam above Branson. This would be known as the Table Rock project, but because of World War II, construction on the project wouldn't begin until the summer of 1954. Blasting rock from nearby Baird Mountain to provide concrete for the structure, a continuous pour method was used that lasted 3 years and allowed workers to build a wall of concrete without seams to keep the structure strong. Table Rock Dam was completed in late 1958, with the official dedication being held in June of 1959. Later that year the Powerhouse was constructed and the generating of electricity began in 1961. The Dam created fabulous Table Rock Lake, 79 miles long, 745 miles of shoreline, it is one of the top bass fishing lakes in the the region.

The music industry in the area goes way back to the 1930's in Springfield, Missouri when local musicians appeared on live radio programs, stations such as KWTO. In the 1950's television came to the Ozarks and many of these radio performers ended up on TV with ABC's Ozark Jubilee, hosted by country performer Red Foley. The weekly show filmed in Springfield brought major name acts to this part of the country, many of them lived in Springfield while the show was active. Performers like Porter Wagoner, Smiley Burnette, Tex Ritter and Brenda Lee made regular appearances on the show and called Springfield home. The Ozark Jubilee continued as a weekly televised program until 1961.

Around the time the Dam was completed a family of musicians from the Nixa, MO area came to Branson, and began performing a few nights a week, attracting mostly fisherman and their wives. The Mabe brothers - Bill, Jim, Lyle and Bob called themselves the "Baldknobbers" named from a turn of the century vigilante group. Their first auditorium was the Sammy Lane Pavilion on the lakefront and it seated 50.

On Dad's side of the family my great grandfather was Earl "Chick" Allen, who was also one of the founding members of the Baldknobbers with the Mabe brothers. "Chick-a-boo" as he was known, played the jaw bone of a mule with sticks. That was the rhythm department, as the Baldknobbers were more of a hillbilly band, guitar, dobro, fiddle and banjo. Jim Mabe and Lyle Mabe with the help of Chick Allen created comic characters "Droopy Drawers" and "George Aggernite." To get crowds, the Baldknobbers placed a loud speaker on their car and would drive around town inviting folks to come see their show. Success came and after a few years, the Baldknobbers moved to their present location on Hwy 76 in 1968.

In 1960, two businesses opened west of town, that are still strong today. A Chicago family, the Herschend's leased the property surrounding Marvel Cave and built an 1880s Ozark village, with shops and live entertainment. It became Silver Dollar City, and in a short time grew to be one of the top theme parks in the country, and is a Branson thing to do.

The Shepherd of the Hills Farm opened in 1960 also. The Trimble Family purchased the Ross homestead, where the "Shepherd of the Hills" novel was based and built an outdoor theater to portray the story to Branson audiences. The park has grown over the years, the outdoor theater seats close to 2000, and every night 90 actors and actresses bring to life the Shepherd of the Hills story, and watching the presentation, you will soon feel like you were back in 1904.

In 1967 a family from Springfield known as the Presley family built a theater on Hwy 76. Local musician Lloyd Presley, and his sons Steve and Gary, along with other local musicians made up the show, featuring Bluegrass and Country music, Gary creating his own comic character, "Herkimer." Today four generations of the Presley family are featured on stage and along with the Baldknobbers are among our great Branson shows.

The Plummer Family opened a theater in 1973, and the Foggy River Boys from Joplin came to Branson in 1974. In 1977, Bob Mabe from the Baldknobbers started his own show, Bob-O-Link's Country Hoe-Down. These are the original five Branson shows that brought folks to town for the next few years thru about 1980. A few more shows opened in the early 80s and Branson quickly became known for its clean family entertainment. Roy Clark was the first major name act to relocate here in 1983. Not long after that came the Sons of the Pioneers and Box Car Willie. The late 1980s brought performers such as Mel Tillis, Mickey Gilley and Jim Stafford. The coverage from a 60 Minutes feature in 1991 caused Branson to boom thru the early 1990s, leveling off around 1996. Moe Bandy, Andy Williams, Ray Stevens, Willie Nelson, Bobby Vinton, Tony Orlando and others called Branson home and this place became the live entertainment capital of the world!

And now in 2008, Branson has almost 90 shows! Okay folks, if you haven't seen them all, you need to get to work! For me personally, it's been great growing up here and watching the growth. I remember when they widened Hwy 76 to three lanes, and when the areas of Green Mountain Drive and Shepherd of the Hills Expressway were wooded hillsides. I often tell folks when I give them a lecture on the history of the area, that Branson probably wouldn't be what it is now if Harold Bell Wright had not written and published his book. I know I probably wouldn't be Branson's Singing Cowboy had the Sons of the Pioneers never came. And to see the Roy Rogers Dale Evans Museum come to Branson in 2003! Now that's a dream come true!

God has truly blessed my family and I, I've been very fortunate to work around and hang out with a lot of wonderful folks who in one way or another make Branson what it is. I wouldn't live anywhere else! Branson and the Shepherd of the Hills Country will always be my home.

Click Here to see some early Branson goodies from the days of early tourism to present.

To see a lot of vintage photos from this area, go to the Harold Bell Wright website, www.gchudleigh.com.

If you've not read "The Shepherd of the Hills," you need to do so!!!

For the complete Silver Dollar City story I recommend reading Crystal Payton's "The Story of Silver Dollar City." It can be found at Silver Dollar City.

Looking for a great book about Taney County history in general, Elmo Ingenthron's "The Land of Taney" has been reprinted. To order your copy contact the White River Valley Historical Society located at the old jail in Forsyth, MO. Call 417-546-9892 or visit www.wrvhs.org.