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VOL. 45, NO. 8
FEBRUARY 2018
www.riverhillstraveler.com
Opinions vary on future of closed state parks By MATTIE LINK
P
mattie@sextonmediagroup.com _____________
ublic comments on the future of three Missouri State Parks properties are now available online at mostateparks.com. The three properties, which have not been developed and are currently closed, are Ozark Mountain State Park in Taney County, Bryant Creek State Park in Dou-
glas County and Jay Nixon State Park in Reynolds County.! The comments were gathered during a public comment period that was open from Dec. 4, 2017, through Jan. 6, 2018. Missouri State Parks (MSP) kicked off the comment period with a series of public meetings to discuss the future of the three properties. The public could submit comments about the properties in three different ways.
If they attended a public meeting, they could fill out and submit comment cards available at the public meetings. They could also complete an online survey on the Missouri State Parks website. A few people and public entities chose to send emails or other correspondence directly to Missouri State Parks. The River Hills Traveler viewed all of the comments online and pulled a few to publish in this story. The commenter's
name and address were not published by MSP. Ozark Mountain State Park The Ozark Mountain property is located in western Taney County, on the north fringe of Branson’s urban zone. It covers 1,011 acres and borders Ruth and Paul Henning Conservation Area. There is a 2.2-mile stretch of Roark Please see PARKS, 18
Constantly caring for Ozarks rivers
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erhaps I should not have been a fisherman, he thought. But that was the thing that I was born for.” —Earnest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
W (L-r) James Brewington, Roger Tripp and Sharon Martin enjoy visiting with all the customers at their shop.
Lures or live bait?
Custom Lures & Bait offers both plus guide services
C
By Bill Wakefield ustom Lures & Bait is very different from the other bait shops that I have visited over the past several months. Even the name shows its paradox to a typical bait shop. Lures are featured before the live bait and that philosophy carries throughout the shop and its owners. Roger Tripp and his partner, James Brewington, opened their shop on Sept. 15, 2013, in Fredericktown, Mo. The live bait part of the business came about because there wasn’t a bait shop locally and their customers requested live bait along with the lures that they purchased. As you drive into the parking lot
the first thing you notice is that the bait shop is an entirely separate building located next to the main building. The fisherman has a good selection of bait to choose from. There
are the standard Canadian Crawlers and red wigglers. Minnows include shiners, gold fish, koi, and rosie reds. The bait fisherman will also find crickets and Super meal worms. Catfishing is very popular in the area and to accommodate them, the bait shop carries Sonny’s dip bait, blood balls, Skip Jack Herring, shad and rooster livers when they are available. People can stop in anytime from sunup to sundown to buy bait and supplies except on Thursdays. Custom Lures & Bait shop closes on Thursdays. To insure that their customers receive the best and healthiest baits,
Please see BAIT, 18
By Ryan Walker ith the New Year here, I find myself reflecting on the river’s bounty from the year just ended. Not just last year, but all the years and all of the seasons given in 40+ years of fishing the Ozarks rivers. I’ll try to help you conjure images of these places via words, but words alone will not do them justice. If you know where they are, I’ve either guided you, we’ve fished together, or you know the rivers I am describing well enough to decipher my personal colloquialisms. So, without further ado, here are some of my favorite runs. The Miracle 1/2 Mile — James River, somewhere between Hootentown & Marble Grounds Stay left at the rock wall. The current wants to pull you into the shallow gravel, but you know better. This run gets deep on the other side of the river, and if you allow her to pull you in, you’ll get beached, or worse, run over the fish below. Dig. Hard. The sweet spot is far right, the one that will deposit you (almost) perfectly in the seam. Below the rapid, river left is cane and wil-
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Please see RIVERS, 19
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February 2018 • Page 3
Missouri has excellent fly fishing opportunities
F
By Bill Cooper ly fishing offers the ultimate in trout fishing adventure at Missouri’s trout parks. It is one thing to catch a limit of four rainbow trout on baits, or even artificial lures such as spinners, jigs and minnow imitators, but it is an entirely different ball game to fool trout into taking a tiny fly which a fish has judged to be a live, aquatic insect which it relishes as an easy meal. Thousands were attracted to the sport of fly fishing when the movie “A River Runs Through It” debuted. And rightfully so. The movie actors aptly portrayed fly fishing as a beautiful, artistic endeavor undergirded by religious fervor and personal reflection coupled with deep, mental aspirations and equally prevalent emotions. I have enjoyed the distinct pleasure of drifting flies to trout from the Appalachians to the Rockies and Canada to Mexico. Gorgeous scenery and breathtaking views are often associated with trout fishing. I can vouch that the precepts are true. Likewise, trout fishing in the Show Me State takes place in some of the most spectacular scenic areas within its boundaries. The trout parks are no exception. Trout fishing need not be as complex as many people are led to believe. A little study and practice will put any newcomer to the sport in ready fashion. A 5-weight rod, line and matching reel are the basic equipment essentials and will handle most trout encountered in the trout parks. A weight forward, floating fly line will make casting a cinch. Add a tapered leader to the end of the fly line and you have the perfect mixture of equipment ingredients to cast a fly as easily and as far as is necessary in the trout parks. Maintaining the “ten and two” casting posture, as demonstrated in articles and videos on fly fishing, will go far in aiding your casting ability, increasing your success and bolstering your confidence. I found it particularly helpful to point my rod tip at a stream-side treetop when completing the cast. This approach keeps from lowering the rod tip too much, which results in pileups, poor casts and spooked fish. Waders are essential to fly fishermen. Their use allows an angler to position himself in the best spot to approach and cast to fish he has sighted or to spots that likely hold fish. Good quality waders go a long way toward keeping a fisherman dry, warm and happy. That combination keeps one in the water longer, which equals more casts and more fish. Choice of flies is a subject that draws as much attention as politics in an election year. Every trout stream is different and while all may harbor many of the same aquatic insects, each will have bugs special to that area. Studying the species of insects found at each park and the time of year and day that they are most prevalent will go a long way toward increasing your catch rate. Find fly patterns that most resemble the insects you find and you will be in business. Google up fly patterns and you will be overwhelmed. Narrow your search to trout flies and the situation becomes more tolerable. Search topics like fly fishing Missouri’s trout parks and books on trout fishing and flies, and
Damon Spurgeon utilizes a 5-weight fly rod and large Wooly Buggers to catch big trout at Maramec Spring Park.
you can quickly become an educated trout fisherman. Tiny jigs capable of being flipped with a fly rod are hard to beat early in the season when aquatic insects are less visible. King jigs makes a fly rod jig that are the best that I have found. I prefer brown and black, but they now make some very colorful jigs that produce good results as well. As warmer weather nears and more bug hatches take place, I begin to use black ant patterns in number 18 and 20 sizes. Pale evening Duns in size 22 work for me as well. However, I carry three or four fly boxes stuffed with dozens of types of flies. Each seems to have its day, regardless of weather or bug hatches. I, do however, find myself relying on a half-dozen or so old faithfuls throughout the year. I would never leave the house without several scud patterns. These dumpy looking patterns resemble freshwater shrimp and are relished by trout. I catch most of my fish on tan or pink patterns by drifting the flies at the edge of currents near rocks or weed beds. Freshwater shrimp like to hang out in such areas. Nymphs of any type are good throughout the water column. You’ll have to experiment to find out where the fish are feeding on any given day. Emerger nymphs are fished just below the surface of the water, imitating an aquatic insect struggling to
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break through the topwater film and emerge as an adult of its species. Other
nymphs may fished from the surface all the way to the bottom of the stream. Bead-headed nymphs are one of my favorites. I prefer the Pheasant Tail nymph in number 12 and 14 sizes. The gold bead head adds a bit of flash to the presentation and the forked tail may imitate a small crayfish. My favorite summertime trout fly for late evenings or early mornings is a Griffith’s Gnat in size 18. The grizzled little bug looks like it needs to be eaten by a trout and it often works. I like to fish it in the current in open, clear water. When fishing gets tough, I often bring a hand-tied fly of my own into play. Trout park streams often contain offal from fish that have been cleaned in the streams. Other trout will feed on the remains, especially the white or pink pieces of meat and skin which wave in the current. I tie clusters of white and, occasionally, light pink feathers on a number 12 hook to resemble fish flesh. The feathers should be fluid enough to wave in the current. These flesh flies are best fished in riffles or just below them where trout wait for food to be washed their way. These patterns will work at both Maramec Spring Park and Montauk State Park. If you have never been fly fishing in these parks, Montauk has separate fly fishing areas while Maramec does not. Regardless, both parks offer excellent fly fishing opportunities. Grab that magic wand called a fly rod and orchestrate your own fly fishing dreams.
RiverHillsTraveler.com
Page 4 • February 2018
Never a dull moment exploring fire towers
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By Bob Frakes n September 2016 my wife and I made our way to a site on my “to do" list. This was the Possum Trot site located south of Winona on Route 19. It was an easy historic site to find. My GPS unit is based on topography maps and some of the past and present tower sites are shown. I was able to walk right to it. However, I didn’t expect to find what was there. The footings or piers were right there – all eight of them! As you can see in the picture, there were four smaller 50-foot footings located concentrically inside four larger. I had never seen that before; I have never seen it since. It is not uncommon to find multiple footings at a site. Maybe a steel tower replaced a wooden one. Maybe a larger tower replaced a smaller. But, how do you explain one set inside the other? Now, it seems the smaller was there first. I have a list — “Fire Towers of the Fristoe” — which has a 50-foot “Possum Trot 1938” listed. With that date it seems certain a larger 100 foot or so tower was built later on. A tower friend, John Timmermann, would answer the mystery. He sent me a picture and if you look close, you can see a 50-foot “windmill” tower sitting right inside a much larger “internal ladder” type tower. In fact, I have a Possum Trot picture that shows the same, I had just never looked close enough. The answer was lost in plain sight! Why that was done this one time remains a mystery. Was it done to provide coverage until the larger tower was up? You didn’t have to put one on
River Hills Traveler 212 E. Main St., Neosho, MO 64850 Phone & Fax: 800-874-8423
www.riverhillstraveler.com Email: jimmy@riverhillstraveler. com Owner & Publisher Jimmy Sexton Managing Editor Madeleine Link Circulation Manager Amanda Harvel Staff Writers Wes Franklin • Mike Roux Bill Wakefield • Bill Oder Tom Boydston • Bill Cooper Michelle Turner • Dana Sturgeon Chuck Smick • Ryan Walker Richard Whiteside • Roger Smith Double footings at Possum Trot.
Possum Trot lookout tower.
top of another for that. There was plenty of room there. Was it an experiment to use a standing 50-footer to help erect a 100footer? There is only conjecture. I was also able to clear another mystery off the list. The same “Fire Towers of the Fristoe” listed a tree lookout at “Mud Pond Ridge” – no location given. I asked here and there for some time. Nobody could quite remember. Then, I asked Kevin Cox from the Winona Office and he said sure, he grew up near there. It seems Mud Pond is south of Winona on 19 and east on Old Tram Road. You go a few miles and turn south and that is Mud Pond Ridge. A tree lookout was located there at
one time, probably to provide coverage over the ridge for Possum Trot Tower. Sydney Buchman once observed, “If there were no mystery left to explore, life would get rather dull, wouldn’t it?” If you are into a tower hobby, there is never a dull moment! (Questions or comments? Bob Frakes can be reached by email at frakes2@ mvn.net or by phone at 618244-1642.)
On the Cover
Jim Brazeal with his 18-inch smallie he caught in Stacked Rock Hole in Creek X (located somewhere in Missouri). (photo by Ryan Walker)
Advertising All of us River Hills Traveler, established in 1973, is published monthly by Sexton Media Group and Traveler Publishing Company at 212 E. Main St., Neosho, MO 64850. Postmaster: Send change of address notices to: River Hills Traveler, 212 E. Main St., Neosho, MO 64850. Subscription prices: $22 per year; 2 years, $40. Back issues available up to one year from publication, $5 plus sales tax & shipping. COPYRIGHT © 2018 No part of this publication may be reproduced without the express written permission of the publisher of the River Hills Traveler or his duly appointed agent. The publisher reserves the right to reject any advertising or editorial submission for any reason.
RiverHillsTraveler.com
February 2018 • Page 5
Over 1,500 fly fishers expected to attend ‘Sowbug’
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he North Arkansas Fly Fishers (NAFF) will hold their 21st annual “Sowbug Roundup… a Celebration of Fly Fishing” on March 22-24. This is an international show held in Mountain Home, Ark., near the world famous White and Norfolk rivers. One of the goals of the Sowbug Roundup is to encourage more people, especially youngsters, to become involved in fly fishing and conserving our natural Jimmy Sexton resources. ———— It is more imporJourney On tant now than ever to get kids outside and being mindful with what is going on around them. Technology has put practically anything they could need or want at their fingertips, and kids just aren’t getting involved in the outdoors like they used to. That is why the show’s entrance fee is $5 for all three days, and kids under 12 are free. This year, one day of the show will feature Tenkara fly fishing with speak-
I
think sometimes we avoid the subject of death because it is unpleasant to think of the inescapable fact that we are all just treading water here until the day we go under. However, the old Ozark hillman was obsessed, in my personal opinion, with the subject. Ozark folklorist Vance Randolph recorded quite a number of old Ozark superstitions regarding death. Wes Franklin One example of ———— these is the belief Native Ozarker that one should never wash clothes on New Year’s Day or it will very possibly result in the death of kinsman. Another is that if a picture suddenly falls from the wall, the first one who picks it up will die within a year. Makes you wonder why anyone would ever touch any fallen pictures – unless
ers, auctions and demonstrations. Also, every day there will be free fly tying classes, casting clinics and drawings for the kids. Last year, more than 1,500 fly fishers attended the show along with 130 fly tiers from around the world. This might be the best club-sponsored fly tying/fishing show in the US. The NAFF only does one fundraiser a year, and your help is greatly appreciated. Some of the things the club accomplished last year include: •!Awarded scholarships totaling $13,200 to college students pursuing degrees related to fisheries and conservation. •!Brought Landon Mayer in for a two-day fly fishing presentation free to the public. •!Taught a 12-week fly tying and fly fishing class to home-schooled students in Baxter County, Ark. •!Provided fishing activities for adults and kids, including fly tying classes and fly fishing instruction on streams. The NAFF, an affiliated club of Fly Fishers International, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, charitable organization and is incorporated in the State of Arkansas as a non-profit organization. If you’d like to make a donation,
please send it to North Arkansas Fly Fishers, Attn: Susan Parsons, 90 Jordan Lane, Lakeview, AR 72642. ——— Other things on my mind: • Furbearer biologist Laura Conlee, with the Missouri Department of Conservation, would like your help in reporting any sightings, captures or road-kills!of badgers, spotted skunks, least weasels and long-tailed weasels. Badgers can legally be harvested during the established season, however, there is no trapping or hunting season for weasels and spotted skunks. Please report any sightings, photos, or road-kill animals to Conlee by calling (573) 815-7900 or emailing laura.conlee@mdc.mo.gov. • Just a reminder that the Missouri Trappers Association will have a fur auction on Saturday, Feb. 17, at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Montgomery City. • The MDC is updating its black bear research webpage with enhanced features and information on Missouri’s native black bear population. The new webpage will offer black bear research project summaries, project updates, new research photos, videos, interactive story maps and much more.
One of many new web features will be an interactive story map. Story maps combine maps and geography with narrative text, images, and multimedia content to better share the story about black bears in Missouri. The black bear story map will launch this spring on the website. The new enhanced story map will replace the old tracking map previously on the website. While the new technology still provides interactive research maps of bear movements in Missouri, it limits individual collared bear locations to protect against illegal poaching. MDC’s Conservation Commission has established a benchmark of 500 black bears before MDC initiates a hunting season. Missouri currently has an estimated black bear population of 350 bears. To learn more about black bears in Missouri, including research information, ongoing project updates, bear research photos and videos, and future story maps, go to!http://bit.ly/2CU gZiE. To view the new map of bear reports in Missouri or to report a bear sighting, visit!http://bit.ly/2CGFixc. (Jimmy Sexton is owner and publisher of the River Hills Traveler. He can be reached at (800) 874-8423, ext. 1, or jimmy@riverhillstraveler.com.)
they were a non-believer, of course. If you usually lock the door of your home at night, but forget to one evening, it is a bad omen of the death of someone you care about. It is bad form, and possibly bad luck, to sweep under a sick person’s bed. Never lift a sick man from one bed to another unless you transfer the bedding with him. Never turn a sick person completely around where their head and feet exchange places on the bed. Also, never shave a person who is seriously ill. All of these things could bring about their death. If you’re dangerously sick and want to know your prognosis, touch some bread to your lips and throw it to a dog. If the dog refuses to eat, you only have a short time to live. Burn the heart of a murdered man to ensure his killer will receive justice. When someone dies in the house, cover all the mirrors with a white cloth, for if one should see their own reflection in a mirror while the body is still
in the house it means the person will die within a year. Always dig a grave on the same day as the burying. If a grave is dug the day before it may bring about the death of one of the deceased’s relatives. Rain on the day of the funeral is a good sign, as it means the departed’s soul is at rest. Once a funeral procession has started, it is bad luck for it to stop for any reason until reaching the cemetery, or it could mean the death of another member of the family within a year. Try not to let a body lie unburied past Sunday or it could bring bad luck to the family. When a person dies, stop the clocks in the house. If they should stop on their own while the deceased is in the house it could mean the death of someone in the household. Stopping the clocks on your own circumvents this possibility. Never burn sassafras wood or it could cause the death of one’s mother. If she is already dead, it’s okay. Never
burn peach tree wood or it could also cause death. Do not carry a hoe into the house or it will result in the death of a relative. When a dog howls four times on the front porch it means there will soon be a death in the house. If a rooster crows seven times in the doorway of a house, without turning around, someone in the family is going to die soon. If a whippoorwill lands on the roof and gives its call, there will be a death nearby within 24 hours. Birds in the house are bad luck, bats are very bad luck, and an owl in the house is the worst of all. It nearly always means death. There are many more Ozark superstitions regarding death. I will continue with part two next month. Until then, be careful out there. (Wes Franklin!can be reached by email at cato.uticensis46@gmail.com, or by USPS mail at 12161 Norway Road, Neosho, MO 64850.)
Death in the Ozarks, part 1
RiverHillsTraveler.com
Page 6 • February 2018
My last fishing trip ends at the ER
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he wife and I were blessed with two sons. As with most parents, we enjoyed doing things with our kids. I don’t remember just how old they were at this time, but they were still in grade school. We thought we would go on a fishing-camping trip. So we loaded our camping and fishing gear and headed out to a small lake not too far out of town. When we arrived the first order of things was to set up camp. It was late in the evening and the boys were anxious to start fishing. Well, me too. We had no boat so we would be fishing from the bank. Problem was, there were no really clear spots which were not already taken. We found a halfway decent spot and started preparing our lines. There were so many trees and brush the boys would get hung up. After a few times of this, I was becoming irritated (not at the boys) but beTom cause it was getting Boydston dark and I also ———— wanted to fish. Finally, things got settled down and I got my line ready. Okay, here I go. Oops, now I am hung up. Now I am really mad, and embarrassed, so I yanked hard on my line. It came loose and, what I thought was the sinker, hit me in the head, which didn’t help my mood any, so I pulled even harder. Well, it wasn’t a sinker that hit me in the head, it was my treble hook. Buried under the skin. That’s what I get for losing my temper. I asked my wife to pull it out, and she tried with no luck. She said as always, I had a hard head. Thanks, I needed that. I told her to take my knife, cut the skin a little and lift it out. “No way,” she says. The oldest boy jumped right on that one. “Let me, I can do it!” In your dreams boy. My line never hit the water, but I caught a big sucker. It was late so I needed to go to the emergency room. We cut the fishing line from the hook, I put a hat on and off I went. I didn’t have to go all the way back into town because a new branch of the hospital had just been completed nearby. At least I might not be gone for hours. I was glad I didn’t have to go to the main hospital because I knew too many of the staff that worked there. That would be embarrassing. I got to the emergency room, walked up to the desk, and to my surprise, I knew the nurse. She asked me what the problem was, because I looked fine to her. I explained to her (very quietly) that I had a fish hook stuck in my head. She must not have heard me, because she asked again what it was I had said. I repeated what I told her before, and as she was laughing she repeated loudly, “You have a fish hook in your head?” I didn’t understand why she did that until I looked around and saw that I
knew most of the staff there. They had transferred from the main hospital to here. I must have looked like a turtle pulling his head back into his shell. At that time I wish I could have. Well, I gave them a good laugh and after that some of them began calling me Captain Hook. That took some time to live down. As the boys got a little older and a little more responsible, they asked if they could take a few friends and go fishing and camping overnight without me going along. I agreed. They loaded their gear and I took them to a nearby county park and lake. Told them I would pick them up the next afternoon. Late that night there was a tornado that went through that area. I headed out to the park right away. By the time I got there it was daylight. Trees were down everywhere. I couldn’t get to their campsite by car because of the trees. I walked the rest of the way, or rather ran. When I got to their camp, I saw a tree laying across their tent. You can imagine what I felt at that moment. None of them were inside. I began calling for them. It wasn’t too long they came walking up the hill from the lake, and all three were just fine. Boy what a relief. I asked them what they did and they said the wind got so strong they went to one of the shelter houses, built a fire in the stone fireplace and spent the night. That morning they got up and went fishing as if nothing happened. We dug out their camping gear, loaded up and went home, even though they wanted to stay and fish. I sure was proud of them. Nice move. When the boys got old enough they joined the boy scouts. As time went by, they wanted to take a canoe trip and earn a particular badge. Okay, but this meant adult supervision. We decided the Marais des Cygnes River would do fine. It was only about seventy miles from our place and the river would be about right for canoeing this time of year. With the three of us and all the camping and fishing gear, we would need two canoes. That meant another adult to help in the second canoe. I called a friend of mine (yes, I do have a friend or two) and he thought that would be fun. We would spend three days on the
trip, and travel approximately fifty miles on the river. The river was much lower than we expected, so we had to do quite a bit of portaging. We were having a pretty good time except for my friend. I didn’t notice he didn’t appear to be enjoying the trip. Before long he said he wasn’t feeling well. Maybe, but I feel as though he expected more from the trip, and not so much work. I have to admit it did turn into more work than expected. But you never know what might happen. Well, he decided he would go home. He called for someone to come pick him up. He did make a call for us to my “other” friend, to come take his place. The boys were worried the trip would end right there. While we were waiting on the switch, we did get in a lot of fishing. The boys caught fish, all I did was drown a few worms. A lot of time had been lost which we would need to make up as to meet our scheduled pickup time. At night we camped on the bank, got in a lot of fishing and the rest of the trip went well and we made our pickup time. When the boys got a little older, their boy scout troop canoed the border waters of Canada. I guess our little trip was just a “walk in the park.” One spring I went to Independence, Kansas, and did some scouting for deer at a nearby lake. Found a good spot where deer had been traveling, and a great place for a stand. When the season came around, a buddy of mine (now I have three friends) wanted to go along and fish while I was hunting. So we hooked his boat trailer to the car and off we went. When we arrived, we found the lake had flooded some. To reach my deer stand I would have to walk through two feet of water, and that ain’t gonna happen. Since we had driven that far and brought the boat, he wanted to go ahead and try to do some fishing.
I didn’t mind, but I thought it would be a waste of time, but then when I fish it is a waste of time. The water was real muddy and a little swift but we put the boat in and tried our luck. My first cast, I snagged on something. I had learned my lesson on jerking my line, so I just began reeling it in and whatever I had hooked, it was coming in. Big-big surprise I had a large catfish on my line. I couldn’t believe my eyes. We fished a little longer with no luck. We wanted to see what that fish weighed so we drove to a little bait shop we had passed on our way in and checked it out on their scales. Wow! It went twelve and a half pounds. For me, that was a monster. For me to even catch a fish was something. That night we cooked it over an open fire, and I can’t believe we ate the whole thing. The years went by too fast. The boys grew up and left home. So we sold our house and moved back to the Neosho area. Sometime later my oldest son called and wanted me to go fishing with him to a lake he wanted to try out. Of course I would. We loaded the canoe and set out. He was quite the fisherman, and he knew my fishing skills, so he had me use the same lures he was using. Sounded good to me. How could I go wrong? He was fishing on one side of the canoe and I on the other. He was catching fish and I was not. He thought we would just switch sides and see what would happen. Okay that should do it. There must be a honey hole on his side. Well, guess what? Now he was catching fish on my side, and me, same as always, nothing. All I know is that fish hate me. Oh, well, I sure had a great time in all these years with all my friends and family. (Tom Boydston lives in Neosho, Mo., and can be reached by phone or text at 417-439-6048.)
RiverHillsTraveler.com
February 2018 • Page 7
‘James Fork’ is an indispensable book
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By Steve Wiegenstein eaders of books on Ozarks culture and geography are probably familiar with Leland and Crystal Payton, whose earlier works, "Damming the Osage," "Mystery of the Irish Wilderness," "The Beautiful and Enduring Ozarks," and others, explore elements of the Ozark experience in a reflective and sympathetic though unromanticized way. Now the Paytons are out with a new book," James Fork of the White: Transformation of an Ozark River," which treats the James Fork (or James River, depending on your choice of nomenclature) much as "Damming the Osage" dealt with its river: exploring its culture, its notable inhabitants, its controversies, its geography and hydrology, its history, and ultimately its submersion into a manmade lake, in this case Table Rock Lake, which swallowed up many miles of what had been one of Missouri’s great float streams. The James gets less attention than other Ozarks rivers; it doesn’t have the national recognition of the Buffalo, Current, or Eleven Point, nor the long sinuous might of the Osage. But the stories gathered from along the James, and the variety of its topography as it flows west from near Seymour, skirts the southern edge of Springfield, then abruptly heads south
This real photo postcard by George Hall shows legendary float guide Tom Yocum, circa 1918.
Table Rock Dam is on the White River, but it backs up 50 miles of the James. The dam ended the famous Galena-to-Branson float, but did create a clear water lake with excellent largemouth bass fishing.
through Galena to its meeting with the lake near Kimberling City, make for a book that should be on the shelf of anyone with an interest in the Ozarks, its streams, or its people. "James Fork of the White" is an oversized book, 352 pages with full-color illustrations from start to finish. Many of the illustrations are photographs by Leland Payton, whose work has documented the Ozarks for decades. Payton’s photographic gaze is contemplative, sometimes wry, and often focused on the human artifacts that have marked the landscape over the generations: old bridges, buildings, the remnants of milldams and springhouses, signs, and sometimes (though not insistently) an actual human. The overlook-at-sunset-in-autumn photo is not to be found – or if found, is likely to be a tad off kilter. Just as valuable in the illustrations are the vast numbers of historical images the Paytons have collected, including postcards, maps, clippings, pamphlets, labels, and other ephemera. Taken together, the historic images and the contemporary photographs create a rich visual portrait of the James River watershed. The text of the book, as with "Damming the Osage," consists of brief vignettes about people, incidents, and landscapes within the region, grouped together into chapters that converge on a broader topic: the geography of the region, the upper river, the Springfield section, and the famous float trip stretch from Galena to Branson, for example. Each chapter covers a number of topics within that broad subject area, each typically taking two to four pages be-
fore moving on. Like the images, the text covers an immense variety of subjects. There were some I was dimly aware of, some I was familiar with, and many, many that I’d never heard of before. The Paytons, who live in Springfield, have made this river a particular project of documentation, and this book covers everything from forgotten industries and settlements to recent controversies over pollution and development. I found the saga of the creation of Table Rock Dam and its lake particularly interesting. I suspect I am not alone in assuming that Table Rock originated in the wave of flood control public works projects of the mid-twentieth century, part of the “big dam foolishness” chronicled in Elmer T. Peterson’s book of the same name, but I was surprised to learn that the dam had its roots much farther back. The book details the plans of multiple entrepreneurs to dam the James as early as 1908, plans which were thwarted and resuscitated over the decades as the winds of politics and economics shifted. "James Fork of the White" treats the
creation of Table Rock Lake with evenhanded understanding. The lake has brought immense economic development to Branson and the surrounding area, but that development came at the cost of the permanent inundation of hundreds of miles of valleys, farmland, and settlements. The James Fork’s legendary Galenato-Branson float, itself a tourist attraction in its own right, was lost to the more mechanized allure of deep flat water, stocked trout, and big bass fishing. "James Fork of the White" is a book I will return to again and again, both for the richness of its images and for the variety of its information. For residents of Springfield and the White River valley, and for anyone interested in Ozarks history and culture, this is an indispensable book. James Fork of the White is available for $35, postage paid, from the publisher, Lens & Pen Press, at http://beautifulozarks.com. (Steve Wiegenstein is a novelist and professor at Columbia College, and a born and raised Ozarker. His family roots go deep in Madison, Iron, and Reynolds counties.)
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