It’s not just the prairie chickens. Yeah, they dance big. But so do the prairie grasses, whose roots run deep in this community. And the prairie flowers, whose seeds can survive wildfire. The prairie is a salad bowl for buffalo, … Read More
Turkey. Squirrel. Me.
Deep in the woods, Turkey Camp is the perfect venue to hunt turkey. But the turkeys are safe, mostly. The closest most camper-hunters get to birds happens when folks take a pull on the fifth of Wild Turkey that passes … Read More
Rising Above It All
Dunklin is Missouri’s tallest county, standing almost 44 miles from its sole to its crown, and shaped like the left side of an hourglass, seemingly stuffed with cotton, mostly, until I scratched a little deeper. Down near the border, just … Read More
Over Rocky Falls In A Barrel?
“Would you go down Rocky Falls in that?” He pointed to a submarine in the yard at River’s Edge Resort. “Not on your life,” I laughed. “Although today there might be enough water.” Earlier that morning, we had hoped to … Read More
Seven Wonders of Shannon County: Devil’s Well
Paraphrasing Jerry Vineyard, Missouri’s preeminent geologist-explorer, Devil’s Well is a big stomach. It’s mother nature’s idea of an indoor pool, except that it’s cold and dark and scary as hell, hence the name. It is perhaps the world’s most dramatic … Read More
Seven Wonders of Shannon County: Welch Spring
Upriver from Akers Ferry, which connects the wilderness north of the Current River to the wilderness on the south, Welch Spring is home to an abandoned country hospital. Nearly a century ago, a physician built a stone sanitarium at the … Read More
Seven Wonders of Shannon County: Round Spring
Highway 19 crosses the Current at Round Spring, another wonder to the eyes, but also a wonder down under. That’s because geologists believe the spring crosses under the Current before it empties into the river. Just north, two towns named … Read More
Seven Wonders of Shannon County: Blue Spring
Most of these half million floaters miss Blue Spring, even though it’s only a quarter mile from the Current, an easy hike beside the spring’s gushing stream. Called Spring of the Summer Sky by native inhabitants, the water charges from … Read More
The Seven Wonders of Shannon County: Rocky Falls
Most of the creeks that feed these rivers emanate from springs in the steep hills. Many must make a special effort to bust through barriers to reach the bigger streams. One such robust creek flows over Rocky Falls, and when … Read More
The Wild Horses of Shannon County
Downstream a bit, a feud has brewed for decades. At the heart of the fights are horses along the Jacks Fork and Current rivers. Back during the Great Depression, a farmer turned his herd of 30 or so horses loose … Read More