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
Seven Wonders of Shannon County: Alley Spring
Some folks claim that Alley Spring Mill is the most photographed spot in Missouri. The two story gristmill sits astride this emerging underground discharge of 81 million gallons per day, where Alley Spring Branch flows a half mile to add … Read More
Seven Wonders of Shannon County: Jam Up
Jam Up Cave is a barn-sized hole at the base of a sheer rock cliff. The cave opens into a sinkhole directly behind the cliff’s face. The sinkhole itself drops from the mountaintop like a landscaped funnel, big as a … Read More
Out, out, brief candle
Within one lunar cycle they were gone. Over a 28 day period, Columbia endured a tragedy in three acts, and lost a major chunk of its soul when three of the city’s most visible luminaries died. City officials? No. Big … Read More
Ozark Skyscraper
It was a landmark rising from the Ozark hills, for decades the tallest building between Springfield and Cape. The ten story Tower Inn came down slowly, leaving a million memories of Salem’s Ozark Skyscraper. Gone now.
Goodbye, old girl
We traced Highway 47, crossing the Missouri River into Washington’s movie star face, a gorgeous riverbank town with chiseled features, church spires and storefronts peeking from under a brow of hills draped in nature’s thick mane of hardwood forests. The … Read More
My Favorite Statue
From this most animated statue, John William “Blind” Boone’s arms are not merely extended, they’re launched forward, fingers splayed like ten cobras striking in precision. Warrensburg, Missouri.
Mark Twain, Fabius and Troublesome Creek
If you travel at all around Mark Twain’s boyhood stomping grounds, you’ll likely cross the Fabius River. There are three branches, paralleling Troublesome Creek as they all wind their way to the Mississippi. The Fabius rivers are named not for … Read More
