We passed Cedar Springs and stopped in El Dorado Springs, where the Osage Tribe used to bring their sick to heal in the mineral springs. When Europeans settled the area, the Osage left for their own safety, and the springs were ignored for generations—until the 1880s when the Hightower family rediscovered their benefit. Eventually, the springs became commercialized, with fences to keep out the hogs and cattle and two iron pipes delivering the healing waters—one pipe for Democrats, the other for Republicans. You think I’m kidding. Democrats and Republicans around here hate each other, which is not unusual. But their hate doesn’t come from budget matters or immigration policy. It comes from the Civil War.

El Dorado Springs was the home of Eugene McCown, a roaring 20s jazz great and artist who hung out with F. Scott Fitzgerald in Paris. This town features Missouri’s oldest municipal band, and America’s longest continually-used bandstand. –from A Road Trip Into America’s Heart