The Ozarks Mtneer
from the Ralph Foster Archive
The first edition of the Ozarks Mountaineer was published in March 1952 and from that point on was dedicated to perserving the history and folklore of the Ozarks region.
The magazine was founded and run for 15 years by native Ozarkians Roscoe and Velma Stewart. This husband and wife team worked hard at the day to day chores of running the magazine.
While Velma Stewart admitted that she didn't have the vision for the Mountaineer that her husband did, she worked with him to make it a success.
In 1967, they handed the reins of the magazine over to another husband and wife team, Clay M. and Shirley Anderson.
This couple brought the magazine through its first quarter century and well into its second. Indeed, Clay Anderson was still owner and editor at the time of his death in October of 1993.
Over the years, the magazine gained a wide variety of contributors and readers. Some well-known contributors were M.E. Oliver, Townsend Godsey, Jimmy Driftwood and Mary Kennedy McCord.
A well-known reader who later became a contributor was Vance Randolph, who was made famous by his books about Ozark life.
February 24, 2008
Plate 1. Cover of The Ozarks Mountaineer, Volume 35, No. 8 & 9, October 1987. At that time, their mailing address was listed simply as Route 3, Box 868, Branson.
Ralph Foster Article reprint —
The staff of College of the Ozarks' Ralph Foster Museum has graciously allowed the reprint of this article from their archive.
- Aid in preserving the history and folklore of the Ozarks and its communities.
- Encourage the development of native crafts and of local industry in the Ozarks.
- Study the natural resources of the Ozarks and to aid in the adoption of programs to utilize them for the maximum good of the region.
- Encourage people in other sections of the United States to establish their homes in the Ozarks.
- Aid in getting the varios communities, sections and groups of the Ozarks to cooperate together for the common good and advancement of the region.
- And, generally, to consider the important social and economic problems of the Ozarks and to aid in their solution, to that end that the Ozarks will give a happy and complete life to its people.
In 1952: Sixfold Mission of The Ozarks Mountaineer
The Ozarks Mountaineer, Volume 24, No. 7, March, 1976
