PLATE 1. Quercus palustris. Oak by Joshua Heston There are so many species of oak in the Ozark Mountain region that identifying them all is a bit daunting. This is only a partial list. White Oak (Q. alba) Black Oak (Q. valutina) Pin Oak (Q. palustris) Bur Oak (Q. macrocarpa) Shingle Oak (Q. imbrecaria) Post…
PLATE 1. Dogwood blossoms, Taney County, Missouri (March 31, 2009). I Was Given — to See — the Trees by Jim Barrett (FROM MY BOOK OF WORD PICTURES) I found myself in a primordial forest of gigantic white oak trees on an Ozark mountaintop ridge line – and I knew that I was looking at…
PLATE 1. The magical Blue Spring empties into the Current River, Shannon County, Missouri. February 20, 2009. Deep & Blue: Springs of the Ozarks by Joshua Heston Pure water spilling from the rock itself. There is an elemental quality to the idea. Particularly to flat-landers, there is something enchanting about Ozarks springs. The scene of…
Sassafras by Joshua Heston The sassafras tree is fragrant — reminiscent of lemon — when its branches or leaves are crushed. There are no sassafras species outside of North America and its common (and Latin) names are derived from a Native American word for the tree. A generation ago, sassafras was regularly used as a…
PLATE 1. Miller’s Bluff, Bourbeuse River Aunt Pena by Dale Grubaugh My great Aunt Pena [Peenee] Ringhiesen Stovall wasn’t my great aunt when I first met her. She lived on the Bourbeuse River near the old Hog Trough Bridge in Gasconade County, Missouri, and was a neighbor to my Uncle Sidney and Aunt Mildred. As…
(PLATE 1, above)”That’s me and old Mickey. He was about 15 when I moved to Neosho and I took him with me and kept him in the garage there. Came in one night and old Mickey wasn’t in there. I spent several days hunting for him but I never found him. Went off and died…
PLATE 1. Talking Rocks Cavern opens into an underground fairyland. Talking Rocks Cavern (Fairy Cave) by Joshua Heston The history of the ages often collides with our old-time pioneer and hillbilly memories here in the Ozarks. Such was a day back in 1883 when two boys went rabbit hunting in the steep and rocky hills…
Plate 1 (above) The Mysterious Gillioz by Joshua Heston Heat waves shimmered across the asphalt. Alleyway trees, mostly ailanthus and catalpa, quivered against the rare breeze. Midday streets were nearly empty as the collective of Springfield business folk braced themselves against yet another scorching August day. Downtown Springfield, Missouri. Just another medium-sized city in America,…
Down By the River Side by Joshua Heston and Dale Grubaugh Ozarkers of Christian County, Missouri, lost an old friend last December. On December 12, 2009, the Riverside Inn (on the banks of the Finley River just north of Ozark) closed for the last time, a victim of misplaced FEMA money and too many summer…
PLATE 1. From left, “Abner” Leon Weaver and brother “Cicero” Frank Weaver with June “Elviry” June Petrie Weaver. The Weaver Brothers and Elviry by Joshua Heston All but forgotten today, the Weaver Brothers & Elviry, originally of Christian County, Missouri, were one of the greatest stage attractions to ever tour North America and Europe. Combining…