{"id":6319,"date":"2019-03-19T14:17:28","date_gmt":"2019-03-19T19:17:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/?p=6319"},"modified":"2019-03-19T14:22:39","modified_gmt":"2019-03-19T19:22:39","slug":"the-harold-bell-wright-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/2019\/03\/19\/the-harold-bell-wright-era\/","title":{"rendered":"The Harold Bell Wright Era"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

The Harold Bell Wright Era<\/h1>\n

by J. Thomas with Joshua Heston<\/strong><\/p>\n

To understand Branson today, we must harken back to the earlier days of an old-fashioned people and the early steps of those who walked the paths of these White River Hills. With around seven million visitors a year, Branson has become a center for shopping, live entertainment and outdoor adventure. The question is why?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with our most noteworthy character: Harold Bell Wright of Rome, New York.<\/p>\n

Wright was a traveling pastor who \u2014 beginning in 1896\u2014 began spending his summers here in these White River Hills. Wright was quite the wordsmith and in his time in our Ozarks, he became a novelist; a novelist reflecting on the good works of life.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”6322″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Wright summered with the Ross family who lived on a high ridge west of what would become Branson, Missouri. As a novelist, Wright penned That Printer of Udell\u2019s<\/em> in 1903 (the first of 19 novels he would write) but it was his second novel that would take the nation by storm.<\/p>\n

The title? The Shepherd of the Hills<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Over 20 millions copies would sell worldwide and the book even inspired a 1941 film starring none other than John Wayne. The film would be Wayne\u2019s first Technicolor film.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the film\u2019s script had almost nothing to do with Wright\u2019s book. Wayne would later communicate with Wright, saying it was a \u201cmistake\u201d for not reading the book before making the film. John Wayne\u2019s letter is on display in the Branson Toy Museum.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”6323″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Throughout his career, Wright\u2019s work was rarely considered \u201cgreat literature\u201d but nonetheless, The Shepherd of the Hills<\/em> brought him respect among the nation\u2019s reading public. Many of Wright\u2019s readers appreciated his unique and gentle morality as well as an optimism that was oft-lacking in literature of the early 20th century. After the success of The Shepherd of the Hills<\/em>, Harold Bell Wright was a household name.<\/p>\n

As a result, people began to drive to Wright\u2019s now-famed \u201cShepherd of the Hills\u201d country to find the real-life characters who had inspired his book. Travelers wanted to hear \u201cOld Matt\u201d himself tell the story. They wanted to walk the mountain ridges and explore the mysterious Ozark caverns. It would be the Shepherd of the Hills<\/em> novel, along with nearby Marvel Cave, which sparked the first boom in Branson tourism.<\/p>\n

As more and more people came, they began to see what Wright saw in these hills: a rugged, introspective beauty which bred a unique people, strong in faith, quiet in reserve, laconic in judgement.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”6324″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Today, Old Matt\u2019s Cabin \u2014 the actual homestead cabin of Matt Ross \u2014 still sits on the ridge overlooking Mutton Holler. Wright\u2019s original writing desk is in the corner of the main room, sitting as though waiting for the author\u2019s return.<\/p>\n

The overlook upon which Wright camped all those summer ago still overlooks an unspoiled valley. And as for the real-life people who inspired the characters of Old Matt and Aunt Molly? They, as well as others, rest in peace at the Evergreen Cemetery, just over the next ridge.<\/p>\n

These places are real. This is our Ozarks. This is our story.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] The Harold Bell Wright Era by J. Thomas with Joshua Heston To understand Branson today, we must harken back to the earlier days of an old-fashioned people and the early steps of those who walked the paths of these White River Hills. With around seven million visitors a year, Branson has become a center…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[955,582],"tags":[175],"class_list":["post-6319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hillbillyhistory","category-sotoarchive","tag-harold-bell-wright","category-955","category-582","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6319"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6326,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6319\/revisions\/6326"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}