Lake of the Ozarks 2009 Vacation & Service Guide - (Page 22) history & heritage Several hundred years ago, the tall, handsome Osage Indians roamed the hills and valleys of what is now Missouri’s Miller, Camden and Morgan Counties, which surround the Lake of the Ozarks, the northern foothills of the Ozark Mountains. Pause for a moment, at the top of a bluff, and gaze at the Ozark forests and the water below. Imagine tribes of Osage Indians pushing patiently through the trees hunting deer, turkey and other wildlife. By the streams, they fish and capture beavers. As the Native American hunters move through the woods, they leave their signal to those who follow the thong tree. They select a white oak sapling and a green-forked limb (thong) from another tree and bend them together. With the sapling bent horizontal to the ground, it points toward a spring or cave for the other members of the tribe. Look around on your walks and hikes through the local woods, as thong trees can still be found in the area today. Caves abound in the Ozarks, offering temporary shelter to the Osage Indians. Ha Ha Tonka State Park is an excellent example of local “karst” topography which is characterized by caves, sinkholes, underground streams, large springs and natural bridges. Just beyond and between the hills and rocky cliffs, the transition areas of plateaus, where prairie grass grew and where the Native Americans planted their crops of corn, beans and pumpkins can be found. Farmers in this three-county area continue to turn up arrowheads as they till their fields…a constant reminder of the land’s predecessors. Possibly the earliest meeting of the Osage and explorers was in 1710, when a Frenchman named Claude DuTissent visited and hunted with the Osage tribes. But it wasn’t until a century later that the natural wonders of the Ozarks were described by Lewis and Clark as they explored the frontier. The French were responsible for the name of this section of the country. They had established a post on the Arkansas River, and the name was shortened to Aux-Arcs pronounced Ozark. The term means, literally, to the Arkansas or to the Arkansas Post. Gradually, commerce began between the traders from St. Louis and the Native Americans. The Osage bartered beaver and other animal skins which found their way to the eastern colonies of the United States and Europe, where they were fashioned into top hats for men and capes for women. As the traders moved into the area, the Osage ceded parcels of land to the federal government which eventually took a familiar action. In 1825, the Osage tribe was moved to reservations in Kansas and Oklahoma. The Ozarks then became wide open for settlers who came primarily from Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. Among them were hunters, such as Daniel Boone, who made a 22 Ozark Opry livelihood of trapping animals for their skins. However, most of the newcomers were farmers who built their log homes and churches (See St. Patrick’s Shrine article on page 39) and tilled their fields with oxen and mules. They grew crops of hay, soybeans and corn, and raised cattle and pigs to meet their needs of self-sufficiency. Life in the Ozarks wasn’t all work. The pioneers also met their need for social interaction by gathering as small communities, enjoying box suppers and music played for square, round and clog dancing. These are activities which have been passed on through generations and which visitors can enjoy today in the small town street dances and festivals, and in the music shows where mountain music, country, bluegrass and gospel tunes are an inherent element. Education and appreciation of the arts brought the chautauqua by train for entertainment and County Fairs were held. Among the fine livestock shown by locals were mules. In fact, it was a mule from a Morgan County farm which received the Mayor’s Award and $10,000 at the 1904 St. Louis World Fair. Thus the term ”Missouri Mule” originated. Mule teams were used in building Bagnell Dam. New towns sprouted up, offering meals of tasty home cookin’ and entertainment to visitors as well as soldiers stationed at nearby camps during World War II. After the war’s end, fishermen and tourists came to vacation here. Lee Mace’s Ozark Opry opened the first Ozark country and gospel music show in 1953, only closing a few years ago. In the early 1970’s, another community was quietly forming, as Mennonites moved from Pennsylvania, Indiana and Kansas to farm lands north and east of Versailles. In many respects, the Lake of the Ozarks has come of age in the past two decades, continuing to be the beautiful magnet which draws visitors, to what has become the Mid-America’s premier family fun vacation destination.
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