|
An Epiphany
In An Ozarks Ghost
Town
Ed
Crabtree
The
word epiphany as defined by yourDictionary.com has
the following meaning;
A
comprehension or perception of reality by means
of a sudden intuitive realization
Our
good friend and contributing writer for this
publication as well as the Stone County Gazette,
Jim Barrett, on occasion, enjoys giving me a little
good natured teasing in regards to my frequent use
of the word epiphany in the various articles I
write. But to me, I prefer to use the word
epiphany, as it seems to make for improved writing,
using this single word to sum up a thought, rather
than to use a phrase like;
"why Lord have
mercy, it hit me like a ton of bricks when I
figured out that there were folks that didn't
know the story behind Old Matt's Cabin and the
Shepherd Of The Hills!"
Now
if I was fortunate enough to visit with you in
person, in expressing the idea of a sudden
comprehension or realization, I probably would use
the latter phrase, however for our purposes here,
please tolerate my use of the word
epiphany.
With
that said, let me say that it never ceases to amaze
me, just how many folks there are that don't know
the history of that quaint little cabin just off of
Highway 76 west of Branson Missouri, and the drama
that has been in the process of unfolding there for
over a century. To hear some of these folks tell
it, you would think that they believe that some of
the older venues in the area were just built from
the ground up as tourist attractions, businesses
with a façade that looks historically and
culturally correct, and not the "real"
thing.
Those
of us that grew up here in the Ozarks, know the
story of the Shepherd Of The Hills from having had
the book read to us by our teachers in elementary
school as well as books such as the Little House
series that were written by Laura Ingalls Wilder
over in nearby Mansfield Missouri. These books as
well as others were required reading for many of us
in primary school, these lessons in regional
cultural studies, gave us a "grounding effect" as
Peter Engler put it when The
Message Tree interviewed
him in our March
issue. An effect that gave us a sense of connection
or belonging to the region. Perhaps those new to
the area haven't as yet partaken of this knowledge,
or perhaps these materials are no longer a part of
the local educational curriculum here in the
Ozarks. What ever the case may be, it was
definitely an epiphany when I realized that what so
many of us take for granted, others have no idea as
to the importance and significance of some of our
Ozark Mountain Country treasures.
When
Harold Bell Wright wrote the fictional drama, The
Shepherd Of The Hills, it was said that many of the
principal characters in the book were based on and
around the lives of many of the residents of the
area at that time. It has long been maintained that
the characters known as "Old Matt and Aunt Mollie"
were in reality the real life couple that
homesteaded the Shepherd Of The Hills farm, Mr.And
Mrs. John Ross.
In
the Spring 1990 issue of Ozarks Watch, Lynn Morrow
published an article, detailing the history of the
Ross family, from the birth of John Ross to the
final resting place of this couple in the Evergreen
Cemetery, not far from their historic homestead.
(see
full text Old Matt's Cabin by Lynn
Morrow )
Morrow
tells us how the Ross family came to settle on the
ridge overlooking both Mutton Holler and the Roark
Valley, and how Ross realized that after Wright
published his novel, tourists would come and invade
the family's privacy, so Ross relocated to the then
new community of Garber in Roark Valley just north
and west of their beloved cabin that still stands
along the trail nobody knows how old.
|
Old Matt's Cabin, home of Mr. And Mrs
John Ross,
In all probability, the most photographed
home in Missouri
Photo supplied by Jerry
Lipchik
|
Of
course the original homestead has been lovingly
taken care of all these years and carefully
maintained by the organizations that have owned the
Shepherd Of The Hills property since Ross relocated
to Garber, but the fact that Old Matt's cabin
remains today in wonderful condition is a testimony
to the skill of Ross who was an accomplished
carpenter. Unfortunately his home at Garber never
gained the attention that "Old Matt's Cabin" has
over the years, it being one of the most
photographed homes in Missouri, but the last home
of J.K. Ross as well as the town of Garber have
both been largely forgotten, and now lie in
ruin.
While
doing some research for an article I am working on
regarding some of the fascinating sites on the
Internet that showcase and preserve Ozarks history
and culture, I ran across a local history buff that
promises to be one who will carry on the tradition
of researching and recording our heritage. John
Fullerton is one of those young people that we
older folks can count on to carry on with our work
of preserving Ozarks culture after we have been
called to walk those higher and brighter Ozark
trails. After learning that John has deep roots in
the Roark Valley area, his Grandfather still
residing there near Garber, I conned John into
taking me on a tour of this Ozarks ghost town where
I took the attached photos.
Having
heard the story of Old Matt, a.k.a John Ross, and
having visited the Shepherd Of The Hills farm on
several occasions over the last forty years or so,
it was a treat to be able to see what is left of
the town of Garber and the remains of "Old Matt's"
last home. This experience of visiting Garber left
me with a greater and more in depth appreciation of
area history.
As
you drive along the road into Roark Valley, you
pass under a railroad trestle, the same railroad
line that Wright spoke of in the last chapter of
the novel, and like stepping through a portal, you
leave the hustle and bustle of Branson and its
tourist attractions, behind and enter an Ozarks
Valley that almost seems to be stuck somewhere else
in time. A beautiful valley that I fear will
sometime soon be discovered by the outside world
and loose that natural ambiance typical of many of
the valleys across the region that still remain
undeveloped.
With
the permission of the owner we crossed private
property, parked John's four wheel drive and walked
the remaining distance to Garber. The new twin
bridges of the soon to be opened Ozarks Mountain
High Road, and the modern architecture style of the
blindingly white concrete supports that tower high
above, make the bridges that span the valley stand
out in stark contrast to the natural beauty of
Roark and the archeological ruins of the structures
that once stood in Garber, a contrast that J.K.
Ross would surely comment on if alive
today.
John Fullerton holding a copy
of an old newspaper article about the last
store and Post Office in Garber, which is
still standing in the trees, the roof of
the structure can be seen in the center of
the background in photo below.
|
During
this short walk, John Fullerton told me of the
research that he had been doing and of some of the
stories that his grandfather had told him of life
in Roark and Garber. For instance that the old
Garber School is still standing on his
grandfather's place. Garber School was one of the
schools where Fern (Goodall) Ayres, taught during
her 43 year long career as a teacher in Ozarks
Mountain Country, (see
full text ) Perhaps
in future issues of The Message Tree, we can
convince John to share more of his research and
recollections of stories as told to him by the
people that lived them.
Garber
crossing, the original Ross store and Post
Office at one time stood where the trees
are in the center of this
picture
|
Another
interesting article regarding Garber, appeared in
the Winter 1971 issue of the White River Valley
Historical Quarterly, a transcript of which can
be
viewed online in his
article entitled A "Quick Sketch Of Garber As
It Was In My Time", John Rulketter outlines
a fairly good view of Garber as it was a lifetime
ago, a brief but interesting read, please check it
out.
Another
view of the remains of the Ross home, a
structure that did not fair the passage of
time as well as
Old Matt's Cabin.
|
Finally
John Fullerton and I arrived at Garber where we
took the photos for this article, and while taking
the pictures, I was struck by yet another
"epiphany" that of in this issue of The Message
Tree to connect the dots so to speak between this
issue's articles, past articles, and as well as
future articles, giving the reader more of an idea
of what was happening at the same time, elsewhere
in the hill country. For instance in the 1890s when
Ross and his Son where scouting the hills of
western Taney and eastern Stone County for a
possible homestead, the communities of Ponce De
Leon, Reno, and Eau di Vie were all at their
prominence when the health spa and mineral water
with "Healing Properties" craze was at its height,
thousands sought out these rural sites to drink or
bath in the waters with "Miraculous" powers. While
"Ponce" lives on, the other once thriving
communities are like Garber, ghost towns, their
locations but a fading memory.
In
1910 the first
steam engine pulled into
Ava Missouri, and the Ross family moved to Garber.
When J.K. Ross was operating his Post Office and
general store at Garber, tourists were discovering
the Railroad line into Branson, even young couples
were traveling there for their honeymoon like the
couple we mentioned in "Weddings
In The Ozarks" in our
April issue, who left the comfort of their lodgings
in Hollister in 1915 and traveled by horseback
through what was then called The Shepherd Of The
Hills country, taking time to meet such local
notables as Rose O'Neil, the creator of the Kewpie
doll as well as J.K. and Mrs. Ross at their home at
Garber, then going on to visit others such as the
Lynch Sisters over at Marble Cave, which in later
years became the site of Silver Dollar
City.
And
when Mr. And Mrs. Ross passed away in 1923, Waldo
Powell's Fairy Cavern was in its second year of
operation as a tour cave, (See this issue;
The
Rocks Really Can Talk.
)
So
if you can take a moment to look at these mini time
lines and happenings in the hills that The
Message Tree and other publications have
reported, you can get a better picture of what was
taking place and why. Which will, as we mentioned
earlier in this piece, give you a "grounding
effect" a more in depth view of the cultural
heritage.
We
hope that you enjoy the pictures included with this
article and we hope that in the future we can take
time to search out more of the interesting and
historic sites in the Ozarks, as we realize that
many of you seldom have the opportunity to return
home to your roots and in some cases are unable to
visit these places that are full of childhood
memories. Some of you may never get the opportunity
to visit the places where your ancestors walked,
but that is the duty of The Message
Tree, to bring to you the best of the
Ozarks, its people and places.
|
