61
General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Alcohol on SDC Grounds?
« on: October 04, 2011, 04:18:19 PM »It stands for Ozarks Technical Community College.
Sorry 'bout that. I'm used to typing it without thinking...
T.
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Sorry 'bout that. I'm used to typing it without thinking...
T.
62
Random Talk / Re: The Newbies Thread
« on: October 04, 2011, 02:31:01 PM »
Since I've already posted a number of messages, I thought I'd better formally introduce myself:
My name is Todd (I'm the one with the pipe!) and the other fella is Champ Herren. He's the bona fide Hillbilly of the two of us. The second photo is of the two of us with the late Mitch Jayne, Ozark folklorist and bass player with the Darlings/Dillards on "The Andy Griffith Show".
I'm a librarian and history instructor at OTC in Springfield. Champ & I present a program, "What's Hidin' in the Haw Bushes?", about local ghost stories and superstitions, to area civic/scout/historical/etc. groups in SW MO and NW AR. We focus mainly on the writings of Vance Randoph.
I first found the forum while looking for photos of Artie Ayers' Lost Silver Mine play -- my mom is a Yocum, so the Yocum Silver Dollar/Breadtray Mountain story is a favorite of mine.
My name is Todd (I'm the one with the pipe!) and the other fella is Champ Herren. He's the bona fide Hillbilly of the two of us. The second photo is of the two of us with the late Mitch Jayne, Ozark folklorist and bass player with the Darlings/Dillards on "The Andy Griffith Show".
I'm a librarian and history instructor at OTC in Springfield. Champ & I present a program, "What's Hidin' in the Haw Bushes?", about local ghost stories and superstitions, to area civic/scout/historical/etc. groups in SW MO and NW AR. We focus mainly on the writings of Vance Randoph.
I first found the forum while looking for photos of Artie Ayers' Lost Silver Mine play -- my mom is a Yocum, so the Yocum Silver Dollar/Breadtray Mountain story is a favorite of mine.
63
SDC Memories/ Park History / Re: The Wayback Machine
« on: October 04, 2011, 02:18:35 PM »I just got out my copy of the book, and it tells of the journey, but no other members of the group...maybe there is a famous person or two for Ozark legend, but who knows (I still believe it is "Old Matt" in the photo.
Rafferty credits the photo to the State Historical Society of Missouri; I wonder if they have any documentation to the other members of the Governor's party? The one fellow does look like Old Matt, though.
T/
64
SDC Memories/ Park History / Re: The Wayback Machine
« on: October 04, 2011, 02:00:00 PM »Here is a photo that was in with several Branson and Forsyth Photos
Do you notice any familiar faces?
Try this detail...
Look familiar?Maybe like this?(this one below is NOT from my collection just a stock photo)
This is a photo of Missouri Governor Herbert Hadley on a White River float trip, circa 1909. The governor's trip is documented on pages 205-206 of Rafferty's The Ozarks: Land and Life, as well as Morrow's Shepherd of the Hills Country: Tourism Transforms the Ozarks.
65
SDC Memories/ Park History / Re: The Fate of Alf Bolin
« on: October 04, 2011, 01:49:02 PM »
Here's an article with photos of the aforementioned "Alf Bolin Days":
http://thelibrary.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/sp83b.htm
Interesting venue for a wedding, I must say.
T.
http://thelibrary.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/sp83b.htm
Interesting venue for a wedding, I must say.
T.
66
SDC Memories/ Park History / Re: The Fate of Alf Bolin
« on: October 04, 2011, 09:18:02 AM »With that kind of history, I am a little surprised that SDC uses the name..
I would daresay few people riding the train have any idea who Alf Bolin was in regards to Civil War history.
T.
67
SDC Memories/ Park History / Re: The Fate of Alf Bolin
« on: October 03, 2011, 09:59:31 PM »
The story I've always heard was that they put Bolin's head on a pike in either Forsyth or Ozark, and the locals came out to throw rocks at it.
T.
T.
68
Branson Talk / Re: Lost Silver Mine Drama
« on: October 03, 2011, 09:51:52 PM »
Here's a nice summary of Morrow's research from a past issue of the White River Valley Historical Society's newsletter:
http://thelibrary.org/lochist/periodicals/wrv/v8/n2/w83l.htm
And Morrow's article (or a version of it, anyway):
http://thelibrary.org/lochist/periodicals/wrv/v8/n11/sp85d.htm
Note the SDC reference.
T.
http://thelibrary.org/lochist/periodicals/wrv/v8/n2/w83l.htm
And Morrow's article (or a version of it, anyway):
http://thelibrary.org/lochist/periodicals/wrv/v8/n11/sp85d.htm
Note the SDC reference.
T.
69
General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Alcohol on SDC Grounds?
« on: October 03, 2011, 09:45:44 PM »Clancomyn: Enjoyed reading your posts and the references to ozarks area literature. I've got a big collection of books on ozarks topics myself, and will have to look through them regarding the comments you made on your posts. All the books mentioned are in my library. Sounds like you have really read up on your ozarks history! Welcome to the forums, hope to hear more from you soon.
Many thanks for the welcome, Junior. I've viewed your Rube Dugan collection before, although my memories of the diving bell are nowhere that detailed, as I was a "wee bairn" when it was still running.
I have taught Ozarks history and culture at OTC in Springfield, although technically, I am not a true Ozarks native, as my mom's family are Iowans (since the 1850s) and my dad is from Arizona.
I also "worked" one day at SDC back in 2001 when "For the Glory" was playing. I was a park ranger at Wilson's Creek National Battlefield at that time, and we had an exhibit of items from the battlefield in the hall near the Riverfront Theater, and several of us got the chance to "meet & greet" folks and promote the battlefield. It was a lot of fun to see SDC behind the scenes.
Todd
70
Branson Talk / Re: Lost Silver Mine Drama
« on: October 03, 2011, 09:38:17 PM »I have seen those same claims in the periodicals...who knows if they are accurate or not. I know there are many that have continued to search despite any hard evidence.
I have Rafferty's book at my office; I know he discusses at least one claim in the text. It certainly would be something to find a bona fide Yocum dollar -- if nothing else, the search is more fun then the actual goal!
T.
71
Branson Talk / Re: Lost Silver Mine Drama
« on: October 03, 2011, 09:35:05 PM »I was not only at the reunion you described, but I am also a Yocum descendant, albiet not the family of Yocums traditionally associated with the legend -- my Yocums came from Pennsylvania and settled in Illinois and Iowa, and remained there until my grandparents bought a motor court near Roaring River State Park in the early 1970s.
I have a copy of the Ayers book that my mother purchased at the reunion, and I vaguely remember playing on a Medicine Show wagon that was part of the act.
For the "rest of the story", the noted Ozarks historian Lynn Morrow wrote a detailed article about the Yocum Silver Mine legend for the Missouri Historical Review back in the 1980s. I used it as one of my sources for a paper on the Yocums I wrote for my Ozarks Geography course I took in the early 1990s with Dr. Milton Rafferty at Southwest Missouri State. Rafferty references Morrow's findings in his book, The Ozarks: Land and Life, which I believe is still in print from the University of Arkansas Press.
Regards,
Todd
It's great to have you on board here. You'll find a lot of us are very interested in general Ozark history in addition to SDC. Any information you provide will be greatly appreciated, consumed, discussed and most likely referenced in future posts. Please contribute generously, looks like you've got a lot to share. And welcome!
Many thanks for the welcome! I have taught Ozarks history and culture at OTC, and a friend of mine and I present programs on local ghost stories and superstitions. The Yocum dollar story has a connection to Breadtray Mountain near Lampe, which the Yocums may have used as a cover for their "operations".
Heck, we even had Baldknobber masks made up for our program.
Todd
72
General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Alcohol on SDC Grounds?
« on: October 03, 2011, 02:26:17 PM »
I'm no teetotaller by any stretch, but one thing to remember: winemaking really wasn't an Ozarks custom in the late 19th century, and those immigrant communities such as the Germans that did engage making beer and spirits generally kept to themselves due to some anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant feelings on the part some of "the natives". The German communities generally kept to themselves and kept their own traditions, although over time, they were assimilated into the general community, especially after WWI, when many Germans lost their identity as a response to the anti-German hysteria that began in 1917.
There is a great discussion of moonshining in Robert Gilmore's "Ozarks Baptizings, Hangings and Other Diversions"; Gilmore believes that the majority of moonshiners in the Ozarks did so out of economic necessity, and that moonshining was never as "popular" among folks here as it was in Appalachia.
Sorry for the somehwat pedantic lecture there. And from a newbie no less!
Regards,
Todd
There is a great discussion of moonshining in Robert Gilmore's "Ozarks Baptizings, Hangings and Other Diversions"; Gilmore believes that the majority of moonshiners in the Ozarks did so out of economic necessity, and that moonshining was never as "popular" among folks here as it was in Appalachia.
Sorry for the somehwat pedantic lecture there.
And from a newbie no less!Regards,
Todd
73
Branson Talk / Re: Lost Silver Mine Drama
« on: October 03, 2011, 01:58:38 PM »In one of the little booklets picked up in the Branson area in the last five years, there is a short paragraph saying that in the 1990's some gift shop in downtown Branson was selling what they billed as reproduction Yoakum Dollars made from the ORIGINAL ANTIQUE COIN PRESS the Yoakum's used. Anybody know anything about this? I would love to get my hands on something like that. I did ask about this in the last two or three years at one of the gift shops in the downtown area that has been there for decades, but the guy I asked knew nothing about it, and looked at me like I was nutty.
The Local History Department of the Springfield-Greene County Library Center has some information about a few of the claims of individuals to have found either bona fide Yocum silver dollars or the presses, but no one has ever confirmed that they are genuine. -- T.
74
Branson Talk / Re: Lost Silver Mine Drama
« on: October 03, 2011, 01:47:14 PM »
I was not only at the reunion you described, but I am also a Yocum descendant, albiet not the family of Yocums traditionally associated with the legend -- my Yocums came from Pennsylvania and settled in Illinois and Iowa, and remained there until my grandparents bought a motor court near Roaring River State Park in the early 1970s.
I have a copy of the Ayers book that my mother purchased at the reunion, and I vaguely remember playing on a Medicine Show wagon that was part of the act.
For the "rest of the story", the noted Ozarks historian Lynn Morrow wrote a detailed article about the Yocum Silver Mine legend for the Missouri Historical Review back in the 1980s. I used it as one of my sources for a paper on the Yocums I wrote for my Ozarks Geography course I took in the early 1990s with Dr. Milton Rafferty at Southwest Missouri State. Rafferty references Morrow's findings in his book, The Ozarks: Land and Life, which I believe is still in print from the University of Arkansas Press.
Regards,
Todd
I have a copy of the Ayers book that my mother purchased at the reunion, and I vaguely remember playing on a Medicine Show wagon that was part of the act.
For the "rest of the story", the noted Ozarks historian Lynn Morrow wrote a detailed article about the Yocum Silver Mine legend for the Missouri Historical Review back in the 1980s. I used it as one of my sources for a paper on the Yocums I wrote for my Ozarks Geography course I took in the early 1990s with Dr. Milton Rafferty at Southwest Missouri State. Rafferty references Morrow's findings in his book, The Ozarks: Land and Life, which I believe is still in print from the University of Arkansas Press.
Regards,
Todd