History
For this issue, I’ll take you to the southwest corner of Howell County and a horrific set of lesser-known events that occurred there around February 1894. It was hard to find direct sources for this story, but luckily, other newspapers echoed what local papers wrote. I found this article in The...
As the name implies, the Willow Springs is a small group of springs emanating from a rocky wooded hillside, almost nine miles from the community that took its name in 1869. When the appropriation occurred, the town might just as well have been designated as Alsipsburg, Hickory Top, Harris, or...
Last spring in an article, “Chasing Legends: A Trip to Steelville,” I profiled Willow Springs High School alum Ike Lovan of the class of 1953. The article featured his contributions to the famous SCA championship football teams that won two consecutive Ozark Bowls. Because there is more to his...
In the grip of the Great Depression, many South Central Missouri citizens struggled to survive the 1930s. Farm products were at all-time low prices, government policies such as Prohibition were especially unpopular here in the Ozarks, and a minority of the population turned to crime in response...
The arrival of the railroad in 1882 brought a wave of immigrants from all over the United States seeking and finding opportunity, staying, and contributing significantly to Howell County's development. One such family, the Dawes, came to Willow Springs via a rented railroad car in the Spring of...
Veteran’s Day was previously known as Armistice Day, which celebrated the end of World War I, on the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month in 1918. President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation in November 1919 celebrating the end of the war and honoring those who served...
When fall rains slowly reveal the intensifying colors of autumn, my mind is drawn to one of my favorite places along the Eleven Point River: Bliss Spring, and to an especially scenic day in October. For five decades, I’ve floated, fished, and camped on gravel bars along the river passing...
Friday, September 12, 2025, a night for recharging memories, when 125 former Willow Springs High School football players returned to Palenske Field to celebrate 100 years of Bear Football.
From leather helmets and a rounder football, which could be drop kicked, to drones flying overhead to...
In my previous article, I wrote about the war of words that occurred nationally, at the state, and local levels, leading to fighting in Howell County and the suppression, sometimes total, of the opposing side's speech. Simply put, what you said could get you killed, kidnapped, or arrested before...
Mark Twain is credited with saying, “History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” As a fifty-year student of Howell County history, events of the past, in particular, the American Civil War, to me, have a familiar ring in the headlines we are seeing in today’s news.
This article...