History
It is nearly impossible to log on to the internet or turn on the TV without seeing a new report about UFOs, now referred to by the U.S. Government as UAPs (unidentified anomalous phenomena). It is worth noting that both acronyms refer to unidentified objects and not necessarily one from outer...
I’ve heard about him for the greater portion of my life. My mother’s family was from Marshall, Missouri, where he was a legend. His gravesite draws the most visitors of any in Ridge Park Cemetery, for that matter, any cemetery in Saline County, the resting place of many famous Missourians. His...
In my teenage years during the late 1960s, a favorite swimming hole was to be found on the Jacks Fork River at the State Highway 17 Bridge. That’s what we called it, “The Seventeen Bridge,” or “Cardinal Acres.” I also heard it called “Rat Cliff,” or at least that’s what I thought my buddy Fred...
According to the online Britannica, “. . . the gifted men of the Renaissance sought to develop skills in all areas of knowledge, in physical development, in social accomplishments, and in the arts.”
Joe Shryock (WSHS, 1959) recently passed away and caused a flurry of remembrances on social...
The turbulent 1930s in Howell County and the Ozarks were in step with the rest of the nation. There was a pronounced rise in criminality nationwide as the Great Depression ground on. The Prohibition social experiment fostered organized crime at the local and national level. The FBI was created to...
Recently, I heard of a local conversation about popular restaurants in Willow Springs from days-gone-by that no longer exist. From personal dining experiences in the 1950s and ‘60s, a half-dozen come to mind, and Shorty’s B-B Café is one at the top of the list.
Shorty’s occupied a prime...
It is my observation that small-town newspaper publishers and editors are a resilient and tenacious lot. They have to be. Facing an unforgiving weekly deadline and trying to have a life can be difficult and fatiguing. The readers expect their paper regardless of your circumstances. The reward is...
In our last two articles, we looked at one of the most influential couples in our county history, Samuel “Sam” A. and Alice Carey Risley. They were responsible for much of the preservation of that history, recorded in Sam’s Centennial History of Howell County, written in 1876 and revised by Alice...
I have previously written about venerable teacher, Jessie Munford, who taught at WSHS for over forty-years, from 1928-1968. While researching the article about teacher John Finley a few weeks ago, I discovered aspects I had not known about this remarkable woman. Her dedication to teaching...
In my last issue, we explored the first written history of Howell County, written by Samuel A. Risley on the occasion of the one-hundredth anniversary of the founding of our nation and read by him in a celebration in West Plains on July 4, 1876. We explored Sam's history, covering the first...