The Ozarks in Missouri History by Lynn Morrow

Author:Lynn Morrow [Morrow, Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General, United States, State & Local, Midwest (IA; IL; IN; KS; MI; MN; MO; ND; NE; OH; SD; WI)
ISBN: 9780826273031
Google: EfqKAQAAQBAJ
Publisher: University of Missouri Press
Published: 2013-12-29T04:12:36+00:00

The St. Louisans at Brandon's Bungalow quickly made friends with their neighbors. Pulaski County judge J. B. Harvey and his son, Henry, looked after the resort, reporting on spring rains and high water to the owners and keeping “an eye on the bungalow to see that it is not carried away by some marauding band of [tie] rafters.” Members counted on Harvey for fresh milk, eggs, butter, and other farm produce; in return, the Two O'Clocks supplied the judge with extra bass, jack salmon, and catfish. The Harveys embellished the rustic simplicity of the property by planting flowers around the clubhouse. They also planted a garden with castor beans, lettuce, and sunflowers to attract birds, placed horseradish roots along the spring branch, and planted creeping vines to crawl over the fences. In season, club folks acquired watermelons and cantaloupes from valley farmers and cooled them in the spring. They built a “live pool” where members deposited fish for the viewing delight of all. Sportsmen feasted on fresh vegetables, frogs, and aquatic birds at their new epicurean center in the Ozarks. The men felled trees along the bank of Brittain Eddy so the leafy tops fell into the Gasconade River to attract crappie and bass to an arbitrary habitat. The bank along Brittain Eddy assumed a look that no suburban St. Louisan would find strange.32

St. Louis sportsmen typically assembled at fall camp hunts after the November elections; the Two O'Clocks were no different. Postelection trips to the Ozarks served another purpose as well. “Bungalow Brandon and Two O'Clock Stumm” wanted to hunt turkey, but they also wanted to monitor the seasonal firing of the open range—“‘a sight to behold, and a menace to a great deal of property.’” Brandon and Stumm set backfires to combat flames advancing across the hills. The drama of the luminous nights included “long lines of fire that rolled down from the hills to die out at the river.” But in sporting fashion, the Two O'Clocks gleefully reported the sight of live game that outdistanced the fire and came right upon them for a “social call” becoming the next trophies of the club members. In a caution to trespassers, manager Brandon claimed that range hogs had driven all the snakes into the resort's fenced enclosure, where they awaited unwanted prowlers.33

The Dixonites and the Two O'Clocks did a robust business while construction proceeded far downriver on the St. Louis and Colorado Railroad (later reincorporated as the Chicago-Rock Island line).34 In fall 1903, the Rock Island and Frisco lines announced a cooperative transportation scheme for float trips beginning at Arlington and ending downriver at the Colorado crossing, dubbed “Riverside” camp, near Freeburg in Osage County. Here the Rock Island bridged the Gasconade, and floaters could board an eastbound train back to St. Louis. This circle of transportation from St. Louis by rail, water, and rail again proved ideal for landless urban clubs whose activities required convenient rail transport. Railroad pamphlets advertised local guides and their rates. Arlington outfitters profited

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