What is Silver Dollar City? Silver Dollar City, located in Branson, Missouri, combines the wholesome family fun of a major theme park with the timeless appeal of crafts and a dedication to preserving 1880s Ozarks culture. Over 100 craftsmen are on park demonstrating glass blowing, basket weaving, blacksmithing, pottery, candy making, candle making, and many other disciplines. Packed with over 20 rides and attractions, 60 unique shops and restaurants, and 40 dazzling shows a day, Silver Dollar City truly appeals to all ages. It also hosts six major festivals per year and was named one of the Top Theme Parks in The World by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.
Get the BEST Branson Rates! on Shows, Hotels and Attractions!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
BRANSON.COM
Branson.com is the official website for EVERYTHING that's happening in Branson, Missouri. As you read this, click on the highlighted words and they will take you to the respective pages for more information. We're going on a tour of our unique area, so come on, let's get started.
Would you like to take in a show while you're in our area? Branson has something for everyone. Magicians for the family, rock 'n' roll, country, family harmonies, comedy, variety, dinner shows, gospel, and well-known performers that play limited engagements. You may not have known that Branson has more theater seats than Broadway.
We have some wonderful museums and attractions. You can take your family to play miniature golf, enjoy go-carts, water parks, and history museums. You can see the Titanic and even stop at the famous College of the Ozarks.
And of course you need a place to stay, whether it be camping or in one of our wonderful lodging facilities. We have cabins, bed and breakfasts, motels, 5-star hotels, lodging with a convention center, condos, and camping. You can relax on a piece of property snuggled in our beautiful Ozarks, and you can choose the price that will fit your family budget.
One of the many reasons to come to Branson is our shopping. It is so much fun! We have those unique areas that have all the Ozark-flavor shops, and of course we have outlets for those that are always looking for bargains. Our historic downtown shopping is delightful, and we have even added a new shopping area, Branson Landing, on the water front. There are many nooks and crannies around town where you'll find an unexpected treasure, so keep your eyes open for that one unique item you want to take home.
We cannot fail to mention our golfing. Many do not know of the quality of golf courses that are here in Branson. There are golf pros to help perfect your swing, par-3 courses to 18-hole championship courses, and some of the best pro shops in the Midwest.
Our three lakes are breath-taking and the fishing is for the whole family. We have bass, trout, catfish, walleye, and places to rent a fishing boat, ski boat, or a house boat on which you can watch the sunset at the end of the day.
One thing is for certain, we have FOOD, FOOD, FOOD!! Buffets, fast food, slow food, family restaurants, steaks, fish, food with music, outside restaurants, waterfront restaurants, gourmet restaurants with linen napkins with delicate wines and beautifully arranged food. It's a lot of fun to eat in Branson, even if you just want coffee or an ice cream cone for the kids.
When you think the night is over and you'd still like to do just one more thing... we have a nightlife that will please all. You can sit quietly while overlooking the water, or go dancing and see the celebrities, a comedy club, or a local pub.
Now why wouldn't you come to Branson? It's a family destination with something for everyone. There is not one area in the United States that can beat the hospitality and friendliness that is shown throughout the beautiful Ozarks.
We'll see you soon!
History of the Ozarks
Condensed from the files of the Taney County Times Branson has been one of the centers of development in the Ozark foothills for well over a century. Even before there was a Branson, our area was known as one of the nicest places in the country to visit. For many years, there were no music shows, lakes, theme parks, or museums to attract guests. Instead, what originally brought acclaim to this area was nothing more than its natural beauty. In the early 1900's, what is known today as "Ozark Mountain Country" was called the Upper White River Valley. This stretch of land from Springfield south into Arkansas had gained acclaim amongst the more adventurous travelers of the day as a place of unspoiled wilderness and rejuvenation. The many freshwater springs fed rivers and creeks all through the area, and by 1904 those with the means could arrange week long guided fishing tours down 125 miles of the White River. The local railroad touted the White River Valley as "The Land of a Million Smiles," as it still lives up to today. The story of Ozark Mountain Country is also a story of a people and their culture and values. To a great extent, the area was once defined by it's isolation. It comes as no surprise then that the folklore and traditional music of the region has it's origins deep in antiquity.
The Ozark hills were settled by yeoman farmers who moved into the area from the mountains of the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Kentucky - individuals who were themselves descendants of farmers from Scotland, England, and Ireland. These hill people brought with them stories and tales from their ancient homelands.
To the early settlers of the Ozark Mountains, life was hard. As the growing population depleted the once abundant game, residents were forced to exact a subsistence living from their small farms. When row crops like corn were planted on the steep hillsides, the region's soils, never rich or deep except on the regularly inundated flood plains, were scoured by gully washing rains. By the last decades of the nineteenth century, the economic history of the region became a story of various attempts of the local population to supplement their meager incomes.
Various industries were tried with little or no success; two examples are lead mining and the collection of mussel shells from the area rivers for the button industry. The first sustained boom to the area's economy resulted from the harvesting of local timber when the nation's expanding rail system created demand for a seemingly endless supply of cross ties. After the forests were cleared of their virgin timber, the revenue vacuum was filled by the development of the tomato and strawberry industries. The production of moonshine was sometimes used by the remote hill people for supplementary income.
 | "A Living History of the Ozarks" by Phyllis Rossiter. 1992. |
| "The land of a Million Smiles: Tourism and Modernization in Taney county and Stone county, Missouri 1900-1930" by Linda Myers-Phinney. 1989. |
| "The Land of Taney: A history of an Ozark Commonwealth" by Elmo Ingenthron. 1974. |
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Bobwhite Quail
Missouri once had so many bobwhite quail that people trapped them for sale to East Coast markets. In fact, settlers in the mid-1800s recorded daily catches numbering in the hundreds—an astonishing number by today’s standards!
Quail were even abundant in the heavily wooded Ozarks. That’s because fires, natural or started by people, maintained open woodland communities. Grasses, wildflowers and legumes flourished in these woodlands, providing food for quail, as well as excellent cover for nesting and shelter.
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, a naturalist who traveled extensively through the Missouri and Arkansas Ozarks in the early 1800s, described these woodlands:
“A succession of hills of moderate elevation, covered chiefly by oaks without underbrush. A tall, thick and rank growth of wild grass covers the whole country, in which the oaks are standing interspersed, like fruit trees in some well-cultivated orchard, and giving to the scenery the most novel, pleasing and picturesque appearance.”
This general picture of the Ozarks is echoed in historical Government Land Office survey notes and in the writings of hundreds of early travelers to the area. These travelers also reported large numbers of quail. For example, Aldo Leopold, the widely professed “father” of wildlife management, describes days of quail hunting and evenings of quail dinners in journal entries from his time in Current River country in 1926.
By the end of the 20th century, however, quail numbers in Missouri and throughout the bird’s natural range were showing a long-term decline.
The drop can be traced to the loss of critical grassland and woodland natural communities. The numbers of many species of songbirds, woodpeckers, reptiles, amphibians, plants and insects that depend on these types of habitat also have declined. In fact, one of these species, the red-cockaded woodpecker, has disappeared from Missouri, and many others, including Bachman’s sparrow, are now endangered.
Open woodlands provide exceptional habitat for quail. The tree canopy in woodlands reduces snow and ice accumulations and blocks the cold wind. Beneath the tree canopy, the grasses and forbs provide the nutritious and diverse food sources and the protective cover critical to bobwhite quail.
Conservation Department biologists know that the only way to increase quail numbers in Missouri’s Ozarks and improve the lot of the many species that need habitat similar to quail is to restore woodland natural communities.
It’s easier to say you’re going to restore habitat than to do it, especially when the habitat required normally takes hundreds of years to develop naturally. However, accelerated woodland restoration programs are well underway on several conservation areas in the Ozarks.
Two of the areas, White River Trace Conservation Area in Dent County and Cover Prairie Conservation Area in Howell County, are already showing the benefits of extensive woodland and shrubland management.
At White River Trace, for example, at least 114 bird species, many of which have habitat requirements similar to quail, have been spotted. These species include Bell’s vireo, loggerhead shrikes, prairie warblers and field sparrows. In addition, red-headed woodpeckers have substantially increased in number.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Missouri's Wildlife
White-tail deer are a common sight in Missouri today.
Other species have not fared as well.
Historically, Missouri was home to a great diversity of ecosystems that contained a vast array of wildlife. These ranged from the prairies and savannas of northern Missouri, the wetlands and bottomland forests found along the state's rivers and in the bootheel, to the oak and pine forests of the Ozarks. Two hundred years ago one would have found abundant mountain lions, black bears, elk, gray wolves, red wolves, prairie chickens and other wildlife species that today are greatly reduced in number or completely gone from the state. Despite great success in restoring white-tail deer, turkeys and river otters, many species remain absent from our state's landscape.
MCE works to ensure the continued survival of Missouri's wildlife species through the protection and restoration of their habitat.
The pallid sturgeon is one of
twenty-four federally listed species in Missouri.
Cougars in Missouri
Cougars in Missouri – Here for Now, But Future Uncertain.
Until recently, the last documented report of a wild mountain lion in Missouri was an animal killed in 1927 in the state's southeastern "bootheel" region. After more than one-thousand reported sightings – seven of which have been confirmed – it is now no longer disputed that at least a small population of mountain lions once again roams the state.
The confirmed sightings include some caught on video, a road kill and some verified through tracks and other evidence. They cover a wide range geographically, from northeastern Missouri, to suburban Kansas City, to the heart of the remote Ozark region. While only a few years ago state biologists considered cougar sightings akin to UFO reports, they now appear more open minded about the presence of big cats in our state. It is simply too hard to ignore the mounting evidence.
In 1994, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service prosecuted a case involving photographic evidence that 'coon hunters in the Ozarks had killed a mountain lion, and even obtained confessions from the men who shot it. This was the first of the string of confirmed reports. Over the next eight years, six more confirmed sightings occurred, including a road kill last fall just north of Kansas City. According to state biologists, only one of these cats showed clear evidence of being an escaped pet.
The 100-pound cougar killed last October on a suburban Kansas City freeway was found to have fed on deer and raccoon, according to microscopic tests of hair found in its digestive tract. DNA tests performed at Central Michigan University showed the cougar was a North American type, further indicating that it probably was not an escapee. "I think it was living on its own for awhile, if not totally wild,'' said Dave Hamilton, a biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation. Hamilton speculates that the cat could have wandered south along the Missouri River from the population in South Dakota's Black Hills.
|
|
|
It is unknown just why cougar sightings are becoming more common in Missouri and states further east. Wildlife biologists note that the large prey population – including white tail deer – could have an impact on the number of big cats, but no one knows for sure. There seems little doubt, however, that mountain lions are expanding eastward. The closest stable populations to Missouri are found in Texas, Colorado and South Dakota.
For its part, the Missouri Department of Conservation now seems ready to acknowledge that the big cats, from whatever source, do inhabit our state. The Department has formed a mountain lion task force to address sightings and livestock depredation issues. In addition, mountain lions remain classified as "endangered" under Missouri law, meaning they are protected unless they are pursuing or attacking humans, livestock or domestic animals. In those instances they may be killed, but must be reported immediately to a conservation agent and turned over within 24 hours.
The future for the mountain lion in Missouri looks bright if the state's residents can be convinced that the species is a positive addition to the already abundant wildlife. Although humans continue to encroach further into rural parts of the state, the large population of white-tail deer and substantial public landholdings may be enough to sustain a population of the big cats.
By Edward J. Heisel, 2003.
Our Thong Tree
Trail Tree near Branson MO
Thong Trees
Typical Trees: The typical trail tree is a white oak with an abrupt bend several feet from its base. The main trunk then extends horizontally for several feet terminating with a rounded end that usually has a small mouth. One or more main branches grows vertically from this horizontal segment of the trunk, each becoming a new supporting member for the upper branches of the tree. The horizontal portion of the trunk often slopes downward [either by design or perhaps from the weight of the vertical limbs over time]. The majority of the trees have this shape, and stand out clearly from the other trees in the woods. On the Sassafras Mountain ridge, one can often see from one trail tree to the next tree in the chain.
Atypical trees: Along the path of these more typical trees, there are some other trees that stand out in the forest, but have other [similar] shapes. The trees on the left below look like the typical trees that have been reformed by climate and time. Others, like those on the right, are atypical, but share qualities that suggest they are also "shaped" by human intelligence, though their inclusion is more by proximity than anything else. While it's tempting to guess their meaning [...pointing towards water, ...a branch in the trail], such thoughts remain in the realm of speculation at this point.
Are they pointing? Certainly, walking through the woods, they seem to be pointing out a route. On the left, we've plotted them with extensions on the classic trees that have a clear directional alignment. There are a lot of them that do line up with the path along the mountain ridge, but plenty of others that don't. Once they're all photographed, we intend to plot them by morphology along with nearby water sources and known Indian settlements to try to get at the question of whether they're "pointers" or simply "markers."
As you'll see in the references, these unique trees are found throughout the United States, and are generally interpreted to be trail markers from our American Indian past. But, so far, we've mostly found speculative and anectdotal reports without much scientific study. We hope that we can provide a central registry for these trees and develop a community of interested parties who can respond to the questions these trees ask with a definite answer.
Visit the Mountain Stewards website to see 100's of these trees!
http://mountainstewards.org/
