An Ozarks legacy: Farewell to Shepherd of the Hills

I hate hearing that The Shepherd of the Hills at Branson is closing. Not only is it one of the tourism Mecca's oldest attractions, what it represents started tourism there.

Many factors have ganged up on the owners of Shepherd of the Hills -- including increasing operating costs, climbing insurance rates, debts, and, the clincher, a bank foreclosure. It's hard for a business to face any of those alone, so you can imagine what it must be like to have all them hit at once. In something as fragile as the tourist industry, it can prove fatal for a business.

Kim and I went to see the Shepherd of the Hills outdoor play when we were on our honeymoon almost 37 years ago. It was booming then, and Branson's boom was on the verge of starting. We still kick ourselves for not buying at least a little property there on the outskirts of Branson, such as down that gravel road in the country that's now Shepherd of the Hills Expressway.

Through the years, we returned to see the show, taking friends and family, and Eli and Amelia when they were big enough to enjoy the outdoor production. We've ridden the Jeep-drawn tour of the homestead, and driven through it in December to see the Christmas lights and display. A few times we've gone to the annual car show hosted at Shepherd of the Hills.

A little history. Around the turn of the 20th century, when the Ozarks still was a wild and woolly place, a writer named Harold Bell Wright came to the hills outside Branson. He started visiting the Ozarks in 1898 for his health. Wright became acquainted with a couple named John and Anna Ross. He pitched a tent on their property overlooking a beautiful valley, and that's where he lived while in the hills. He returned each summer for eight years.

Wright came to admire the hill folk, making friends with many of them during his visits and learning about their way of life. He was there during the 1902 drought, which brought hard times to people already living hard-scrabble lives. Seeing how they coped with the drought inspired Wright.

In 1904, in his tent in a Ross cornfield with the valley and hills in front of him, Wright began writing The Shepherd of the Hills. Wright's characters were based on real people he knew, and inspired by real events. The book tells the stories of Old Matt and Aunt Mollie,  the lovers Young Matt and Sammy Lane, the villainous Wash Gibbs, and Dad Howard, the Shepherd of the Hills.

Dad takes care of the sheep in Mutton Hollow. He's a city man with a mysterious past who's come to live in the hills and becomes friends with Old Matt and Aunt Mollie. As their story progresses, they learn their lives are more intertwined than they knew.

Young Matt pines for Sammy, but she's also being courted by Ollie Stewart, who moved to Springfield to become a "city man," and Wash Gibbs, a ruffian who secretly is a leader of the Baldknobbers. Sammy's father Jim, unknown to her, is a member of the gang.

Published in 1907, The Shepherd of the Hills was a hit. It was the first million-seller, and for many, many years remained one of the best-selling books in history. In the book, Dad Howard foresees the day when the railroad will come to the hills and the area will become "the haunt of curious idlers."

Wright couldn't have made a more accurate prophecy.

Missouri-Pacific Railroad completed its White River Line in 1906, and by 1909, after publication of the book, tourists started coming to the Branson area looking for Old Matt's cabin, the mill at Mutton Hollow that plays a key role in the story, and other locations from Wright's novel. They even looked for the people from the book, Some of the characters' inspirations still lived in the area.

In the early 1920s, Elizabeth "Lizzie" McDaniel, a colorful character in her own right, bought the Ross's homestead and lived in the cabin that had been Old Matt's in the book. Lizzie restored the cabin, and used part of it as a museum. She later moved her house from Springfield to the homestead. Where Wright had camped was named Inspiration Point and was leased as a park. The cabin was opened to the public.

In 1946, the Trimble family bought all the homestead except for the cabin, a barn and Inspiration Point, which they leased until the 1970s, when they purchased them. The Trimbles set about developing what would become Branson's first modern tourist attraction, The Shepherd of the Hills Farm and the Old Mill Theatre, an outdoor amphitheater. The outdoor play, or pageant, opened in August 1960, and the homestead grew into one of the nation's top tourist stops. People came from across the country and from overseas to visit the site of Wright's inspirational book and see the story brought to life each summer.

Eventually, the play featured a cast of more than 100, most of them local residents recreating the characters. Every night, they presented a play that included dozens of animals, an early 20th century automobile, a shootout, and a cabin that was set ablaze each performance. The amphitheater kept up with changing technology, adapting and improving its lighting and sound systems. Some outdoor theaters use recorded dialogue while the performers lip sync. Not at Shepherd of the Hills. Actors used body mics and what you heard is what they said, even when someone flubbed a line.

Before "curtain time," audience members could wander around the set, explore the mill, and visit with cast members. Then, they headed to their seats and, without fanfare, the play quietly began. At intermission, audience members were invited to take part in a hoedown, and even frog races.

If you got to sit near the front, you sometimes felt like part of the production. Once, when Kim and I went, we had seats down front. What I thought was a speaker was to our right. At one point in the play, the lights dim, it gets quiet as there's a hunt for a panther. Sitting there in suspense, I was on the edge of my seat. One of the character suddenly shouts he's seen the panther, there's a roar, something flies from beside me with a loud roar, there was an explosive shot, and the "panther' fell dead on the stage.

I'm not sure whether the panther or I jumped higher.

Going to Shepherd of the Hills always was a fun experience. One year, they were hosting the Sons of the Pioneers for the season. There was a dinner show with a cowboy meal and music by the current incarnation of the group best known for being Roy Rogers' band. It's been the host for an annual car show with folks from all over the country bringing their classic vehicles from across the country. On Saturday nights, the car people had a midnight cruise, driving their prized vehicles through Branson along the Shepherd of the Hills Expressway. Folks start setting up lawn chairs on Friday afternoon to get good spots to watch the parade.

Inspiration Tower, on Inspiration Point, is a favorite stop on its own. From the top of the tower, you can see all the way to Arkansas to the south, get a bird's eye view of the valley Wright saw every day (although he might not recognize some of the modern developments there now), take in much or Branson, and almost see to Springfield to the north. I'm not overly fond of heights, but I could handle Inspiration Tower. A few years ago, they joined the zip line craze and added a zip line to Inspiration Tower; you could slide from the top of the tower down to the backside of the homestead.

Those will close Wednesday, too, when Shepherd of the Hills Homestead closes its gates and brings down the curtain for the last time. There are reports of a couple of potential buyers interested in the property, apparently one just wants the property, and the other would like to continue the pageant.

It would be nice if someone could continue the show, and the tradition. I just hope it doesn't go to someone interested only in clearing out everything and building condos. There still are plenty of locations around Branson for that without wiping out what really is a historical site.

Maybe someone else at Branson will adapt the pageant to at least present the production indoors and keep it going. It's too good a story, and too much a part of Branson, to let The Shepherd of the Hills fade into the mist.