Few names evoke scenes of such breathtaking natural beauty as does that of the Ozarks. In Images of the Ozarks, this splendor is captured in a stunning collection of more than 120 full-color photographs. These images, chosen from hundreds of photographs submitted by both professional and amateur photographers, showcase virtually the entire Ozark region--Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Spectacular river bluffs and rock formations, crystal-clear streams and lakes, beautiful waterfalls, historic covered bridges and mills, and wildlife are just some of the exquisite scenes pictured in this book. Charlie Farmer's introduction to the volume provides valuable background information on the Ozark region and its unique terrain. He also discusses the various measures that concerned individuals have undertaken since the early 1930s to protect the Ozark environment, as well as the necessity for continuing preservation efforts. Images of the Ozarks is a gift book for all seasons and for all people. Anyone with a love of natural beauty will delight in this wonderful new addition to the Images of Missouri Series.

Traces the history and development of the Lake of the Ozarks region from the building of the Bagnell Dam in 1929 through the growth of the towns in the region in the 1950's.

"Vance Randolph was perfectly constituted for his role as the chronicler of Ozark folkways. As a self-described "hack writer," who first visited the region as a child with his middle-class parents, he was as much a figure of the margins as his chosen subjects. And his essentially romantic identification with the Ozarks--encouraged by the editors of the era--was always tempered by his scientific training and his contrarian nature. In The Ozarks, originally published in 1931, we have Randolph's first book-length portrait of the people he would spend the next half-century studying. The full range of Randolph's interests--in language, in hunting and fishing, in folksongs and play parties, in moonshining--is on view in this book that made his name; forever after he was "Mr. Ozark," the region's preeminent expert who would, in collection after collection, enlarge and deepen his debut effort. With a new introduction by Robert Cochran, The Ozarks , an image shaper in its day, a cultural artifact for decades to come, this wonderful book is as entertaining as ever." --Back cover.

Route 66 in the Missouri Ozarks picks up the journey west where its companion book, Route 66 in St. Louis, leaves off. As Bobby Troup's song says, Route 66 travels "more than 2,000 miles all the way." But one would be hard-pressed to "Show Me" a more scenic and historic segment than the Missouri Ozarks. The highway is lined with buildings covered with distinctive Ozark rock. It winds through a region of deep forests, sparkling streams, hidden caves, and spectacular bluffs. This book will take the traveler from Crawford County to the Kansas line. Along the way, there are small towns and urban centers, hotels and motels, cafés and souvenir stands. Take the time to explore Missouri's Route 66--it is waiting at the next exit.

Describes the Ozark Mountains region in Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, discusses the history and culture of the region, and identifies points of interest in each area

In 1929, in a remote county of the Arkansas Ozarks, the gruesome murder of harmonica-playing drifter Connie Franklin and the brutal rape of his teenaged fiancée captured the attention of a nation on the cusp of the Great Depression. National press from coast to coast ran stories of the sensational exploits of night-riding moonshiners, powerful "Barons of the Hills," and a world of feudal oppression in the isolation of the rugged Ozarks. The ensuing arrest of five local men for both crimes and the confusion and superstition surrounding the trial and conviction gave Stone County a dubious and short-lived notoriety. Closely examining how the story and its regional setting were interpreted by the media, Brooks Blevins recounts the gripping events of the murder investigation and trial, where a man claiming to be the murder victim--the "Ghost" of the Ozarks--appeared to testify. Local conditions in Stone County, which had no electricity and only one long-distance telephone line, frustrated the dozen or more reporters who found their way to the rural Ozarks, and the developments following the arrests often prompted reporters' caricatures of the region: accusations of imposture and insanity, revelations of hidden pasts and assumed names, and threats of widespread violence. Locating the past squarely within the major currents of American history, Ghost of the Ozarks: Murder and Memory in the Upland South paints a convincing backdrop to a story that, more than 80 years later, remains riddled with mystery.