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The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a
physiographic region Physiographic regions of the world are a means of defining Earth's landforms into distinct regions, based upon the classic three-tiered approach by Nevin M. Fenneman in 1916, that separates landforms into physiographic divisions, physiographic pro ...
in the U.S. states of
Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
,
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
,
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
and the extreme southeastern corner of
Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
. The Ozarks cover a significant portion of northern Arkansas and most of the southern half of Missouri, extending from Interstate 40 in central Arkansas to Interstate 70 in central Missouri. There are two mountain ranges in the Ozarks: the
Boston Mountains The Boston Mountains is a Level III ecoregion designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. states of Arkansas and Oklahoma. Part of the Ozarks, the Boston Mountains are a deeply dissected plateau. The ecoregion is steeper ...
of Arkansas and the
St. Francois Mountains The St. Francois Mountains in southeast Missouri are a mountain range of Precambrian igneous mountains rising over the Ozark Plateau. This range is one of the oldest exposures of igneous rock in North America. The name of the range is spelled out ...
of Missouri. Buffalo Lookout, the highest point in the Ozarks, is located in the Boston Mountains. Geologically, the area is a broad
dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
with the exposed core in the ancient St. Francois Mountains. The Ozarks cover nearly , making it the most extensive
highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...
region between the Appalachians and
Rockies The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Can ...
. Together with the Ouachita Mountains, the area is known as the
U.S. Interior Highlands The U.S. Interior Highlands is a mountainous region in the Central United States spanning northern and western Arkansas, southern Missouri, eastern Oklahoma, and extreme southeastern Kansas. The name is designated by the United States Geologica ...
. The Salem Plateau, named after Salem, Missouri, makes up the largest geologic area of the Ozarks. The second largest is the Springfield Plateau, named after
Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...
, nicknamed the "Queen City of the Ozarks". On the northern Ozark border are the cities of St. Louis and
Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...
. Significant Ozark cities in Arkansas include Fayetteville, Bentonville, Springdale, Eureka Springs, and Fort Smith.
Branson Branson may refer to: Places ;Canada * Branson, Toronto ;United States * Branson, Missouri, a popular tourist destination in the Ozark Mountains * Branson, Colorado * Branson City, California * The Branson School, in Ross, California * Warrenpoi ...
, just north of the Arkansas–Missouri border, is a tourist destination and popularizer of Ozark culture.


Etymology

''Ozarks'' is a
toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
believed to be derived as an English-language adaptation of the
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
abbreviation ''aux Arcs'' (short for ''aux Arcansas'', meaning "of/at/to the Arcansas lural). Originally, in the decades prior to the
French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
, ''aux Arkansas'' referred to the
trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...
at
Arkansas Post The Arkansas Post (french: Poste de Arkansea) (Spanish: ''Puesto de Arkansas''), formally the Arkansas Post National Memorial, was the first European settlement in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain and present-day U.S. state of Arkansas. In 168 ...
, located in wooded Arkansas Delta lowland area above the confluence of the
Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...
with the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
. Other possible derivations include ''aux arcs'' meaning "
and or AND may refer to: Logic, grammar, and computing * Conjunction (grammar), connecting two words, phrases, or clauses * Logical conjunction in mathematical logic, notated as "∧", "⋅", "&", or simple juxtaposition * Bitwise AND, a boole ...
of the arches", in reference to the dozens of
natural bridges A natural arch, natural bridge, or (less commonly) rock arch is a natural landform where an arch has formed with an opening underneath. Natural arches commonly form where inland cliffs, coastal cliffs, fins or stacks are subject to erosion ...
formed by erosion and collapsed caves in the Ozark region. These include Clifty Hollow Natural Bridge (actually a series of arches) in Missouri,Watkins, Conor
"Ozarks geology: Clifty Creek Natural Area includes natural bridge"
, ''The Ozarks Chronicle'', Rolla, Mo.
and Alum Cove in the
Ozark–St. Francis National Forest The Ozark – St. Francis National Forest is a United States National Forest that is located in the U.S. state, state of Arkansas. It is composed of two separate forests, Ozark National Forest in the Ozark Mountains; and St. Francis National Fore ...
. By the early 20th century, the "Ozarks" had become a generic and widely used term.McMillen, Margot Ford. ''A to Z Missouri: The Dictionary of Missouri Place Names'', Columbia, Missouri: Pebble Publishing, 1996.


Physiographic subregions

The Ozarks consist of five physiographic subregions: the
Boston Mountains The Boston Mountains is a Level III ecoregion designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. states of Arkansas and Oklahoma. Part of the Ozarks, the Boston Mountains are a deeply dissected plateau. The ecoregion is steeper ...
of north Arkansas and
Cookson Hills The Cookson Hills are in eastern Oklahoma. They are an extension of the Boston Mountains of Arkansas to the east and the southwestern margin of the Ozark Plateau. They lie generally between Stilwell, Sallisaw and Tahlequah. The area became part ...
of east Oklahoma; the
Springfield Plateau Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...
of southwest Missouri, northeast Oklahoma, and northwest Arkansas and including
Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...
, Joplin and
Monett Monett is the most-populous city in the Barry County, Missouri, Barry and Lawrence County, Missouri, Lawrence counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. The city is located in the Ozark Mountains, Ozarks, just south of Interstate 44 in Missouri, Inte ...
/ Aurora in Missouri,
Tahlequah Tahlequah ( ; ''Cherokee'': ᏓᎵᏆ, ''daligwa'' ) is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It is part of the Green Country region of Oklahoma and was established as a capital of the 19th-century ...
in Oklahoma, and Fayetteville and Harrison in Arkansas; the White River Hills along the White River, including
Branson Branson may refer to: Places ;Canada * Branson, Toronto ;United States * Branson, Missouri, a popular tourist destination in the Ozark Mountains * Branson, Colorado * Branson City, California * The Branson School, in Ross, California * Warrenpoi ...
and Mountain Home to Batesville; the
Salem Plateau Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...
or Central Plateau, which includes a broad band across south central Missouri and north central Arkansas including the
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
,
Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...
and
West Plains West Plains is a city in, and the county seat of Howell County, Missouri, United States. The population was 12,184 at the 2020 census. History The history of West Plains can be traced back to 1832, when settler Josiah Howell (after whom Howell ...
areas; the
Courtois Hills The Courtois Hills region is an area of the Ozark Mountains in southeast Missouri. It is one of several mountainous regions that surround the Ozarks's Salem (or Central) Plateau. Geography Although it does not contain the highest peak, the Cour ...
of southeastern Missouri; the Osage-Gasconade Hills around the Lake of the Ozarks; the
Saint Francois Mountains The St. Francois Mountains in southeast Missouri are a mountain range of Precambrian igneous mountains rising over the Ozark Plateau. This range is one of the oldest exposures of igneous rock in North America. The name of the range is spelled out ...
; and the Missouri River and Mississippi River border areas along the eastern and northeastern flanks.
Karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...
features such as
spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...
s, losing streams,
sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...
s and
cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...
s are common in the
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
s of the Springfield Plateau and abundant in the
dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...
bedrock of the Salem Plateau and Boston Mountains.''Karst, Springs and Caves in Missouri''
Missouri Department of Natural Resources
Missouri is known as "The Cave State" with over 7,300 recorded caves, second in number only to Tennessee. The majority of these caves are found in the Ozark counties. The Ozark Plateaus aquifer system affects groundwater movement in all areas except the igneous core of the St. Francois Mountains.Rafferty, Milton

''OzarksWatch'', Vol. I, No. 4, Spring 1988.

United States Geological Survey.

United States Geological Survey.
Geographic features include limestone and dolomite glades, which are rocky, desert-like areas on hilltops. Kept open by periodic fires that limit growth of
grasses Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns and ...
and forbs in shallow soil, glades are home to collared lizards, tarantulas, scorpions, cacti and other species more typical of the
Desert Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacen ...
."Spatial Interaction Webs in Ozark Glades"
John Chase, Assistant Professor. Washington University in St. Louis.
The Boston Mountains contain the highest elevations of the Ozarks, with peaks over , and form some of the greatest relief of any formation between the Appalachians and Rocky Mountains. The Ouachita Mountains to the south rise a few hundred feet higher, but are not geographically associated with the Ozarks. The Boston Mountains portion of the Ozarks extends north of the Arkansas River Valley , is approximately long, and is bordered by the Springfield and Salem Plateau to the north of the White River. Summits can reach elevations of just over , with valleys deep. Turner Ward Knob is the highest named peak. Found in western Newton County, Arkansas, its elevation is . Nearby, five unnamed peaks have elevations at or slightly above . Drainage is primarily to the White River, with the exception of the
Illinois River The Illinois River ( mia, Inoka Siipiiwi) is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River and is approximately long. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, it has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins at the confluence of the D ...
, although there also is considerable drainage from the south slopes of the Boston Mountains to the Arkansas River. Major streams of this type include Lee Creek, Frog Bayou, Mulberry River, Spadra Creek, Big Piney Creek, Little Piney Creek, Illinois Bayou, Point Remove Creek, and Cadron Creek. Many Ozark waterways have their headwaters in the uplands of the Boston formation, including the Buffalo,
Kings Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...
,
Mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...
, Little Red and White rivers. Topography is mostly gently rolling in the Springfield and Salem plateaus, whereas the
Saint Francois Mountains The St. Francois Mountains in southeast Missouri are a mountain range of Precambrian igneous mountains rising over the Ozark Plateau. This range is one of the oldest exposures of igneous rock in North America. The name of the range is spelled out ...
are more rugged. Although the Springfield formation's surface is primarily Mississippian limestone and
chert Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a prec ...
, the Salem Plateau is made of older Ordovician dolomites, limestones, and sandstones. Both are rife with karst topography and form long, flat plains. The formations are separated by steep escarpments that dramatically interrupt the rolling hills. Although much of the Springfield Plateau has been denuded of the surface layers of the Boston Mountains, large remnants of these younger layers are present throughout the southern end of the formation, possibly suggesting a peneplain process. The Springfield Plateau drains through wide, mature streams ultimately feeding the White River.


Geology

The
St. Francois Mountains The St. Francois Mountains in southeast Missouri are a mountain range of Precambrian igneous mountains rising over the Ozark Plateau. This range is one of the oldest exposures of igneous rock in North America. The name of the range is spelled out ...
in the northeastern Ozarks are the eroded remnants of an ancient range which form the geological core of the highland dome. The
igneous Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or ...
and
volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...
rocks of the St. Francois Mountains are the exposed remains of a
Proterozoic The Proterozoic () is a geological eon spanning the time interval from 2500 to 538.8million years ago. It is the most recent part of the Precambrian "supereon". It is also the longest eon of the Earth's geologic time scale, and it is subdivided ...
mountain range hundreds of millions of years old. The remaining hills are the exposed portion of an extensive
terrane In geology, a terrane (; in full, a tectonostratigraphic terrane) is a crust fragment formed on a tectonic plate (or broken off from it) and accreted or " sutured" to crust lying on another plate. The crustal block or fragment preserves its own ...
(the Spavinaw terrane in part) of granitic and
rhyolitic Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral ...
rocks dating from 1485 to 1350
mya Mya may refer to: Brands and product names * Mya (program), an intelligent personal assistant created by Motorola * Mya (TV channel), an Italian Television channel * Midwest Young Artists, a comprehensive youth music program Codes * Burmese ...
that stretches from
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
to western Oklahoma.Denison, Rodger E., et al., ''Geology and Geochemistry of the Precambrian Rocks in the Central Interior Region of the United States'', Geological Survey Professional Paper 1241-C, 1984 The core of the range existed as an island in the
Paleozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...
seas.
Reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...
complexes occur in the sedimentary layers surrounding this ancient island. These flanking reefs were points of concentration for later
ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 April 2 ...
-bearing fluids which formed the rich
lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
-
zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
ores that have been and continue to be mined in the area. The igneous and volcanic rocks extend at depth under the relatively thin veneer of Paleozoic
sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic matter, organic particles at Earth#Surface, Earth's surface, followed by cementation (geology), cementation. Sedimentati ...
rocks and form the basal crust of the entire region.A. G. Unklesbay, Jerry D. Vineyard. ''Missouri Geology — Three Billion Years of Volcanoes, Seas, Sediments, and Erosion'', University of Missouri Press, 1992. A major
unconformity An unconformity is a buried erosional or non-depositional surface separating two rock masses or strata of different ages, indicating that sediment deposition was not continuous. In general, the older layer was exposed to erosion for an interval o ...
in the region attests that the Ozarks were above sea level for several hundred million years from the time of the volcanism in the Precambrian until the mid-
Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...
with an erosionally produced relief of up to . The seas encroached during the late Cambrian producing the
Lamotte Sandstone Lamotte, LaMotte or La Motte may refer to: Places Canada * La Motte, Quebec France * La Grande-Motte, in the Hérault département * La Motte, Côtes-d'Armor, in the Côtes-d'Armor ''département'' * La Motte, Var, in the Var ''département'' ...
, thick, followed by
carbonate A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid (H2CO3), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word ''carbonate'' may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate g ...
sedimentation.
Coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...
s formed around the granite and rhyolite islands in this Cambrian sea. This carbonate formation, the Bonneterre, now mostly
dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...
, is exposed around the St. Francis Mountains, but extends in the subsurface throughout the Ozarks and reaches a thickness of . The Bonneterre is overlain by of dolomite, often sandy, silty or cherty, forming the
Elvins Group The Elvins Group is a geologic group in Missouri. It preserves fossils dating back to the Cambrian period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, an ...
and the Potosi and Eminence formations. Withdrawal of the seas resulted in another unconformity during the latest Cambrian and early Ordovician periods. Hydrothermal mineralizing fluids formed the rich lead ore deposits of the
Lead Belt The Southeast Missouri Lead District, commonly called the Lead Belt, is a lead mining district in the southeastern part of Missouri. Counties in the Lead Belt include Saint Francois, Crawford, Dent, Iron, Madison, Reynolds, and Washingt ...
during this time. Sedimentation resumed in the Ordovician with the deposition of the Gunter sandstone, the Gasconade dolomite and the prominent Roubidoux sandstone and dolomite. The sandstone of the Roubidoux forms prominent bluffs along the streams eroding into the southern part of the Salem Plateau. The Roubidoux and Gunter sandstones serve as significant
aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characterist ...
s when present in the subsurface. The source of the sands is considered to be the emerging
Wisconsin Dome Wisconsin () is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 25th-largest state by total area and the List of U.S. states and territories by populatio ...
to the northeast. The Ozark region remained as a subsiding shallow carbonate shelf environment with a significant thickness of cherty dolomites such as the Jefferson City, Cotter and
Powell Powell may refer to: People * Powell (surname) * Powell (given name) * Powell baronets, several baronetcies *Colonel Powell (disambiguation), several military officers *General Powell (disambiguation), several military leaders *Governor Powell (di ...
formations. Portions of the Ozark Plateau, the Springfield Plateau of southwest Missouri and northern Arkansas, are underlain by Mississippian cherty limestones locally referred to as "Boone chert", consisting of limestone and chert layers. These are eroded and form steep hills, valleys and bluffs. The Boston Mountains are a high and deeply dissected plateau. The rocks of the region are essentially little disturbed, flat-lying sedimentary layers of Paleozoic age. The highest ridges and peaks are capped by Pennsylvanian sandstone such as the basal Atoka and the "Middle Bloyd". The deeply eroded valleys are cut into Mississippian limestone and below that layer Ordovician dolomite. During the Pennsylvanian period the Ozark Plateau was uplifted as a result of the
Ouachita orogeny The Ouachita orogeny was a mountain-building event that resulted in the folding and faulting of strata currently exposed in the Ouachita Mountains. The more extensive Ouachita system extends from the current range in Arkansas and Oklahoma south ...
. During the late Paleozoic the deep ocean basin that existed in central and southern Arkansas was lifted when South America collided with North America, creating the folded Ouachita Mountains and uplifting the Ozark plateau to the north.


Ecology and conservation

Formal conservation in the region began when the Ozark National Forest was created by proclamation of President
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
in 1908 to preserve across five Arkansas counties. Another were added the following year. The initial forest included area as far south as Mount Magazine and as far east as Sylamore. In 1939, Congress established Mark Twain National Forest at nine sites in Missouri. Wildlife management areas were founded in the 1920s and '30s to restore populations to viable numbers. In the 1930s and 1940s
Aldo Leopold Aldo Leopold (January 11, 1887 – April 21, 1948) was an American writer, philosopher, naturalist, scientist, ecologist, forester, conservationist, and environmentalist. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin and is best known for his ...
,
Arthur Carhart Arthur Hawthorne Carhart (1892–1978) was a US Forest Service official, writer and conservationist who inspired wilderness protection in the United States. He was one of the first to realize the importance of conservation and became a nationally r ...
and Bob Marshall developed a "wilderness" policy for the Forest Service. Their efforts bore fruit with
The Wilderness Act of 1964 The Wilderness Act of 1964 () was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Society (United States), The Wilderness Society. It created the legal definition of wilderness in the United States, and protected 9.1 million acres (37,000 km² ...
which designated wilderness areas "where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by men, where man himself is a visitor and does not remain", though this included
second growth The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...
public forests like the Mark Twain National Forest. Land was also added to Ozark National Forest during this period, with over in total additions. Some land was reclaimed by the government through the
Resettlement Administration The Resettlement Administration (RA) was a New Deal U.S. federal agency created May 1, 1935. It relocated struggling urban and rural families to communities planned by the federal government. On September 1, 1937, it was succeeded by the Farm Se ...
during the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. In 1976, Congress established the Hercules Glades Wilderness, the first of 13 designated wilderness areas in the Ozarks. In 1986, Congress established the
Ozark Plateau National Wildlife Refuge Originally known as the Oklahoma Bat Caves National Wildlife Refuge, Ozark Plateau National Wildlife Refuge was established for the protection of endangered bats and their habitat. The refuge is made up of several parcels of land located in northea ...
in northeast Oklahoma. Protected areas ensure the recovery of endangered and threatened species of animals and plants, including the
red wolf The red wolf (''Canis rufus'') is a canine native to the southeastern United States. Its size is intermediate between the coyote (''Canis latrans'') and gray wolf (''Canis lupus''). The red wolf's taxonomic classification as being a separate s ...
,
Ozark big-eared bat The Ozark big-eared bat is an endangered species found only in a small number of caves in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri, the southern central United States. Also known as the western big-eared bat, the long-eared bat, and the lump-nosed bat, it ...
, Indiana bat,
eastern small-footed bat The eastern small-footed bat (''Myotis leibii'') is a species of vesper bat. It can be found in southern Ontario and Quebec in Canada and in mountainous portions of the eastern United States from New England to northern Georgia, and westward to n ...
, southeastern bat, southeastern
big-eared bat ''Nyctophilus'' is a genus of the vespertilionids or vesper bats. They are often termed Australian big-eared bats or long-eared bats, as the length of their ears often greatly exceeds that of the head. This genus occurs in the New Guinean-Austr ...
;
longnose darter The longnose darter (''Percina nasuta'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the family Percidae, which also contains the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. It is endemic to the Unite ...
,
Ozark cavefish The Ozark cavefish, ''Amblyopsis rosae'', is a small subterranean freshwater fish endemic to the United States. It has been listed as a threatened species in the US since 1984; the IUCN currently lists the species as Near Threatened, though thi ...
, Ozark cave
crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, mu ...
, Bowman's cave
amphipod Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far descr ...
, Ozark cave amphipod, bat cave
isopod Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and their relatives. Isopods live in the sea, in fresh water, or on land. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, an ...
; and Ozark chinquapin. It is a habitat of migratory birds and contains geological, archeological, historical, and paleontological resources. Commercial farms and processing operations are known to raise levels of chemical and biological contaminants in Ozark streams, threatening water supplies, recreational use and endangered native species.


Lakes and streams

Many of the rivers and streams in the Ozarks have been dammed. Most of the dams in the region were initially built for the dual purpose of
flood control Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...
and
hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...
generation but have also become major economic drivers through recreational use in places such as Branson, Missouri, and Mountain Home, Arkansas. The Army Corps of Engineers among others, operates multiple dams in the Ozarks region. Some of the largest lakes created by these dams are on the White River. Beginning in 1911 with the construction of Powersite Dam on the White River near Branson, Missouri and the impoundment of Lake Taneycomo the Ozarks rivers have been harnessed for electrical power, recreation, and flood control. After the President Franklin D, Roosevelt signed the Flood Control Act of 1938, six large flood control dams were constructed on the White River and its tributaries.. * Beaver Dam on the White River - Beaver Lake * Table Rock Dam on the White River - Table Rock Lake * Bull Shoals Dam on the White River - Bull Shoals Lake * Norfork Dam on the North Fork River - Norfolk Lake * Greers Ferry Lake on the Little Red River - Greers Ferry Lake * Clearwater Dam on the Black River - Clearwater Lake Multiple smaller lakes have been created by dams in the White River basin from 1911 through 1960. These smaller lakes include Lake Sequoyah,Boss, Stephen K., Heil-Chapdelaine, Vanessa M
"Mapping Landscape Change: An Historic and Bathymetric Study of Lake Sequoyah, Washington County, Arkansas"
a small recreational fishing lake east of
Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville () is the second-largest city in Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, and the biggest city in Northwest Arkansas. The city is on the outskirts of the Boston Mountains, deep within the Ozarks. Known as Washington until ...
, formed in 1961; Sequoyah is the uppermost impoundment on the White River. Below Sequoyah (northeast of Fayetteville) is Beaver Lake, formed in 1960. The White River continues northeasterly into Table Rock Lake (1958) in Missouri, which feeds directly into Lake Taneycomo, where the river zigzags southeasterly into Arkansas forming Bull Shoals Lake along the Arkansas-Missouri line. Completed in 1952, Bull Shoals is the furthest downstream lake on the White River proper. Norfork Lake was formed by damming the North Fork River, a tributary of the White River, in 1941. Additional large lakes in the Ozarks region include Lake of the Ozarks,
Pomme de Terre Lake Pomme de Terre Lake is located in southwest Missouri at the confluence of Lindley Creek and the Pomme de Terre River (for which it is named). The lake is located in southern Hickory and northern Polk counties, about north of Springfield. Its ...
, and
Truman Lake The Harry S Truman Reservoir, also known as Truman Lake, is located in the state of Missouri, United States. It is located between Clinton and Warsaw, on the Osage River and extends south to Osceola. The dam is located in Benton County, but th ...
in the northern Ozarks. These three lakes were formed by impounding the Osage River and its tributary the Pomme de Terre River in 1931, 1961 and 1979 respectively. Grand Lake o' the Cherokee in northeast Oklahoma, on the western portion of the Ozark Plateau, was created in 1940 with the damming of the Grand River.
Stockton Lake Stockton Lake is a reservoir located in southeastern Cedar County, Missouri, Cedar County, northeastern Dade County, Missouri, Dade County, and southwestern Polk County, Missouri. The lake is 'V' shaped, and covers , with of shoreline. It has th ...
was formed in 1969 by damming the
Sac River The Sac River (pronounced, sock) is a river in the Ozarks of Southwest Missouri. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 31, 2011 with headwaters in western Green ...
near the city of Stockton, Missouri, and supplements the water supply of
Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...
in nearby Greene County. . The creation of the lakes significantly altered the Ozark landscape and affected traditional Ozark culture through displacement.Watkins, Conor
"The Meramec Basin Project: A Look Back 25 Years Later"
''Ozark Mountain Experience''. Article 69 & 70 Combined. 2006.
"Mountain Home (Baxter County)": ''The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture''
Campbell, Rex R. Campbell, Mary. Hughes, Colleen
"A Revolution in the Heartland: Changes in Rural Culture, Family and Communities, 1900–2000"
. University of Missouri: Department of Rural Sociology. Columbia, Missouri. 2004.
The streams provided water and power to communities, farms and mills concentrated in the valleys prior to impoundment.E. Joan Wilson Miller
Abstract
"The Ozark Culture Region as Revealed by Traditional Materials". ''Annals of the Association of American Geographers'', Volume 58 Issue 1, Pages 51-77. January 3, 1967.
Many cemeteries, farm roads, river fords and railways were lost when the lakes came, disrupting rural culture, travel and commerce.
Baxter County, Arkansas Baxter County is a county in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 41,627. The county seat is Mountain Home. It is Arkansas's 66th county, formed on March 24, 1873, and named for Elisha Baxter, the tent ...
, alone saw nearly 400 people displaced to make way for the reservoir created by
Norfork Dam Norfork Dam is a large dam in northern Arkansas southeast of Mountain Home. It dams North Fork River and creates Norfork Lake. The top of the dam supports a 2-lane roadway, part of AR 177. History In the late 1930s, before construction of t ...
. The town of
Forsyth, Missouri Forsyth is a city in Taney County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,730 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Taney County. The town is part of the Branson, Missouri Micropolitan Statistical Area. Forsyth is located on Lake T ...
, was relocated in its entirety to a spot from its previous location. Prior to damming, rivers and streams in the White and Osage River basins were of similar character to the current conditions of the Buffalo,
Elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...
, Niangua, Gasconade, Big Piney, Current, Jacks Fork, Eleven Point and
Meramec Meramec is a name for several places in the United States: * Meramec River in Missouri * Meramec Caverns on the Meramec River * Meramec State Park in Missouri See also * Merrimac (disambiguation) * Merrimack (disambiguation) Merrimack may refer to ...
rivers. Because of the success of the Army Corps efforts to dam the large rivers in the Ozarks, the Ozarks Society began protests to keep the other rivers in the Ozarks free flowing. The Buffalo National River was created by an Act of Congress in 1972 as the nation's first
National River The National Park System of the United States is the collection of physical properties owned or administered by the National Park Service. The collection includes all national parks and most national monuments, as well as several other types of ...
, administered by the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
. The designation came after over a decade of battling a proposed Army Corps dam in the media, legislature, and courts to keep the Buffalo River free flowing. The Ozark Society, the main force behind the dam protest, still leads the fight to keep the Buffalo River pristine and protected. Today, the Buffalo River sees approximately 800,000 visitors camping, canoeing, floating, hiking, and tubing annually. In Missouri, the Ozark National Scenic Riverways was established in 1964 along the Current and Jacks Fork rivers as the first US national park based on a river system. The
Eleven Point River The Eleven Point River is a river in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas, United States. It originates near Willow Springs, Missouri. It more than doubles in flow when Greer Spring Branch runs into it, adding over of water per day to the ri ...
is included in the
National Wild and Scenic Rivers System The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-542), enacted by the U.S. Congress to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free- ...
established in 1968. These parks and rivers are a major economic driver for some of the least populated counties in Arkansas and Missouri, attracting up to 1.5 million tourists annually. Many other waterways and streams have their headwaters in the Boston Mountains portion of the Ozarks such as the Mulberry River, the White River, War Eagle Creek, Little Mulberry Creek, Lee Creek, Big Piney Creek, and the Little Red River. To the south, the Arkansas River valley separates the Boston Mountains from the Ouachita Mountains. Missouri Ozark rivers include the Gasconade, Big Piney, and Niangua rivers in the north central region. The
Meramec River The Meramec River (), sometimes spelled Maramec River, is one of the longest free-flowing waterways in the U.S. state of Missouri, draining Blanc, Caldwell, and Hawk. "Location" while wandering Blanc, Caldwell, and Hawk. "Executive Summary" fr ...
and its tributaries Huzzah Creek and
Courtois Creek Courtois Creek () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 13, 2011 stream in southern Missouri, United States. It shares its name with the nearby town of Courtois, Miss ...
are found in the northeastern Ozarks. The
Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
and St. Francis rivers mark the eastern crescent of the Ozarks. The
James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...
,
Spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...
and North Fork rivers are in south-central Missouri. Forming the west central border of the Ozarks from Missouri through Kansas and into Oklahoma are the Spring River and its tributary, Center Creek. Grand Falls, Missouri's largest natural waterfall, a
chert Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a prec ...
outcropping, includes bluffs and glades on Shoal Creek south of Joplin. All these river systems see heavy recreational use in season, including the Elk River in southwestern Missouri and its tributary
Big Sugar Creek Big Sugar Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 31, 2011 waterway in the Ozark Mountains of southwest Missouri. The creek starts near the Arkansas state line. B ...
. Ozark rivers and streams are typically clear water, with baseflows sustained by many
seeps A petroleum seep is a place where natural liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons escape to the earth's atmosphere and surface, normally under low pressure or flow. Seeps generally occur above either terrestrial or offshore petroleum accumulation stru ...
and springs, and flow through forests along
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
and
dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...
bluffs. Gravel bars are common along shallow banks, while deep holes are found along bluffs.MS Panfil, RB Jacobson
"Hydraulic Modeling of In-channel Habitats in the Ozark Highlands of Missouri: Assessment of Physical Habitat Sensitivity to Environmental Change"
USGS-Biological Resources Division.
Except during periods of heavy rain or snow melt – when water levels rise quite rapidly – their level of difficulty is suitable for most canoeing and tubing. Fish hatcheries are common due to the abundance of springs and waterways. The
Neosho National Fish Hatchery The Neosho National Fish Hatchery is the oldest federal fish hatchery in operation today. It is one of 69 fish hatcheries operated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. It was established in 1888. History Neosho, located in the Ozark Mountain ...
was built in 1888; it was the first federal hatchery. The
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) is a state agency of Arkansas, headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Steve N. Wilson of Norfork, Arkansas joined the agency in 1968 and became its director in 1979. He resigned in 2000 and died in 2021. I ...
, Missouri Department of Conservation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service operate numerous warm and cold water hatcheries and trout parks;
Missouri Fish Hatcheries and Trout Parks
private hatcheries such as at Rockbridge, Missouri, Rockbridge are found throughout the region.


Regional economy


Traditional economic activity

The Ozarks contain ore deposits of
lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
,
zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
,
iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
and
barite Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate ( Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), ...
. Many of these deposits have been depleted by historic mining activities, but much remains and is currently being mined in the
Lead Belt The Southeast Missouri Lead District, commonly called the Lead Belt, is a lead mining district in the southeastern part of Missouri. Counties in the Lead Belt include Saint Francois, Crawford, Dent, Iron, Madison, Reynolds, and Washingt ...
of southeast Missouri. Historically, the lead belt around the Saint Francois Mountains and the Tri-State district lead-zinc mining area around Joplin, Missouri, have been important sources of metals. Mining practices common in the early 20th century left significant abandoned underground mine problems and heavy metal contamination in topsoil and groundwater in the Tri-State district.Lasmanis, Raymond
Tri-State and Viburnum Trend Districts
''Rocks & Minerals'', November 1, 1997.

,
Kansas Geological Survey The Kansas Geological Survey (KGS), a research and service division of the University of Kansas, is charged by statute with studying and providing information on the geologic resources of Kansas. The KGS has no regulatory authority and does not t ...
. Updated May 5, 2005.
Much of the area supports
beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantity ...
cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...
ranching, and
dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...
farming is common across the area. Dairy farms are usually
cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
affairs, with small farms selling to a corporate wholesaler, who packages product under a common brand for retail sales.
Petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...
exploration and extraction also takes place in the Oklahoma portion of the Ozarks, as well as in the east half of the Boston Mountains in Arkansas.
Logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...
of both
softwood file:Pinus sylvestris wood ray section 1 beentree.jpg, Scots Pine, a typical and well-known softwood Softwood is wood from gymnosperm trees such as conifers. The term is opposed to hardwood, which is the wood from angiosperm trees. The main diff ...
and
hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...
timber species on both private land and in the National Forests has long been an important economic activity. The majority of the Ozarks is forested. Oak-hickory is the predominant type; eastern junipers are common, with stands of
pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...
often seen in the southern range. Less than a quarter of the region has been cleared for pasture and cropland.''Primary Distinguishing Characteristics of Level III Ecoregions of the Continental United States''
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Revised April 2000.
Forests that were heavily logged during the early-to-mid-20th century have recovered; much of the remaining timber in the Ozarks is
second-growth forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. I ...
. However, deforestation of frontier forest contributed through
erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...
to increased gravel bars along Ozark waterways in logged areas; stream channels have become wider and shallower, and deepwater fish habitat has been lost. The numerous rivers and streams of the region saw hundreds of water-powered timber and grist mills."Index to the old mills of Missouri"
Hosted by rootsweb, this incomplete list includes almost 250 old mills in Missouri alone.

(Rootsweb)
Mills were important centers of culture and commerce; dispersed widely throughout the region, mills served local needs, often thriving within a few miles of another facility. Few Ozark mills relied on inefficient
water wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or buckets ...
s for power; most utilized a
dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...
,
millrace A mill race, millrace or millrun, mill lade (Scotland) or mill leat (Southwest England) is the current of water that turns a water wheel, or the channel (sluice) conducting water to or from a water wheel. Compared with the broad waters of a mil ...
and
water turbine A water turbine is a rotary machine that converts kinetic energy and potential energy of water into mechanical work. Water turbines were developed in the 19th century and were widely used for industrial power prior to electrical grids. Now, t ...
.Suggs, George E., Jr. ''Water Mills of the Missouri Ozarks''.
University of Oklahoma Press The University of Oklahoma Press (OU Press) is the publishing arm of the University of Oklahoma. Founded in 1929 by the fifth president of the University of Oklahoma, William Bennett Bizzell, it was the first university press to be established i ...
:
Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma C ...
. 1990
During the
New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
, the
Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...
employed hundreds in the construction of nearly 400 fire lookouts throughout the Ozarks at 121 known sites in Arkansas and 257 in Missouri. Of those lookouts, about half remain, and many of them are in use by the
U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...
. A 2007 report by the
National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...
deemed these fire lookouts and related structures as one of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. In the 1960s, federal activity promoted modernization, especially through better transportation and tourism. The Ozarks Regional Commission sponsored numerous projects.


Current economic activities

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
is the growth industry of the Ozarks as evidenced by the growth of the Branson, Missouri, entertainment center celebrating traditional Ozark culture.''Area and Economic Overview: Southwest Missouri Overall Economic Development Program''
Southwest Missouri Council of Governments White Paper.
Snyder, Robert E. "Shepherd of the Hills Country: Tourism Transforms the Ozarks, 1880s-1930s". ''The Journal of American Culture'', Volume 27 Issue 1, Pages 117-119. The rapidly growing Northwest Arkansas metropolitan area has also become a tourist hub, drawing nationwide attention for the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, a ...
farming and food processing are significant industries throughout the region. The Tyson Foods corporation and
ConAgra Foods Conagra Brands, Inc. (formerly ConAgra Foods) is an American consumer packaged goods holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Conagra makes and sells products under various brand names that are available in supermarkets, restaurants, ...
each operates several hundred poultry farms and processing plants throughout the Ozarks. Schreiber Foods has operations throughout southern Missouri. The
trucking industry Road transport or road transportation is a type of transport using roads. Transport on roads can be roughly grouped into the transportation of goods and transportation of people. In many countries licensing requirements and safety regulations e ...
is important to the regional economy, with national carriers based there including
J. B. Hunt J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. is an American transportation and logistics company based in Lowell, Arkansas. It was founded by Johnnie Bryan Hunt and  Johnelle Hunt in Arkansas on August 10, 1961. By 1983, J.B. Hunt had grown into the 80 ...
, ABF, and Prime, Inc. Springfield remains an operational hub for the
BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...
. Logging and timber industries are also significant in the Ozark economy, with operations ranging from small family-run sawmills to large commercial concerns.
Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...
companies such as Wal-Mart,
Leggett & Platt Leggett & Platt (L&P), based in Carthage, Missouri, is an American diversified manufacturer that designs and produces various engineered components and products that can be found in homes and automobiles. The firm was founded in 1883, and consis ...
, Bass Pro Shops, and O'Reilly Auto Parts are based in the Ozarks. The area is home to several
Missouri wine Missouri wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in Missouri. German immigrants in the early-to-mid-19th century founded the wine industry in Missouri, resulting in its wine corridor being called the Missouri "Rhineland". Later Italian immigran ...
and spirit regions, including the Ozark Highlands and Ozark Mountain
American Viticultural Area An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of winery, wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know abo ...
s, and the Ozark Highland Spirits Region. There are a number of microbreweries throughout the region.


Culture

"Ozark" also refers to the distinctive culture, architecture,Andy Ostmeyer
"Original Ozarks: Evidence of settlement before 1830 hard to find"
''Joplin Globe''. June 21, 2009. According to the National Register of Historic Places, the Rice-Upshaw House, ca.1826, "is one of the two oldest remaining standing buildings in Arkansas, and a rare surviving example of a building from Arkansas' territorial period"; Wolf House, ca. 1825, overlooks the junction of the Norfork and White rivers; the Craighead-Henry House, ca. 1816, is "one of the oldest known structures in the interior issouriOzarks."
and
dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
shared by the people who live on the plateau. Early settlers in Missouri were pioneers who came west from the Southern Appalachians at the beginning of the 19th century,Randolph, Vance. ''Ozark Magic and Folklore''. 367 pages. Courier Dover Publications, 1964. followed in the 1840s and 1850s by Irish and
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
immigrants. Much of the Ozark population is of
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
, Scots-Irish, and German descent, and the Ozark families from which the regional culture derived tend to have lived in the area since the 19th century.Rafferty, Milton D. ''The Ozarks: Land and Life'', University of Arkansas Press, 2nd ed., 2001. Early settlers relied on
hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
,
fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
, trapping, and foraging to supplement their diets and incomes. Today hunting and fishing for recreation are common activities and an important part of the tourist industry. Foraging for mushrooms (especially
morel ''Morchella'', the true morels, is a genus of edible sac fungi closely related to anatomically simpler cup fungi in the order Pezizales (division Ascomycota). These distinctive fungi have a honeycomb appearance due to the network of ridges with ...
s) and for ginseng is common and financially supported by established buyers in the area. Other forages include poke, watercress, persimmons and pawpaw; wild berries such as
blackberry The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy of ...
,
black raspberry Black raspberry is a common name for three species of the genus ''Rubus'': *''Rubus leucodermis'', native to western North America *''Rubus occidentalis'', native to eastern North America *''Rubus coreanus 300px, (left to right) ''R. coreanu ...
,
raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with w ...
,
red mulberry ''Morus rubra'', commonly known as the red mulberry, is a species of mulberry native to eastern and central North America. It is found from Ontario, Minnesota, and Vermont south to southern Florida, and west as far as southeastern South Dakota, ...
, black cherry, wild strawberry and dewberry; and wild nuts such as
black walnut ''Juglans nigra'', the eastern American black walnut, is a species of deciduous tree in the walnut family, Juglandaceae, native to North America. It grows mostly in riparian zones, from southern Ontario, west to southeast South Dakota, south t ...
and even
acorn The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'' and '' Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains one seed (occasionally two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne ...
s.Phillips, Jan. ''Wild Edibles of Missouri''. Missouri Department of Conservation, 2nd edition (1998)
Cover, Introduction, Acknowledgments and Preface

Chapters

Color Plates
.
Edible
native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...
legume A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock f ...
s, wild grasses and
wildflower A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant probably is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is in any way different from the w ...
s are plentiful, and
beekeeping Beekeeping (or apiculture) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in man-made beehives. Honey bees in the genus '' Apis'' are the most-commonly-kept species but other honey-producing bees such as ''Melipona'' stingless bees are also kept. ...
is common.''The Naturalist''
High Plains Films. Doug Hawes-Davis, Director. 32 minutes, Color/B&W, 2001.
Print and broadcast media have explored Ozark culture broadly. Books set in the Ozarks include '' Where the Red Fern Grows'', '' The Shepherd of the Hills'', and ''As a Friend''. Gander, Forrest.
As a Friend
''.
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
:
New Directions Publishing Corporation New Directions Publishing Corp. is an independent book publishing company that was founded in 1936 by James Laughlin and incorporated in 1964. Its offices are located at 80 Eighth Avenue in New York City. History New Directions was born in 193 ...
. 2008.
The 1999 film '' Ride with the Devil'', based on the book ''Woe to Live On'', depicts conflict in southwest Missouri during the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
.Ward L. Schrantz. ''Jasper County, Missouri in the Civil War''. 1923. '' Winter's Bone'', a novel by
Daniel Woodrell Daniel Woodrell (born March 4, 1953) is an American novelist and short story writer, who has written nine novels, most of them set in the Missouri Ozarks, and one collection of short stories. Woodrell coined the phrase "country noir" to describe ...
(author of ''Woe to Live On''), reflects on contemporary
methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamph ...
culture and its impact on families on the plateau. Released as a feature film in 2010, ''Winter's Bone'' received the Grand Jury Prize at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
, as well as other awards. Several early and influential country-music television and radio programs originated from
Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...
in the 1950s and '60s, including ABC-TV's ''
Ozark Jubilee ''Ozark Jubilee'' is a 1950s United States network television program that featured country music's top stars of the day. It was produced in Springfield, Missouri. The weekly live stage show premiered on ABC-TV on January 22, 1955, was renamed ' ...
'' and ''The Slim Wilson Show'' on KYTV. The Clampett clan of '' The Beverly Hillbillies'' TV show provide a stereotypical depiction of Ozark people. Ozark musicians include
Porter Wagoner Porter Wayne Wagoner (August 12, 1927 – October 28, 2007) was an American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour. In 1967, he introduced singer Dolly Parton on his television show, ''The Po ...
and old-time
fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...
r Bob Holt.Henigan, Julie
Play Me Something Quick and Devilish: Bob Holt – Old-Time Square Dance Fiddler
''Musical Traditions'', Article MT021, June 1998.
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
drama series '' Ozark'' takes place in Osage Beach, Missouri and revolves around the well-to-do Byrde family as their lives are uprooted and they are forced to move from
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
to the Ozarks after a
money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
scheme goes wrong. The series focuses on the Byrdes' dealings in the Ozarks, as well as their interactions with local Ozark crime families. The series premiered on July 21, 2017. Examples of commercial interpretations of traditional Ozark culture include the two major family theme parks in the region, Silver Dollar City and the now defunct
Dogpatch USA Dogpatch USA was a theme park located in northwest Arkansas along State Highway 7 between the cities of Harrison and Jasper, an area known today as Marble Falls. It was based on the comic strip ''Li'l Abner'', created by cartoonist Al Capp ...
, and the resort entertainment complex in
Branson Branson may refer to: Places ;Canada * Branson, Toronto ;United States * Branson, Missouri, a popular tourist destination in the Ozark Mountains * Branson, Colorado * Branson City, California * The Branson School, in Ross, California * Warrenpoi ...
.
Ozark Folkways The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant portio ...
in
Winslow, Arkansas Winslow (formerly Summit Home) is a city in southern Washington County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 391 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Northwest Arkansas region. History A stagecoach stop for many years, the community now ...
, and Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View, Arkansas, interpret regional culture through musical performance and exhibitions of pioneer skills and crafts. Traditional Ozark culture includes stories and tunes passed orally between generations through community music parties and other informal gatherings.Aunt Shelle Stormoe
"How to Spot a Genuine Ozark Hillbilly"
October 23, 2008.
Many of these tunes and tales can be traced to British originsSmith, Vic
Review of Ozark Folksongs
''Musical Traditions'', January 2001.
and to German folklore. Moreover, historian Vance Randolph attributes the formation of much Ozark lore to individual families when "backwoods parents begin by telling outrageous whoppers to their children and end by half believing the wildest of these tales themselves." Randolph collected Ozark folklore and lyrics in volumes such as the national bestseller ''Pissing in the Snow and Other Ozark Folktales'' (University of Illinois Press, 1976), ''Ozark Folksongs'' (
University of Missouri Press The University of Missouri Press is a university press operated by the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri and London, England; it was founded in 1958 primarily through the efforts of English professor William Peden. Many publications a ...
, 1980), a four-volume anthology of regional songs and ballads collected in the 1920s and 1930s, and ''Ozark Magic and Folklore'' (Courier Dover Publications, 1964). Evidenced by Randolph's extensive field work, many Ozark anecdotes from the
oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985 ...
are often
bawdy Ribaldry or blue comedy is humorous entertainment that ranges from bordering on indelicacy to indecency. Blue comedy is also referred to as "bawdiness" or being "bawdy". Sex is presented in ribald material more for the purpose of poking fun at ...
, full of wild embellishments on everyday themes.Florer, Faith L
"Book Review. Pissing in the snow and other Ozark folktales".
''Whole Earth Review''. Summer, 1987. "Because of their—ahem—subject matter, the tales contained in this volume could not be published with Randolph's four great collections of Ozark material published in the 1950s, and have until recently been circulating only in manuscript and on elusive microfilm."
In 1941–42, commissioned by
Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...
of the
Archive of Folk Culture The Archive of Folk Culture (originally named The Archive of American Folk Song) was established in 1928 as the first national collection of American folk music in the United States of America. It was initially part of the Music Division of the Libr ...
, Randolph returned to the Ozarks with a portable recording machine from the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
and captured over 800 songs, ballads and instrumentals. Selected from among these several hundred recordings, 35 tracks were released on ''Various Artists: Ozark Folksongs'' (Rounder Records) in 2001. Square dances were an important social avenue throughout the Ozarks into the 20th century.Karen Mulrenin, Rita Saeger and Terry Brandt
"Old-Time Ozark Square Dancing"
''Bittersweet'', Volume II, No. 1, Fall 1974.
Foreman, Diana

''Bittersweet'', Volume V, No. 2, Winter 1977.
Edited and photography by Allen Gage

''Bittersweet'', Volume IX, No. 3, Spring 1982.
Square dances sprang up wherever people concentrated around mills and timber camps, springs, fords, and in towns small and large. Geographically isolated communities saw their own local dance tunes and variations develop. Of all the traditional musicians in the Ozarks, the fiddler holds a distinct place in both the community and folklore. Community fiddlers were revered for carrying local tunes; regionally, traveling fiddlers brought new tunes and entertainment, even while many viewed their arrival as a threat to morality. In 2007, Gordon McCann, a chronicler of Ozarks folklife and fiddle music for over four decades, donated a collection of audio recordings,
fieldnotes Fieldnotes refer to qualitative notes recorded by scientists or researchers in the course of field research, during or after their observation of a specific organism or phenomenon they are studying. The notes are intended to be read as evidence t ...
and photographs to
Missouri State University Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...
in Springfield.Gordon McCann pledges collection to Missouri State University: Four decades of material will be housed in Meyer Library
Missouri State University Press Release. September 26, 2007.
The collection includes more than 3,000 hours of fiddle music and interviews recorded at jam sessions, music parties, concerts and dances in the Ozarks. Selected audio recordings along with biographical sketches, photographs and tune histories were published in Drew Beisswenger and Gordon McCann's 2008 book/37-track CD set ''Mel Bay Presents Ozarks Fiddle Music: 308 Tunes Featuring 30 Legendary Fiddlers With Selections from 50 Other Great Ozarks Fiddlers''. From 1973 to 1983, the Bittersweet project, which began as an English class at Lebanon High School in Missouri, collected 476 taped and transcribed interviews, published 482 stories, and took over 50,000 photographs documenting traditional Ozark culture. Population influx since the 1950s, coupled with geographically lying in both the
Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
and Upper South, proximity to the
Mississippi embayment The Mississippi embayment is a physiographic feature in the south-central United States, part of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. It is essentially a northward continuation of the fluvial sediments of the Mississippi River Delta to its conflu ...
, the
Osage The Osage Nation, a Native American tribe in the United States, is the source of most other terms containing the word "osage". Osage can also refer to: * Osage language, a Dhaegin language traditionally spoken by the Osage Nation * Osage (Unicode b ...
and
Northern Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and ...
, contributes to changing cultural values in the Ozarks. Theme parks and theatres seen to reflect regional values have little in common with traditional Ozark culture. Community tradition bearers remain active, in decreasing numbers, far afield of commercial offers.


Religion

Ozark religion, like that of
Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...
, was predominantly
Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
and
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
during periods of early settlement; it tends to the conservative or individualistic, with
Episcopalians Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
,
Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...
, Baptists including
Southern Baptists The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptists, Baptist denomination, and the Protestantism in the United States, largest Protestantism, Protestant and Christia ...
,
Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * When used in the plural, a New Testament designation for local groups of people following the teachings of Jesus Christ: "...all the churches of Christ greet you", Romans 16:16. * The entire body of Ch ...
, Pentecostals, and other
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
denominations present, as well as
Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. Religious organizations headquartered in the Ozarks include the
Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...
and
Baptist Bible Fellowship International The Baptist Bible Fellowship International (BBFI) is a conservative Baptist Christian denomination. It is headquartered in Springfield, Missouri. History The Fellowship was founded during a meeting in 1950 at Fort Worth in 1950 by a group of 1 ...
in
Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...
and the General Association of General Baptists in Poplar Bluff.


See also

;National Forests of the Ozarks * * ;Ozark National Rivers and Wild Scenic Riverways * * * ;Hiking Trail Systems of the Ozarks * * * * * * * * * ;Ships named Ozark * * *


References


Further reading

* Beisswenger, Drew & Gordon McCann,
Mel Bay Presents Ozarks Fiddle Music: 308 Tunes Featuring 30 Legendary Fiddlers With Selections from 50 Other Great Ozarks Fiddlers
'' 2008. * Blevins, Brooks, ''A History of the Ozarks: Volume 1: The Old Ozarks.'' Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2018. * Rafferty, Milton D. ''The Ozarks: Land and Life.'' Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 2001. * Randolph, Vance. ''The Ozarks: An American Survival of Primitive Society.'' 1931. * Rossiter, Phyllis. ''A Living History of the Ozarks'' Gretna, LA: Pelican, 1992. * Phillips, Jared. ''Hipbillies: Deep Revolution in the Arkansas Ozarks'' Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 2019.


Folklore

* Gilmore, Robert Karl. ''Ozark Baptizings, Hangings, and Other Diversions: Theatrical Folkways of Rural Missouri, 1885-1910'' Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1984. * Morrow, Lynn, and James Keefe, eds. ''White River Chronicles.'' Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 1994. * McNeil, W. K.''Ozark Country.'' Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1995. * Randolph, Vance. ''Ozark Folksongs.'' In four volumes. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1980)


History

* ''A reminiscent history of the Ozark region: comprising a condensed general history, a brief descriptive history of each county, and numerous biographical sketches of prominent citizens of such counties'' (1894
full text


Tourism

* Morrow, Lynn, and Linda Myers-Phinney. ''Shepherd of the Hills Country: Tourism Transforms the Ozarks, 1880s–1930s.'' Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 1999.


External links

*
Ozark National Scenic Riverways
*
Ozark Plateau National Wildlife Refuge

Ozark Mountains, Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture, The Central Arkansas Library System.

The Intimate Wild: Ozark Highlands Trail, National Geographic, 10/2008.

"Closest to Everlastin'": Ozark Agricultural Biodiversity and Subsistence Traditions, 9/2010.
* {{Authority control Civilian Conservation Corps in Arkansas Civilian Conservation Corps in Missouri Mountain ranges of Arkansas Mountain ranges of Kansas Mountain ranges of Missouri Mountain ranges of Oklahoma Physiographic regions of the United States Plateaus of the United States Regions of Arkansas U.S. Interior Highlands