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“Fabulous, unbelievable, humorous, and touching true stories
about the Ozarks in the 1800’s”
 Ozark Pioneers - Their Trials and Triumphs - by Bob Hinds - Softcover - 273 pages - ISBN 0972588701 - Illustrated
From the author, Bob Hinds:
“This book was written because of requests from many of the young people in the Hutton Valley, Missouri area. They all knew that I had been gathering much of this information for many years, and wanted me to record it before it became lost.
In writing this book, however, it soon became clear that I could not write just about the Hutton Valley history, without also including some information about the adjoining areas. So I have tried to give a synopsis of many of the more important events and happenings that occurred over the years in most of this Ozarks region.
We often speak today of the “Good Old Days”. But were they so good? The Ozarks region was built on the backs and sweat of the pioneers and families who settled here. Their hard work, faith, and ideas significantly shaped the future of the area.
Our parents and their parents before them endured many hardships and privations — at least, we think of them as hardships today. To those hearty pioneers and farmers, it was “Modern Times”. For us to live like that today would be considered a disaster.
Imagine green rolling hills of beautiful blue stem grass; creeks and pristine rivers flourishing with wildlife such as elk, deer, black bear, wild turkey, and other small game. Imagine a land where wildlife and Indian trails ran in all directions.
This is exactly what the first settlers in the Ozarks found as they sought new homes in the region. Many of the early pioneers came to the Ozarks to make a fresh start, but dangers were everywhere.
Food, supplies, and occasionally even children were stolen by unfriendly Indians. One famous lady was captured and held prisoner for years, and her miraculous escape is one of the legends of the era.
Courage was essential to survival, as one lone woman discovered during the Civil War, as she held a band of bushwackers at bay with her muzzle-loader when they tried to steal her horses.
Families who migrated here had to endure the hardships of traveling long distances in covered wagons pulled by slow-moving oxen, if they were lucky, carrying with them all of their earthly possessions, such as they were.
Along the way they were plagued by sickness, dirt, scarce food and water, wild animals, and hostile Indians. Some Indians, however, led the settlers to Healing Waters that cured their rheumatism.
In later years Saturday was a big day in these settlements. The women shopped, and the men gathered to tell tales and drink moonshine, such gatherings usually ending in a fight or two.
Stories and legends about moonshine permeate the fabric of the region, as it became a favorite source of entertainment and revenue among the residents there.
Schools were tiny one-room affairs, and the rules for teachers were incredibly strict. School for students was sometimes an incredible feat of survival, and coming-of-age.
Mysterious legends evolved regarding strange animal/man sightings of the Blue Man. Then there is the story of the two brothers who divided their holdings by one taking the gold, and the other the girl.
The Civil War brought tragedy, misery, and sorrow beyond belief to the Ozarks, as it did to so many others. Families were torn apart. Husbands and sons were killed by murderous bushwackers, leaving wives and small children alone to fend for themselves. Entire settlements in the Ozarks were burned and cabins were looted.
Feuds among families were commonplace. One man being chased by a posse was forced to jump off of a high cliff in a desperate bid to escape. One such feud lasted for over half a century. Most folks recognised it as being worse than the legendary feud between the Hatfield and McCoy’s back east!
It got to be so bad that, after the Civil War, instead of being recognized as Republican or Democrat, people were known as either Alsup or Anti-Alsup, and if they were caught alone and answered incorrectly as to which group they belonged, they might well be shot off of the back of their horse.
Here you will learn what a typical Ozarkian’s day-to-day life entailed, and what a “three notch road” meant, and about livestock management in the “open range”.
Also included are many such stories, as the young “mother-to-be out plowing a field with a mule and a double shovel when labor pains hit her. What did she do? Why, she just laid down for a spell under a shade tree, gave birth to one of her 16 children, and went back to plowing …!”
And THESE were the “Good Old Days!”
Also included are updated genealogies of many of the pioneer settlers in Hutton Valley, such as the Smith, Gulley, Hood’s, Hinds, and Ogle familes of Peckett County Tennessee, and the Bryan, Godsy, Stringer, and Alsup familes.
Stories and vintage pictures will give the reader a vivid look into the “days of yesteryear” in the Hutton Valley and surrounding Ozark region.”
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