Memories from the Homestead: Hemphill recalls her memories with the Rosses at Garber

     Well, howdy once again! A few weeks back while digging deep in the archives at the White River Valley Historical Society at Forsyth, I brought to light a two-part look at the beginnings of Crane in Stone County, as recalled by long-time resident Mary Hemphill. I briefly mentioned her family connections, in particular her grandfather, James Wood, former owner of the real Mutton Hollow in "The Shepherd of the Hills."

     It was around a year ago when the Lawrence County Historical Society at Mount Vernon shared some details on Wood, claiming he was the inspiration for the "Shepherd," Daniel Howitt (character from the Shepherd of the Hills novel). This was an eye opener for me and a number of us "Shepherd" experts as we had been under the impression for over one hundred years that Truman Powell (founder of today's Talking Rocks Caverns at Branson West) was the inspiration for Howitt. I'll get back to this particular topic in a moment. Do not get an upset stomach; please relax! Here's Mary Hemphill's statements from a letter she wrote to the White River Valley Historical Society in 1975 sharing the details of her relationship with J.K. and Anna Ross.

Artist's illustration of J.K. Ross

     "I am delighted to share some information about my 'adopted' grandparents, J.K. and Mrs. Ross. I lost my own grandfather, James M. Wood, when I was six (1911) and my grandmother, Mary Jane White, when I was nine (1914), and I have always been one that liked to be around older people, so I 'adopted' someone as time went along.

     My parents, Samuel and Clara Wood, and Grandpa Wood, moved to Mutton Hollow in the spring of 1900 right after Mom and Dad were married, April 4, 1900. They herded sheep in Mutton Hollow and the surrounding hills. This is located, as you know, just down the hill from where the Rosses lived. So, they became good neighbors and friends. They lived there when Harold Bell Wright spent the summer (1905) writing a book. Grandpa Wood spent many hours with Harold Bell Wright and that is why Grandpa Ross thought he was the character the author depicted in “The Shepherd of the Hills” as the "Old Shepherd."

     After my family left Mutton Hollow, they returned to Mount Vernon, MO, in Lawrence County which was where they originally had lived. I was born there in 1903. My dad worked for the Missouri Pacific Railroad, first as surveyor and later as fireman and engineer. He was away from home a lot and Mother had most of the responsibility of raising her family of four by herself. So, she often took us to visit Grandpa and Grandma Ross after they had moved to Garber, MO, and Grandpa Ross was the postmaster. As I was the oldest, Grandpa Ross took a special interest in me, and I always looked forward to helping him run the post office when I visited there.

     A (March 1923) clipping from Grandma's obituary says: “Shepherd of the Hills character passes away.”

Aunt Mollie, of Garber, MO, one of the characters in Harold Bell Wright's "Shepherd of the Hills" was laid to rest in Evergreen Cemetery at Notch, MO, in her seventy-seventh year. Forty-one years ago she married J.K. Ross from Indiana, who was "Old Matt" in the Wright book. The couple lived before moving to Garber near Dewey Bald in the now famous cabin overlooking Mutton Hollow, where Wright came 16 years ago to board for the summer. Most of his inspiration for this great book was obtained from this couple. Mr. Ross is still postmaster at Garber.

     Mother attended Grandma's funeral but I didn't. This all led me to realize what a wonderful relationship and memories I had to share about these wonderful people." –Mary

     As I've continued to research the Daniel Howitt inspiration, four sources have risen recently pointing to Mary's biological Grandpa James Wood as Wright's character. Her memories, the info from the Lawrence County Historical Society, J.K. Ross mentioning Wood in his Garber newspaper column when Mary and her mother Clara would come to Garber, and Ross discussing the passing of Wood in his 1913 autobiography. Wright didn't have anything to say about this that I know of. It's true that Wright was very protective of his book characters. He did make a statement in the late 1930s that only Levi Morrill (as Uncle Ike) and the Rosses (as Old Matt and Aunt Mollie) were the individuals who inspired those three. Everyone else was fictional, and to a certain extent they were, but the locations and a number of events in the novel are real.

     So, you're now asking, how did Truman Powell become known as the inspiration for Howitt? I really believe a lot of that came to be, thanks to Branson tour guide Pearl Spurlock when she took tourists for a day-long drive into the Shepherd of the Hills Country along the "trail that nobody knows how old." Spurlock documented much of her belief about Powell (who died in 1919) in her book, "Over the Ozark Trails." Walker Powell recalled his childhood memories of Spurlock and her taxi when she would bring guests to their cave business in the late 1920s. Spurlock would introduce young Powell as "the grandson of the Shepherd." "I couldn't stand it," Powell recalled in an interview some years ago. "I wanted to hide because Spurlock wasn't really making a true statement," Powell said.  

     Also, to further the Truman Powell belief—in the mid 1980s, local author Jerry Madsen released a booklet follow-up on Spurlock's book, going into greater detail of Wright's book characters. Madsen made it clear that Truman Powell was "the Shepherd" and two of his sons were character inspirations also. There just isn't any concrete proof behind this. But one thing to understand, many of the local residents were convinced of who was who in the novel and capitalized on it greatly. All the locals knew there was money to be made from the tourists. The first twenty years (1910 to 1930) when the Shepherd of the Hills popularity was at its highest as far as visitors coming from everywhere to see for themselves what they had read, was the time period when this exploded. Then every few years, another boom in attendance occurred, and the cycle continued to modern times.

    I'll wrap this by saying—yes, it's a unique topic, and I'm blessed every day to explain to all Branson visitors the true reason they are here. Thank you, Harold Bell Wright! Your amazing novel changed our lives forever! We certainly wouldn't be here in this magnitude without you! I say this quite often. Anyway, join us for the 2025 season at the Shepherd of the Hills Homestead and Adventure Park as we celebrate 65 years of performance of the outdoor drama with a big celebration on May 10. Old Matt's Cabin this year turns 130 years old, and this is the 120th anniversary of Wright camping on the hill above the cabin where he was "inspired" to write what became America's first million-selling novel.

     Happy trails, everyone!