Forever Grand Vacations would like to help promote this outdoor play made famous by Harold Bell Wright. In the late 1800s, John and Anna Ross homesteaded 160 acres parcel just to the west of modern day Branson, a seemingly insignificant occurrence, were it not for a chain of events to follow, which would forever change the face of this area.
In 1896, a Kansas minister by the name of Harold Bell Wright was instructed by his physician to seek a better climate for his health, having been diagnosed with tuberculosis, commonly referred to as consumption. Having heard about the great fishing in this area, and being an avid fisherman and nature lover, he came to the Ozarks in search of such a locale. Seeking what he thought would be temporary shelter with the Rosses, due to flooding on the
White River, Wright ultimately pitched a tent on what would come to be known as Inspiration Point on the Ross homestead. Wright spent the next several years getting to know the people and places of this unique and strangely romantic area, full of rich heritage and local customs and color. A lover of nature, he was constantly roaming the hills and streams of the Ozarks, capturing the setting and feeling of the land which he so vividly described in his book.
The Shepherd of the Hills
In 1907, Wright’s novel was published for the first time under the title of “The Shepherd of the Hills,” and his perfect description of the Ozarks scenery, along with the soon-to-be legendary characters of the novel, would draw visitors by the thousands to this larger-than-life area that lived in their imaginations as they read his epic work.
Forever Grand Vacations is proud to help this epic play that is part of Ozark history and is sue to please all ages.
Forever Grand Vacations welcome center has there tickets ar reduced prices for this must see Branson tradition