The Legend of Bread Tray Mountain

Bread Tray Mountain is located 3 miles west of Lampe, mo. on Highway H. If you look at this mountain from a distance it slopes up on each side and flat on the top the resembles a loaf of bread on a tray. I have heard several stories about this mountain.  This is one of them. It is said to be haunted but by what? When the wind is blowing out of the north-west you can hear a howling sound, some say that it comes from a cave. One story is told that the Spaniards hauled gold in buck skin bags and hid the gold in the cave. They where completely wipe out by the Indians, and they sealed of the opening or the cave. Another story I hear was from a old Indian that was the last of his kind, he would come to the trading post located at Highway 13 and H (What is known as Ha-Bobs station now) and trade for food. According to him the story goes that they hated the government for taking their land and way before the lake came in it was a fairly shorter trip to the Cassville area, they just had to cross the White river that is now coved up now by Table Rock Lake. They stole 40 pony loads of gold and silver that the government was moving west. They had no need for the white mans money so they buried it in a cave and sealed the entrance off with a rock that no man could move. He said that it was on a mountain close by, that when you stood on top the river wrapped around it. I myself have stood on Bread Tray mountain in the winter (the leafs was off the tree's so you could see good). As you look you can see the lake (what was the White river) from over your back left shoulder, all the way around you to over your right shoulder. Also told that a ladie was on the mountain herding some cows off of it back to thier farm and came across the cave opening, and with so much excitement she ran down to get here family to show them, but when they came back they couldn't find the opening. I have read that in 1901 the government cleared off the top of the mountain but left only one tree, and beside it stood a copper marker. Its told that every winter a Bald Eagle would come and perch on that tree, but when summer came along it would leave and then return the next winter. The mountain returned to its fully natural growth now but some say that just before the sunset you can see the ghost. Just a few years back the government tryed to sell the mountain to a individual,  but with great thanks to  the Lampe-Baxter association stopped the sale. Now we can still hike up the mountain and enjoy the sight and think about all the stories that was told about it. Maybe you will see a ghost or hear the sound of the mountain,  but if you find the cave full of gold and silver plz give it to the government,  they need it more than we do. Lol I will be posting more folklore on here about the Ozarks,  if you have any I would love to hear them. May God Bless the USA.

Gardening in the Ozarks

Me and Ames (My beautiful wife, her name is Amy but I like calling her Ames). We have been blessed with a wonderful garden each year. We have cucumbers,  strawberries,  zucchini, dill, among other things but the tomatoes are something that you just have to taste to believe the flavor,  Homegrown is always better than the greenhouse tomatoes you get at most of the supermarket's and restaurant's. But the tomatoes grown in the Ozarks have a whole different flavor,  it comes from the rocky, but very rich black dirt that forms on our north and east slopes of our hills, they also grew strawberries and tobacco.  I will talk about that later along with our trade and money here from the old days. My uncle told me when he was at driving age he would load up the first batch of homegrown tomatoes and drive to Wichita kansas to sell them. He said they would always go fast and people wanted more. People here picked tomatoes for a living when they where in season.  I was told that a 40lb tomato create payed 10 cents to pick and it went to the local canning factories,   and a 25lb basket was  called a half bushel payed 25 cents, but the half bushel only was the very best of the tomatoes that was sold to the markets. You could make more money with the 40lb create because you could pick them faster and  they went to the local canning factories that was then shipped all over. They grew tomatoes named Sioux,  that came from the Sioux Indian. (I have found some seeds of the on a web site called tomatoe fest out of Oklahoma,  so we planted some and can't wait to try them).  If you visit the beautiful hills of the Ozarks make sure you stop by a farmers market or a local stand and taste the blessing of the fruits that God has blessed us with.

Independence Day in the Ozarks

What away to celebrate our independence. So many family and friend's come down for vacation to enjoy the Ozarks,  they are from all over the great states of America. We get to enjoy all the fireworks,  fishing and skiing, canoeing down the river's and creeks,  riding golf carts and atvs around the subdivisions or the trails thru the woods (most of them covered with red, white, and blue colors or lights and flying our great American flag). I think the reason people come here is not only for the wonderful landscape,  lakes, and river's,  but also for the friendly, very nice people that they meet, and wonderful memories that they can bring thier children back too. I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July.

Yard sale's

My grandmother and grandfather loved to go to yard sale's.  I remember growing up we would leave out going to yard sales with a truck and trailer and fill them up. Grandma couldn't wait to get the newspapers to see where all the sales was at for the weekend. Well this last weekend we had a yardsale at her house following her passing of going to Heaven to see grandpa and other loved one's.  It was hard going thru all the belongings,  it brings alots of memories and all of them are good one's. As people came in and gathered stuff, I know my grandparents  would not of had it any other way. Things went to locals,  friend's, family's and just people passing thru.  Their little treasures was passed to family's that would hang  in the local house hold, to a summer cabin at the lake that fills memories when visiting,  or to a home several miles away. With that said, it will carry on more memories with the children,  grandchildren,  and friend's.  I am so thankful that someday another grandchild will say "I want that please I am going to pass it on some day to my children". So please just remember if you have a box full of whatnots, clothes,  bed, tool, or whatever the case might be. Have a yardsale and sell it cheap or donate it to a good organization that will give it away to people in need. You will be a blessing to a family or some child that will pass it on.

starting out

Hey guys and gals, I am going to blog and tweet about growning up in the ozarks. Its going to include life here, gardening, hunting, fishing, atvs, history, family, friend's,  and God. So I think you all who will follow.