The Shepherd of the Hills

Ross and Wright

In the late 1800s, John and Anna Ross homesteaded 160 acres of land just to the west of current 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.