Introduction: The Two Trails
This, my story, is a very old story.
In the hills of life there are two trails. One lies along the higher sunlit fields where those who journey see afar, and the light lingers even when the sun is down; and one leads to the lower ground, where those who travel, as they go, look over their shoulders with eyes of dread, and gloomy shadows gather long before the day is done.
This, my story, is the story of a man who took the trail to the lower ground, and a of a woman, and how she found her way to the higher sunlit fields.
In the story, it all happened in the Ozark Mountains, many miles from what we of the city call civilization. In life, it has all happened many, many times before, in many, many places. The two trails lead afar. The story, so very old, is still in the telling.
The Beginning of a Legend
The Shepherd of the Hills, first published in 1907, became an immediate best-seller and one of the first million-selling books by an American author. The book was acclaimed novelist Harold Bell Wright’s second publication, and almost certainly his most famous work. It was translated into seven different languages and made into four movies, one starring John Wayne in his first Technicolor film. The book sparked the beginning of tourism in Branson, Missouri and the Ozark Mountain region of Missouri.
Based on actual people and events during the end of the 1800’s, this brilliant tale tells of the complicated lives of the Ozark pioneers. The story vividly portrays the account of the stranger the people called Dad Howitt. Having a mysterious past, his life was bound up with theirs more than they knew. The story also tells of a father bitter over the loss of his only daughter and seeking revenge; of magnificent, untutored Sammy Lane who wanted to become a lady so she would not embarrass Ollie Stewart her fiance; of Young Matt who loved her in silence; of Little Pete, the strange boy whom no one understood; and of the Baldknobber gang on their quest to control the region.
The Shepherd of the Hills is an excellent read and a dramatic story featuring adventure, romance, forgiveness, triumph, faith, and moral message that is as true today as it was 100 years ago.
