About Our Part of The Ozarks

When people think of our part of the Ozarks, they may think of the Home of Laura Ingalls Wilder, or that hilly country in Southwest Missouri, but there is much more than that. Long before there was Laura Ingalls Wilder, long before there was Mansfield, Missouri, and long before there was a state of Missouri, this area played a part of history.
There is a ridge that runs east and west accross the entire state of Missouri called the Devil's Backbone. All the water that falls on the south side of this ridge flows south into the Arkansas River then into the Mississippi while all the water that falls north of that ridge flows into the Missouri River then into the Mississippi. When the Indians ruled the land here, this ridge was the boundry line between the Cherokee and the Osage Indians.
Mansfield is located on the top of this ridge. This means that we are downstream from no-one. It also means that we have less intense weather than the rest of the country. Storms either go north with us on the southern edge, or they go south of us with us on the northern edge.
When you visit Mansfield, Missouri, whether for the Home of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Bakersville, for the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company, or The National Headquarters of the Missouri Foxtrotter Horses, please stop by Mother Owl's Choice for some of the finist Ozarks Crafts and Native Memorialibia in the country. This is also a good place to ask questions about this area of the Ozarks.