The Shepherd of the Hills Series #1: Truman Powell
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This cache was created as first in as series to honor the work of Harold Belle Wright and the people who inspired the book, The Shepherd of the Hills.
When Harold Belle Wright first came to these beautiful Ozark Mountains, what intrigued him most was the people and their stories. Stories of legend, superstition, fear of God, loyalty, love, and hardship. In crossing paths with Truman Powell, the first explorer of Talking Rocks Cavern, then called Fairy Cave, he found a character not unlike himself. Educated, taken with the place and its people, he had come from the city and stayed. He fashioned the character of Dad Howitt, the Shepherd of the Hills, one of the most beloved books of all time, from his friend Truman Powell.
1883 - Two boys out hunting, observed a Rabbit disappear under a large ledge rock on the side of a hill. Moving the rock, much to their surprise they found one of these seemingly bottomless pits, and were naturally hesitant to explore the cavern. Sometime later, the property was acquired by the Irwin family, the youngest son of this family was curious of the cave and invited Truman Powell to explore.
Truman was quite experienced in cave exploration as he had been one of the principals in the Marble Cave Mining and Manufacturing Company, a group originally formed to explore the labyrinth in search of any precious minerals that might have be found in Marble cave and removed for commercial purposes. Marble cave was later purchased by William Lynch and operated as a tour cave by his daughters, until the Herschend family acquired it, and changed its name to Marvel cave, as it is known today.
1896 - In June, Truman and his oldest Son William set about preparations to lower themselves into the depths of Talking Rocks. A windlass and pulley system sufficient to lower the Father and Son team, to the bottom, a vertical distance of 90 feet or so, was constructed over the opening. And like astronauts of today exploring outer space, these "speleonauts" were off on an adventure to explore inner space.
For several hours, Truman and William explored the depths of the cave with only candles made from tallow for illumination, then finally returning to the rope, that by the manpower of their assistants waiting above, was to be their "elevator" to the surface and light of day. It was reported that Truman had remarked after the initial exploration, that the cave was like a Fairyland, the rock formations being so wondrous.
1903 - Harold Bell Wright returned once again to the J. K. Ross cabin. This time he sent wagons ahead with a huge summer tent, his family and all his camping supplies. He began writing his famous book, The Shepherd of the Hills.
1907 - The Shepherd of the Hills was published and became an instant, international hit. It became the fourth most published book in the entire world – the King James Bible being the first. By 1917 it had sold two million copies, a vast amount in those days. It is believed that Truman Powell was the man Wright chose to be his “Old Shepherd” in his book.
1907 - Truman's third son Waldo purchased the cave, first known as Fairy Cave, later changed to Talking Rocks Cavern.
1921- Commercial tours start with the venture being known as Fairy Cave. For the first eight years of operation, visitors entered and exited the cave on wooden steps that lead from the opening above to the floor of the cave. Then a more permanent concrete structure was constructed.
Truman Powell also operated newspapers in Lamar and Galena, and was involved in real estate.
Waldo, like his Father, Truman, was quite an entrepreneur and community builder. Educated at Drury college in Springfield, Waldo opened the first tomato canning factory in Stone County during the days of "Red Gold", he owned a general store, served as justice of the peace, and like his Father before him, represented Stone County for two terms in the state legislature. It is also rumored that Waldo was the basis for the character "Ollie Stewart" in Harold Bell Wright's novel, The Shepherd of The Hills.
* Permission has been granted by General Manager for placement. *
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ongf va gur pnir = Ongf va gur orysel?