The Branson area was known as Shepherd of the Hills country long before guitars or theme parks ever drew visitors to the hills. It all began with a book, aptly titled “The Shepherd of the Hills,” that was published in 1907.
Written by Harold Bell Wright, the novel recounts a primitive Ozarks through characters like Sammy Lane, Old Matt and the Shepherd. It became immensely popular and sent tourists running to the Ozarks. Even today, the story echoes through the region, with its heart at Shepherd of the Hills – the park – a destination near Branson where visitors can take tours, see landmarks made famous in the book and watch an outdoor drama based on its pages. That play has run in its current form for 65 years as of 2025.
The man who started all of this wasn’t originally from the Ozarks. Harold Bell Wright is best known for his Branson ties, but it’s not the only place in the Ozarks where he lived. He also spent time in Lebanon, Mount Vernon and Pierce City, among other Ozarks communities. The latter was his first stop; it’s where he arrived in the 1890s and became a preacher.
"They were going to church, and the preacher didn't show up one Sunday, and they said, 'you seem like an educated fellow,' — he wasn't really — 'But you seem smart, you know, so you preach,' " said Kristin Nama with the Harold Bell Wright Museum in Pierce City.
I visited with her and Murray Bishoff, also of the museum, to learn more about Wright’s legacy. The writer’s Ozarks stops included time in the Branson area – before Branson even existed – which was where he was inspired to write his ultimately famous book.
"There's no doubt that people, then and now, are rough around the edges," Bishoff said. "With these rural people living outside of sophisticated culture with their own language, he really did put his finger on a lot of what was here."
Visitors came to see the Ozarks they read about. They were guided by folks like Pearl Spurlock, a legendary taxi driver who was a tour guide in the early 20th Century.
She took them to places including Marvel Cave — today the heart of Silver Dollar City — and Fairy Cave, what we now know as Talking Rocks Cavern.
Shepherd of the Hills Adventure Park is home to two landmarks. There’s the post office at Notch, which was synonymous with the character, Uncle Ike, and was moved to its current spot in 2022. Another is Old Matt’s Cabin, which was home to J.K. and Anna Ross and is pictured on many, many vintage postcards proclaiming Shepherd of the Hills Country.
Today, the park is home to other attractions, too — efforts to grab an audience who may not be familiar with the book at the heart of it all. But at the end of the day, the park is fundamentally home to history.
You can tell I get nostalgic with the magnitude of this story and how it’s still unfolding. Another reason is down the hill from the cabin and the post office is the theater where the Shepherd of the Hills outdoor drama continues shows that began in 1960.
"We get grandparents that are coming here and telling us that they came with their grandparents when they were little, and today they're bringing their own grandkids and how important it is for them to know it," said Jeff Johnson, a former banker who bought the park with a business partner in 2017.
It was a moment of salvation for the park, which was in distress and on the verge of closing. But that’s where the story comes back in. For Jeff, who grew up seeing his grandfather in the play, the decision was fueled by business sense as well as personal history.
"The only show I truly ever loved was 'Shepherd of the Hills,'" Johnson said. "And it was just something that was always so comfortable and so peaceful. It was kind of a thing of faith for me, with knowing the Shepherd of the Hills and understanding what that story meant, and the story of forgiveness."
The cast members keep the story alive. But for many, it’s become part of their own lives as well. One of those folks is Curtis Copeland, who people may know through the Society of Ozarkian Hillcrofters, a cultural advocacy group he helped revive.
"I was here whenever there was a fear that this was going to get shut down. I was like, in the "last" show," Copeland said. "And it was very emotional. You know, it was almost like a funeral, in a way, and people were so excited that it got new life."
"I think people are participating in 'Shepherd' for a number of reasons," he said, "but I think ... as a way of making a living isn't one of them. I mean, maybe to a degree. And I don't mean that about wages or whatever — I mean the pay is good. There's something about this place that people, it just gets into their blood."
