Travelers can tour the hatchery, which produces between 350,000 to 400,000 pounds of rainbow and brown trout annually. The current owners of The Shepherd of the Hills have many more exciting additions for the property and hope to keep it a place that brings people together, just like it did in 1907.The Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery is a trout-rearing facility operated by the Missouri Department of Conservation. Shepherd of the Hills went under new ownership in 2016. Gary Snadon, who had also performed as Wash Gibbs, brought his family to The Shepherd of the Hills in 1985 and built the Inspiration Tower, began the Trail of Lights, and instituted the Vigilante Extreme ZipRider.
In 2020, the Outdoor Theatre was named the Thurman Outdoor Theatre in honor of Keith. With over 50 years on the Homestead, he is also the resident historian. Young Keith Thurman stepped in as Director in the early 80’s, and is still in that role today. A few years later, a young man who had performed as Young Matt in the play moved up to take the reins.
On Augthe Old Mill Theatre welcomed its first guests. Trimble’s death, his son Mark fulfilled his father’s dream and built a theatre out of the Old Mill. Bruce and Mary Trimble opened Old Matt’s Barn to the public as a gift shop in 1946, and in 1949 constructed a wooden tower on Inspiration Point. Today, her home houses the ticket office. It is said that she would ride the country side-saddle, would wear the latest fashions, and could cuss like a sailor. She lived in Old Matt’s Cabin for a time before having her home moved from Springfield, Missouri to the homestead – not an easy feat in the 1920’s! Miss Lizzie was a visionary, and the one to host the first reenactments of the books, right on the lawn of Old Matt’s Cabin. A wealthy banker’s daughter from Springfield, Missouri, “Miss Lizzie”, as she was known, loved the book. After John and Anna Ross passed away, a feisty young woman named Elizabeth McDaniel purchased the homestead. Due to heavy volumes of visitors, the Ross family relocated to Garber, Missouri, leaving their homestead to the mercy of the adoring fans. Over the years, many people contributed to make The Shepherd of the Hills property into the beautiful, well preserved place it is today. Through The Shepherd of the Hills and the crowds it drew to Mutton Hollow, Branson, Missouri was born. Harold Bell Wright was a God fearin’ man, and his legacy lives on today in the descendants of those who followed the shepherd’s call to the beautiful Ozark hill country. Even now, as you walk the streets of Branson and brush shoulders with folks in a local diner, you will see a sparkling eye and cheerful smile, and maybe get invited to church on Sunday.
Wright had written Shepherd in a spirit of awe at the beautiful work of his Creator, and it was this spirit that drew people to Branson. To frances, my wife in memory of that beautiful summer in the ozark hills, when, so often, we followed the old trail around the rise of mutton hollow – the trail that is nobody knows how old – and from sammy’s lookout watched the day go over the western ridges.Īfter The Shepherd of the Hills was published in 1907, readers began to flock into the Ozark hills to experience the breathtaking views and endearing characters that Harold Bell Wright immortalized in his novel. John and Anna Ross, who became know as Old Matt and Aunt Mollie in Wright’s book
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