Shepherd of the Hills Homestead

Visit: The Shepherd Of The Hills, 5586 W Hwy 76, Branson, MO 65616-8129

Before the lights and the glitz and glamour, a shepherd walked these hills.

Weary and spent, the shepherd paused in the Ozark mountains and as he sought healing in the fresh, clean air of the hills, he compiled notes for a novel that would become an incredible impact on the United States.

This shepherd, a modest preacher named Harold Bell Wright, began to love the simple, country folk of the Ozarks. He especially connected with John and Anna Ross who would become the inspiration for Old Matt and Aunt Mollie Matthews, who play a key role in The Shepherd of the Hills. Wright would often camp outside their homestead, sit on the lookout mentioned in the book, and dream up the story of joy and sorrow, hardship and love, violence and restoration, that would become the first novel to sell one million copies in the United States. Wright dedicated his novel to his wife with the following lines which demonstrate his strong connection to the Ozark hills.