Dent County, Missouri
Dent County was
taken out of Crawford and Shannon Counties by an act passed by the
Missouri General Assembly to take effect February 10, 1851. The
county's name comes from an early settler, Lewis Dent, who was the new
counties first representative to the legislature. The first county
officers appointed were Justices G. C. Breckinridge (president),
Samuel Hyer, Jr., and Jotham Clark. Joseph Milsaps was sheriff and
David Henderson was clerk. They met at Eaphraim Bressie's about 2
miles northwest of the present Salem on Spring Creek which was on the
"old White River road."
Some of the first settlers who came here in 1829 were William
Thornton, Daniel Troutman, and Daniel M. Wooliver. Among those who
followed were William Blackwell, Elisha Nelson, Jerry Potts, Eaphraim
Bressie, Robert Leonard, Abner Wingfield, Lewis Dent, Wilson Craddock,
Thomas Higgonbotham, Jack Berry, Silas Hamby, Smith Wofford, Turkill
NcNeill, Dr. John Hyer, Samuel Hyer, and David Lenox. Among other
families include the: Coppedge, Watkins, Skiles, Brown, Callahan,
Welch, Snelson, Burlison, Massey, Vaughan, Taff, Arthur, Lamb,
Freeman, Henderson, Agee, Johns, Bates, Jamison, Honey, Sims,
McSpadden, Sinclair, Simmons, Organ, Love, and Orchard.
Most of these settlements were made on the Meramec, Spring Creek, and
Dry Fork. Most of the settlers were from Tennessee, Kentucky and North
Carolina.
Dent County is a
sportsman’s paradise, and prides itself on its world-class deer and
turkey hunting, trout fishing, and ready access to some of the most
beautiful canoeing rivers in the world. With great schools, excellent
health care, a supportive business environment, vast areas of public
land, and a deep commitment to faith and family, Salem offers values
and amenities that are seldom found in such abundance.
Many people have found that the Salem area is an ideal place to
retire. Low land and home prices, a moderate climate, and low cost of
living all combine to make retirement dollars stretch as far as
possible. And with friendly neighbors, a strong sense of community,
and access to services often found only in much larger cities, Salem
is indeed a welcoming place to enjoy your golden years.
Montauk State Park
Just down the road, and offering some of the finest trout fishing in
the Midwest, Montauk
State Park is
located at the headwaters of the famed Current River. The park's
springs combine with tiny Pigeon Creek to supply 43 million gallons of
water to the river each day. The cool, clear stream is an ideal home
for rainbow trout, and the scenic valley is the perfect setting for
camping, hiking and other outdoor pursuits.
Anglers descend on Montauk State Park from March 1 to Oct. 31 for the
official trout season, and on winter weekends for a catch-and-release
season. After a day of fishing, you can tour the park's trout
hatchery, managed by the Missouri Department of Conservation. Early
settlers first established Montauk as a self-sufficient community in
the early 1800s. A gristmill, built in 1896, is open seasonally for
tours.
For visitors wishing to spend a night or more in the park, Montauk
offers a wide variety of choices. The large campground, equipped with
modern restrooms, hot showers and dump stations, features both basic
and electric sites. The park offers rental cabins with kitchens,
modern fourplex cabins and motel rooms for guests choosing to spend
the night indoors. A modern dining lodge opens daily during the trout
season and on weekends during the catch-and-release season.
Mark Twain National Forest
Mark Twain National Forest is just down the road.
Missouri's only national forest, the Mark Twain, encompasses roughly
1.5 million acres, mostly within the Ozark Highlands. Located across
southern Missouri and northern Arkansas, the Ozark Highlands are an
ancient landscape characterized by large permanent springs, over 5,000
caves, rocky barren glades, old volcanic mountains and nationally
recognized streams. Portions of the Ozarks were never under oceans,
nor were the areas glaciated.
A trademark of the Mark Twain is plant and animal diversity. The area
is described by The Nature Conservancy as a “biologically rich
ecological resource.” The eastern upland oak hardwood and southern
pine forests converge here with the drier western bluestem prairie of
the Great Plains, creating a distinctive array of open grassy
woodlands and savannas. This rich mixture of unique, diverse and
ecologically complex natural communities (some 65 in all) provides a
home for nearly 750 species of native vertebrate animals and over
2,000 plant species. The number of species that are endemic or
restricted solely to the Ozarks eco-region (almost 200 species) rivals
those found in the tropics or glacial eco-regions.
Geologic features associated with the karst terrain and igneous
outcroppings of the Ozarks provide a wide variety of interest to the
landscape. There are sheer rock faces, underground caverns, natural
bridges, sinkholes, knobs and caves throughout the Forest. Caves
provide habitat for unique animals like cave salamanders and southern
cave fish. Shut-in creeks, whose enormous rock boulders restrict flow,
create nationally renowned white water kayaking and canoeing
opportunities.
Due to the karst topography, there is an abundance of natural springs
found in the area. The Ozarks are home to the world's largest
collection of “first magnitude” springs (those with over 65 million
gallons of water daily flow). Almost 3,000 springs feed rivers and
streams that flow year round. Many of these streams are so clear that
ten feet of depth appears to be only one foot deep.
Greer Spring, the second largest in Missouri, is considered to be the
most pristine and scenic in the state. Discharging an average of 222
million gallons of water per day, Greer Spring more than doubles the
flow of the Eleven Point River. The importance of the water resource
of the Mark Twain is exemplified by the designation of the Eleven
Point Scenic River, one of the first Wild and Scenic Rivers in the
nation. These natural features are a destination for many visitors to
Missouri.
Today the Forest's large land base is many things to many people,
containing some of Missouri's most beautiful and desirable landscapes
and providing natural settings critical for the tourism industry. The
diverse Ozark topography is the keystone of many recreational
opportunities. The Forest provides hiking, hunting, mountain biking,
horseback and OHV riding areas that complement other agencies. Over 45
million people are within a day's drive of its unique features and
recreation opportunities.
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