The Schoolcraft Chapter in the Springfield Missouri is reviving!
The group takes its name from Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, who traveled through the Ozarks for three months in the winter of 1818-1819 and left behind a detailed description of the region’s rivers, forests and wildlife. He described one Ozark river as “enchanting” and possessing the “purity of crystal,” and wrote that he could see every pebble, rock and fish in it “with the most perfect accuracy,” adding, “Our canoe often seemed as if suspended in air, such is the remarkable transparency of the water.”
The Schoolcraft Chapter during the 1970s and 1980s was a voice involved in the management of public lands and for protecting parts of the Mark Twain National Forest as wilderness areas.
The Springfield News-Leader wrote recently of the effort to revive the southern Missouri chapter of the Ozark Society, and as soon as word went out, Loring Bullard started getting calls, texts and emails from people saying, “I’m in.”
Anyone who wants to join can reach out to Loring Bullard at lbullard1415@gmail.com.