Ozarkian Folk Chronicles

Mike Mills sits down with the Chronicles to talk about canoeing the Buffalo, wearing your life jacket, and sticking with your dreams. From his childhood to his days in college to his first rental business with aluminum canoes, Mike shares his love for the Arkansas Ozarks and some of his favorite river stories, too! Don't miss this episode with Ozarks icon Mike Mills!

Christian Badach, a graduate student in photography at Yale University, has made the rural northwest a subject of his photography for some time now. After researching the Ozarks, he felt drawn to come here to expand his vision of rural America, focusing in particular on the intersection of landscape and culture. With an open mind and heart, Christian offers a refreshing departure from the hillbilly stereotype foisted on Ozarkers.

When journalist and author Jason Harmon began digging into the alleged crimes of Sheriff Ralph Baker four years after the lawman's death, his research led Harmon to "marijuana moonshiner" Dave McElyea. In Harmon and McElyea's book When Money Grew on Trees, McElyea describes Baker in great detail as a law officer on the take. Other, more powerful men suspected something similar because the FBI was investigating Baker for corruption at the time of his death. On the other hand, other powerful men lauded him as an exemplary law officer in Baker's obituary: "The 1998 funeral for Madison County Arkansas Sheriff Ralph Baker was attended by more than 2,000 people of all walks of life; from fellow lawmen to bikers and outlaws, everyone filed past the sheriff's open casket. Even Bill Clinton, a sitting president, sent a letter that was read at the service. 'Ralph Baker was a wonderful person,' the president of the United States wrote. 'I'll never forget the support he's given me since the beginning of my career.' The Rev. Roy Cain asked aloud during the service, 'How can a man be sheriff of Madison County for twenty-five years and have this many people present? This is a miracle! This is a mystery!' How indeed? Who was Ralph Baker? Listen to this episode of the Chronicles and decide for yourself.

Author, journalist, and historian Jason Harmon wrote When Money Grew On Trees in collaboration with David McElyea, a Michigan transplant to the Ozarks in 1980 whose goal was to create a marijuana farm. After he was busted by local enforcement, Dave formed a relationship with the local sheriff, and together they colluded in a venture that would make them thousands of dollars. And that's back when a thousand dollars meant something. Curtis and Hayden made the jaunt to Buffalo City, Arkansas, to talk with Jason, and we hope you'll join us for an episode that's profane and preposterous, and even impressive in a demented, outlaw kind of way!

Champ Herren and Todd Wilkinson share a deep love of our Ozarks hills. As far back as their time at MSU (then SMSU), they read everything by Vance Randolph they could get their hands on, and for some years, they presented these stories around campfires to various groups. Now Todd and Champ are together again in this podcast about the Scots Irish immigration to the States, first to Appalachia and the deep South and then to the Ozarks. From folklore to folk magic, the influence of the Scots Irish can still be felt in Ozarks culture today. Knowledgeable and entertaining, Todd and Champ will re-introduce you to the hardscrabble folks who carved out their homesteads in the Ozarks.

Roy and Aviva Pilgrim were invited to participate in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival because of their talented musicianship and authentic life in the Ozarks. Roy is a logger who cares about sustainable forestry, and Aviva is a luthier, gardener, and artist who cares about preserving the best of Ozarks culture. Their life and livelihood could serve as a model for those who want "to walk gently on the earth." Some folks dream of living close to the land, and others actually do it. The Pilgrims are doing it.

Henry O. Head has taught workshops on photography in the US, Greece, and Ireland and his photos have been exhibited in places as diverse as South Korea and Rogers, Arkansas. Some of his recent photos were featured in the Guardian. His masterpiece, however, is his debut book Twelve Acres, a photographic exploration of coming of age in the Ozarks and the depths of teenage friendship. Henry's work both preserves and advances the unique culture of the Ozarks hills, and his perspectives on art, friendship, travel, and nature are inspiring and challenging. Join us for this exciting and provocative episode; we know you'll enjoy it!

Curtis and Hayden travel to Dent County, Missouri, to talk with their good friend, Todd Wilkinson, about Montauk Spring, the headwaters of the Current River, and the state park that bears its name. Todd is the Assistant Superintendent of Montauk State Park and has a passionate for the rivers and streams of the Ozarks, having taught canoeing, kayaking, and river conservation for many years. He is also a master storyteller with a remarkable memory, and after listening to the history of this beautiful park, you will be packing your bags and heading to Montauk!

The Ozarkian Folk Chronicles posts its very first episode, "The Strange Case of Adam God," a story recorded by Vance Randolph in Haldeman-Julius's Little Blue Books and confirmed by contemporary newspapers. From the Call he received while plowing his field to parading naked through the streets of Oklahoma City to his hardy old age, James Sharp, aka Adam God, is one of those strange figures who is the very stuff of folktales! Even more strange is the ongoing relevance of such stories to our own bewildering age, over a hundred years later.