The Ozarks

The Ozarks (also referred to as the Ozark Mountains or the Ozark Plateau) is a physiographic, geologic and cultural highland region of the central United States. It covers much of the southern half of Missouri and an extensive area of northwest Arkansas. The region extends to the west into extreme southeast Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma (covering approximately one fifth of Oklahoma).

Although sometimes referred to as the Ozark Mountains, the region is a high and deeply disected plateau. Geologically, the area is a broad dome around the Saint Francois Mountains. The Ozark Highland area, the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas, and the Black Hills of South Dakota are the only major highland regions in the U.S. between the Appalachians and the Rocky Mountains.

The name derives from the French abbreviation "Aux Arcs" for "Aux Arkansas" (literally At the Arkansas'), meaning the place of the Arkansas Indians (inhabitants of the area). In French, "Aux Arcs" sounds just like "Ozark".

Geographic subdivisions

The Ozark plateau consists of three sections—the Springfield Plateau, the Salem Plateau, and the Boston Mountains. Topography is mostly gently rolling, except in the Boston Mountains, along the escarpments separating the Springfield and Salem Plateaus, and the Saint Francois Range where it is rugged. Karst features such as springs, sinkholes, and caves are common in the limestones of the Springfield Plateau and abundant in the dolostone bedrock of the Salem Plateau and Boston Mountains.

The Saint Francois Mountain Range rises above the Ozark Plateau and is the geological cause of the highland dome. The igneous and volcanic rocks of the Saint Francois Mountains are the remains of a Precambrian mountain range. The core of the range existed as an island in the Paleozoic seas. Reef complexes occur in the sedimentary layers surrounding this ancient island. These flanking reefs were points of concentration for later ore bearing fluids which formed the rich lead-zinc ores that have been mined in the area. Concentric circles of elevation emanating from the range outward can be observed from outer space. The Saint Francois Range is the core of the Ozarks even though sometimes not considered part of the Ozarks because it has exposed igneous rock and no karst features, and was formed by volcanic activity rather than erosion. The igneous and volcanic rocks extend at depth under the relatively thin veneer of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks and form the basal crust of the entire region.

Regional economy of the Ozarks

Traditional economic activity

The Ozarks contained rich ore deposits of lead, zinc, iron, and barite. Many of these deposits have been depleted by historic mining activities, but much remains and is currently being mined in the lead belt of south-central Missouri. Historically the old lead belt around the Saint Francois Mountains and the Tri-state district lead-zinc mining area around Joplin, Missouri have been very important sources of metals. Much of the area supports beef cattle ranching and dairy farming is common across the area. Oil exploration and extraction also takes place in the Oklahoma portion of the Ozarks.

Growth industries

Tourism is the growth industry of the Ozarks as evidenced by the growth of the Branson, Missouri entertainment center. The Corps of Engineers lakes that were created by damming the White River in the mid 1900s have provided a large tourist, boating and fishing economy along the Missouri-Arkansas border.

Poultry farming and food processing has also been on the rise, recently, in eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas. The Tyson Foods corporation has food processing plants in western Arkansas; Stillwell foods has frozen vegetable and other food processing centers in eastern Oklahoma.

Ozark culture

Ozark also refers to a region of people with a distinct culture, architecture, and dialect shared by the people that live on the plateau. The people in this area have more in common with one another than with their surrounding states. Ozark culture is similar to that of Appalachia. Much of the population is of Scots-Irish descent, often including some Native American ancestry, and Ozark families tend to have lived in the area since the 19th century. Ozark religion tends to be conservative, or individualistic, with Assemblies of God, Southern Baptists, and other Protestant Pentecostal groups predominant. The Ozarks are also home to some sects unique to the area. Catholicism is rare outside of the cities. Homesteads in rural areas tend to be isolated instead of being clustered into villages. Many residents rely on hunting and fishing to supplement their diets (hunting and fishing for recreation is also common). Foraging for mushrooms, especially morels, and for medicinal native plant species, including St. John's Wort and Ginseng, is common, and is financially supported by established buyers in the area.

Other examples of the traditional nature of the Ozark culture would be the two major family theme parks in the region, Silver Dollar City and Dogpatch U.S.A., both of which embrace rural, western, and 19th century life in the American midwest.

One of the attributes of this cultural and dialectic area is that the people have local names for the areas not well-known outside the region.

White River Hills along the Missouri-Arkansas border;
Shepherd of the Hills Country around Branson, Missouri;
Irish Wilderness located in south central Missouri;
Boston Mountains of Arkansas; and
Cookson Hills in Oklahoma.

References

McMillen, Margot Ford (1996) A to Z Missouri: The Dictionary of Missouri Place Names, Columbia, Missouri, Pebble Publishing, ISBN 096466254X
Rafferty, Milton D. (2001) The Ozarks: Land and Life, University of Arkansas Press, 2nd ed., ISBN 1557287147
Unklesbay, A.G; & Vineyard, Jerry D. (1992) Missouri Geology — Three Billion Years of Volcanoes, Seas, Sediments, and Erosion, University of Missouri Press, ISBN 0-8262-0836-3

External links

Monts Ozark

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