By Steve Weisman

Wherever we visit, if we search deeply enough, we can come up with historical information and places to visit. These places give us a real glimpse into that area’s colorful past, and they are all colorful.

Right here in the Iowa Great Lakes, we have the Abby Gardner Cabin with all of its history dating back to the mid-1850s. Nearby is the Iowa Great Lakes Maritime Museum that commemorates the maritime history of the area with exhibits that literally take you back in time as you look at the artifacts. Of course, there is the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame that takes us back to Iowa’s storied history of Rock and Roll! The thing is it takes a little research and leg work to find these historical gems.

On our recent trip to Branson, MO, my wife and I discovered the same thing. Yes, there’s fishing, along with a myriad of shows and eateries. However, by digging a little deeper, it’s fun to discover the history. We spent one day doing just that, and yes, it does take a full day.

Everything revolves around an area south of Branson near the town of Ridgedale called Big Cedar Lodge founded by Johnny Morris, conservationist and founder of Bass Pro Shops. The area where historical artifacts are held is at the Top of the Rock Heritage Preserve, an area that overlooks the Ozark Mountains and Table Rock Lake. Although there are lots of things to look at, our choices were the Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum and the Lost Canyon Cave & Nature Trail.

The museum is an incredible 35,000 square foot area that takes visitors all the way back to prehistoric times when long extinct creatures called the ancient Ozarks their home. Going through the museum takes close to three hours, so I’ll only mention the things that really struck us.

True to life dioramas of the woolly mammoth, saber toothed cat, giant ground sloths, the giant beaver, the terror bird, hell pig…and, of course, carbon-dated skeletons of so many of these prehistoric animals, captivated us as we immersed ourselves in this Ozark “Jurassic” history.

Moving on, another section held an unbelievable collection of native American and Osage Indian artifacts exploring each of the native tribes that frequented the Ozarks. From clothing to arrow heads and stone implements, each tribe’s history is documented. A powerful message comes through of how in-tune the native Americans were with their environment and even though they used the animals, birds, fish and land, they always gave back. In so many ways, they were our first conservationists.

Next comes the interactive Wild West days with some of the more colorful and the colorful characters like Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Show and Annie Oakley. Lots of saddle collections and, again, Wild West dioramas of what existed at that time.

Relics and displays of the Civil War are on display. Looking at the cannons and the artillery reminded us of just how brutal the Civil War was. Several artifacts of Abraham Lincoln including a desk are on display. Truly an impressive museum, and we would definitely go back.

Lost Canyon Cave & Nature Tour

We chose the perfect day for this tour: sunny with little wind in the mid-60s! This is a winding, up and down hills tour via a golf cart. Beautiful scenery including views of Table Rock Lake, unbelievable rock formations with cool caves and waterfalls are on display during this 2½-mile experience! Lots of places to pull off to the side to get the photos you want, and yes, we took a lot. Each bend, each downhill was worth another photo op.

In addition, there is now a night-time light tour that is also popular. There is a handy website that gives an ideal of what these destinations are like (https://bigcedar.com/top-of-the-rock).

(photos by Steve Weisman)

Display of native American peace pipes.

Lost Canyon fall colors

Lost Canyon waterfall

Lost Canyon entering cave

Giant ground sloth

Giant beaver

Arrowhead display