Most folks know Missouri’s state animal is the mule. But I didn’t know until recently that we also have a state horse. The Missouri Foxtrotter is the official state horse of the Show-Me-State, as of 2002. The Missouri Foxtrotter has an interesting history, so I learned. Wes Franklin Missouri foxtrotting horses were developed in Missouri…
The old-timers in the Ozarks had a mite to say about witchcraft, as documented by the late folklorist Vance Randolph. Witches can kill someone, for instance, by scraping dirt from a fresh grave at midnight with the forefinger of the left hand, mixing it with the blood of a black bird – a crow is…
If you’ve ever traveled up I-49 to Kansas City you’ve no doubt seen the exit for Peculiar, in Cass County. I’ve long been curious about that town’s, well, “peculiar” name, so I finally looked it up. Like a lot of stories, there is more than one version. The account that rings most true is that…
Pests are part of everyday life. Some we just don’t like to see around even if they’re harmless, and some are a lot worse than others. Folklorist Vance Randolph recorded what the old-time Ozarkers had to say about some of them, back in the first half of the last century. Apparently, at least a few…
I wouldn’t mind a little rain right about now. The old Ozarkers had a few ways to bring it on, according to the late great folklorist Vance Randolph. One way was to pour out a gourd, or bucket, full of water in the middle of your field. Another was to submerge a cat in sulfur…
I’ve always enjoyed watching birds, though I wouldn’t necessarily classify myself as a “bird watcher.” Wes Franklin There are a number of historic old Ozarks superstitions about birds, recorded for posterity by the late folklorist Vance Randolph in the first half of the 20th century. One is that barn swallows are good luck, and that…
Despite what my wife may tell you, I’m not perfect. Now, last month I had mentioned that husbands are buried to the north of the wives. I think I had that backward, because after I wrote that I had occasion to visit a few different cemeteries and, lo and behold, I noticed the opposite to…
Me and my youngest boy were in a cemetery recently and I reminded him to walk directly in front of the names on the stone so he didn’t step on anybody. I’ve seen graves with the stones backward, and usually this is the departed family’s idea so they can read it from the road or…
