The fanciful Indian name of the spring below the bluff is attributed to Col. R.G. Scott who came from Iowa to the Ozarks in the 1890s and partnered with R.D. Kelly to acquire the land around Gunter Spring.
Col. Scott published the first article extolling Ha Ha Tonka’s natural wonders in an 1898 issue of Carter’s Magazine. In it he claimed the name is Osage for “Laughing Water.”
We don’t know the name of the photographer of this arty picture of the spring branch at Ha Ha Tonka with the young man gazing at the castle on the bluff, but we’re guessing its builder, Robert M. Snyder, commissioned the shot. (Snyder acquired the spring and lands from Col. Scott).
If that’s so, we can date it before October 1906 when the Kansas City millionaire died in a freak car accident.
