Keith McCanse’s Scotch-Irish family settled in the Ozarks in the 1840s. His father, George, co-founded a bank and was a true believer in Republican politics.
He took his son numerous times on the legendary Galena-to-Branson float trip.
After a stint as a stockbroker in Kansas City, Keith moved his family to Taney County due to touchy health issues.
He fished and hunted and became active in organizations like the Isaac Walton League dedicated to the preservation of natural resources.
In 1921 he became a game warden and gave talks on the value of protecting wildlife. In 1925, Governor Sam A. Baker appointed him commissioner of Missouri’s Game and Fish Department.
