History Of Blue Springs

[fishinwrench]

I met the new Mountain creek folks and they are super nice. I hope they do well enough to avoid the typical land-snatch antics of the L&C company.

I'm actually quite surprised that Niangua L&C hasn't built their own private bridge or ferry yet. It has to be a PIA for them to drive back and forth to their land on both sides.

[oneshot]

Come on here wanting information on the area. Thing is the only ones that could give it to him knowing how he has done people, most would not give him the time of day. I retired several years ago moving back to the area, was told because I was from the area and had family in the area I wouldn't have no problem but would still be best if I was packing because we have our own Laws and take care of our own problems.

But yes the area is changing not saying what this one does is right.

oneshot

[Goggle-Eyed]

I met the new Mountain creek folks and they are super nice. I hope they do well enough to avoid the typical land-snatch antics of the L&C company.

I'm actually quite surprised that Niangua L&C hasn't built their own private bridge or ferry yet. It has to be a PIA for them to drive back and forth to their land on both sides.

I know for a fact that they ford it at the old Ed's Campground (don't know the actual name but it has been a crossing for about 100 years!) and one other place a little further down with their tractors. I would assume that this year they have forded it in a few more places. it has been low for a long time.

I also noticed that base don MLS # the property hasn't been "sold" nor has it been "recently listed"... LOL, guess they or someone just wanted to stir the pot.

I have personally been challenged at the gravel bar at the "first" sign (the old Ed's Campground - Dampier property) and at the actual Spring. Felt a little "wrong" at the spring but held my ground on the gravel bar by the "first" sign.

As for "The Spring" I have been challenged three times, Once by the TWA guy (and I left because he was right) second time was by a maverick group of wild turkeys (both scared the crap out of me at the time!) The Wild Turkey's actually snuck up on me while I had my paddle jon floating in the middle of the spring catching Goggle Eye, which at the right time of the year is like "shooting fish in a barrel". Third time was when I was dating one of the Campgrounds Owners Daughter and we were "hanging out" at the little bluff overlooking the spring and well it was a touchy moment!!!! TWA Pilots, Wild Turkey's and Pissed off Moms, all scared me!!!

LOL, I am sure I will meet up with Niangua L&C or Niangua Blue Springs Ranch folks again. I stay where I am legal and don't push the buttons to hard. Got way to many memories to let a couple of people piss me off! I also have some history on the homes/homesteads that are on their land. I wonder if they know that Sam Walton used to love to float this section of river and spent a night or two at their place?

[fishinwrench]

I did notice the ford activity, you can see it on Google earth. Operating a 4-wheeler in a stream bed is an illegal act, matter of fact I believe it is a felony after the 3rd offense, but are trucks/tractors/bulldozers exempt? That doesn't make much sense.

[Scooper]

Fascinating thread. I first started floating and fishing on the Niangua with my dad in the 1960s. He had camped and float fished on the river since the 1940s. He was a football coach at Mizzou from the ‘40s to the ‘80s and loved to float, fish and camp on the Ozark Rivers., He and the other coaches took an annual weeklong camping and fishing trip, often on the Niangua. He usually went with our next-door neighbor in Columbia, an ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor named Claude Bruner. Dr. Bruner had a weekend home on the Niangua arm of the Lake of the Ozarks and owned several hundred acres, some of which he sold in the 60s and 70s, including the property that later became the Old Kinderhook Golf Course. Dr. Bruner knew many of the landowners along the Niangua, including Henry Dampier. Mr. Dampier owned a farm just downstream from Blue Springs Resort and it was on that farm we camped (opposite side of the river from the resort.) We would often motor up from our camp to Blue Springs. We didn’t know the TWA pilot who owned the property, but we did know Don Reagan who either ran the resort, or owned it, not sure which. Don could be a little cantankerous, but was a good guy. He lived on the property and the TWA pilot lived in KC, as I recall.

Blue Spring was beautiful, and we often caught a trout or two in the cool water where the spring branch entered the river. Sometime in the early 70s, my Dad and I, along with another coach and his son, stayed in one of the cabins at the resort. There wasn’t much to the resort as I recall, a few cabins and a primitive campground. On that trip, after supper and right before sunset, I remember going down to the small gravel bar where the spring branch entered the river. We had been using small plastic worms to fish for smallmouth that day. I took my rod with the worm still rigged on it and casted it into the river, retrieving it through the cool water . On the first cast caught a brown trout of about 14”. I caught another on the next cast. I yelled to the other guys and they joined me. We ended up catching about 6 trout before the bite ended. This was during July so the river was pretty warm. It was obvious that the trout were congregated there to escape the warming river. It's a memory that I will never forget.

It’s probably been close to 30 years since we floated that part of the river, although we try every year to get back to my native Missouri to float below Bennett for trout. I haven't done that since 2011, however. Thank you, Fishinwrench and Troutnut69, for pointing out the legal rights fisherman and floaters have on our Ozark Rivers. These rivers belong to the people, not individual landowners who think that everything they survey is their own personal domain. All should respect property rights, but a gravel bar below the high water mark is NOT private property and folks should not be hassled if they stop there to swim, fish, or camp, for that matter. All trash should be removed and like others on this board, I pick up trash that isn’t mine. Someday, I would like to revisit the lower Niangua of my youth and conjure up wonderful memories of my Dad and Dr. Bruner, both of whom have long since passed away. I would like to do that without worrying about being harassed by some misguided landowner or one of his hirelings.

[lee G.]

Scooper, you probably fished our family farm also, Callison eddy and Turner eddy. Grandmotther sold it about 1970. Wish we still owned it!

[Phil Lilley]

Last active means he hasn't signed in. He still could be reading.

It should go without saying that if you buy property along a floatable river like the Niangua, you should be aware of the laws pertaining to access and trespass. Buying land and then promptly placing a chip-on-shoulder is not the way to live life, especially if you're blessed enough to purchase such a beautiful piece of land. It just stressful.

Since he hasn't re posted, it's easy to misread into what he has said, at least the motivation behind it. May be he's the type of landowner who would ride down early in the morning to a camper on a gravel bar and have a cup of coffee, chat for a while. I hope so.

[fishinwrench]

Yeah I hope so too. I fished a different river yesterday and met two of the coolest folks ever (both landowners of separate pieces of land).

One even offered to help with a shuttle anytime they were home and not overly preoccupied.

[Greasy B]

Me too.

I have been fortunate, in thirty years of floating and gravel bar camping I have only had one hostile encounter, most folks simply wave. This gentlemen is fortunate that this stretch of river is one of the few that is not overran with kooks. He should also be aware that his signage and threats have nothing to do with it. The only reason this is such a peaceful section of river is because the topography is not conducive to road building and the fact that populations centers are generally located north and south and not east west. If a neighboring land owner were to establish a campground and provide access or if the local politicians were to convince MO DOT to improve roads or god forbid build a bridge it's all over.

[Scooper]

Lee:

I would wager that Doc Bruner knew your folks and maybe even camped/fished on your farm. Do you remember Mr. Henry Dampier? He probably passed away in the late 1960s or early 1970s. I think Doc Bruner became aquainted with him in the 1940s.

Phil:

I too, hope you're correct about the landowner who started this thread. Although he doesn't overtly say that no one can fish, camp, etc. on gravel bars along his property's stretch of the river, it does seem to be "implied," e.g. "we do not mind those who pass on by on their tubes and in their canoes - especially with a friendly wave- we, like most of you im sure, just want to preserve the beauty of the river----- especially the blue spring- therefore it is marked as private property w/ no trespassing signs."

It is unfortunate that it takes only a few selfish jerks to ruin things for the majority -- good, conscientious folks who are caring stewards of the river. The landowner's concern is likley aimed at the literers, drunks and profanity- spewing louts one sees on most Ozark rivers during weekends. However, I do recognize that there are far fewer of those types who are on the Niangua that far downstream. Time will tell. If anyone has any contact or conversation with this gentleman (or lady), I hope you post it to this board. Thanks!