The Ozarks highland region of the Midwest, located in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas, contains beautiful mineral specimens for those with sharp eyes and a keen interest to discover minerals. Over 500 images represent the collectible minerals of the western Ozarks tristate district and Missouri's Viburnum Trend. Barite and fluorite as well as a variety of colorful copper, cobalt, nickel, and iron minerals grace the pages of this book, as do various forms of calcite and quartz, the latter of which can be a rock hound's delight. The fascinating and approachable text discusses these "Mississippi Valley Type" (MVT) minerals, their deposition, how they fit into the broader scope of North American mineralogy, and the locations of MVT minerals around the world. A focus of the book are those minerals that historically occur along the Ozarks' extensive waterways. This unique book is a must for anyone fascinated with the earth's natural beauty.

Relates local legends from Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma about abandoned mines, hidden stashes of plunder, and lost fortunes

Collects legends and lore of buried treasure in the southern Appalachian Mountain area, with maps showing locations

Collects legends and lore of buried treasure in the southern Appalachian Mountain area and Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, with maps showing locations.

Maps and travel guides make this book an invaluable guide for the amateur, advanced hobbyist or serious collector. Learn the tips, tools and techniques of how to collect crystal, and the secrets of cleaning and preparing it for display.

The Missouri Handbooks are intended to bring the products of extensive research to the general public in nontechnical yet scholarly terms and in a convenient paperback format.

"The Ozark Mountains reach into Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, forming a region with great natural beauty and a distinctive cultural and historical landscape. This comprehensive volume, a fully updated edition of a beloved classic, reaches into history, anthropology, economics, and geography to explore the complex relationships between the Ozarks' people and land through times of profound change. Drawing on more than thirty years of research, field observations, and interviews, Rafferty examines this subject matter through a range of topics: the settlement patterns and material cultures of Native Americans, French, Scotch-Irish, Germans, Italians, African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians in the region; population growth; the guerrilla warfare and battles of the Civil War; the cultural transformations wrought by railroads, roads, mass media, and modern communication systems; the discovery, development, and decline of the great mining districts; the various forms of agriculture and the felling of the region's vast forests; and the built landscape, from log cabins to Victorian mansions to strip malls. This new edition also explores the new and potent forces which have reshaped the region over the last twenty years: tourism and the growing service industry, suburbanization, rapid population growth and retirement living, and agribusiness. Lavishly illustrated with historic and contemporary photographs, maps, and charts."--Publisher's description.