Ozark Waters

On River Hideouts and Getaways

John Moore

For most outdoor people I know, having a hunting or fishing cabin in some remote place is a deep-seated desire. From the Adirondack cabins and lodges of the 19^th century to their modern renditions in the Big Cedar resorts of today, the lure of a rustic cabin near the water persists. Another version is a lake place, perhaps not so rustic and remote, but a retreat nonetheless that is close to water and the outdoors. Such a place is prized by many, especially in the Ozarks. I plead guilty to being among those who accord great value to such things.

Because I love hunting , fishing and the outdoors, my dream for years was to design and build my own cabin hideout and getaway, a place with a big stone fireplace and chimney, with enough modern convenience to be reasonably comfortable, yet characterized by rustic charm. It needed to be on "live" water (preferably teaming with fish!), in the woods and remote enough to offer a sense of truly getting away, while at the same time sufficiently proximate to be easily accessible. I wanted to design it myself and as a bit more than a jackleg carpenter, I wanted to have a hand in its construction.

Cabin2

Those who read these columns may recall frequent references to my cabin on the lower James River near Galena. That cabin, built in 1996, represents the fulfillment of my dream to have such a place. Officially designated the "Horse Creek Fish and Game Club," the cabin is located on an 850 acre tree farm with about a mile of James River frontage owned by good friends John and Connie Johnson. Both graduates of the college where I spent more than two decades, the Johnsons and I became acquainted through alumni activities at the school. It didn't take us long to discover the many common interest we share.

Connie is a master naturalist and a sometime writer for the Missouri Conservationist magazine whose license plate on her

Subaru Forester is "NATURE." Connie heads a stream team on the farm and keeps a close eye on the river. She like John is active in Stone County politics, Republican of course, and is a shaker and mover who chairs the local community foundation, runs camps for her grandkids and cans the mountains of produce our garden provides. With husband John and the advice of the Forestry division of the Missouri Department of Conservation, Connie helps oversee the management plan for the tree farm.

John Johnson grew up in Marshfield, Missouri next door to Connie's family. Both were only children, and despite their early status as neighbors, it took more than thirty years and several marriages for them to make their own marital connection, which has now persisted for more than 20 years. All this time they have lived at the Horse Creek Tree Farm, inherited by John from a great uncle he knew through stories his family told.

A tinkerer with all things mechanical and electrical, John was always fascinated with airplanes and aspired to fly in his career. And fly he did with U.S. Navy as the back seater in F-4 Phantoms during Viet Nam, and later in the back seat of the F-14 Tomcat. We share lots of war stories from our time in the service, with John's including more than 20 years and innumerable carrier take offs and more impressively, landings. He's my go-to guy for advice and help when some machine needs to be fixed or maintained and we've shared in upkeep and improvement projects on the farm with equipment we've bought together.

Equipment

With this connection to the Johnsons, they were good enough to make a deal with me, about like the British had with Hong Kong, to build my cabin on their farm. With about 1200 square feet, a great room with a massive stone fireplace, two and a half bedrooms, a bath and kitchen, the layout was just what I wanted. I traded several months working on plans for picking up rock for the chimney and fireplace. Stone County, aptly named, has plenty. John had a sawmill on the farm and cut green oak for the posts, beams, boards and battens for the project. You can nail oak before it cures but once it dries it's like iron and nearly impossible to nail short of drilling holes.

Cabin3

A red standing seam steel roof topped the cabin, installed by the able crew of carpenters who framed and finished it for me. As the general contractor, I arranged for plumbing, electrical, drywall and hardwood flooring to be done while I did all the painting and with John Johnson's help, added a large deck on the back. My water and electric utilities are underground and the cabin has a heat pump to heat and cool it, although in the winter the fireplace, with a separate plenum, blower and duct system, helps heat the house as well.

Cabin4

Over the years the cabin has been my hideout and getaway retreat, 35 miles from Springfield where I live, and was once featured in a New York Times article about places college presidents go to "get away." I've hosted friends there, floated the river in the three canoes on racks in my barn (built to match the cabin), and enjoyed watching the seasons and wildlife come and go. The 12 acres of grass we mow is an important part of my therapy, and John's and my tinkering projects have included a kit-built airplane, kept in the hanger we built beside the 1300 foot grass landing strip.

My aspiration to build such a place near the water and in the woods has been more than fulfilled in the Horse Creek Fish and Game Club. A large stuffed turkey gobbler, the first I bagged many years ago, graces the wall above the fireplace. It's a place I've enjoyed for some years and hope to enjoy for many years to come.

Fireplace

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

" Quite possibly this is the key to fishing: the ability to see glamour in whatever species one may fish for."

Harold Blaisdell

The Philosophical Fisherman (1969)

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