Top of the Rock Museum...

Private Watkins

2nd Lieutenant
Joined
Apr 12, 2014
Location
Oklahoma
I had a pleasant little surprise while on the family vacation last week in Branson, MO, that being the wonderful Civil War Collection of Johnny Morris, (of Bass Pro Shops Inc. et al) displayed as part of his Top of the Rock - Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum...

This summer, unlike last summer (see http://civilwartalk.com/threads/my-summer-civil-warnado-road-trip.104328/ ), there was no plan to include anything even remotely connected to the ACW in our family vacay; last year was enough of an ACW (over)dose for awhile my family all said! So imagine my surprise and delight to discover this awesome ACW display incorporated as a very small part, at the tail end, of a very impressive, recently opened, natural history museum.

The museum is part of the Big Cedar complex just south of Branson, in the newly renovated Top of the Rock golf and restaurant area, by beautiful Table Rock lake.
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Here's the brochure description of the museum:
This groundbreaking museum celebrates the rich ancient history of the Ozarks and is Johnny Morris' way to give back and commemorate the people and animals that came before us. It contains carbon-dated skeletons of ancient Missouri creatures and true-life dioramas of animals that once roamed the Ozarks. Explore several rooms featuring one of the nation's largest collections of Native American artifacts and artwork as well as an expansive display of historic Civil War items. Johnny Morris was so impressed by the exhibits at the world-renowned Chicago Field Museum, that he commissioned the same design team to help create the amazing displays of the Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum.

Here are a few pics of the ACW section of the museum...
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(Apologies that the following pics are not of the highest quality... I'm not a very good photographer)
 
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I had a pleasant little surprise while on the family vacation last week in Branson, MO, that being the wonderful Civil War Collection of Johnny Morris (of Bass Pro Shops Inc. et al) displayed as part of his Top of the Rock - Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum...

This summer, unlike last summer (see http://civilwartalk.com/threads/my-summer-civil-warnado-road-trip.104328/ ), there was no plan to include anything even remotely connected to the ACW in our family vacay; last year was enough of an ACW (over)dose for awhile my family all said! So imagine my surprise and delight to discover this awesome ACW display incorporated as a very small part, at the tail end, of a very impressive natural history museum.

The museum is part of the Big Cedar complex just south of Branson, in the newly renovated Top of the Rock golf and restaurant area by beautiful Table Rock lake.
View attachment 76395

Here's the brochure description of the museum:
This groundbreaking museum celebrates the rich ancient history of the Ozarks and is Johnny Morris' way to give back and commemorate the people and animals that came before us. It contains carbon-dated skeletons of ancient Missouri creatures and true-life dioramas of animals that once roamed the Ozarks. Explore several rooms featuring one of the nation's largest collections of Native American artifacts and artwork as well as an expansive display of historic Civil War items. Johnny Morris was so impressed by the exhibits at the world-renowned Chicago Field Museum, that he commissioned the same design team to help create the amazing displays of the Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum.

Here are a few pics of the ACW portion of the museum...
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You scored.:D
 
Ok, I realize this one may seem odd, but these had to be some of the biggest CW era boots I have ever seen; it's hard to appreciate how big they were based only on the photo, but I would guesstimate they were somewhere between a size 12 to 14. I typically think of the men of the era as being smaller, with small feet, but evidently not so with the fellow who owned these boots...
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And finally a few more random photos...

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In conclusion, if you happen to be in Branson, which has enough attractions and things to do on its own, it's definitely worth a side trip in my opinion to the Top of the Rock, (especially if you're looking for an ACW fix like I was...). There's plenty more to see in the museum beyond what I've included in these few photos, so I hope if you do get the chance to go you'll enjoy it as much as I did.
 
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