O
zark Hillbillies
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What is a "Hillbilly"?One source defines "hillbilly" as a term used to describe uneducated mountain dwellers. Another calls it a comic reference to rustics made popular in the 1940s. Most always it is connected in peoples minds with bluegrass music, moonshine, "overhauls," outhouses, and clannishness.Obviously, too, the hillbilly lives in the "hills" and is southern. This site is about the hillbillies of the Ozarks. What are the Ozarks?The name came from the French "Aux Arcs" meaning "to the Arkansas post." Geographically, the Ozarks are in four states, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and a tiny bit of southeast Kansas. This area is est. at 60,000 square miles. The Ozark mountains include, the Boston Mountains of Arkansas the St. Francis Mountains of Missouri, and the Cookson Hills of Oklahoma. Included are also several plains, many rivers and streams, and limestone bluffs and caves. Culturally, the Ozarks are rural, with a southern influence and mostly Scots-Irish stock, from Tennessee, Kentucky and the Appalachians. For many years this area was isolated, so the distrust of "outsiders," the "good ol boy" network and clannishness had a chance to develop into tradition. These ways are changing. Why, it is not unusual to see a Michigan man eating "biscuits n' gravy" with the "old timers" at the local cafe. With the arrival of a new Latino population, sometimes "Redwing" takes on a mariachi beat.Nevertheless, even with T.V., movies, and the Internet, the Ozarks are still, unaccountably, the Ozarks. Top of page |