Page 66 - Firehouse Pond
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STEELVILLE, MISSOURI
LIVING IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS
I was young. I’m guessing about eight when my father took a job working on
a dairy farm near Steelville, Missouri.
Steelville is located near the foothills of the Ozark Mountains, about 90 miles
southwest of Saint Louis, and about 175 miles northwest of Charleston. The
small town is surrounded by rolling hills and streams.
The Meramec River runs through the farmland of the dairy farm. The
Meramec is one of the longest free-flowing rivers in Missouri, drifting 218
miles from its headwaters near Salem and ending at the Mississippi River
near St. Louis.
The river provided fish to eat and cool, swift water on hot days. I have fond
memories of fishing (more precisely – gigging) and wadding in the Meramec.
