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Ha Ha
Tonka State Park |
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Hahatonka is Osage Indian for Laughing
Waters, which refers to the original lake, spring and river of the
thirty-four hundred acre estate purchased by Robert M. Snyder of
Kansas City in 1904. The mansion was the dream of Robert M. Snyder,
owner of the Snyder Gas Company in Kansas City. He engaged the
architectural services of Adrian Van Brunt, and obtained a Scottish
foreman to ensure European authenticity in the construction methods.
In 1905 construction began on the sixty-two room house, greenhouses,
stables and ninety foot water tower. Ha Ha Tonka mansion was to be
Snyder's legacy, but as is so often the case, he did not live to see
his legacy fulfilled. He died, in 1906, in one of the first
automobile accidents in Kansas City.
Snyder's three sons inherited the unfinished mansion. They had the
work continued, though at a somewhat slower pace. It was finished in
1922. After that the family business began to decline and the sons
spent a great deal of money in lawsuits to prevent the waters of the
proposed Lake of the Ozarks from encroaching upon their land.
By 1937 the mansion was converted to a lodge. On a cold, windy,
October day in 1945 when most of the mansions fireplaces were
burning an updraft sucked hot embers from one of the fireplaces onto
the split cedar roof. As the fire progressed, embers blew onto one
of the stables, as well as the water tower that stood 90 feet above
the castle. The stable was burned down, but locals saved the water
tower (which was later burned by vandals).
The Snyder family sold the estate and acreage to the state of
Missouri and it is now Ha Ha Tonka State Park at Camdenton,
Missouri.
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Ha Ha Tonka State Park
Camdenton Missouri
September 16, 2007 |
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Missouri Facts |
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State Flower: White
Hawthorn
State Animal: Mule
State Tree: Dogwood
State Bird: Bluebird
State Song: Missouri Waltz
State Insect: Honey Bee
State Fossil: Crinoid
Nickname: Show Me State
State Gemstone: Fresh water pearl
State Rock:
Mozarkite
State Musical
Instrument: Fiddle
State Folk Dance:
Square Dance
Origin of name: Indian word which means "town of the large canoe."
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Missouri Waltz |
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Hush-a-bye, ma baby,
slumbertime is comin' soon;
Rest yo' head upon my breast while Mommy hums a tune;
The sandman is callin' where shadows are fallin',
While the soft breezes sigh as in days long gone by.
Way down in Missouri where I heard this melody,
When I was a little child upon my Mommy's knee;
The old folks were hummin'; their banjos were strummin';
So sweet and low.
Strum, strum, strum, strum, strum,
Seems I hear those banjos playin' once again,
Hum, hum, hum, hum, hum,
That same old plaintive strain.
Hear that mournful melody,
It just haunts you the whole day long,
And you wander in dreams back to Dixie, it seems,
When you hear that old time song.
Hush-a-bye ma baby, go to sleep on Mommy's knee,
Journey back to Dixieland in dreams again with me;
It seems like your Mommy is there once again,
And the old folks were strummin' that same old refrain.
Way down in Missouri where I learned this lullaby,
When the stars were blinkin' and the moon was climbin' high,
Seems I hear voices low, as in days long ago,
Singin' hush-a-bye.
arranged by Frederick
Knight Logan from a melody by John Valentine Eppel, with lyrics by
J. R. Shannon
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