Holy Hills Of The Ozarks Religion And Tourism In Branson, Missouri

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Book Reviews / Pneuma 31 (2009) 105-160

Aaron K. Ketchell, Holy Hills of the Ozarks: Religion and Tourism in Branson, Missouri (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007). xxxvi + 300 pp., $35.00, hardcover.

Since the publication of Harold Bell Wright’s The Shepherd of the Hills in 1907, tourists have traveled to Branson, Missouri in search of what Aaron Ketchell describes as “the solace of sanctiﬁ ed terrain and the succor of the imaginary premodern” (p. 26). A Disciples of Christ minister and exponent of a more conservative Social Gospel, Wright popularized the myth of Branson as sacred landscape, a rural place for spiritual respite in an increasingly industrial world. Entrepreneurs later marketed that myth, using it as the basis for a thriving tourist industry. In the promotion and practice of Branson, Ketchell ﬁ nds a religious dis- course that sits “astride a dichotomy of sacred and secular” (p. xxxv).

Over the course of the twentieth century, a “Branson style” developed that was more moral in tone than blatant in message. In the early 1900s, pilgrims traveled to Branson in search of characters and scenes from Wright’s novel. The direct inﬂ uence of The Shepherd of the Hills, though, faded in the second half of the twentieth century. By 1960, with the opening of Silver Dollar City, it was no longer the town’s main attraction. But as Ketchell argues, its message lingered in the “popular ethos” of Branson entertainment. Performers that either preached too loud or sinned too often were not well received. One might expect that country singer Merle Haggard did not make it in Branson, but neither did the gospel icon Bill Gaither. Ketchell argues that most tourists in Branson did not come for hymns or homilies. Rather, they came for wholesome entertainment. As Peter Herschend, co-owner of Silver Dollar City, put it, “I would rather see a sermon than hear one.”

The strength of the book is its rich detail. Ketchell compiles an impressive array of sources including newspaper stories, tourism magazines, letters, and memoirs that document visi- tor experiences. Posts on fan club websites, notes from participant observation at shows and performances, various survey data, and forty interviews ranging from thirty minutes to two hours — all inform the volume. Supplementing archival and print sources with what he calls “virtual ethnography,” Ketchell is able to describe audience reception of Branson enter- tainment. The narrative weaves through a myriad of interesting topics, such as the century long presence of the hillbilly trickster character in the Ozark tourism industry, the eﬀ ort to boycott John Denver because he cursed on stage, and the duet singing performance of John Ashcroft and Trent Lott.

Ketchell also is attentive to the local religious landscape. Pentecostalism plays a promi- nent role in the history of Branson. With its headquarters located only 40 miles away, the Assemblies of God has helped shape the Branson ethos. Peter Herschend, who joined the Assemblies of God in the late 1990s, continues a Pentecostal tradition of melding “reli- gious message with popular and mass culture,” a tradition that includes the evangelism methods of Aimee Semple McPherson, Rex Hubbard, Pat Robertson, Jim Bakker, and Jimmy Swaggert. Citing American Religious historian Grant Wacker, Ketchell argues that Silver Dollar City’s connection to larger Pentecostal history is demonstrated in its ability to “blend a ‘primitivist’ focus on returning to a purer and more spiritual past with a ‘pragmatic’ impulse that encourages the use of modern methods to facilitate the spread of religious messages” (pp. 72-73).

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Book Reviews / Pneuma 31 (2009) 105-160

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In its theoretical analysis, though, Holy Hills of the Ozarks suggests more than concludes. Ketchell incorporates a good range of theoretical approaches, including cultural geography, sociology of religion, and ritual studies. This interdisciplinary methodology generates a host of research questions. But it also produces interpretive tension. For example, the framing category of lived religion seems at odds with references to the institutional analysis of Talc- ott Parsons and Robert Bellah. For the ﬁrst six chapters, Ketchell adroitly uses the lived religion approach to break down categorical boundaries between sacred and secular. But in the last chapter, he resurrects the distinction, describing the construction of Branson Land- ing, a multimillion dollar resort featuring a waterfront boardwalk, a town square, and “a frequent synchronized water, light, sound, and ﬁ re display created by producers of shows for Las Vegas’s Bellagio Hotel” as a “wholly secular attraction” and one side of the “most dificult dualism” to face the city (pp. 205, 231). It is not clear, though, why Branson Land- ing is any more or less secular than previous attractions.

T eoretical nuance aside, Holy Hills of the Ozarks is a delightful case study of popular religious practice in America. It should ﬁ nd a broad audience. Ambitious in scope, Ketchell has written a thought provoking work.

Reviewed by Chad E. Seales

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