Ha Ha Tonka

(printed in THE MILLER COUNTY AUTOGRAM-SENTINEL in the column, 'WINDOW TO THE PAST', March 17, 2011)

HA HA TONKA in the Indian language means “Laughing Waters” or “Laughing Big”. Ha Ha Tonka, in Camden County, was first known as Gunter Springs. In 1830, a grist mill was built near the springs and was known as “Big Spring”, named by a man named Garland in what would become Kinderhook County, established eleven years later in 1841.

Later Kinderhook would become known as Camden County. This community, which arose around the springs, originated 181 years ago. Ha Ha Tonka was the Indian name for the region where the Native Americans hunted and camped along the Osage and Nianuga rivers…… Between 1541 to 1831, there were 15 different tribes living in the area, per the research of historians. Two tribes claimed ownership to the lands---the Osage and the Cherokee.

A Trail of Tears village was re-constructed at Tahlequah, Oklahoma and called “Tsa-la-Gi”, another name for the Trail of Tears where the Cherokee Indian Nation finally arose and remains to this day. The Cherokee called the Niangua river “Ne-on-Guah” which translated is “I Won’t Go”!!

In 1979, at a dedication of Ha Ha Tonka State Park, an Osage chieftain spoke words that were so true…. "The land you dedicated today is Osage land. It was purchased from a country (France) that had no right to sell it which had taken it from a country (Spain) having no right to give it and NO treaty nor sale had ever been made with the rightful owners, the Osage!!!!!"……The wind blasted out his powerful message and carried it across the hills and valleys of the Niangua and Osage River Country.....

The region is so gorgeous and has been called one of the “Seven Wonders of Missouri”. It is rich in underground rivers, caves, sink holes, deep fissures, chasms, dells, cliffs and springs and make up the land of Ha Ha Tonka which is so unique and beautiful~~~~~~

In 1901, a wealthy Kansas City man, Robert McClure Snyder, Sr., owner of the Snyder Gas Company of Kansas City, bought much land in the Ha Ha Tonka region and began construction of a huge native stone home which was called a ‘castle’. It was located about 4 miles southwest of Camdenton and sat on a cliff 250 feet above the valley below. It was built of Roubidoux sandstone which was plentiful in the surrounding area. Mr. Snyder never got to live in his castle nor see his dream fulfilled because he was killed in an auto accident in Kansas City in 1906, one of the first fatal car accidents in Kansas City.

Robert M. Synder, Sr. & Sons Early postcard of Ha Ha Tonka

Mr. Snyder’s three sons were his heirs and inherited his unfinished castle. It was completed in 1922 and Robert, Jr. moved into the mansion. Much of the wealth of the Snyder family was used in a financial fight to keep Lake of the Ozarks from encroaching upon and taking over the land.

Robert Snyder, Jr. obtained a large library of over 1,000 books pertaining to local and regional history and put them in a library built in the castle. After his death, the books were taken from the mansion and donated to the University of Missouri and later, the books, known as the Snyder Collection, was given to the University of Missouri at Kansas City (UMKC). They were saved from the devastating fire that destroyed the mansion/castle in 1942. It is legend that the books have a haunting effect wherever they are housed. Stranger things have occurred in the history of our land!

The ruins of Ha Ha Tonka stand as a reminder today of fortunes lost and Lake of the Ozarks remains as a popular vacation spot of Central Missouri . Many visitors take tours of the ruins of the Snyder castle each year where you can walk the paths that wind over the hills and valleys of Ha Ha Tonka……it is quite an experience!

The Snyder Castle c/1930s The ruins of Ha Ha Tonka (Snyder Castle)