Ballad of Bagnell Dam, The

DESCRIPTION: "Once there was a town, and Zebra was its name; Even though it's disappeared, it's had its share of fame. Once on the Osage River it stood so very proud; Now it has vanished...." The Osage River is dammed and the people forced to leave their flooded homes
AUTHOR: Gene Bluestein (source: Midwest Folklore, which incorrectly calls him "Eugene Blustein")
EARLIEST DATE: 1955 (source: MidwestFolklore)
KEYWORDS: technology river
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1931 - Building of the Bagnell Dam on the Osage River, creating Lake of the Ozarks. The small town of Zebra is covered by the waters and the people forced to relocate
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MidwestFolklore, Charles H. Gold, "Once There Was a Town: The Birth of a Folk-Song," Volume 12, Number 2 (Summer 1962) p. 90, "The Ballad of Bagnell Dam" (1 text)
NOTES [74 words]: I can find no evidence of this song going into tradition, but Charles H. Gold claims to have heard it from people who had learned it orally, so I'm very tentatively including it.
According to Wikipedia, the parts of t town of Zebra, Missouri that remain above water became part of what is now Osage Beach, Missouri. There is a "Zebra Road" in Osage Beach, according to Google Maps; I would assume that runs near where the former town lay. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: MWFC090

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