Nagogami Lodgeby John Bradbury

Nagogami Lodge (pronounced “na-GOG-amy”) is one of the lastresorts from the heyday of commer-cially-operated vacation destina-tions on the Gasconade River. It ison the right bank of that portion ofthe Gasconade River flowingbetween Interstate 44 at Arlingtonand Highway 63 near Vienna, andnear the Gaines Ford crossing inMaries County. It is twelve milesnorthwest of Rolla on what is nowState Highway E, but what was knownthen as the Gaines Ford road.

The Lodge got its start in 1923, perhapstaking a cue from an earlier groupknown as the Rolla Picknickers thatorganized in 1922 with a view towardpurchasing a campground at GainesFord. Whatever the relationship (ifany) between the Rolla Picknickers andNagogami Lodge, Gaines Ford wasalready a locally-known campgroundwhen the lodge got under way. TheRolla Boy Scout troop made an annualsummer camp there, and by 1920 thereseem to have been private camp-grounds and a few cabins along thebank below Gaines Ford.

By then the resort industry on theGasconade was already a generationold. Born in the late 1800s in Phelpsand Pulaski counties, it had grown upwherever the Gasconade River and theSt. Louis & San Francisco Railway (the“Frisco”) intersected or closely paral-leled one another. From rustic begin-nings catering to sportsmen getting offtrains at Arlington, Jerome, Dixon,Crocker, and Richland, a modern resortindustry grew up to serve middle-classfamilies arriving by train from thesmoky, brick-oven heat of summertimein St. Louis and Kansas City. TheFrisco railroad was happy to sell tick-ets to sportsmen and vacationing fami-lies and promoted the resort industryin its advertising and with specialsummer excursion fares. By World WarOne dozens of resorts dotted the banksof the Gasconade. They filled to capac-ity every summer with hundreds ofhappy campers enjoying the traditionalbenefits of fresh air, Ozark scenery, andfine, home-cooked country food, butalso good fishing, boating, bathing,horseback riding, and lawn sports.

The resort business changed afterWorld War One. Like so much else inthe 20th Century, the automobile andthe consequent development of goodroads figured in the transformation.Private ownership of vehicles freedvacationers from railroad schedulesand the same old places; better roadsopened up locations along the river notdirectly accessible by railroad. Gettingto a place ten or twelve miles from therailroad, like Gaines Ford, formerly

meant an all-day buggy or wagonride—a mighty jarring beginning andend to a restful vacation. After reliablevehicle transport became widespread,travelers could detrain at the Rolladepot and be whisked to Gaines Fordby car in about two hours and in rela-tive comfort.

By the 1920s, the clamor for betterroads in Missouri sparked creation ofthe St. Louis-Joplin HighwayAssociation and the first lobbying by“tourism” organizations that are com-monplace today. The Missouri legisla-ture responded by authorizing newbridges and major improvements toRoute 14 between those cities, makingit feasible for owners of private auto-mobiles to drive themselves directly tothe Gasconade and other rivers in theMissouri Ozarks. Those Route 14improvements, many of which weresubsequently incorporated into U. S.Highway 66, opened different locationson the river to a well-established urbanand local clientele. The result was thelast great round of resort-building,including new resorts at GasconadeHills near Hazelgreen and OzarkSprings near Richland. Some of theolder resorts such as the PippinPlace near Crocker and those atArlington and Jerome changed theirorientation from rails to roads andappealed to the new class of auto-mobile-born vacationer. Similardevelopments occurred alongother Ozark streams (for example,Wildwood Springs on theMeramec River at Steelville) giv-ing the resorting public a wider

choice of destinations. Travelers pros-perous enough to own vehicles gener-ally wanted modern amenities, too,limiting the patronage of many of thetimeworn, “rustic” campgrounds andclubhouses to the most seasoned fish-ermen and sportsmen.

Such were the times in late 1922 whenJames Claude Harvey (he went by“Claude”), T. A. Dunham, Dick Gale,and William “Shorty” Cole began todevelop a 12-acre tract along the riverjust below Gaines Ford. The propertyconsisted of a low narrow bench alongthe river backed by a steep bluff linetapering to a point where the lodgewould be built. A spring issued fromthe bluff just above the property, itsbranch flowing down past the lodgeand forming an island between it andthe Gasconade. The island was care-fully manicured and the tree trunkswhitewashed. Messrs. Harvey & Co.,as the Rolla Herald referred to them,looked to open Nagogami Lodge forthe 1923 season.

The newspaper explained that theexotic-sounding name came from anIndian word for “River of Springs,”but just what Native American lan-guage was left unsaid. The “gami” partof the name sounds like the Algonquin

Nagogami, in the upper right corner, is located about twelve miles northwest ofof Rolla. The brochure touted the amenities available in Rolla, including churchesand the golf course at the School of Mines, where the green fee was 50 cents.

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Cover of the second Nagogami advertis-ing brochure. Courtesy of Sharon Kenny.

word for lake, and there is a NagagamiLake in northern Ontario, but there isno apparent connection with theGasconade. The name rings a little likeHa Ha Tonka overlooking the OsageRiver and similar claims to NativeAmerican derivation. Whatever itsancestry, the place name Nagogamibegan to take precedence over GainesFord, a process probably hastened bythe demise of the short-lived GainesFord post office in 1932.

When Nagogami Lodge opened inJune 1923, it consisted of the two-storylodge building proper, with rooms forguests above and a well-appointedkitchen and dining room below. Later ascreened-in dining room that doubled

as a dance hall was built near thelodge. There were also several two andthree-room cottages, and rustic cabinsof “artistic and unique” design (withnames such “Bird’s Nest” and “Crow’sNest”) higher on the bluff. The cabinsand cottages were built of verticalpoles chinked like more conventionalhorizontal log buildings, a constructiondesign appearing at other cabins andclubhouses such as Blue Springs nearLeasburg and Idlewild Lodge at Cuba,both on the Meramec River. The lodgeand cottages were no more than a hun-dred yards from the river, althoughthat distance was pretty much verticalfor the cabins on the bluff. Lodgingwas by the day, week, and month.Patrons and afternoon visitors at

Nagogami could eat at the lodge (friedchicken was the house specialty) or getpicnic dinners for riverside enjoyment.A large bath house with private lockerswas available for bathers and theisland and a large gravel bar werenearby. Canoes, rowboats, and motorboats were available for a dollar a dayunder the supervision of Shorty Cole,said to be an expert fisherman, guide,and camp chef.

Quite a few local folks visited thelodge during the first season--two hun-dred people arrived to celebrate July4th. But there were complaints aboutthe road from Rolla. Maries Countyhad gotten its shorter section in goodshape, but it wasn’t until spring of1924 that Phelps County got its gravelroad from Rolla to the county line infirst class order.

Shorty Cole and Dick Gale, and per-haps T. A. Dunham, sold their interestsin Nagogami after the season of 1923,leaving Claude Harvey as the principalowner and proprietor of the lodge. Hisfather, James Clayburn Harvey, wasprominent as a former sheriff of PhelpsCounty (1897-1900); Claude and hiswife Emma Lee (Pryor) Harvey werewell-known themselves as proprietorsof Harvey’s Restaurant on Pine Streetin Rolla. Claude shuttled back andforth to Nagogami, making improve-ments on the property and preparingfor the 1924 season while Mrs. Harveymanaged the restaurant in Rolla. AlSmith of Rolla partnered with him atthe lodge and dining room, but Claudebore most of the burden of developingthe property, which came to includeadditional cabins, a generator housefor electric lights, an icehouse, a boat-house at the mouth of the springbranch, and a stable for riding horses.Later on, Harvey got help from hissons James Pryor (called “Pryor”) andBert Charles (called “Si”). Si proved tobe an able stonemason, and eventuallybuilt native stone walkways and stepsconnecting the lodge and cabins, asandstone chicken house, decorativerock walls, a stone table for table ten-nis, a bridge across the spring branchto the island, and stone steps leadingto the spring outlet.

Messrs. Harvey & Smith hosted therain-delayed Grand Opening ofNagogami Lodge on Sunday, June 15,1924. Motor coaches shuttled passen-gers back and forth from Rolla all dayat a dollar a head. A great local crowdof Harvey friends and acquaintancestoured the lodge and grounds anddemolished a heap of fried chicken.The Rolla Herald reported it a grandsuccess, commended the “specialattention to the dining room” by theproprietors, and predicted thatNagogami Lodge would soon becomethe most favored recreational place inthe area.

Nagogami Lodge thrived for the nextfifteen seasons. In addition to lodgingand meals (at $3.50 per day or $20.00weekly), the resort offered all theaccustomed amenities for fishermen(boats were available for causual pad-dlers and also for floats from DevilsElbow to Nagogami and fromNagogami downstream to theHighway 63 bridge), but also horse-back riding, lawn sports (tennis andcroquet), weekend dancing, and home-made games appealing to a broad baseof middle-class family patrons. Evenduring tough times in the 1930s, thelodge filled to capacity (about thirtyguests) and the cabins were alwaysbooked. Claude and Emma personallydirected operations at the lodge duringthe season while Pryor handled therestaurant in Rolla. The Pine Streetrestaurant, on the original Route 66through Rolla, served as a clearing-house for Nagogami news as well asreservations. Travelers on the roadlearned about the lodge through therestaurant, and the Harveys advertisedthe lodge in St. Louis newspapers. Theresult was a loyal, long-term clienteleof local and city guests.

The resort was in its prime when SiHarvey contracted pneumonia anddied suddenly in 1939. He was onlytwenty-five years old. He had come tomanage everything but the lodge andrestaurant and did the maintenanceand upkeep. Pryor was managing thefamily business in Rolla, and Claudeand Emma could hardly handle thelodge and keep up the property. Itwore out Claude. When he died in

Nagogami Lodge and stone wall, 1939. There were rooms to rent on the bottomfloor and a recreation room with card tables for games and leather couches forrelaxation and conversation. Courtesy of John Bradbury.

View down the road through Nagogami, toward spring. Trees were whitewashedabout six feet up the trunk. Courtesy of John Bradbury.

This view shows the long front stilts required for those cabins built on the steephillside. Higher up the bluff were cabins called the Bird’s Nest and Crow’s Nest,reached by steep stone steps. Courtesy of John Bradbury.

Early rustic cabin with outhouse on the hill, 1926. Courtesy of John Bradbury.

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Folks with a big catch of frogs and fish. The Gasconade had long been recognizedas a premier fishing stream. Claude Harvey is standing far right, his son Sibehind, and wife Em to his right. Courtesy of Sharon Kenny.

Claude Harvey’s daughter, Marie, rides with a young guest. “Gentle riding hors-es” were available for $0.50 per hour. Courtesy of Sharon Kenny.

Claude Harvey proudly showing his large catch. Nagogami also had live bait forsale to guests. Courtesy of Sharon Kenny.

Boats were furnished free to guests. Canoes were rented for $1.00 per day.Courtesy of John Bradbury.

The stone and concrete table tennis structure built by Si Harvey across from thelodge still awaits a game. Photo by Terry Primas.

Nagogami Lodge promoted the “open-air freedom that is found in this settingof rugged hills, green forests, and swift-flowing river.” It was claimed that nocabin was more than 200 feet from the river. Opportunities for outdoor recre-ation were plentiful. The resort was open from May 1st until December 31st.

Nagogami business cards, above, give concise particulars about the lodge.Courtesy of John Bradbury.

1941, Emma closed the lodge. The fam-ily sold the property after World WarTwo and built a cabin just upstream inthe development known as the RollaCountry Club.

Art McDaniel of Rolla bought theNagogami property from the Harveys.He continued to rent the lodge andrented light-housekeeping cabins bythe day and week. There was lessemphasis on fine country dining, butMcDaniel continued renting boats,hosting weekend dances, and bookingthe hall for picnics and partiesuntil1955. Facing extensive repairsafter a damaging winter, McDanielclosed the property to the general pub-lic and offered yearly leases of the vari-ous cabins and cottages to his long-term customers. He had no problemattracting leasers and the new arrange-ment ended Nagogami’s days as one ofthe finest resorts open to the public onthe Gasconade River.

The Wuenscher family of St. Louiswere among those leasing one ofMcDaniel’s cabins, and in 1977 theypurchased the property. The old lodgeis occupied full time now, and six ofthe cabins, greatly rebuilt and modern-ized, are still leased every year. Theplace looks a lot different than whenClaude Harvey & Co. determined toopen a first-class resort on theGasconade, both from man-made andnatural causes. The river has changedits channel in front of the lodge andthe picturesque island is no more. Thegravel bars and spring branch are dif-ferent now, too, after the great flood of1983. The flood also damaged manyoutbuildings and improvements on thelow ground. In the last fifty years therehas been considerable developmentupstream toward Gaines Ford at theRolla Country Club. As at NagogamiLodge, many of the former summercabins have been rebuilt or replaced byfully modern homes occupied yearround. But if a visitor looks closely,vestiges of Si Harvey’s handiwork canstill be seen in stone stairways andwalkways; the arched rock wall, a rocktable for table tennis, and the sand-stone chicken house still standing nearthe former lodge building.

A place you’ll find that’s hard to beatWhere all friends, young and old, willmeetThere you are always greeted withsmilesIf you have come from near, or ifyou’ve traveled miles.[brochure from Helen Kenny]

[Thanks to Claudie Harvey Wilkinson,Carmen Harvey McNelly, Charles L.Harvey, Helen Kenny, and BillWuenscher for sharing their knowl-edge about Nagogami Lodge.

We met with Helen Harvey Kenny at the Harvey farm, not far from Nagogami. Helen was ClaudeHarvey’s niece and spent several summers as a young girl at the resort. She had fond mem-ories of the people and idyllic summers at Nagogami. John Bradbury and Jan Primas[comprising the OSG below] interviewed Helen about those days more than seventyyears ago.

Helen: I remember a family who stayed here year after year, theKrumenacher family. He owned pharmacies in St. Louis. It was mostlySt. Louis people [who stayed at Nagogami.]

I stayed at Nagogami Lodge in the summers from the age of nineuntil twelve or thirteen. [Helen was born in 1922 so it was the years1931-1934.] The cabins were rented out by the week. Everythingwould be rented over the Fourth of July and [it seemed] it rainedevery Fourth of July. It was not a big money maker.

OSG: There was a Smith who was involved.

Helen: Yes, Al Smith. He was a bachelor and he lived by the spring, on theroad that went around the spring. He played the piano on most weekendsand people would wind up there. My uncle’s land extended along the road tothe spring. There was the power plant on one side of the road and the boat houseon the other side. The tennis area was up there, too.

OSG: Did they hire local people to help?

Helen: When I first started going, they had a black couple. His nickname was Ink and his wife’s name was Blanche. I wascrazy about Ink. I didn’t have anyone to play with so I’d follow him all over the place. His wife was an intelligent, hardworking lady and I liked Blanche a lot.

OSG: So they ran the lodge?

Helen: No, they worked - actually, my aunt and uncle ran it but my uncle had gone into politics and after he did that hewas going to quit this [resort business]. They opened a restaurant in Rolla, Harvey’s Restaurant. Pryor ,the oldest son, ranthe restaurant and Si, the youngest, worked mostly at the resort and I was so crazy about him, probably because he was sopatient with me.

OSG: How about the lodge? Did the lodge serve meals?

Helen: Oh, yes, three times a day. When I first started going, Blanche was the cook and after they were not there anylonger, my Aunt Em cooked and she would hire local help when they needed it. All the cabins were done [by 1931], theBird’s Nest was way up on top, and there was ground behind that that went down to the road that the School of Minesused to teach their students.

OSG: What was the recreation down there? You mentioned tennis and horseback riding.

Helen: They had a concrete and rock table tennis table. They had swings, canoes, and other types of boats they rented. Thatwas pretty much it.

OSG: What about canoes. Did they haul you up and put you in for a float as we think of it today?

Helen: No. They owned their canoes and the guests were allowed to use them. Whether they paid for them, I don’t know.They didn’t really float, just paddled around. Although, I guess, if they got far down they could call the lodge and theywould pick them up. The last few cot-tages down toward the spring werehousekeeping, where people could cooktheir own meals.

The Bird’s Nest was way up high [onthe bluff] with a lot of steps to it andwhen the people got up there, there wasno bathroom. They had to come backdown to the bath house. They couldn’teven take a shower in their cabin so itwas pretty primitive.

The lodge had two floors, with roomsto rent out. [The top floor] had leathercouches and card tables. When I stayedthere, I had one of the rooms that lookedto the bluff behind it and I used to lookout at the little chipmunks.There was anarea on the bottom floor where they didthe ironing and had a linen closet. Thedining room was across the road. It wasnot heated or cooled but it had an over-hang to keep the rain off of them.

Helen Kenny

The screened dining lodge at Nagogami. The specialty was fried chicken. “Weserve pasteurized milk, and obtain our chickens and vegetables from farmers inthe neighborhood. Serve three meals each day and guarantee that you will haveplenty of well-cooked food. Courtesy of John Bradbury.

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