ABSTRACT
The Lake of the Ozarks was created in 1931 with the installation of the Bagnell Hydroelectric Dam on the Osage River in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. The lake, seen aerially, resembles an immense and bloated river, and extends more than 90 miles over four counties (Figure 6.2). Beyond its significance supplying electric power to the region, it, along with Truman Lake to the west (which is also a dammed portion of the Osage River), have become a prominent vacation destination in the Midwest because of what are now hundreds miles of mostly privately owned shoreline. 1
