Travelin' Arklahoma: One man's vision and music helped to foster a unique Arkansas State Park

The morning mist clings to the hills of Mountain View like a memory. In the quiet hush before the dulcimers begin to sing and the blacksmith’s hammer strikes its first rhythm, the Ozark Folk Center State Park stirs to life.

But long before this place became a sanctuary for heritage and song, it lived in the imagination of one man--Jimmy Driftwood.

Born James Corbett Morris in 1907 in nearby West Richwoods, Driftwood was a schoolteacher, a songwriter, and a dreamer. He taught history through music, crafting songs like “The Battle of New Orleans” to make the past come alive for his students.

That song would later be recorded by Johnny Horton and become a national hit, launching Driftwood into the spotlight. But fame never pulled him away from the Ozarks. Instead, it gave him a platform to preserve them.

Driftwood believed the culture of the Ozarks--its music, crafts, and stories--deserved more than nostalgia. It needed a home. In the 1960s, he helped found the Rackensack Folklore Society, a grassroots movement to celebrate and protect Ozark traditions.

From those gatherings of pickers and storytellers came the idea for a state park dedicated to folk heritage. In 1973, the Ozark Folk Center State Park opened its doors, a living museum where the past wasn’t just remembered--it was practiced.

Driftwood’s own barn became a hub for music and community. “Come stay in the barn,” he’d say to visitors from across the country, inviting them to experience the warmth of Ozark hospitality. His guitar--crafted from a fence rail, an ox yoke, and a headboard from his grandmother’s bed--became a symbol of resourcefulness and reverence for the old ways.

Even after national success, Driftwood remained a fixture in Mountain View. He performed at courthouse hootenannies, mentored young musicians, and helped organize festivals that drew thousands. His influence shaped generations, including artists like Pam Setser, who first sang with him as a child and later performed alongside him at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

To walk through the Ozark Folk Center today is to walk in Driftwood’s footsteps. The Craft Village hums with artisans shaping wood, fiber, and metal. The Heritage Herb Garden blooms with plants once used by Ozark healers. And every evening, the air fills with music—fiddle tunes, ballads, and the unmistakable twang of a mountain dulcimer.

Visitors can still “stay in the barn”--or rather, in the Cabins at Dry Creek, nestled in the woods just beyond the park. It’s a quiet retreat where the spirit of Driftwood’s invitation lives on. The Skillet Restaurant serves up Ozark comfort food, and the park’s seasonal events—from the Dulcimer Jamboree to Folk Dance Days--carry his legacy forward.

Jimmy Driftwood didn’t just write songs. He wrote a future for the Ozarks. His life was a bridge between tradition and innovation, between local pride and global recognition.

The Ozark Folk Center is his monument--not of stone, but of sound, craft, and community.

So come stay in the barn. Or better yet, come walk the paths he walked, hear the songs he sang, and feel the heartbeat of a region he loved enough to preserve.