New book coming on Tipton Ford

When Mark Bard was just a young man his parents moved to a farm near Tipton Ford. As most young boys do, Mark worked around the farm and tended to his school. He went for three years to Spring Valley School before transferring to school in Joplin.

"In those days, we had three choices: Diamond, Neosho or Joplin," Bard said. "I chose Joplin because my dad had a business there and I rode back and forth with him."

But, not too many years later, Bard heard about a tragic event that occurred at Tipton Ford in 1914. The story he heard was about the great Motor Car Wreck, which killed dozens of people when a train from the Missouri North Arkansas railroad slammed head-on into a "motor car" that was headed south on the same tracks.

The fuel tank on the motor car broke open, splashing fuel all around the two vehicles. This fuel almost immediately caught fire and was the actual cause of death for most of the victims.

Hearing about that event captured Bard's attention and he began trying to learn more about Tipton Ford history. Although still a young man and just recently married, he set out with a tape recorder, looking for old-timers who were around when the great wreck occurred. In time,  he had made several recordings of men who not only remembered the wreck, but also remembered the town when it was a lively place.

Since those days in the early 1970s, Bard has continued his research and is now starting to write the history of Tipton Ford. He will tell some of the old stories he heard 40 years ago and he will publish some of the photographs he has located.

For most people today, the mention of Tipton Ford seems to bring back one of three things. Many remember the great "Tipton Ford" chicken which was cooked in a small cafe run for most of its time by Frank and Bonnie Crabb. Another thing about Tipton Ford that stokes memories is the old Undercliff Cafe. The original building burned in the 1980s but a newer version still draws a crowd under the cliff. The third thing that brings Tipton Ford to mind is the Great Motor Car Wreck. Although few are still around who were living at the time, the story of this tragic event lives on. In fact, it was the subject of a mural painted by Anthony Benton Gude, grandson of Neosho's famous artist, Thomas Hart Benton.

Perhaps when Mark Bard's new book hits the bookshelves, there will be more stories that will lodge themselves into the minds of locals and the name of James William "Bill" Tipton, founder of the town, will trip more easily off people's tongues.

Although he is the leading proponent of Tipton Ford at this time, Bard says he hasn't found many startling events in the town's history. He did mention that when the concrete bridge was being built over Shoal Creek, folks crossed the road on a pontoon bridge, something not seen very often in these parts.

But, perhaps when the book is finished, we'll all find something that sheds new and interesting light on Tipton Ford.