Ted Richmond's Wilderness Library

What a glorious day in the hills of Mt. Sherman Arkansas! My two fellow travelers (my two sons whom I love with all my heart) Richard and Jeff, began our quest to find the original Ted Richmond Wildcat Cabin. [inline:2] [inline:4] Rick and Jeff posing by a beautiful creek, just a 100 yards from Ted's cabin This is the cabin that Ted lived in when he homesteaded his land on Mount Sherman over 70 years ago. We knew the remains of the cabin were still there, we just did not know what shape they would be in after I had last seen it over 25 years ago. After some good hiking through the rough and beautiful Ozark hills, we stumbled upon a spring that was flowing cool clear water from somewhere deep in the mountainside. As Rick and Jeff explored the spring I stood watching on a nearby hill. As I looked to my right, I noticed the hill had what appeared to be a well-traveled path at one time, the top of the hill trampled flatter than most of the area we had been over. As I started down this path, I reach a small hilltop and before me was the Wildcat Cabin. Thrilled, I hollered to the boys to come, we had found it!

I'm sure these photo's were taken for a magazine or news paper story. If anyone knows if and where these photo's were published, please email me. [inline:1]

Modern Shepherd of the Hills By Hartzell Spence What would you least expect to find in the Ozark back country? That’s what Ted Richmond is – a librarian. For 20 penniless years he has trudged the hills – a sack on his back – to give, not sell, books to people of the woods. This is his story. A way back in the Ozark Mountains of Northwest Arkansas, where the hand-hewn log cabin is still every man’s dwelling and timber wolves howl by night, the best-known person is the one figure least likely to be found there – a librarian. Everyone in the region knows Ted Richmond. A sinewy little fellow with a Daniel Boone haircut and a pack of books on his back, Richmond has trudged for twenty years from ridge to ridge and hollow to hollow, encouraging the hill folk to read. He is not a peddler. His books are free. He is a modern casting from the mold of Harold Bell Wright’s famous Ozark character, the Shepherd of the Hills. Nobody pays him; nobody sponsors him. He is propelled by his love for his fellow man.

He was the first of four sons born to a pioneer physician from Ogallala, Nebraska, named Albert C. Richmond.
NOTE: There is a book about Albert C. Richmond, written by F.R. Richmond. If anyone can assist me in locating a copy of this book, please contact me.

His family moved to Fort Madison, Iowa when drought hit the area.

He organized the first Boy Scout troop in the city, and continued these efforts later when he moved to the Ozark mountains.

He wanted to be a preacher, a doctor, and a creative writer.

Two books influenced his life greatly, "The Shepherd of the Hills" and horace Kephart's "Camping in the Ozarks".

He worked his way through the Iowa Business College and graduated from Southwest Missouri Teachers College (now Southwest Missouri State University.)

He was a veteran of WW I and served with the AEF and attended one year at Toulouse University in France.

While in France, it is said he helped establish a library.

He spent over 20 years in the Ozark mountains and started his first Wilderness Library in 1932.