Along with Countless Beautiful Views of Table Rock Lake, Top of the Rock
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Along with countless beautiful views of Table Rock Lake, Top of the Rock features a Jack Nicklaus signature golf course, an Arnold Palmer Driving Range and a Tom Watson Himalayan Putting Green. (page 1 of 4) Just a few months after the opening of Top of the Rock, a breathtakingly beautiful 462-acre property overlooking Table Rock Lake, we take a closer look at the outdoorsy wonderland, its impact on local tourism and the man who built it all: Johnny Morris. Get to know Johnny, the founder of Bass Pro Shops, Big Cedar Lodge, Dogwood Canyon Nature Park, Top of the Rock and more. And learn why he chooses to call 417-land home for himself and his many properties. There's a sense of sincerity in Johnny Morris's voice as he tells his story of falling in love with the Ozarks and its rich history. “During the first national B.A.S.S. tournament, I met fishermen from all over the country. I knew when I went to that tournament that all I wanted to do was fish or be around fishing.” —Johnny Morris He speaks slowly and thoughtfully, recalling events that happened more than 50 years ago almost as if they just happened yesterday. “I grew up fishing on the rivers here with my dad and my mom’s brother, Uncle Buck,” says Johnny, who turned 66 this year. “One time I was on a float trip with my father, and when I went to get our truck, I cut across a field. It was after a spring rain, and a farmer had just plowed, and I looked down and saw an arrowhead sitting there.” Johnny goes on—the passion building in his voice—to describe everything he felt at that very second. “That just really captivated me,” he says, almost lost in the moment. “It got to me. I started thinking, ‘What was life like when the person made this point? What was wildlife like? What was fishing like?’ I was standing there in my jeans and my tennis shoes just thinking, ‘What did they wear? Did they have on a deer skin crop? Or maybe a buffalo hide? What were they really like?’” Fast forward five decades, and now Johnny is the owner of Bass Pro Shops, Tracker Boats, Big Cedar Lodge, Integrity Hills, Dogwood Canyon Nature Park and—his most recent creation—Top of the Rock. All of them have not only enriched the lives of 417-landers but also played a huge part in bringing state- and nation-wide tourists to southwest Missouri. And although his outdoorsy empire has flourished since that spring day some 50 years ago, not much about Johnny has changed. This guy is truly fueled by sharing his love of the outdoors and telling the story of what life was like long ago. Johnny Morris (far left) fishes on the White River with his father, his mother and his Uncle Charles. Some of Johnny’s most-treasured memories include family fishing trips he enjoyed during his childhood years. In 1972, Johnny Morris (far left) began selling tackle in the back of his father’s Brown Derby liquor store. The tackle became a popular attraction, and Bass Pro Shops was born. Humble Beginnings What is now an outdoor enthusiast’s dream on the shores of Table Rock Lake began with a simple passion for fishing. Johnny has been fishing in 417-land waterways since he was a child. “When I was about 10 years old, I went to the opening of Table Rock Dam with my grandfather,” Johnny says. “We watched the first water come up over the dam. It really changed the habitat for fishing here. A lot of our favorite places on the river went away, but it created a whole new fishery.” As he grew through high school and college, so did his love of the sport. “In 1970, I was going to school at SMS—or I was supposed to be—but I was also fishing a lot,” Johnny says with a laugh. “During the first national B.A.S.S. [Bass Anglers Sportsman Society] tournament, I met fishermen from all over the country. I knew when I went to that tournament that all I wanted to do was fish or be around fishing.” This inspired Johnny to rent a U-Haul trailer, travel across the country and fill it with the newest and most exceptional fishing tackle he could find. When he returned to Springfield, he started selling the tackle out of his dad’s Brown Derby Liquor Store. It was a hit, becoming popular for anglers who visited on their way to 417- land lakes, and they began calling Johnny even after they returned home to ask him to send them some of his specialized gear. To feed the growing demand, the first Bass Pro Shops catalog was created in 1974. And in 1978, the same year he turned 30, Johnny created and sold Bass Tracker, the industry’s first fully accessorized, ready-to-fish boat, motor and trailer package. In 1981, nearly 10 years after he originally opened Bass Pro Shops in the back of that Brown Derby store, Morris opened a Bass Pro Shops outdoor destination store in Springfield. Since then, the company has grown exponentially, and Bass Pro Shops has even been named one of the Top 10 Hottest Brands in America along with M&Ms, iPad, Droid and others by Advertising Age magazine. According to Katie Mitchell, the communications manager for Bass Pro Shops Group, it’s also among the top tourist destinations in Missouri and one of the most popular outdoor retailers in the world. The 90 retail stores and Tracker Marine Centers across America and Canada host 116 million people per year. But back in 1982, just as Johnny was in the thick of growing Bass Pro Shops and Tracker Boats, he met his wife, Jeanie. “I was actually friends with his sisters, and we met through them,” Jeanie says. “John was a bachelor, and he stayed busy fishing and building his business.” But as busy as he may have been, he still took time to take Jeanie on some unforgettable dates that she still laughs about. “When we first started dating, he had this old wallet,” she says. “It was a green nylon wallet with a Bass Pro logo on it, and it had Velcro. Well, it always made that ‘ripppppp’ sound when he was getting ready to pay for dinner,” she says. Jeanie bought Johnny a new leather wallet as a gift when the two spent their first Christmas together. “He said, ‘Oh, this is cool…’” Jeanie says. “Well, he carried it for about two months, and then he goes, ‘Hon, can I get my old wallet back?’” Now, 32 years later, Johnny still carries that same Velcro wallet. “It still rips open—it’s a mess!,” Jeanie says. Her voice beams with pride as she talks about her husband, and it’s obvious that she now knows that old wallet, along with many other quirks, make Johnny the man she’s been in love with for more than 30 years. “He’s very friendly and very down- to-earth,” Jeanie says. “He’s just such a good guy. I really got lucky.” Johnny Morris, who has enjoyed fishing since he was a little boy, started fishing in tournaments during his college years. Today, fishing is still one of his favorite pastimes. Johnny first met his wife, Jeanie, in 1982. “I try as best as I can to keep things calm and comfortable for him, because his life is busy and can be crazy at times,” Jeanie says. A few years after he began selling Tracker Boats, Johnny Morris decided he wanted to offer his customers a place to put their boats on the water. He began searching for properties on Table Rock Lake, and he made a purchase in 1987. After the purchase, Johnny changed his plans of hosting boats and created Big Cedar Lodge, which is now a first-class resort that attracts tourists from all across the country. Building a Tourism Empire Tracker Marine Group, which manufactures and sells a variety of boats for fishing and cruising, has produced the No. 1 selling brand of fishing boats for more than 36 years. But long before Tracker Boats became so popular, and just a few years after he began selling them, Johnny decided it would be nice to let customers try out their new purchases. “He said, ‘Well, these people are all coming to Springfield to pick up their boats, and I’d love to have a place to host them, so they could put their boats in the water,’” Jeanie says. He began to search for properties on nearby Table Rock Lake. “One Sunday, he said he was going down to the lake for a land auction,” Jeanie says. In the meantime, she noticed an ad in the newspaper for a piece of land nearby. “I called him and told him about it, so he could see it while he was there,” she says. The auction deal didn’t work out, but Johnny fell in love with the property Jeanie had found. “He called me up and said, ‘Hon, I love that place you found!,’” Jeanie says. “Then he took me out there, and I thought, ‘Oh goodness. What did I do? This is in the middle of nowhere, and every building has a different architecture.’” Not sure why Johnny was so intrigued by the land, Jeanie asked him what they’d do to it.