Tamara, The best reading I can recommend at this point on the history of Taney County is Elmo Ingenthron's "Land Of Taney". Unfortunately, you can't buy a copy right now--I've been on waiting lists at 3 bookstores in SW MO now for over a year, hoping a copy will come in and they'll call. The book is out of print. What you can do is order it from the Mid-Continental Library Interloan system, if you have a library near you that can access it. Different libraries have different policies on whether you can actually check out some out-of-print books. What I can tell you is that farming was the predominant industry in Taney County, period, for many years. There were water-powered mills on the creeks as well, but of course, only a few people worked at those. The tie-hacking that started when the railroads began coming in around the turn of the 20th century became a good way for folks to make money. Chadwick, if I remember right, was just north of Swan Twp, and was a major center for the ties. Chadwick also had a railroad sooner than Taney County did, period, for it was at the end of a different line. Other parts of Taney, which didn't yet have access to the railroad, floated ties down the creeks sometimes, hauled them to gathering places at others. Tomatoes were a big industry, but I don't know if there were any canneries in Swan Twp. On a positive note, some of the Society members are in touch with Elmo Ingenthron's son, and we are hoping that he'll consider re-printing his father's books. Man, I hope so. <<toe kickin' the dirt, slight blush>>Thanks for your nice words! Vonda ListMom for MOTANEY and MO-AR-WRV at Rootsweb http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~moarwrv/