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MAJOR MISSOURI/COOPER COUNTY EVENTS 1874-1993 Map of Missouri showing cropland devastation by the Rocky Mountain locust plagues of 1866 and 1874, State Historical Society of Missouri Map Collection. (1874) “The GRASSHOPPER PLAGUE” began in western Missouri as the first swarms of locusts from the Rocky Mountains traveled eastward eating everything in its path. (Courtesy of the Missouri Bicentennial Timeline) “Small flying grasshoppers, known as Rocky Mountain locust, hatched in an unusually large number in the spring and by the summer of 1874 , the locusts began their travel eastward in search of food. Kansas and Nebraska were their first stops and heavily hit, devouring crops in large swaths stretching from the interior of Canada to the southern border of Texas, including the western regions of Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri. The following spring of 1875 , trillions of the locusts hatched, a number unseen since that time. The large swarms continued until 1877 , causing an estimated $200 million in crop damage. Not only did the locusts eat crops, it ate leather, wood, sheep’s wool, and reportedly the clothes off a person’s back! Vivid firsthand accounts told of the clouds that hailed grasshoppers, falling to the ground like snowflakes. Missouri offered $1 a bushel for locusts collected in March in an effort to stop the insects from multiplying. Later, farmers planted more resilient crops such as winter wheat that matured in the early summer before the migration of locusts. It’s uncertain what led to the end of the plague, but researchers have studied and theorized what caused this fortunate mass extinction of the Rocky Mountain locust.” (1896) JESSE JAMES TTRAIN ROBBERY. The infamous James train robbery at Otterville on July 7, 1896 received little newspaper attention since it was at the same time as the battle of Little Big Horn out west. Keith Daleen, a Civil War reenactor and historian, has researched the eight robbers who boarded the stalled train at Rocky Cut, robbed the passengers and the railroad safe, and disappeared to divide the loot at Flat Creek. They netted about $15,000 from the robbery, a nice sum in those days. Their names were Jesse and Frank James, Cole and Bob Younger, Clell Miller, Charlie Pitts, Bill Caldwell (aka William Stiles) and Hobbs Kerry. Jesse had many friends in the Otterville area and would hide out in an old building on the edge of town when he came to Otterville. So, the gang was very familiar with the area and the best escape routes. Frank James was jailed for a very short time in the Cooper County jail, but was released on bond. Kerry was the only one convicted and jailed. The others were later convicted of robbing the Northfield Bank in Minnesota and were known then as the James/Younger Gang. Later, the others were convicted of robbing the Northfield Bank and jailed. There is a descriptive marker at “Robber Cut” at the Brownfield Roadside Park on old Route 50 overlooking the place where the robbery occurred. You might like to take a video “tour” of the old Cooper County Jail and see the luxurious accommodations that Frank and Hobs Kerry enjoyed as a guest. Historic Cooper County Jail - YouTube Marie Oliver Watkins stands behind the original Missouri flag that she designed, 1943 circa, (P1103) State Historical Society of Missouri. (1913) The OFFICIAL MISSOURI STATE FLAG designed by Marie Watkins Oliver, was signed into law. (Courtesy of Missouri Bicentennial Timeline) In 1908 , the Daughters of the American Revolution appointed Marie Watkins Oliver chairperson of the committee to design a flag for Missouri. Oliver gathered information about how other states had designed their flags and began work on a design centered on the Missouri coat of arms signifying Missouri's independence as a state. The blue stripe in the flag represented vigilance, permanency and justice. The red striped represented valor and the white stripe represented purity. Oliver asked Mary Kochtitzy, an artist from Cape Girardeau, to paint the flag on paper for a State Capitol viewing in 1908 . The bill to make the flag official failed to pass twice because of a competing design. After the Missouri State Capitol fire of 1911 destroyed Oliver’s original sample, a second flag made of silk was completed and Governor Elliott Woolfolk Major signed the bill to make Oliver’s design the official state flag. The Missouri State Flag. Adopted by State Legislature State Seal Sheriff John Grothe and Deputy James Morton with captured moonshine still in St. Charles, 1924, (S1083) State Historical Society of Missouri. (1920 - 1933) PROHIBITION era begins across the U.S. affecting many of the German immigrant-owned beer companies in Missouri(Courtesy of Missouri Bicentennial Timeline) “Beginning in 1882 , Missouri counties and towns passed local option laws to turn communities dry. By World War I, over 90 of the state’s 114 counties were dry through these laws. On January 16, 1919 , Missouri ratified what would become the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which banned the manufacture and sale of alcohol. Under the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act, Missouri's flourishing alcohol and wine industry took a significant step back, particularly German-immigrant owned breweries. After a decade of inefficient enforcement, and with the deepening of the Great Depression, the 21st Amendment, which repealed the 18th Amendment, was ratified in 1933 .” Boonville had a very successful brewery, Griessmaier & Roeschel Brewery/Winery, which opened in 1874 and closed in 1878 . After prohibition, another brewery known as the Haas Brewery, operated from 1933-1942 . So Cooper County did not have any “legal” establishments put out of business during prohibition. There is no record about where, or if, County residents obtained “adult beverages” during prohibition. 1929 Stock Market Crash (Courtesy of the Missouri Bicentennial Timeline) St. Louis Soup Kitchen, 1939. Charles Trefts Photographs (P0034) State Historical Society of Missouri. (1929) The stock market crash led to the Great Depression of the 1930s. (Courtesy Missouri Bicentennial Timeline) “The Great Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as “Black Thursday,” started in the late Fall of 1929 when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange collapsed. The crash caused an economic downfall throughout the state as Missouri businesses struggled to survive. About 300 Kansas City industrial companies closed by 1933 and other cities and towns across Missouri would suffer from the fallout of the crash. The fallen markets, alone, did not cause the Great Depression. Only 16 percent of Americans were in the market. However, it caused widespread panic that worsened an ongoing recession, it lowered consumer spending, and contributed to the banking crisis”. The “Great Depression” was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world. It started after the stock market crash in October 1929 when over one million investors were wiped out. Farmers suffered during the Depression from drought, insect swarms and lower farm prices. Many family farms were lost to creditors during this time. This is a good concise explanation of the Depression. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression Another explanation from The Balance https://www.thebalance.com/great-depression-timeline-1929-1941-4048064 (1937) Missouri voters approved a CONSTITUTIONAL AMMENDMEENT to create the Missouri Conservation Commission. (Courtesy of Missouri Bicentennial Timeline) “On July 1, 1937 , the constitutional amendment creating the Missouri Conservation Commission took effect, creating a politically-appointed, science-based conservation agency with exclusive authority over forests, fish and wildlife. Over the next 75 years, the “Missouri plan” allowed the state agency, Missouri Department of Conservation, to build what is acknowledged as one of the nation’s top conservation programs. Prior to the creation of the commission, Missouri’s forests, fish, and wildlife resources were being quickly depleted in the state”. (1939) CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS (by Elizabeth Davis) FDR’s Alphabet Soup Comes to Boonville Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) was Governor of New York when Black Tuesday hit on October 29, 1929 . The Great Depression followed and lasted the better part of ten years. In 1932 , the Democratic Party talked FDR into being their candidate for President of the United States. In his acceptance speech, he promised the American people a New Deal. Elected by a landslide, FDR took office on March 4, 1933 . Five days later he called the 73rd Congress into emergency session. By the end of the month, Congress had passed the Emergency Conservation Work (ECW) Act and it had been signed into law. On April 5, FDR issued Executive Order 6101 authorizing a program which would become known as the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). But this was just one of FDR’s New Deal programs to get the unemployed trained and back to work. At the time, twenty-five percent of the population was unemployed. His first program: recruit the young and unemployed, create a peacetime army, and fight to save our nation’s natural resources. On January 21, 1935 , The Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 was passed by joint resolution and signed by the President on April 8. FDR signed Executive Order 7034 on May 6 of that year which established the Works Progress Administration (WPA). It was renamed the Work Projects Administration (still known as the WPA) in 1939 . Both these programs took the unskilled and unemployed young men of this country, put them to work on public projects, and taught them skills for the future. Because most of the President’s programs became known by their acronyms, they were collectively referred to as FDR’s “alphabet soup”. The CCC Campsite was active in Pilot Grove from 1939-1942 . The CCC program dealt mostly with land and conservation while the WPA put up thousands of public buildings around the country. In 1939 , the WPA came to Boonville. Sumner School was built for the black students in the community. That changed in 1959 when desegregation became law and all students went to the same school. The Emergency Conservation Work (EWC) Act, Senate Bill S.598, was introduced on March 27, passed both houses of Congress and was on Roosevelt’s desk by March 31. Executive Order 6101, dated April 5, authorized the program which would become known as the Civilian Conservation Corps. Robert Fechner was appointed director and an Advisory Council consisting of representatives of the Secretaries of Agriculture, Interior, and War, was created. The first enrollee signed up on April 7, and, ten days after that, the first CCC camp opened. By July 1, over 275,000 men occupied 1,300 camps in all 48 states, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Single men who were between the ages of 17 and 25, out of school and unemployed were eligible for enrollment. The pay was $30-a-month plus food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. Mandatory monthly allotment checks of $25 were sent to their families. For those who had no family, the funds were held in an account for him until discharged from the program. Communities close to these camps profited as well. They averaged $5,000-a-month additional revenue which saved many small businesses from going under. Almost immediately, two important modifications became necessary. Enlistment was extended to about 14,000 American Indians who were living well below the poverty Level. Over time, the program helped more than 80,000 of them reclaim land that had once been theirs. About 25,000 locally experienced men (LEM) were also authorized to enroll in order to train inexperienced men with axes, shovels, and other skills they needed to perform their jobs. This had the added benefit of allowing the locally unemployed to be eligible for enrollment. On May 11, 1933 , President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6129 which opened enrollment to about 25,000 Spanish American and World War I veterans with no age or marital restrictions. They performed duties in conservation suited to their age and physical condition. Nearly 250,000 veterans were given belated opportunities to rebuild their lives after serving their country. With unemployment down and World War II just around the corner, CCC was on its last leg. Congress never actually abolished the CCC program; they just stop funding it. CCC officially went out of existence on June 30, 1942. A partial summary of the work accomplished by the CCC between 1933 and 1942 includes: the erection of 3,470 fire towers, construction of 97,000 miles of fire roads, 4,235,000 man-days fighting fires, the planting of more than three billion trees, and the arresting of soil erosion on more than twenty million acres of land. During those eleven years, nearly 3 million men found employment in more than 2,650 camps. While 137 camps are listed in Missouri, it should be noted that Pilot Grove is the only location listed in Cooper County. According to the CCC Legacy website (www.ccclegacy.org ) a camp was established in Pilot Grove on October 17, 1939 . (SCS-34, 3762). However, records indicate that a second CCC camp was established in Pilot Grove on June 30, 1941 . (SCS-38, 1771) Thanks to previous research done by Judy Shields, it appears the first camp was outgrown and a second camp was built either adjourning or close by the first one. When completed, the first camp was closed. When asked, Shields said she had been unable to identify any original buildings from the camp. A bronze plaque has been provided by the Friends of Pilot Grove and was dedicated at Pilot Grove’s City Park by city officials in 2018. HISTORICALLY YOURS, by Liz Davis (Published Jan 31, 2018) (1945) Missouri ratified the state's fourth and current constitution. (Courtesy of the Missouri Bicentennial Timeline) “The first Missouri Constitution was written in only 38 days and was adopted July 19, 1820 . Subsequent drafts were drawn up because of changes related to the state, such as population size and major events like the Civil War. The fourth Missouri Constitutional Convention took place in Jefferson City on September 21, 1943 , and took just over a year before it was approved. Voters ratified the changes made to the Missouri Constitution on February 27, 1945 .” (1984) Missouri voters pass a one-tenth-of-one-percent sales tax to fund state parks and soil and water conservation efforts. (Courtesy of Missouri Bicentennial Timeline) “Missouri had the second highest rate of erosion in the nation and a statewide park system in much need of repair at the time the state sales tax was passed. The tax portion for soil and water conservation measures assist agriculture landowners through voluntary programs developed by the Soil and Water Districts Commission. The other portion of the tax revenue provides most of the budget for operation and development of state parks. The tax has a sunset clause of 10 years, and has been renewed by more than two-thirds majority of Missouri voters since 1984 .” (1990) The first section of the 240-mile Katy Trail along the Missouri River opens at Rocheport for walking and bicycling by the public. (Courtesy of Missouri Bicentennial Timeline) “The Katy Trail is the longest rail-to-trail in the US, running largely along the Missouri River for 240 miles. It was built on the former corridor for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad and was converted to a walking and bicycle gravel trail by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources with a large donation from Edward D “Ted” and Pat Jones, and supported by a Missouri trail advocacy group. The Katy Trail takes visitors on a journey along part of the trail explored by the Lewis and Clark’s expedition. There are more than two dozen trailheads and four fully-restored railroad depots along the trail, as well as the state’s oldest and beloved Burr Oak “Big Tree” at McBain in Boone County. The Burr Oak was a young tree when Lewis and Clark traveled by it. Construction of the Katy Trail began in 1987 . The first section of trail at Rocheport was opened in 1990 . The trail’s 25th anniversary was celebrated in 2015 .“ Katy Trail history began more than a hundred years ago during the golden age of railroads. In 1865 the Union Pacific Railroad built the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad and established the network as the Southern Branch. The route was also commonly called the KMT, (Kansas, Missouri, Texas) and eventually the Katy. The last KATY train to leave Boonville was in 1986 . Through legislation, land grants, and donations, the first section of the Katy Trail opened near Rocheport in 1990 . Since then, more sections have been added, extending the trail to its current 240 miles. The trail winds through some of the most scenic areas of the state with the majority of the trail closely following the Missouri River. Katy Trail is also part of the American Discovery Trail, and has been designated as a Millennium Legacy Trail, and was added to the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Hall of Fame in 2008 . (1992) Missouri voters overwhelmingly approved terms limits for state legislators by amending the Missouri Constitution. (Courtesy of Missouri Bicentennial Timeline) The Missouri State Legislative Term Limits, also known as Amendment 12, was on the November 1992 ballot. The law, approved by voters, caps service at eight years (two terms) in the Missouri House. (1993) Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. (Courtesy of Missouri Bicentennial Timeline) “The Great Flood of 1993 destroyed farmland, homes, and other properties through the Midwest with some towns never recovering. In 1992 , the Midwest experienced an unusually wet Fall causing high soil moisture. To make matters worse, the area was hit by persistent storms, sometimes lasting four days at a time. Water began to fill the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers and their tributaries between May through September 1993 , causing major flooding in Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois. The Great Flood resulted in over 50 deaths and billions of dollars of damage. Crest was 37.10 feet.” (2019 ) Second worst flood of the Missouri River and the longest flooding event in Missouri River history. May 31, 2019 , the Crest was 33.73 feet.

EARLY MEDICINE HOSPITALS St. Joseph Hospital building 1908. From the Wayne Lammers collection The Alex van Ravenswaay Hospital The St. Joseph Hospital in Boonville was dedicated on September 4, 1918, thanks in part to Dr. C. H. van Ravenswaay. But this was not the only van Ravenswaay who chose to call Boonville home. Alexander van Ravenswaay was born at the Hague August 26, 1889. After graduating in medicine and surgery, Alex served as a doctor in the Dutch Army from 1914-18. Then the Allies commissioned him as a surgeon to take charge of the repatriation of French and Russian prisoners of war from Germany to their respective countries. In 1919, Alex made his third trip to the United States and set up his medical practice in Boonville. On April 15, 1926, Dr. Alexander van Ravenswaay made Miss Bernice Brummel his bride and the union was blessed with two sons. Theodore was born on July 29, 1927, and Lyle Alexander was born on July 12, 1930. Like his brother, Dr. Alex (as he was known) became a much loved and vital contributor to the community. He was a member of the American Medical Association, the Southwestern Medical Association, the American Society for the Control of Cancer, the Missouri Medical Association, the Cooper County Medical Society, the Boonville Kiwanis Club, the Knights of Pythias, the Boonville Country Club and the Boonville Chamber of Commerce. He served as president of the Cooper County Medical Society in 1933 and as chief surgeon at St. Joseph’s Hospital in 1934. Dr. Alex moved his clinic into his own building at 510 E. Spring Street on February 18, 1937. Formerly the Gross Hotel, the remodeled and modernized Alex van Ravenswaay Hospital was located in what is now the Post Office parking lot. Source: "Historically Yours" by Elizabeth Davis DOCTORS Dr. John Sappington, 1776-1856 Two births of importance took place in 1776. One was the birth of our nation on July 4. The other took place six weeks earlier on May 15. John Sappington was the third of seven children born to Mark Brown Sappington and his wife Rebecca. Mark Sappington served during the American Revolution and, after the war, returned to the University of Pennsylvania to study medicine under Dr. Benjamin Rush and other notable doctors of the day. He did not, however, agree with the practice of blood-letting. In 1785, the family moved out west to Nashville, Tennessee. Nine-year-old John finished his basic education while learning to do farm chores, but there were no places of higher education available. But that didn't stop him from learning. He read medicine with his father. It appeared that Dr. Mark Sappington had a good medical library and his son John made good use of it. In 1814-15, John rode 700 miles to Philadelphia to attended a five-month medical course at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. Dr. John Sappington married Jane Breathitt on November 22, 1804, and the family settled in Franklin, Tennessee. The union was blessed with nine children—seven born in Tennessee and the last two in Missouri. (Three of their daughters would all marry Claiborne F. Jackson who would be governor of Missouri during the Civil War.) Malaria was a killer, and Missouri and the Santa Fe Trail were high risk areas. This was one of the reasons Dr. Sappington left Tennessee in 1817. He knew his services would be greatly needed. He first settled in Glasgow, then moved about five miles southwest of the Arrow Rock ferry. Like his father, Dr. John Sappington didn't believe in blood-letting. He used cinchona. (quinine) By the time Missouri achieved statehood, Dr. Sappington was well-known for “doctoring with the bark.” In 1820 a method of isolating quinine from cinchona bark was found and by 1823 quinine was being manufactured in Philadelphia. But even with all the evidence of its effectiveness, many doctors denied its worth and continued treating malaria with blood-letting. The wholesale manufacture of Dr. John Sappington's Anti-Fever Pills began in 1832. While quinine wasn't mentioned, few people were unaware of the pills' main medicine. Even so, it would be decades before the medical world would accept quinine as the first “wonder drug.” Dr. John Sappington died at his home in September, 1856 and is buried in the Sappington Cemetery. Cornelius Herman van Ravenswaay You don't have to be born in Boonville to claim it as home, nor do you need to be born in the United States. Cornelius Herman van Ravenswaay was born in Borneo on September 4 in 1870 or '71. He attended boarding school and high school in Holland then studied medicine at the University of Utrecht. Additional training was obtained at a charity hospital in Berlin and later in Paris. His original plans were to go to India as a surgeon. Instead, he came to America where he partnered with his uncle, Dr. Samuel van Hoefen, in St. Louis, Mo. Then he heard of an opportunity in Boonville. Tall brick houses built close to the sidewalks reminded him of the Old World he'd left behind so he decided to move his practice. Successful and prosperous, he longed to do more community service work. With this in mind, he soon started a little hospital on Third Street at the Jones home but it was small and too expensive to maintain. In May 1905, Dr. van Ravenswaay discovered that one of his patients had greatly benefitted from the nursing care of Sister Mary Boniface Kuhn of Pilot Grove. The doctor then sent one of his assistants to confer with the Benedictine Sisters and the church authorities granted them permission to establish a sanitarium in Boonville. The St. Joseph Sanitarium opened at the southeast corner of Sixth and Locust where the Megquier Seminary had been on June 12, 1905. Dr. van Ravenswaay donated $100, assumed responsibility for the rent, and supplied most of the operating room supplies and furnishings. Other necessities were supplied by the sisters, thanks to many local merchants who sold to them on credit. Land for a larger, permanent hospital was purchased for $2,200 by the sisters in 1911. Unfortunately, funds were not yet available to build a new facility. By 1917, the Sanitarium was filled beyond capacity and fundraising began in earnest by the sisters, doctors, and other community-minded individuals. Dr. C. H. van Ravenswaay, however, was not among them. He had closed his practice and enlisted to serve his newly adopted country during the World War. While he was gone, the new $49,000 St. Joseph's Hospital was built, and the dedication has taken place on September 4, 1918. The hospital's executive board at that time consisted of Roy D. Williams, president; along with A. G. Blakey, Dr. Jacobs, Thomas Hogan, Frank Sauter and Albert H. Myer. Upon his return, Dr. C. H. van Ravenswaay continued serving the people of Boonville as chief of staff at St. Joseph Hospital. He also gave $3,000 to the highway bridge fund, helped organize the Rotary Club, and developed the van Ravenswaay Clinic which occupied 18 rooms in the Victor Building at the northwest corner of Main and Spring streets. Additionally, he served more than once as president of the Cooper County Medical Society and was a member of the Missouri and American medical associations. The doctor was a Mason, a Chamber of Commerce member, and a member of the Evangelical Church. Dr. Henry Clay Gibson Henry Clay Gibson was born on August 25, 1825, on the Gibson homestead which later became the Missouri Training School and is now a Missouri State Minimum Security Prison. He was the son of William Gibson and his first wife Rhoda Cole. William was from North Carolina and Rhoda was a daughter of Stephen Cole who was the first white settler in what is now Cooper County. Gibson received his education at Kemper School in Boonville before going to Transylvania Medical College in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1846-47. Continuing his medical studies, he attended the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Upon graduation he returned to Boonville to practice medicine. Devoted to science and his practice, and wishing to keep up with the latest advancement in his profession, Gibson returned to the University of Pennsylvania for a post graduate course. He became known far and wide as the most able physician in the county. Gibson married Miss Mittie Nelson, sister of James M. Nelson, on January 11, 1856, but Mittie died in 1857. Fourteen years later he married Mrs. Mary L. (Jones) McCarthy on January 11, 1871. The new Mrs. Gibson was born in November 1840, in Bolivar, Missouri. Her parents were Caleb and Nancy (Chapman) Jones from Old Franklin. Her siblings were Sarah Adlea Jones, who married William D. Muir, and George C. Jones. Mary McCarthy Gibson was the widow of Confederate foreign diplomat Justin McCarthy of San Antonio, Texas. The couple had been married in 1860 and had one son named William. McCarthy had died shortly after the war in 1865. Dr. and Mrs. Gibson were blessed with three children who survived to adulthood: Mary J.; Martha, who married A. K. Mills; and Nancy, who married Joseph O’Meara. The couple’s fourth child, Rhoda Cole Gibson, died in infancy. Dr. Gibson, before his death, had the distinction of been the oldest practicing physician in this part of Missouri. He died December 14, 1887, and is buried in Walnut Grove Cemetery. Mary Gibson died on October 12, 1921, and she, too, was laid to rest in Walnut Grove. Dr. Horace Dasher (H. D.) Quigg Horace Dasher (H. D.) Quigg was born in Hickory County Missouri on March 5, 1863, son of John Wesley “Wes” Quigg and his second wife Lucretia Ann Bradley Quigg. J. W. Quigg was born December 29, 1820, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and came to Missouri in 1830. He settled in Hickory County where he farmed and served as Sheriff and Collector from 1863-1869. H. D. Quigg was raised in Hickory County and attended the district school before going off to Southwest Baptist College in Poke County. He then went to the Cincinnati Medical College and graduated in 1890. Quigg opened his practice in Hickory County but moved to Blackwater that same year. From 1910-1914, Quigg served by appointment as superintendent of the Missouri Hospital for the Feeble Minded and Epileptics at Marshall. Shortly after that, he went to Chicago where he studied to become a specialist in eye, ear, nose, and throat care. He returned to Boonville and established his office as general practice and a specialist. Also, like his father, Dr. Quigg served the people of Cooper County. For two years he was county coroner. In 1902 he was elected as Cooper County’s representative in the Missouri Legislature, and re-elected in 1904. Quigg served on the Ways and Means Committee and was chairman of the Committee on Health and Scientific Institutes. It was he who introduced a bill empowering the city of Boonville to build High Street. Dr. Horace Dasher Quigg died on April 6, 1941 and is buried in Walnut Grove Cemetery. His wife survived him until 1976. Source: Elizabeth Davis, "Historically Yours" EARLY DENTISTRY Dental medicine was in its infancy in the mid-19th century. There were few formal schools, and new dentist learned by working under practicing dentists. By 1870, St. Louis was the fourth most populous city in the US. In 1866, the Missouri Dental College was only the sixth dental school opened in the US, and the fist dental school established west of the Mississippi. A few of the early graduates of this school established practices in Cooper County. Dr. Milton McCoy, born in 1824, was one of the earliest graduates of Missouri Dental College. He relocated to Boonville in 1867 and practiced for 20 years. Milton's son, John C. McCoy, graduated from Missouri Dental College in 1875. He joined his father's practice in Boonville and practiced well into the 20th century. Other dental trailblazers for Cooper County were Franklin Swap and Roy H. Ellis. Franklin Swap, born August 1830, studied dentistry in Iowa before relocating to Boonville. He opened his clinic in 1866. Roy H. Ellis was born August 1878 in Cooper County. Roy graduated from Missouri Dental College in 1898 and returned to Cooper County. He Practiced in Prairie Home and Boonville for 23 years.

THE GREAT DEPRESSION The Depression Hard on Farmers and People in Small Towns Another cause of Cooper County’s population change was the Depression of 1930-1939 . Jobs and farms were lost as a result of business failures, lack of income due to loss of crops and/or jobs, and many farmers lost their farms due to bad loans or inability to pay their mortgage. Small farms were sold, some at bargain prices, and purchased and consolidated by wealthy land owners. Hard times were felt all over the entire country. Plus, the Depression caused populations to dramatically decrease in the more rural areas as people used their trucks and cars to move to towns that were larger, still had trains, and/or offered more job opportunities or better pay. St. Louis Soup Kitchen, 1939. Charles Trefts Photographs (P0034) State Historical Society of Missouri. (1929) The stock market crash led to the Great Depression of the 1930s “The Great Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as “Black Thursday,” started in the late Fall of 1929 when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange collapsed. The crash caused an economic downfall throughout the state as Missouri businesses struggled to survive. About 300 Kansas City industrial companies closed by 1933 and other cities and towns across Missouri would suffer from the fallout of the crash. The fallen markets, alone, did not cause the Great Depression. Only 16 percent of Americans were in the market. However, it caused widespread panic that worsened an ongoing recession, it lowered consumer spending, and contributed to the banking crisis”. The “Great Depression” was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world. It started after the stock market crash in October 1929 when over one million investors were wiped out. Farmers also suffered during the Depression from drought, insect swarms and lower farm prices. Many family farms were lost to creditors during this time. The problems with locusts, hail storms, tornadoes, drought and floods also caused a population change, especially in the farming communities. It is sad to see towns that were once vibrant, just slowly disappear. The census reports, earlier in this section, will help to fill in some of the details. Courtesy of: Missouri Bicentennial Timeline This is a good concise explanation of the Depression: Wikipedia Another explanation from The Balance: Great Depression Timeline After the Depression One of the greatest improvements for the rural people in Clifton City was made when farm to market roads were established. The farm to market road, was built 1934 and 1935. There are now two paved roads going through Clifton City, Highway BB coming in from the South to connect with Highway 135 and 135 is connected to 50 Hwy. The coming of cars and trucks hurt the railroad shipments, since now farmers could now take their produce and cattle to market with their own trucks. So this was the beginning of a slow death to the small town that was at one time a very busy town due to the train coming to and from with two passenger trains one ran west in the morning and one ran east around 11:00 P.M. Florence Owens Thompson in 1936 with two of her nine children during the depression. She worked in the fields in California as a migrant farm hand to support her family. Photo by Dorothea Lange

MILLS Upon arrival in a new area, settlers would look for a mill site. Going to the mill in the early days of the county was difficult, because there were no roads, no bridges, and hardly any conveniences for traveling. It was difficult to cross the rivers and streams. The trip to the mill was also a time to visit the trade center and replenish supplies. In the mid to late 1800's, mills were a place where farmers could meet and discuss various topics of common interest much like they do in local restaurants today. Mills were also a place where locally produced items could be purchased or traded. There were different types of mills. Mills could be powered by water wheels, steam power or oil- (kerosene or gasoline) powered engines. At one time, there were 22 mills in Cooper county. Most of the old mills in the county are listed and described in the next paragraphs. Rankin’s Mill (Boonville Township) on the Petite Saline operated until 1912 . It is the oldest mill established and operated in Cooper County. Matthew Rankin bought the Old Boyd water-powered mill in 1838 and his son William Rankin built a new and larger mill on the site in 1840 . It was water-powered until 1854 when it was changed to steam power. It had capacity for 800 bushels of grain per day. Silas L. and Robert S. Rankin, sons of William A., tore down the old mill in 1893 and built a more modern structure, which is now in ruins and inaccessible. Gooch’s Mill/Big Lick (Saline Township) on the Petite Saline ceased operation in the 1930 's. Little of this mill is still standing. William Dixon Gooch purchased land in 1839 and built a mill, which he ran until he died in 1856. Lewis Edgar, his son-in-law, ran it until 1868 . Diedrich Molan ran it from 1868-1871 . Many people owned and operated it from then until 1950 (seldom did any one person longer than three years at a time). C.M. Lacy operated it from 1905 until 1910 . Walter Niederweimer operated it from 1912-1921 . Henry Warmbrodt was the last person to operate it until it ceased operation in the 1930 's. The area of Gooch Mill was also known for its salt lick nearby and was sometimes referred to as Big Lick. It was also the site of the famous Indian fight in 1812 in which two Indians were killed by local residents. Interesting quotes from Dave Braun, a former resident of the town, about the Gooch Mill are: “Gooch and his wife, Matilda, built the grain mill down on the creek. Folks started coming from nearby to get their corn and wheat ground into flour so they could sell it. They came to Gooch Mill ‘cause it was a lot easier than lugging a wagon-load or two up to Boonville on those old dirt wagon paths they called roads’. Almost all of Gooch Mill is gone now. The third mill is in ruins down on the creek, as the first two burned. They’d been everything from water to steam. But the ‘guts’ of the last mill are just about gone. The big Howe scale, just inside the door, still works and the weights are still there, though.” Story Courtesy of Sharon Dyer Connor’s Mill (Force’s Mill, in Saline Township) on the Petite Saline was still there in 1897 , but not by 1915 . This mill was built by Charles Force and was originally water-powered. When James F. Connor purchased it, he changed it to a steam-powered mill. Kiln-dried flour was made there and this fact was widely advertised in 1849 . Connor employed 23 assistants at one time at this mill. Oscar F. Case was a blacksmith there from 1867-1879 until he moved to Gooch Mill. Cranmer’s (Glasgow’s/Corum’s) Mill , in Otterville Township) was located on the Lamine River. George Cranmer came to Cooper County from Kentucky in 1832 and settled near what is now Clifton City. He and James H. Glasgow built what was known as Cranmer’s Mill, afterwards known as Corum’s Mill, exactly where MKT crossed the Lamine River; Cranmer named the place Clifton. Jewett’s Mill (Davis and Barker Mill, in Clark’s Fork Township) was located on Clark’s Fork on the Petite Saline. Samuel L. Jewett, born in 1834 , came to Missouri in 1840 with William Cropper (after both parents died). In 1851 , he began working in Connor’s Mill. He was there two years, then he went to college in Illinois. He spent several years there learning the milling trade. During 1854-1860 he was mining and milling in California. Jewett bought the Davis and Barker Mill property and farm in 1860 , and operated the mill from 1860-1865 . He left for a year, returned and bought back the mill land and stayed there until his death in 1917 . The mill ceased operation in 1916 . The mill had a capacity for nearly 1,500 bushels of grain per day. Jolly’s Mill (Palestine Township) was operated by Joseph Jolly who settled in Saline Township in 1812 . He moved to Palestine Township in 1826 (to the “Stephen’s Neighborhood”) and built a horse-powered mill. Hughes’ Mill (Pilot Grove Township) was located on a branch of the Petite Saline. It was the first mill built in Pilot Grove Township. It was gone by 1883 . Weeden Spenny’s Mill - (Kelly Township) was located near Bunceton. Friese’s Mill (Pilot Grove Township) was located on the Lamine. Ernest Louis Moehle traded for the mill in 1885 and operated it as a flour and saw mill until 1890 . Ennor’s Mill - Blazius Efinger worked at Ennor’s Mill in Cooper County between 1885 and 1893 . Zimmerman and Neeson Mill was on the map at the corner of Otterville, Lebanon, and Clear Creek Townships on the Lamine in 1874 . Bale’s Mill is shown at the corner of Clear Creek and Blackwater Township on the Lamine in 1874 . There was a mill shown on William Roberts’ and John Taveness’ land in Palestine Township. The date was 1874 . There was a mill shown on J.S. Talbot land in 1874 on the Lamine, in Lamine Township. New Lebanon Mill was operated by a succession of men, most of whose names cannot be obtained. In 1900 , it was managed by Thomas R. Kemp, and in 1915 , it was owned and operated by J.E. Potter. In addition to all kinds of ground feed, it produced two grades of flour: “Liberty Bell” (first grade) and “Honey Creek” (second grade). It was powered by a steam engine which required “mountains” of wood for fuel. It operated off and on after 1910 and was town down in the 1930 's. Photos courtesy of Jeannette Heaton McCulloch’s Mill was in Kelly Township on a branch of Moniteau Creek. Howard’s Mill known as Old Round Mill was in Kelly Township. The Bunceton Roller Mill was built in 1871-1872 by Miller Rogers, and Company at a cost of $15,000. At its time of highest production, 200 barrels of flour were produced every twenty-four hours. One of the most destructive fires of Bunceton was on the night of February 25, 1899 , when the Roller Mill was destroyed. The cause of the fire was unknown but it was believed to have started from the office stove. There were 15,000 pounds of flour and between 1,500 and 2,000 bushels of wheat in the mill that night. The A.E. Doll Mill was built in 1900 near the Speed road. The mill was sold to Dr. J. Lawson of Sedalia. Later, Leo Felton bought the mill and tore it down. Wilkins’ Mill was on the Petite Saline near the old George Geiger farm. It was a water-powered grist and saw mill. There was also a covered bridge near the mill on the Petite Saline. The Tipton/Boonville Stage coach crossed the creek at the bridge. The bridge fell down in 1909 after almost 75 years of service. Wilkins also had an orchard planted in 1835 . Dick’s Mill is located in the Cotton community, which is in South Moniteau Township. in 1826 , a water-powered mill was built by Edward Embry on a piece of property a quarter of a mile above the present site of Dick’s Mill. The mill was closed during the Civil War when Mr. Embry went to join the Confederacy. When he came home after the war, the mill had been destroyed, “probably by soldiers.” The area residents missed the mill and hoped that it could be rebuilt. In 1869 , the present site of the mill, was bought by John M. Burris from John Quarles for $100. His brother, Valentine Burris, installed a sawmill propelled by a steam engine in an open shed. It is thought that the brothers sawed the lumber to build Dick’s Mill in 1868-69 . The new mill was a 25 x 35-foot grist mill with a limestone foundation and a wooden water wheel. The mill is just 25 feet from the banks of the Moniteau Creek. The Dick's Mill was run by the Burris brothers for a year, then In August of 1869 it was sold to Adolph and Peter Dick, who immigrated to America with their parents in 1852 . It was while under the ownership of the Dicks, that the mill and the Cotton community flourished and became a center of trade. The mill is an example of a steam-powered grist mill that was commonly used during the last half of the nineteenth and the early part of the twentieth century. It is the only intact grist mill with the machinery of its type, left in the county. A steam engine for the mill was purchased from a ferry boat that had operated on the Missouri River. The engine was shipped by rail to Tipton, Missouri, where it was brought by wagon to the site in Cotton. The steam engine was later replaced by a 25-horsepower Bouser engine, which was powered by gasoline. There were two runs of millstones used to grind corn and flour until 1892 . Then, a new roller mill system was installed at Dick's Mill. After a short time, Peter discontinued working at the mill with Adolph. Adolph worked at the mill until he sold the business to John Hall in 1903 . John Hall continued to use the gasoline engine and operated Dick's Mill and actively ground corn and wheat until 1945 . The mill was closed permanently during World War II because of the shortage of equipment and a lack of business. Burl and Maye Long of the Cotton community inherited the mill from John Hall. James Martin and Paul Bloch were interested in saving the historic mill building. In 1976 they approached the Longs asking to purchase the mill. An agreement was made and papers were signed October 16, 1976 . James and Nancy Martin purchased the mill and hoped to restore it to a condition that would closely resemble its state during the peak operating years of 1880 to 1900 . Much of the original equipment is still in the mill. Dick's Mill is the last existing intact grist mill in Cooper County. Dick's Mill before restoration Restored Dick's Mill W.P. Harriman Flour and Grist Mill was built in the late 1860s by Anthony Johnston. Mr. Johnston was a millwright and a stone mason from Kentucky. After building the Harriman Mill, he built several other mills in Cooper County. Doc Harriman was a successful doctor and spent most of his time with the sick, which left the management of his mill, and the raising of his horses to his very capable wife, Eliza. One of Mrs. Williams’ female workers led the horses to turn the sweeps in a never-ending circle. The mill was a very important business in the 1800s to the Pilot Grove Community. It was in operation from May to November with a work day of 10 or more hours. The wage at the time for a skilled mechanic was $1.00 per day. The average wage for a laborer was $.75 per day. The estimated output in a day was 100 bushels of ground flour. The flour produced was known as the White Rose flour. The grain was brought by wagon to the Harriman elevator in Pilot Grove where it was sold. In 1918, Doc Harriman sold his interest in the mill to his son, who later sold it to an Albert Adair and his two nephews. It was then converted into a steam-powered mill and called the Pilot Grove Mill . Logs for firewood to power the mill were brought in from the Pilot Grove area. The mill was sold to Herman Rethemeyer and operated for an indefinite time. Jim Huckaby was employed at the mill for 25 years. The mill was torn down in the spring of 1935. The grindstone is on display at Pilot Grove’s town park. All other traces of the mill are gone. The Sombart Mill was located on the south bank of the Missouri River in Boonville. It was started in 1852 by two brothers, and named the CW&J Sombart Milling Company. It became a very extensive business and was renamed in 1879 as the Sombart Milling and Mercantile Company. At one time it was the most valuable milling property in central Missouri. Located in the area of the Route 40 Boonville Bridge, the property became the local M.F. A. Elevator in 1989. Sombart Mill, Flood of 1903 MFA Elevator, 2019 (Former Sombart Mill)

STAGE COACHES When many of us think of stage coaches we think of them in relation to the “wild west”. But stages coaches were a very important means of travel in Cooper County for many years. A stage coach was a vehicle much like an enclosed wagon with a high roof, wooden sides and doors with windows on both sides. It had an elevated seat in the front where the driver, or “whip,” was seated. Inside were seats for the passengers. The passengers sat with their baggage on their lap and mail bags under their feet. If they wanted to sleep, they had to sleep sitting up. The stage coaches were designed for travel, not comfort! They were safer than traveling alone and were often the only way to travel any distance. Roads at this time were only dirt, often rocky, and muddy after rain or snow. There was no such thing as “road maintenance.” If something on the stage coach broke during the trip it would be up to the driver to fix it, hopefully he was carrying the needed spare parts such as axels, wheels or springs. Coaches were pulled by draft horses, many of them Clydesdales, because of their good temperament. Stages were pulled either by two horses or a team of four. The coaches were called “stage” coaches because the travel route was done in “stages.” Stations, or stage stops were usually 10 to 15 miles apart. The horses traveled about 5 miles per hour, and pulled the coach for two to three hours. At the end of the trip between one stop and the next, the horses were replaced by another team and the tired horses rested until the return trip. Some stages traveled 60 -70 miles a day. At some stops a meal or beverages might be available (at an extra cost), and some had provisions for sleeping. The cost of the journey was usually 10 to 15 cents per mile, which would be quite expensive based on today’s dollars. In the 1830s , a stage coach depot was located along the road between Boonville and Jefferson City. Known as "Midway" the stop was about 1 ½ miles east of the present site of Prairie Home, at Tompkins' Inn. In the mid-century, stagecoaches made regular trips to various towns in Missouri. The Tipton to Boonville Stage Coaches operated in the Cooper County area from 1850 to 1860 . Tipton-Boonville Stage Changed Horses at Biler Home Near Speed An interesting account of the "Tipton-Boonville Stage " written by Mrs. L.H. Childs appeared in The Boonville Advertiser - Rural Life Edition , in 1940. One and one-half miles east of Speed, in central Cooper County, stands a dilapidated but vivid reminder of the past. On the southwest corner of the crossroads at that point is an old-fashioned log house, and to the rear, only partly standing is an old barn. Up until 1868 this place buzzed with activity. It was the home of Mr. Abram Biler, his wife and two daughters, and the Boonville-Tipton stage coach made a regular stop there to change horses. The horses were cared for until the return trip, when they were changed again. The ladies served meals to the travelers. Mr. William Eller told that when he was a small boy, he would hear old Mike, the driver, come down the road blowing a bugle to let the people know the stage was coming. It is said Mike could crack his whip so loud the sound would travel almost a mile in the clear air as he drove his fine horses. Sometimes the road was hard and dry, and at other times the mud was ankle deep or the snow was drifted high, but the stage went through. The road, which now is of all-weather construction, was little more than a trail at that time. Jr. Irving Harness’ father sold the stage line a number of fine horses, as only the best animals were used to pull the coaches. It was quite a thrill for a number of small boys of the neighborhood when Mike would let them ride the stage to the bottom of the hill to the south. They never seemed to mind the tiresome walk back. In the 1830s, a stage coach depot was located along the road between Boonville and Jefferson City, known as "Midway." The stop was about 1½ miles east of the present site of Prairie Home, at Tompkins' Inn. In the mid-century, stagecoaches made regular trips to various towns in Missouri. The Tipton to Boonville Stage Coaches operated in the Cooper County area from 1850 to 1860. Stage coaches were also very instrumental in bringing immigrants, especially from Germany and Ireland, to the County. Stage coach days carried their humor and tragedy, as all generations do. When Mike would linger to talk to Miss Puss Biler, some of the passengers would grow quite impatient, but that would have no effect on Mike as he would have his little visit out before he would go. John King: first German-born immigrant of Lone Elm and Stagecoach driver. John King was born February 15, 1828, in Holstein, Germany. After fighting in the war between Germany and Denmark, he immigrated to the US for more freedoms. Entering the country at New Orleans, he went first to Iowa where he heard about free and cheap land available in the Kansas territory. He went to St. Louis, boarded a river steamer, and headed west for Atchison. At a stop in Boonville, King met some fellow countrymen and decided to stay in Cooper County. He got a job as a hostler in a stable on the stage route between Boonville and Jimtown. He made $12 a month, but made more when he became a stagecoach driver. His next job was on a farm near Pisgah making $15 a month. Four years later, Colonel Pope made him a partner. In three years, King had saved enough money to buy 180 acres of undeveloped prairie land in Lone Elm for $15 an acre. King kept buying land until he had 560 acres. John King was the first German-born immigrant of Lone Elm. In 1859 John married Miss Sophia Friedmeyer, who was also born in Germany. During the American Civil War, King served in the Missouri State Guard under Captain Tom George. Mr. King influenced many Germans to immigrate to America. For several years, John would meet newly arrived immigrants from Germany in New York, and help them on their journey to Cooper County, bringing them to Cooper County by Stagecoach. John King died on November 10, 1916. Sophia followed him in death seven years later on April 24, 1924. They are buried side by side in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Lone Elm. Sources: Carol Normal, Great granddaughter of John King, Elisabeth Davis of Historically yours. Another early settler from Germany was Stephen Young, who settled in Clear Creek in 1848. Stage Coaches and the Civil War During the last years of the Civil War period, an order was issued calling in all guns in an effort to stop guerrilla warfare. One evening, however, the report of a gun was heard and when neighbors investigated, they found M. Biler slain in his cucumber patch. Mr. Biler is buried with many other pioneers in the old Concord cemetery. When the branch railroad was completed between Boonville and Tipton, there was no further need for the stage line and it faded into history. Probably the last visible stage stop in Cooper County is located on the North side of Highway 5 between Boonville and Billingsville. The limestone block building was built by O.H.P. Shoemaker in 1860 and the stone was cut from a nearby quarry. He used smoother stone for the front of the building and rough-cut stone for the sides. The road in front of the house was the stage coach road/mail route to Warsaw. On the lintel above the door of the house is engraved “O.H.P. Shoemaker 1860 ”. The Shoemakers were Unionist, coming originally from Kentucky and Illinois. A son (or nephew) Horace, became a Captain during the Union occupation of Boonville and organized a voluntary cavalry unit to escort the mail, guard the telegraph wires and escort captured Confederates to Jefferson City. Capt. Shoemaker became a marked man when he took a local man named Spencer from imprisonment at the Boonville courthouse to Harley Park and hanged him without a trial. When General Price and the Confederates took control of Boonville in October 1864, Shoemaker surrendered and was confined with his family to his house in Boonville. In the dark of night, according to Van Ravensway, Spenser’s sons came for Shoemaker pretending to have orders from General Price. They took him away and Horace Shoemaker was never seen again. General Shelby was quoted later that the incident “will remain the most regrettable occurrence during the war”. East of the stone house three serious skirmishes took place that October. General Fagan stood off attacks by Union Generals Eppstein and Sanborn with heavy loss of life at Anderson’s Branch. Mrs. Shoemaker and her family, fearing further retribution fled to Oregon. The property was parceled and sold in 1866 $2,000 to Christian Osten and John Dumolt. In 1868 The Osage Valley and Southern Kansas Railroad was completed between Boonville and Tipton and the stone house was convenient to the depot at Billingsville. New immigrants arriving from Germany by steamboat took the train to Billingsville where they found welcome in their native language with the Dumolts who were originally from Alsace Lorraine. Once the railroad came through Cooper County, there was no longer a need for the stage coaches. Interestingly, once trucks and cars became popular, there was little use for trains for transportation and most of them eventually disappeared. The Dumolts and Fredericks lived in the stone house for many years, adding a kitchen and an extension to the living space at the back of the stone building. There were extensive log and frame stables on the property until the present owners, the Burnetts, cleared away the worn wooden structures, but saved the stone cottage and a large chiseled stone horse trough to preserve this part of Cooper County history. References: The Boonville Advertiser, 1940 CCHS Files Linda Burnett Dumolt Stage Stop on Route 5 near Billingsville Photo by Krista Jeppsen

MILITARY WAR RECORDS MoGenWeb Rosters of Missourians who served in MISSOURI UNITS during the following wars: War of 1812, Black Hawk's War 1832, Heatherly War ca 1836/7, Osage War 1837, Mormon War 1838, Seminole Wars 1836-1837, Iowa War (Honey War) Late 1830s, Mexican War 1846 - 1848, Southwest Expedition 1846-1865, Spanish American War 1898 Cooper County Military Wars Military Records pertaining to Cooper County, Missouri for the following military eras: Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Indian Wars, Civil War, World War II, World war II and beyond can be found. CIVIL WAR ALONG KANSAS/MISSOURI BORDER Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1854-1865 Documents related to the hostilities that shook the Missouri-Kansas border region before and during the American Civil War. The collection includes photographs, letters, diaries, maps, and military records from over 25 contributing institutions. ALL WARS UP TO AND INCLUDING WORLD WAR I MISSOURI VETERANS Civil War Soldiers and Veteran’s information (Missouri) Civil War in the Ozarks Missouri Sons of Confederate Veterans National archives Available to request copies of older military records CIVIL WAR, SPANISH AMERICAN WAR, WORLD WAR I AND WORLD WAR II –UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI The Military and Mizzou, 1861-1946 From the archives of the University of Missouri, the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I and World War II are covered as well as Lt. Enoch Crowder and the National Defense Act of 1916 and the ROTC. NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION While most of their holdings are not online, a variety of military records, from photos to documents to searchable databases are available. WWII Army and Army Air Force Casualties: World War II Casualties Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Personnel: World War II Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938 – 1946: WWII Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938 - 1946 (Reserve Corps Records): World War II Prisoners of the Japanese File, 2007 Update, ca. 1941 - ca. 1945: WWII Naval Group China Muster Roll and Report of Change Punch Cards, 1942 – 1945 WORLD WAR I/NATIONAL VETERANS World War I in Missouri: WWI Military Service Cards: A Brief History Soldiers' Records: War of 1812 - World War I WORLD WAR I/MISSOURIANS KILLED IN THE GREAT WAR Missourians Killed in The Great War Honor States.org HonorStates.org can be used to find killed veterans in WWII, Korea and Vietnam as well. WORLD WAR I/MISSOURI VETERANS Missouri Doughboys Prominently mentions Cpl. Rudolph Forderhase of Howard County The WWI and National Museum Memorial WORLD WAR II/MISSOURI VETERANS WORLD WAR II RESEARCH GUIDE The impact of World War II on Missourians can be seen in the State Historical Society of Missouri's collections of newspapers, letters, diaries, records, photographs, and memoirs written during or about wartime military service. The collections also offer materials pertaining to civilian life during wartime and information on veterans' organizations. These records help us to understand the effects the war had on Missourians fighting overseas as well as those providing strength on the home front. WORLD WAR II/MISSOURI CASUALTIES Missouri Casualties in WWII Honor States.org WWII Army Casualties: Missouri

PREHISTORIC COOPER COUNTY Minerals and So ils This section is adapted from “Discover Cooper County by looking Back” by Ann Betteridge, 1995 (Edited by Mike Dickey, 2020) From the beginning of the Paleozoic era (542 million years ago ) through the end of Mesozoic era (65 million years ago ) Missouri was mostly covered by shallow inland seas or sometimes low swampy ground. For two thirds of the Cenozoic era (65 million – 2.6 million years ago ) Missouri was mostly dry and subtropical. During the Pleistocene epoch (2.6 million to 11,500 years ago ) four periods of glaciation covered much of North America. These glaciers extended almost to the Missouri River valley. Runoff from the melting glaciers formed the Missouri River about 400,000 years ago, reaching its current configuration about 11,500 years ago. The glaciers carried rocks and boulders which ground down the soil and deposited the resulting rich, black soil along the Missouri River. This soil was also deposited by the wind onto bluffs and hills. This is why land near the Missouri River consists of gentle rolling hills and is great farmland. The Missouri landscape in the Pleistocene epoch was roamed by megafauna like mastodons, mammoths, giant bison, giant beaver, stag-elk, giant sloths, glyptodonts (giant armadillos), peccaries, giant short-faced bears, dire wolves and sabre toothed cats. The megafauna went extinct by the end of this epoch. Animals that survived the extinction and still inhabit Missouri are the American bison, whitetail deer, wapiti (elk), beavers, black bears, and occasionally mountain lions. Crinoid Fossils FOSSILS Fossils of the Mississippian Period (359 – 324 million years ago ) were found at the old Sweeney Quarry near Clifton City. It is easy to observe the sedimentary layer of soil deposited by the inland sea at the quarry. Some of the common fossils found in the county are marine animals such as bryozoans, sponges, corals, brachiopods, gastropods, cephalopods, pelecypods and crinoids. The Crinoid is the Missouri State Fossil. Crinoids are a large group of invertebrate, marine animals somewhat flower-like in form and anchored by a stalk opposite of the mouth end. They are closely related to today’s sea-lilies, urchins and starfish. Crinoids are abundant in Cooper County. Some beds of limestone are almost completely composed of crinoid remains. The fossilized stems often appear as small circular disks with holes in the center. The largest fossil crinoid on record had a stem 40 m (130 ft) in length. In 2012 , three geologists reported they had isolated complex organic molecules from 340-million-year-old (Mississippian) fossils of multiple species of crinoids . Fossil crinoids apparently grew in large groups because their distribution in the rocks is irregular. Coral and shell fossils are also fairly abundant in some locales. Class: Crinoidea, Miller , 1821 Phylum: Echinodermata Kingdom: Animalia Subphylum: Crinozoa Vertebrate fossils are extremely rare in Cooper County. Dinosaur fossils in Missouri have been found only in Bollinger County. The remains of Pleistocene megafauna have been found in bone beds in the eastern Missouri Ozarks, along the Pomme de Terre and Osage rivers and in some Ozarks caves. Occasionally, mastodon teeth have been found in plowed fields in Cooper County. ROCKS AND MINERALS Missouri's State Rock Mozarkite is a colorful form of chert (flint) was adopted as the official state rock on July 21, 1967 , by the 74th General Assembly. An attractive rock, Mozarkite appears in a variety of colors, predominately white, gray, or brown in color, but in many locations with patches and swirls of pink, red, purple, orange, and yellow. The rock's beauty is enhanced by cutting and polishing into ornamental shapes for jewelry. Mozarkite is most commonly found in west-central Missouri south of the Missouri River. Benton County has been the major source for collecting Mozarkite. (RSMo 10.045) Missouri State Rock Mozarkite Photo by Wayne Lammers Missouri State Mineral Galena (Lead Ore) Missouri's State Rock Mozarkite was adopted as the official state rock on July 21, 1967 , by the 74th General Assembly. An attractive rock, Mozarkite appears in a variety of colors, most predominantly green, red or purple. The rock's beauty is enhanced by cutting and polishing into ornamental shapes for jewelry. Mozarkite is most commonly found in Benton County. (RSMo 10.045) How Mozarkite became the State rock by Bonnie Widel Rapp: In the 1950’s, Dad (Philip Widel ), who lived in Blackwater, became very interested in a certain type of rock that he found mostly in the Lincoln Missouri area. It was a type of chert, or flint, and was used as barter by the Indians, as it was valuable to them in making of arrows. Dad found it hard enough to be sawed by diamond saws, rated 7 on the Mohs scale and deemed to be of Gem quality. His fascination with it was, that though it was rough and ugly on the outside, when sliced, it exposed beautiful pinks, purples, blues and grays. Even more exciting were the scenes he could see, as one sees in clouds, lakes, mountains, waterfalls and even people. He carefully started cutting these scenes out and polished them to a high degree. His favorites, he framed with his silverware braids and glued them to a leather satchel, which he carried over his shoulder to the many rock shows he attended, despite its considerable weight. Quite an interest was stirred in this “new” rock and Dad traded it for semi-precious stone to other rock hounds who wanted a chance to explore its possibilities. This rock is found only in Missouri, about as far north as Marshall and south into Arkansas. The name of it is “Mozarkite” and it has always been told by those who knew him then, that Dad named it. The “mo” is taken from the abbreviation of Missouri, the “ozark” from the Ozark Mountains, and the “ite” classifies it as a rock. Articles I’ve collected from Missouri Life and other sources, make no mention of how the name was acquired. Dad became more and more intent on having Mozarkite named as the state rock, as we had a state bird, flower and tree. He made numerous trips to Jefferson City, where in the capitol he made talks and presented his collection for observation. On October 13, 1967, the 7th General Assembly passed Senate Bills #216 and #217, making Mozarkite the official state rock and Galena the state mineral. Dad received a letter telling him that the bill had been passed and was given the honorary title of “Mr. Mozarkite." Missouri State Mineral Galena (Lead Ore) Cubes of galena; photo by Rob Lavinsky on Wikipedia (use permitted with attribution / share alike: CC BY-SA 3.0 ). Missouri designated galena (lead sulfide) as the official state mineral in 1967 . Galena is the major source of lead ore, and Missouri is the top producer of lead in the United States. Galena is dark gray in color and breaks into small cubes. Lead is a very soft, blue-gray, metallic element that has been used since ancient times. It is a very heavy element, but it is rare for the element to appear alone in nature. Lead is normally combined with other elements, forming a variety of interesting and beautiful minerals - the most significant is galena, smelted worldwide for its lead content. The majority of lead is used to make batteries for cars, trucks and other vehicles, wheel weights, solder, bearings and other parts. Lead is also used in electronics and communications, ammunition, television glass, construction, and protective coatings. Some is used to make protective aprons for patients having x-rays to shield the body from excess radiation exposure, for crystal glass production, weights and ballast, and specialized chemicals. Missouri has long been a major producer of lead. In the War of 1812 era, nearly all the lead used by U.S. military forces came from Missouri Territory, mostly the “Lead District” of the southeast Missouri Ozarks. Galena has been found in both Lamine and Blackwater Townships. Etienne Sieur de Bourgmond was the first European whose journey up the Missouri River is documented. He paused at the mouth of the Lamine River in 1714 and wrote, “there are some prairies and a little low land above, where the Indians mine lead.” Mined galena has been found in archaeological sites associated with prehistoric Indian cultures, apparently used for decorative or ceremonial purposes. By the early 1700s the Osage learned simple smelting processes from the French and made molds for casting lead amulets, personal adornments and making bullets. Edwin James of Stephen Long’s 1819 Yellowstone Expedition reported on the surface mines along the Lamine River: “The diggings so often mentioned in this region as objects of curiosity. These are regular but very numerous excavations of little depth, but evidently the united labours of many persons, who were possessed of instruments of iron and steel…These excavations occur frequently in the extent of two or three miles”. Charles Lockhart believed this area may have held precious metals besides lead. In 1819 and 1820 he sometimes had as many as 30 hired laborers digging along the Lamine and Blackwater Rivers in a search for silver or gold. Instead he found only galena. Boiling salt at some of the briny springs in the Lamine valley became more profitable for him. Some market for Cooper County lead appears to have developed. The Gazetteer of Missouri (1837 ) says that “many thousand pounds of lead have been raised on the farm of Mr. William Scott.” This farm was located in Lamine Township. In 1869 , an Arrow Rock correspondent for the Saline County Progress newspaper reported, “Mr. Dills, 4 miles south of here [Arrow Rock] is succeeding with his new lead mines beyond all expectations.” However, lead mining did not remain a long-term industry in the area. Thomas Rainey of Arrow Rock reported in 1914 that the excavations along the Lamine River were still visible although overgrown by large trees. Although a vitally important commodity, lead is toxic and ingestion can cause damage to the digestive and nervous systems. Its use in some applications has been discontinued - as with lead-based paints, which have a sweet taste. Some children would eat paint chips, causing lead poisoning. Tailings, the waste from lead mining operates can contaminate water resources and has been the focus of environmental cleanup projects conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency or the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. CHERT (Flint) Rocks and minerals form important natural resources. Nodules and beds of silica carbonate which forms chert were deposited when Burlington limestone bluffs began to be formed about 325 million years ago. Chert is actually the proper name for flint. The highest grades of chert are like glass and will flake into razor sharp edges. This chert comes from volcanic regions of the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest and was traded by American Indians across the continent. Missouri chert is of a lower quality but was still very useful. Nearby major sources for chert were the Arrow Rock bluff and the Manitou Bluffs near Rocheport. Other small outcroppings of chert occur throughout the region. Native Americans produced arrowheads, lance and dart points and tools such as hide scrapers and drills by chipping them from chert. CLAY, SAND and GRAVEL Clay was made into pots for cooking, storage of food and hauling water. As time advanced, vessels became more decorative. Adding ground pieces of mussel shell to the clay tempered it and made the vessels more durable. Pottery was made not only by Indians, but by European and American settlers as well. A significant pottery works existed at Pilot Grove in the 19th century. Clay was also fired in kilns to make bricks. Brickyards for manufacturing existed in Boonville and probably other communities as well. The extensive number of 19th century structures in Cooper County built with handmade bricks also attests to the quality of clay deposits in the region. Sand and gravel companies operate near Boonville producing sand, rock, and agricultural lime. The sand and gravel are fundamental materials for construction and road building. The lime is produced from crushed limestone and sold to farmers for application on their fields to improve the pH acidity of the soil, improving the uptake of nutrients in plants and allowing for better penetration of water into soil. IRON ORE in the form of red hematite , has been found in outcrops along the Lamine and Blackwater River. Red and black hematite was ground to powder by American Indians and mixed with animal grease to produce body paint for ceremonial purposes. There are some reports of iron ore being commercially mined in the 19th century, but it did not become a major industrial enterprise. COAL Large quantities of coal were surface mined in Boonville Township. Coal formed from vast amounts of decomposing vegetation in swamps during the Carboniferous Period about 358 to 258 million years ago. The coal mined in this area was cannel, a hot burning bituminous variety. The relatively small fireboxes in some surviving 19th structures in the region indicates that coal, rather than wood, was burned in them. Coal burned hotter and longer than wood. The remains of large strip mines can still be observed in some areas. Cannel coal from south of Arrow Rock was exhibited at the New York Industrial Exhibition in 1854 . The British House of Commons appointed a committee to attend the exhibition and they were impressed by the quality of the coal. The Missouri State Board of Agriculture reported in 1874 that “There are fine deposits of cannel coal near Arrow Rock, and lead and iron which are successfully mined.” But again, mining these minerals did not remain as a significant economic enterprise into the 20th century. LEAD LEAD has been found in both Lamine and Blackwater Townships. Missouri has long been a major producer of lead. In the War of 1812 era, nearly all the lead used by U.S. military forces came from the Missouri Territory. Without lead for bullets, the Americans could have lost the War in the Boonslick area and areas further East. Lead was so important to Missouri’s economy that galena, the principal ore of lead, is designated the State Mineral. Etienne Sieur de Bourgmond was the first European whose journey up the Missouri River is documented. He paused at the mouth of the Lamine River in 1714 and wrote, “there are some prairies and a little low land above, where the Indians mine lead. Mined galena has been found in archaeological sites associated with prehistoric Indian cultures, apparently used for decorative or ceremonial purposes. By the early 1700s the Osage learned simple smelting from the French and made molds for casting lead amulets and personal adornments. SALT and SALT LICKS Cooper County, and neighboring Saline and Howard counties, contain large amounts of salt deposited as prehistoric seas retreated from the area. Water percolating through the ground resulted in the formation of many saltwater springs and briny creeks in the region. The Boonville Western Emigrant newspaper reported in 1839 : “The extraordinary number of salt springs found in the Boon’s Lick country & the quantities of pure salt water they discharge, forms a marvel to the curious, and must at some future day, prove a source of great profit.” One of the largest of these saltwater springs was Mackay’s Lick about eight miles northwest of New Franklin in Howard County. James Mackay obtained a Spanish grant for the land around the salt springs in 1795 as a reward for mapping the Missouri River. A “lick” was a place frequented by animals to lick the natural salt deposits around the springs. In 1805 , Nathan and Daniel Morgan Boone, sons of frontiersman Daniel Boone, established a salt manufacturing business there in partnership with James and Jesse Morrison of St. Charles. The Boones used twelve, 20-gallon kettles to boil the brine water. The remaining salty sediment was dried and packed in barrels called hogsheads. Approximately one gallon produced two teaspoons of salt. In 1807 , they expanded their operation, and added forty more kettles and hired extra men to help. The salt was shipped by keelboat to St. Louis to sell. The keelboat would return in about two weeks’ time, laden with supplies for the salt operation. In those days before refrigerators and freezers, salt was one of the main ways to preserve food. Salt was also used for the tanning process for leather to make shoes, saddles, and harnesses. The abundance of salt in the region was one attraction for white settlers. Consequently, many bypassed the open land in eastern Missouri to come directly to the Boonslick Country. Courtesy of Sharon Dyer MINERAL WATER As early as 1855 , the medicinal qualities of the Chouteau Springs mineral water were touted in newspapers. A spa resort and a community grew up around the five springs: two with fresh water and three with sulpher water. The fresh water was sold in two-gallon crock jugs throughout the state for its “healthful” benefits. The resort entered its heyday in the 1870s and remained in operation until about 1960 . All that remains of the once thriving resort now are ruins. Tar Balls in Cooper Cou nty By Wayne Lammers While deer hunting half way between Boonville and Lamine, I discovered many very black balls of all sizes and forms in the corn field that I was in. I retrieved many of them and brought them home. In my inspection, I found they ranged from golf ball size balls all the way down to pea size. I had never seen one like this before. I could tell that the ball was made of tar by the smell. I did my research and found the millions of years ago this land was reinventing itself by making new earth and land. In doing this, pockets of oil or tar bubbled to the surface creating these small balls of tar. I further discovered that the Indians used these tar balls to seal the inside and outside of their early canoes while navigating the Missouri and Lamine Rivers. Tar Balls in Cooper County SOILS Alluvial soils are of recent origin and have been deposited in the flood plains of streams, particularly the Missouri River. The silt carried and deposited by the river also produced some of the richest farmland in the nation. There are at least 46 different types of soils listed in the Soil Survey of Cooper County, Missouri, published by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. A copy can be found online. The quality of much of the soil of Cooper County is highly conducive to row crops. The tillable land in this area is another reason many early settlers came to the county. For general information from the Missouri Archaeological Society Washington University in St. Louis has a nice site on Geology of Missouri

EARLY HOMES AND BUILDINGS 1810 – 1940 ARCHITECTURE Cooper County has an abundance of lovely, well maintained older homes and buildings representing many different architectural styles, ranging from simple wood or stone houses to elegant Victorian, Italianate, and “Queen Anne,” mansions. A walking or driving tour in downtown Boonville will introduce you to many of the beautiful historic homes and buildings in the area. Main Street still retains many well maintained, early buildings, and most are still being used. And, outside of Boonville Township there are other impressive homes and buildings that are worth the trip to see. Maps and information on historic Cooper County homes and buildings are available at: Cooper County Historical Society; Boonville Area Chamber of Commerce; River, Rails and Trails Museum; Friends of Historic Boonville; and the Frederick Hotel. River, Rails and Trails Museum has a colorful and informative booklet for a self-guided tour of Boonville homes and buildings. Historic Homes and Buildings to look for in Boonville Take walking tour of Boonville, or a drive on the following streets from beginning to end: High Street: Frederick Hotel, (Main & High Street) 513, 603, 611, 616, 617, 622, 703, 724 Bell House with Bell’s View Park across the street East Morgan Street: 719, 711, 707, 629, 614, 519, 515; Old Jail East Spring Street: 716, 630 Sixth Street: 630, 612, 615, 711, 720, 1308, 1307, 747; Sixth & Locust – Early school for girls Main Street: 1304, 745 (GG Vest Home); 821 (Roslyn Heights – state DAR headquarters) Commercial buildings from the 1800’s and early 1900’s: Fourth Street: 412 Hain House; 510 Sombart; Christ Episcopal Church; 607- Pre-Civil-War School; Center Street: 309 – built 1859; 303 – built 1870 Third Street: (600-700) former Kemper Military School, now State Fair Jr. College; Boonslick YMCA; and soon to be Boonslick Regional Public Library; House 600; - also 601 Hitch House A colored map with pictures is available from the Cooper County Historical Society, and other locations, which feature homes and buildings in Boonville. There are also many lovely older homes in Boonville and Cooper County that are not on the Historic Register, but are well worth viewing. Interesting Homes and Buildings Out in the County Blackwater - hotel, telephone museum and Depot Pilot Grove - old Jail and Mt. Nebo Baptist Church Pleasant Green - Burwood, Crestmede and Pleasant Green Plantation New Lebanon - Cumberland Baptist Church and one room school; Cemetery and Uncle Abe’s Store Cotton - Dick’s Mill and school Bell Air - Ravenswood Mansion; Bell Air Methodist church and Pauley House Billingsville - Old Stage Stop and St. John’s United Church of Christ Rural Boonville - Gross Brothers Home on Highway 98 Ravenswood near Bellair Pauley House near Bella ir Pleasant Green Plantation in Pleasant Green Burwood House near Pleasant Green Gross Brother's Home in rural Boonville on Route 98 Restored Crestmead Home Photo from Wayne Lammers Collection Many of the older buildings in Cooper County are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In fact, the Cooper County area boasts area over 400 sites on the National Register of Historic Places. How to Find Cooper County Homes and Buildings l isted on National Register: Go to: SHPO Inventories (State Historic Preservation Officer) Select State (Missouri) Select Missouri National Register Listings Select County (Cooper) Click on the individual site name to see the full report, bibliography and photos. BOONVILLE RECYCLED, REVITILIZED, AND REPURPOSED HISTORIC BULDINGS Old Commercial Buildings with new lives Thespian Hall 1855 ; is the oldest theater west of the Alleghanies, now a home for the arts Frederick Hotel was a hotel in 1905 , then became a retirement home; now restored a modern hotel with its 20th century charm; also features a restaurant River, Rails & Trails Visitor’s Center and Museum : Former Wholesale Grocery built in 1902 Mitchel Car Museum once was a chicken hatchery Hamilton Brown Shoe Factory is now Selwyn Senior Apartments Kemper Military School is now the Boonslick Heartland YMCA, State Fair Community College, and the future home of the Boonslick Regional Library Turner Hall was originally a Baptist church in 1847 ; then a place for German gymnastics and musical groups, now a venue rental. Ballentine House –a hotel in 1822 , and now houses business offices KATY Train Depot now the Chamber of Commerce building with an old MKT caboose and train signal light Boonville Trail Depot at night Thespian Hall Left: River, Rails and Trails Museum, formerly Shryack - Givens Wholesale Grocery Right: Selwyn Senior Apartments, formerly Boonville Shoe Factory Balentine House, formerly a hotel, now business offices Hotel Frederick, formerly apartments Downtown Boonville in the 1930's This is a photo taken by James McCurdy about 1873. The workers are raising a large bell to the top of the roof of the Central National Bank in Boonville, owned by Joseph L. Stevens. Workers are raising a large bell to the roof of the bank. Today the bell is in the front of LSE School. These bronze mastiff statues were originally in front of the Central National Bank near the entrance, which is now Snapp's Hardware. In the mid 1880's, Jay Gould gave the two large mastiff statues to Joseph L. Stevens in gratitude for Steven's support in bringing the Katy Railroad to Boonville. The mastiff statues were placed on the front of the bank near the entrance. Today the mastiffs are on the roof of the LSE school above the northwest entrance, and the bell is on the lawn in front of the school. Central Bell and the two Mastiff statues at LSE on Main Street Photo by Wayne Lammers

RAILROADS IN COOPER COUNTY SOME INTERESTING BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT RAILROADS IN COOPER COUNTY In the mid 1800’s, railroads became very important for the economic growth of many communities. The people in Cooper County knew they needed railroads to grow and prosper. They eagerly voted bonds to aid in constructing railroads, and land was purchased for four main railroad lines. If a railroad went through a town, the town usually gained population and businesses. The trains were fast and comfortable, making stage coaches unnecessary and soon after trains arrived in the County, stagecoaches ceased to be needed. There have been two major railroads that have traveled through Cooper County through the years. The major, longest lived and last railroad, was the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, also called the MKT, and the more minor railroad was the Osage Valley and Southern Kansas Railroad. The MKT, first known as the southern branch of the Union Pacific, was organized at Emporia in 1867. Work was begun on the road at Junction City, Kansas, in the summer of 1869, and in November the line was completed to Council Grove, Kansas, a distance of 37 miles; in December it was finished to Emporia, Kansas, 24 miles farther; in Feb., 1870, it was completed to Burlington, Kansas, 30 miles farther down the Neosho valley; in April another 30 miles took the road to Humboldt, Kansas, and on June 6 the line entered the Indian Territory, (present day Oklahoma), thus securing the sole right of way, with a land grant, through that territory. The Osage Division of the MKT Railroad began as a railroad known as the St. Louis and Santa Fe Railroad, Missouri Division which was incorporated on April 20th, 1869. Completed in 1871, the railroad was a single-track, standard gauge steam railroad that ran approximately 38 miles from Holden, Missouri (in Johnson County) to the Missouri/Kansas state line. As the St. Louis and Santa Fe Railroad, Missouri Division quickly went bankrupt; the Katy Railroad officially completed the purchase of the charter on May 29th, 1872. However, involvement may have dated back to 1870 (at the inception of the line) when Levi Parson and Francis Skiddy set into motion their plan to see that the Katy Railroad would be the first to reach Indian Territory, and the only one allowed to tap the riches of Texas and the Southwest. To this end, Parson and Skiddy set into motion a much larger plan that included the chartering of the Neosho Valley and Holden Railroad in Kansas. The charter for the Neosho Valley and Holden Railroad in Kansas was issued on May 7th, 1870. On the same day, the Neosho Valley and Holden Railroad entered into an agreement allowing for the merger and consolidation of the company with the KATY Railroad. The Neosho Valley and Holden Railway Company was effectively a paper railroad and did not construct any railroad. The original plan of the Neosho Valley and Holden Railroad was to connect in the east with the St. Louis and Santa Fe Railroad, Missouri Division, and continue west To Emporia. However, the rail line never reached Emporia; it only reached Paola, Kansas (where it connected with the Missouri Pacific Railroad). This created an orphan line with no connection to the main lines at either Emporia, Kansas or Sedalia, Missouri. Research by: Harold Kerr II THE MKT COMES TO COOPER COUNTY Katy Engine exiting the Boonville Katy Bridge circa 1980. From the Wayne Lammers collection. As for development in Cooper County Missouri, on January 1, 1872 a contract was awarded for building the Northeastern Extension— under the name of the Tebo Neosho Railway—to Boonville in Cooper County, to Fayette in Howard County, and on to a junction with the North Missouri (Wabash) at Moberly, in Randolph County, Missouri. The MKT track reached Pl easant Green in Cooper County on April 24, 1873 and by May 18 it reached Pilot Grove. The end-of-track reached Boonville on May 31, 1873. A celebration to mark the completion of the Northeastern Extension was held in Boonville on July 4, 1873, after the rail reached Fayette, Missouri on June 20, 1873. United States Congressman John Cosgrove was on hand for this celebration. Before 1870, between Sedalia and Boonville, a span of thirty-four miles, there was hardly a house to be seen. Pilot Grove was laid out very soon after the railroad arrived, on May 30, 1873. Pleasant Green came into being on June 28. Clifton City, on September 29, 1873. These three towns became busy major centers of commerce for several years until the railroad was disbanded. Once the railroad no longer came through the towns, population dropped and businesses closed. One interesting spot along the rail was south of Boonville, a place called “Lard Hill.” Old timers in the area described how this came to be known by this colorful name: an old Irish lady who was untidy in appearance, had a shack full of children and no husband. Allegedly, a KATY train killed the family pig one day, and, since the pig was in an area where it had no business being, and was a terrible looking thing, the claims agent valued the loss at $5.00. The woman was extremely upset about this and went about to get revenge. She rendered the fat from the pig and every time she heard the train whistle for the Boonville train, she would send her children out to put lard on the tracks. After several times of the train slipping and sliding to make its way, the railroad gave the woman more money for her loss. Yet, nothing appears in the records to validate this story. Another story holds that disgruntled farmers in the area larded the rails as they were unhappy with the rail coming through their land. The MKT ran until 1989 when it was succeeded by the Missouri Pacific Railroad (a.k.a MoPac). In 1997 the MoPac became the Union Pacific. Sources: https://legendsofkansas.com/railroads3.html http://genealogytrails.com/mo/bates/railroad.html https://www.abandonedrails.com/bryson-to-paola THE KATY RAILROAND AND THE LAST FRONTIER, V. V. MASTERSON, © 1978 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESS, pp 150, 193-194, 198, 209-210 Katy Railroad Historical Society - There is a Katy Railroad Historical Society Museum located in Denison, Texas. They are a 501c3 organization. Memberships are available on the website. Their webpage: https://katyrailroad.org/ Their phone number: 903-327-5966 Boonville Katy Depot & Caboose #134. By Wayne Lammers on January 14, 2019. Caboose painting by volunteers on Sept. 14, 2017 by Wayne Lammers. OTHER RAILROADS IN COOPER COUNTY Map from 1877. MKT and river bridge (started 1873) top left, and Osage Valley and Southern Railroad (started 1865-68) shown in the middle of the map coming out of Boonville. Rails along the Missouri River had not started by 1877. The other line that came to Cooper County was the Osage Valley and Southern Kansas Railroad. The Southern Kansas was one of five railroads to receive their charter from the first legislature in Kansas in 1855. The capital stock of the Southern Kansas was fixed at $3,000,000, and the company was given a franchise to build a road "from the Missouri state line due west of Springfield to the west line of Kansas Territory." A. J. Dorn, William J. Godfroy, James M. Linn, Joseph C. Anderson and others were named as the incorporators, and the act stipulated that work was to begin on the road within nine years. On October 17, 1860 a convention met at Topeka with about 125 delegates present, representing 20 counties of the territory. The principal work of the convention was the adoption of a resolution to the effect that a petition be presented to Congress asking an appropriation of public lands to aid in the construction of railroads in Kansas as follows: A railroad from the western boundary of the State of Missouri, where the Osage Valley & Southern Kansas railroad terminates, westwardly via Emporia, Fremont and Council Grove, to the Fort Riley Military Reservation, among other issues. In 1867 a company was organized under the name of the Osage Valley & Southern Kansas Railroad Company, proposing to construct a railroad from Boonville on the Missouri river to Fort Scott and $100,000 in bonds was asked of Bates County with a donation of the right of way. Chicago was to be the northern terminus, an "air line" to "just where you like it." The county officials did not seem to catch onto this scheme and no action of the bond question was taken. The Osage Valley and Southern Kansas Railroad was chartered in 1857 by the Missouri Legislature to run from a point on the Pacific Railroad near present day Tipton, Missouri, to Emporia, Kansas. The charter was modified in 1858 to include an extension north to Boonville, Missouri. Grading on the line was completed to Versailles, Missouri, in 1861, but was halted due to the American Civil War. After the war the Boonville to Tipton portion was completed in 1868 and leased to the Pacific Railroad. In 1870, portions of the line were graded from Warsaw, Missouri, north to Cole Camp, Missouri. Construction ended in 1872, when the line defaulted on bond payments. The Warsaw portion became the property of Benton County, Missouri, and was later used, in 1880, as the roadbed for the narrow-gauge Sedalia, Warsaw and Southern Railway between Sedalia and Warsaw. The line between Tipton and Versailles, Missouri, was reorganized in 1880 and 1881, as the Boonville, St. Louis and Southern Railway, and was then leased to Jay Gould's Missouri Pacific Railway. Boonville to Versailles RR, brakeman Earl Hays, on October 21, 1911. Two engines hit head on at 7:10 AM From the Wayne Lammers collection From the Wayne Lammers collection On January 13, 1880, a train wreck occurred on the Boonville Branch. The wreck occurred at 4:30 in the afternoon about three miles north of Tipton. Five box cars next to the engine jumped the track, tearing up the rails for about a hundred yards. There were passengers and baggage, as well as empty cars on the train, but these did not come off the track. No one was injured. The engineer, named Rosenhahn, gave the engine full steam when he saw that the head box car was trying to come onto his tender. This caused the coupling to break and the car broke away. Four of the broken cars were empty and one was full of merchandise headed to Boonville. No passenger or merchandise was late to arrive, due to good management of the situation. The line operated until June 1935, when successor Missouri Pacific Railroad asked permission of the Interstate Commerce Commission to abandon the line. The last train operated was to Versailles on April 30, 1936, and the entire property was torn up except for a bit at the Boonville end, which followed 2nd Street. This line came up from Moniteau County through Kelly Township, where there was a station called Vermont Station. The name “Vermont” may have come from the fact that Nathaniel Leonard, a large property owner in southern Cooper County (over 1,500 acres in 1877) was born in the State of Vermont. The line went up through present-day Bunceton, Speed, and into Boonville. The Osage Valley and Southern Kansas was succeeded by the Boonville, St Louis and Southern Railway in 1881. This railroad was then succeeded by the MoPac in 1956, which was then succeeded by the Union Pacific in 1997. Sources: Osage Valley and Southern Kansas Railroad Legends of Kansas Genealogy Trails The Tipton (MO) Times, January 15, 1880: The Missouri Pacific built a route from St. Louis to Kansas City, which came through the southern part of Cooper County. The line was completed through Otterville in 1860. The second railroad to come through Cooper County was the Osage Valley and Southern Kansas Railroad, a branch line of the Missouri Pacific. It ran from Boonville to Versailles, with stops at Billingsville, Jo Town, New Palestine, Petersburg, Bunceton and Vermont. It was completed in 1868. This line was abandoned in 1937. The third railroad was originally called the Tebo and Neosho, and later the Missouri, Kansas and Texas (shortened to “KATY” or “MKT”). It was built through Cooper County in the early 1870s and crossed the Missouri River at Boonville going through Prairie Lick, Pilot Grove, Harriston, Pleasant Green, and Clifton City. It ceased operation in 1986. The tracks have been removed and it has been converted to a recreation bike trail and is now called the Katy Trail. Prairie Lick and Harriston are now extinct, and Pleasant Green and Clifton City are now just settlements with a few homes. Pilot Grove, although not the large thriving city it once was, is now the second largest town in Cooper County. The fourth railroad to come through Cooper County was called the River Route because it followed along the Missouri River. It was built by the Missouri Pacific and is now the Union Pacific. It was completed as far as Boonville in the early 1890s and then extended downriver to St. Louis in the early 1900s. It goes through Overton, Wooldridge, Boonville, Lamine, and Blackwater, but does not stop. All the above towns became prosperous while the trains regularly stopped there, but once the railroads left, so did business and the population. Today, Overton, Wooldridge, Lamine and Speed have no businesses, but there are still a few homes there. The Union Pacific railroad still carries coal and other freight, especially coal, on a regular basis as it travels past Boonville. Here is a 1897 railroad map showing the rails in both counties. The only one not showing is the Missouri Pacific or later the Union Pacific that goes from Boonville down the river route to Jefferson City which started in 1899. The railroad going from Sedalia to Boonville and then to New Franklin is the MK&T RR or the Katy. The railroad from Boonville south to Versailles is the Southern Branch of the Missouri Pacific which ended in 1938. The Missouri Pacific RR at the bottom of Cooper County had a short rail that ran through Otterville from Sedalia to St. Louis. OTHER NOTABLE TRAIN WRECKS Pilot Grove train wreck World War II was brought to a close for the Citizens of Pilot Grove on May 6, 1945, when a train carrying ammunition wrecked about a half mile north of town. The fire and smoke caused by the derailment of twenty cars of oil, three cars of artillery shells, and part on the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, was visible for 35 miles, and it attracted hundreds of people to the scene. Flames and smoke leaped 400 feet into the air almost immediately; about 2 hours after the wreck the shells began to explode, and continued to explode for two hours. Shell fragments, casings, bags of powder, and some unexploded shells were scattered over the area. One shell landed near the depot, about a half mile away. Two crewmen were injured. It appeared that a brake beam on one of the cars had broken and was dragged along the track until it caught in a switch from a siding in town. Source: Pilot Grove Centennial book The Otterville 1948 collision of two Missouri Pacific trains left 12 passages and 2 Pullman employees dead, and 32 passengers and six crewmen injured. One train was creeping through a blinding snowstorm, at about 20 mile an hour, when the second train rammed into it. The trains were bound from Saint Louis to Kansas City. The accident happened two miles west of Syracuse, MO. Film Director Frank Ryan, his wife and three children died, as did the Ambassador to Spain and Argentina, Alexander Weddell and his wife also lost their lives. Source: Carolyn Aggelar THE RAILROADS BROUGHT PEOPLE TO COOPER COUNTY, AND ALSO MAY HAVE HELPED THEM MOVE AWAY Railroads have been credited with helping towns prosper and grow, and also may have led to the eventual demise of many Cooper County towns. Trains were especially helpful in moving animals and grain to major markets like St. Louis and Kansas City, plus allowing passengers to comfortably travel to where they wanted to go. Trains were a major travel improvement over stage coaches, wagons, or a horse and buggy. The change from rail travel to gasoline vehicles, started the decline of railroads. By the early 1920’s, transportation by train was being replaced by trucks and cars, which were faster and provided a more convenient, comfortable, and a direct way to travel. This change from rail travel to gasoline vehicles, plus the depression, caused area populations to dramatically decrease, as people moved closer to towns that were larger, had more shopping opportunities, still had trains, and/or offered more job opportunities with higher pay. Once cars and trucks became popular in the 1920’s, most trains were rerouted from going through the center of towns, to either bypass the towns, or were eliminated altogether. This was a big blow to farmers who depended on trains to haul their grain and cattle to major shipping points, such as At. Louis or Kansas City, and also eliminated passengers who had no other means of traveling from one city to another. The railroad business declined dramatically by the mid-1930’s. This led to the closing of Boonville’s Tipton-Versailles Branch line, and the Katy continued to cut back service despite the building of the new lift span bridge over the Missouri River in 1932. The hope that the lift span bridge would bring more business to Cooper County did not become a reality. Towns once serviced by trains that have almost, or totally disappeared, are: Petersburg, Vermont, Prairie Lick, Harriston, and Pleasant Green. It is interesting to see how the population of Cooper County increased and decreased with the advent of the railroads which covered much of the County. The railroads have been credited with helping towns prosper and grow, and also may have led to their eventual demise. When populations declined, the number of post offices did too. You will notice that many of the early, small Cooper County towns were named after a local grain mill, many of which were located on the Petite Saline River. Red = Missouri Pacific Orange = Osage Valley Green = Tebo/Neosho Blue = River Route This is the Union Pacific coal train #6040 going east through Boonville from the west on Feb. 5th, 2015 at 9:50 AM. It came from the coal fields in Colorado. We don't see as many of them here these days. They are using other sources of fuel nowadays in the power plants. This train does not stop in Boonville A hobo heating up his lunch on the MK&T Railroad. Circa 1890's by Max Schmidt Old Team Track unloading wheat in box car on 2nd street Boonville circa 1920's. From the Wayne Lammers collection. Union Pacific RR spur at Boonville, August 1998, long before the existence of the Isle of Capri Casino Hotel. By Wayne Lammers Union Pacific siding at Boonville circa 1978. Photo by Wayne Lammers. RAILROAD BRIDGES OVER THE MISSOURI RIVER In 1869, people began talking about building a railroad bridge over the Missouri River at Boonville, but it was not until 1870 that steps were taken to build one. Once the Tebo and Neosho railroad was turned over to the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad, a charter was obtained for the building of the bridge, plus with an act of Congress, the building began is 1872. The bridge was completed in January, 1874. The first bridge was a swing-span bridge which was replaced a few years later by a lift-span bridge, which is the type that still stands. First image of the Boonville MK&T RR Bridge from the 1870's. From the Wayne Lammers collection Third Katy Bridge in 1880 First Katy Bridge Katy Bridge 1950's Todd Baslee climbing the Katy South Tower of the Boonville Katy Bridge. Photo by Wayne Lammers October 14, 2004 View from under the Katy Bridge View from on the river, looking west The bridges of Boonville Hot air balloon over Boonville Katy Railroad bridge circa 1980s. Photo by Wayne Lammers. Katy Railroad Bridge at sunset by Wayne Lammers, March 20 2014, at 5:58 pm. This is the Rocheport Bridge in Boone County with the Katy railroad below. Photographer unknown, October 8, 1960. Source: Farm Alarm REMEMBERING KATY CROSSINGS Kids from the west side of town crossed the Katy Railroad tracks on an unprotected path from Haller Street to Kemper, and on Spring and Morgan Streets, near the Katy Depot, at crossings protected by bright flashing red lights and loud warning bells, sometimes we counted 100 cars as we waited. Even though tragedy struck at Morgan Street in 1953, some still caught a short ride from Spring to Haller on the ladder of a slow-moving boxcar as a long train lumbered southwest up Lard Hill. The busy Katy bridge across the Missouri River provided crossings for Katy trains carrying freight from near St. Louis to Galveston, and for boys from Boonville carrying .22 rifles to the sloughs and sand bars along the north shore to shoot cans and bottles. Crossings by the latter were sometimes sanctioned and sometimes stealthy, depending on the operator on duty in the shanty on the Boonville side. There was no walkway, and if you were caught on the bridge by a train, it was loud and shaky holding onto a beam as the train roared past. My friend Kenny and I tried another crossing method, riding his motorcycle across from the north approach. Bump-bump, bump-bump, bump-bump across the ties. No trains came. The operator in the shanty just shook his head as we passed. He didn’t need to tell us not to do it again. By: Wayne Lammers Last train to cross the Boonville KATY bridge. Video by Wayne Lammers KATY BRIDGE DEDICATION Visitors' side of Katy Bridge Gov. Jay Nixon came to Boonville to help save The Katy Railroad Bridge. From the Wayne Lammers collection Old MKT Caboose Ribbon Cutting of the Katy Bridge on April 2, 2016 Governor Jay Nixon and Ann Betteridge Katy Trail Bikers crossing the USA on Trails. June 23, 2012. Photo by Wayne Lammers K A TY BRIDGE REOPENING CELEBRATED DURING BOONVILLE CEREMONY By Rudi Keller / rjkeller@columbiatribune.com | 815-1709 Posted Apr 3, 2016 at 12:01 AM BOONVILLE -- When the last train crossed the MKT Railroad bridge at Boonville in May 1986, Dennis Huff was the engineer and he called his friend Wayne Lammers to record it. The five-minute video explores the 1932 bridge and shows the 408-foot lift span in the up position, then cuts to the locomotive, with Huff hanging his arm out the window, as it approaches and passes. The 16 tanker, gondola and hopper cars pass within a few inches of the camera lens. On Saturday, Huff, Lammers and hundreds of others from Boonville and beyond returned to the bridge to celebrate its resurrection as part of the Katy Trail State Park. “It is nice to see a piece of history be preserved and put to some useful purpose,” Huff said before the festivities began. During the short ceremony, Gov. Jay Nixon was praised as the savior of the bridge by former Columbia Mayor Darwin Hindman, who in turn was dubbed Mayor of the Katy Trail by Boonville Mayor Julie Thacher. Nixon was attorney general in 2005 when then-Gov. Matt Blunt approved plans for the Union Pacific Railroad to dismantle the bridge for use as a second span at the Osage River for its line south of the Missouri River. Nixon took “the unusual and extremely brave step of suing the governor to set aside the decision,” Hindman told the gathering. Nixon argued the bridge was part of the deal that transferred the rail line to the state for trail use in 1990. The lawsuit ultimately was unsuccessful, but it delayed demolition until after Nixon became governor in 2009. Union Pacific’s second span at the Osage River was built with federal stimulus funds, and the Boonville bridge was deeded to the state . “This is really a fun day for me,” Nixon said before crossing the bridge with his wife Georgeanne Nixon. “I am not as excited about suing governors as I used to be,” he joked. Saturday’s ceremony celebrated the first phase of the bridge rehabilitation, costing about $900,000 and financed with a combination of private donations, city revenue and federal block grant funds. Visitors can walk about a third of the way across the river for views up- and downstream and a close-up look at the lift span. The next two phases are to complete a similar walkway on the Howard County side and, eventually, finish the crossing by putting the lift span into regular operation, said Paula Shannon, executive director of the Katy Bridge Coalition. The project cost is estimated to be $3.4 million. The ceremony brought many former residents back to Boonville to be part of the crowd of about 400 who attended the ceremony. “It is like going to a class reunion, almost,” Shannon said. The MKT’s days were numbered when Huff guided his locomotive over the river on May 23, 1986. The railroad had been in on-and-off merger negotiations with the Union Pacific for several years. A flood in October 1986 knocked the line north of the Missouri River out of commission. it was abandoned after the merger was approved by federal regulators. The state acquired the line under federal rail banking laws, and the trail now extends for 240 miles from Machens in St. Charles County to Clinton in Henry County. Because the bridge was left in the up position after it ceased being used, trail traffic goes over the river on a walkway attached to the Highway 40 bridge. The completion of the first phase is the realization of a dream, Lammers said. “It is a glorious day,” Lammers said. “It is one we have been working toward for years and years.” COOPER COUNTY’S LESSER-KNOWN CABOOSE Most of us have seen the beautifully restored KATY caboose which is parked on the short rails in front of the Chamber of Commerce building in Boonville. It is a beautifully-preserved reminder of the days when trains were the best way to travel and move agricultural goods to market. However, there is another caboose in Cooper County that represents the small town of Bunceton, that was once a very busy stop on the Osage Valley Railroad. It stands on a short railroad track next to the Kelly Township building, which was built to look like a train Depot. Inside the caboose is a museum. Here is a brief history of this caboose, shared by Gerald Ulrich, who was the Mayor of Bunceton from 1980 until 2006. The Cooper County Sheriff, Harvey Bunce, learned that a railroad would be built between Boonville and Versailles. He immediately purchased the land where the planned railroad would run. The town that received the train route was later named Bunceton, after Mr. Bunce. Many years later the Osage Valley Railroad was sold to the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Mr. Ulrich thought that if a caboose could be placed in Bunceton, it could be used as a museum. He contacted the Missouri Pacific Railroad to see if a caboose could be acquired. Missouri Pacific agreed to donate a caboose and donate it to the Chamber of Commerce. After making many connections with area groups the deal was done. Several area groups started working to get donations to pay for the concrete slab, and two trucks to haul the caboose. Riley Rock Quarries donated the trucks and trailers, and two giant cranes to lift the caboose onto the concrete slab. They also donated the fuel used for the haul and the drivers donated their time. It was a dangerous trip as there were several high wires that the caboose had to pass under. However, everything went without a hitch! The trickiest part was to haul all that weight over an old bridge, but that too worked perfectly. The city is proud of the fact that they raised the funds needed for this project and did not go into debt for moving the caboose, or for the new city hall. This was a wonderful community project. WHAT IS A CABOOSE? Although rarely seen on a train today, a caboose was always the last car on a train. The caboose served as a trainman’s “home away from home”. Since most trains ran on 12-hour shifts, the caboose was where the men ate their meals (brought from home) and slept. At one time it also served as the Engineer’s office. It is interesting to note that a caboose is an American invention, and never really caught on in Europe. On the top of the caboose was a cupula. This was a raised box surrounded by windows so that the tracks could be observed in all directions by looking through the windows above the roof of the train. As trains became more mechanically controlled, the need for the cupula to see the tracks hazards was replaced by a strange word for a strange railroad car, that somehow survived for more than a hundred years, from the days of oil burning lamps into the computer age. The origins of both the car and the word, are surrounded as much by legend as by fact. One popular version dates the word back to a derivation of the Dutch word "kombuis," which referred to a ship's galley. Use of cabooses began in the 1830s, when railroads housed trainmen in shanties built onto boxcars or flatcars. Even in the United States, technological change began eliminating the need for cabooses before the turn of the century. The spread in the 1880s of the automatic air brake system invented by George Westinghouse, eliminated the need for brakemen to manually set brakes. The air brakes soon were followed by the use of electric track circuits to activate signals, providing protection for trains and eliminating the need for flagmen. Friction bearings were replaced by roller bearings, reducing overheated journals and making visual detection by smoke an unlikely event. Trains became longer, making it difficult for the conductor to see the entire train from the caboose, and freight cars became so high that they blocked the view from the traditional cupola. The increasing heaviness and speed of the trains made on-board cooking hazardous and unnecessary. New labor agreements reduced the hours of service required for train crews and eliminated the need for cabooses as lodging. Cabooses, when used at all, were drawn from "pools" and no longer assigned to individual conductors. Eventually, electronic "hotbox" and dragging equipment detectors, which would check moving trains more efficiently and reliably than men in cabooses, were installed along main lines, and computers eliminated the conductors' need to store and track paperwork in the car. Source: Union Pacific A Brief History of the Caboose

MISSOURI RIVER AND TRANSPORTATION Missouri River West of Boonvillle Bridge Wayne Lammers Collection Before the white man traveled up the Missouri River, the Indians had paddled their canoes on it for centuries. Later came the French trappers and explorers in their pirogues, canoes, mackinaws, bateaus and keelboats. At this time, these types of boats were the only means of river transportation. When the first settlers arrived, the main routes of commerce and travel were still the water courses. Neither steamboats nor railroads were available yet. Because transportation was so important, the main settlements were made on the banks of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. Ferries Hannah Cole and others During the first court on July 8, 1816, at Cole’s Fort, Hannah Cole’s sons were granted a license to run a ferry on the Missouri River between Boonville and Franklin. At the same time B.W. Levens, Ward and Potter, and George W. Cary were also granted a license to keep a ferry across the Missouri at the present site of Overton. The rates charged at the Levens’ ferry were as follows: For man and horse $0.50 For either separately $0.25 For 4 horses and 4-wheeled wagon $2.00 For 2 horses and 4-wheeled carriage $1.00 For horned cattle $0.04 each For polled cattle $.02 each No one seems to remember what the cost to cross the River on the Dorothy was. Later, other ferries were licensed to help travelers cross the “Wide Missouri” River. Until 1924 , when the first Boonville Bridge connecting New Franklin to Boonville was built, one had to take a motorized ferry across the Missouri River to get to Boonville from New Franklin, or go to Howard County from Boonville. The last Ferry to operate was the “Dorothy,” which ceased operating when the Route 40 bridge was finished in 1924. The Dorothy ferry on the Missouri at Boonville. ca 1890's. Dorothy Ferry Boat circa 1918. Source: "Discover Cooper County" by Ann Betteridge. From the Wayne Lammers collection Joseph L. Stephens ferry boat in the 1890s, in front of Boonville In operation until 1924 Front of Stephens Ferry Boat Rocheport Ferry - Cooper County in the background, notice 3 covered wagons and horses. Steam engine moved the paddle wheel. Lamine Ferry 1930's, from the Jim Higbie collection (colorized). Corps of Discovery near Boonville (Keel boat) - a reproduction of the Lewis and Clark boat. The reproduction burned, but was rebuilt 1/2 scale and is in the River, Rails and Trails Museum. Photo by Wayne Lammers The pirogue was a small type of canoe. The canoe was the most commonly used type of boat, and was the simplest of all river crafts. It was usually made from a cottonwood log, hollowed out, and was usually from 15 to 18 feet long. It was generally manned by three men: one to steer and two to paddle. It was used mostly for short trips, though occasionally was employed for long trips. The mackinaw was a flatboat, pointed at both ends, and was from 40 to 50 feet long. It usually had a crew of five men: one steersman and four oarsmen. The bullboat was usually used on shallow streams because of its light draft. It was made of buffalo bull hides sewn together and stretched over a frame of poles, and needed two men to handle it. Keel Boat Jolly Flat Boatsmen by George Caleb Bingham The keelboat was considered the best and largest craft for transportation before the steamboat. It was 60 to 70 feet long, with the keel running from bow to stern. It could carry a larger cargo than any of the other boats mentioned. It was usually poled. Several men at a time pushed long poles into the river bed, and literally pushed the boat upstream. In deep, fast, or rough water, or if other problems caused poling not to work well, the keelboat was then propelled by means of a cordelle. The cordelle was a line practically 1,000 feet long, one end of which was fastened to the top of the 30-foot mast in the center of the boat. It was well-braced from the mast and the rope extended to the shore. At the shore end of the line, some twenty or thirty men walked along the river bank and pulled the boat upstream. Cordelling was extremely difficult and exhausting work, especially when the edge of the river was full of brush, or the banks so soft that they gave way under foot. Sails were used at times, when the wind was right. Many years after the steamboat made its appearance, people continued to use the keelboat. Flatboat and Steam boats on the Missouri River The First Steamboat at Franklin was on May 29, 1819 . The trip of the Independence from St. Louis to Franklin took 13 days (six of which they were grounded on sandbars). Captain John Nelson had charge of the steamboat. The day after the arrival of the Independence a dinner was given by the citizens of Franklin in honor of the occasion. The trip of the Independence from St. Louis to Franklin was the beginning of steamboat traffic upon the Missouri. The development of the steamboat changed the whole process of river transportation, making it possible to travel much faster than previously, and with much larger cargoes, and was one of the chief factors in the development of Boonville and Cooper County. The second steamboat to arrive at Franklin was the Western Engine, one of several steamboats that came up the river in 1819 as part of Major Stephen Long’s “Yellowstone Expedition.” The boat reached Franklin on June 13, 1819 . The design of the Western Engineer was startling. The prow was upturned and carved into the shape of a serpent’s head. By means of a flue, steam could be directed to come out the hinged jaws. It was intended to frighten the Indians, and it did. The real beginning point of commercially feasible steam boating began about 1830 . Because of the rush of immigration at that time, boats could not be built fast enough. Packets on the Missouri River A Packet , or packet boat, is identified by its function rather than by any distinctive vessel type. Historically, packets originated as vessels under contract with the government to carry mail. With this official duty as their primary purpose, packets could be distinguished from any other vessels by their speed and regularity of service on a fixed route, between designated ports. Steam driven packets were used extensively in the 19th century on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, supplying and bringing personnel to forts and trading posts and carrying freight and passengers. Today, while steamboats are but a distant memory, the Missouri River is alive and well in Missouri. Sources: Elizabeth Davis "Historically Yours", Ann Betteridge "Discover Cooper County" Steamboat "Plow Boy" at Boonville unloading wheat at Boonville Mill. From the Wayne Lammers collection. Steamboat pulled by a tugboat with the Katy bridge in the background. From the Wayne Lammers collection. RIVER TRAFFIC BECAME HEAVY In 1838 , the government began to clear the Missouri River of snags, and river travel became somewhat less hazardous. As the steamboat trade increased, boats became bigger and fancier, changing from the appearance of a floating shack to a floating palace. The Boonville Register of May 20, 1841 , stated “the first boat built in the city of Boonville, is to be launched on Monday, the 24th.” The boat was built under the superintendence of Captain Courtney and was to be called the Warsaw. The “Golden Era” of the Missouri River steam boating was between 1850 and 1860 , and reached its highest prosperity in the year 1858 . There were then not less than sixty packets on the river, besides 30 to 40 transient boats called tramps, which came on the river from other streams and made one or two trips during the season. The packets had regular schedules and carried the United States mail, express, freight, newspapers (both daily and semi-weekly). Their arrival was booked forward to along the Missouri River with a great deal of interest. The discovery of gold in California, and later gold in Montana, caused many people to ride the steamboats on their way west and north. People flocked to the wharves whenever a steamboat arrived. There were so many boats on the lower river during this period that it was a common sight to see as many as five or six lying at the Boonville landing at the same time. These were prosperous days for the river towns. During the boating season, which continued from March to November, there was never a time when a boat wasn’t visible. The Missouri River freezing solid made it impossible to travel by boat during the winter months. The Missouri River was one of the most difficult streams in the United States to navigate because of its shifting channel, its swift current, and its many bends, which, with the many snags, made a continual menace to river traffic. No pilot approached a snag, especially at night, without fear and caution. The average life of a Missouri River steamboat was less than five years. Other problems, such as fires, boiler explosions, and floods as well as low water, also made traveling by steamboat hazardous. A major disaster in this area was the sinking of the El Paso after it hit a snag below Boonville in 1855 . Another period of prosperity were the years 1866 , 1867 , and 1868 . Captain C.H. Kinney, made the sum of $45,000 in profits from one trip. A number of residents in the Boonville area were involved in river trade as owners, captains, or pilots of steamboats. Many made their fortunes on the river. Perhaps the best known was Captain Joseph Kinney, who lived in Boonville from 1850 to 1860 . He built Riverscene mansion across the river from Boonville in 1869 . It was said that Captain Kinney picked out the lumber for his elegant home along the banks as he traveled the river and had it cut and delivered to the building area. Today the river is still important to the county’s economy. Barges are used to transport grain and other products. Brief History of Steam boating on the Missouri River By Bob Dyer References : Steamboats on the Missouri River Steamboat unloading wheat for the Sombart Mill in Boonville Nadine Excursion Boat near Boonville The St. Jacobs Oil steamboat at Boonville 1870's-Macurdy. Boonville Mill in the background THE MISSOURI RIVER CAN BE VERY DANGEROUS AND UNPREDICTABLE Why does the Missouri flood more now than much earlier? The only bad flood in the 1800 ’s (#4) was in 1844 . The next bad one did not come until 1944 (#8), one hundred years later. There is a lot of finger pointing that the river has been changed by straightening, and building reservoirs and levees. However, heavy snow falls and late spring rains upstream also are big contributing factors. The flooding in 2019 was believed to have been triggered by record snowfall in the Rocky Mountains of Montana and Wyoming along with near-record spring rainfall in central and eastern Montana. All six major dams along the Missouri River released record amounts of water to prevent overflow which led to flooding threatening several towns and cities downstream. Missouri also had record rain in late May in 2013 and 2019 . All six major dams along the Missouri River released record amounts of water to prevent overflow, which led to flooding downstream, which flooded several towns and cities. The result - buildings and homes were severely damaged, and some washed away. Roads and bridges were underwater, as were the just emerging spring crops. Precious topsoil helped to make the Muddy MO even muddier. Cars, buildings and machinery were badly damaged, or also washed away by the force of the rushing water. Countless animals drowned and the number of human deaths from the flooding is unknown. Historic Flood Crests of Missouri River at Boonville (1) 37.10 ft on 07/29/1993 (2) 33.73 ft on 05/31/2019 (3) 33.14 ft on 05/19/1995 (4) 32.70 ft on 06/21/1844 (5) 32.62 ft on 07/17/1951 (6) 32.02 ft on 06/27/1947 (7) 31.85 ft on 10/05/1986 (8) 30.93 ft on 04/27/1944 (9) 30.74 ft on 04/07/1983 (10) 30.72 ft on 06/02/2013 Source: Historical Crests for Missouri River at Boonville US Weather Service Scroll to read the story about the Flood of 1993 Bob Dyer’s poem for a friend who lost his home to the flood of 1993 Poem by Bob Dyer, courtesy of Sharon Dyer Highway 40 during the 1951 Flood just across the river from Boonville. From the Wayne Lammers collection. Video of 2019 Missouri River at Boonville Flood Videos by Tracy and Ashley Friedrich @FarmAlarm. Boonville YouTubers Map of the Missouri River and it's tributaries. Source: Wikipedia The Missouri River is North America's longest river, beginning in western Montana and ending 2,341 miles away, north of St. Louis, Missouri, where it enters the Mississippi River. The name 'Missouri' is derived from the Missouria tribe name, meaning 'people with wooden canoes'. The Missouri River and its tributaries have been important to people for more than 12,000 years, for many reasons including transportation, fishing, irrigation, and as a water source for animals which in turn helped to feed the people in the region. During the westward expansion of the United States the Missouri River played an important role. Because of industrial and agricultural use in the 20th century, the water quality, and animal and fish populations have been greatly impacted. Other Interesting Missouri River Facts It is believed that the Missouri River formed about 30 million years ago, but because it changes its course over time, the current course of the Missouri is estimated at 115,000 years old. Major tributaries to the Missouri River include Yellowstone River, Platte River, and the Kansas River. The Missouri River flows through several states including Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. It flows past Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas. The first explorers to lay their eyes on the Missouri River were Louis Joliet and Father Jacques Marquette. These Frenchmen were floating along the Mississippi River in 1673 when they spotted it. Lewis and Clark were the first to travel the entire length of the Missouri River, which they accomplished in 1804. The Missouri River flows from Montana's Gallatin, Madison, and Jefferson Rivers for 2,341 miles to the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, Missouri. The Missouri River is the world's 15th longest river. The Missouri River basin (area of land drained by the river) is 529,350 square miles in size. Approximately 10 million people live in the Missouri River basin. This includes people from 10 states, from a small region in Canada, and from 28 different Native American tribes. The dams that have been built along the Missouri River have changed its ability to flow freely. Although this stops flooding in many regions, it changes the natural environment as well. The Missouri River has been called "Big Muddy" and "Muddy Mo" because of its ability to relocate large amounts of soil on occasion. There are approximately 150 fish species in the Missouri River, and about 300 species of birds live in the Missouri River's region. The Lewis and Clark Historic Trail follows the Missouri River, making it possible for people to follow. Along the trail are roughly 100 historical sites to explore. Many National Parks in the United States are located in the Missouri River's watershed, including Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Badlands National Park, and Rocky Mountain National Park. Source: SoftSchools.com Snoddy's Store by boat Flyover by drone of the Missouri River at Boonville Flood flyover in airplane

NEW MADRID EARTHQUAKE (1811) The first shocks of three major earthquakes begin in New Madrid. (Courtesy of Missouri Bicentennial Timeline) “First shocks of the New Madrid earthquakes began December 16, 1811 and continued through March 1812 . Between 6,000-10,000 earthquakes in the Bootheel of Missouri occurred during this time with the largest measuring 8.8 magnitude. Later, a witness to the earthquake described the terror in a graphic description that was published years later by the Charleston Courier. Eliza Bryan, who was 15 years old and living in New Madrid in 1811 remembered “the violent shock of an earthquake accompanies by a very awful noise, resembling loud but distant thunder, but hoarser and vibrating, which was followed in a few minutes by the complete saturation of the atmosphere with sulphureous vapor, causing total darkness…” Another eyewitness was the famed ornithologist, John James Audubon, who was working in Missouri and riding his horse when the earthquake struck. He described it to be the sound of a tornado and that his horse reacted immediately as if his footing was on smooth ice. Audubon observed the shrubs and trees moving from their roots and “the ground rose and fell like the ruffled water of a lake.” Audubon wrote that he felt like a child in a cradle as his horse rocked back-and-forth with imminent danger around him and followed by a disagreeable odor when the earthquake subsided. Trained to observe nature, Audubon’s descriptions offered more detail of the day the Earth shook Missouri’s boot heel region and caused the Mississippi to run backward and church bells in Boston to ring”. This documentary tells the story of the historic earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 that struck near the town of New Madrid, Missouri and proceeded to rattle a major part of the country for the next six months. References : Websites New Madrid Earthquakes Southeast Missouri New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811-1812 Missouri Life: New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811-1812 U.S. Geological Survey: Summary of 1811-1812 New Madrid Earthquakes Sequence LAND GRANTS RESULTING FROM EARTHQUAKE So much land was destroyed, and landmarks lost, as a result of the massive earthquakes, that the government issued “New Madrid certificates” in the Boonslick area to those who suffered major losses in the New Madrid area. It was easier (and less expensive) exchanging for land in the Boonslick area rather than trying to resurvey and determine the boundaries of everyone’s original property down there. So a lot of people moved and took up residence in the Boonslick area. Sixty land grants were issued for what was to become Cooper County. History, Art & Archives: New Madrid Earthquakes Relief Far Outliers: Effects of the New Madrid Relief Act of 1815 Etienne Hayseed: New Madrid Claims in Missouri Apr 08, 2015 · - American State Papers, Public Lands, Volume 4, page 155, No. 453, Grants of Land to People of New Madrid County, Missouri, Who Suffered by Earthquakes - American State Papers, Public Lands, Volume 4, page 749, No. 504, New Madrid Claim in Missouri Jul 12, 2007 · On February 17, 1815 [three years after the strongest earthquakes in U.S. history], Congress passed the New Madrid Relief Act, the first federal disaster relief act in U.S. history. Melton's History of Cooper County - Chapter 06 Are you one of these land speculators, stranger?" The New Madrid earthquake occurred December 16, 1811 , with recurring shocks ... an act to relieve sufferers of the New Madrid earthquake. Landowners in the flooded districts could relinquish ... speculators, mostly from St. Louis, invaded the New Madrid district, buying claims from $40 to $60 ... 640 acres. Demand for certificates encouraged dishonest New Madrid settlers to sell their claims over and ... It led to endless law suits. Many New Madrid certificates were located in the Boon's ... St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, Cape Girardeau and New Madrid. In 1813 Washington County was formed from ... County was carved from the west of New Madrid. When formed, Howard not only included the “Corn” Taylor moved to Cooper County in about 1817 as the result of the New Madrid earthquake. He brought with him, from his native state of Kentucky, much livestock and a good supply of seed corn. Much of his land had been given to him by the government, in retribution for his land which was lost to the Mississippi River during the New Madrid earthquake. At one time, he had extensive land holdings in Cooper County.

COOPER COUNTY TRAIN DEPOTS The first MKT Depot was built in Boonville around 187, just before the railroad reached Sedalia on its way to Boonville. The railroad continued on to Boonville, crossing the Missouri river on its way to Chicago. The original Depot was on the west side of the tracks and was used mainly for freight. After the second depot was built, the first Depot was used for storage until 1950 when it was removed. Two pictures of the first Depot. Notice that the terrain was much different than it is today. Photos from Wayne Lammers Collection First Boonville Train Depot Notice the steep incline Close Up of First Boonville Train Depot First Depot The second MKT depot, built in 1911 on the West side of the tracks, was a Mission style building which today is the location of the Boonville Area Chamber of Commerce, and it is also the start of the KATY walking and bike trail. The Katy Rail Road built 5 Spanish Mission Style Depots, and the Boonville Depot is the only one surviving. First Boonville Depot Second and Current Boonville Depot Lamine Train Depot Pleasant Green Depot Pleasant Green Depot