USA > Missouri > Caldwell County > History of Clinton and Caldwell Counties, Missouri > Part 13
USA > Missouri > Clinton County > History of Clinton and Caldwell Counties, Missouri > Part 13
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With the short skirt, the arms and legs and neck "cleared for action," the swift rides and stiff breezes of the auto, down comes the hat over the ears to the very eyebrow, and fashion demanded that these be plucked to a mere "hair line." The coiffure is remarkable in its protection of the ears from these same stiff breezes and permeating dust of the now uni- versal automobile. Time grows shorter with the hum and din of elec- tricity, the hurry of autos and flying machines and the hair once the glory of woman is cropped off with more reason than her grandmother had in her day.
And now for still more freedom, basket ball, tennis and golf, trans- continental auto trips and accompanying hikes plead the cause of the knickerbocker, and they are being used with increasing favor by the fair sex, until Dr. Mary Walker, of international fame for her male attire, would lose some prominence were she living today.
The mature woman say 40 or 50 years of age in the seventies and eighties wore black, brown, or gray, her skirt sweeping the floor, a "dress bonnet" tied with the bow just under her chin, or if a little inclined to frivolity, to one side. Now the grandmother avails herself of the short skirt, the open neck, the short (or no) sleeves, the same in many cases as the girl or young woman.
But whatever may be said facetiously of extremes in any fashion, that of 1922, with simplicity of straight lines and "one-piece dresses," brings an ease of action and general comfort to the whole body com- mendable over many former unnatural lines, and really burdensome fur- belows.
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W. H. S. McGLUMPHY
PART II. History of Caldwell County
CHAPTER I.
TOPOGRAPHY AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION.
LOCATION-PROPORTION OF PRAIRIE AND TIMBER LAND-STREAMS AND DRAIN- AGE-CROPS PRODUCED-FRUIT-SURFACE AND SOIL-TIMBER ALONG STREAMS-LAND VALUES-RURAL AND TOWN LIFE.
Caldwell County is located in the northwestern part of the State of Missouri, about 60 miles from the northern boundary of the state, 40 miles east of St. Joseph and about 140 miles west of Hannibal. In area, it is 18 miles north and south, by 24 miles east and west, and comprises 432 square miles, or 276,480 acres.
Originally, the county was composed of about one-third timber and two-thirds prairie land, but with the onward march of progress, the timber has, to a large extent, been cleared away, until at the present time there is not a great deal of timber to be found at any place in the county, and that mostly in small tracts along the various streams. The prairie lands are gently rolling and present a beautiful landscape. Nowhere in the Middle West may be found finer prairie lands than those along the northern and southern parts of the county, and especially along the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad. Not only does the land present a pleasing appearance, but it is productive, rich and rolling, with plenty of drainage and very fertile. Along the streams and valleys the land is even more productive and the county is in a high state of cultivation.
The principal stream is Shoal Creek, which is a tributary of Grand River. It flows through the center of the county, and, with its tribu-
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HISTORY OF CLINTON AND CALDWELL COUNTIES
taries, forms the natural drainage for almost the entire county. Shoal Creek is fed on the north by Brushy, West and East Steer, Mill, Tom, Cottonwood, Little Otter, Big Otter, Flat, Turkey and Panther Creeks. On the south its tributaries are Plumb, Goose, Log, Brush, Crabapple and Mud Creeks. The low banks of Mud Creek formerly were frequently over- flowed, doing much damage to crops, but a few years ago a large drainage ditch was digged along this stream, straightening its course and relieving the congestion of water caused by heavy rains.
The extreme southwestern corner of the county is drained by Crooked River.
The land of Caldwell County produces not only as fine corn as is grown anywhere, but wheat, oats, alfalfa, timothy and bluegrass in abundance. Red and white clover both make a rich and strong growth. It is an ideal grazing country and many well-fed herds feed leisurely on its pasture and drink of it streams and springs. While springs are not so abundant as in some other counties, yet there are numerous small springs, and the very best of water is easily obtainable at a depth averaging perhaps not to exceed 20 feet. As a stock-growing county, none is more suitable or better adapted to the raising of fine stock, and few are as highly developed along this line.
Fruit growing is also very successful in Caldwell County and it pro- duces many fine orchards of apple, peach and cherry, plum, pear and other fruit, while small fruit is abundant. Strawberries, blackberries, rasp- berries, currants, etc., are of the finest quality and seldom fail of a good yield, and require only reasonable cultivation to insure large production.
The surface soil of the county is mostly black loam with a clay sub-, soil. In the timber land the loam is not so deep usually as on the prairies and is underlaid by yellow clay. As already stated, about two-thirds of the area of the county was originally prairie land, the timber being located along the water courses. Some one has advanced the reason for this to be that because the fires which burned over the prairie were checked and stopped by the streams, thereby saving the young timber and giving it a chance to grow. That sometimes the tall, luxuriant grass would accumu- late two or three years upon the prairie without being burned off. Then in some dry time, perhaps a windy day, fires would break out and sweep rapidly over the country, consuming everything in its course, only being stopped by some stream or want of inflamable matter.
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HISTORY OF CLINTON AND CALDWELL COUNTIES
In the course of time the timber being saved along the streams would kill out or prevent the growth of prairie grass on the shaded and sheltered ground and thus make the timber the more secure from prairie fires. It is thus that the early settlers account for the fact that the upland was prin- cipally prairie.
Today Caldwell County is one of the most favored counties in the state. Land values have advanced rapidly the past few years, the farms are well kept and the people are contented and happy. Modern conven- iences are at hand in the way of telephone, rural route, and many farm dwellings are modern in every respect; the public highways are being greatly improved since the advent of the automobile, and life in the country is becoming more enjoyable because of these things. And now that the radio is available, even the most remote home may be in touch with the large cities and enjoy programs of music, addresses by famous men, have almost hourly market and weather reports if desired, and are no longer cut off from civilization because of bad roads or bad weather.
Caldwell County city and village life has also made great strides, and it has within its borders some wide-awake towns, composed of business men of energy and progress, towns where it is a pleasure to trade and visit, and a class of business men as a whole that can not be surpassed by any similar community. At proper place in this narrative more will be said in regard to the growth of the towns and of the enterprises of special nature which they have builded. For push and progress Caldwell County is keeping well to the forefront and it is a place where any one might well be proud to dwell.
CHAPTER II.
NATURAL RESOURCES.
FERTILITY OF SOIL-SEASONS-DIVERSITY OF CROPS-IMPROVEMENTS IN METH- ODS OF CULTIVATION-RAILROAD DEVELOPMENT-FINANCIAL CONDITIONS -COAL-CLAY-QUARRIES UNDEVELOPED RESOURCES.
The natural advantages of this section of Missouri are of such nature that the Garden of Eden might have been located in Caldwell County, and in fact, a certain sect, of whom quite a little will be said in these pages, are said to have found evidences that this noted garden was located in northwest Missouri. There is nothing that will not grow within its borders, and its fertile soil, equable climate, and beautiful scenery make it one of the most desirable portions of the West.
It furnishes a variety of seasons unequalled by any plot of earth of similar size. Weather here gives expression to a variety of moods which are as numerous as are the sands of the seashore. From the cold, and snow and ice of winter it is but a short step to the dry, hot, torrid condi- tions oftimes experienced in August. Yet these extremes are rare indeed. Taking all in all, the climate of Caldwell County is ideally adapted to arousing in man those desires for activity which makes the temperate zone the place of the greatest progress of civilization. The winter just past, while California was shivering in snow and fog, Missouri was enjoy- ing sunshine and pleasant weather, and sojourners from the West, return- ing, declared they would not again seek better climatic conditions outside of old Missouri.
Diversified farming is practiced extensively. No one crop is counted upon in any season. All grains, fruits and vegetables adapted to tem- perate regions have a natural habitat here. It has outdone Kentucky in the growing of bluegrass; Kansas in the acre yield of wheat; Illinois in the production of prize corn, and Iowa in producing choice hogs. In fact, Missouri excels any adjoining state in everything except publicity.
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HISTORY OF CLINTON AND CALDWELL COUNTIES
Resplendent in opportunity, Caldwell County is rich in natural re- sources, has untold wealth in her soil, and in her people-the best on earth-you will find a hospitality, a sympathy and interest, that makes for a cordial welcome and an environment in which life is well worth the. living.
Caldwell County is the home of many prosperous farmers and stock- men, many of whom carry off valuable premiums and prizes each year on the fine stock and products of the farm which they produce.
Years ago, when land was cheap and much of it uninclosed, range pasture was available in large tracts, and stock raising was pursued on a larger scale than it is today, but many cars of fine hogs and cattle find their way to the city markets, to bring the highest market prices, from this county.
The soil of the county is especially well adapted to raising corn, oats, wheat, timothy, clover and bluegrass, as well as all kinds of vegetables, and many fine orchards are in the county. The method of cultivation has been much improved in late years. Cleaner farming, rotation of crops, analysis of the soil to ascertain what crop is most suitable, and many of the young men are now attending agriculture colleges and adapting their learning to and combining it with the experience of their fathers, thus enabling the land to return a much larger yield. In addition to the im- proved roads, the rural mail delivery, the automobile and the stately res- idences and the commodious barns give the farmer and his family a home of comfort and convenience, and the schools and churches near make community centers which invite the young people to remain on the farm.
The northern part of the county is traversed by the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, the first railroad to be built west of the Mississippi River, which furnishes excellent service in shipment of stock or of passen- ger service. The south part of the county is served by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, which was built through the county in 1887, about which time the new towns of Braymer and Cowgill sprang into existence.
The financial condition of the county is first class, the county long since being out of debt, with a substantial school fund on hand which is loaned for the benefit of the schools of the county. It has good county buildings, bridges, roads and numerous school houses, many of which are modern and well equipped.
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HISTORY OF CLINTON AND CALDWELL COUNTIES
The great bed of coal which underlies the greater part of Caldwell County is especially prominent in Hamilton and Kingston Townships. In the spring of 1882 a company was organized at Hamilton to prospect for coal, and in November, 1883, a vein of coal 26 inches in thickness was discovered at a depth of 306 feet. This was called the Tom Creek mine and was located southwest of Hamilton. A few years later another mine was sunk east of Hamilton, and the latter is now in operation, having been temporarily abandoned somtime previous to a couple of years ago, when it was reopened. The Tom Creek mine has been totally abandoned for many years. About the year 1890 the Dripping Springs coal mine, about a mile north of Kingston, was developed and was operated very successfully for about 10 years, but with the abandonment of the Hamilton & Kingston Railroad in 1901, it was compelled to close down. More will be said regarding this later on in this narrative. The coal mined in this county is ranked among the best to be obtained in Missouri.
In parts of Caldwell County there is a good quality of clay for vitrified brick, and in 1895 a vitrified brick plant was operated at Kingston. The writer has very distinct memories of assisting in excavating for this plant with pick and shovel at the munificent sum of one dollar per day of 10 hours. Whether the excessive pay for labor was responsible or not, the plant was soon closed down, but the material for brick remains in abundance.
There are some very excellent stone quarries in Caldwell County. One at Breckenridge was operated very successfully for several years and many car loads of stone shipped out. The Klondyke stone quarry near Kingston contains an almost inexhaustible supply of stone of a quality which has been pronounced by experts as being fully as good as the famous Bedford stone used so extensively for building purposes. Since the advent of the cement age, however, the stone quarries are no longer worked to any great extent.
Caldwell County is rich in natural resources, many of which are as yet waiting development, but as it is, it rivals any territory of like size and scope in the Middle West, possessing as it does everything necessary and desirable for the comfort and convenience of as fine class of people as may be found anywhere.
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CHAPTER III.
EXPLORATIONS.
DISCOVERY OF THE NEW WORLD-THE LURE OF ADVENTURE AND GOLD-PONCE DE LEON-FERNANDO DE SOTO-CORONADO-FATHER MARQUETTE-LA- SALLE-SPANISH AND FRENCH POSSESSIONS-DE BOURGEMONT.
When the new world was discovered and had wonderfully revealed itself to the adventurers and daring men of the Old World, the enterprise of Europe was startled into action. Those valient men who had won laurels among the mountains of Andalusia, on the fields of Flanders, and on the battlefields of Albion, sought a more remote field of adventure. The revelation of a new world and a new race, and communication between the old and the new, provided a field for fertile imagination. The fact was as astounding to the people then as it would be to us should we learn that Mars is peopled and that communication could be established between that planet and the earth.
The heroes of the ocean despised the range of Europe as too narrow, offering to their extravagant ambition nothing beyond mediocrity. Ambi- tion, avarice, and religious zeal were strangely blended, and the heroes of the main sailed to the west, as if bound on a new crusade, for infinite wealth and renown were to reward their piety, satisfy their greed, and satite their ambition.
America was the region of romance where their heated imagination could indulge in the boldest ornaments, the sands by the side of the clear runs of water sparkled with gold. Says a historian of the ocean, these adventurous heroes speedily prepared to fly by beckoning or whispering wheresoever they were called. They forsook certainties for the lure and hope of the more brilliant success.
To win provinces with the sword, divide wealth of empires, to plunder the accumulated treasure of some ancient Indian dynasty, to return from a roving expedition with a crowd of enslaved captives and a profusion of
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HISTORY OF CLINTON AND CALDWELL COUNTIES
spoils, soon to be ordinary dreams. Fame, fortune, life and all were squandered in the visions of wealth and renown. Even if the issue was uncertain, success greater than the boldest imagination had dared was sometimes attained.
It would be an interesting story to trace each hero across the ocean to the American continent, and through the three great gateways thereof, through which he entered the wilds of the great West. The accounts of the explorations and exploitations into the West read like romance. The trials through which the explorers passed were enough to make the stoutest hearts quail and to test the endurance of men of steel.
Juan Ponce de Leon, an old comrade of Christopher Columbus in his second voyage across the Atlantic, spent his youth in the military service of Spain, and shared in the wild exploits of predatory valor in the Granada. He was a fearless and gallant soldier. The revelation of a new world fired within him the spirit of youth and adventure. He was an old man, yet age had not tempered his love of hazardous enterprise to advance his fortune by conquest of kingdoms, and to retrieve a reputation not without blemish. His cheeks had been furrowed by years of hard service, but he believed the tale which was a tradition credited in Spain by those who were distinguished for intelligence of a fountain which possessed the virtue to renew the youth of those who drank of it or bathed in its healing waters. In 1513, with a squadron of three ships fitted out at his own expense, he landed on the coast of Florida, a few miles north of St. Augustine. Here he remained for many weeks, patiently and persistently exploring and penetrating the deep tangled wildwood, searching for gold and drinking of the waters of every stream, brook, rivulet and spring, and bathing in every fountain. The discoverer of Florida seeking immortality on earth, bereft of fortune and broken in spirit, found the sombre shadow of death in his second voyage in 1521. Contending with the implacable fury of the Indians, he died from an arrow wound received in an Indian fight. He was laid to rest on the island of Cuba.
Thus began the Spanish claim to that vast territory west of the Mis- sissippi, which included the Louisiana Province from the Mississippi west to the Rocky Mountains, and including the section of country later organ- ized into what is now Caldwell County.
Fernando De Soto, who had been with Pizarro in his conquest of Peru in 1533, inspired with the same hopes and ambitions as Ponce de Leon, undismayed by his failure, and inspiring others with confidence in his
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HISTORY OF CLINTON AND CALDWELL COUNTIES
plans, collected a large band of Spanish and Portuguese cavaliers. In 1538 his splendidly equipped six or seven hundred men, among whom were many gentlemen of position and wealth, set sail in nine vessels for the wonderful land of Eldorado. In addition to his men, he carried three hun- dred horses, a herd of swine, and some bloodhounds. It would be interest- ing to follow this expedition in its hazardous wanderings, but to do so would be taking too much space in this narrative. His route was in part through the country already made hostile by the cruelty and violence of the Spanish invader Narvaez. On April 25, 1541, De Soto reached the banks of the great Father of Waters, the Mississippi, supposed to be near the lower Chickasaw Bluffs, a few miles below the present city of Memphis, thus achieving fame and renown for the expedition and discoveries he made.
Here he crossed the river and pursued his course north along its west bank into the region of our own state now known as New Madrid. So far as the historian can determine, he was the first European to set foot on Missouri soil, and thus he strengthened the claim to the vast wilds of the far West for his sovereign, the King of Spain. He reached a village called Pocaha, the northernmost point of his travel, and remained there forty days, sending out various exploring parties. The location of this village can not now be identified. He explored the northwest, but if he really did penetrate what is now the central part of the state, it is not certain to what extent.
The country was said by the Indians to be thinly inhabited, and it abounded in buffalo in such numbers that maize could not be cultivated. We have in this story no further interest in De Soto's exploration and wanderings, save to say that the white man, with his insatiable greed, injustice and cruelty, was made known to the red men of the West. And because of the white man's traits, a hatred arose on the part of the Indians, which further inflamed by succeeding outrages, ripened into the bitterest hatred and cost the lives of thousands of harmless settlers in the years following.
Other exploration followed in succession, and though the experiences would read like a romance, the scope of this story precludes an account of the wonderful exploits and adventures of these early explorers.
While De Soto traversed the wilderness from the southeast, another Spanish cavalcade under Francisco de Coronado, at almost the same time, invaded it from the southwest. The expedition consisted of three hundred
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Spanish adventurers, mostly mounted, well armed, richly caparsioned, and well provisioned. They started their march with flying colors and bound- less expectations. The Viceroy of Mexico, from whence they started, accompanied them on their journey for two days. Every officer seemed fitted to lead an expedition wherever danger threatened or hope lured. More young men of the proudest families of Spain were in the ranks of this expedition than had ever been rallied together for a similar adventure.
An Indian slave had told wonders of the seven cities of Cibola, the land of buffaloes that lay to the north between the oceans and beyond the deserts. He represented this country as abounding in silver and gold beyond the wildest dreams. The Spaniards, in what was then called New Spain, trusting implicitly in the truth of this story and hundreds of others equally mythical, burned with ambition to subdue the rich provinces. Several historians who were participants in this expedition have preserved the events of the adventurous march, and it would seem that so much has been written, based on what the participants of the expedition saw and experienced, at least the course pursued, the routes traversed, and the distances traveled by Coronado and his army, that there should be no doubt in regard to these matters. This, however, is far from being the case, and the entire matter is left largely in doubt.
It seems to be well authenticated, however, that Coronado entered Missouri in the southern part, but how far north he went we do not know. Some have claimed, and with some reason, that he reached the Missouri River, in the central part of the state.
Coronado and De Soto both treated the Indians with barbarous cruelty. Their great hopes of limitless riches and conquered province became as ashes in their hands. Their men, after long marches for months through the wilderness, became tattered, disgruntled and surly. They were burdens upon the red men whom they visited in the different villages, and con- sumed their maize. The Indians were distrustful and suspicious, and an inborn hatred for the white men insistently grew in their breasts, and was handed down by tradition with growing rancor to future generations. The fabled cities of Cibola were found to be miserable mud huts. Indian guides lured them from place to place with wonderful stories, that the white men might be held from their own country.
It is related that a young Zuni brave represented that he was not a Zuni, but an enemy of that tribe, and belonged to the country of Quivera, far to the north. In a glowing word picture he described his country and
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HISTORY OF CLINTON AND CALDWELL COUNTIES
insisted that the Spaniards visit there, in these words: "Come with me, O mighty chief, to my country, watered by the mighty river Quivera, wherein are fishes as large as the horses you ride, and upon whose cur- rents float large and beautiful boats with many colored sails, in which rest the lords of the country at ease, on downy couches and canopies rich with gold. Come, see our gardens of roses, where our great ones take their siesta under the spreading trees that pierce the very heavens in their towering height. There gold and silver are as stones on a rocky way. Precious jewels and riches beyond the dreams of avarice, O mighty chief, are yours for the asking. What you can take is but as a cup of water from the great lake. Come, O mighty chief, and follow me, for I will guide you to the land of riches and plenty."
Tradition has it that Coronado, arriving near the Missouri, the Zuni brave said to him, "I have lied to you. I am a Zuni. I witnessed your cruelties to my people, and have brought you here. I hope you will perish before you reach your home. I am satisfied, and now I am ready to die."
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