History of Pettis County, Missouri, Part 4

Author: McGruder, Mark A
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Topeka, [Kan.] : Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 962

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This type is closely associated with the Eldon silt loam, and has the same agricultural value.

The surface soil of the Eldon silt loam consists of a dark-brown to dark-gray or brownish-gray, mellow silt loam, grading at eight to ten inches into a brown or yellowish-brown, friable silt loam, which gradually becomes lighter in color and heavier in texture with increasing depth. The subsoil, beginning at fifteen to eighteen inches, is a yellowish-brown, crumbly silty clay.

The Elden silt loam has its greatest development in the southeastern part of the county in the area drained by Flat Creek. It occupies long, gentle slopes on the gently rolling uplands. For the most part it is prairie, although some of the lower slopes are forested with oak, elm, and hickory.

It is of primary importance in the management of the Eldon silt loam to add large quantities of organic matter, and thus improve the physical condition and the water-holding capacity of the soil. Like the

HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY

Crawford silt loam, it responds readily to manurial treatment. Numerous tests indicate that the soil is in need of lime.

The soils of the Bates series are dark brown. The subsoils are yellowish to mottled red, yellow, and brown. The types are derived from sandstone and shale. They are distinguished from the soils of the asso- ciated Oswego series by the darker color of the surface soils. They are usually well drained and treeless and have a level to undulating topog- raphy. In pettis County two members of this series are mapped, the Bates loam and silt loam.

The Bates loam is closely associated with the silt loam of the same series. Typically the soil is a brown or grayish-brown loam, becoming lighter in color with depth. The subsoil, beginning at about fifteen inches, is a light-brown, friable sandy clay loam, highly mottled with red and yellow.

The Bates loam has a rolling topography, with prevailingly moderate to gentle slopes. The loose, open structure of the soil and the rolling topog- raphy render the drainage good, and the soil is early and easily worked. Good crops are produced where the soil has sufficient depth and is prop- erly managed, particularly with reference to conservation of moisture. Corn yields are about the same as on the Bates silt loam. Cane and cowpeas make a good growth on this soil in seasons of scant rainfall. In the western part of the county the soil of the Bates silt loam is a dark- brown to grayish-brown, mellow silt loam. This is underlain at about eight to ten inches by brown silt loam, which changes at about eighteen inches to light yellowish-brown, friable silty clay, mottled with red, brown, and gray, and becoming lighter in color and texture with depth. In the northern part of the county the type has a dark-gray to yellowish-brown surface soil and a yellowish-brown subsoil, and the red mottlings are absent.

The Bates silt loam is widely distributed over the county. Like the Boone silt loam, it occurs near draws and on slopes where the Oswego and Summit soils have been removed and the underlying shale and sandstone material exposed.

The topography is gently rolling and for the most part consists of gentle slopes along draws and streams and the rather indistinct escarp- ment slopes found in the northern part of the county. All the type is in cultivation.

The Boone series includes light-gray soils, containing a small per-

HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY

centage of organic matter, underlain by pale-yellowish to slightly red- dish yellow and often mottled, porous subsoils. A bedrock substratum is frequently encountered at shallow depths. The soils of this series are residual in origin, and are derived from sandstones and shales, mainly of Carboniferous age. The topography is rolling to stepply sloping, and the soils are usually forested. Only one member of the Boone series, the silt loam, is encountered in Pettis County.

Areas of this type occur throughout the western half of the county. They occupy gentle slopes and low-lying flats, usually forming narrow strips along the. streams between the bottom land and the Oswego or Summit silt loam.

The soil is evidently composed of the same material as the adjoin- ing upland types, though it has acquired distinct characteristics through the modification of this material by different drainage conditions and timber growth. The Boone silt loam is not considered a very productive soil. It is low in organic matter and lime and does not retain moisture well.

The soils of the Pettis series are brown to dark brown in color. At a depth of six to twelve inches the soil grades into a brown to yellow- ish-brown, friable subsoil, slightly heavier than the soil. The color, texture, and structure continue practically uniform throughout the three- foot section, though faint grayish mottlings may appear below a depth of thirty inches. These soils are residual from shales, and the topography is smooth to undulating. The series is represented in this county by a single type, the Pettis silt loam. It is darker than the Crawford silt loam and has a deeper soil.

All of the type is in a high state of cultivation, and it is recognized as one of the best soils in the county. The type is used for the production of the staple crops of the region, and good yields are obtained.

The Gerald soils are gray to light brown in color. The subsurface material is light gray, friable, and slightly heavier than the surface soil. This layer grades at twelve to eighteen inches into a pale-yellow to drab, silty, rather plastic clay mottled with brown or yellowish brown.

The Gerald silt loam is closely associated with the Summit silt loam and the Pettis silt loam, and, like the latter, is a transitional type between the black prairie soils and the lower lying residual types. The soil is variable in color, and in general is inferior agriculturally to the surrounding types.

HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY

The Osage series includes dark-gray to black alluvial soils, composed principally of wash from sandstone and shale soils of the prairie regions. Two types are encountered in Pettis County-the Osage silt loam and clay. The Osage silt loam to a depth of eight to twelve inches consists of a dark-gray to almost black silt loam. This is underlain by somewhat lighter colored and more compact material of the same texture. When dry the soil has an ashy-brown color. The lower subsoil is usually a drab or dark-gray silty clay, retaining this characteristic to a depth of several feet. There are some included areas in which this soil is gray.

The Osage silt loam is the most extensive of the alluvial types and is found in all parts of the county. The soil material shows a close relation in its color and textural characteristics to the upland soils from which it is derived. The material forming this type has been washed down from the higher adjoining land, carried varying distances by the streams and flood waters, and deposited. The soil in the Muddy Creek bottoms, derived from the black prairies, is darker in color than the soil in the Flat Creek bottoms, which is derived from the light-colored prairie soils. It is one of the most valuable types in the county and is highly prized for the production of corn.

The Robertsville soils are gray to light gray in the surface portion. The subsoils are gray to almost white and compact, passing into a lower stratum of compact, impervious, plastic clay of grayish to brownish color, with some faint mottling of reddish brown. The flat surface and im- pervious subsoil cause many areas to be poorly drained. These soils con- sist of old stream alluvium occupying terraces and abandoned streanı valleys no longer subject to overflow. The soil includes material washed principally from limestone, sandstone, and shale soils. Only one member of the series, the Robertsville silt loam, is recognized in Pettis County. The Robertsville silt loam is locally known as "gray second bottom." The soil to a depth of eight to twelve inches is a gray silt loam, which is very light gray or almost white when dry.

The Robertsville silt loam has its greatest development along Flat Creek and its tributaries, although smaller areas occur along the streams in other parts of the county. The soil is alluvial in origin, but has received a large quantity of wash material from the adjoining Oswego silt loam.

The surface soils of the Chariton series are dark in color, ranging from dark gray to black. The subsurface layer, encountered at depths of ten to fifteen inches, is usually lighter in color than the surface ma- terial.

HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY

The Chariton silt loam is similar to the Robertsville silt loam in topography, origin, and texture, but differs from the latter in color and organic-matter content. The Chariton silt loam is darker than the first- bottom land and is considered one of the strongest soils in the county.

The type occurs as low, poorly defined second bottoms along the streams in widely scatterel locations. It is a rich, productive soil, well suited to the production of the staple crops of the region.

The Huntington soils are light brown to brown, and the subsoils yel- low to light brown. Frequently there is little change in the color or character of the material from the surface downward. The soils are developed in the limestone, sandstone, and shale sections of the humid region in the first bottoms of streams, and are subject to overflow. They consist of material derived from limestone, sandstone, and shale soils. These are the best drained first-bottom soils of the region. The silt loam is the only representative of the Huntington series in Pettis County. The soil of the Huntington silt loam is a very dark brown to almost black, mellow silt loam, with little change in color or texture in the soil section. This type comprises the rich, productive bottom lands along the streams in the region of Crawford soils in the northeastern part of the county.

CHAPTER V.

THE INDIANS

PRECEDED THE WHITE-OSAGES-TREATY OF FIRE PRAIRIE-TREATY AT ST. LOUIS-BOUNDARIES FIXED BY TREATIES-COST OF LAND PER SQUARE MILE UNDER TREATIES-APPEARANCE-MANNER-CUSTOMS OF OSAGES- INDIANS AND HALFBREEDS IN PETTIS COUNTY-ONE WHO SAW THEM IN EARLY SIXTIES.

The predecessors of the white settlers in this section of Missouri were the Great and Little Osage Indians. Their first treaty was made with the General Government in the fall of 1808 at Fort Osage, a fort on the Missouri River between the present cities of Independence and Lexing- ton, Missouri. By this treaty the government and the tribe, there was but one tribe, fixed the eastern boundary of Indian possession as beginning "on the Missouri River, five miles above Fire Prairie (some point between Lexington and Independence), thence to run due south to the Arkansas River, and thence down this river to the Mississippi." All the territory east of this line was relinquished to the United States, which relinquish- ment would, of course, include Pettis County. There was some dispute as to the location of this eastern boundary line running south through what is now the State of Missouri, but it is now generally conceded that the line was west of the western border of Johnson County at least ten miles. Thus we learn that Pettis County was not Indian territory after the treaty at Fort Osage in 1808, but that it was prior to this time. The Osages were here after the treaty of 1808, returning to their former hunting grounds, "roaming through," as some of our old settlers tell us their fathers have told them. Historians of the State and of adjoining counties have given us a fair insight of the Osages and their history is worth repeating.

A later treaty was made in St. Louis in 1825 with these Indians

SEDALIA PUBLIC LIBRARY.

HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY

by which they gave up all claim to territory in Missouri State, reserved by them in their treaty of 1808 at Fort Osage. It might be of interest to know that these Indians by the treaty of "Fire Prairie," Fort Osage, accepted in cash the sum of $1,200 and the payment, yearly in provisions, of $1,500 for their relinquishment. Pettis County then was bought for about five cents per square mile in cash and six cents in trade.

Our ideas relative to the Indians are most generally incorrect. We learn, from reliable authority and from books telling us of the Osage, that they were of remarkable height, rarely finding one below six feet; that their bodies were agile and still muscular, well formed, straight athletic and, almost without exception, of fine figure. They were athletes. "The Osages," says one author, "are so tall and robust as almost to war- rant the appellation of the term gigantic; few of them appear to be under six feet and many of them are above it. Their shoulders and visages are broad, which tends to strengthen the idea of their being giants." They were swift in their movements and capable of almost untold endur- ance. They possessed the faculty of saying little and never interrupting in conversation. They were not drunkards, but were noisy when drunk. They seldom drank, however, and one who did was avoided by his tribes- men. They possessed an exceptional knowledge of astronomic bodies, measured time by the waxing and waning of the moon and directions by the north star and their sunning instinct. Insanity was unheard of among this tribe and they bore pain, distress and sickness with great courage and fortitude. Their hunting grounds were along streams and tributaries ; they would quarrel and fight over their hunting grounds and would bravely engage, with one another, in battle. They raised few crops, some however of corn and beans and pumpkins. They were reliable, trustworthy and hospitable to a fault. They were always honorable and conscientious in their dealings with the government and did not treat treaties lightly, but lived up to them to the letter. Their religion was the "Indian Religion," believing that at his death the faithful warrior rode his pony over the "Milky Way" to the "Happy Hunting Grounds" in the great beyond.

The Osages resented the white man's use of their hunting grounds. They had sense enough to disapprove the white man's want of hospi- tality. Their lodges were constructed with upright posts put firmly in the ground, about twenty feet in height, with a crotch at the top, and placed about twelve feet distant from each other. In the crotch of these

HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY

posts they put a ridge pole, over which they bent small poles, the ends of which were brought down and fastened to a row of sticks about five feet in height, these sticks being fastened together with three horizontal bars, forming the flank walls of the lodge; the gable-ends were board slabs, rounded off at the ridge pole. The whole of the building and the sides were covered with matting made of rushes two or three feet in length and four feet in width, joined together and entirely excluding rain. The doors were on each side of the building. The fires were made in holes in the center of the lodge, the smoke ascended through aper- tures left in the roof for that purpose. At one end of the building was a raised platform about three feet high, which was covered with skins, generally of bear. On this platform reposed the honored guests. Around the interior of the walls sometimes hung ornamental mats and other neat workmanships. All this structure made quite an imposing as well as comfortable abode. These were abandoned frequently when the hunting season came around and the Indian went to the timber for his hunt. Their cooking utensils were of a very simple kind and limited in quantity, a brass or iron kettle, and wooden bowls and spoons. Every person, male and female, carried the knife in their girdle. They had no regularity in eating. They would eat four or five times a day when food was plentiful and frequently do all day without food when food was scarce.

Sometimes villages and lodges were built close to one another. The Osages were quite systematic. They separated their people into classes. Some were warriors and hunters and cooks and doctors. The doctors also exercised priestly functions. The young buck or warrior who showed cowardice was sentenced to associate for life with the squaws, to wear squaw dress and do drudgery. He lost respect of both male and female of the tribe.

The Osage government was democratic in form. All matters were taken before the whole tribe and after full discussion, decided upon by the whole assembly, by majority vote. Generally a chief was chief by in- heritance. This, however, was not universal. Sometimes a bold warrior, after some great accomplishment by bold bravery in war was chosen chief.

Little progress was made by the Osages in educational life except in the tradition of their tribes. Establishment of schools for them by the government was a failure. They liked to roam, hunt and live at ease.

When they left Missouri they went south to the "Indian Territory,"

HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY

then called, now the State of Oklahoma. Emigrants to Missouri in 1818 found this country chiefly inhabited by Indians and also by a great num- ber of half-breed French and Spanish, the latter very undesirable citi- zens. They were principally stockmen, dealing in horses, had no perma- nent or fixed abode, roaming from one place to another where pasture was best for their stock and where they could live with the least effort. From May until October they roamed the country watered by the Mis- souri and Osage rivers and when autumn came, they left and would go south to "Indian Territory" and Southeastern Kansas. These half- breeds retained some of the refinement and customs of their former civilization. They were cruel and treacherous, spoke Indian dialects and the languages of Spain and France; they would often become commanders of Indian bands and lead them into bloody encounters with the early settlers.

The Indians, in many respects, were unlike the half-breeds. They were permanent inhabitants of the country, had villages and plantations. From what we can learn from books and early settlers these Indians were undoubtedly the Osages-judging, too, from their customs and mode of living. They did not, however, live in great numbers here after the treaty of "Fire Prairie." Some were here, however, in the early sixties. Mrs. Kate A. Crandall, widow of the late O. A. Crandall, tells us that she has seen Indians riding through the streets of Sedalia on their ponies, painted up and wearing their robes and feathers. Mrs. Crandall says they came, usually, in numbers from ten to twenty, from the East and South and that when they returned they went toward the Lamine River and Flat Creek; that they would create no serious disturbance when coming to town except that they usually yelled on coming in and going out. She has seen them trade and buy provisions.

There is yet some evidence of their civilization in the southern part of Pettis County. One place in particular is on the farm now owned by H. K. Benty, the attorney. There in the feed lot are yet to be seen ridges of uniform height and size and distance apart. These ridges, we are reliably told, were once the floors of the Indian wigwams, built up above the level of the ground to keep out moisture. When these Indians left Pettis County they, too, went toward the South and took up their abode in Indian Territory.

CHAPTER VI.

THE NAME

WHY CALLED PETTIS-HON. SPENCER PETTIS-POLITICAL TURMOIL-DUEL ON SAND BAR-DEATH OF MR. PETTIS-DEATH OF MR. BIDDLE-COUNTY TAKEN FROM SALINE AND COOPER AND NAMED.

Pettis County is entitled to a historic name and has it and the name contains much history.

It has been the custom, since the foundation of the American Gov- ernment, to commemorate the names of heroes and men of brilliancy. Our county followed this precedent and took its name from one of the most brilliant men Missouri has ever honored, the Hon. Spencer Pettis. He was the third representative in Congress from Missouri.

Mr. Pettis was not a Missourian by birth. He was born in Virginia in 1802, chose the law as his profession and began his practice in Fayette, Howard County, Missouri. At twenty-seven years of age Mr. Pettis reached the fullness of his political genius as a Democratic candidate for Congress. In this campaign there were two other candidates, Edward Bates, who was a Whig, and William Carr Lane, a Democrat. The two Democratic candidates divided strength and the success of Mr. Bates, the Whig, seemed certain. Suggestion was finally made to Mr. Pettis and Mr. Bates that one of them withdraw. Finally, by agreement, the question of who should withdraw was left to Col. Thomas H. Benton, who, without any hesitation, decided that Mr. Pettis should continue the campaign. These days were long before the advent of telegraph or telephonic communication, there were but few newspapers and the fact of Lane's withdrawal was heralded throughout the country by means of handbills.

In the election, Mr. Pettis was elected by a good majority, to the

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HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY

Twenty-first Congress, where he served from December 7, 1829, to March 3, 1831.

The archives at Washington disclose this brief bit of history: "Spen- cer Pettis, St. Louis County, Missouri, elected August, 1828, for two years. Re-elected 1830. Killed in a duel with Biddle, August, 1831. Term of service, three years."

In 1830, there was much political turmoil and strife in Missouri. Spencer Pettis was again a candidate for Congress. He entered, with Col. Thomas H. Benton and others, the strife against United States Banks. General Jackson, too, had always opposed United States Banks with his influence and administration. Mr. Pettis was caustic and severe in his denunciation of the United States Banks. He was the political hero of this campaign, defeating the Hon. David Barton, who had re- cently returned from the United States Senate and entered the race for the lower house. During the campaign, Mr. Pettis had a personal quarrel with Maj. Thomas Biddle, who was at that time paymaster in the United States Army. Nicholas Biddle, a brother of the major, was president of the United States Bank and still another brother, Commodore Biddle, was of the United States Navy. Mr. Pettis, as a result of some spoken and printed insult, challenged Mr. Biddle to a duel. Mr. Biddle accepted the challenge. The date fixed was Friday, August 27, 1831, and the place, the sand-bar opposite the city of St. Louis. Mr. Biddle was near sighted and for that reason the combatants agreed that the distance between them should be measured at five feet. They were so close to- gether that their pistols overlapped when presented. Both men fired simultaneously and both fell mortally wounded. When their physicians informed them of their condition the duelists readily forgave each other.

Mr. Pettis died of his wound on Saturday, August 28th, and was buried on Sunday, August 29, 1831. Mr. Biddle died of his wound on Sunday, August 29th, the same day that Mr. Pettis was buried. After the Pettis-Biddle duel the name, "Bloody Island" was given the sand-bar where it was fought.

When Pettis County was carved out of Saline and Cooper Counties, January 26, 1833, the people, with reverence, remembered the name of Spencer Pettis, their political hero and champion of their rights, and in honor to his memory named this county, Pettis.

CHAPTER VII.

EARLY SETTLERS

WHY THEY CAME-CUSTOMS-HABITS-CHARACTER-PRIVATIONS-HOMES AND MODE OF LIVING-HOSPITALITY-FURNITURE-MILLS-GAME AND FISH- FARMING IMPLEMENTS-WHO THEY WERE.

The early settlers of Pettis County, like those of most other counties, came here in search of new homes, new advantages and opportunities. They found the country uninhabited, except by Indians and some half- breed Spanish and French. They were, in truth, pioneers, as much so in this locality as were the "Pilgrim Fathers," who landed on our New England shores, to build up their own civilization and government, bring- ing with them habits and customs of their former homes. They lacked neither hospitality, generosity nor refinement. Some, of course, were adventurers, pure and simple, but such did not leave the stamp of their form of civilization on the early history of the county ; neither have they done so since. The adventurer was not a permanent fixture here. He came and went and, when he did stay, he absorbed the good traits of the sturdy pioneers surrounding him and became a part of their society with their ideas. Many of the pioneers of Pettis County can be traced to the old world from whence they came.

The period embracing the decade prior to 1820 may be considered constituting the very earliest stage of pioneer life. The pioneer cared little about preserving history of people or times; he was busy building up and trying to carve fortune for himself in his new home, "The West." This period is not marked by stirring events, but with toil, privation and sacrifice incident to the formation of society and the building of homes, and for the events which follow civilization as it advanced. The settlers were not burdened with cares attendant upon even moderate wealth.

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History of Pettis County, Missouri, Part 4

Author: McGruder, Mark A Publication date: 1919 Publisher: Topeka, [Kan.] : Historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 962

Author: McGruder, Mark A
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Topeka, [Kan.] : Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 962