USA > Missouri > Vernon County > History of Vernon County, Missouri : past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county Vol. I > Part 46
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The springs are five in number, and each contains water of a different character from the others. One is strongly impregnated with iron, another with sulphur, and so on. An analysis by a prominent St. Louis chemist shows that the water of the largest spring contains potassium, sodium, magnesium, carbonic acid, calcium, iron, nitric acid, lithia, sulphuric acid and organic mat- ter. The total amount of solids in a gallon is 31.26 grains. The business interests of Fair Haven are represented by a general store conducted by True & Son, and a good hotel conducted by W. H. Thomas.
HARWOOD.
The village of Harwood, in the southwestern part of Bacon township, was laid out in May, 1882, by John T. Birdseye, agent for Charles E. Brown, of St. Louis, the proprietor, who had for some time owned the site. The first building was a combined store and dwelling by C. F. Coates, and was put up on block 8 before the town was surveyed, but after it was contemplated. Other first inhabitants were G. W. Steincross, who had lived half a mile away for some years; and Jesse D. Patton, W. S. Hag- gard, James P. Clagett. The depot was not built until January, 1883, but by May following all of the lots in the original town had been sold, and an addition was laid out. Mr. Birdseye was the agent for the proprietor during the time. The school house was built in 1883.
The village now has a population of two hundred and fifty- one, and is a thriving little burg, the amount of business done being entirely out of proportion to its size. It is an important shipping point for hay, grain and live stock.
In religious circles, the Baptist and Methodist denominations each own buildings and their services are well attended. Doctors W. P. Royston and G. S. Walker watch over the health of the community, while the Bank of Harwood, which was organized in 1895, with a capital of $10,000.00, with F. L. Ewing, president ; Morris Mann, vice president ; J. N. Staten, cashier, and C. Harle- son, assistant cashier, takes care of the financial end of the town.
There are in Harwood at this time two general stores. The Pioneer, J. Harleson proprietor, and the J. W. Sharp Mercantile Company, Sharp Brothers, hardware and furniture; Hays & Davis, drug store : Henderson & Harleson, harness dealers; Mrs.
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P. A. Allee, millinery ; Marshall & Radde, livery and sale stable ; Turk Brothers, lumber and farm machinery; Moss & Ewing, grain dealers; H. A. Loller, hay shipper; H. B. Dickey, restau- rant ; B. A. Turk and F. M. Mauberry are the village blacksmiths. There are two hotels, the Depot Hotel, Mrs. L. A. Park, propri- etress ; and the Hotel Thompson, by J. A. Wagey.
HARWOOD VILLAGE SCHOOL.
The Harwood village school district was organized May 26, 1910. The first Board of Education consisted of M. V. Hern- don, J. W. Sharp, Jasper Mccrary, J. J. Hartsell, Joe Harter and Herman Walter.
They organized by electing M. V. Herndon president and J. N. Staten clerk and treasurer. The improvement of the school prop- erty consisted of building of one new room and remodelling the outbuildings, and the building of concrete walks about the school grounds at a cost of about $1,400.
This gives the village of Harwood a neat frame school build- ing of three rooms, upon a beautiful plat of ground about 400 feet square, situated about the distance across two blocks to the south of the village.
A high-school course of two years has been added to the course of study.
The following are the corps of teachers for the ensuing term of 1911-12 :
Harold A. Walker, principal; Miss Letah Lallan, intermedi- ate; Miss Eula Magan, primary.
Enrollment :
High school 24
Intermediate 30
Primary 40
Total
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BLUE MOUND TOWNSHIP.
Blue Mound township is composed of all of congressional township 37, range 30, and that portion of township 38, in the same range, lying in Vernon county, the Osage river joining a
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portion of its northern boundary: It is so named from one of the largest and most conspicuous of the many natural mounds which are found in the township, and, indeed, throughout the northern portion of the country generally. Seen at a distance, the large mound on the southeast corner of section 3 seems hooded or capped in a blue veil, and, indeed, on most occasions the entire elevation appears of a smoky blue.
Only a very small portion of the township, comparatively,- the banks of the streams,-is timbered land. All the remainder is prairie. The soil is diversified, but generally fertile, ranging from the rich alluvial bottoms of the Osage and Marais de Cygnes to the highly productive sandy lands of the mounds. The valley stretching off from Howard's, Hamlin's and the Blue Mounds is well adapted for cultivation, and yields abundant crops.
The township extends on the north to the Osage, where the country is broken and covered with timber. Along the Osage and Marais de Cygnes bottoms the timber is large and dense; it consists chiefly of pecan, shag-bark hickory, burr-oak and birch, with some walnut and sycamore.
NATURAL FEATURES-THE MOUNDS.
There are many beautiful natural mounds towering above the fertile plains and valleys of the township. The chief of these are the Blue, or Twin Mounds, Howard's Mound and Hamlin's Mound.
The Blue Mound is located on the southeast quarter of sec- tion 3. Its area is about 150 acres, and comprises the two mounds which are called sometimes and have been known as the Twin Mounds. The larger and more prominent is the one called the Blue Mound ; it is connected with its fellow by a huge earthen ligament large as a section of the Chinese Wall. The height of the mound seems never to have been accurately de- termined. Mr. Kimball estimates it at 100 feet, but Professor Broadhead, and others, place it at 150 feet. The surface is bare, or covered with grass, and probably never was timbered. On top of this elevation was formerly the rude mausoleum which contained the remains of the noted Osage chieftain, White Hair.
At the base of the mound is found a bed of bituminous shale, which overlies a stratum of coal. Above this is found a great deal of broken sandstone, strata of shale or slate, fire-clay, and
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irregular formations of hard, blue (hydraulic) limestone. The apex is capped with blue limestone, which contains the fossils known to geologists as the Spirifer and Productus of different varieties. The depth of the limestone formation at the summit is estimated at ten feet. Were it not for its geological compo- sition, the Blue Mound might be considered of artificial construc- tion, from its location and outward appearance .. But, like other mounds in this quarter, it was doubtless formed during the glacial period.
Hamlin's Mound is about a mile in length and extends from a point in the southwest quarter of section 15 into the northeast quarter of section 21. Its average width is about half a mile; its height about 100 feet. It, too, is bare of timber and though not so lofty or majestic in appearance as the Blue Mound, is very attractive. It contains large quantities of building sand- stone, which is much utilized. No limestone is reported.
Howard's Mound extends from a point a little west of the center of section 22 into the northwest part of section 33, run- ning from northeast to southwest more than a mile. Its average width is half a mile and its height, perhaps, 125 feet. It is trun- cated in form like the others but unlike them is covered with timber.
The general indications are that three veins of coal exist in these mounds. The uppermost of these is from 18 to 24 inches thick; the middle from 30 to 36 inches, and the lowest, which is doubtless identical with that at Carbon Center, is from three feet to six feet.
The famous locality known as Halley's Bluff is on the south bank of the Osage, in this township (nw. ne. sec. 34-38). It is one hundred feet or more above the level land, and is formed from top to bottom as follows: A long slope; 30 to 40 feet of gray and buff sandstone, the lower part containing cornerstones (or lumps) of very silicious (sandy) hematite, a species of iron ore; then 161/2 feet of slope; then 17 feet of blue and buff sandy shale; then 4 to 6 inches of coal; then 4 feet slope to the river. The bluff extends along the south bank of the Osage for half a mile and is quite a picturesque and interesting bit of scenery. The singular cavities in the rocks here, the history of the local- ity, and other particulars of interest are treated of elsewhere more extensively.
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY
Coal is abundant in all parts of Blue Mound township. Nearly every farmer can obtain it on his own farm. Several banks have been opened and operated extensively. Commonly, there are two veins; the upper vein crops out in different localities and at different altitudes on the mounds, and is from 12 to 24 inches in thickness; the lower is found in the valleys or low- lands at a depth of from 12 to 15 feet from the surface, and is the thicker and contains the better quality of coal.
Building Stone. There is a superabundance of excellent sandstone in many localities. The mounds are composed largely of this stone, which is frequently exposed. Elsewhere the stone is in strata from 6 to 12 inches in thickness, of various widths, but with regular faces, rendering them of great value to build- ers. Some of the rough ashlers of these quarries require but little dressing. An excellent sandstone quarry has been opened on the southeast quarter of section 13. The stone here is of a fine grit, suitable for grindstones.
Limestone and Lime. So far the most profitable returns from the stone beds of this township have been obtained from the hydraulic limestone.
There is a sulphur spring at Halley's Bluff in the northern part of the township (nw. sec. 34-38) and there are numerous fresh-water springs in various parts of the township. The citi- zens are intelligent, educated and enterprising. Some of the best farms and farmers in the state are here. The live stock interests of the township are important and deserving of encour- agement. A number of the farmers are owners and breeders of Shorthorn cattle, Southdown sheep, Poland-China hogs, and other valuable strains of live stock.
EARLY HISTORY.
The territory now embraced in Blue Mound township was for- merly a favorite locality of the Osage Indians. On the south- west quarter of section 14, in township 37, was located one of the principal towns, at the time of the cession of their reservation, in 1825. Here, too, they lived for some years afterward. There are now to be found on the town site relics of the Indian occupa- tion of various kinds, as gun barrels, axes, hoes, bullets, lead, beads, and scraps of metal. This may have been the town of the Big Osages in Pike's time, although it is most probable that it
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was located a mile or two westward. The Indians changed the sites of their towns every year or two, for sanitary reasons.
The Blue Mound was used by the Osages, and perhaps by In- dians antedating them, as a cemetery or burying ground. Numer- ous interments were made in the sides of the mound, and on the summit were placed the remains of the warrior-statesman and renowned chief, White Hair, the Cheveux Blanche of the French. Over his grave was reared a small mound of stones, which vandal hands removed, hoping it may be, to find some valuable treasure deposited in the tomb with the body of the dead sachem. As late as in the year 1871 the Osages came from Kansas and the Southwest to rebuild the dismantled heap and to bewail the loss of their former great leader. Latterly some sacriligious relic hunters have completely destroyed the heap, leaving not one stone upon another, and have invaded the sepulcher and carried off all the bones of its tenant.
In many other graves in the mound there have been found mingled with human bones tomahawks, knives, arrow-points, shell implements and ornaments, bone ear-rings, beads of various mate- rials, sizes, and shapes, and other curious articles. Some of these relics are apparently of such antiquity as to lead almost to the thought that the graves containing them may be those of the Mound Builders, or of some other pre-historic race; but this is not at all probable; the graves are undoubtedly those of Osages, who as is well known were in this country as early, at least, as the year 1700.
FORT CARONDELET.
The fort was established by Pierre Chouteau, Sr., under authority from the Spanish government, not later than 1787, and not earlier than 1785. It was called Fort Carondelet, in honor of the Baron de Carondelet, and was regularly set down in the list of Spanish military posts in Upper Louisiana. It was built by Mr. Pierre Chouteau, who was its first and only commandant. It was doubtless little more than a large log cabin trading house with perhaps a block house and one or two cabins, the whole sur- rounded by palisades, re-enforced-in places, at least-by a stone fence or wall. Its garrison was composed of a dozen or more of the attaches of Mr. Chouteau, who were regularly mustered into the Spanish service, however, and supplied with arms and am-
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY
munition. The chief armament of the fort consisted of four small cannons or swivels.
The location of Fort Carondelet was probably at Halley's Bluffs. The caches may have been constructed by its garrison as receptacles for their stores or the goods received from the Indians, and they may have been within the enclosure. The old stone wall seen by the first settlers was doubtless the outer wall of the stockade. The pieces of pure lead picked up were doubt- less left by the inmates of the fort. The swivels mentioned by Lieutenant Wilkinson undoubtedly came from this establishment, which he mentions as "an old fort erected by the Spaniards on the river."
Pike says "the position where Mr. Chouteau formerly had his post" was above a certain, "very shoal and rapid ripple," which ripple was nine miles across the prairie from the Osage village. Of course we do not now know the exact location of the Osage villages at the time of Pike's visit, but we can approximate them sufficiently. Halley's Bluff satisfies more nearly the condi- tions than any other locality.
Fort Carondelet was really a trading post. It was located near the Osage villages and Pierre Chouteau monopolized their trade. What this was worth in 1787 cannot here be stated, but Brackenridge in his "Views of Louisiana," says that in 1810 it was worth $30,000 a year (Scharff's Hist. St. L. p. 289). It could not have been worth that amount to Chouteau, for we find that in a few years after 1787 he became tired of the business and returned to St. Louis. The fort was either burned or destroyed in some other way, for we find that when Pike came up in 1806 there was not a vestige of it remaining." All communication be- tween the fort and St. Louis was by water, the journey to and fro being made in boats or batteaux, propelled by poles and oars. The occupants of Fort Carondelet were the first white residents in western Missouri.
FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENTS.
The first actual white settler in Blue Mound township was Peter Collen (pronounced Colly), a Frenchman, who in 1836 or 1837 located on the south bank of the Osage at the site of the well known Collen's Ford, then called Rapids de Kaw, because the Kaw Indians were in the habit of crossing the Osage at this
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point on their hunting expeditions. At that time there was quite a settlement just opposite him, on the north bank of the river, in what is now Bates county, where, in about 1832, Michael Gireau had established a store or trading post.
Surrounding Gireau's store lived Melicourt Papin and his mulatto wife, in a log fort; Mr. Brazille and his Indian wife; Mr. Moussier and his half breed wife, the latter a daughter of Bra- zille; Mr. Mouyere and his wife, a Frenchwoman, and another Frenchman whose real name is not remembered, but who was known as "Red Head," or Cheveaux Rouge, from the color of his hair.
In the fall of 1839 Michael Gireau removed his goods to his new store on the Kansas line, and Papin and his family accom- panied him. Mr. Collen then crossed over to the north bank of the river, and he and Theophile Papin opened a store in the Gireau building and Mr. Mouyere crossed over to the south side and occupied the house vacated by Mr. Collen. At this time Col. Anselm Halley and his family, together with Henry Letiembre, arrived at this point. Colonel Halley and family occupied a vacant house, but Mr. Letiembre boarded with Peter Collen, until he made a temporary location at the site of Letimbre Hill (or the "Timbered Hill"). In the spring of 1840 Mr. Letiembre left Collen's, and went up into Henry or Johnson county.
In the year 1838 Mr. John F. Son settled on the town site of Belvoir (northeast quarter section 25, township 38, range 30), and December 2, 1839, entered the land. This was one of the very first tracts of land (if it was not the first tract) entered in the county ; a majority of the first settlers lived on their lands for many years before entering them.
Mr. Son was a Kentuckian and served under General Jackson at the battle of New Orleans. In 1839 he opened a ferry at Bel- voir, which he operated until his death, in the winter of 1852. His sons and his brother lived in various parts of the county in early days. One of his sons built a cabin in 1840 near where now stands the railroad depot at Nevada.
No settlements were made away from the immediate vicinity of the Osage until 1854. Son's ferry was a well known locality ; so was Halley's Bluff. At the latter where, as before stated, Col. Anslem Halley located in 1839-or it may be said in 1840- there was a prominent residence. Colonel Halley, a gentleman
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY
of the old school, was a man of some means, a great deal of intelli- gence and education, and of generous hospitality.
The first permanent settlement in township 37, the lower con- gressional township, was Joshua Hightower, who later became a resident of Eldorado Springs. In the autumn of 1854 he set out from Camden county for Vernon, and after an examination of the county located on the southeast quarter of section 32, a little north of the branch that now bears his name. He brought with him a number of slaves, and with their assistance, aided by others who came with him, he built a large double log house, after the fashion of the early settlers of Kentucky and the West generally. In the following spring, March, 1855, he brought his family from Camden county to his new location and opened a farm. Mr. Hightower kept a tavern at his residence for a number of years.
In 1855 Avery B. Howard came from St. Clair county and located on section 22, giving his name to the large mound near by. In 1856, Daniel Dale settled on section 27 and two families by the name of Adams and Estes came to section 18, on High- tower's branch. In 1857, Robert Armstrong came to section 21 and Collin Hamlin settled on section 15, bestowing his name upon the famous Hamlin mound ; Hamlin was a Kentuckian.
The war put a check upon settlements in this township, and even destroyed some that had been made; but as soon as it was over emigrants of a very desirable class came in and it was not long until the entire township was settled or occupied. Since 1870 its progress has been steady and substantial.
In former years occasional parties of Indians passed through this country, usually on visits to their former homes and hunting grounds. Though considered a nuisance, and really occasioning a deal of annoyance, they never did any serious damage. They were uniformly Osages.
The first school house in the township was the Howard school house, on section 28, which was built in the spring and early summer of 1857, at a cost of $1,300. The building was constructed out of a fund realized by the levy of special tax on the property of non-residents of the township, a proceeding authorized by a special act of the Legislature. This school house was used by all religious denominations as a house of worship for many years.
The first school in this building was taught by Rev. James German, the same year the house was built. He was of the well-
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