HONEY WAR POEM (SONG)

Set to the tune of Yankee Doodle Dandy, John L. Campbell, a satirist from Marion County, Mo, 1839, penned the Honey War Poem --it definitely leans toward Missouri! Lucas was the territorial Governor of Iowa Territory and Boggs was Governor of Missouri.

Ye freemen of the happy land Which flows with milk and honey,
Arise! To arms! Your ponies mount! Regard not blood nor money.
Old Governor Lucas, tiger-like Is prowling 'round our borders.
But Governor Boggs is wide awake - Just listening to his orders.
Three bee trees stand about the line Between our State and Lucas.
Be ready all those trees to fall, And bring things to a focus.

We'll show old Lucas how to brag, And seize our precious honey!
He also claims, I understand, Of us three-bits of money.
Conventions, boys, now let us hold Our honey trade demands it;
Likewise the three-bits, all in gold, We all misunderstand it!
Why shed our brother's blood in haste, Because "big men" require it.
Be not in haste our blood to waste, No prudent men desire it.

Now, if the Governors want to fight, Just let them meet in person.
And when noble Boggs old Lucas flogs, T'will teach the scamp a lesson.
Then let the victor cut the trees, And have three-bits in money.
And wear a crown from town to town, Anointed with pure honey.
And then no widows will be made, No orphans unprotected.
Old Lucas will be nicely flogged, And from our line ejected.
Our honey trade will then be laid Upon a solid basis,
And Governor Boggs, where 'er he jogs, Will meet with smiling faces.

HONEY WAR -- THE SULLIVAN LINE

Border “wars” were not just between Missouri and Kansas. In the late 1830s, Missouri claimed a strip of land nearly 13 miles into what many settlers considered Iowa territory. When Missouri tax collectors cut down valuable bee trees as payment for taxes that the settlers htad refused to pay, more than 1,200 Iowans lined up along the disputed border with pitchforks for revenge. Today, bee trees might not seem worth fighting for, but sugar was scarce and the settlers relied on honey. The trees were valuable both for the honey, which sold for up to 37 cents a gallon, and for beeswax, which was used in a variety of ways, including candles. Taking a supply of honey was almost a bad as stealing a horse.

In 1816, Col John C. Sullivan was one of several surveyors tasked with surveying the Louisiana Purchase. Sullivan was to survey and mark the boundaries of the Osage Indian lands (Missouri). His survey was to be a "parallel of latitude which passes through the rapids of the river Des Moines.” In error, he did not adjust his compass as he moved east from the Missouri River. By the time he reached the Mississippi River he had an angled boundary line 4 miles too far north.

This would not become important until people started moving onto the land in the late 1830s. By this time the marks of the old Indian boundary (Sullivan line) could scarcely be found; settlers in the area did not know whether they lived in Iowa or Missouri. This became significant as the Civil War approached, Missouri was a slave state, Iowa would be a free state.

When Missouri wrote its constitution in 1821, it described the state's northern boundary as "the rapids of the river Des Moines”. Problem: State and federal governments could not agree on where "the rapids of the river Des Moines" really were.

Missouri officials believed that the Des Moines rapids were much farther north than the Sullivan line and sent Joseph Brown to re-survey the boundary line in 1837. He was supposed to begin at "the rapids of the river Des Moines" and then mark his line as he moved westward to the Missouri River. He found a place on the Des Moines River which he thought fit the description. Another mistake!

Brown, like everyone else, assumed the Des Moines Rapids that Sullivan documented in his survey lines were rapids located in the Des Moines River. In reality, these rapids were in the Mississippi River. Setters had dubbed a stretch of the Mississippi as "Des Moines rapids" at a point where the river dropped 23 feet over a 22-mile span near the point where the Des Moines River emptied into the Mississippi.

The difference between the Brown and the Sullivan lines was about 2,600 acres of rich farm land which officials from both Missouri and Iowa Territory claimed. Most of the settlers living on the strip thought they had settled in the Iowa territory.

In 1838, Maj. Albert Lea, a federal surveyor, laid out four possible boundary lines, all representing different interpretations of historical data.

Missouri Gov. Lilburn Boggs was an argumentative sort and proclaimed in August 1839, that Brown's 1837 boundary, the northernmost line, was the state line. Almost immediately, Iowa Gov. Robert Lucas authorized the arrest of anyone trying to exercise authority in what he called "the seat of excitement." 

So, in 1839 when Missouri sheriffs tried to collect taxes from settlers in what is now the southern part of Davis and Van Buren Counties (Iowa); the settlers refused to pay and appealed to the Iowa Territorial Governor. Lucas warned the Missouri Governor that Missouri sheriffs would not be permitted to collect taxes. Governor Boggs warned Governor Lucas that the Missouri militia might be brought out to make sure the taxes were collected.

Enter the bee trees! In the disputed region there were several bee trees the Iowa settlers valued because of the honey stored in the hollow trunks. When a Missourian chopped down 3 of these trees the quarrel grew. An Iowa officer tried to arrest the man but he escaped back Missouri. That inflamed Missourians, who have never been reluctant to butt heads over real or imagined wrongs. Missouri had been a state since 1821. Iowa Territory was about to become one, so the legal boundary between the two was an issue.

The Honey War is underway!

Shortly after the bee trees had been chopped down, the sheriff of Van Buren County, Iowa, arrested Uriah Gregory, the sheriff of Clark County, Missouri, when he tried to collect taxes. This angered the folks in Lewis and Clark Counties in Missouri and the Missouri militia began to assemble. Soon a thousand or more men were in camp at Waterloo, MO, ready to invade Iowa that cold December day of 1839.

Governor Lucas had been through a similar dispute with Michigan when he was governor of Ohio. He sent a US Marshal into Van Buren County to take charge. Lucas insisted the quarrel was not between Missouri and Iowa, but between Missouri and the United States, since Iowa was still a territory. If the Missouri started a war about the location of the boundary, they would be fighting the United States, not Iowa.

Governor Lucas ordered the officers of the territorial militia to call out their men and meet at Farmington, on the border just north of Waterloo, MO. More than a thousand Iowans answered the call, coming from all over the territory, not just the disputed strip. As troops gathered from both sides, people began to think that there might really be war between Iowa and Missouri. The Supreme Court got the case while the 2 armies were forming.

They must have been an odd looking bunch. Each man wore whatever he had that resembled a uniform and brought their own weapon. There were rifles, muskets, shotguns, pistols, long swords, short swords and rakes and pitch forks. Stories tell of someone even showing up with a sausage grinder to use as a weapon. I don't even want to visualize that scenario!

When the commander of the Iowa troops at Farmington sent a peace delegation to Waterloo, they found the Missouri troops had already gone home. There was nothing left for the Iowa soldiers to do but to go home. Before all had time to gather, the "war" was over.

In 1849 the Supreme Court decided that the old Sullivan line was the true boundary because it had been used so often in treaties. The surveyors were ordered to remark the line. They searched for days before finding the blazed tree that marked the original northwestern corner of Missouri, now a decaying tree trunk. The surveyors ran the line west to the Missouri River and east to the Des Moines River from that point. Cast iron monuments, each weighing about 1,600 pounds, were placed at the east and west ends of the line. Smaller iron posts were placed every 10 miles and wooden posts placed every mile along the boundary line.

When their work was completed and accepted by the Supreme Court, the Iowa-Missouri boundary dispute came to an end.

One more survey was done in 1896 at the request of the United States Supreme Court. 

WAVERLY MISSOURI

In all of my excitement to head north into Iowa, I forgot my little tidbit on Waverly, MO.  A pretty litle town on the Missouri that does not need to be neglected.

After some time at Lexington, I headed back to Waverly to see a couple of sites and then pick up Hwy 65 to take me north to Iowa. After my stops at Marshall and Lexington, my get-up-and-go got-up-and-went!  And I still planned on the murals at Chillicothe.  I guess I put the cart before the horse since I previously posted about Chillicothe, The Home of Sliced Bread, and the murals. 

Waverly is the home of Confederate General Joseph Orville "JO" Shelby.  It was founded in the 1840s and was part of the "Little Dixie" area that was populated with folks moving up from Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia.  They were strongly pro-secessionist and pro-confederacy.

Waverly did not see any battles or major skirmishes during the Civil War, however, May 25-28, 1862 saw operations in Waverly involving Missouri’s 7th Cavalry.  Waverly seemed to be more of a "staging" area than an actual battle site.

The City of Waverly is located in Lafayette County, overlooks the Missouri River and is surrounded by fruit orchards and vineyards. Waverly is proud to be known as "The Apple Capital of Missouri". 

A tornado killed one and did considerable damage to the city in 2006, and again, in May of 2011, a tornado touched down doing minimal damage to the town but damaged some of the area orchards and vineyards. 

GENERAL J. O. SHELBY

SHELBY THE WARRIOR

Joseph Orville Shelby was born in Lexington, Kentucky, Dec 12, 1830 to a wealthy, aristocratic family that took pride in family veterans back to the American Revolution. His father, a wealthy planter and hemp rope producer, died when he was 5; his mother married Benjamin Gratz, a wealthy merchant and landowner.  At Transylvania University he was educated and trained in business. 

After receiving a substantial inheritance at the age of 21, Shelby moved to Waverly, MO. With his step-brother, Henry Howard Gratz, he started the Waverly Steam Rope Company, making rope from hemp.  He owned a 700 acre plantation and also owned steamboats on the Missouri River. One of the largest slave-holders in the state, during the "Bleeding Kansas" free-state/slave-state struggle, he led a company of pro-slavery raiders across the border into abolitionist Kansas in cross-border raids in the late 1850s.

July 22, 1858, he married a distant cousin; they had 7 children.  By 1860, due to his own poor management, Shelby was in financial decline and he was forced to sell the rope company, plantation, and his slaves.

Like many pro-Southern Missourians, the Camp Jackson Affair in St. Louis, May 10, 1861, when Union forces captured a unit of secessionists at Camp Jackson, angered Shelby. Union General Nathaniel Lyon’s militia fired upon a civilian mob and killed 28 people.

Frank Blair, a Kentucky cousin (and brother of Lincoln’s Postmaster General, Montgomery Blair) was stationed in St. Louis. Blair offered Shelby a Union commission when the War started but Shelby refused the offer.

SHELBY MEMORIAL PARK, WAVERLY MO

In 1861, at the Methodist Church near his plantation, Shelby recruited hundreds of men to the Confederate cause in a matter of hours. He outfitted them with his own money and offered them to the service of Missouri’s pro-secessionist governor, Claiborne F. Jackson.  These men became the core of his Iron Brigade named for their toughness. 

Shelby saw action at Carthage and Wilson’s Creek, MO, in 1861 before going to northwest Arkansas with Sterling Price’s Missouri State Guard, Feb 1862.  As part of the Confederate Army of the West, his company saw action at the Battle of Pea Ridge.  He led his cavalry east of the Mississippi River with the rest of the Confederate army in April 1862, but soon returned west. He was recognized for his leadership skills and talent, and promoted to Colonel, Oct 27, 1862, and given command of the “Iron Brigade.”  He commanded this brigade at Prairie Grove Arkansas and throughout the Trans-Mississippi campaign.  

In 1863, he was promoted to brigadier general and continued to lead his men against Union forces until the end of the war.

Shelby served with distinction during the war, but when it came to an end, he and several hundred members of the Iron Brigade were not ready to surrender. Shelby led 600 of his men to Mexico where Emperor Maximilian granted them permission to start a colony near Vera Crduz, called “Carlota”. For their refusal to surrender, they were called "the undefeated.” This became the title of a 1969 John Wayne movie loosely based on Shelby’s actions.

Two years later, Emperor Maximilian was overthrown and Shelby returned to the United States. Union soldiers had burned down the Shelby home and all outbuildings, so, in 1867, when Shelby and his family returned to Missouri, they began farming in Adrian, MO. 

SHELBY THE MARSHAL

In 1893, President Grover Cleveland appointed him U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Missouri. By this time Shelby had put the war behind him and selected an African-American to serve as his Deputy. When critics complained, Shelby declared, “I am right in what I have done, and by the right I propose to stand.”  He served as a US Marshal for the last 4 years of his life. 

He voiced regret for his actions in the Border Wars, telling historian William Elsey Connelley, “I was in Kansas at the head of an armed force. I was there to kill Free-state men. I did kill them. I am now ashamed of myself for having done so. I had no business there. No Missourian had any business there with arms in his hands.” 

Before he became a Marshall, Shelby was believed to have played a role in the acquittal of outlaw Frank James. In 1883, Shelby testified in court as a character witness for Frank James.  He had known James during his days as a Civil War guerilla. Shelby encouraged the jurors to see Frank James as a defender of the South against corrupt big businesses from the North. When asked to identify Frank in the courtroom, Shelby exclaimed: “Where is my old friend and comrade in arms? Ah, there I see him! Allow me, I wish to shake hands with my fellow soldier who fought by my side for Southern rights!”

Shelby died of pneumonia on his farm near Adrian, MO, on Feb 13, 1897, and was buried in Kansas City, Missouri.

Shelby led his Iron Brigade of the Missouri volunteers on what was to be the longest cavalry raid of the war at that time, Shelby's Great Raid. Between Sep 22 and Nov 3, 1863, Shelby's brigade traveled 1,500 miles through Missouri, inflicting over 1,000 casualties on Union forces, and capturing or destroying an estimated $2 million worth of Federal supplies and property. He was promoted to brigadier general on Dec 15, 1863, at the successful conclusion of his raid.

SHELBY MEMORIAL, WAVERLY, MO

Jo Shelby was one of the most interesting characters of the Civil War. An untrained officer, he rose to be regarded as one of the best cavalry commanders of the war.  His legend still lives in the John Wayne movie, "The Undefeated." He was remembered for many years by the men who served with him: 

Ho Boys! Make a Noise!
The Yankees are afraid!
The river's up, hell's to pay—
Shelby's on a Raid!

Shelby became a folk hero to the people of the devastated Southland, and is still considered one of the greatest Confederate Cavalry leaders. General JEB Stuart, would later remark, "Shelby was the best cavalry general of the South. Under other conditions, he would have been one of the best in the world"

SHELBY'S GREAT RAID THROUGH MISSOURI

Colonel J.O. Shelby's Great Raid was an 1863 Confederate cavalry raid through the Trans-Mississippi Theater during the Civil War.  He fought numerous skirmishes throughout Missouri before retreating back to Arkansas. Shelby's reputation as a cavalry commander was made during these raids.

Shelby left Arkadelphia, Arkansas, with his "Iron Brigade" on Sep 22, 1863, crossing behind Union lines to begin his raid. Shelby characterized the Union troops as the, “…terror to the country, the insulters of unprotected women, and the murderers of old and infirm men.”

They moved into Missouri Oct 2, and within a couple of day, they started "rattling their sabers."   By Oct 4, he had marched 255 miles to Neosho, MO., where there were 300 Federal cavalry.  Quickly surrounded and forced to surrender, Shelby captured their equipment and their horses.

     “…the doomed enemy were encompassed by a cordon of steel before they knew of a foeman near. Thorp, with his usual dash, drove their pickets into town, where they, with the main body, took refuge in a strong brick court-house, pierced and loop-holed for musketry, where they kept up a hot fire upon our advancing columns. … I ordered my cannon into position and sent two balls crashing through the walls. This was followed by an immediate demand for unconditional surrender, which… …they agreed to.” ~ Shelby

After a short rest at Neosho, they moved on, passing through the war-ravaged Sarcoxie, which Shelby described as being, “…blackened and desolate…”  Next they took the town of Bowers’ Mill, followed by Greenfield and Stockton and destroyed the fort at Stockton.  All along the way they "appropriated" food and weaponry from civilians and military.

On his way to Warsaw, he captured 30 Union supply wagons and the Union men. Although they met resistance at Warsaw, Shelby's forces outnumbered and defeated the Union. From Warsaw, Shelby wrote: “Vast quantities of all kinds of stores were captured here, with some arms and prisoners, and a strong and well provisioned fort. Thus far I had traveled ahead of all information, but now the telegraph flashed out its view-halloo, and the railroads groaned under the dire preparations to meet me, and the thunderer of Saint Louis threatened vengeance as dark as death and terrible as the grave.”

Over the next few days, Shelby and his men moved through the towns of Cole Camp, Florence, Tipton, and Syracuse. Along the way, they captured supplies and arms, burned and destroyed bridges and railroads, and cut telegraph lines.

Shelby and his men reached the Missouri River at Boonville, however, 'trouble' was enroute in the form of Gen Egbert Brown at the head of a large force of Union troops. Shelby moved towards Marshall; Brown split his force and moved to surround Shelby.

With Brown’s men now at both his front and rear, Shelby also split his force and made a desperate bid to escape. The 2 factions of the Iron Brigade managed to break through the Union lines and retreated, independently, to the south.  Union forces stayed on Shelby's forces.  On Oct 26, Shelby, with his Iron Brigade made it to Arkansas, toward the safety of the Confederate lines. The two columns reunited near Bentonville, Arkansas on Nov 3, 1863.  Shelby had conducted a textbook raid, the longest raid, 1,500 miles, of the Civil War for either side.

In his final report of the raid, Shelby claimed to have killed, wounded, and captured more than 1,000 Union troops; captured and destroyed 10 forts; and captured, used, and destroyed more than $2 million worth of Union supplies, property, and railroads. Part of the "loot" included 12 ammunition wagons, and 2 pieces of artillery, $800,000 dollars in military supplies, which included 600 rifles, 40 stands of colors, 300 wagons, 6,000 horses and mules and destroyed another million dollars in enemy supplies. His own loses would be major; one man in six did not return home. 

He was promoted to Brigadier General in recognition of his success, and a saying soon became popular in the Confederate Army of the Trans-Mississippi: “You’ve heard of JEB Stuart’s ride around McClellan? Hell brother, Jo Shelby rode around Missouri!”

OLIVER ANDERSON HOUSE --- BATTLE OF LEXINGTON

The Oliver Anderson House is an example of the large mansion houses that prosperous, slave-holding Southerners built in Missouri in the 1840s and 1850s.

Built in 1853 by Oliver Anderson, he was born in 1794, in Nicholasville, Kentucky. He co-founded the firm of Anderson and Jackson, a successful hemp and cotton business in the 1830s. In 1819, he married and they had 10 children. Mary died in 1842, and he later remarried. In 1851 Anderson sold his portion of the hemp business and moved to Lexington, MO, where 2 of his sons had settled.

When Anderson arrived in Lexington, it was a prosperous commercial center in a rich agricultural area.  Slave-owning planters were seeing substantial profits from hemp, tobacco and cattle. Factories and warehouses lined the riverfront, and the town was home to 3 colleges. In 1860, Missouri's 5th largest town with a population of over 4,000 people, had a river front lined with factories and warehouses and 3 colleges.

In Lexington, he entered into a business partnership with his son-in-law, Howard Gratz. (Colonel J O Shelby's step-brother was Henry Howard Gratz.)  

Anderson built a large warehouse and ropewalk for the maunfacture of hemp. "A ropewalk is a long straight narrow lane, or a covered pathway, where long strands of material are laid before being twisted into rope. Due to the length of some ropewalks, workers may use bicycles to get from one end to the other.
Ropewalks historically were harsh sweatshops, and frequently caught fire, as hemp dust ignites easily and burns fiercely."~~Wikipedia

Anderson prospered and built a large, elegant residence. The local newspaper reported in September 1853: "One noticed . . . that the new and magnificent dwelling house of Col. Anderson, on the bluff overlooking his rope walk, had grown rapidly in a short time. It is said that this building will be the largest and best arranged dwelling house west of St. Louis. The location is romantic and beautiful. . ." 

Built in the Greek Revival style, the rooms are 20 feet square with 15 foot high ceilings, and a 15 foot wide central hallway. A massive walnut staircase rises through two landings to the third floor of the house. A wing at the rear of the house has 5 smaller rooms, including an indoor kitchen, pantry and servants' quarters. 

The financial panic of 1857 hit the hemp market and added to the financial downfall of Oliver Anderson. Earlier Anderson had assumed the debts of his son-in-law, Henry Gratz, which started financial problems for Anderson. In the fall of 1859, Anderson auctioned off all his real estate, personal property and slaves. The Anderson House was included in this sale, but his sons purchased the house, while another son-in-law, Thomas P. Akers, acquired the rope factory. The Anderson family was able to continue to live in the house until the Civil War.

An advocate of slavery, he was arrested when Federal troops occupied Lexington in July 1861. The Anderson family was evicted when the home was confiscated by the Union forces for use as a hospital.

During the Battle of Lexington, Sept. 18-20, 1861, the Anderson House changed hands 3 times on the first day of the battle. After the Southerners forced the Union defenders out of the house, the Union staged a bloody countercharge and retook it, only to be repulsed once more by the Southerners a short time later. 
During their brief reoccupation of the house, the Union troops murdered 3 Southern prisoners at the base of the grand staircase. A bullet hole remains in one of the staircase risers. The battle caused extensive damage to both the interior and exterior of the house and damage from rifle and cannon shot is still visible on the east side of the house and in several interior rooms. A cannon ball came through the attic and through the attic floor into the second floor hallway: the hole in the ceiling remains today.

After his arrest by Federal troops, he posted bond, was paroled and banished from Missouri. He returned to Kentucky and lived with his wife until her death in 1867. Six years later, Anderson died at the home of his son-in-law, Henry Gratz, in Lexington, Kentucky. 

The Anderson House was purchased after the war by Tilton Davis, who lived in it for 50 years and preserved the home.  Reported to be haunted, in 1958, the house and portions of the nearby battlefield were donated to the state park system as part of the Battle of Lexington State Historic Site.

SECOND BATTLE OF LEXINGTON, MO

GENERAL PRICE

The Second Battle of Lexington was a minor skirmish taking place on October 19, 1864, in Lexington. It formed a part of Confederate Gen Sterling Price's Missouri Expedition. 

Like the first Battle of Lexington it resulted in a Confederate victory. Its overall importance, however, was not nearly as significant as the first battle, which had cemented Southern control of the Missouri Valley and significantly raised Confederate morale in the region.

In the fall of 1864, Price was dispatched by Gen Edmund Kirby Smith, to attempt to seize Missouri for the Confederacy. Unable to attack his primary objective, St. Louis, Price decided to execute Smith's back-up plan for a westward raid through Missouri and into Kansas and the Indian Territory. The ultimate goal was to destroy or capture Union supplies and outposts, which could negatively affect Abraham Lincoln's chances for reelection in 1864.

After his victory at the Battle of Glasgow, MO, he continued his march toward Kansas City and Fort Leavenworth, headquarters of the Federal Department of Kansas. But his progress was slow which gave the Union Army a chance to concentrate their forces. 

Union Gen William Rosecrans, commanding the Department of the Missouri, proposed a movement to trap Price and his army, but was unable to communicate with Gen Samuel Curtis, commander of the Department of Kansas, to formalize the plan. Curtis was experiencing difficulty because many of his soldiers were Kansas militia and they refused to enter Missouri. However, a force of about 2,000 men under the command of Gen James Blunt did set out for Lexington.

On October 19, Price's army approached Lexington and collided with Union scouts and pickets about 2:00 PM, driving them back and engaging Blunt's main force. The Union resisted at first, but Price's army eventually pushed them through the town to its western edge, then pursued them along the Independence Road until nightfall. Deprived of Curtis's entire force, still encamped in and near Kansas City, the Union army never stood any real chance of stopping Price's force at Lexington. Blunt did, however, further slow the Confederates' already slow march and gain information on the size and make-up of Price's command. 

Price's army continued its successful, although short-lived drive.  His triumphs would be undone by the Battle of Westport on Oct 23.  This defeat ended his campaign and ended any further significate Confederate military action in Missouri. 

THE FIRST BATTLE OF LEXINGTON, MO The Battle of the Hemp Bales

The First Battle of Lexington: "Battle of the Hemp Bales" 

The Union held control of Missouri during the first year of the Civil War.  By the end of June, the pro-secessionist governor, members of his cabinet and legislature had been driven into exile and a pro-Union government controlled the state. The tide turned on Aug 10, 1861.  The Union army was soundly defeated at the bloody Battle of Wilson's Creek near Springfield, and with heavy losses, their forces scattered. 

Gen Price

A Southern offensive moved up into the Missouri River valley. In late August, Gen Sterling Price, commander of the State Guard, sent his 7,000 men to the prosperous and strongly pro-South Missouri River town of Lexington, east of Kansas City. On Sep 12, he arrived in Lexington but decided to wait for the remainder of his forces, most of them veterans of Wilson's Creek.  His total force would be 12,000.  

While Price was heading to Lexington, 2,700 troops under the command of Union Colonel James A. Mulligan fortified themselves inside the grounds of the Masonic College in Lexington. Just a few days before, a Union brigade of Irish soldiers from Chicago had joined the small cavalry detachment.  Mulligan had raised the 23rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment in 1861, known as the "Irish Brigade." In Sep 1861, when word was received that Lexington, a vital river town, was the focus of the Missouri State Guard, he led his troops toward Lexington, MO.

On Sep 12, skirmishes broke out between the forces but Price was waiting for the rest of his force to arrive before attacking.   

Sep 17, Price’s ammunition wagons arrived.  The Confederates cut the water supply.  On Sep 18, Price's army mounted an all-out assault on Mulligan's troops, which failed. 

Recruits poured in from the countryside and Price's army had grown to about 12,000.  To the strains of "Dixie", Price's men marched through Lexington and completely encircled the college. For the next 9 hours, the Union troops received a near-continuous bombardment. The entrapped Union had run out of water by then and were suffering greatly from thirst and heat.

Replica of Masonic College built on original site

On Sep 20, the Southerners advanced on the fortification by rolling large bales of hemp in front of them.  The bales had been soaked in the river so they would not catch fire. By early afternoon, the snakelike line of bales had advanced close enough to the Union trenches for a charge.  A brief but bloody hand-to-hand fight took place before being driven back into their entrenchments. Mulligan and most of his officers were wounded; by 2:00 PM, Mulligan had surrendered. Price secured the town with only 25 men killed and 72 wounded. Union losses numbered 39 dead and 120 wounded.

Price was reportedly impressed by Mulligan's demeanor and conduct during and after the battle that he offered him his own horse and buggy, and had him safely escorted to Union lines.

Price captured 5 artillery pieces, 3,000 rifles, and 750 horses. Price also returned some $900,000 that had looted from the local bank; he became a hero throughout the South. 

In response to the defeat at Lexington, the Union commander in Missouri, Gen John Fremont, mounted a massive force to drive Price from Missouri. In the face of this threat, Price had little choice but to retreat back to southwest Missouri. Lexington and the Missouri River Valley once again returned to Union control.

MONUMENT
East side inscription:

"Following victories in Southwestern Missouri, Maj. Gen. Sterling Price and 10,000 men of the Missouri State Guard marched north with the objective of breaking the Federal line along the Missouri River. On Sept. 12, 1861 the Guard engaged and drove a Federal force near Warrensburg into the fortifications at Lexington. The 3,600 man garrison led by Col. James A. Mulligan, was invested that day by the Guard and the Siege of Lexington commenced. Price was joined by 8,000 volunteers from Northern Missouri, and on the 18th stormed the outer defenses and severed the fort's access to water. On the 19th the Guard deployed hemp bales as a breastwork and on the 20th rolled the bales towards the Federal line. Faced with no means of resistance, Mulligan surrendered his command, arms and equipment. The Guard recaptured the State Seal and archives, and returned to the local bank over $900,000 taken by the Federal troops. This was the most complete victory for the South in 1861."

West side inscription:

"This monument is respectfully dedicated to the men of the Missouri State Guard, the legally established militia of the State, who first took up arms in 1861, and, marching and fighting under the blue battle flag of their beloved Missouri, did their whole duty as God gave them light to see that duty, and sacrificed everything but honor, in the defense of their State's sovereignty and the cause of constitutional rights."

LEXINGTON, MO

Leaving Marshall, I head out of town on Hwy 65 toward Waverly and Lexington. At Waverly, I took Hwy 24, 25 miles west to Lexington to visit the Lexington Battlefield State Historic Site.  After my Lexington visit - it was back to Waverly for a few sites and then pick up Hwy 65 north.


This area of Missouri was settled primarily by folks from Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. They brought their slaves, culture and traditions with them and soon it became known as "Little Dixie."  They cultivated crops similar to those "back home" -- hemp and tobacco. In 1860 slaves made up more than 25% of the county's population. Residents generally supported the Confederacy during the Civil War.  The exception being the Germans and German Americans also settled in the area. They tended to be pro-abolitionist and supported the Union.

Lexington, located on the bluffs of the Missouri River, was platted in 1822. Lexington's founder, Gilead Rupe, established the first ferry in 1819. In 1823, Lexington became the county seat of Lafayette County.

John Aull opened a mercantile store in 1822; his brothers James and Robert soon joined. The Aull Brothers were soon operating stores in Independence, Westport, and Liberty. Farmers and planters who specialized in hemp, tobacco and cattle arrived. With the emphasis on trade and agriculture, Lexington and Lafayette County had one of the largest slave populations in the state.

Lexington was the largest city west of St. Louis in the 1830s and '40's, a major center for merchants and outfitters as trappers, traders, and emigrants heading west on the Sante Fe trail, California Trail, Oregon Trail, and the Mormon Trail. In the 1840s, Russell, Majors and Waddell, the largest trading firm in the West, established its headquarters in Lexington. In the 1850s, these men had 3500 wagons carrying goods from Missouri to Sacramento, Denver, and other points, and in 1860, they would found the Pony Express.

Steamboat trade was profitable and the wharf became the center of commerce. In 1852, Lexington witnessed one of the worst steamboat accidents in Missouri. The side-wheeler Saluda, carrying 250 Mormons heading to Salt Lake City, had an explosion in the boilers, killing over 150 people. Lexington families adopted many children orphaned by the blast. Coal mines, some of the first in the state, were dug into the river bluffs to provide fuel for river steamers.

The Greek Revival Lafayette County Courthouse, built in 1847, is the oldest courthouse in continuous use west of the Mississippi. The cannonball from the first Battle of Lexington stuck in one of the upper pillars of the Courthouse has become a symbol for the town.

The Masonic College, also built in the Greek revival style, operated from 1847 to 1857 and after the Civil War, it housed the Central College for Women. The Gothic Revival Christ Episcopal Church, built in 1848, has an interior finished in walnut. Lexington is still home to over 150 homes and public buildings built before the Civil War.

Lexington was the site of 2 battles during the Civil War. The Battle of Lexington is commonly known as the Battle of the Hemp Bales. Confederate Gen Sterling Price led his forces against the Union forces garrisoned in the old Masonic College and commanded by Col James Mulligan.

The Second Battle of Lexington occurred during Price's Missouri Expedition on October 19, 1864.

Lexington was known as a center for Quantrill's Raiders during the war. Two months after the Civil War ended, many guerrilla fighters had refused to honor the cease-fire and finally decided to take advantage of the special Federal amnesty and turn themselves in at Lexington. While riding into town, reportedly under a white flag, they were fired upon by Union soldiers from the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry, and Jesse James was severely wounded in the right lung. Later the James-Younger Gang targeted the Alexander Mitchell bank in Lexington for the second daylight bank robbery in US history. 

ARCHIE CLEMENT

In December 1866, Archie Clement, an accomplice of the James brothers and perhaps the most notorious of all the guerrilla fighters, terrorized the town and was shot from his horse and killed by a sniper perched in the second floor of the Courthouse.  "Little Arch" known for his brutality towards Union soldiers and pro-Union civilians in Missouri.  By 17 he was a Lt in "Bloody" Bill Anderson's guerrilla company and soon became known as Anderson's Head Devil.

After the Civil War, Lexington was replaced by Kansas City as the largest city in western Missouri and was known as The Athens of Missouri. In part due to the arrival of the transcontinental railroad and due to the number of institutions for higher learning. Especially significant were 3 schools for women, the Elizabeth Aull Seminary, Lexington Baptist Female College, and Central College for Women. For men there was the Masonic College and the Wentworth Male Academy.

The Wentworth Military Academy & College remains in Lexington and is the oldest Military school west of the Mississippi. Founded in 1880 as Hobson’s Select School for Boys, a year later, the school became Wentworth Male Academy when the school’s benefactor, Stephen Wentworth, purchased the school and re-named it in memory of his son, William. Today the Academy also accepts women.  Park University shares classroom space with the Wentworth Junior College.

BATTLE OF MARSHALL, MO

Missouri, a state divided, was vulnerable to cavalry raids. The area of Marshall, MO was often called "Little Dixie" because of the number of families living in the area from the southern states of Kentucky and Tennessee. Confederate Colonel J. O. Shelby's raiders departed Arkadelphia, Arkansas, on Sep 22, 1863 on their raid through Missouri and arrived in Marshall the middle of October, 1863.

The civil war Battle of Marshall was fought on Oct 13, 1863.  The day long battle, primarily fought within the town,, had approximately 1,800 Union troops commanded by Gen Egbert Brown against about 1200 confederate raiders led by Col J O Shelby.  

The Confederates had to charge across a deep ravine facing heavy rifle fire from the Union.  This was an overwhelming task and Shelby's men fell back.  Then Shelby put  2 units against the Union center. Three charges were repelled.  

As the Union militia was finally beginning to mass and concentrate their forces into a strong defense,The Union force attempted to encircle and divide Shelby's troops but Shelby and his raiders fought their way out.   Shelby divided his forces and withdraw from the state.

Union forces pressed the 2 columns of Shelby's raiders hard as they retreated toward Arkansas.  The raiders were forced to destroy their train of captured goods. 

The Battle of Marshall was the culminating event of Shelby's 1863 Raid into Missouri from Southern Arkansas.

MARSHALL, MISSOURI & JIM, THE WONDER DOG

Once I approach Marshall, MO, there are 3 towns that have history that  includes Colonel J O Shelby and his raid through Missouri...Marshall, Waverly and Lexington.

Sixty-five acres of land was donated by Jeremiah O’Dell and deeded on April 13, 1839 for the town of Marshall, named for the US Supreme Court Chief Justice, John Marshall.  After 2 fires, the current Saline County Courthouse was constructed in January 1882. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. 

The Sante Fe Trail passed just north of Marshall and is still celebrated with Sante Fe Days.

MARKER SANTE FE TRAIL 
1821-1872
Marked by the Daughters of the American Revolution
and the State of Missouri 
1909






During the Civil War, Union troops were posted at Marshall. Although strategically unimportant, the town saw 2 Confederate raids and is the site of the Battle of Marshall.  It was, however, the culmination of J O Shelby's Confederate raid through Missouri that led to the Confederate loss of the state.

World War I "Doughboy" statue at the Court House

During the 1920s & '30s, the Nicholas-Beazley Airplane Company was an American aircraft manufacturer headquartered inn Marshall. At its peak, it was producing one aircraft per day, however, the depression closed the doors in 1937.   

During the 1930s, Marshall was enamored with the abilities of Jim, The Wonder Dog, probably the town's most famous citizen.

Missouri Valley College is a private, 4 year liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. On October 27, 1874, representatives of several Presbyterian synods met to discuss founding the school. Founded in 1889, the school has 27 academic majors and an enrollment close to 1,800 students. 

JIM THE WONDER DOG

Marshall is home to Jim the Wonder Dog. During the 1930's, Jim puzzled psychologists from Washington University, St. Louis, and University of Missouri in Columbia with his amazing ability to understand. Dr. A. J. Durant, director of the School of Veterinary Medicine, examined Jim and could find nothing physically abnormal. He was tested by a group of college students and passed each command.  Dr Durant concluded that Jim, "possessed an occult power that might never come again to a dog in many generations."

Jim was a Llewellyn Setter born of pureblood champion field stock in Louisiana. His litter mates were selling for $25 each, a considerable sum in 1925, but he was considered lacking the necessary quality to hunt.  Sam Van Arsdale purchased him for less than half of the amount of the other pups.

All attempts to field train Jim seemed to fail.  He didn't seem to show much interest during training sessions, however, as soon as he was taken to the field he proved to be an outstanding quail dog. On the hunt, he knew where the quail were and refused to hunt where they weren't.  Van Arsdale traveled many states hunting and, over the years, kept track of birds shot with Jim at his side. He stopped counting at 5,000, a total no other dog had reached. Outdoor Life Magazine termed him "The Hunting Dog of the Country".

Jim's story says that his amazing abilities were discovered by accident during a hunt, when Van Arsdale told him they should rest under a nearby Hickory tree.  A variety of trees to choose from, Jim went to the hickory tree. Amazed, he asked Jim to go to a walnut, then a cedar, a stump, and a tin can, which he did rapidly and without error.

It was as if Jim could not only understand what Van Arsdale was commanding, but soon would exhibit talents "beyond human". His list of abilities included finding a specific car, with a specific license plate number, or a car by color, or from another state. It is reported that he could also pick out, from a crowd, specific people of the community, whether they knew Jim or not.

Van Arsdale also communicated commands to Jim in foreign languages and short hand.  After his performance at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia, newspaper and magazine writers came to witness Jim and wrote of incredulous things they saw.  Jim's fame spread. Featured in Ripley's Believe it or Not, at the height of his talents, Jim had the ability to predict the future. Jim picked the winner of the Kentucky Derby 7 years in a row. He also predicted the Yankee victory in the 1936 World Series and the sex of unborn babies.

Called before a joint session of the Missouri Legislature, Jim was put through one of the biggest tests, a communication method even Van Arsdale didn't understand...Morse Code.  Attempting to debunk the dogs amazing abilities, and believing that Van Arsdale was somehow "guiding" the dog, the code was tapped out instructing Jim to go to a specific person, which to the astonishment of the Legislators, he did.

In 1935 Jim performed at the Kemmerer Hotel in Kemmerer, Wyoming. After his successful perfomance, an article was written in the Gazette of Kemmerer on Friday, August 30, 1935, telling of this performance and referring to Jim as "The Wonder Dog".

Over the years, Sam Arsdale kept Jim close by, always worried he would be kidnapped or harmed by gambling interests or others. He refused offers from food companies to use his amazing pet in their advertising.

When Jim died, March 18, 1937, at the age of 12, the Van Arsdales asked that he be buried in Ridge Park Cemetery. The sexton agreed to burial just outside the cemetery fence, "since Jim was smarter than most people in here, anyhow." Over the years, the cemetery eventually expanded around Jim.

Marshall, MO has great affection for Jim. In 1999, Jim the Wonder Dog Memorial Gardens was dedicatedand is located on the site once occupied by the Ruff Hotel where Jim lived with his owner Sam VanArsdale, the hotel manager. Wonder Dog Day is held in Marshall on May 16, and there is a Wonder Dog Museum in town.

Otto Frederick Rohwedder & Sliced Bread

Otto Frederick Rohwedder of Davenport, Iowa, invented the first loaf-at-a-time bread slicing machine.  In 1917 a fire broke out at the factory where Rohwedder was manufacturing his machine and destroyed, not only, his prototype, but the plans and blueprints.  It was not until 1928 that he had a fully working machine ready. 

Born in Davenport, Iowa, in 1880, the son of Claus and Elizabeth Rohwedder, he was the next to youngest of 6 children.  He lived in Davenport until he was 21, attended public schools and apprenticed to a jeweler.  He attended Northern Illinois College or Ophthalmology and Otology in Chicago, graduating in 1900, but became a jeweler as a career. 

He became the owner of 3 jewelry stores in St. Joseph, MO, and used his work with watches and jewelry to finance his inventions. Convinced he could develop a bread slicing machine, he sold his jewelry stores to fund the development and manufacture of the machine. 

In 1927 Rohwedder successfully designed a machine that not only sliced the bread but wrapped it. He applied for patents and sold the first machine to a friend and baker Frank Bench, who installed it at the Chillicothe Baking Company, in Chillicothe, MO, in 1928. The first loaf of sliced bread was sold commercially on July 7, 1928. Sales of the machine to other bakeries increased and sliced bread became available across the country.

A baker in St. Louis bought his second machine and developed a better way to have the machine wrap and keep bread fresh. In 1930 Continental Baking Company introduced Wonder Bread as a sliced bread. By 1932 the availability of standardized slices had boosted sales of 'pop-up" toasters, a 1926 invention of Charles Strite. In 1933 American bakeries, for the first time, produced more sliced than unsliced bread loaves.

Rohwedder sold his patent rights to the Micro-Westco Co. of Bettendorf, IA; he joined the company as vice-president and sales manager of the Rohwedder Bakery Machine Division.

In 1951 Rohwedder at age 71 retired from Micro-Westco Co. and moved with his wife to Albion, Michigan. He died on November 8, 1960. 

CHILLICOTHE MO -- Home of Sliced Bread

Leaving Sedalia, I wasn't sure how far I would get.  I was about 300 miles from my destination, Marshalltown, IA.  I knew I wouldn't have time to make the stops I had planned and get to my sisters before I 'pooped out!"  So....I headed off to Chillicothe MO, less than 100 miles straight up Highway 65.  Planned stops included the murals at Chillicothe, a battle field or two, the Mormon village at Garden Grove, Iowa -- and anything else that would strike my fancy as I drove on up the road. 

On July 6, 1928, Chillicothe became the birthplace to one of the greatest innovations of modern times...sliced bread!   Chillicothe Baking Company founder, Frank Bench, took a chance on a mechanized loaf-at-a-time bread-slicing machine invented by an Iowa-born, Missouri-based jeweler, Otto Rohwedder.  Just one week after introducing sliced bread to his customers, Bench’s sales increased by  2,000%! 

Settled in the early 1830s and first incorporated August 13, 1851, Chillicothe's proximity to major travel routes made it a good location for business, manufacturing, and as a livestock and agricultural trading center.

The name "Chillicothe" is Shawnee for "big town". There is also a Chillicothe, Ohio, Ohio being the original home of the Shawnee.

The Osage and Missouria were in the area when French explorers and traders arrived. By 1800 the Shawnee and Iowa had migrated here.  The Shawnee, originally from the Ohio Country, were under increased pressure from the more aggressive Iroquois, a situation they had experienced since prior to the Revolutionary War. Their arrival had displaced the Osage.  The Shawnee made their major villiage, known as Chillidothi, about a mile from the present-day city.  Other Native American tribes in the area were the Sac and Fox, and Pottawatomi.

In the early 19th century, European-American migration to Missouri increased. The area was settled by immigrants from Ohio and other "Old Northwest" states.

The original survey of Chillicothe filed for record August 31, 1837 and was incorporated as a city March 1, 1855. 

In 1859 the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad was completed into town. From that time on Chillicothe made a slow, steady growth.  The growth accelerated in 1886 when the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad arrived. That year also saw the introduction of the "Water Works" and electric lights.

During the last two decades of the 19th  century, Chillicothe was a center for education with the Chillicothe Normal School (later Chillicothe Business College), the State Industrial Home for Girls, the Chillicothe Conservatory of Music, the Chillicothe Normal School and Maupin’s Commercial College.

Driving around town looking for the murals, I was in awe of the beauty of the old buildings, recovered after removing "modern" false fronts. 

CHILLICOTHE MURALS

This mural depicts Webster Street on the north side of the square

in downtown Chillicothe circa 1916.

Lobby of Citizens Bank & Trust circa 1907. 

  Window in Time: As if looking through a window in time, this mural showcases piecesof Chillicothe’s history including five multi-generational businesses still in existence and many others where people have lifelongmemories. What was once a blank wall now paints a portrait of many life stories and serves as a community conversation piece.

 

Palace of Fashion Mural showcases

a vibrant, early 1900s women’s apparel and hat store. The mural itself is a piece of

work. Using the French technique of trompe-l’oeil (trick the eye),

this mural entertains the illusion of the once existent upper level

staircase and balcony.

Pre-World War I Chillicothe street scene.  Train Depot shown at the end of the street.

 

Locust Street, 1890

Even some of the businesses get 'into the act."  
On a building that houses a store for the hunting and fishing

Radio Station:  The Wave

A "Ghost" sign from days gone by