History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests

Preface

This territory of Soutlieast ilissouri was first visited by De Soto about the year 1540. The next Avhite men who saw it were the adventurous voj-agers from Canada who reached the Mississippi from the north and passed down toward its mouth. ^Marquette and Joliet and La Salle all visited this section, or at least saw it as their canoes floated down the great stream. No attention however was paid to the district until Renault, the agent of the Company of the West came with his miners and four hundred slaves to Fort Chartres witli instructions to explore the country for the precious metals. This was about 1720. In his search for gold and silver he penetrated to what is now the county of Ste. Genevieve, finding no traces of gold or silver, but finding abundant deposits of lead ore. These desposits he began to work. ^line a Breton was opened. Old Mine located. La Motte was discovered, and in other places attempts were made to work tlie rich deposits of lead ore, destined long afterward to be famous as among the greatest and richest deposits of lead in the world. These settlements for the purpose of mining naturally attracted other people, and about the year 1732 there was formed, in the great common field three miles south of the present site of Ste. Genevieve, the first permanent settlement within the limits of the state and one of the half dozen oldest towns in the Mississippi valley. This settlement known ns

"le vieux village de Ste. Genevieve," was also called "Misere" because of the troubles its inhabitants experienced with floods of the river.

Ste. Genevieve proved to be only the first of a number of settlements within this territory of Missouri. The magnificent plans of La Salle, long neglected by the French, at last began to be appreciated. France was arming herself for the great struggle impending with the English and preparing to shut them up in the territory occupied by them along the Atlantic coast. And so not alone along the Ohio and near the Alleghany mountains, but also along the course of the great river itself, settlements were planned, forts Iniilt, the favor of the Indians courted, in order to bold the country, if possible, against the inevitable attempt at expansion on the part of the Englisli. Besides this organized attempt to settle and hold the country for political reasons, tlie country itself invited settlers. Missouri, at that time as always, was among the most attractive j^arts of the great continent. Here were all the things to attract settlers, and accordingly, at St. Charles, St. Louis, Cape Girardeau, and New Madrid settlements were planted, and the wilderness began to be brought under the dominion of the white man. Forests were cleared away, mines were opened, towns laid out, commerce began to stir, grain was grown, mills built, religion was not forgotten and the cross was

IV

PREFACE lifted from many an humble church spire. The territory of New France was fondly believed to be destined to great things.

In 1762, however, by the secret treaty of Fontainebleau ceded all her territory west of the river to Spain, and the Spanish soon entered into possession. The transfer was very distasteful to the French settlers here, but in reality the rule of the Spanish was better than that of the French. The Spanish government undoubtedly- dreamed of a great Spanish colonial empire west of the river, and gave much consideration to the task of building it up. Her governors here were instructed to do all in their power to secure settlers, especially those from east of the ]Mississippi who had had some experience in the life of the pioneer. The Ordinance of 1787 which prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory of the United States, turned a part of the tide of imigration across the river, to the Spanish territory where no sueli restriction was in force. Spain sent to this country some of the ablest of her colonial administrators who gave much thought and effort to the task set them of building up her western possessions.

In 1800, the territory passed again into the control of France, and there were again dreamed the dreams of a new and glorious France in the New World. However it was a time of great stress and storm in France. Napoleon was engaged in his herculean struggle with the English. He needed all the resources of his vast empire to support him iu that struggle. The command of the sea was denied to France. Nelson and his fleets cut France off from her oversea dominions. Napoleon saw the inevitable consequence of trying to hold the great territory in America, known as Louisiana. It must fall into the hands of the English. To prevent this, to help build up a rival for England, and to gain mouej' which he needed, he sold the immense territory of Louisiana to the United States for the sum of $15,000,000. And so on a day in 1804 the flag of France was once more hauled down from her American possessions and the banner of the republic took its place.

That transaction iiiarkis an epoch not alone in the history of the western territory, but also in the history of the United States. The territory thus acquired from France, contains some of the best and fairest parts of the vast domains of our country. Of course the transfer meant much to Louisiana. The restrictions on trade, on religious freedom, on local self government which France and Spain had imposed on settlers within the territory, were at once removed and there poured into the new possessions a constantly increasing stream of immigration from the older sections of the union. State after state was carved from the new territory. ]Missouri was admitted to the Union in 1820, taking her place at once among the great states.

The subsequent histor,y of the state is a story of marvellous growth. Its vast resources have been developed, roads and railroads built, cities and towns have everywhere sprung up, the population has multiplied until now there are more than 3,000,000 people within the borders of ^Missouri alone. He who can close his eye to the present, sweep away all that civilization has brought, and with the imagination call again into existence the country as it appeared to De Soto or La Salle, awake from the grave the savage Indians who were once its sole population, then reclothe the land with its boundless forests and repeople them with the wild animals that once swarmed in countless numbers throughout all this region, fill the air again with the

J

PREFACE eoimtless wild fowl that amazed the travelei', and then having restored the past as it was, can trace again the stejjs b.y which civilization came, sees before him one of the most stirring pages of history. It is the ever interesting storj' of man's conflict with the savage forces of nature, with savage man himself, of his conquest of mighty forests, his mastery of the streams, of the expansion of little settlements and frontier towns to great cities, the change of the rude and hard conditions of frontier life for the comforts and luxuries of civilization, the building of governments of systems of education, the spread of religion — in a word, he lives again the experience of the race in its struggle up from tlie savage conditions of the wilderness to the height of civilization.

To recount this wonderful story in part is the purpose of this work. No one can appreciate more than the author how imperfectly the task has been performed. The tield is vast, the difficulty of sorting and selecting historical material great, and the time which might be devoted to the task, limited. He is conscious of many faults of omission, and doubts not that many of connnission are present.

The sources of material are varied. For the early period the monumental work of

Ilouck, The History of JVIissouri, must for many years be indispensable to the historian of .Missouri. It is a rich mine of information. Goodspeed's History of Southeast Missouri is also valuable. The period of the Civil war is adequately covered as yet only by the official reports in War of the Eebellion Records published by the government. Conard's Encyclopaedia of the History of Missouri has been freely used. Where possible actual re- / search work has been relied upon.

The author's thanks are due and are hereby tendered to Hon. Louis Houck of Cape Girardeau, for encouragement and assistance ; to Rev. J. C. Maple, D. D., whose long acquaintance with Southeast Missouri and scholarly attainments render him peculiarly fitted for a.ssistauce in preparing its history; to Rev. Geo. W. Harlan of Farmington, for permission to use his unpublished History of the Presbytery of Potosi ; to Dr. J. S. Dalton of New ]\Iadrid; to H. W. Watson of Memphis, for permission to print the account prepared by his grandfather, Judge Goah Watson.

It remains to be said that none of these, here named, are in anyway responsible for the errors in the work. For them the author is .solely responsible and toward them he begs the kindly indulgence of the reader.

The term, Southeast Missouri, like most terms made up from geographical expressions, is of indetinite application, being used in quite ditt'erent ways by dift'erent people and at different times. In its widest significance it designates the east half of that part of the state south of the Missouri river, which contains somewhat more than a quarter of the entire area of the state. Sometimes its use is restricted to the counties lying in the alluvial plains of the Mississippi river, frecj[uently called the swamps. Other meanings are given to the term also, but all of them have a vagueness of application which can be avoided only by arbitrary definition. As here used the term includes the counties of Jefferson, Washington, Iron, St. Francois, Madison, Ste. Genevieve, Perry, Reynolds, Wayne, Bollinger, Stoddard, Scott, Cape Girardeau, Carter, Ripley, Butler, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, and Dunklin. These counties have an area of twelve thousand square miles and in 1910 their population was 362,453.

As the term is here used it is of course an arbitrary one, but definiteness in its use may not be secured without arbitrarj' limits being set. There are, however, certain considerations which led to the restriction of the term in the manner here proposed. In the first place the area chosen is practically that included within the three districts of Ste. Genevieve, Cape Girardeau, and New Madrid as laid out by the French and Spanish; with but few exceptions all the counties mentioned were settled before the transfer of the territory to the United States ; and the larger numljer of the early settlements within the state are contained within Southeast Missouri as the term is here defined.

Another consideration which led to the selection of these limits is the fact that notwithstanding many striking differences in topography the section of the state here chosen for discussion has had a fairly uniform development. The causes which led to the settlements in one part of the section are substantially the same which led to settlements in other parts, and the general character'of the settlements and the life of the people do not exhibit any great diversities.

Southeast Missouri, as here defined, consists of two sections differing widely in physical features. The line dividing the two sections runs from the Mississippi river at Cape Girardeau, southwest through Cape Girardeau, Stoddard, Butler, and Ripley counties dividing the latter two into almost equal parts; and reaches the state line about half way between the east and west lines of Ripley county. This line is marked throughout most of its course by bluffs averaging from seventy to one hundred feet in height and known as the Mississippi escarpment. East and south of this line of bluffs are the alluvial bottoms of the Mississippi, the St. Franeois, and Little rivers; west and north of the line is the Ozark plateau. In the alluvial bottoms are the counties of Scott, Mississippi, New Madrid, P.emiscot, and Dunklin together with parts of Cape Girardeau, Stoddard, Butler, and Ripley. In the Ozark uplift are Washington, Jefferson, Iron, jMadison, Ste. Genevieve, Perry, Carter, Wayne. Bollinger, Reynolds and St. Francois counties and the remaining parts of Cape Girardeau, Stoddard, Butler, and Ripley. The a part of the plateau in southern Missouii and Arkansas and to apply different names to other parts. In this discussion the term Ozark plateau is most frequently used as being the most appropriate name by which to designate such an elevated region as that we are here considering.

This plateau extends from the Mississippi river at St. Louis to the southwest and reaches into Arkansas, its eastern and southern boundary in Missouri is marked by a dis-

Capaha Bluffs, Rock Levee Drive, Cape Girardeau former section includes about 3,800 square miles, the latter about 8,200 square miles.

The latter of these two sections, which has more than twice the area of the former, is a high land region being a part of an elevated plateau extending through Missouri and Arkansas and sending off ridges into other states. This plateau has been variously designated as the Ozark mountains, the Ozark upland, the Ozark uplift, and the Ozark plateau. Of late years there has been a tendency to restrict the term Ozark mountains to tinct escarpment or line of elevated, often precipitous bluff's. From St. Louis to Cape Girardeau, this escarpment is found on or near the bank of the Mississippi river, but south of Cape Girardeau the escarpment turns to the southwest and leaves the river. This elevated plateau or plain resembles in its general outline, an elevated dome; by some it has been compared to an upturned canoe, its central axis stretching from the northeast to the southwest. The plain is about five hundred miles in length and two hundred miles in width, aud has a total area of about seventy-five thousand square miles.

The central part of this plain does not resemble a mountainous country, most of it being free from any great differences of elc vation. It is simply an elevated plateau. At its edges, however, the plain bears considerable resemblance to mountains, due to the action of the streams which have worn down their valleys at the edge of the plateau, leaving the land between the valleys to stand up as elevated and distinct hills or mountains. Through the central part of the plateau the fall of the streams is not very great, and consequently their action of wearing down their valleys has been slow. At the edge of the plateau, however, the slope is great, the average descent from the plateaTi to the Mississippi plain being about one hundred feet at the present time. Formerly it was more than this, and the streams of the plateau have carved their valley.s rapidly thus making great differences of level between theii' beds and the untouched soil between them.

The average elevation of the Ozark plateau is about one thousand feet though there are places where the elevation is greater than this. From this central elevated part the slope extends to the northeast to the southeast and to the west.

Breaking away from this elevated domelike region are a number of ridges extending in several directions. One of these ridges extends across the IMississippi river at Grand Tower and another at Thebes. Some other of the ridges extend to the south and cross into Arkansas, while others strike off to the southwest into Kansas and Oklahoma.

The ridge which is broken by the river at Grand Tower is called the Shawnee hills. It extends through Illinois and crosses the Ohio river into Kentucky where it gradually fades away into the other physical features of the state. It received the name Shawnee hills from the early explorers in Missouri and Illinois, who found the Shawnee Indians living along the hills. The Indians at that time were called Oshawando and this name was given at first to the hills. The point where the jMississippi river breaks through this ridge, now known as Grand Tower, is one of the most interesting places within the Mississippi valley. p]ven a casual examination of the spot discloses the fact that within comparatively recent times the Mississippi river flowed considerably east of its present channel. On the Illinois side above the town of Grand Tower is a great isolated rocky hill known as Fountain Bluff, which rises to a height of 635 feet above the ordinary level of the river. The channel of the river was evidently at one time to the north and east of this great bluff. One of the remarkable things connected with the formation at this place is the fact that the strata in Fountain Bluff dip are in an opposite direction from those found in the rock known as Grand Tower and the other rocks on the west side of the river. The strata are the same in general cluiracter indicating, that the formation was once continuous from Fountain Bluff to the hills on the we.st side, but the fact of the changed direction of the dip of the strata together with the narrowness of the channel and its precipitous sides, indicate that the break in the hills was formed by some violent upheaval.

Another of these ridges extends across the ^Mississippi river at Commerce, evidently having been broken here within comparatively recent times as the bed of the river is still formed of rocks and boulders, not having been worn away by the action of the

LNTiiOULCTlOX stream nor covered with sediment as would have been the case if this part of tlie stream bed were as old as most of it. A part of this ridge extends into the alluvial section and is known as the Scott count}' hills. Other ridges make off from the central dome of the upland to the southwest extending into Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Within recent years the name St. Francois mountains has been ajiplied to the hills in St. Francois, Iron, Wayne, and AVasliiir^- was built, have been thrust up in the formation of these mountains until they are now at the surface : Iron Mountain, Shepherd ilountain. Pilot Knob, and others in their vicinity are some of the best known of these St. Francois mountains. The hill just west of Knob Lick in St. Francois county in the vicinity of the granite quarries known as Syenite, is a good example of these mountains formed by uplift. The name St. Francois mountains is peculiarly appropriate to them since most of

Elephant Rocks, Gr.^niteville ton counties. These hills are not only among the highest in the Ozark region of Missouri, but they are perhaps the only true mountains found within the state. They seem to have been formed not by the wearing down of the plain as is the ease with most of the Ozark hills, but to have been thrust up from beneath by forces within the earth and thus are true mountains in their origin. In these mountains are exposed the only Azoic rocks in Missouri. The granites which form the primordial base on which this Ozark region them are found in St. Francois county and since also they form the source of the St. Francois river. The name because it is appropriate and describes a distinct formation will probably come into general acceptation and use. The upthrust which created these mountains brought the hard granite and basalt to the surface or near it in many places, and in places dikes of these rocks were formed crosswise of the ridges previously existing. The streams of tlie section occur for the most part in the folds in the ridges formed within the material lying aliove the Azoic rorinatioii ; the action of these streiiins has worn down their bed nntil in some eases they have eoine to the dikes of luii-d i-ork lying transversely across the stream hed. The hardness of the granite has prevented its wearing away as rapidl.y as the other portions of the valley and this fact has given rise to rather pecnliar formations. The stream has ordinarily carved this wall of rock thrust across its course, but car'\'ed it much moi-e slowly than

Southeast Missouri are Shepherd ilountain having an elevation of twelve hundred feet. Pilot Knob with an elevation of 1,118 feet covering an area of three hundred and sixty acres and Iron iMountain which rises 228 feet above the plain and covering an average of five hundred acres.

This Ozark region contains one of the greatest mineral regions in all the world. Judged by the variety of minerals as well as l)y the innuense quantities of some of them.

Scene at the Shut-In Near Arcadia the remaining jiarts of its stream bed so that it is hemmed inio close (luarters at these places. They are locally called "shut-ins." One of them is to be seen on Stout's creek in the vicinity of Arcadia and there are many others in the same region.

The Ozark region of Missouri has its highest elevation along the line extending from Jefferson county to the southwest through Iron and into Barry and White counties; east and west of this line the elevation gradually becomes less. The highest points in the area deserves to take first place among mineral sections. The precious metals are not found in paying quantities, but a large number of other minerals are so found. The mineral which exists in this region in greatest abundance is lead which has attracted the attention of miners from the very earliest times; perhaps the greatest deposits of lead ore to be found in the entire world are in this section. Lead, however, is not the only mineral which is produced in paying quantities, iron is found in a number of these counties, uotablj' Irou, St. Francois and Wayne. Copper and zinc are also taken in connection with lead and other minerals are mined on a smaller scale.

There exist great quantities of tine clays and some of the largest deposits of sand fit for glass making in the United States. Besides these there are immense quantities of valuable building stone both lime stone and granite and also considerable quantities of a good qualit.y of sand stone.

The north part of this district is drained largely by the IMaramec river which has its source in Maramec springs in Dent county and flows north and east emptying into the Mississippi on the line dividing Jefferson county from St. Louis county. It is a picturesque and beautiful stream and with it are connected some of the earliest events in the history of the state. It receives a number of small tributaries from both north and south. The principal tributarj^ of the Maramec on the south is Big river which rises in Washington eouut.y, flows north through Washington and Jefferson counties and empties into the Maramec in Jefferson county. It is not navigable but is a very beautiful stream and has considerable water-power yet undeveloped. All the eastern part of the district is drained by streams whicli flow to the east and empty into the IMississippi. South of the ilaramec are Saline creek. Aux Vases, Cinquehomme, Apple Creek and Cape LaCroix creek; these streams with other smaller ones have their source within the Ozark upland and flow down its eastern border into the ^Mississippi.

The rest of this district is drained principally by streams flowing to the south, the easternmost of these are Castor and Whitewater both of which have their origin in St.

Francois count.y flowing toward the south and uniting to form Little river in New Madrid county. The St. Francois river also rises in St. Francois county and flows in a general southerly direction receiving the waters of Little river in Arkansas and finally flowing into the IMississippi. West of the St. Francois river are Black river and Little Black j these streams rise in Reynolds and Iron counties, flowing to the south into Arkansas and finall}' uniting with White river. The most westerly of the streams of the district is Current river, perhaps the most beautiful stream in the entire state, its general direction is south and east, it is a tributary of Black river.

South and east of the line which we have indicated, from Cape Girardeau to the Arkansas line, is found the alluvial bottoms of the Mississippi, Little River, the St. Francois, and Black River. With the exception of two areas, this section is practically level and all alluvial soil. These two areas are the Scott county hills and Crowley's ridge. The Scott county hills lie just south of what is called the Big swamp south of Cape Girardeau and extend a distance of about 15 miles from the neighborhood of Gray's Point to near ]Morley in Scott county. These hills are a part of the Paleozoic uplift and were doubtless connected with the ridge in Illinois at the time when the ^lississippi river flowed to the southwest from Cape Girardeau. They are essentially the same in structure and geologic origin with the Ozark plateau.

The other elevated land in tliis part of Southeast Missouri is Crowle\''s ridge, extending from a point in Seott county not far from Bell City in a southwesterly direction, crossing the state line near Campbell, and ending at the Mississippi river near the mouth of the St. Francois. This ridge varies in width, being about ten miles wide in the central part of Stoddard county and becoming very narrow between Dexter and Maiden. It is broken in two places, in the north by Castor and further south by the St. Francois river which crosses it just west of Campbell in Dunklin county. This ridge is geologically unlike the Ozai'k upland and most .certainly had a different origin. It is composed principally of clay and seems the remains of alluvial soil which had been thrust up from below and sculptured down again by the action of the rivers, leaving this ridge. The ridge itself slopes from east to west having its greatest height on the eastern edge, where it is about one hundred feet in elevation.

The remainder of the land in Southeast Missouri is practically level but falls into a number of divisions. The firet of these from east to west is the low country bordering along- the ^Mississippi river. There is extending south from below the Scott county hills a sand ridge called the Sikeston ridge which reaches the river at New Madrid and extends almost to the south line of New Madrid county. This ridge is elevated some 10 or 15 feet above the level of the bottom lands and its soil is principally sandy loam. East of it in the neighborhood of Charleston, there are two other similar ridges of sandy loam.

West of the Sikeston ridge extending to Crowley's ridge in the north part and to the sandy ridge of Stoddard and Dunklin counties in the southern part, is the low bottom of Little River, which lies from 15 to twenty feet below the level of the sand ridges and is a heavily timbered section with a great deal of humus and exceedingly productive.

West of this bottom of Little River is another sand ridge which extends from just south of Dexter to the state line near Hornersville in Dunklin county. On this ridge are situated the towns of Bernie. Maiden. Clarkton, and Kennett. The ridge is from 5 to 10 miles in width, is from 10 to 15 feet higher than the bottoms of Little river, and lias a very rich and productive sandy loam soil.

West of this ridge lying between it and Crowley's ridge in the north part is what is known as West swamp, while in the south in Dunklin county the St. Francois river is between the sand ridge and Crowley's ridge. The bottom of St. Francois river is not unlike that of Little river.

West of Crowley's ridge in Stoddard county is the valley of the St. Francois river and Black river. These are heavily timbered regions with a soil considerably heavier than the sand ridges above mentioned.

The drainage in this alluvial section of Southeast Missouri is principally from north to south. Of course on its eastern edge it is drained by the Mississippi which forms its eastern boundary. The Scott county hills are the source of two creeks, Ramsey creek which flows north emptying into the Mississippi, and Cane.y creek which flows to the north and then west and is a tributary of Little river. Mississippi county and the eastern part of New Madrid county are drained in part by St. James and St. John's bayous. The other streams of the alluvial section are principally those which have their origin in the Ozark upland and enter the alluvial district at its northern limit. In the neighborhood of Allenville, Crooked creek and Whitewater river combine and the stream thus formed is called Whitewater until it receives the waters of Caney creek and the East Fork after which it takes the name of Little river. This .stream flows to the southeast and then to the south-

XIV

INTROUUCTIOX west and crosses the state Hue into Arkansas tinally pouring its watera into the St. Francois.

West of Crooked creek a number of other smaller streams tiow into the alluvial di.striet. The first of these of importance is Castor river which enters the alluvial district near Zalma in Bollinger county. Castor tiows south and southeast through parts of Stoddard and New :\Iadrid counties and finally empties into Little river.

Two other streams of importance having their source in the Ozarks make their way through the alluvial district. The easternmost of these, the St. Francois river, leaves the hills in the edge of Wayne county and tiows directly through Stoddard and forms the state line between Dunklin county and Arkansas. West of St. Francois river, Black river enters the alluvial district at Poplar Bluff. It, together with a number of smaller ti'ibutary streams, most of them rising in the hills, cross the state' line into Arkansas from Bollinger county.