Ft Osage

Its been hard to photograph the Missouri River that I have thus far followed. Like any large river I've seen its simply there, rolling, or in the case of the Mo I've seen, roiling, along. And the folks who live near aren't prone to talk of it. So I've been trying to look at stuff associated with it. One of those things is Ft. Osage.

The fort is not strictly a L&C thing though it is directly related to Clark. Upon returning, Clark was sent back with instructions to build a fort to protect the river, it being, or going to be, the main route west until the RR replaced it. Clark didn't stay after the fort was started however since he had a hand, I stopped to look.

This is another well-done site. The visitor center is new, so new it is an environmental showplace, grass roof etc. The fort itself has been restored with great care and I had an informative brochure to tell me about various buildings. It had just enough information to remain interesting and some of it was new information; like whipping was used for discipline until 1822. What they didn't tell me was also interesting. For instance, the flagpole was high over the walls because two 20ft poles were carefully lashed together to make one quite tall pole. Since this fort was so carefully restored, I'm guessing originally it had been lashed. Hemp growing and cordage was a favored industry along the river so maybe I want it to be true.  (Hemp also used lots of slave labor, hence most pro-slavery advocates lived along the Missouri where hemp was grown.)

One thing I found amusing was calling the trading post a factory, until I read that the trader was called a factor. Mike was serving as the factor when I visited. He is fun to talk with and very well informed. He was also selling trade goods so the grandbabies are stuck with more stuff that caught my eye as well as my mind.

During the gold rush I'm guessing most of us know the miners aren't the ones who became rich, it was the shop-keepers, saloon-keepers and the guys that sold food. Something else I hadn't thought about was, besides the little beasties, trappers & traders getting skinned too; I do know the Indians were. For instance, a trade mirror cost the supplier 8 cents, the trader paid 80 cents and the Indian paid a hide worth around $2.

Prices for hides surprised me. Some were worth as little as 10 cents and others were worth dollars. Size wasn't always the guide on price nor was fur. Another thing to add to my browse list.

I have satisfied a thing or two on the look-it-up list. Back in Jefferson City's museum there was a display about Lincoln University. It was started after the Civil War by a white officer from one of the black regiments. Black soldiers donated several thousand dollars to start the school. The school was started in Jefferson City because that's where someone was willing to sell the officer a broken-down building to use. It managed to continue as a black school until the early 1950's when the federal government said no dollars unless it integrated so it did. Hmmm. My cynical self started wondering how black it remained. Part of that wonder is based on poet-integration pictures on display that showed mostly white people.

Well, a quick search told me its doing really well – its in the top 5 schools for both economic and racial diversity. Of course it could actually mean other schools are doing really poorly but that's a TMI.