Missouri Life February/March 2007 by Missouri Life Magazine

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contents

F E AT U R E S 40 Life at the nest

36 Orphans find a home

The Western Frontier 26 John Robinson discovers the west at the Drexel Military Museum, the Bates County Museum, and the W.F. Norman Company. Titanic Endeavors 30 As one of the hottest tickets at Branson, the Titanic Museum is home to four hundred artifacts from the RMS Titanic, plus it’s bringing Jack and Rose from film fame into the family. The Orphan Trains 36 Orphans from New York City found homes in Missouri through the efforts of a few children’s aid organizations and trains headed west.

30 Titanic Museum

Life at the Nest 40 Wildlife photographer Brian Gosewisch gives a peek into the habits and habitat of the great horned owl.

23 20

73 16

Kansas City

23 48

St. Louis

23 54 23 15 64 73

15 23 56

13 Endangered Historic Sites 44 Missouri Preservation tries to save endangered sites. Civil War Series: Confederate Home 48 Confederate veterans of the Civil War found a home at Higginsville.

Springfield

Page numbers show story locations

44 Endangered sites

ON THE COVER: Great horned owl. Photo by Brian Gosewisch

DEPARTMENTS Missouri Memo 6 It’s Boonville, baby!

Symbols 18 Channel catfish

Letters to the Editor 9 Making Missouri Life his own and more to Clarksville

Made in Missouri 20 The cable company

Missouri Medley 15 A world champion wrestler and a St. Louis diva The Cave State 16 Mark Twain Cave

MissouriLife Vol. 34, No. 1, February 2007

Missouri Life (USPS #020181; ISSN #1525-0814) is published bimonthly in February, April, June, August, October, and December by Missouri Life, Inc., for $19.99 at the address below. Periodicals Postage paid at Boonville, MO, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Missouri Life, 515 E. Morgan St., Boonville, MO 652331252. © 2007 Missouri Life. All rights reserved. Printed in Missouri.

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Best of Missouri 23 Five terrific pizzerias Dream Homes 52 Glorious golf communities Bed & Breakfast 54 Schiller Guest Suites

Creative Cuisine 56 Chase Park Plaza at St. Louis, plus recipes Missouri Wine 60 Glass shape sense Missouri Artist 62 Maggie Ahern Missouri Journal 64 Lincoln University

Health Innovations 69 Cardio tennis and canola oil Missouri Trivia 71 Black history All Around Missouri 73 The Hut, King Tut, Steve McQueen, and Carden Circus Musings 78 Whose woods these are, I think I know

Missouri Books 66 Laura Ingalls Wilder

PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER Greg Wood greg@missourilife.com ■ EDITOR IN CHIEF Danita Allen Wood danita@missourilife.com MANAGING EDITOR & WEB EDITOR Rebecca French Smith rebecca@missourilife.com ART DIRECTORS Barb King barb@missourilife.com, Shea Bryant shea@missourilife.com ■ CREATIVE CONSULTANT Drew Barton CALENDAR EDITOR & ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Amy Stapleton amy@missourilife.com CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Karen Ebbesmeyer karen@missourilife.com Contributing Editors/Writers Traci Angel, Kristin Crowe, Margo L. Dill, John Fisher, Sylvia Forbes, Doug Frost, Megan Gajeski, Brian Gosewisch, Jim Hardin, Kim Hill, Timothy Hill, Ron W. Marr, Arthur Mehrhoff, John Robinson, Karen Mitcham-Stoeckley, Barbara Gibbs Ostmann, Stephanie Ruby, Ann Vernon, Jim Winnerman, Dan Viets Editorial Assistant Amanda Dahling HOW TO REACH US: E-mail: info@missourilife.com Phone: 660-882-9898 Fax: 660-882-9899 Web site: www.missourilife.com Address: Missouri Life, 515 East Morgan Street, Boonville, MO 65233-1252 TO SUBSCRIBE: 800-492-2593, ext. 102 TO ADVERTISE: 800-492-2593, ext. 106

International Regional Magazine Association

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missourimemo

O ONE GETS IT when I say, “It’s Boonville, Baby.” It’s supposed to be a play on the popular slogan and 2004 Time magazine headline, “It’s Vegas, Baby.” Boonville has a casino, after all. The reason I’ve been saying that a lot is that we moved Missouri Life to Boonville in December. While we’ll really miss Fayette, which has been our magazine home since 2000, we chose to move to Boonville for several reasons. We’re closer to Interstate 70, which will be helpful for traveling around the state. We work in this beautiful historic building, at 515 East Morgan Street, which will soon carry our name on a sign. It’s one of 454 buildings in Boonville that are on the National Historic Register. Plus, the Isle of Capri Casino and the Katy Trail draw tourists year-round. We figure at least a few of them will find us! Best of all, I cross the Missouri River

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twice a day, and we’re only a block from the Katy Trail where it crosses the river. You will find me on the trail during the lunch hour after it warms up. We’re also only a half block from Boonville’s thriving downtown Main Street and several fine restaurants. We have not yet discovered all of Boonville’s attractions, but I’m looking for-

ward to exploring and sharing them with you. We have one more move to tell you about. We are still totally committed to providing the best calendar of events around the state that you will find anywhere. But we’ve moved it mainly online. For quite some time, we have been putting far more events online than in the magazine. We still will have our All Around Missouri section (it begins on page 73 in this issue), but it will be mainly stories about events. To find more events, go online to www. missourilife.com, and click on regions or on any date for a list of fun things to do. Click the event itself for the same kind of description you see in the magazine. So come and see us in Boonville, or come and Danita Allen Wood Editor in Chief visit us online.

COURTESY OF BOONVILLE DAILY NEWS/THERESA KREBS

It’s BOONVILLE, Baby!

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y l r e b o M

“The Magic City”

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Valentine Sweetheart Sweepstakes For more information contact Main Street Moberly www.mainstreetmoberly.com

Stay Tuned for information on Railroad Days June 11th–16th. For more information about Moberly and Railroad Days visit www.moberly.mo.com/chamber or call 660-263-6070

Sponsored By Moberly Tourism Advisory Council

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February 2007

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letterstotheeditor

JAMES NOBLE

Brody Joe’s FIFTEEN Minutes My wife and I moved to Missouri a little over three years ago. We came from the Texas Panhandle where we had lived most of our lives, so we have embraced Missouri with extreme gusto. We live in Sedalia which is centrally located so it has given us an excellent home base from which to explore all that Missouri has to offer. In searching out the very best of our newly adopted state, we came across your magazine, and it has been a treasured source of information ever since. In fact, out of all the magazines that we receive, it is above all our favorite. Recently you did a small article on the hospital where I am the Medical Lab Director, I-70 Medical Center in Sweet Springs. You used a photo that I took, so I’m always bragging how I’m a published photographer in my very favorite magazine. In October, I was taking some pictures outdoors of our four-month old golden retriever Brody Joe. I thought the photos were almost good enough to make your magazine, so I took the photo and made it into a Missouri Life cover. Of course, I realize that it is copyright infringement and only intend to amuse myself with it, but I thought you might enjoy it. As I’ve heard many times

TO SUBSCRIBE OR GIVE A GIFT

• Visit www.missourilife.com • Call 800-492-2593 • Or mail a check for $19.99 (for 6 issues) to: Missouri Life • 515 East Morgan Street • Boonville, MO 65233-1252 Subscriptions start with the next issue. We send a card announcing gifts. Special discounts for multiple orders are available, for example for group gift subscriptions. Call or e-mail for more information.

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before, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” Keep up the good work at Missouri Life. The only improvement I hope for in your magazine is that you could publish it every month instead of every other month. James and Kimberly Noble Sedalia Thanks for the compliment! You’ve inspired us to invite others to mock up their own Missouri Life covers. We’ will post all submissions on our web site at www.missourilife.com and will run the best ones on this page in a future issue. Send your submissions to info@missourilife. com. —Editor

MORE TO CLARKSVILLE I am a resident of Clarksville and just finished reading the article by John Robinson in the December issue. Frankly, I’m disappointed. To write an article on shopping in the town with no mention of the availability of great antiques is a huge oversight. Clarksville is home to one of the largest antique malls in the state, with over forty thousand square feet of antiques. There are several other antique shops in town as well, including one owned by our mayor and her husband. The restaurant mentioned in the article is only open for breakfast and lunch. There

was no mention of the Clarksville Station or Steamboat Restaurant & Lounge. And on the outskirts of town we have The Blue Rose, which has an unparalleled view of the river and great food served by the mentally challenged adults who live there. I moved to Clarksville two years ago, and like most of the people who are drawn to live here, I am very proud of my town. I am not an artisan and do not own a business here. You have a wonderful magazine, and I always look forward to reading each issue. Angi Grossnickle Clarksville Thanks for writing. Now our readers know. John’s column is intended more to prompt people to make their own road trips to explore Missouri rather than to itemize every attraction in his destinations. We’re confident our readers will find the rest of Clarskville, too! —Editor

CORRECTION Grandma’s Cool and Zesty Dressing mentioned in Missouri Memo (December 2006, page 6) is made in Jefferson City, not Trenton.

send us a letter: E-mail: letters@MissouriLife.com Fax: 660-882-9899 660-248-2310 Address: MissouriLife 112 East Morgan 515 MorrisonStreet Street Fayette, MO Boonville, MO 65248-1215 65233 Letters may be edited for clarity and length.

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letterstotheeditor

JAMES NOBLE

TO SUBSCRIBE OR GIVE A GIFT

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before, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” Keep up the good work at Missouri Life. The only improvement I hope for in your magazine is that you could publish it every month instead of every other month. James and Kimberly Noble Sedalia Thanks for the compliment! You’ve inspired us to invite others to mock up their own Missouri Life covers. We will post all submissions on our web site at www.missourilife.com and will run the best ones on this page in a future issue. Send your submissions to info@missourilife. com. —Editor

CORRECTION Grandma’s Cool and Zesty Dressing mentioned in Missouri Memo (December 2006, page 6) is made in Jefferson City, not Trenton.

ADVERTISING

REPRINTS

CUSTOM PUBLISHING

BACK ISSUES

Call 800-492-2593. Information for display and web advertising and for other marketing opportunities are posted at www.missourilife.com.

Missouri Life provides reprints on high quality paper. Visit our web site, e-mail info@missourilife. com, or call 800-492-2593 for rates.

Get Missouri Life quality writing, design, and photography for your special publications or magazines. Call 800-492-2593, ext. 106 or e-mail Publisher Greg Wood at greg@missourilife.com.

Cost is $7, which includes tax and shipping. Order from web site, call, or send a check.

MISSOURI LIFE MARKETPLACE

CHANGE ADDRESS

Find Missouri-made gifts, products, services and other Missouri products at www.missourilife. com. Click on Marketplace.

EXPIRATION DATE

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February 2007

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Re-imagine reality with the True/False Film Festival in Columbia March 1-4, 2007 “Three things that make True/False the best U.S. documentary festival: First, the perfect number of films. Second, a collegial, egalitarian, non-competitive environment for all the filmmakers. Third, the most stylish hooded sweatshirt.” �� This year, Columbia, Missouri, is the place to be the weekend of March 1-4, for all those reasons and more. Nowhere else but at the home-grown True/False Film Festival can you choose from 40-some top independent nonfiction films all in walking distance of each other, meet and talk with the directors, and share great food, music and contagious energy with some 13,000 other film lovers in your home state. In this media age, people can watch movies on their laptop, on their iPod, and in their own home theater. Festival co-founder David Wilson says he and “co-conspirator” Paul Sturtz started out from day one to make True/False a place where the director or a major star of each film is on hand to introduce their work and answer audience questions about their movie.

“A festival has to be something different,” Wilson says. “True/False is a whole experience in the world of independent film that you can’t find anywhere else.” Now in its fourth edition, True/False is attracting the same caliber films — and often the very ones — as the Sundance Film Festival, the famed keynote event of the Sundance Institute founded by Robert Redford just over 25 years ago. “But we’re not Sundance, and we don’t want to be,” Wilson says. True/False attendance has grown steadily, from 4,400 in 2003 to 6,600 the second year and 10,600 last year. “Our growth will slow, then stop, eventually,” Wilson predicts. “We want to make sure that True/False always maintains its intimate continued feel.” David Wilson (left) and Paul Sturtz of Columbia founded the True/False Festival and also the Ragtag Cinema, a movie theater for independent films.

“The True/False Film Festival gracefully integrates traveling filmmakers with an enthusiastic community of film lovers and local businesses, transforming a Midwestern downtown into a hotbed of open-ended debate and nighttime revelry.” – ��

Special Advertising Section

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True/False a favorite of directors Documentary directors tell Wilson and Sturtz they prefer the intimate, interactive True/False format in its relaxed, informal atmosphere. “I’ve been to many festivals over the years,” says film director Mark Lewis, “and I think what best defines True/False is the generosity and enthusiasm of the audience and their appetite for good films.” Lewis says he also likes the spirit of True/False, which acknowledges the evolution and transitions taking place in documentary work. That spirit is intentional and has been at the heart of True/False from the beginning. “The festival is diving right into the middle of that slash mark, then swinging around and looking at how the T & F butt up against each other,” Wilson says. He wants the festival and its attendees to approach the films with skepticism, questioning everything as some of the movies blur the line between fact and fantasy, documentary and narrative, propaganda and journalism. You decide: “How is the truth being told?”

The approach is paying off. As the attendance has grown, so has the acclaim and support for the festival. At least 200 people volunteer each year to make the event happen. Outside Columbia and Missouri, recognition is growing for the festival and the independent movie theater that Wilson and Sturtz also founded, the Ragtag Cinema. In 2006, the Ragtag was one of only 14 regional theaters picked by Sundance to collaborate in the institute’s 25th anniversary celebration. And characteristically, of the four Sundance movies screened at Ragtag, three had the directors on-site and the fourth had one of the stars present. “Here’s this thing that’s sort of sprouted up in central Missouri, and from its base here, is making ripples out into the international film community,” Wilson says. In fact, he expects the True/False festival to screen as many as 20 international documentary features this year. At the same time, look for local Missouri filmmakers to be featured, both on the main screens and particularly in the annual “Gimme Truth” competition on Saturday night, March 3, at The Blue Note. Local artists make short, two-minute film segments — either true or false — then a game show pits festival filmmakers against each other to be the best at sorting fact from fiction in the film shorts.

“The True/False festival is a great opportunity to perceive the world differently, to meet different people and different ideas.” �� Festival co-director Paul Sturtz (left) introduces director Eric Daniel Metzgar for questions and answers after the 2006 screening of his ﬁlm “The Chances of the World Changing.”

Sneak preview of the True/False lineup Festival Films: • “Kurt Cobain: About A Son” by returning local hero A.J. Schnack • “A Killer Within” by Macky Alston • “Manufactured Landscapes” by Jennifer Baichwal • “The Monastery” by Pernille Rose Grønkjaer • “American Shopper,” ﬁlmed in Columbia, Missouri, by local producer Katie Mustard Workshops: • Kurt Engfehr, co-producer and editor of “Bowling for Columbine” and “Fahrenheit 9/11” Bands: • The Wiyos from NYC • Local acts Flowers, The Bait Shop Boys, and several marching bands (*ﬁlms subject to change)

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Food, bands, workshops and parties add to the festival The four main venues for the True/False Film Festival are the Missouri Theatre (203 S. 9th St.), The Blue Note (17 N. 9th St.), Ragtag Cinema (23 N. 10th St.), the Cherry Street Artisan (111 S. 9th St.), and the Forrest Theater at the Tiger Ballroom in the Tiger Hotel (23 S. 8th St.), all downtown and within easy walking distance of each other. In between marathon filmgoing, True/False guests can attend workshops, master classes and panel discussions conducted by many of the visiting directors and stars. At any time during the weekend, step into the Video Confessional at the Missouri Theatre and answer the revealing question (to be announced); your “confession” may become part of a documentary made by and starring all who attend the festival. When you’re hungry or thirsty, dozens of eclectic restaurants, coffee shops and cafés await you among the venues in The District, Columbia’s downtown. In fact, pass holders can feast for free before the opening night film Friday at “Reality Bites,” an event where local restaurants offer up delectable appetizers, beer and wine at the Missouri Theatre. The festival box office and headquarters is a major Columbia cultural hotspot that is also a restaurant, the Cherry Street Artisan. Don’t let your first stop to pick up your passes and tickets be your last – you never know what famous folk are hanging around. Sycamore is the scene of the Filmmaker Fete Saturday night, and Addison’s – An American Grill is catering the festival’s closing event. Nightlife during True/False rocks, starting with a kickoff concert with multiple bands Thursday night. Friday night, bring your pass and drink and dance the night away at the Rise Up! Party, called the “best party of the year” by some festival goers. Major concerts Saturday night and Sunday night with invited bands fill out the bill. Take advantage of the great shopping along the way, at places like The Butterfly Tattoo, a downtown gift shop that’s a major sponsor of the festival. In The District, you’ll find bookstores, boutiques, art galleries, sporting gear, crafts and collectibles, flower shops, CDs and video games (new and used), even places to chill out for a massage or other spa services. After a weekend of True/False, you just might need that! continued

Take our True/False quiz:

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T/F 1. ● ● Local restaurants cater free food and drinks before the opening night film at an event at the Missouri Theatre called “True Taste/Faux Fondue.” 2. ● ● The award given by the True/False Festival to one director each year for creatively advancing the art of nonfiction filmmaking is called the “True Vision” Award. 3. ● ● In 1975, True/False co-founder Paul Sturtz lost his honorary role as the Memorial Day Parade field marshal after allegedly starting a food fight in the New City Elementary School 6th grade cafeteria. 4. ● ● The local (now statewide) filmmaking competition that culminates in a game show for visiting directors is called “Truth or Dare.” 5. ● ● The use of the Bull Pen Café as a special True/False venue arose from a bet between co-founder David Wilson and his uncle, Marty Riback. T/F Quiz Answers: 1.F – it’s “Reality Bites” 2. T 3. T 4. F – it’s “Gimme Truth” 5. T

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“Wow! What an unbelievable weekend of films. We have never enjoyed Columbia as much as last weekend. Our only regret is that we have to wait until next year to do it again.” ��

How to do the True/False Festival 1. Order your pass or individual tickets NOW online at www.truefalse.org or by calling the Missouri Theatre Box Office at 573-875-0600. 2. Clear your schedule for March 1-4. 3. Go online as soon as possible beginning Feb. 12 to read about the films and to pick the movies you want to see. The fully automated system assigns tickets in the order ticket requests are made, so don’t delay. 4. Book a room at one of Columbia’s fine hotels. Go to www.visitcolumbiamo.com and click on “Where to stay.” 5. Bring walking shoes, warm clothes and party clothes. All festivities are in easy walking distance of each other, and you’ll be lining up outside. 6. Pick up your pass and reserved tickets at the True/False box office and festival HQ at the Cherry Street Artisan, 111 S. 9th St. Buy tickets for field trips and concerts there (unless you already have a Gold or Silver Circle pass; see below). 7. Single tickets are $8 each, available at the Artisan beginning noon Thursday, March 1. Any remaining tickets not sold for a film 15 minutes before it starts are put on sale at the door of the venue 10 minutes before the start time. 8. If a film is listed as NRT (No Reserve Tickets), don’t fret; you may still get in at the door. Just show up at the theater 30-45 minutes before showtime and get a Q card. These numbered cards provide a queue for spots that may open. Even at packed shows, a few Q-holders almost always make it in.

True/False Passes and Tickets Full Festival Pass ($65) A full festival pass grants one person admission to any festival films Friday (March 2) through Sunday (March 4). Field trips and concerts — as well as films on Thursday (March 1) — are not included, and tickets for these events must be purchased separately. Gold Festival Pass ($100) A Gold pass grants one person admission to any films (Thursday, March 1 – Sunday, March 4), concerts, field trips and parties (except the Filmmaker Fete). Silver Circle Pass ($200) A Silver Circle patron pass grants all the privileges of a Gold pass plus admission to the Filmmaker Fete, six extra tickets for any Missouri Theatre screening (except for Opening Night) and one of our coveted filmmaker goodie bags. Silver Circle pass holders have preferred access to films at the Missouri Theatre, The Blue Note, and Forrest Theater, and are able to reserve tickets online starting on Feb. 11 – a full day before other pass holders. Weekend Discount Package ($30) For $30, you can buy any five tickets to use on one day -- either Saturday or Sunday. Questions? Visit www.truefalse.org or send an e-mail to tickets@truefalse.org or call the hotline: 573-442-TRUE.

“This is the smallest town, the biggest theater and the most raucous audience I’ve seen.” �� Special Advertising Section

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missourimedley

JIM HARDIN

“HANDSOME” HARLEY RACE WRESTLING FANS from the 1970s will remember “Handsome” Harley Race. He was on television often defending his National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) World Heavyweight Championship title, fighting out of St. Louis when that city’s Kiel Auditorium was America’s preeminent wrestling center. During a career from the 1950s to the 1990s, he competed across this and other countries on four continents. Called “Handsome Harley” by promoters because of his classic good looks, Harley met tougher schedules (often daily competitions) than wrestlers today and still won the world heavyweight title eight times, more than anyone else in the sport’s history. Although age and injuries have ended his ring career, Harley remains in the profession he loves as a teacher, fight promoter, and manager. At his school in Eldon, he trains young wrestlers, setting some of them on the same path that gave him international fame. In 1988, he was seriously injured. Wrestling Hulk Hogan, Harley leaped from the top rope to his opponent who had been thrown onto a table at ringside. Hogan rolled away, the table collapsed, and a metal band around it recoiled against Harley’s body, causing severe internal injuries that required seven operations to fix. Though he continued competing for several years, retirement from active wrestling was inevitable. Wishing to make a contribution and aware of his support

from the wrestling community, Harley began promoting competitions as well as managing young wrestlers. “Wrestling has given me everything I have,” he says. Protégés fighting as Lex Luger and Big Van Vader became superstars. He also helped brothers Michael Dibiase and Teddy Dibiase, Jr., sons of “the million dollar man,” Ted Dibiase. In 1999, Harley and his wife bought a commercial gym in Eldon and converted it to a training school. He sponsors competitions across the Midwest to provide his students experience and exposure. Up-and-coming wrestlers under Harley’s tutelage from Japan, Canada, Australia, and the United States performed in recent Missouri matches. —Jim Hardin

COURTESY OF KIM MASSIE

SMOOTH SOUL FROM A ST. LOUIS DIVA IT’S THE STRIKING BLONDE hair and a dolled-up face noticed first, as Kim Massie’s sassy presence commands the stage. Then, it’s a velvety voice that woos as she sings a silky soul number from Etta James. But she wins over admirers and gets her audience whooping and hollering when she switches to a booming voice for a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.” The St. Louis diva — the title “mostly given to me by my fans, means I am a performer who is a lady who sings with style and attitude,” Kim explains — began singing at the age of two, according to her mother. Although she was born in Madison, Illinois, Kim grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Her musical talent, however, was born in church. She began competing in karaoke contests in the Cleveland area, and nearly seven years ago, Kim moved to St. Louis and began singing in blues clubs in the Soulard neighborhood. Once the treasure of Beale on Broadway in St. Louis, where she still plays on Tuesdays and Thursdays to her loyal crowd, her home city and beyond have recently started to recognize her talent. Community Radio station KDHX named her Best R & B Vocalist in 2006. She was the 2004 recipient for Grand Center Visionary Award for the Performing Arts, honoring women advancing the arts in St. Louis. Her growing popularity takes her traveling across the state during the weekends to play in clubs and at private parties and functions. During her performances, she pays tribute to Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, and Norah Jones, tossing in a gospel, blues, or jazz song. Her fan base has grown along with her eclectic performance. “I have expanded my performances to include a number of genres and styles. I’ve been given a gift for which I am very grateful,” Kim says. “I am fortunate to have great fans from all walks of life; I want to keep growing.” Last year she released her CD Attitude recorded live at Jazz at the Bistro in St. Louis. She has two albums set to release this year. Kim’s schedule and more information about the performer are available at www.kimmassie.com. —Traci Angel MissouriLife.com

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February 2007

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thecavestate

The First SHOW CAVE ■ By Jim Winnerman

★

F THE MORE than six thousand caves in the Cave State of Missouri, one of the farthest caves to the north is Mark Twain Cave. Discovered in 1819, it was originally named McDowell’s Cave by Dr. Joseph Nash McDowell, the first owner and a well-respected Missouri physician and surgeon who lived and worked in nearby Hannibal. But it was another Hannibal resident, author Samuel Clemens, who made the cave famous around the world. He included references to it in several of his famous books, even though many who have read them do not realize the cave actually exists. Clemens moved to Hannibal in 1839 when he was four, and the cave was a place he frequently explored and played in as a boy. Writing as Mark Twain, he created the fictional characters Tom Sawyer, Becky Thatcher, and Injun Joe who relived Clemens’s own experiences of getting lost inside the cave in his first novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, published in 1876. As a result, by 1886 so many people were coming to Hannibal on sightseeing trips that the cave was the first in Missouri to be opened commercially, and tours have continued for 119 years. Tour guides talk about the geology of the cave and point out the locations corresponding to Twain’s written accounts. One of the author’s more macabre stories that has been highlighted by tour guides was described in his autobiography, where he penned: “The cave was an uncanny place, for it contained a corpse — the corpse of a young girl of fourteen.” Surprisingly, it was the daughter of Dr. McDowell. He had placed the corpse, after her death from pneumonia, in a copper cylinder filled with alcohol to see if a body could be petrified in such a manner. Although Mark Twain Cave has the distinction of being Missouri’s first “show cave,” it’s not the only one in the area. Just a few hundred feet away is Cameron Cave, which was discovered in 1925 by the Cameron family, who had purchased Mark Twain Cave two years earlier. The Cameron family still resides in Hannibal and continues to own both caves. Cameron Cave opened to the public in 1976 and 16

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is still the most recent Missouri cave to open to the public. Clemens would have had fun exploring it as well. Like Mark Twain Cave, it is a maze cave, characterized by a repetitive pattern of underground corridors that intersect much like city streets. However, within Cameron, the network of short passages is exceptionally dense. In a surface area of just a few acres, there are more than 480 passages covering four and a half miles. Mark Twain Cave has 260 subterranean passageways that crisscross for six and a half miles. Because of their unique formation, both caves were designated National Natural Landmarks in 1978. According to Gary Berdeaux, a spokesman for the National Caves Association, the pattern of underground corridors originated when the area was covered by a large sea millions of years ago. “The earth’s plates collided, and the water drained away through fissures in the limestone that formed and relieved the stress on the surface,” he says. “The pattern is much like the cracks that form on an eggshell when it is broken or on the surface of a dried-up pond.” MissouriLife.com

1/5/07 6:05:41 PM

COURTESY OF MARK TWAIN CAVE

Clockwise from top left: Old graffiti adorns a passage of the Mark Twain Cave. Unlike most caves in Missouri that have water dripping from or flowing on the cave surfaces, this caveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ceiling (above, the view looks up to ceiling) and floor are dry. A dormant flowstone, the Frozen Waterfall, is a stop on the cave tour.

Unlike Mark Twain Cave, which is electrified, Cameron Cave remains undisturbed and has never been lighted. Tours are made using several lanterns to illuminate the underground stone corridors, which at only three to seven feet wide can make some visitors claustrophobic, and are quite a bit narrower than those in the Mark Twain Cave. Just past the cave entrance, lantern light frequently reveals bats hanging a few feet overhead. From St. Louis, Hannibal is a two-hour drive north from the Highway 61 and Interstate 70 interchange. The caves are two miles south of downtown alongside Route 79. Mark Twain Cave is open every day from 9 AM to 4 PM. Admission to Mark Twain Cave is $14 for adults and $7 for children age five to twelve. Admission to Cameron Cave is $15 for adults and $8 for children age five to twelve. Walking tours of each cave last approximately one hour. For more information, call 573-221-1656 or visit www.marktwaincave.com. MissouriLife.com

Feb07 Cave.indd 17

February 2007

1/5/07 6:06:29 PM

Missouriʼs Picturesque Rivertown Turn-of-the-Century Homes Historic Business District Mississippi Riverfront Restaurants & Lodging Route 79 Mural City Antiques & Artists

missourisymbols

Channel CAT ■ By John Fisher

www.louisiana-mo.com • 888.642.3800

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HE MENTION of catfish quickly conjures up images of golden fillets sizzling in a deep fryer. Abundant in Missouri’s lakes, streams, and ponds, channel catfish are popular for both eating and sport fishing. The channel catfish gained one more distinction when it became the state fish May 23, 1997, thanks to efforts by the Mid-America 4-H and Wildlife Club of Elkland. These sleek, streamlined fish with bluish- to greenish-yellow skin and deeply forked tails are common in the Missouri and Mississippi rivers as well as smaller streams in north and west Missouri and waters of the southeastern lowlands. Like all catfish, they have spines on both the pectoral and dorsal fins that can inflict a painful wound. Receiving the “channel” name because they are more likely to inhabit swifter waters than other catfish, they also flourish in lakes and ponds. Channel catfish spawn between the last week of May and the third week of July. The male guards the nest until the young fish leave. Males also select nest sites which are usually located around hollow logs, undercut banks, or other cavities. Channel catfish mature in four to five years at twelve to fifteen inches in length and weigh one to five pounds though they can grow much larger. The Missouri state record, which weighed thirty-four pounds, came from Lake Jacomo. A strong fighting fish, channel catfish are caught with either line and pole or set lines, which are lines tied between two points on the banks or to floating jugs. They eat a wide variety of foods including other fish, insects, crayfish, mollusks, and some plants. For this reason, catfish fishers employ many different materials for bait, each having a favorite. Some use rather foul-smelling preparations including chicken liver and strong cheese. Commercially available concoctions called “stink baits” are often used. Minnows and worms are other popular catfish baits. The raising of catfish in ponds for the restaurant and grocery store market has become a large business. Ponds with closely monitored water quality and feed rations produce great-tasting fish. Channel catfish thrive in commercial ponds because they tolerate high populations and variations in water temperature. The Missouri Agricultural Statistics John Fisher is the author Service report for 2003 shows 1,700,000 of Catfish, Fiddles, Mules, pounds of farm-raised catfish produced in and More: Missouri’s State Symbols. Missouri with a value of $1,460,000. MissouriLife.com

1/5/07 4:49:36 PM

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February 2007

1/3/07 12:30:43 PM

madeinmissouri

The CABLE Company

WIRE CABLES MADE IN MISSOURI HOLD STRONG ALL OVER THE WORLD ■ By Stephanie Ruby

February 2007

Feb07 Made.indd 20

★

FROM TOP: A construction crane using WRCA wire for hoist and boom ropes lifts heavy equipment on a dam. A power shovel uses wire ropes to remove minerals from a strip mine. Oil and gas wells on an ocean rig use wire rope for drilling line, anchor line, and hoist rope.

COURTESY OF WRCA

HAT HAS THE ABILITY to catch fish from a lake or jet planes on Navy carriers at sea? And what carries ski lifts on the slopes of a snowy mountain in Colorado or cable cars in San Francisco? The answer is wire rope. The largest wire rope producer in North America, Wire Rope Corporation of America, is headquartered at St. Joseph in the Show-Me state. WRCA ships its products all over the world. Examples of WRCA products are endless, but one place close to home famous for its wire cables is Bartle Hall, a major convention center, in Kansas City, which has a cable-supported roof. The hall is the largest column-free exhibition hall in America. Dennis Scholl, a process quality engineer at the Sedalia plant, says the rope used in oceanographic exploration is a “torque-balanced, heat-treated, three-strand product.” WRCA also has some impressive examples of its cable’s capabilities. The largest rope ever made was five inches in diameter, with a three-million-pound breaking strength. This rope was used by drag lines in coal and mineral mining, where the machines would remove and put back the top layer of ground so that other machines could dig for the minerals. The longest rope ever made was forty-five thousand feet, nearly nine miles. It was an oceanographic rope used in the water by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute during the exploration of the Titanic. Another long rope used by the San Francisco cable cars is 21,700 feet, and it is all one piece, Dennis says. The heaviest rope ever was sixty-eight tons and was used for anchoring an oil rig in the ocean. WRCA uses three types of wire to make ropes: structural for civil engineering projects, such as bridges or buildings; galvanized for projects where corrosion is possible, such as water; and high-carbon for the majority of ropes, such as ski ropes or oil-field ropes. The company has many different sizes of rope that vary by the number of wire sizes and total wire wound in it. “Wire is much stronger by size and multitude of pieces,” Dennis says. What is now known as WRCA in St. Joseph and Sedalia is a company that has been through several name changes over the years. Originally known as Broderick & Bascom, Keystone Steel & Wire bought the company in 1966. In 1983 it was bought by Amstead, and finally, in 1999 WRCA took over. Prior to 1980 there were only three plants, all outside of Missouri. In 1980 under the Keystone Steel & Wire name, all the production was moved to Sedalia. Now, WRCA has corporate headquarters in St. Joseph, a fabrication shop in Kirksville for making assemblies, and plants in Chillicothe and Sedalia, as well as another manufacturing plant in Rosenburg, Texas. Throughout the years, WRCA has acquired several wire rope companies to expand its services worldwide. For more information on WRCA, visit www.wrca.com or call 816-233-0287.

MissouriLife.com

1/5/07 5:30:59 PM

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February 2007

1/3/07 2:21:46 PM

February 2007

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MissouriLife.com

12/29/06 11:04:14 AM

bestofmissouri

By MARGO L. DILL

HERE’S NOTHING like gathering family and friends and heading to the local pizza joint, the place that puts a big, cheesy grin on the faces of kids of all ages. We’ve chosen some of the best pizzerias around Missouri, which have earned their reputations because pizza dough and sauce are made on-site everyday and toppings are number one quality. Menus list unusual pizzas, stacked high with ingredients from pepperoni to pineapple. Our five best pizza places are traditions in their towns, talked about at ballgames, and involved in their communities. North, south, east, and west, you’ll find a pizza place to entertain your family, delight your taste buds, and fill you up with one of our favorite foods.

PAGLIAI’S: COURTESY OF PAGLIAI’S PIZZA; FUN HOUSE: COURTESY OF PRISM BUSINESS MEDIA

TASTE THE TRADITION IN KIRKSVILLE Nestled in a building more than one hundred years old, Pagliai’s Pizza has been serving northeast Missouri since 1963. One of the early franchise philosophies of the Pagliai family was to build in Midwest towns near a major state university such as Truman State University in Kirksville. Pagliai’s radiates friendliness and warmth with its open atmosphere. Customers can place an order, step up to the glass, and watch their pizza as it is created. There’s no swinging door for staff to hide behind. Pagliai’s credits much of its success to its openness with customers. Although they offer pizza and sandwiches, the Pagliai’s store, independently owned and operated, offers some different menu items such as the ever-popular Ronza. Manager Tony Hamlin describes it as “folded-over pizza with the crust on the outside and goodies on the inside.” A popular campaign slogan might clear up any leftover confusion, “It’s a sandwich, but it’s not.” Ronzas are filled with anything you can put on a pizza, but the one that customers adore is The Original. Take a bite out of the golden-brown crust and find a surprise inside of pizza sauce, pepperoni, sausage, onion, mozza-

rella cheese, and a special sauce. On Friday nights, college students and families love the Baby Ronzas, a smaller version of the beloved Kirksville treat and only ninety-nine cents each. Along with Ronzas, try the Thursday night pizza buffet. Pagliai’s Pizza 101 West Washington • Kirksville • 660-665-6678 Other locations are in Cape Girardeau and Maryville.

FUN FOR THE FAMILY IN RAYTOWN Fun House Pizza is a place to feed a family of four with a large pizza and pitcher of Coke for less than twenty dollars. After dining on pizza topped with homemade sauce, 100 percent real cheese, and fresh ingredients, kids can enjoy a game room with air hockey, video games, and rides. Everyone else can stick around for karaoke and belt out their favorite hits on Friday and Saturday nights. According to owner Gary Graham, Fun House Pizza’s success is due to the quality of the pizza. “It’s an excellent pizza for the price. We make everything from scratch.” They even make their own Italian sausage. They use Gary’s family recipe for the sauce and create the pizza just like Gary’s mother and father, Martie and Helen Graham, did forty-two years ago. The most popular is the Fun House Combination, topped with salami, pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, black olives, and ground beef. Daily specials vary from fifty-nine-cent tacos to a one-topping small pizza for $4.99 to a large pizza at the medium price. Scoot up to the table and enjoy the Taco, the BLT, or the Fun House Combination Pizza. Fun House Pizza 9102 East 350 Highway • Raytown • 816-356-5141 www.funhousepizza.com Other locations are in Independence, Lee’s Summit, Blue Springs, Harrisonville, and Raymore.

SHAKIN’ IT UP IN COLUMBIA Serving Boone County for more than “seven presidents,” Shakespeare’s Pizza is well-known for its thick toppings, but it also has the reputaFebruary 2007

Feb07 Best.indd 23

1/5/07 5:11:11 PM

bestofmissouri

OLD-FASHIONED GOODNESS IN ST. LOUIS Happy Joe’s Pizza and Ice Cream Parlor has been serving St. Louis County for more than thirty years. Unusual pizzas are its specialty. Take the Spaghetti Joe for example. Spaghetti egg noodles, famous garlic-herb butter, Italian sauce with beef, and 100 percent real cheese on top of a pan crust makes this pizza one of a kind. There’s the Happy Joe’s Special, which has Canadian bacon and sauerkraut. General Manager Sherry McCluskey states, “We put just 24

February 2007

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THE GREEK TOUCH IN JEFFERSON CITY

In 1961, Arris Pardalos introduced his pizza to the capital city in a small building located across from the Capitol. Today, Arris’ Pizza occupies three buildings at its original location with more loyal customers than ever. Parents and grandparents who grew up on Arris’s masterpieces return today with their children and grandchildren. The Greek restaurant is successful because the Pardalos family continues to use the same recipes as it did forty-five years ago. George Pardalos, Arris’s son, says, “The sauce and dough are made daily in the restaurant. We serve original thin-crust pizza cut in squares.” They keep the heritage alive by hanging scenes of Greek isles on the walls and sometimes playing traditional Greek music. Added to the menu are dishes such as gyros, spanikopita, and baklava. But the bread and butter is its pizza. Take the Hercules, which features seasoned ground beef, Canadian bacon, pepperoni, Greek sausage, and breakfast bacon; or George’s Special filled with vineripened tomatoes, breakfast bacon, and a mixture of feta cheese and Arris’s special pizza cheese. Take advantage of a lunch buffet or the Greek dish special. Arris’ Pizza 117 West High Street • Jefferson City 573-635-9225 • www.arrispizzaonline.com Other locations are in Springfield and Lake Ozark. Visit www.missourilife.com for a listing of other great pizzerias in Missouri or e-mail us with your vote for best pizza at letters@missourilife.com.

SHAKESPEARE’S: COURTESY OF SHAKESPEARE’S PIZZA; HAPPY JOE’S: MARGO L. DILL; ARRIS’: COURTESY OF ARRIS’ PIZZA

tion of being fun, friendly, and even a bit wacky. Walk into the restroom and you’ll see why. Kurt Drennen Mirtsching, director of marketing, explains, “We have the nation’s most secure bathroom.” Each stall has anywhere from eight to twenty locking devices on the door as well as chains bolted to the wall with up to forty rolls of toilet paper. Maybe its quirky reputation comes from the row of WD-40 cans on a shelf between bottles of cold beer, the pedicab that takes customers on a tour of downtown Columbia, or the chopsticks at the counter. But when asked why Shakespeare’s has been so successful, Kurt answers, “It’s the pizza, stupid!” They use quality ingredients: Stanislaus pizza sauce, high-grade provolone cheese, lean ground beef and sausage, and red onions or green peppers piled onto dough made fresh on-site several times a day. Its crowd consists of people who love pizza, and it is very diverse, especially at the original location near the University of Missouri campus. Students, parents, kids, teenagers, and professionals dine on pizzas such as The Masterpiece, The Vegetarian, or The Darwin, named after Columbia Mayor Darwin Hindman. One claim to fame is the amount of toppings on each pizza. Shakespeare’s puts the same portion of a topping on every pizza, regardless of the number of toppings that are ordered. For example, if it’s a sixteen-inch pepperoni pizza, it should get twenty-eight slices of pepperoni. And if the pizza is a sixteen-inch pepperoni, onion, mushroom, jalapeno, and pineapple pizza, it still gets twenty-eight pepperonis, along with a full portion of the other toppings. Shakespeare’s Pizza 225 South Ninth Street • Columbia • 573-449-2454 3304 Broadway Business Park Court • Columbia • 573-447-1202 www.shakespeares.com

about anything on a pizza except anchovies. But I tell customers if they want to bring them in, we’ll put them on their pizza.” Happy Joe’s has that old-fashioned feel. Birthdays are celebrated the same way they were years ago. To grab the crowd’s attention, a staff member blows a horn, everyone sings “Happy Birthday,” and a siren hanging from the ceiling rounds out the festivities. According to Sherry, Happy Joe’s is successful because it has an excellent product. One example she gives is the pepperoni pizza. Ninety pepperonis go on each large pizza. “You can’t even see the cheese when the pizza goes into the oven.” Happy Joe’s Pizza and Ice Cream 7918 Watson Road • St. Louis • 314-961-4074 www.happyjoes.com

MissouriLife.com

1/5/07 5:12:15 PM

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2 Forty Culinary Creations 2 Great Fayette Culinary Delights have combined to offer the Best of Both!

240 Culinary’s famous BBQ and smokehouse meats, featuring ribs, pork, brisket and corn bread, cole slaw and baked beans have combined with the homestyle dishes of Flour Creations’ chicken pot pies, corn casserole, pan-fried chicken, meatloaf, chicken fried steak, roast beef and all the home-baked fresh pastries including world-famous cinnamon rolls, pies, cakes, puddings.

Best of both worlds. Now serving gourmet evening meals. Thurs.–Sun. 6–9 p.m. and Sun. Champagne Brunch 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Closed Mon.; Tues.-Thurs. 8 a.m.-1:45 p.m. and 4-7:45 p.m.; Fri. 8 a.m.-1:45 p.m. and 4-8:45 p.m.; Sat. 7 a.m.-8:45 p.m.; Sun. 7 a.m.-1:45 p.m. On Hwy 240, Fayette, MO 660-248-3454 flourcreations@sbcglobal.net (1 mile southeast of the Historic Fayette Square on Hwy 240)

MissouriLife.com

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February 2007

1/5/07 4:39:15 PM

kingoftheroad

The Western FRONTIER IT’S SAFE NOW By John Robinson ■ Photos by Seth Garcia

February 2007

RoadTemplate.indd 26

SADDLE INSET: COURTESY OF FRONTIER MILITARY MUSEUM

NY TIME OF DAY, folks drive between Independence and Joplin with little fear of being stopped to demonstrate their allegiance to one warlord or another. Shoot, there’s hardly anybody hiding in the bushes anymore. Things have calmed down considerably since the mid-1800s. In the years after the Civil War, we became civil, mostly. Commerce and people crept back into the towns along the Kansas border. The most recent peacetime project turned Highway 71 into a speedway that sliced down through the stack of counties bordering Kansas. Nowadays along that route, the telephone poles go by fast. I can’t blame folks for being in a hurry. It happened to me once, too. But gawkers, rubberneckers, and Sunday drivers should avoid such Since Mark and Virginia Alley retired more velocity. It traumatizes the neck, when your motor than a decade ago from the aircraft industry in outpaces your curiosity. And if you want to absorb Wichita, they’ve focused on presenting their the history of this war-torn region, abandon the Nobody knows Missouri like John collection to the world. It’s not where you think Robinson, Missouri’s former Director four-lane highway. it would be. Not on the Smithsonian mall. Not I must admit, when I left the comfort of the of Tourism. John is dedicated to driving Texas or Tucson or anyplace known for riding tall every mile of state-maintained highways. Raphael Hotel in Kansas City, I had no agenda. I This makes him King of the Road. To in the saddle. It sits on the eastern edge of tiny just wanted to explore some back roads on my way date, he has covered 2,921 state roads, Drexel. Mark admits that the museum is out of to Joplin. And I had the luxury of time. with 980 to go. As he drives each road, the way. But the Alleys love the area. And after all, First stop was the Truman Farm in Grandview. he marks it off on his map, which truly this was the frontier when many of the more than It was a short stop, because on this day the farm has become his treasure. fifty saddles were enlisted. was closed to visitors. In fact, the farm is open Each saddle reflects the status of its rider, from only on weekends from Memorial Day to Labor Day. So much for the elaborate officer’s saddle to the plebeian soldier’s ride. I’d never Harry. thought about it much, really, that an officer sat on a leather Lexus, Down the road, Belton showed off its collection of old railroad while regular troops perched on a stripped down chassis. cars, right downtown. The cars are part of the Belton, Grandview, A replica of the Drexel Mercantile Company displays fronand Kansas City Railroad Company, an operational short-line pas- tier-style dry goods. And relics add perspective from several area senger railroad museum. The all-volunteer demonstration crew offers American Indian tribes. Mark relishes showing the displays and talka five-mile, forty-five-minute round-trip excursion on a short line. ing about his collection. But if you want to see it, call the Alleys at Cash only. But you can also just hang around and look at the old 816-657-3346; they’re open only by appointment. railroad cars and equipment. South of Belton, the back roads deliver Thanking the Alleys for their pioneer spirit, I jumped back in my a succession of towns whose very names hold the promise of good modern-day saddle, and spurred the horses under my hood ornastories: Cleveland, Peculiar, Freeman, and West Line. ment to take me down the trail. Just minutes south of Merwin, I met Within mere spitting distance of the Kansas state line, I stumbled up with a cowboy in a field. More precisely, Merwin Mike can be onto a real find. I almost passed by the unimpressive metal building, described as a scarecrow-like dummy of a cowboy, who rides up and which houses the Frontier Military Museum. The building resembles down on the rocker arm of an oil well pump. Curious, I later Googled a small aircraft hangar, but the sign out front intrigued me. Never “cowboy riding the rocker arm of an oil well pump,” and I can say one to judge a book by its cover, I pulled into the parking lot. Inside with some confidence that this sculpture is one of a kind. A real that simple metal building sits perhaps the greatest collection of cowboy would be quick to point out that this art might more closely military saddles in America. resemble a tinhorn on a teeter-totter than a broncobuster. Still, in the MissouriLife.com

1/5/07 6:31:50 PM

kingoftheroad

The Western FRONTIER IT’S SAFE NOW By John Robinson ■ Photos by Seth Garcia

February 2007

RoadTemplate.indd 26

SADDLE INSET: COURTESY OF FRONTIER MILITARY MUSEUM

NY TIME OF DAY, folks drive between Independence and Joplin with little fear of being stopped to demonstrate their allegiance to one warlord or another. Shoot, there’s hardly anybody hiding in the bushes anymore. Things have calmed down considerably since the mid-1800s. In the years after the Civil War, we became civil, mostly. Commerce and people crept back into the towns along the Kansas border. The most recent peacetime project turned Highway 71 into a speedway that sliced down through the stack of counties bordering Kansas. Nowadays along that route, the telephone poles go by fast. I can’t blame folks for being in a hurry. It happened to me once, too. But gawkers, rubSince berneckers, and Sunday drivers should avoid such Since Mark Mark and and Virginia Virginia Alley Alley retired retired more more than a decade ago from the aircraft velocity. It traumatizes the neck, when your motor than a decade ago from the aircraft industry industry in in Wichita, they’vefocused focusedonon presenting outpaces your curiosity. And if you want to absorb Wichita, they’ve presenting theirtheir colworld. where you think the history of this war-torn region, abandon the Nobody knows Missouri like John collection lection to to thethe world. It’sIt’s notnot where you think it it would be. Not on the Smithsonian mall. Robinson, Missouri’s former Director four-lane highway. would be. Not on the Smithsonian mall. Not Not of Tourism. John is dedicated to driving I must admit, when I left the comfort of the every mile of state-maintained highways. Texas Texas or or Tucson Tucson or or anyplace anyplace known known for for riding riding tall tall in the saddle. It sits on the eastern edge Raphael Hotel in Kansas City, I had no agenda. I This makes him King of the Road. To in the saddle. It sits on the eastern edge of of tiny tiny just wanted to explore some back roads on my way date, he has covered 2,921 state roads, Drexel. Drexel. Mark Mark admits admits that that the the museum museum is is out out of of the way. But the Alleys love the area. And after with 980 to go. As he drives each road, to Joplin. And I had the luxury of time. the way. But the Alleys love the area. And after all, all, First stop was the Truman Farm in Grandview. he marks it off on his map, which truly this this was was the the frontier frontier when when many many of of the the more more than than has become his treasure. fifty saddles were enlisted. It was a short stop, because on this day the farm fifty saddles were enlisted. Each was closed to visitors. In fact, the farm is open Each saddle saddle reflects reflects the the status status of of its its rider, rider, from from the elaborate officer’s saddle to the plebeian soldier’s ride. only on weekends from Memorial Day to Labor Day. So much for the elaborate officer’s saddle to the plebeian soldier’s ride. I’d I’d never never thought about about it Harry. thought it much, much, really, really, that that an an officer officer sat sat on on aa leather leather Lexus, Lexus, while regular troops perched on a stripped down chassis. Down the road, Belton showed off its collection of old railroad while regular troops perched on a stripped down chassis. A replica replica of cars, right downtown. The cars are part of the Belton, Grandview, A of the the Drexel Drexel Mercantile Mercantile Company Company displays displays fronfrontier-style dry goods. And relics add perspective from and Kansas City Railroad Company, an operational short-line pas- tier-style dry goods. And relics add perspective from several several area area American Indian Indian tribes. senger railroad museum. The all-volunteer demonstration crew offers American tribes. Mark Mark relishes relishes showing showing the the displays displays and and talktalking about about his a five-mile, forty-five-minute round-trip excursion on a short line. ing his collection. collection. But But if if you you want want to to see see it, it, call call the the Alleys Alleys at at 816-657-3346; they’re open only by appointment. Cash only. But you can also just hang around and look at the old 816-657-3346; they’re open only by appointment. Thanking the the Alleys railroad cars and equipment. South of Belton, the back roads deliver Thanking Alleys for for their their pioneer pioneer spirit, spirit, II jumped jumped back back in in my my modern-day saddle, and spurred the horses under my hood ornaa succession of towns whose very names hold the promise of good modern-day saddle and spurred the horses under my hood ornament ment to me takedown me down trail. minutessouth southofofMerwin, Merwin, II met stories: Cleveland, Peculiar, Freeman, and West Line. to take the the trail. JustJust minutes met up with a cowboy in a field. More precisely, Merwin Within mere spitting distance of the Kansas state line, I stumbled up with a cowboy in a field. More precisely, Merwin Mike Mike can can be be described as as aa scarecrow-like onto a real find. I almost passed by the unimpressive metal building, described scarecrow-like dummy dummy of of aa cowboy, cowboy, who who rides rides up up and and down on on the which houses the Frontier Military Museum. The building resembles down the rocker rocker arm arm of of an an oil oil well well pump. pump. Curious, Curious, II later later Googled Googled “cowboy riding the rocker arm of an oil well pump,” and a small aircraft hangar, but the sign out front intrigued me. Never “cowboy riding the rocker arm of an oil well pump,” and II can can say say with some confidence that this sculpture is one of a kind. one to judge a book by its cover, I pulled into the parking lot. Inside with some confidence that this sculpture is one of a kind. A A real real cowboy would would be that simple metal building sits perhaps the greatest collection of cowboy be quick quick to to point point out out that that this this art art might might more more closely closely resemble a tinhorn on a teeter-totter than a broncobuster. military saddles in America. resemble a tinhorn on a teeter-totter than a broncobuster. Still, Still, in in the the MissouriLife.com

1/8/07 10:42:03 AM

middle of the prairie, artist Jerry Johnston gets a medal. Since my first trip, the oil well has been disconnected, so Merwin Mike has migrated from the open prairie to Jerry’s corral. But visitors can still see him next to the highway, perched on his iron rocking horse, ready to spring into action, atop another oil well. Today you see less of the prairie. Most land has converted to cultivation. But the area remains rural, and remote. As I switchbacked through the area, locals kept talking about the mountains in southwest Cass County. Mountains? In the middle of the prairie?

Amaroochie, they said. Turns out to be the Amarugia Highlands, which stick out like warts on the otherwise smooth landscape. Their altitude doesn’t rival the Rockies, or even the Ozarks, but the conservation area offers a popular recreation spot. All this galloping flipped my switch to gourmet. I set my compass for Archie, home of a high school team called the Whirlwinds and the second most unique water tower in Missouri. It’s diamond-shaped, and the town’s name cascades down the stalk. Under the shadow of the tower, I passed BJ’s Rise N Shine Restaurant. The parking lot was packed. I glanced at my watch. It was 3 pm. Curiosity propelled my car to an open parking space, and I entered this roadside diner to find good food, great prices, and a counter covered with wonderful homemade pies. I love small town restaurants and their reasonable prices. Down the road in Adrian, Winfield’s Restaurant served up a lunch of stuffed peppers, mashed potatoes, green beans, and cherry cobbler for less than six bucks. Sated, I went to the poor house. The old Bates County Poor Farm in Butler could make you cry, with its tragic stories about downand-out denizens of the Great Depression. But now it sparkles as the Bates County Museum of Pioneer History. Curator Nita Thompson readily admits that the museum is a work in progress. That’s why

FROM TOP LEFT: The Frontier Military Museum’s caretakers ensure that every saddle tells a story, thanks to its supporting cast of tack, boots, headgear, canteens, uniforms, and firearms. Merwin Mike, the roadside, oil-well cowboy near Merwin, conjures memories of rodeos or the Wyoming license plate. In Nevada, murals leap from brick walls like giant tattoos, telling vivid stories of the MKT Railroad and the Civil War.

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June 2006

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kingoftheroad she couldn’t wait to close the museum for the winter, so she could enhance the dozens of exhibits before the museum reopens May 1. She has big plans, and tons of neat stuff, including a whole room full of hats and military garb. Outside the museum sits the Nyhart School, a fascinating peek at a one-room schoolhouse with all the original furnishings, right down to the picture of the father of our country. One blackboard displays a chalk map of the homes in the Nyhart School District. Ever since the last graduates turned their tassels in 1961, the whole student body still gets together for reunions. Downtown, wonderful murals tell the electrifying story of Butler. On December 6, 1881, the mayor flipped a switch to power electric lights on the cupola of the courthouse, and Butler became the first city west of the Mississippi with electricity. Yep, Butler plugged in even before St. Louis, thanks to some forward-thinking city leaders, who took a chance on a newfangled electric generation system. Folks from Kansas City would take the train down to Butler to see the lights, which illuminated much of downtown. The 1883 History of Cass and Bates County reports: “There are four burners on the cupola of the court house, which afford ample light for not only the large public square and the streets adjacent, but these illuminate the town generally, or wherever their rays penetrate without obstructions or intervening houses. This light … is a conspicuous object of attraction, and may be seen the darkest night at a distance of 20 miles … Besides the church buildings and the bank, 12 business houses are illuminated by it. The expense to the city is more than it would be for the ordinary street lamps (oil), but the difference in the light more than compensates for the greater cost.” On my way out of town, I stopped to see Linnie Crouch, a Butler legend. Well, I didn’t see him. He’s six feet under in Oak Hill Cemetery, and he’s been interred since 1898. I hope he lived

an interesting life. Good, bad, I don’t know. But his fame extends beyond the grave. His plot sprouts the world’s smallest tombstone, certified by Ripley’s Believe It or Not. He may or may not have been a bushwhacker, but I’ll bet he knew a few. I didn’t intend to pick up the scent of Bushwhackers, Jayhawkers, and cavalries in blue and gray. But that’s the allure of taking a random route, and pin-balling through frontier territory. And I learned that while things have changed, much remains the same. Many western Missourians tended to hold to southern sympathies. In fact, documents in the “Bushwhacker Capital” of Nevada, Missouri, proclaim that “According to record, 19 out of 20 Vernon Countians were Confederate sympathizers, and proportionate to population the county sent more men to the Confederate army than any other in Missouri.” That could explain why Union General Thomas Ewing issued Order No. 11 in 1863, clearing out much of civilization in four counties. One result: Today, only ten deeds in Vernon County proclaim that the same family has owned the same farm since before the Civil War, according to Missouri Century Farm Project records. There are twenty-five such family farms in Cass County, fifteen in Bates County. For a closer look at Bushwhackers, I pointed the mother ship toward Nevada, where first I encountered a drafty old jail and its “cell room of medieval malevolence.” Accentuating the FROM TOP: The tombstone of Linnie Crouch is the smallest tombstone in the world, according to Ripley’s Believe It or Not. The Vernon County courthouse, under its stunning red roof, was completed in February 1908 at a cost of almost eighty thousand dollars.

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Grant and Clemens sought inspiration. Wherever you go, you’re never far from this unique Missouri product. Missouri owns the tin ceiling market, thanks to the perseverance of this 111-year-old company, maker of architectural sheet metal ornaments. Skilled artists crank out original designs made to order. In some cases, the company produces exact duplicates of moldings and marquees, crestings and caryatids, to restore stately mansions. Indeed, Missourians continue to fashion face-lifts for scores of America’s most treasured possessions, from a factory a couple of blocks off the town square in Nevada. It’s a museum in itself, although they don’t advertise it as such or offer regular tours. Still, if you’re hanging around downtown Nevada, it’s worth at least a peek through a window. There’s a lesson in all of this. The whole world’s a museum. And you can see it unfold, one display at a time, unless you’re speeding down Highway 71 and miss it all. spooky aura of the jail, a dull thud sound, like a giant hammer, repeated at half-minute intervals from somewhere downtown. I searched for the sound. It wasn’t coming from the Bushwhacker Museum. So I entered the museum and marveled at the “Border Troubles” before and during the Civil War. In the spirit of the public library, which hosts the museum, the displays teach much more than bushwhacking. The museum also highlights the Osage Indians and frontier life. I exited the Bushwhacker Museum, my scalp intact. Still, the dull pounding persisted, every half minute. I followed my ears through town, past the courthouse, a work of art under a red tile roof. The sounds conjured images of anvils dropping into claw foot tubs. And suddenly, there it was. You don’t know the sound, but you’ve seen its by-product. In fact, go to your downtown right now to the oldest building, walk inside, and look up. Chances are you’ll see a tin ceiling stamped by the W.F. Norman Company in Nevada. The factory’s huge presses offer a time-capsule trip to the Industrial Revolution, and with some adjustment I suspect they could hammer a Humvee into gargoyles. Ropes as thick as your arms raise and lower the giant presses, the same way they operated nearly two centuries ago. Best anybody can tell, these presses were built not long after Lewis and Clark explored the nearby Osage River. W.F. Norman bought the presses in 1892 and began transforming copper, brass, and bronze into balusters, finials, and weather vanes. You can see this Missouri art everywhere in America, from the wedding-cake ceilings of the Delta Queen to the ornate moldings atop Washington’s Willard Hotel, where FROM TOP: The Bushwhackers Jail in Nevada was home to prisoners until 1960. Century-old hieroglyphics haunt the stone jail-cell walls. These pressed-tin ceiling tiles are indicative of the work done at the W.F. Norman company for more than one hundred years. MissouriLife.com

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Why the

Legend Lives on Jack and Rose Come to the Titanic Museum at Branson

By Ron Marr Photos by Andrew Barton 30

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ERE IS A TALE OF BOTH agony and ecstasy, of unparalleled luxury and infinite tragedy. Though she met her untimely demise ninetyfive years ago, the story of the RMS Titanic seems nearly as fresh today as it did on the morning of April 15, 1912. On that sad day the world grieved, as newspapers from the four corners of the globe began to report the first sketchy details that the unthinkable had happened, that the unsinkable had sunk. Fate played few favorites on the night of April 14; neither wealth, poverty, nor social class assured an escape from a freezing death in the icy waters of the north Atlantic. Titans of industry met their end side by side with those who owned little save the clothes on their back. (See the October 2006 issue of Missouri Life, which details the stories of the Missourians who were onboard.) Still, in the midst of unimaginable chaos and horror arose heroic deeds and heart-wrenching sacrifice. Perhaps this is one reason that the epic adventure grips the heart and imagination. Perhaps, by re-living the saga of the most famous ocean liner in history, we grasp an inkling that, even during darkest night, the human spirit can flash with brilliant light and serve as a beacon of hope. Perhaps this is why the Titanic Museum in Branson has become, in less than a single year of operation, one of the hottest tickets on world-renowned Country 76 Boulevard in Branson. The brainchild of John Joslyn and Mary Kellogg-Joslyn, the seventeen-thousand-square-foot Titanic Museum is a half-scale replica MissouriLife.com

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Authentic to the most minute detail, the model of the Titanic at the museum includes resincast items such as anchors, bollards, winches, vent motors, anchor cranes, and lifeboats.

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of the original ship. Her smokestacks tower more than one hundred feet above Country 76, just as those of her namesake once towered over the docks at Southampton, England. From the moment of entry (through an iceberg), one is transported to another time and another place. Thanks to a staff uniformed in period attire and a dedication to historical accuracy, it is virtually impossible to believe that you are in a building designed to look like the Titanic, not the ship itself. After being presented with a boarding pass bearing the name and history of an actual Titanic passenger (you will find out if your passenger survived or perished in the museum’s Memorial Room), visitors embark on a self-guided tour featuring more than four hundred priceless Titanic artifacts and a seemingly endless cavalcade of historical information and interactive exhibits. You will feel the 28 degree water that was the final resting place of almost 1,500 doomed voyagers, feel the weight of a single scoop of coal, and think of the men who spent endless days feeding the 159 ravenous furnaces of the boiler room. You will see personal letters, countless photos, a historically accurate Marconi Wireless Room, and the life vest worn by the pregnant, eighteen-year-old bride of John Jacob Astor. Astor held true to the honorable dictates of “women and children first” and gave his life so that others might survive. In total, twenty elaborate galleries located on two separate stories chronicle the Titanic in the most vivid detail imaginable. But there is more … far more. It was just over a decade ago when the James Cameron classic, Titanic, filled the silver screen and became the highest-grossing film in history. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, the film’s depiction of these two star-crossed lovers touched a collective nerve and added new life to the Titanic myth. Thus, the Titanic Museum has decided to honor the film by declaring February 2007 as “Sweetheart Month.” “Because so many of our guests have seen the movie, they feel they know Rose and Jack and wonder if they will have the opportunity to meet them while visiting us,” Mary Kellogg-Joslyn says. “We already have a number of character players at the museum attraction who interact with visitors, so we decided to recast the film’s two most famous characters: Rose DeWitt Bukater and Jack Dawson. “For the first time anywhere, our young players will appear in costumes drawn from the movie — Rose in the elaborate traveling suit and extravagant, wide-brimmed hat she wore on arrival at the ship; Jack in the modest clothes that identify him as a third-class passenger,” Mary adds. “We feel blending the reality of the Titanic experience with the fictional aspects of the movie will help create a whole new appreciation of this incredible story.”

Smokestacks tower more than one Hundred feet above country 76, like those that towered at southampton MissouriLife.com

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From top: The Grand Staircase is replicated accurately and full-scale in the museum. A treasure trove of Titanic photos taken by Father Francis Mary Hegarty Browne was discovered twenty-five years after his death. In the Interactive Gallery, children experience the slope of the deck as Titanic sank. February 2007

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Though Jack and Rose were indeed fictional characters, they did serve as a symbolic composite of the love and devotion demonstrated by more than a few passengers during the Titanic’s final hours. Most touching of these stories is that of sixty-seven-year-old Isidor Straus (owner of Macy’s Department Store) and his sixty-three-year-old wife, Ida. As the last lifeboats were being lowered, it was reported that Ida refused to enter without her husband, proclaiming, “We have been together for many years. Where you go, I go.” The couple quietly moved away and sat side by side in deck chairs, holding hands until Titanic was no more. It is for this reason, proof positive that the eternal fires of humanity can sometimes surpass the whims of fate, that the legend of the Titanic lives on. The Titanic Museum is located at 3235 76 Country Blvd. and Route 165 in Branson. Hours are 9 AM to 5 PM daily until February 28, 9 AM to 7 PM March 1 through May 17. For more information on the museum or hours beyond May 17, call 800-381-7670 or visit www.titanicbranson.com.

Clockwise from top left: The museum at Branson has some of the best research on passengers, including the age of each passenger at the time the Titanic sank. This replica models the sturdy steering stand on the ship’s bridge. Director James Cameron built this twenty-six-foot model for his film, Titanic. 34

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The legend also continues in Titanic: Collector’s Guide. Published by Missouri Life, Inc., and the Titanic Museum at Branson, this eighty-fourpage, four-color book features rare photographs and the priceless artifacts found in the museum’s galleries and tells the story of the ship and her passengers. Visit www.missourilife.com.

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The life jacket worn by eighteen-year-old Madeleine Astor, the pregnant bride of wealthy John Jacob Astor, is the only one in the world that can be linked to an individual.

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The Orphan Trains East Coast Orphans Rode Trains to Missouri and Got a Second Chance at Life By Kim Hill

February 2007

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COURTESY OF EVELYN TRICKEL

N A BRIGHT MORNING in April 1919, the opera house in Greenfield was packed, but the Dade County farmers and town merchants weren’t there to see a vaudeville act or a famous tenor. Instead, they eyed a group of weary, frightened children who stood on the stage and sang hymns they’d learned at an orphanage in New York City. These eighteen children had been on a train for the past week as they traveled west in search of permanent homes that offered food, shelter, and love. Six-year-old Elizabeth Wilde was one of those children. Her heavy coat was too hot in the large crowd. History was unfolding as Elizabeth and her two younger brothers stood on that opera house stage, but all she wanted was something to eat and a place to sleep. Finally, Elizabeth and her friend Lydia, another orphan, were the last children to be chosen. Elizabeth’s brothers were taken by other families. Uncertain about her new mother and father, Elizabeth’s new life in Missouri had begun.

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“Our Most Intelligent Class”

moved to take a child when they saw their earnest faces, heard their plaintive songs, and realized the depth of their need.

Popular Destination

As the railroads expanded into Missouri, new towns sprang up along the tracks. These small towns, along with cheap fares and the state’s central location, made Missouri a popular destination for the trains. Evelyn Trickel, coauthor of Orphan Trains to Missouri, estimates that during a seventy-five-year period, some ten thousand children found new homes in Missouri. Before the children left New York, newspaper notices and public fliers announced that a group of orphans would arrive in a Missouri town on a designated day. Some of the townspeople showed up ready to welcome a little one into their homes. Others, however, came merely out of curiosity. Many were 38

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Not Always Matched The Children’s Aid Society was more concerned about simply placing children in a home than in matching children with the best possible situations. Consequently, Jewish children went to Christian homes, and Italian immigrants were placed with German-speaking families. Growing criticism that the Children’s Aid Society was converting Catholic children to Protestantism led the Catholic Charities of New York to begin its own system of “placing out.” The Catholic orphanage, New York Foundling Hospital, called their program the “Mercy Trains.” All placements were pre-arranged by parish priests in

LEFT: COURTESY OF KERMIT DANIEL; RIGHT: DON VERNON

In the 1850s, thousands of children in New York City had no perA Home at Last manent homes. They slept in doorways or under bridges. Some sold rags or matches to earn a few pennies while others stole money or Elizabeth’s new life in Missouri didn’t get off to a good start. She’d begged for food. Such widespread homelessness was a new problem for America never seen corn, butter, or sugar, and the woman of the house didn’t as waves of immigrants flooded New York and other eastern cities. want Elizabeth to stay. She was moved to another family. Her brothThese immigrants worked long hours at low-paying jobs. When a ers, Arthur and Frank, were raised by different families in Dade mother died or a father was injured and unable to work, children County. As a teenager, she saw them occasionally. Shuffling children from home to home was not uncommon. often ended up in orphanages or on the streets. Certainly there were Agents were required to monitor the chilchildren, such as Elizabeth, dren’s living conditions. Although who lost both parents. From some agents shirked this duty, the 1850s to the 1890s or so, other agents acted as surrogate it was also quite common for parents to their young charges. poor parents to park a child Agent J.W. Swan, a Methodist in an orphanage for a while, minister, was revered by many of until perhaps a father recovered the children and by leaders of comfrom an injury or a mother munities along the Missouri-Pacific remarried and the situation lines. Often, Reverend and Mrs. improved. Then the parents hosted children themselves in Swan would reclaim the child. their Sedalia home if other placeA young Connecticut minisments could not immediately be ter named Charles Loring Brace found. founded the Children’s Aid Reverend Swan worked hard to Society in 1853 to tackle these find Elizabeth a good home, though problems. He started lodging she stayed with eight different families houses and opened orphanages, After arriving in Missouri on the train, Elizabeth Wilde was separated from two biological brothers. At an orphan train rider reunion in 2006, in two years. Eventually, she went to but these facilities were soon Elizabeth Wilde Daniel was grateful for the chance she had to ride. live with Jim and Alice Tindle near overwhelmed. Lockwood. Her friend Anna, also an Brace was also influenced by orphan, was raised by the Tindles as well. the romanticized notion of frontier living held by most Easterners of “Dad and Mom Tindle gave me a home and love,” says Elizabeth, his day. Well-meaning Yankees thought an orphan’s best chances for now ninety-four and living in Greenfield. “They were my parents the future lay in the American West with its wide open spaces, fresh until they died.” air, plentiful food, and generous farm families. Some children were not so fortunate. Alice Bullis Ayler, eleven “The cultivators of the soil are in America our most solid and years old when she rode one of the last orphan trains in 1929, sufintelligent class,” Brace wrote. “With their overflowing supply of fered sexual abuse in several foster homes. Herman Selle, who arrived food also, each new mouth in the household brings no drain on in Savannah on an orphan train in January 1909, was only allowed to their means.” attend school about a third of the time. The rest of the year he had to Brace began sending children by train to towns throughout the work at the large dairy farm where he lived. One orphan wrote years Midwest. He called his program “placing out.” Eventually these westlater that he was forced to watch while his caregiver’s biological son ward migrations became known as “orphan trains.” ate as much as he wanted. The orphan got whatever was left.

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Three-year-old Irma Craig came to Missouri on a “Baby Train.” This photograph of her was taken in 1901.

the Midwest and South before the children left New York City. Nearly three years old, Irma Craig rode a “Baby Train,” as they were also called, to Osage City in 1901. Placed with George and Katherine Boehm, Irma lived happily until Mrs. Boehm’s death when Irma was ten. “It was a good home, but the Boehms’ two sons did not treat her well,” says Irma’s daughter, Shirley Andrews, of Jefferson City. “Mr. Boehm felt she needed a home with a woman, so he let it be known he would allow someone else to take my mother.” Irma went to live with Adeline Rackers Gnagi and her brother, John Rackers. “Even with her unfortunate beginning, Mom felt she had a happy childhood and a good life,” Shirley says. “She always said that these good people petted and pampered her.” Irma married Robert Schnieders in 1922. Widowed at age forty with eight children fifteen and younger, Irma provided a loving and happy home for her family. She died in 1989 at age ninety-one.

TOP LEFT: COURTESY OF SHIRLEY ANDREWS; TOP AND BOTTOM RIGHT: COURTESY OF EVELYN TRICKEL

Lasting Legacy Elizabeth Wilde also married. She and Lyle Daniel had six children and celebrated more than sixty years of marriage before Lyle passed away. As the women managed their lives, the orphan trains were making their final stops. Attitudes toward disadvantaged children were changing. Brace’s lasting legacy was the establishment of a foster care system, where families rather than institutions would care for children. This idea, considered radical when the trains began in 1853, had gained public favor by the time the last orphan train delivered its precious cargo in 1930. The legacy of the orphan train riders themselves is more complicated. Some riders never forgave the organizations which put them on trains to the unknown. “I think most of the riders made the best of things,” Shirley says, whose mother, Irma, kept in touch with the other riders on her train. Even Alice Ayler, a victim of abuse, said in a 1993 interview that “some people are bitter about the trains, but not me. Even though there were some hard times, it probably saved my life.” Shirley says her mother, Irma Craig, spoke matter-of-factly about her early life. “She would tell us stories about her childhood, but she didn’t dwell on things.” Shirley now gives presentations about the orphan trains several times a year. “We were

Five-year-old Gus Jahne, seated, and next to him his brother, John, were orphan train riders as well as, from left to right on the back row, Noah and Atwell Lawyer and Walter and Herman Selle, all of whom found homes in Missouri.

always so intrigued with her past that when she retired we encouraged her to write it down,” Shirley says. As Shirley and her mother began their research, they made an interesting and shocking discovery. “No one had ever heard of the orphan trains,” Shirley, who is now vice president of the Orphan Train Heritage Society of America, says. “It wasn’t in any history book; you couldn’t go to the library and find books about it. I even had a college history professor say to me that he’d never heard of the orphan trains. I became committed to doing what I could to tell this part of history.” Shirley acknowledges that the orphan trains yielded mixed results. “There are some terrible stories of what happened to people,” she says. “But my mother always said, ‘We were the lucky ones. We had a chance. Those who were left behind didn’t have any chance at all.’ ” For more information on the orphan trains visit the Orphan Train Heritage Society of America’s web site at www.orphantrainriders.com or look for the book Orphan Trains to Missouri available from the University of Missouri Press at www.umsystem.edu/upress.

Agents Anna Laura Hill and B. W. Tice brought children west on the orphan trains. Of the children shown with them here, the two older girls in the back and the two smaller boys in the front are the Rifenburg children who came into Pike County.

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life at

Story and Photos By Brian Gosewisch

February 2007

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the nest ď?Ą

S A PROFESSIONAL wildlife photographer and an avid birder, one of my favorite subjects is the great horned owl. I jump at every chance to encounter one of these magnificent birds, and every spring you will probably find me up a tree or in a blind studying and photographing the owls. Living in Missouri, we are blessed with a healthy population of great horneds. From the mixed hardwoods in the south to the open farmlands in the north, great horned owls have proven to be adaptable in our state. One of the earliest birds to nest, courtship for the great horned owl starts in late fall, and by late January, the females will be sitting on the nest. Great horneds do not make their own nests; instead they prefer to take over existing nests that were made by hawks or crows and will on rare occasion use hollow trees as well. Females will usually sit and incubate the eggs for about a month, and during that time the males are never far away. If you have not found a nest yet, go out and listen for the calls between males and females. Albeit less during the incubation period, they vocalize throughout the entire nesting season including, at times, during daylight hours. If you approach a nest with a female inside, listen for the aggravated calls of the male, which has probably flown a safe distance away. If the male has flown, then the female knows that you are there, and she will not make a sound or even move. Females are very tentative when sitting on the eggs, and unlike other owls or hawks, they will allow you to approach very closely. Remember to keep your distance and use binoculars for viewing. The closer you get to her, the more undue stress you put on her. Keep in mind that her only job for the next thirty days is to incubate her eggs. Her eating habits and everything else is in limbo during this time, therefore undue stress is unwelcome. Once the eggs hatch in late March or April, you will notice what looks to be a surplus of food lying around the edge of the nest, from rabbits and mice to reptiles and even other birds. I have noticed this with almost all of the owl nests that I have documented over the MissouriLife.com

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years. This indicates three things to me: that there is plenty of prey, that the adults are capable of hunting it, and that the young are going to have the best possible start in life. When the babies in the nest are between one and five days old, they are at their most vulnerable state. It is no coincidence that this is also when the parents are the most aggressive. If you mistakenly spook a mother away from the young, she will not go far. If the parents feel threatened you will see them chattering their beaks together rapidly, puffing their feathers, or in some instances, attacking. If the parents are showing any signs of aggression, leave immediately. Every time you disrupt a nest, especially in the daytime, you expose the young to other predators, and you also expose the adults to natural enemies like crows and jays. Great horned owls have amazing camouflage, which makes them almost impossible to see. But when they are flushed, they are vulnerable. I have never seen a crow pass up a chance to harass an owl once they have spotted one, and if you have one crow, pretty soon you will have five or more. Fortunately, though, for the owl they are only an annoyance, not a threat. Back at the nest you will find the female sitting with the young almost non-stop for the first week or so, and the male will be doing most of the hunting. As the babies get older, the parents spend less and less time at the nest, but they are never far away. The adults instinctively know when the babies reach a certain age and become 42

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restless, it does neither one of them any good to hang around the nest. Owls are naturally shy and secretive, and this might be a survival instinct to avoid any commotion that would draw attention and to help keep the nest visibility to a minimum. By this time, both parents are bringing food to the nest, and you can listen for the young owlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; begging calls, which last all the way through summer. Around twenty-five days or older you should look for what can only be described as playtime. The young owls are getting restless, stretching and flapping their wings and hopping around the nest like itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on fire. One of my favorite memories of this playtime was a thirtyone-day-old juvenile in a nest by itself. The nest was many years old and well built. Usually by the end of the nesting period, the nests are so worn down that it is sometimes hard to even identify them. This nest was large and still had a definite bowl in the middle. The young owl was jumping from one side of the bowl to the other and then turned around to do it over and over. Sometimes it would stretch out its wings and other times it would not. Although this did seem like playing, the owl was actually learning valuable skills such as balance and distance as well as gaining confidence to stick its first landing. It has been my experience that an owl raised alone will generally leave the nest four to five days earlier than a nest with multiple owls in it. If conditions are good, such as food, habitat, etc., a single owl will leave the nest by around thirty-four days old. And multiples leave around thirty-eight days. There are many things that could affect this number: a shortage of food supplies, overly cold winter, one parent dying, or even human presence. If everything goes well, the young owls will start branching out and soon be flying around just like the adults; however, they will stay close to home and their parents due to their continued reliance on them for food. By next spring, the young owls will be on their own and forced to find their own way. Great horned owls are resilient and seem to thrive under many different situations. It is no wonder that these magical and sometimes mysterious birds are at the top of the food chain.

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Missouri’s Most Endangered Historic Sites BY KRISTIN CROWE The Rotunda

KRISTIN CROWE

MKT Railroad Bridge

THE MISSOURI ALLIANCE FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION, also known as Missouri Preservation, annually announces the Most Endangered Historic Places in the state. These are the thirteen structures currently on the list and their stories. Missouri Preservation President Jeff Brambila says, “Together, these sites represent life across the state.” Nominations for the 2007 list are being accepted until April 2, 2007. Dr. Cole Woodcox of the Missouri Preservation Most Endangered Committee says nominations for this list are taken from around the state, and submissions are evaluated based on four criteria. Because placement on the Most Endangered list brings needed statewide attention to situations that jeopardize some of Missouri’s most threatened and historically significant places, the submissions are evaluated based on the property’s architectural integrity and historical significance. The last two criteria for evaluation are that there should be an identifiable threat to the site and that inclusion on the list would have a positive effect on the preservation efforts. When properties have been saved, restored, or adapted for reuse, they are taken off the list to create room for new structures. Sites where significant progress has been made may be taken off the list. Properties that are lost or destroyed despite Missouri Preservation’s efforts are also removed. However, sites can be carried from one year to the next if there is still progress to be made. For more information or to nominate an endangered historical site, contact Missouri Preservation at 573-443-5946 or visit www.preservemo.org. A nomination application can also be found on the web site. 44

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Odd Fellows Home

George Washington Carver School

COURTESY OF MISSOURI PRESERVATION

Andrew Baker House

ANDREW BAKER HOUSE, 1794 Desloge, St. Francois County With its two stories and stone fireplaces, the Andrew Baker House in Desloge is an eighteenth-century masterpiece. Andrew Baker was a wealthy slave owner and the area’s first merchant. His house was one of the earliest and largest log homes in this part of Missouri. Because the property has not been in use for many years, it has a leaking roof and is in a state of serious neglect. THE ROTUNDA, 1864 Hermann, Gasconade County The Rotunda’s rare structure and shape make it a one-of-a-kind property. The red brick building is an octagon constructed in 1864 to provide a location for horticultural exhibits and wine-judging events as part of a fairground. Although on the National Register of Historic Places, maintenance for The Rotunda has been postponed for years. According to Lois Puchta, of the local Brush and Palette Club, “From the seventies on, it began to decline, and there was some work done under a grant about ten years ago,” but due to budget issues, more recent work has not been done. Over the past year, the Brush and Palette Club has raised funds as well as sought authorization from the City of Hermann to oversee restoration and receive a lease for the structure. GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER SCHOOL, 1937 Fulton, Callaway County One of the few architect-designed, African-American schools in Missouri, Carver School was dedicated by and named after George Washington Carver. It was designed by the Kansas City firm of Felt, Dunham, and Kreihn. This center of Fulton’s African-American community closed in 1982 and was then used for storage. The George Washington Carver Memorial Foundation, a local foundation, purchased the property in 1989 hoping to restore the structure. Although it has been used as a black history museum, library, and family resource center, funding for restoration and maintenance has been a struggle. Missouri Preservation has helped assess the building’s structure and will continue to work with local advoMissouriLife.com

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cates to develop a fundraising and preservation plan that will both save and use this important piece of Missouri’s black heritage. THE MKT RAILROAD BRIDGE, 1932 Boonville, Cooper and Howard Counties An April 2006 court ruling permits the Union Pacific Railroad to remove the only Missouri River crossing for the Missouri-KansasTexas (MKT) railroad, the MKT Railroad Bridge. The unique vertical lift span of 408 feet weighs more than 1,200 tons and is electrically operated. The lift span allows for easy passage of river traffic when it’s in the high position, and it allowed for trains to cross in the past when it was in the low position. It is in excellent condition, and the Union Pacific would like to demolish this bridge and re-use the steel for a new bridge at Osage City. According to Sarah Gallagher of the Save the MKT Bridge Committee, this is an issue now because the bridge “represents a larger strategy for tourism in the region. … It is an authentic site.” Supporters of saving the bridge are waiting for briefs to be filed in the Western District Court of Appeals. This is the second stage of the legal process to find if Boonville gets to keep the bridge. More than one thousand people attended a Save the Katy Bridge festival in Boonville on October 1, 2006. ODD FELLOWS HOME, 1900-1908 Liberty, Clay County This four-building complex sits on thirty-six acres and was built to provide a place to educate orphans and give care for elderly members of the International Organization of Odd Fellows (IOOF). The IOOF is a fraternity that began in England in the 1700s for social unity, fellowship, and mutual help. One order of the Odd Fellows joined with the Masons and established the first hospital in California. William Ittner, a nationally recognized architect, designed the Administration Building. Jacobean Revival-style adornments decorate three of the buildings with rich stone door and window surrounds and gabled dormers. However, the buildings also have broken windows, doors, and damaged roofs. This dangerous environment places the Odd Fellows Home in the category of advanced deterioration. February 2007

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Union Pacific Stairs

Linn County Jail Mullanphy Emigrant Home Fire Martinsburg City Hall, Jail and , House

KAHOKA AND MARTINSBURG: KRISTIN CROWE; MULLANPHY, LINN, AND UNION PACIFIC: COURTESY OF MISSOURI PRESERVATION

Missouri’s Most Endangered 1.Historic Sites

Kahoka Courthous e

LINN COUNTY JAIL, 1871 Linneus, Linn County The Linn County Jail currently houses the Linn County Museum. The local museum association would like to purchase the structure from the county and restore the building while retaining the original features. The jail is in good condition; however, the roof, porch, and trim need major repairs. MARTINSBURG CITY HALL, FIRE HOUSE, AND JAIL, 1914 Martinsburg, Audrain County For more than fifty years, this building housed a city council office, meeting room, courtroom, jail, and firehouse. It originally had two jail cells, but one was removed to make room for a fire jeep in 1952. The fire station and city council room were only in use until 1965, but the remaining jail cell was in use until 1970. The building was used to store the city’s tractor, mower, and grader until 2003. According to Jean Albur, a local librarian and nominator of the structure, the building was “emptied totally” in 2004, even of papers. Although the building housed five vital aspects of this town’s life, it is “actually very small,” Albur says, at 17.5 feet across, 28.5 feet deep, and only 21 feet tall. The city of Martinsburg would like to preserve the structure, but is unsure how to rehabilitate it and needs suggestions for future uses. 46

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MULLANPHY EMIGRANT HOME, 1867 NORD ST. LOUIS TURNVEREIN, 1872 St. Louis, St. Louis County These two sites were damaged when severe weather hit the north side of St. Louis in April 2006. The Mullanphy Emigrant Home’s south wall disintegrated, leaving joists and beams exposed and sagging. The home was built in 1867 using money from Bryan Mullanphy’s estate as a dorm to provide temporary housing to immigrants coming to St. Louis. The Turnverein’s roof collapsed inward in 2004, allowing water to damage the brick walls and leaving the building without a structural anchor. The North St. Louis Neighborhood Restoration Association has taken possession of the Mullanphy Emigrant Home and are attempting to raise funds for its rehabilitation. However, the Turnverein is considered a loss after a fire set by fireworks shot into the building on July 4, 2006, damaged the property further. Barbara Fitzgerald, Executive Director of Missouri Preservation, says it was “unlikely that it could be restored.” MARK SAPPINGTON HOUSE, 1840 Crestwood, St. Louis County The success story of the Sappington House is different from most Missouri Preservation success stories. Although the two-story MissouriLife.com

1/5/07 10:07:32 PM

Union Pacific Stairs

Linn County Jail Mullanphy Emigrant Home Fire Martinsburg City Hall, Jail and , House

KAHOKA AND MARTINSBURG: KRISTIN CROWE; MULLANPHY, LINN, AND UNION PACIFIC: COURTESY OF MISSOURI PRESERVATION

Missouri’s Most Endangered 1.Historic Sites

Kahoka Courthous e

February 2007

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MULLANPHY EMIGRANT HOME, 1867 NORD ST. LOUIS TURNVEREIN, 1872 St. Louis, St. Louis County These two sites were damaged when severe weather hit the north side of St. Louis in April 2006. The Mullanphy Emigrant Home’s south wall disintegrated, leaving joists and beams exposed and sagging. The home was built in 1867 using money from Bryan Mullanphy’s estate as a dorm to provide temporary housing to immigrants coming to St. Louis. The Turnverein’s roof collapsed in 2004, allowing water to damage the brick walls and leaving the building without a structural anchor. The North St. Louis Neighborhood Restoration Association has taken possession of the Mullanphy Emigrant Home and is attempting to raise funds for its rehabilitation. However, the Turnverein is considered a loss after a fire set by fireworks shot into the building on July 4, 2006, damaged the property further. Barbara Fitzgerald, Executive Director of Missouri Preservation, says it was “unlikely that it could be restored.” MARK SAPPINGTON HOUSE, 1840 Crestwood, St. Louis County The success story of the Sappington House is different from most Missouri Preservation success stories. Although the two-story MissouriLife.com

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Mark Sappingt on House

COURTESY OF MISSOURI PRESERVATION

Nord St. Louis Turnverein

Sappington House was constructed between 1840 and 1848, it is in excellent condition. It is only one of two houses left in eastern Missouri that reflects the American Carpenter Gothic architectural style. This valuable historical site, however, was owned by a developer who intended to erect a strip mall on the site and was unwilling to pay to have the house moved. The city of Crestwood had not made moving the house a development requirement, and the structure would have been torn down. Due to the work of Missouri Preservation, the developers and builders, Crestwood, and the St. Louis County Parks Department, the house was relocated one mile west of its original location. It is now closer to a cemetery where Sappington was buried more than one hundred years ago. Missouri Preservation does not normally advocate moving the historical structures, but it was required to save this fifty-ton home. UNION PACIFIC TRAIN DEPOT AND STAIRS, 1910 Poplar Bluff, Butler County The Union Pacific Railroad abandoned this depot and doublewinged staircase in 2000. The staircase unites the two-story brick Union Pacific Train Depot at the bottom of the hill to Poplar Bluff ’s Main Street at the top of the hill. Both the depot and stairs are in fair to poor condition, and a local group has received a Missouri Department of Transportation matching-funds grant to repair the depot’s roof. Missouri Preservation will offer technical assistance to help conserve the depot’s interior and the staircase. 18TH AND VINE HISTORIC DISTRICT, 1887-1926 Kansas City, Jackson County The Jazz District in Kansas City is one of the most important AfricanAmerican commercial and cultural centers in the Midwest. Over the past five years, the area has undergone quality redevelopments, including constructing seventy-three residential units and thirty-twothousand square feet of commercial space from the historic structures. Three other buildings will be converted to residential units, housing seventy-eight total units. Fifty-one of those apartments would be for families at or below 60 percent of the area median income, while the remaining twenty-seven will be rented at market rate. The Jazz Distric Redevelopment Commission has slowly begun to protect other historic buildings in the district. These buildings are essential to the perpetuation of this historic district. Missouri Preservation will assist the stabilization and monitoring of these important historic properties with the goal of moving them toward reuse. MissouriLife.com

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18th and Vine Historic District

COURTHOUSES ACROSS MISSOURI THE CLARK COUNTY COURTHOUSE CIRCA 1870 Kahoka, Clark County THE GASCONADE COUNTY COURTHOUSE, 1898 Hermann, Gasconade County Across Missouri, deferred maintenance and low funding threaten the courthouses where Missouri history has taken place, in some cases, for more than a century. The Clark County courthouse is an example of one such courthouse. The base of its cupola and the soffits of the courthouse have severe damage and need immediate maintenance. Another example is the Gasconade County courthouse. While neglect of repairs in the last ten years threaten the structure, the larger threat of abandonment plagues the “very glorious building,” as Lois Puchta says. She emphasizes the historic importance of the building: “This courthouse is believed to be the only courthouse to have been built with totally private funds in the United States.” If the building were to be abandoned, the courthouse would then be located in a 1950s high school building. February 2007

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Mark Sappingt on House

COURTESY OF MISSOURI PRESERVATION

Nord St. Louis Turnverein

Sappington House was constructed between 1840 and 1848, it is in excellent condition. It is only one of two houses left in eastern Missouri that reflect the American Carpenter Gothic architectural style. This valuable historical site, however, was owned by a developer who intended to erect a strip mall on the site and was unwilling to pay to have the house moved. The city of Crestwood had not made moving the house a development requirement, and the structure would have been torn down. Due to the work of Missouri Preservation, the developers and builders, Crestwood, and the St. Louis County Parks Department, the house was relocated one mile west of its original location. It is now closer to a cemetery where Sappington was buried more than one hundred years ago. Missouri Preservation does not normally advocate moving the historical structures, but it was required to save this fifty-ton home. UNION PACIFIC TRAIN DEPOT AND STAIRS, 1910 Poplar Bluff, Butler County The Union Pacific Railroad abandoned this depot and doublewinged staircase in 2000. The staircase unites the two-story brick Union Pacific Train Depot at the bottom of the hill to Poplar Bluff ’s Main Street at the top of the hill. Both the depot and stairs are in fair to poor condition, and a local group has received a Missouri Department of Transportation matching-funds grant to repair the depot’s roof. Missouri Preservation will offer technical assistance to help conserve the depot’s interior and the staircase. 18TH AND VINE HISTORIC DISTRICT, 1887-1926 Kansas City, Jackson County The Jazz District in Kansas City is one of the most important AfricanAmerican commercial and cultural centers in the Midwest. Over the past five years, the area has undergone quality redevelopments, including constructing seventy-three residential units and thirty-twothousand square feet of commercial space from the historic structures. Three other buildings will be converted to residential units, housing seventy-eight total units. Fifty-one of those apartments would be for families at or below 60 percent of the area median income, while the remaining twenty-seven will be rented at market rate. The Jazz District Redevelopment Commission has slowly begun to protect other historic buildings in the district. These buildings are essential to the perpetuation of this historic district. Missouri Preservation will assist the stabilization and monitoring of these important historic properties with the goal of moving them toward reuse. MissouriLife.com

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18th and Vine Historic District

1/8/07 10:31:44 AM

Home

of the

Brave CONFEDERATE HOME AT HIGGINSVILLE PROVIDED A HAVEN FOR CIVIL WAR VETERANS

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By Sylvia Forbes

February 2007

Feb07 CW.indd 48

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MissouriLife

TOP ??? OPPOSITE: WESTERN HISTORICAL MANUSCRIPTS COLLECTION-COLUMBIA; BOTTOM OPPOSITE AND TOP THIS PAGE: COURTESY OF CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL STATE HISTORIC SITE; RIGHT AND BOTTOM: COURTESY DR. DENNIS HOOD

Civil War Series

â&#x2DC;&#x2026;

he Civil War left more than burned buildings, scarred landscapes, and ruined crops. It left broken men. Many surviving soldiers were missing arms or legs or had old wounds that gave them recurring trouble. While the Union soldiers were provided for through federal pensions, many Confederate soldiers were penniless and destitute. The pitiful condition of many Confederate veterans twenty-five years after the Civil War inspired some caring Missourians to take action. A Compassionate Idea During an annual reunion of Missouriâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Confederate veterans at Higginsville in 1889, the needs of aging former soldiers became a major topic of discussion. Many had never completely recovered from the injuries sustained during their service in the Confederate military. With continuing health problems, they were unable to work and make a living for themselves. The discussion resulted in the formation of the Confederate Home Association. Both Union and Confederate supporters and many concerned organizations joined together and worked to provide a home for these destitute Confederate soldiers. One group, the Daughters of the Confederacy, which later became the United Daughters of the Confederacy, held bake sales, beauty pageants, festivals, and dozens of additional events to raise money. In less than one year, these energetic groups raised eighteen thousand dollars to buy a 365-acre farm, which included a house, barns, and other outbuildings on the property. The single largest private donor was California Senator George Hearst, father of newspaper tycoon and millionaire William Clockwise from top: Old Main, row houses, and the chapel provided community for the Confederate soldiers; the only buildings that remain are the chapel, a hospital building, a farmhouse, and a single row house.

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February 2007

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Randolph Hearst. George and his wife were originally from Missouri. Another donor, Mattie Lykins Bingham, an ardent Southerner and the wife of George Caleb Bingham, auctioned off seventeen of his original paintings in 1893 and donated the proceeds to the home. These included two of his most well known paintings, Stump Speaker and Order No.11. Higginsville was chosen as the location due to Lafayette County’s donation of ten thousand dollars toward the project as well as a private landowner donating five hundred dollars. Also, the area was known to have some of the most fertile soil in the state, which when farmed, would provide food for the residents of the home.

The first resident The Confederate Home officially opened on March 17, 1891, and veteran Julius Bamberg became the first resident at age seventynine. Bamberg was a private in Capt. Henry Guibor’s Missouri battery and participated in battles throughout Missouri and several Southern states. Requirements for admission to the home included proof of service in the Confederate Army or Navy, proof of residency in the state of Missouri for one year prior to December 20, 1890, and being destitute. In later years, the requirement changed to two years of Missouri residency, due to the large number of applications. Over the next fifty-nine years, more than 1,600 veterans and their wives, a few children, and several widows became residents of the home. Veterans included regular infantry, artillery, and cavalry soldiers, from lowly privates to colonels as well as those who had served as musicians, sharpshooters, bushwhackers, spies, and in other positions. Every major battle was represented by veterans at the home, and veterans hailed from every border state and almost all Confederate states.

A Bustling Farm Old Main, the largest building on the acreage, with its grand Colonial-style architecture, sweeping porches, and spacious rooms, was built in 1891 and housed one hundred people. It contained a library of more than four thousand books, a large dining room, and a steam laundry, which was responsible for doing laundry for all the veterans at the home. Old Main’s basement contained a game room where veterans played cards and many additional rooms for storing the milk, butter, fruits, and vegetables that were raised on the farm. The large, fancy parlors in Old Main were the center of activity at the home and were used for dances, parties, and general gatherFebruary2007 2007 February

Feb07 CW.indd 50

ings. The Higginsville community became involved and took an active interest in the home throughout its years. Town residents often came out to visit on the weekends and holidays. Local ministers volunteered their time each Sunday to lead worship. School children often visited and brought handmade gifts for the veterans. The home was a popular stop for politicians, speakers, and entertainers, as well. Notable visitors included William Jennings Bryan (three-time Democratic nominee for President), Harry S. Truman, Cole Younger, John Gordon (Georgia Senator and Civil War hero), General J. O. Shelby (a Confederate general), and German opera singer Madame Ernestine Schumann-Heink. In the first few years, a multitude of buildings were constructed on the farm. They included a tool shed, coal house, a hospital, row houses for married veterans, a bath house, vegetable cellar, calf shed, gas plant, steam heat plant, hog house, chicken house, dairy barn, horse barn, granary, farm implement house, chapel, a cottage, and others. During its busiest years in the 1910s, thirty buildings provided space for the daily functioning of the farm. Construction included building a railroad platform to accommodate regular stops of the Missouri-Pacific railroad. The original plan was for the home to be as self-sufficient as possible. Those veterans who were healthy enough helped all over the farm, doing such chores as tilling the soil and raising acres of row crops, planting twelve acres of potatoes, weeding the several-acre vegetable garden, milking cows, raising hogs, and feeding chickens. Others started plants in the greenhouse, baked bread, nursed sick veterans in the hospital, cooked and served in the cafeteria, kept up the rose garden and cemetery, and performed other tasks. The veterans’ wives also helped by canning and preserving fruits and vegetables, sewing clothes, and making rag dolls and handiworks to sell to raise money for the home. As veterans got older and less able, more help had to be hired on the farm. Donations did not keep up with expenses. The home asked for help within just a few years of opening. In 1897, the Missouri State Legislature agreed to take over financial responsibility for the home until the last veteran or widow living there died.

COURTESY OF CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL STATE HISTORIC SITE

Civil War Series

The greenhouse next to Old Main was used to start the vegetables planted on the farm. Old Main was demolished in 1954. Opposite page: At the Confederate Memorial State Historic Site, visitors can enjoy a park and see the approximately eight hundred grave sites of the soldiers and their families buried there.

The Cemetery The same year the home opened, it mourned a death. James R. Simpson was the first veteran to be buried on the property. As succeeding veterans died, eventually almost three acres were set aside to become the Confederate Home Cemetery. The Missouri Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy worked to obtain ownership of the cemetery as a major ongoing project for the group. They received ownership in 1904 and soon after erected a twenty-foot tall granite monument, as a symbol of the dying Confederacy and its loyal soldiers. In 1950, John T. Graves, at 108, was the last veteran to be buried in the cemetery, though he was followed by two widows in 1957 and 1961. The most recent burial was in 1992 of the partial remains of William C. Quantrill, notorious Confederate guerrilla and bushwhacker. The cemetery includes approximately eight hundred graves, representing about half of the veterans and wives who lived at the

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MissouriLife

MissouriLife.com MissouriLife.com

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home over the years. Some of the more notable inhabitants include: Jim Cummins, the last surviving member of the James gang; Francis Xavier Jones, a spy in the Confederate Secret Service; and about a dozen of Quantrill’s bushwhackers.

SYLVIA FORBES

Memorial Park In 1923, the Board of Directors decided to create a ninety-five-acre memorial park on the property. The veterans dug lakes using teams of horses. Nursery stock was donated from companies across the United States, including dozens of fruit trees from Stark Brothers Nursery of Louisiana, Missouri. The job was so large that the residents of Higginsville came out en masse and helped plant the thousands of trees, shrubs, and flowers as well as building a rock garden by the lily pond. The event was so newsworthy that Pathe Films (which later became Paramount Pictures) made several newsreels about the park project and showed them in theaters across the nation.

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Later Years As the number of residents declined, the state tried to think of other uses for the home. In 1939, they decided to use the facilities to house handicapped children, many of whom were victims of polio. This plan lasted only a few years. In 1950, after the last veteran died, the Confederate Home closed, and the few remaining widows were transferred to another facility. The state decided to refurbish the property as a mental health facility. They demolished many buildings including Old Main. They built new buildings designed to care for developmentally disabled people. This facility is currently in use and sits on 160 acres of the original Confederate Home grounds. Another part of the original property, 120 acres, became part of Missouri’s park system in 1952 and includes the beautifully landscaped Memorial Park and Cemetery. The name officially became the Confederate Memorial State Historic Site in 1982. In 1993, the old brick hospital and several more acres were transferred to the state parks. Future plans include remodeling the building into a Confederate Veteran’s Home Museum and Visitor Center. A Missouri State Veteran’s Cemetery was created on fifty more acres of the original property, which were transferred to the Missouri State Veteran’s Commission in 1998. MissouriLife.com

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Visiting the Confederate Memorial State Historic Site The 135-acre property is managed by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Division of State Parks. Until April 1, the site offers tours Thursdays through Saturdays from 8 am to 4 pm and Sundays from noon until 5 pm. Beginning April 1 until November 1, the site is open Mondays through Saturdays from 8 am to 4 pm and Sundays from noon to 5 pm. Visitors can enjoy the plantings, sloping hills, and ponds of Memorial Park. One row house, where married veterans lived with their wives, is still standing; the huge three-story main building is gone. Also still standing is the 115-year-old chapel; its basement holds exhibits and photos of the Confederate Home. Next to the chapel is the cemetery, the final resting place for hundreds of Confederate veterans. One of the best times to visit is during their annual memorial weekend, which is scheduled on a Saturday near the June 3 birthday of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The date for the 2007 memorial service is June 2. Graves are decorated with flags, and reenactors take on the roles of past Confederates, helping visitors to learn about life and the issues of past times. The Confederate Memorial State Historic Site is located on Business Route 13, one mile north of Higginsville. For information on events, call 660-584-2853 or visit www.mostateparks.com/confedmem.htm. February 2007 2007 51 February

1/5/07 10:16:32 PM

dreamhomes

Glorious GOLF Homes ■ By Timothy Hill

OR ANY GOLF enthusiast, owning one of this month’s dream homes would be like winning a grand slam because the homes are in communities surrounding some of the state’s premier golf courses. Golf Digest ranks each course among the state’s top ten. Not only do these homes feature the latest, most popular ame-

nities, but they also sport excellent views of manicured fairways. And that’s like scoring a hole in one. Missourians’ passion for the fine golf communities hasn’t gone unnoticed. A recent study by Business Week and Golf Digest ranked the Ozarks region eleventh on a list of the nation’s top emerging golf retirement destinations.

TUSCAN LUXURY AT PORTO CIMA $3,200,000

SPECTACULAR VIEWS of both the Lake of the Ozarks and a Jack Nicklaus-designed course make this 8,100-square-foot home a showplace. The community of Porto Cima, Italian for “hillside harbor,” is situated on a peninsula overlooking the lake in Camden County. The Tuscan-style home, which boasts hardwood and marble floors, includes seven bedrooms, seven and one-half baths, two large kitchens, and an exercise center. The formal dining room features a custom-painted mural on the ceiling. Extras include three fireplaces, an infinity-edge pool and hot tub, a three-slip boat dock, and a heated driveway with a four-car garage.

Fran Campbell Johnson RE/MAX Lake of the Ozarks 573-302-2390

CHATEAU STYLE AT ST. ALBANS

MEDITERRANEAN AT PARKVILLE

ON THE SIXTEENTH FAIRWAY and located in the prestigious community of St. Albans on the St. Louis and Franklin county line, this 5,300-square-foot home backs to the Lewis and Clark golf course, which was designed by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish. The home, which features honed limestone floors, offers four bedrooms and four full and two half baths. A gourmet chef would love the kitchen’s granite countertops, center island, and butcher block, as well as an abundance of cookbook shelves. Perfect for year-round entertaining, the covered stone patio overlooks the fairway, and features one of the home’s four stone fireplaces while providing additional space. The home also offers a porte-cochere, an auto court, and a three-car garage.

THIS MEDITERRANEAN-STYLE stucco home is on The National Golf Club of Kansas City, which features a course designed by golf great and Kansas City native Tom Watson. Three French doors lead to a spacious terrace overlooking the fairway. The more than 4,800-square-foot, reverse story-and-a-half home has four bedrooms and three and one-half baths. The gourmet kitchen includes a built-in cappuccino maker, while the dining room and salon boast eighteen-foot ceilings. The home also has four fireplaces and a three-car garage. In addition to golf, the community offers many amenities such as a clubhouse, a pool, an exercise room, a tennis court, a sauna, an exercise trail, and a putting green.

Joe Pottebaum or Melinda McCarthy St. Albans Realty Co. 636-458-4400

$1,285,000

Scottie Broderick RE/MAX State Line 913-312-3620 52

February 2007

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ST. ALBANS: COURTESY OF STEVEN B. SMITH; PARKVILLE AND PORTO CIMA: COURTESY OF REALTORS

$2,200,000

MissouriLife.com

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June 2006

12/29/06 11:09:44 AM

bed&breakfast

Schiller Guest SUITES

★

From left: The Schiller Library and the Alsace Suite have working fireplaces, queen-sized beds, and balconies. They also feature a full kitchen for guests who would like to pass on the usual dinner out and prepare their own cuisine.

CHILLER GUEST SUITES in Hermann provide an unusual bed-and-breakfast experience. The building was originally a bank, built in 1867. Guests enter the suites through an antique shop on the first floor. Upstairs, guest rooms feature original artwork, and room names are lessons in European history. Moreover, each of the suites is like an apartment with spacious, open rooms and abundant light. Wayne and Constance LaBoube own and operate Schiller Guest Suites. They renovated the building themselves in 2003 and 2004, restoring the original hardwood floors and retaining architectural touches under the watchful eye of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. There are three suites, all above street level. The second floor contains the Schiller Library, which was named for the famed German writer-philosopher Friedrich von Schiller, and the Alsace Suite, inspired by the Alsace region of France and Germany. Both suites have working fireplaces, queen-sized beds, tiled baths with showers, and balconies overlooking the street. Schiller Library includes a wall of books and comfortable seats for reading. The Alsace Suite, which accommodates four people, features a handsome four-poster bed in the bedroom as well as a sofa bed in the sitting room. The two upstairs suites also serve as private art galleries, which feature paintings of Hermann landscapes for sale by local artists. Ludwig’s Loft fills the entire third floor. According to Constance, the name is a tribute to both Ludwig van Beethoven, who put

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COURTESY OF SCHILLER GUEST SUITES

LUDWIG’S LOFT, SCHILLER’S LIBRARY, OR THE ALSACE SUITE IN HERMANN ■ By Ann Vernon

music to Schiller’s Ode to Joy, and Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, creator of the first Oktoberfest. The suite is decorated with a mix of nineteenth- and twenty-first-century furnishings, and the bath has an antique, claw-foot tub with shower. Dormer windows give guests views of the town from every angle. Another unique feature popular with visitors: Each suite has its own fully outfitted kitchen. Constance says travelers often tire of restaurant fare and enjoy preparing their own meal for a change. Even so, guests are served a healthy European-style continental breakfast with coffee, fresh fruit, yogurt, granola, and breads each morning in their rooms. In addition to spacious, homelike accommodations, a variety of special services can make a stay truly memorable. Fresh flowers can be ordered for the room from a local cutting farm. Guests may order a massage or facial in their room for a private spa treatment, sign up for a cooking class with a local chef, or enjoy a chocolate- and winetasting experience, presented by one of Hermann’s wine experts. Shopping and dining in town is a treat, as is touring the historic German community and visiting a local winery. Hermann sits above the Missouri River among the beautiful rolling hills of Gasconade County, near the Katy Trail. Schiller Guest Suites is located at the corner of Second and Schiller streets in downtown Hermann. Guests sign in at Attic Treasures antique and gift shop. Room rates start at $180 a night; call 573-486-1010 or 314-808-1493 or e-mail constancelaboube@mac.com. MissouriLife.com

1/5/07 8:19:47 PM

jp’s Simple Pleasures

��

Come experience a taste of Southern Hospitality in Mid-Missouri

HOTEL GRAND VICTORIAN BRANSON

Great location, 151 well appointed Rooms & Suites - Indoor / Outdoor Pool and Fitness Center - Afternoon Tea

Phone - 800.324.8751 Web Site - www.hotelgrandvictorian.com

www.whirlwindranch.com

Lebanon, MO • 417.533.5280

��

Call 660-263-3401

for more information regarding full teas and private parties 411 W. Reed Moberly, MO 65270

Jane Drew & Peggy Swon Owners/Operators

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Huber’s Ferry Bed & Breakfast & Wilhelmshaven Overlooking the Osage River Jefferson City, MO 573-455-2979 or toll free 877-454-2979 www.hubersferrybedandbreakfast.com

info@whirlwindranch.com

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A Celebration of the life and work of

Steve McQueen March 24 and 25

the 77th anniversary of his birth in Slater, Missouri - the boyhood home of Steve McQueen For more information call 573-819-2669 or 660-529-2271 or visit www.cityofslater.com MissouriLife.com

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February 2007

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creativecuisine

VALENTINE’S AT THE CHASE PARK PLAZA By Karen Mitcham-Stoeckley

■ Photos by Curt Dennison

OFT CANDLELIGHT, romantic music, exquisite food, and your loved one. What a perfect combination for Valentine’s evening! You can spend your day preparing this meal at home, or you can make reservations and have this meal and superior service all in one sitting. The Chase Park Plaza is a grand masterpiece of St. Louis architecture that has welcomed visitors since 1922. It became the home away from home for visiting celebrities, and the Chase Club presented entertainers such as Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, and the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis duo. The Starlight Roof hosted many big bands of the ’40s. Over the years, the facility hosted thousands of major social events and was known by a catch phase, “The Chase is the Place.” By the late ’80s, the Chase had fallen into a state of disrepair and neglect, and it closed for business. In 1997 a group of investors had accrued financing to begin renovation. A great deal of research was conducted to assure that renovations would reflect the true style and feel of the original property. In 1999, the Starlight Roof was the first public space to open. By the end of the year, guests enjoyed suites, shops, and restaurants at The Chase. It graces the edge of The Central West End. Executive Chef Omar Hafidi of The Chase Park Plaza generously shares some of his favorite recipes with us for a stellar menu being served in The Eau Bistro. The Chase Park Plaza is located at 212 North Kingshighway Boulevard in St. Louis. For information, call 314-633-3000.

Karen Mitcham-Stoeckley studied culinary arts in Italy, France, Japan, and America. She owns The Eagle’s Nest Winery, Inn, and Bistro in Louisiana, Missouri.

Executive Chef Omar Hafidi, Director of Food and Beverage Bruce Miller, and Chef de Cuisine Marie Anne Perez. Caviar with Mini Onion Waffles

Above: ??? Right: ???

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Pacific Kumamoto Oysters with Yuzu Pomegranate Mignonette Caviar with Mini Onion Waffles Moroccan Spiced Lamb, Black French Trompettes, and Chili Chocolate Fondue Ahi Tuna, Asian Pear, Avocado, and Foie Gras Petit Filet Mignon, Asparagus, and Topinambour PurĂŠe Raspberry Chocolate Sorbet with Vanilla Tuile and Pistachio Mousse Visit www.missourilife.com for the oysters and tuna recipes.

Moroccan Spiced Lamb, Black French Trompettes, and Chili Chocolate Fondue

Petit Filet Mignon, Asparagus, and Topinambour PurĂŠe MissouriLife.com

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Raspberry Chocolate Sorbet with Vanilla Tuile and Pistachio Mousse February 2007

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creativecuisine RECIPES MINI ONION WAFFLES (PIZZELLES) 2 large eggs, separated 1¾ cup milk 6 tablespoons butter, melted 2 cups flour ½ teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon baking powder 2 tablespoons onion, grated ½ teaspoon sage ½ teaspoon thyme 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped Heat Pizzelle Press (waffle iron). Beat egg whites until stiff and set aside. In a medium size bowl, combine egg yolks, milk, and melted butter. Add flour, salt, and baking powder and stir to blend well. Add the onion and spices. Then fold in the egg whites until just mixed. Spray the grids on the Pizzelle iron with oil. Ladle or pour enough batter to cover 2/3 of the grid. Cook until the steam stops, about 5 minutes. When the waffle is done, remove it with a fork. Repeat with remaining batter. Serves 2. MOROCCAN SPICED LAMB, BLACK FRENCH TROMPETTES, AND CHILI CHOCOLATE FONDUE 2 5-oz. lamb loins, cleaned and marinated in Charmoula (recipe below) 2 tablespoons butter 2 teaspoons shallots, finely chopped 3-4 large black trompette mushrooms Salt and pepper to taste Pinch of minced parsley ½ cup red pepper, roasted and finely sliced Chili chocolate fondue (recipe below) Cayenne for garnish (optional) Heat small sauté pan to medium heat. Sear the loins evenly on all sides (about 3-4 minutes) and finish cooking in a 350-degree oven to medium rare (about 4 minutes more). Remove from the oven and allow the meat to rest and come to room temperature (about 4 minutes). Bring another sauté pan to medium heat with butter and shallots. Once the butter begins to bubble, add mushrooms and toss to coat them. Allow about 2 minutes for these to fully cook. Drain excess butter, season with salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of parsley. 58

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To serve, slice the lamb thinly. Lay the meat fanned on top of the mushrooms and warm roasted red pepper. Spoon warm chili chocolate sauce on the plate. Dust a pinch of cayenne pepper next to the sauce. Serves 2. CHARMOULA ½ teaspoon paprika ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon cumin, ground 2 cloves garlic, finely minced 4 tablespoons lemon juice 1 tablespoons parsley ¼ cup cilantro 1/ 3 cup extra virgin olive oil Mix together for a marinade. CHILI CHOCOLATE FONDUE ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ground ¼ teaspoon turmeric ½ teaspoon cumin ¾ teaspoon madras curry ¼ teaspoon cayenne 1½ cups heavy cream 1 lb. semisweet Valrhona chocolate, chopped Toast the cinnamon, turmeric, cumin, curry, and cayenne in a skillet over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, shaking the pan often to prevent burning. Remove from heat and cool. Bring heavy cream to boiling point and mix in the toasted spices. Stir to combine. Remove from heat, cover, and let set 10 minutes. Strain though a fine sieve and reheat to boiling point. Slowly add hot cream to the chopped chocolate and stir until smooth. Keep warm until ready to serve. PETIT FILET MIGNON, ASPARAGUS, AND TOPINAMBOUR PURÉE ½ lb. topinambour (Jerusalem artichoke) peeled 2 cups heavy cream 1 shallot, whole 1 clove garlic 1 bay leaf Salt and pepper to taste 2 5-oz. center cuts of filet mignon 3 jumbo asparagus spears, peeled 1 teaspoon shallots, finely diced 1 teaspoon butter 2 tablespoons port wine demi glace

In a medium saucepan, place artichoke, cream, shallot, garlic, bay leaf, salt, and pepper over medium heat until artichoke is tender. Drain and save the cream mixture. Mash tender artichoke through a tamis (a drum sieve) and add the cream mixture to the purée. Set aside and keep warm. On a hot grill, cook the filet on both sides to desired temperature. Sauté asparagus with shallots in butter, then season with salt and pepper To serve, spoon purée onto plate, top with asparagus and filet and drizzle with port wine. Serves 2. RASPBERRY CHOCOLATE SORBET WITH VANILLA TUILE AND PISTACHIO MOUSSE This is a simplified version of the Chase Park Plaza’s recipe. 9 ounces (divided) of fine semisweet (75 percent or higher cocoa) chocolate bar 1 quart purchased raspberry sorbet pistachio pudding mix heavy whipping cream 1 teaspoon vanilla vanilla tuile cookies raspberries, fresh Melt 6 ounces of chocolate in a double boiler until smooth. Soften sorbet about 1 hour at room temperature. Do not soften in microwave or oven. In a large bowl, gently blend the chocolate into the sorbet until just blended with stripes of both the sorbet and the chocolate showing. Place in freezer for 4 hours or overnight. Make the pistachio pudding mix according to box directions using heavy whipping cream instead of milk plus 1 teaspoon vanilla. Refrigerate 1 hour then whip with mixer until fluffy. Melt remaining chocolate until very smooth. Place about 2 teaspoons chocolate in the bottom of a martini glass. Tip the glass to all sides to form “petals” in the bottom half of the glass. Chill well. Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of the pudding into the glass. Chill 1 hour. Place 1 large scoop of the sorbet on the pudding just before serving. Garnish with tuile cookies and fresh raspberries. Serves 4. MissouriLife.com

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February 2007

12/29/06 11:11:36 AM

missouriwine

Shape SENSE ■ By Doug Frost

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N 2004’s Sideways, the film’s anti-hero Miles marks his change of heart by opening his prized bottle of Cheval Blanc and drinking it from a Styrofoam cup. Doug Frost is one of The scene celebrated Miles’s relaxing of three people in the his strident wine attitude. Although any old world who is both a glass might have been sufficient to make the Master Sommelier and point, Styrofoam is a decidedly lousy wine- a Master of Wine. He glass. It seems to gobble up aromas; a plastic lives in Kansas City. cup would have been far better. And the shape of glass most definitely has an impact on the aromas and flavors of a wine. The famous Italian juice glass offers the wine taster almost no aromas. Because of that, the flavors can seem muted. After all, we smell things more than we taste them. How important is the shape of the glass? I think the answer is strictly personal. Some people place a lot of importance in it. For others, one glass is the same as another. I tend to use one glass for all my tasting, and I try to use a glass that has a narrow bowl and tapers to a slightly narrow point at the mouth of the glass. And I like thin, fine glass, rather than a clunky, thick, or beveled glass. That’s not to say I don’t like those fancy glasses, the ones selected for particular styles of wines and grapes. I think Riedel and other glassware that has been designed specifically for certain grapes and regions can indeed express those aromas better than other glasses. At times, the impact of the glass can be almost supernatural with certain wines. On the other hand, I don’t buy into the argument that the glasses change the mouth of the wine. Although aroma is probably 75 percent of the overall flavor of a wine, once I have the wine in my mouth, the impact of a fancy wineglass is diminished. Riedel has been promoting a new stem-less glass called the “O.” I have no use for a glass that doesn’t protect the temperature of the wine from the warmth of the hand and doesn’t seem to deliver the nose of most wines. So do I use most of these expensive wineglasses? Sure. But I prefer it when somebody else buys them, and I can just borrow them. MissouriLife.com

1/3/07 1:42:20 PM

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February 2007

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missouriartist

Precious Metal CLAY

WEBSTER GROVES ARTIST BLENDS MEDIUMS PERFECTLY ■ By Stephanie Ruby

Summit Lake Winery

February 2007

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URNING CLAY into silver might sound like something out of a fairy tale, but that is the basic principle behind what this Best of Missouri Hands artisan Maggie Ahern loves to do. Maggie teaches classes in precious metal clay and sells her work in a shop she and her husband recently opened in Webster Groves, called Ag Designs Studio & Gallery. “Working with precious metal clay is an incredibly fun and enjoyable process,” Maggie says. “There is so much that can be done with it and very few limitations.” Precious metal clay is a material that works and feels like modeling clay, but mixed in are particles of silver or gold. When artisans like Maggie begin to work with metal clay, it is soft and pliable; the shape, texture, and character of the piece are applied with simple tools that can be found at home. The clay is then left to air-dry, and it is heated in a kiln for two hours at about 1,650 degrees, Maggie says. Heating the dried material burns away the organic binder the silver or gold is suspended in and leaves a solid (.999) piece of precious metal. When Maggie discovered precious metal clay, she was teaching high school art classes, such as painting, drawing, and jewelry. Looking for new ideas to incorporate into her curriculum to teach her students, she

found out about the medium and took a class from a precious metal clay artist near Chicago. “I spent three days, eight hours each day, soaking up everything I could learn about the material,” she says. “I was hooked.” Her students can’t get enough of the art, either. Each time they finish a piece they are amazed at what they have accomplished, Maggie says. It is a rewarding process for the teacher and the student. The user-friendly material has made Maggie more relaxed in her teaching and creates an atmosphere less intimidating than some other art classes. Inspiration for her pieces comes from everything and everywhere she goes, Maggie says. She keeps a sketchbook with her that she draws ideas in constantly. One of her daughter’s favorite pieces came from a partially decomposed leaf skeleton. She pressed the tiny leaf into a piece of clay and created a collage pendant. Trying to choose a favorite piece from among her works is difficult for Maggie. “Every time I finish a piece, I get so excited,” Maggie says. “I feel so incredibly lucky to be doing something that I enjoy every single day.” To see more of Maggie’s work, visit www. BestofMissouriHands.com or Ag Designs Studio & Gallery located at 8126 Big Bend Boulevard in Webster Groves.

COURTESY OF DON CASPER

From left: Jewelry and other pieces made from precious metal clay turn into metal after the clay is fired in a kiln. Artisan Maggie Ahern teaches classes to students of all ages on how to work with precious metal clay.

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1/5/07 8:36:02 PM

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missourijournal

LINCOLN University “Memory was given to man for some wise purpose. The past is … the mirror in which we may discern the dim outlines of the future and by which we may make them more symmetrical.” —Frederick Douglass, 1884

ISSOURI’S CIVIL WAR heritage prompts considerable interest right now as we approach the sesquicentennial. Many local groups are busily studying and even recreating the dozens of skirmishes and pitched battles that marked the bitter Missouri struggle, doing valuable service in helping us preserve and understand our complex Civil War heritage. But the Civil War in Missouri was far more than four plus years of battles and ferocious guerrilla warfare. If, as Abraham Lincoln pronounced in his Second Inaugural Address, the Civil War was really about atoning for slavery and realizing our revolutionary ideal of human equality, then Lincoln University in Jefferson City was really the point of all our battles. From its lofty vantage point, we can clearly observe the unfolding African-American struggle for equality in both Missouri and American life. The founding of Lincoln University reflects Frederick Douglass’s efforts to claim equality for African Americans in antebellum America. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, a key document of the abolitionist movement, former slave Douglass told skeptical white Americans how he had escaped from his master, obtained his freedom, and became a leading abolitionist speaker. Douglass eloquently described the incredible sense of power and dignity that literacy gave to him as he chronicled how he had taught himself to

From left: Richard Baxter Foster was an abolitionist and educator. He volunteered for the Union Army and was stationed to command the Sixty-second United States Colored Troops (USCT) during the Civil War. He was the first principal of Lincoln Institute and taught during the first few years. He also toured the country to raise monetary support for Lincoln. John Jeffries was a member of the Sixty-second USCT and according to the circular for 1872, he was attending Lincoln Institute with many soldiers of different regiments. 64

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read and write despite harsh laws forbidding it. An 1847 Missouri law prohibited enslaved and free Negroes from being educated. Such human dignity was hard to come by for African Americans before the Civil War. In Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857), which origi- Arthur Mehrhoff is the nated in St. Louis, the U.S. Supreme Court academic coordinator ruled that “Negroes had no rights which at the Museum of Art white men are bound to respect.” That opin- and Archaeology at the ion claimed untold human limbs and lives. University of Missouri In the smoldering aftermath of the Civil War, at Columbia. officers and enlisted men of the Sixty-second and Sixty-fifth Colored Infantries of Missouri founded Lincoln University (then called Lincoln Institute) in 1866. It was to be established in Missouri for the special benefit of African Americans and to combine labor and study. The school is historically unique as the first school named for President Lincoln and the only school established by Civil War soldiers. These men, like Douglass, had risked their lives and acquired their own precious literacy in the refiner’s fire. Lincoln Institute was their gift to Missouri and the nation. Lincoln Institute struggled for survival during Reconstruction as the nation remained segregated, in spite of the emancipation of slaves. The school was deeded to the state in 1879 and became eligible for state funding, starting a new era in the life of the institution. In 1891, Lincoln Institute acquired land-grant status and added agricultural and industrial courses. Lincoln also added a teachers’ college to meet the educational needs of African Americans who could now legally learn to read and write but were still forbidden by law to attend school with white Missourians. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 that “separate but equal” facilities for black and white Americans were legal, and segregation was still the sanctioned law of the land. Washington told his fellow African Americans to “cast down your bucket where you are,” and make the needed accommodations necessary to get along. By the turn of the century, Lincoln Institute had become a life preserver for African Americans in the stormy seas of segregation. Its land-grant status reflected Booker T. Washington’s emphasis upon vocational education as the African-American survival strategy in segregated America.When President Theodore Roosevelt invited the distinguished African-American leader to dinner in the early 1900s, to his surprise a firestorm of protest swept across the country. Such was the racial climate at the time. The growing national reputation of Lincoln University by the 1920s reflected William Edward Burghard DuBois’s emphasis upon African-American intellectual distinction. By the 1920s, African Americans were seriously challenging American ideas of racial inferiority. They had fought in a war “to make the world safe for democracy” and were migrating in large numbers to growing northern

COURTESY OF LINCOLN UNIVERSITY

THE ONLY SCHOOL STARTED BY CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS BECAME A LIFE PRESERVER IN THE STORMY SEAS OF SEGREGARTION ■ By Arthur Mehrhoff

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industrial cities in order to capitalize on new opportunities. One of the lights of this period was DuBois, a Harvard-trained social scientist who promoted liberal arts education as the key for the emerging leadership group he called “the talented tenth” of the population. Lincoln University reflected DuBois’s views of the changing role for African-American higher education. In 1921 Lincoln Institute became Lincoln University, and its curators were charged “to afford to the Negro people of the state opportunity for training up to the standard furnished at the state university of Missouri wherever necessary and practicable.” President Nathan B. Young successfully attracted outstanding African-American scholars, several of whom became well-known members of the Harlem Renaissance of AfricanAmerican culture during this period. President Young wrote to DuBois that he hoped to create “a First-Class Institution of Higher Learning in the Middle West.” Ironically, segregation had helped Lincoln University become a center of African-American culture. In Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Plessy and ruled that segregation of public schools was illegal. However, integration of public schools also challenged Lincoln’s traditional role as the center for African-American education in segregated Missouri. African-American students could now attend law school or journalism school at the University of Missouri, so some key features of Lincoln University were eliminated or downgraded; the university now had to compete for state funding with the entire system of higher education. Integration of Lincoln University reflects the civil rights movement led by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In his immortal 1963

“I Have a Dream” speech, Dr. King urged the nation to judge African Americans “not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Like a rising tide, this basic premise swept across American culture but especially the field of education. Its web site notes that Lincoln is now one of the most culturally diverse schools in the Midwest and serves a diverse clientele of residential and non-residential students. Today, Lincoln University wrestles with the tension between its historic role as a beacon of African-American culture and America’s growing emphasis upon cultural diversity. Will this diverse new student body care about those soldiers from so long ago and their struggle for human dignity? Communities need to continually tell their stories in order to keep alive their sense of a shared past. A university community is no exception to this rule. To that end, efforts are currently underway to construct a “memorial centerpiece” for the campus in the form of a Soldier’s Memorial Plaza. The plaza, one of a series of national monuments to commemorate African-American soldiers of the Civil War, is intended to honor the soldiers who founded Lincoln University and encourage meaningful discussions about its future. It will tell their story in stone. But as Abraham Lincoln observed in the Gettysburg Address, ultimately we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow the people and struggle that inspired the Soldier’s Memorial Plaza. We can only honor their legacy and carry on their work. Like the founders of Lincoln University, we are also struggling for literacy as we try to “read” the landscape of Missouri life and understand how this distinguished artifact of black history fits into America’s unfinished stories of the Civil War and Reconstruction.

SETH GARCIA

Construction has begun on the Soldier’s Memorial Plaza, which is one of a series of national monuments that will honor African-American soldiers who fought in the Civil War.

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February 2007

1/8/07 9:53:12 AM

missouribooks

Little House LESSONS ■ By Amy Stapleton

BECOMING LAURA INGALLS WILDER

By John E. Miller, University of Missouri Press, 306 pages, $19.95 softcover When I was growing up I gobbled up Laura Ingalls Wilder books, almost literally. The Long Winter could make me hungry and cold even after one of Mom’s Sunday brunches on a hot summer day. February 2007 marks the fiftieth anniversary of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s death. John E. Miller’s Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder looks into the woman behind the legend of the little pioneer girl. While Laura’s novels are so famous that they have been translated into more than forty languages, Miller’s book provides a peek into Laura’s common life. As a farmer’s wife, a mother, and a budding author, Laura started writing for the Missouri Ruralist, and her abilities as an author and commentator quickly became apparent. Miller also includes Laura’s relationship with her daughter Rose and their collaborations as Rose became her mother’s editor. Samples of Laura’s writing, with Rose’s editorial marks, show how mother and daughter worked together to create the stories of frontier and farm life. Rose was an accomplished author in her own right, and one wonders if her desire to write opened the door for Laura to begin the process of writing her own stories. In the book, we also learn a great deal about Rose’s aspirations as an author, her world travels, and her sometimes-tumultuous relationship with her mother. She was greatly influenced by her upbringing, and her spirit shows in her writing. Miller draws on Laura’s letters, unpublished autobiography, newspaper stories, and land records to write the account of her life as an adult and her growth as an author. He also supplies the reader with details of the years that Laura, her husband Almanzo, and Rose lived in the Missouri Ozarks. Some of the details presented in this book take away from the youthful wonder of the “Little House” books. Her novels were written as fiction, based on her youth. The accounts were real, but Laura exercised poetic license in the details. Miller’s biography gives us more information about a childhood hero to many who still believe that the cows’ heads froze to the ground and that the “Sunflower Song” helps you stay warm. 66

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missourihealth

CARDIO TENNIS SERVES UP A NEW WORKOUT ■ By Megan Gajeski

COURTESY OF KEVIN SATZ

F YOU’RE BORED with the same old exercise routine, there’s an exciting new workout on the block. Cardio Tennis is taking the fitness industry by storm, and you don’t have to be Andre Agassi or Venus Williams to reap the benefits. During the last twelve months, Missouri has become a popular place for Cardio Tennis, and more than fifteen locations now offer the program. Last June the Tennis Industry Association (TIA) came to Missouri to train many of the tennis pros on Cardio Tennis and since then, “it has been a hit,” says tennis pro Patty Purcell. Patty is the tennis pro for the Chesterfield Athletic Club near St. Louis. “People like the fact that they can play tennis all year round, since we can do Cardio Tennis indoors when the Tennis offers a winter months hit and outdoors healthy option for a complete the rest of the time.” workout. According to the U.S. The TIA and the U.S. Tennis Tennis Association, the average Association, along with tennis person will burn roughly 490 pros across the country, develcalories during a regular game of oped this fun and fresh group tennis. With Cardio Tennis that activity as an alternative to trafigure can almost double. ditional cardio workouts. The Two St. Louis women, program pairs six to eight players Raylene Meadows and Tara Beck of varying skill levels on a court took up Cardio Tennis seven for thirty minutes to an hour of months ago at various clubs and non-stop, heart-pumping exeragree they feel better than they cise led by a tennis professional. have in years. For the first five to ten minutes, “It’s not just the fact that we players do a warm-up, followed burn three hundred to five hunby a forty- to fifty-minute cardred calories per session; it’s also dio segment consisting of hitting the enjoyment and feeling that backhands, forehands, volleys, you are playing just like a kid and overhands, all tailored to again,” Tara says. the individual’s ability and then This reaction is pretty typia five- to ten-minute cool-down. cal, says Patty, who enjoys teachUnlike the real game of tennis, ing Cardio Tennis to beginners. the objective is not to hit the “It’s great taking up a new sport balls into strategic areas but to by yourself, but it can be even hit as many balls as you can and more fun doing it with a friend get your heart rate pumping. or family member,” she says. Evidence suggests that to With more than fifty-six improve overall health and million Americans involved in reduce the risk of heart disease, From top: Cardio Tennis players are fed balls to practice reaction time and fitness activities, Cardio Tennis we need thirty to sixty minutes hand and eye coordination. Tennis students run ladder drills, which are high has put an all-new spin on the of moderate to intense aero- energy drills that focus on footwork and get the heart pumping. traditional game. bic exercise almost every day. To find the Missouri locations, Dr. Gordon Blackburn, an exercise program director certified by visit www.missourilife.com or www.cardiotennis.com for a listing, or the American College of Sports Medicine, points out that Cardio call your local athletic club as the program continues to grow. MissouriLife.com

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February 2007

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missourihealth

CANOLA OIL MAY BOOST HEART HEALTH ■ By Barbara Gibbs Ostmann

AST OCTOBER, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of a qualified health claim for canola oil. The claim, which now canola oil bottlers and makers of eligible products can use on labels, reads in part: Limited and not conclusive scientific evidence suggests that eating about 11/2 tablespoons (19 grams) of canola oil daily may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to the unsaturated fat content in canola oil. “As Missourians are looking to eat healthfully for American Heart Month (February) and beyond, canola oil is a great choice because it can be used in food preparation in so many ways,” says Roberta L. Duyff, a registered dietitian from St. Louis and author of the American Dietetic Association Complete Food and Nutrition Guide. “You can use canola oil in any recipe that calls for vegetable oil, as well as in place of some margarine or butter,” Duyff says. The important thing to note, though, is that you don’t add canola oil to your diet; you use it in place of other oils or fats.

The composition of canola oil helps reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by lowering total blood and low-density lipoprotein (“bad”) cholesterol, says Guy H. Johnson, who wrote the qualified health claim petition to the FDA on behalf of the U.S. Canola Association. Canola oil is high in unsaturated fats (93 percent), free of cholesterol and trans fat, and the lowest in saturated fat (7 percent) of any common edible oil. The FDA approved the term “canola oil” for low erucic acid rapeseed oil in 1988 because canola oil was firmly established as the common name for the oil in Canada, and the use of the same term in the United States would promote free trade and improve consumer understanding. Although canola is a viable crop for Missouri, there is little if any canola acreage at present because of a lack of in-state markets and local delivery points, says Robert L. Myers, executive director of the Thomas Jefferson Agricultural Institute, a non-profit research and education center supporting crop diversification based in Columbia.

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When were the first African slaves brought to presentday Missouri? What did the Missouri Compromise, enacted by Congress in 1820, accomplish? Augustus Tolton, who was born a slave in Ralls County in 1854, is recognized as the first African American to hold what religious position? The Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing in St. Louis commemorates part of a route used by escaped slaves who were seeking freedom. By what name is this route known? What rights were provided by the Thirteenth and Fifteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution? What celebrated poet was born in Joplin in 1902? Jazz pioneer Coleman Hawkins, who was born in St. Joseph in 1904, helped popularize what musical instrument? Missouri is home to two of the nation’s historically black colleges and universities. Name them. What sports league included the Kansas City Monarchs, the St. Louis Stars, and the St. Louis Giants? What was the real name of Redd Foxx, the comedian born in St. Louis in 1922 and famous for his role as junk dealer Fred Sanford in Sanford and Son? —Timothy Hill (Answers found on page 77)

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SETH GARCIA

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Black Civil War soldiers founded this university in Jefferson City.

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VISIT WWW.MISSOURILIFE.COM FOR ABOUT 175 EVENTS!

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Around Missouri

EDITORS’ PICKS SPENCERS: THEATRE OF ILLUSION MAR. 17, ST. JOSEPH

Missouri Theatre. 8 PM. $15$25. 816-279-1225

TRUE/FALSE FILM FESTIVAL MAR. 1-4, COLUMBIA

New nonfiction films. Various venues downtown. 573-442-8783 FARM TOY SHOW

SPRING EXPO

MAR. 24, MONTGOMERY CITY

MAR. 24, KIRKSVILLE

New and old farm toys. Montgomery County Fairgrounds. 9 AM - 4 PM. $2 (food extra). 573-564-2979

More than 60 dealers. NEMO Fairgrounds. 8 PM. $1. 660-665-3766

COURTESY OF MISSOURI DIVISION OF TOURISM

SOULARD MARDI GRAS BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL

FEB. 11-20, ST. LOUIS

FEB. 23-24, HANNIBAL

One of the largest celebrations in the country. Throughout Soulard area. Times vary. Free (except some special events). 314-771-5110

Hannibal Inn. 7 PM Fri.; noon and 7 PM Sat. $10-$20. 573-853-4344

Missouri Whitewater Races. Mar. 17-18, Fredericktown. Millstream Garden Conservation Area. All day. Free (entry fee for racers). 573-783-2604

OUR CALENDAR IS MOVING Our magazine location has moved, and our calendar of events is moving, too. We’re moving most of the events to our web site, but we’re still featuring a selection here in the Editors’ Picks column. Articles found in this department will still reflect events taking place around the state.

FREE LISTING ON WEB SITE: Submit events well in advance. Visiting www.missourilife.com and fill out the form, or e-mail Amy@MissouriLife.com, or send announcement to Missouri Life, 515 E. Morgan St., Boonville, MO 65233. PLEASE NOTE: Event plans sometimes change. Call before traveling.

TOYS AND TRAINS, ANTIQUE AND UNUSUAL

SERTOMA CHILI COOK-OFF

FEB. 17-19, INDEPENDENCE

FEB. 17, SPRINGFIELD

Variety of events throughout the area. Free (except some special events). 816-325-7102

Benefits Boys and Girls Club. Expo Center. 10 AM - 4 PM. $10. 417-863-1231

IRISH/CELTIC FESTIVAL

TROUT OPENING DAY

MAR. 31, COLE CAMP

MAR. 1, SALEM

Music, dancers, pipes, and drums. Throughout town. 11 AM. Free. 660-668-2736

Montauk State Park. 6:30 AM. Fishing license required. 573-548-2201 ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES

THE NERD

MAR. 11, CAPE GIRARDEAU

MAR. 2-3 AND 9-10, VERSAILLES

More than 50 dealers. A.C. Brase Arena Building. 8 AM - 4 PM. $2-$5. 573-334-1100, ext. 219

Side-splitting comedy. Royal Theatre. 7 PM. $4-$9. 573-378-6226

JIM HARDIN

Olean’s hut

Ron,” and an ambitious young cook, Lowell Poss, to be his assistant. Soon, in addition to the local ★ AT PAVEMENT’S END in Olean, a trade, patrons were driving from town of 157, sits an unexpected find, a across the state to enjoy the fine cuisupper club called The Hut. sine that they were dispensing. The Hut has an interesting, improbable history. Then, in 2000, tragedy struck. Once it was a pair of fiercely competing businesses Still a young man, Big Ron died sitting side-by-side. They were located on a hill unexpectedly. But Lowell had learned on Main Street. In 1996 after one of them, a reswell and quickly took the reins. taurant-saloon known as YoBrian’s, closed, Becky Lowell Poss and the Hut owner Becky Kehr In addition to ever-changing speKehr bought the other, up-the-hill café, a cozy create a restaurant special. cials, the Lower Hut’s evening menu rustic affair, and kept its name, The Hut. includes a mix of moderately sophistiBecky also decided to purchase YoBrian’s when it became cated cuisine with down-home country cooking. available. She remodeled it and physically joined it with the first The Lower Hut is open from 5 to 10 PM. The Upper Hut is enterprise, calling them the Upper Hut and Lower Hut. open 7 AM to 10 PM on Mondays and Tuesdays and 7 AM to 5 PM She hired a chef with an impressive resume from the Lake Wednesdays through Saturdays. The Hut is located at 251 Main in of the Ozarks resort area, a mountain of a man known as “Big Olean. For more information call 573-392-6552. —Jim Hardin

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JIM WINNERMAN

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The Experience Brings You Back! again and again . . . ��

www.boonvillemo.org

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allaroundmissouri

JIM WINNERMAN

Circus Off-Season “I DID NOT KNOW there was a circus out here” is a phrase circus spokesand woman office manager Loretta Clay hears frequently from people who drive by the long line of fence posts The Carden Circus spends its winter in Springﬁeld where topped with it develops acts and takes a break from the road. small concrete circus animals that line a two-lane country road outside Springfield. The manicured twenty-acre Missouri farm is in fact the home of the George Carden Circus International. The Carden family, which has been in show business for five generations, is from the Springfield area and would not consider living anywhere else, Loretta says. Even though Springfield is home to the Carden circus, winter is the only time the show is there, during its seasonal break. When the caravan of trucks and animal trailers pulls into the heated barns of the winter headquarters the first week of each December, it is the beginning of a hectic two-month period of equipment maintenance and rehearsals. Because the circus travels to some of the same cities each year, the acts must change so audiences will not see the same show, Loretta says. The Carden circus uses three rings and plays at least two locations each week. Most are three-day engagements, and usually there are two, two-hour shows every day. Included are elephant and big cat performances, jugglers, clowns, high wire acts, and trapeze artists. This circus, however, takes place mostly in indoor arenas instead of under a tent, and it usually adopts the name of the sponsoring organization wherever it appears. Audiences can range from a few thousand people to eighteen thousand for each performance. The circus uses the word “international” in its name because so many performers are from other countries, including ringmaster Alberto Valencia who is from South America and has been with the troupe for thirteen years. This year, performers come from Mexico, Colombia, Europe, and the former Soviet Union. When the last week in January approaches, Missouri’s circus will once again be ready to roll out from its winter headquarters onto the highways of mid-America, including about ten different engagements in Missouri. For information on upcoming performances or to have the George Carden Circus International perform on behalf of an organization, call 417-833-3588. —Jim Winnerman

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AS PART OF THE 30th Annual Builders Home & Garden Show, the Egyptian Art Center is presenting the “Treasures of King Tut” exhibit for only four days in February. From February 22-25, 250 exact replicas of artifacts from Tut’s tomb can be seen in downtown St. Louis at the America’s Center and Edward Jones Dome. Tarek Ragab, president of the Egyptian Art Center, founded the organization in 1988 to produce replicas of King Tut treasures and other Egyptian artifacts. Top Egyptian artists and sculptors worked for five years to recreate museum quality artifacts, and in 1993 they began showing exhibits all over the world. “This exhibit hasn’t been seen around the U.S. very much,” says Gary Zide, senior staff vice president of the Home

Builders Association of St. Louis. “That’s why we’re excited to see it in St. Louis.” Gary, who is responsible for bringing the exhibit to the home and garden show, says that people who have been to both the “Treasures of King Tut” exhibit and the touring exhibit of real Tut artifacts in Chicago have said that the replicas are the same, if not better. “Chicago doesn’t have major pieces,” Gary says. “People see more at our show.” At the exhibit, attendees can see a new work of art created right in front of them. Sand sculptors will create a fifty-ton sand sculpture of King Tut’s tomb at America’s Center. The sculptors will have about 70 percent of the tomb finished before the show and will work to complete it throughout the event. Once the 30th Annual Builders Home & Garden Show is over, “Treasures of King Tut” will leave St. Louis and go to Pittsburg for a ten-day exhibit in March.

The “Treasures of King Tut” exhibit runs February 22-25 at the America’s Center and Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. Admission is $9 for adults, $4 for children ages 6-12, and free for children 5 and younger. Event hours are 10 AM to 9 PM Thursday through Saturday and 10 AM to 5 PM on Sunday. For more information, visit www.stlhomeshow. com or www.egyptianartcenter.com. —Stephanie Ruby

COURTESY OF EGYPTIAN ART CENTER

King Tut Reigns

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MISSOURI TRIVIA ANSWERS (Questions on page 71) 1. Slaves first worked in lead mines around Sainte Genevieve in the 1720s. 2. The Missouri Compromise balanced slaveholding and non-slaveholding states by admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. 3. In 1886, Augustus Tolton was ordained as the first African-American Catholic priest. 4. Escaped slaves used the Underground Railroad to reach free states such as neighboring Illinois. 5. The Thirteenth Amendment (1865) abolished slavery, and the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) granted voting rights to former slaves. 6. Langston Hughes was born in Joplin in 1902.

COURTESY OF STEVEMCQUEEN.ORG.UK

Coleman Hawkins popularized the tenor saxophone.

8. Lincoln University in Jefferson City and HarrisStowe State University in St. Louis were founded to educate African Americans. 9. The Monarchs, Stars, and Giants were baseball teams in the Negro Leagues. 10. Redd Foxx, who was born John Elroy Sanford, starred in Sanford and Son.

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Slater honors mcqueen A CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE of Steve McQueen will take place in Slater, his boyhood hometown, on March 24 and 25, the seventy-seventh ★ anniversary of his birth. McQueen was one of the world’s most popular and highest paid actors from 1960 to 1980. McQueen spent nearly ten years of his childhood in Slater. After stints in reform school and the Marines, he began acting in New York, where he worked in supporting roles in several plays before being cast in the lead for A Hatful of Rain on Broadway. He appeared in various television and film roles after moving to Los Angeles. Most Americans first saw McQueen between 1958 and 1961 on the televised western, Wanted: Dead or Alive, in which he portrayed bounty hunter Josh Randall. In recent years, all of his films have been released on DVD, including The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Bullitt, Le Mans, The Getaway, and The Towering Inferno. After a break from filmmaking, he returned in 1980 with his last two films, Tom Horn and The Hunter. Later that year, he died from a rare form of lung cancer known as mesothelioma. McQueen was an accomplished semi-professional car and motorcycle racer in real life. He found peace in his later years with his third wife, model Barbara Minty, who recently released The Last Mile, a book of her photographs and recollections of her time with McQueen. The book was coauthored by McQueen’s biographer Marshall Terrill. Barbara, Marshall, and others who knew McQueen from his days in Slater as well as throughout his career will be part of the McQueen celebration. McQueen’s boyhood home still stands near Slater, and a one-room schoolhouse which he attended will be open for tours. For more information, call 660-529- Film poster from The Hunter, released by Paramount Pictures in July 1980. 2271 or visit www.cityofslater.com. —Dan Viets

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musings

Whose Woods These Are I THINK I KNOW ■ By Ron Marr

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an impending lack of freedom was wholly unacceptable for one of the last of the real mountain men. Still, eight years hence, I cannot help but wonder if the grey skies, head-deep snow, and howling winds accelerated his actions. However, sitting now before my fire and petting two fawning dogs, warm and cozy in this little cabin on the Gasconade River, I think of David, old Dr. Lusk, and the winters of discontent that sooner or later touch us all. I took a few minutes to re-read Frost’s poem, to perhaps find insight or deeper meaning. In synopsis, his short ode involves a traveler on a winter’s journey, his mind burdened by nameless worry and pressing responsibilities. He plods along a snow-covered path on his trusty steed, until struck with the desire to take a short respite in an uninhabited forest owned by an absentee town dweller. The traveler rests, observing the easy fall of white flake and the silence of breeze through barren limb. Even if just for the blink of an eye, his worries flee, suppressed by peace and beauty. Though he would love to stay, to ignore the cares and concerns both of self and the world, his sense of honor and accountability soon return. And, once again, he takes to the trail. Remember, there are promises to keep, and miles to go before he sleeps. Often, but especially during February, I wear a self-imposed yoke of nameless worry and racing thoughts. There are debts to be paid, decisions to be made, jobs that must be completed. The unalterable past rushes forward, and the assumable future dashes back. The world of infinite unknowns grips tightly ’round my heart, consumes me with fires of doubt and trepidation. At such times, I must go outdoors and stand silently in the hidden forest that is mine, watching the sway of leafless trees, feeling the bite of deep cold, staring out over the groves and gullies that are my refuge and solace. Even if the feeling lasts but for an inkling, the trials and tribulations of modern life are momentarily tossed to the wayside. Frost’s poem began with the traveler saying to himself, “whose woods these are I think I know.” Luckily, I know I know.

ILLUSTRATION BY ANDREW BARTON

T WAS ROBERT FROST who penned that brief poem, the one which all of us were required to memorize and recite in elementary school. Though the majority of Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” might have slipped silently to the back closet of your brain — replaced by concerns over work, vacation, family, bills, or taxes — the verse’s final lines, “and miles to go before I sleep,” are no doubt laser-etched in the records of your mind. It is now February, the epicenter of deepest winter. I recall my mother once telling me that an old family physician from her childhood (Dr. Lusk, who in the late 1920s still made house calls via horse and buggy) dreaded the onset of this darkest month. He claimed far more people became sick in February than during the other eleven pages of the calendar. Ailments, aches, pains, and complaints, both imagined and real, would skyrocket during those dreary twenty-eight days. Accidents and even suicides, according to the good doctor’s experience, were more prevalent in February than at any other time of year. Dr. Lusk passed away long before I was born, but I’m told he was a silver-haired orator never lacking for a theory. It turns out his observation was actually a predecessor to what scientists now call “Seasonal Affective Disorder,” or good old-fashioned depression. He felt the lack of sunlight was a factor, but a greater cause and effect lay in timing. In February, the holidays have passed and people suffer a let-down of emotions. The only thing to which one can look forward is spring. Though a south Missouri spring typically begins in mid-March, the cold and grey of February makes those thirty or forty days seem light-years distant. In the same way that a sleepless night can seem a millennium, there are those to whom February can seem an eternity. “And miles to go before I sleep.” This, in a nutshell, is an excellent definition of February. It might not have been what the poet intended, but then again, the very nature of good poetry allows readers to apply their own interpretation. The February blues is not a syndrome singular to the Ozarks. My old friend and author, the late David T. Hays, frequently remarked that the inhabitants of the Idaho hamlet in which he lived on the edge of the massive Yellowstone caldera realized that their mood soured with the beginning of the second month. Wisely, they took preventative measures to avoid screaming matches and bloodshed. “We hide and lock away all our guns during February,” David once told me. “During an Idaho February, even the earthworms think about filing for divorce.” David died during an April. Then again, a Rocky Mountain February lasts till about July. The gunshot wound that took him was selfinflicted, an escape from a disease which would have soon left him in a vegetative state. Such Ron Marr

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