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The Forgotten Trail: Missouri’s Old Wire Road
Have you ever wondered why roads end up where they are? The obvious answer is somebody wanted to go from where they were to a new place. Familiar roads, such as the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails, are part of the popular history of the United States. Another road, an integral part of westward expansion…
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Missouri Mules
In 1995, the mule was recognized as the official animal of Missouri. The honor was much deserved for an animal that helped many Missourians on their farms and many soldiers on the battlefield. The Missouri mule was a prized draft animal known for its strength and agility. In the late nineteenth century, Missouri livestock breeders…
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A Desolated Country: The Union Jail Collapse, Lawrence Massacre, and General Order No. 11
On May 29, 1863, Missouri guerrilla Jim Vaughn, escorted by Federal soldiers, walked toward the gallows at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Several weeks earlier, Union soldiers had apprehended Vaughn in Wyandotte, Kansas, while trying to get a haircut. James Blunt, the military commander of Kansas, had a no-quarter policy for Missouri pro-southern guerrillas, or “Bushwhackers” as…
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German Americans in World War I
The loyalties of Missouri’s German American residents became suspect after the United States entered the Great War on the side of the British and French in April 1917. Most people of German descent actively worked to convince their neighbors of their allegiance to their adopted nation rather than their nation of birth. Federal laws increasingly…