Christmas Trip 2012, December 13, 2012, # 3

Across the grassy park are two historic buildings. The Historic Old Courthouse which is part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and was the site of the law suite that brought world wide attention. It was the suite brought by Dred Scott and his wife Harriet who were slaves. They sue for and were granted their freedom. Later the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that slaves were property and therefore had no right to bring suit. This decision hastened the Civil War. Located near the Old Court House is the 1834 Old Cathedral which is still an active Catholic parish. It is open for visitors and also has a small museum. I visited the court house but not the cathedral.

The Old Court House Viewed From Atop Of The

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial

 

Portion Of Dome Of Court House With Beautiful Murals Painted at various Levels

The story of national expansion cannot be told without talking about transportation and its various forms. Think about the trappers, hunters, mountain men who tramped the trails westward. Many on foot others on horse back and perhaps having to walk because their mounts could not make it. Others moved along in Oxen or horse drawn carts or wagons. You cannot forget seeing in your minds eye the old covered wagon, the stage coach, Pony Express. Then you have river travel with rafts, canoes, all sorts of boats, then large steam powered passenger and cargo boats. All the time American inventors are busy creating advanced forms of transportation. The train perhaps was the one items which really speedup expansion. It was fast and could carry lots of people and cargo and in most cases offered the most direct route of travel. Then of course in later years which for me are not a part of the westward expansion but never the less a part of our history was the automobile.

                            

Keel Boat Of Early 19th Century

 The Keel boat  of the first two decades brought about the decade of keel boat commerce. And, boy was it a lot of hard work for those who manned the boats. Flour, salt, iron, bricks and barrel staves went west and south on the river. Molasses, sugar, coffee, lead and hides came back up stream. A standard keel boat carried 300 barrels of freight. It was a back breaking job to propel the boat against the river current. From runways on each side of the boat men pushed the boat upstream with poles. Lifting and setting their poles to the cry of the steersman. In swift water the boat hugged the riverbank, while the men pulled on willow branches. When it was too deep for their poles to reach the river bottom, the men swam ashore with towlines and pulled the boat, It would take three months with poles, oars, and tow ropes to bring cargo from New Orleans to St. Louis. Can you just imagine the hard work and danger this involved. Rain, hail storms, snakes, bugs and insects of all sorts, slick riverbanks and of course the possibility of a break away in swift currents and floods. It is hard for me to visualize this just from my experience of fishing from the riverbanks in fairly easy places to access.

Flat Boat

The Flatboat hauled not only cargo but also emigrant families from the East.These boats were made for moving freight downstream only. They were then disassembled upon arrival at their destination ( typically New Orleans ) and sold as lumber. Steering was done by means of a 30 to 40 foot oar made by fastening a board to the end of a long pole. The oar was pivoted in a forked stick fastened to the roof. As noted this was for downstream travel only and would have been much faster but still with many of the dangers the Keel boat faced.  

Majestic Steam Boat

 The biggest improvement for river and lake travel was the steam boat. Some had a large paddle wheel on the side others had the paddle wheel on the rear. Of course they came in various sizes from pure cargo vessels to common passenger boats to luxury passenger/gambling boats. They were the bases of many novels and in later days movies. They were faster and safer and in most instances had very fanciful names. Some still exist. 

Locomotive

When the railroad made its way as far as St Louis and a bridge was constructed to get it across the Mississippi River This truly opened up the West for rapid development and expansion. Of course it opened the area up for all sorts of other things which perhaps were less desirable but I will leave that to others to debate and discuss.

 Dred Scott And Harriet Scott



 I did not tour the Old Cathedral. There are many items I am sure I am forgetting and/or overlooking but for someone of my tender age I guess that is OK and if it is not then OK---- leave it at that. As I said earlier I enjoyed St Louis and finally after many year of driving by I stopped and took a look. Next is to get something to eat and point Lady Blue West and see how far we get before sleepiness starts rearing its lovely head. So long for now.Remember God loves you and gave His Son for you and I love you.

Grandpa Bill