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Voice of The Church

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:03:04 GMT

By Amanda Dahling

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once wrote
that “bells are the voice of the church; they
have tones that touch and search the hearts
of young and old.” Church bells aren’t merely
the voice of the church; they often become
the voice of a community as well. They’ve
long been a signal of reflection, remembrance,
and resilience. Throughout Missouri, these
bells have been ringing for more than a century,
and their chimes reveal a varied history.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Regina Coeli
Conception
Migrating from Switzerland in 1873, abbot Frowin Conrad envisioned a
monastic community in Missouri with a church “as dignified as possible” to
serve the needs of the irish and german settlers in the area. he played a large
role in developing Conception abbey, including its architecture, as he decided
the romanesque style was better suited to the classic simplicity he hoped
for in the monastery. on May 20, 1883, the monks laid the cornerstone of
the church. Construction on the church wrapped up eight years later.

Tragedy struck a few years later when a tornado damaged the church, but
the monks quickly picked up the pieces and added the now famous murals
that adorn the interior. Two sprawling bell towers were completed in 1896.
The church became the first basilica west of the Mississippi river in 1941,
when Pope Pius Xii designated it a minor basilica in recognition of its dignity,
historical significance, and importance as a center for spirituality.

Five bells of varying weights, obtained from the Stuckstede Foundry at St.
Louis, are stored in the north tower. They are named from lightest to heaviest
Matthew, Mark, Luke, john, and regina Coeli, which is also a prayer
titled for the Virgin Mary. The bells are rung by monks six times a day to
call their brothers to prayer and Mass. The number of bells rung depends on
the liturgical rank of the day. Matthew and Mark ring on ordinary days, and
Luke joins in for feasts or holy days commemorating events or people. john
and regina Coeli are added for solemnities, principal holy days for events
in the lives of jesus, Mary, or the saints. The largest bells, john and regina
Coeli, have tollers or hammers that knock against the stationary bell. john
tolls when a monk passes away and for other funerals, while regina Coeli
tolls when an abbot dies.

Northeast Missouri’s Largest Steeple
Edina
The first official Catholic Mass held at edina took place in june 1843 when
Father Thomas Cusack arrived in town. The Mass occurred in a small family
home. as settlers continued to move into the area, the need for a church
building became apparent. First came the tiny “log church” in 1844, which
was replaced the next decade by a larger brick building. after migration skyrocketed
following the Civil war, the brick structure was no longer suitable
either. in 1872, construction on St. joseph Catholic Church began. architect
and designer Louis weishar designed the church to accommodate the needs
of the parish as it grew into the future.

The church dedication occurred in 1875, but renovations and additions
continued for several years. in 1890, construction on the church steeple
ended, making the tower, at two hundred feet, the largest in northeast
Missouri. The bell that had been rung for services was placed in the church
steeple, and the congregation began a search for new bells that could be
heard all over town. Members of the congregation soon donated three
bells—two bells for general tolling and one bell for funerals—to the church.
Dedication and blessing of the bells occurred at a St. Joseph’s Day Mass on
March 19, 1900. One hundred and seven years later, the bells still ring for
church services, funerals, weddings, and special occasions.

The ringing of the church bells also reminds some people at Edina of
tragedy and the fragility of life. Five years after the bells were added to the
steeple, William Weisher, a young man from a beloved family in the congregation
and also the church architect’s son, was making repairs to the church
steeple when he fell to the tower floor. Laying there with crushed bones and
little chance of being rescued, he managed to get ahold of the church bell
ropes and began ringing the heaviest bells. Help soon arrived, but William
passed away from blood poisoning the next day.

The “Good Bell”
Cole Camp
When emigrants fled germany from religious, economic, and political
persecution, many of them made homes in Missouri. St. Paul’s Evangelical
Lutheran Church was built on little more than these immigrants’ faith
and determination. In 1882, the charter members of the group—which
included farmers, mercantile store owners, the postmaster, and a freight
hauler—drafted a constitution formally making themselves a congregation.
They discussed two possible locations for a church: one between Cole Camp
and neighboring Mora, and one in Cole Camp itself. Cole Camp won out,
and the group set up a building contract for a church.

For the church dedication later that year, members of the congregation
were responsible for finding the necessary items to fill the empty house
of worship. Louis grother was in charge of finding the bell that would be
placed in the tower. He reported back finding a “good bell” that had a twoyear
guarantee for, at the time, a not-so-meager ninety dollars. The pastor
and congregation decided to take the risk, and the “good bell” is still in use
in the church tower today, more than 125 years later.

Hammers of a Different Kind
Pierce City
The First Congregational United Church of Christ began as an accident
when in 1870 reverend J. H. Harwood, a traveling minister, missed a
connection to another town. When heavy rains kept him from traveling
further, he held services in a hardware store the following day. Five years
later, a congregation of forty-five members born of that service, finished
building its new church. Through the years the building has been remodeled,
renovated, and enlarged.

The bell tower has proven to be the most resilient part of the church.
In 1880, the church was struck by lightning during a severe storm and
the tower was badly damaged. It was quickly renovated and restored. but
disaster struck again on May 4, 2003, when a tornado ripped through the
town and sliced the tower into two pieces. The church suffered more than
seventy-five thousand dollars in damages, but the half-ton brass bell made
it relatively unscathed through the carnage. During the storm, it was ripped
from the tower and fell to the concrete below. a large crack in the sidewalk is
still visible, but the bell survived the fall. The tower had to be replaced from
the foundation up. The bell tower had to be reconstructed on the ground
and turned out almost identical to the original. The only thing lost in the
reconstruction was a little bit of height.

Two months later on July 3, with the new bell tower completed and
raised, the bell once again sat at home.

Changes of Venue
Cape Girardeau
The First Presbyterian Church at Cape girardeau began as a small house
gathering of eight members set up in 1835 by reverend J. F. Cowan,
minister of the apple Creek Presbyterian Church in nearby Pocahontas.
Dr. David Edward Young rice took charge of the small group and began a
congregation. rice conducted the first worship service in the Washington
Female Seminary, and under his leadership, the congregation purchased a
lot on Lorimier Street.

In 1854, the eighteen members of the First Presbyterian congregation
built their first church. The original two-story church was razed in 1901
so that the new church could be built on the corner. The new church was
finished a year later in 1902.

The church bell has a strong connection to the community. Upon
completion of the church, the bell hung from a wooden scaffold outside the
church on the street corner. The bell acted as the community fire bell, a
prisoner escape alarm, and a school bell. When the congregation built a new
church a few years later, the church moved the bell into a tower. The bell was
moved again to the present sanctuary, dedicated in 1966.
The 153-year-old bell still rings on Sunday for church services, specialty
services, such as funerals, and for commemorating community events.

December 2007

Missouri's First Poet Laureate

Thu, 08 May 2008 17:56:43 GMT

By Scott Spilky

As the state’s first poet laureate, Ashland native Walter Bargen has crisscrossed the state speaking, reading his work, and championing the power of words to move the imagination.

“Poems are more relevant than they have ever been,” he says.

Walter, the award-winning author of eleven books, has been writing for nearly thirty years. His work has appeared in more than one hundred publications, including The Missouri Review. He grew up in Belton near Kansas City and attended the University of Missouri at Columbia where he has worked for decades, first as a technical writer and currently as a consultant on testing with primary and secondary schools.

Last fall, he was one of more than one hundred Missourians nominated to become poet laureate; he was selected as a finalist in December and interviewed with the governor. When Walter got the news he had been appointed to fill the two-year term as Missouri’s first poet laureate, he was “surprised, delighted, taken aback, wondering what’s in store for me.”

What’s in store is a minimum of six appearances a year at public libraries and schools across the state to promote the arts in Missouri. Walter was inundated with media requests after the announcement.

“People are curious,” he says. “It’s the first of something.”

While not a requirement of the position, Walter penned a poem about the state, “Moon Walk Missouri,” which he read at the ceremony marking his appointment in the state capitol rotunda. “It’s about the need to tell stories and how that is an essential part of our identity,” Walter says of the poem.

That need will be a central theme of Walter’s message as he talks to people about poetry’s continuing ability to move us in our fast-paced, digital age—something he witnessed with the outpouring of poetry after 9/11.

“People find solace in something that is well crafted and thoughtful,” he says.

Walter penned the following:

Flying on Instruments

In the flashlight’s beam, he follows the frantic
flutter of a dusty brown bird up and down
the shed’s cobwebbed window, leaving dusk
streaked with dust and stars. This bird, perhaps
a flycatcher, tries desperately to fly deeper into
night’s glittering glass as he approaches and fails
at rescue before grabbing it with one hand
rather than scooping with two. He is surprised
by its weight, or lack of weight, and feels
uncertain how tight to hold a handful of air.
He steps from the door into the dark
and he almost doesn’t notice his empty hands.

To Keep Going

From far up the valley,
from deep in the willow thickets
along the creek, a birdcall
comes I don’t recognize.

Juan Ramon Jimenez wrote
that he would go away.
And the birds will still be
there singing. He was right,

he went away, and some of us
still hear him singing, in
the branches beside our houses
and far up cold creeks.

But there are those birds
that have left too. The last
dusky seaside sparrow died
in a cage behind beach dunes

in Florida, unable to call in a mate.
The shrike, the butcher-bird, Jackie
hangman, the strangler, all our names
for feathers on the same bird,

a songbird that goes against the grain
and with hooked beak breaks necks
of mice and other birds and sometimes
hangs their limp bodies on strands

of barbed wire where they dangle
like half-eaten laundry–their song
is disappearing too–along with
the meadowlark that has perched on

a fencepost in my garden and tilted its
head back, stretching its neck and exposing
a black feathered necklace as it points
its bill skyward, clearly announcing

spring, a yellow-breasted soloist
fronting an orchestra of greening
grass, it too is going away, and for
no good reason that we can understand,

and so there are fewer notes
to remind us of his going,
to keep us listening, to keep
us going.

Deuces Wild

They argue from one god to another─
slippery steppingstones across a creek
deep in forest. Ice cubes in a drink.
Miracles outdistance conclusions.
Birth necessary but not sufficient.
Death the absolute.
The more certain, the louder they become.
The more uncertain, the louder they become.
Bouts of paradise race around the table.
Heaven hovers over half-filled glasses.
Hell simmers in the other half.
Cat curled under the chair,
someone steps on its tail
and everyone is awake again.
It’s the last hand of poker
this Saturday night. Everyone’s losing.
Nothing left to bet, the center of the table
piled high with wings.

Breakfast with Asteroids

Two million years into the Late Pliocene,
consciousness leaps and crawls before any of us,
beyond clear beginnings of our struggle, when an asteroid
doused its fiery body in the Bellinghausen Sea,
names only we need to locate ourselves, our suffering,
amid ice sheets more blank than Hobbes ever imagined.
The splash went three miles in the air, sent a tidal
wave twelve stories high into the Pacific Rim,
and perhaps rained unnamed creatures on the Transantarctic
Mountains, explaining the “Sirius enigma.” Another
sixty-five million years back, an asteroid crashed
into Yucatan leaving a crater wider then the sprawl
of Los Angeles, dust blotting out the sun, extincting
three-quarters of all species--too early for us to worry.

This morning I’ve a headache. I’ve collided with at least
the meteor responsible for the mile-wide crater in Arizona¾
six hundred feet deep when it stopped, but I’m plunging deeper.
For weeks now, I’ve been dreaming that the trees are still
burning with light. I remember looking out the window,
astonished that after so many killing frosts, that so many oaks
are still green and rustling with wind. Is it the lifting of a dish,
then a glass, then a fork, out of soapy water, wiping them
with washrag and rinsing, then setting them on the rack to drain,
these stark daily details, what the living do, that sends me
plummeting through another barren season. The trees are leafless,
the blooded sun rising, the sky an iron skillet, the sink soon empty.

Visit www.walterbargen.com for more information.

June 2008

Journey

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:08:15 GMT

The Great River Road Delivers Scenic Byways, Eagles, City Lights, River Heritage, & Adventure

By James Bondank

For nearly four hundred miles, the Missouri portion of the Great River Road meanders along the west bank of the Mississippi River. It visits charming small towns, a big city, locks and dams, fine architecture, well-known restaurants, and more on its path from the Iowa border to the Arkansas state line, and while it could be driven in a day, part of the attraction is a slow journey along the Mighty Mississippi.
In its entirety, the Great River Road stretches 2,340 miles and was developed by the governors of the ten states adjacent to the river in 1938 as a national river parkway to promote commerce in those ten states, according to the Mississippi River Parkway Commission; however, the road itself is not a single byway but a collection of routes.
     At the Iowa border, two-lane Route 81 launches the first leg of the journey to Canton, where Lock and Dam No. 20 is the northernmost lock and dam on the Mississippi River in Missouri. Opened in 1935, the dam is 2,369 feet long. Passing ships are raised and lowered through the locks by gravity. Only the gates are mechanically powered. Canton also boasts the longest continually operating ferry on the Mississippi, which links Canton to Meyer, Illinois.
     While there are several good spots along the road to bird-watch, South Riverfront Park is a perfect place to watch for eagles, which can be seen along the river in winter months. They can often be spied snatching a fish from the water below the dams on the Mississippi.
     Highway 61 supports the next leg of the journey as it heads toward LaGrange. There, riverboat gambling at the Mark Twain Casino at the south end of town harkens back to the days when showboats and gamblers aboard them used to ply the river. Those banks at LaGrange are also a hot spot to stick your toes in the sand at the beach at Riverfront Park and watch the summer powerboat races.
     A few minutes further south, fishing for bass, bluegill, and catfish along with swimming and boating at Wakonda State Park could occupy more than a few hours.
     Highway 61 then leads into Hannibal, home of the newspaper reporter, writer, and riverboat pilot Mark Twain, known locally as Samuel Clemens. His presence can be felt throughout Hannibal—from the statues of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn on Cardiff Hill to the statue of Twain himself, overlooking his beloved Mississippi River in Riverview Park. Samuel Clemens was born in 1835 in Florida, Missouri, and moved to Hannibal in 1839.
Twain can still be visited at his boyhood home downtown or at the Mark Twain Museum. Although physically, of course, he’s not there, a collection of exhibits and artifacts details his life and the era in which he lived. The truly serious Twain enthusiasts will get out of the car at Mark Twain Cave and tiptoe into the past where Twain played as a boy and where he set several of his story lines involving Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher.
     Unique shops, restaurants, and river cruises on the Mark Twain Riverboat beckon from downtown, as well.
     From Hannibal south to St. Peters, Route 79 takes up the Great River Road and is an especially scenic stretch. Often cresting the many hills along the river, a section of the road from the northern Pike County line to Clarksville is a designated Missouri Scenic Byway. In addition, it is also a National Scenic Byway known as The Little Dixie Highway of the Great River Road, so named because of Southern-style architecture and Deep South ambience of charming riverfront towns. Bicyclists know this as one of the completed sections of the Missouri River Trail. Both on- and off-road paths are available in varying lengths.
     An abundance of Victorian-style architecture awaits visitors on their arrival at Louisiana. As part of the region’s 50 Miles of Art corridor, sightseers need to take time to view the many murals on display throughout the town. Arts, crafts, pottery, and pewter can be found in downtown shops, and artisans can often be viewed at work.
     Along the road on Route 79, scenic overlooks provide inspiring views of the river valley, not unlike those that Mark Twain enjoyed in the 1880s.
     At Clarksville, “Made in Missouri” takes on a special meaning. Missouri’s art heritage is alive and kicking in this small burg of 490 people. Artisans from across the country relocated here several years ago in response to a call from the state. Potters, glass blowers, painters, and more live, work, and sell their trade here in a city where all of the downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places. Architecture buffs can find Queen Anne, Italianate, and Greek Revival examples all over town. Two particular gems are the Northern Methodist Episcopal Church and the Turner-Pharr House.
     The town is also home to Lock and Dam No. 24, which is 1,340 feet long and opened in March 1940.
     Next, Route 79 takes us from the small town to our biggest city, St. Louis, with its own inimitable style.
     The Gateway Arch, adjacent to the Mississippi River, rises 630 feet into the sky—an impressive sight by day or night. A tram carries passengers to an enclosed area at the top. Designed by architect Eero Saarinen, the Arch was completed in 1965 at a cost of thirteen million dollars. An integral part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, the Arch was built to commemorate the westward pioneers.
     The old Chain of Rocks Bridge, formerly U.S. Route 66 across the Mississippi, is now a biking and hiking path.
     Just outside of the metro area in West Alton lies the Edward “Ted” and Pat Jones - Confluence Point State Park. This day-use park is situated at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Visitors can enjoy the passing parade of ships and birds, as this area is part of the Mississippi Flyway, a spring and fall migration route for thousands of birds and waterfowl on their journey between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service estimates that about 60 percent of the nation’s migrating waterfowl use this route.
     Heading south out of St. Louis, the Great River Road joins Highway 61 and barrels off toward Ste. Genevieve. Settled by the French in the late 1740s, Ste. Genevieve’s National Historic Landmark District is filled with French Colonial and Federal architecture. The Felix Vallé House is a centerpiece to Ste. Genevieve. Open for tours, this Federal-style limestone building was built in 1848 for the Vallé family and is a Missouri State Historic Site. Also on site is the 1792 Bauvais-Amoureux House, one of five poteaux en terre, or vertical-log construction, homes in the country—three of which are in Ste. Genevieve.
Ste. Genevieve also claims to be home to the oldest cemetery in Missouri. Memorial Cemetery, off of Fifth Street, is the final resting place to French and Spanish area pioneers. Currently, restoration work is being done to locate overgrown graves, but no new graves have been added since the 1800s.
     Just thirty miles further south on Highway 61, chimes and bells ring out at Perryville. The town features a classic town square, courthouse with chiming clock tower, and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, complete with its own bell tower, which welcomes visitors of all faiths. Featuring late nineteenth and early twentieth century Revival-style architecture, the buildings and grounds of the shrine are part of St. Mary’s of the Barrens Historic District.
     Still a guest of Highway 61, seekers will find Missouri’s Wall of Fame, which is a mural depicting the likenesses of famous Missourians, such as Stan Musial, Vincent Price, Walter Cronkite, Yogi Berra, and talk show host Rush Limbaugh, at Cape Girardeau. A map of the Great Murals Tour is available at the visitor’s center on Broadway.
     Civil War aficionados can also explore Fort D at Cape Girardeau. Constructed in 1861 and open for tours, the fort protected the city from Confederate forces during the Civil War. John Wesley Powell, who led the first expedition through America’s Grand Canyon along the Colorado River, designed the fort.
     After visiting the fort, the “Home of Throwed Rolls” is just a short trip down Highway 61 toward the Bootheel. Earl Lambert originally opened Lambert’s Cafe at Sikeston on Main Street, but today’s version is on East Malone. Here, Norm Lambert made road-food history when a customer asked a busy Norm to “throw” him a roll rather than wait for table delivery. Rolls have been sailing aloft ever since.
     Before Highway 61 delivers the Great River Road to Arkansas, New Madrid, known chiefly for the New Madrid Fault and a series of earthquakes in 1811-12, is the final stop. The 1811-12 earthquakes were felt all over the country, and the New Madrid Historical Museum on Main Street details the history and future of the fault. There is a seismograph on the premises as the fault is still active.
     Missouri’s Great River Road is one of the Midwest’s finest road trips. History, architecture, state parks, bicycling, fishing, St. Louis, and more await. Adventurers are sure to enjoy the journey.

February 2008

River Revival

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 15:30:50 GMT

By Brett Dufur As day turns to dusk, the restless winds subside, leaving me afloat on an undulating river of liquid glass. My paddle strokes provide a soft soundtrack as nature’s evening performance begins. Barn swallows and chimney swifts descend in orchestrated chaos to harvest the invisible layer of insects close to the river’s surface. Soon, the silent, darting shadows of grey bats appear from Rocheport Cave to join in the feast. The paddling is effortless, a comfortable cadence that flows through each bend, leaving me to enjoy the scenery and the simple pleasures of guiding my canoe down this endless river. With the towering limestone bluffs to my left and the saturated green banks of the Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge to my right, I enjoy the last light of day. On a nearby wing dike, a great blue heron takes flight and quickly fades into the grey light. Turkey vultures circle high above, wings outstretched, catching the day’s last wave on an invisible moving tide of air. The haunting coo of a mourning dove echoes through the bottoms. Soon we will finish our day’s ten-mile paddle from Rocheport to a few miles below Huntsdale, but not just yet. We stop at a sandbar to rockhound a bit. We find quartz, mozarkite (Missouri’s state rock), petrified wood, and red and deep green granites, all rounded smooth, from some time unimaginable, all slowly working their way from the mountains to the Delta—like postcards from another place, another geologic time. We return to the river’s edge to paddle a bit more, as a familiar orb crests the horizon. It rises slowly, until the entire valley is bathed in the full moon’s mercurial glow. What we knew by day becomes new again. The blues, greens, and browns become one under the moon’s silver brush stroke. The river is calm, no longer teased by the afternoon winds and the sun’s glare. A familiar sandbar appears around the bend, and our group of six sets up camp, starts a crackling bonfire, and enjoys good conversation late into the night. This is as close to floating through life as you can get. *World-Class Float* Exploring the Big Muddy by canoe is something you’ll never forget. It is an adventure that is beginning to draw travelers from around the world. Yet here in Missouri, the longest river in the United States and one of the greatest rivers in the world manages to meander largely unnoticed across our state. Daily, it slips by more than 4.5 million Missourians who live within a few minutes’ drive, from St. Joseph to Kansas City to Columbia and on to Hermann, Washington and St. Louis. It’s a feat no magician could match. It has become Missouri’s number one underused natural resource, according to Bryan Hopkins at the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. It is as though the Missouri River has developed the “Grand Canyon Syndrome.” People drive up to see it, get out of their air-conditioned cars, and photograph it. Then they get back in their cars and drive away. Yet the river abounds with recreational opportunities, such as houseboating, motorboating, fishing, and hunting on selected adjoining Conservation Areas. First-time paddlers on the Missouri are often surprised that the river feels more like a slow-moving lake than a fast-moving river. Missouri is well-known for its safe, scenic, and easily accessible float streams. The Current, Eleven Point, Huzzah, Jacks Fork and many others have long been staples of summer vacations. While a single canoe outfitter on an Ozark stream may rent out three hundred canoes in a weekend, there are only two outfitters on the Missouri River, and there aren’t enough paddlers on the entire 450-mile stretch of river to fill a large shuttle bus on any given weekend. But the Missouri River is also safe, scenic, and easily accessible, thanks to the abundance of Conservation Areas, state parks, federal lands, and city parks adjacent to the river, maintained by various state and federal agencies, including the Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Many of these areas offer access points and camping opportunities. (See www.missouririverwatertrail.org for a complete guide.) *A Psychological Barrier* The Missouri River has a psychological barrier along its banks. And no wonder. A fearful vision of the river has been honed through years of the worst public relations any river could have. In the early days of settlement, it developed a deserved reputation as dangerous. The Missouri River of 1804 was a maze of dangerous snags, shifting sandbars, and collapsing riverbanks. A wide, shallow, slow-moving wetland buffered the edges of its unpredictable and meandering main channel. Then by 1819, the first steamboat was plying the Big Muddy. The river was a captain’s nightmare—downed trees with root balls still intact had a nasty habit of lying submerged right below the water’s surface. Nearly three hundred vessels met with disaster on the river in the 1800s. Today, the only time the Missouri River makes the news is when it’s at flood stage and has escaped beyond where we think its banks should be. But just as there is no boogeyman under the bed, we need to cast off the notion of the Missouri River as a no-man’s land. Let’s cut loose that heavy anchor. *Surf Before You Paddle* In 2006, Missouri Governor Matt Blunt and a coalition of Missouri agencies, including the Department of Conservation, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Division of Tourism, designated the Missouri River as the Lewis and Clark Missouri River Trail, the country’s longest river trail. A water trail is simply a specified route for recreational watercraft to explore. This coalition developed a new web site, www.missouririverwatertrail.org, which makes it easy to plan your paddling adventure. The site offers trip maps, mileage charts, and other interactive tools to help you get on the river. The Missouri River Trail offers an unforgettable, easily accessible afternoon or multi-day river trip. Whether you choose to float for an afternoon or paddle the entire state from St. Joseph to Kansas City and on to St. Louis, you can enjoy miles of paddling in what will appear to be remote wilderness. Paddlers can choose to camp on a sandbar or stay in a nearby bed-and-breakfast and tour a historic river town. You can experience spring’s dazzling dogwood and redbud displays in front of blue cloudless skies, white bluffs hugging the river’s edge with faint glimpses of ancient Native American pictographs, summer’s refreshing stops for a cool dip at sandbars, and fall’s firework displays of amber, red, and burnt orange hues. Then winter brings its own allure, offering an entirely new face with its icy embrace and crisp solitude. A big river puts us back into our proper scale with nature in much the same way mountains do. We become a dot, a blip. We dissolve into the grander view, where the Great Artist’s canvas is alive and ever changing. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote of undisturbed horizons feeding the soul of man. Indeed, there is much here for the spirit. *Roughing it Redefined* Perhaps if Lewis and Clark were to travel the trail today, in addition to the overwhelming number of references to “butifull” and “mosquitors” would be an equally misspelled nod to the fine inhabitants of the trail today. Whatever you need, a helping hand is never too far away. Many key elements have come together to set the stage for the success of this water trail. Call it “roughing it” redefined: gourmet food at a local cafe, a hot shower at a bed-and-breakfast, and a bottle of an award-winning Missouri wine. During the recent Lewis and Clark commemoration from 2003 to 2006, many communities revitalized their riverfronts. As a result, there are now many new city parks, access points, and viewing areas along the river’s edge. In addition, the Missouri Department of Conservation greatly improved river access by expanding the number of boat ramps on public lands along the river corridor. These areas offer wildlife a chance to thrive and allow visitors more public sites from which they can enjoy the river by bird watching, hunting, fishing, launching a boat, and camping. There are more than forty boat ramps and almost fifty Conservation Areas along the river. The Katy Trail State Park, the nation’s longest rails-to-trails project, more or less parallels the river for 150 miles, from Boonville downriver to St. Charles. Many of the services that have sprung up along the Katy Trail are at perfect intervals for paddlers as well. On this section of river, a paddler can float in solitude in a wilderness setting during the day and still explore charming small towns, eat heartily at cafes or wineries, and sleep in air-conditioned comfort at night. The Katy Trail has helped spawn many privately run campgrounds, bed-and-breakfasts, unique shops, restaurants, and many other services along its course, all close to the river’s edge. With towns evenly spaced every ten to twenty miles along the river, it is easy to connect the dots when planning your trip. Visiting local museums and interesting historic sites is a bonus. Even some of Missouri’s famed wine country intersects the Missouri River Trail. Octoberfest in Hermann by canoe, anyone? Rocheport’s Les Bourgeois Winery and Washington’s La Dolce Vita Winery are easily accessible from the river’s edge. Many others are just a mile or two away. Up north, St. Joseph’s new river walk offers a change of pace from paddling. Several shuttle services that cater to cyclists can serve paddlers too, such as the Rocheport Ferry and Transportation Company (573-698-2001). Amtrak provides a scenic and inexpensive way to get back to your car at your put-in point. Or stow your bike in your canoe and pedal back on the Katy Trail, then run your own shuttle back to pick up your canoe or kayak. There are also several commercial boat clubs, marinas, campgrounds, and bait-shops that cater to river traffic where you can obtain supplies or find a place to put up your tent for the night. For paddlers close to Kansas City, just twenty-two miles downstream near river mile marker 343, is the River Refuge at Alligator Cove, where you’ll find camping and other services (816-750-4695 or www.riverrefuge.com; by reservation only). Cooper’s Landing, at river mile marker 170 near Easley, is a river rat haven that has it all: friendly locals, riverside camping, showers, great Thai cooking, resupply items, and live music most weekends (573-657-2544 or www.cooperslanding.net). *Nature Rebounding* You won’t see the buffalo, black bear, elk, or the bright green-and-yellow Carolina parakeet that Lewis and Clark saw, but much of the nature they observed and many of the panoramic views they beheld can still be appreciated today. Nature along the Missouri River is on an incredible rebound, thanks to the Department of Conservation and other state and federal agencies that are restoring crucial wetland and river bottom habitat. The Missouri River today is not as it was in the time of Lewis and Clark, more than two hundred years ago. The Corps of Engineers began removing snags as early as 1824. In 1912, the Missouri River Bank Stabilization and Navigation Project began. Over the course of the next century, a permanent channel for navigation from St. Louis to Sioux City, Iowa, was created. The project removed oxbows and straightened out the river—shortening it by fifty-seven miles just within the state of Missouri. Wing dikes and rock piers diverted the current, resulting in a channel nine feet deep and three hundred feet wide. Then in 1987, Congress authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Mitigation Project to restore some of the lost fish and wildlife habitat. The Corps bought land in the Missouri River flood plain from willing sellers for this purpose. In addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture created the Wetlands Reserve Program to help farmers provide seasonal wetland habitat for migrating waterfowl. Landowners participate through easements or restoration cost-share agreements. Occasionally, the Missouri River still shows its untamable nature. Heavy rain throughout the entire Midwest created the Great Flood of 1993 along both the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Flooding forced more than ten thousand people from their homes. Dozens lost their lives, and property damage ran into the billions. The flood breached levees and damaged thousands of acres of farmland. Then the river repeated its rampage in 1995. In the wake of the disaster, Congress authorized the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to buy flood-damaged land. Many landowners opted to sell. This and other programs allowed federal agencies to give landowners relief while also setting aside areas for fish and wildlife habitats and public recreation along the river. In central Missouri, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service bought riverside tracts to form the Big Muddy National Wildlife Refuge. The flood resulted in change on some Missouri Conservation Areas as well. When no public property would be affected, some damaged levees on areas like Marion Bottoms and Lisbon Bottom were not rebuilt. As a result, thousands of acres of public land can now absorb floodwaters to protect private levees and farms. The flood also cut a chute on Lisbon Bottom between Arrow Rock and Glasgow, which has been allowed to mature into a backwater channel that provides river edge habitat for fish and wildlife. Although these efforts were made to protect wildlife habitat and private property, another benefit is that the public can now explore more diverse river habitats. Today, a river traveler can meander into backwaters and find wonderfully diverse areas, created as floodwaters rise onto and then recede from these public lands. You can also leave the main channel and explore many tributaries for miles on end. The two big floods also prompted communities, farmers, and commercial interests along the Missouri River to form the Missouri River Communities Network. This group works to reconcile the interests of navigation, agriculture, recreation, tourism, and other interests. The group even organized a Missouri Department of Conservation Stream Team to coordinate cleanups on the big river. Today, due to the combined efforts of many state and federal agencies, such as the Missouri Department of Conservation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and others, nature is rebounding along the Missouri River. These agencies manage thousands of acres of Missouri River bottomland to allow the river room to breathe once again, to prevent communities from being flooded, to protect farms, and to preserve and restore habitat for fish and wildlife. At the same time, close to half a million tons of commodities move by barge annually on the Missouri River. You can explore the diversity of wildlife and nature in Missouri in many of the Conservation Areas along the river. One with special appeal is Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, along the river near McBaine. It is designated as an Important Bird Area by the Audubon Society. In the spring and summer, you can spot shorebirds like American avocet, black-necked stilts, white-faced ibis, American golden plover, and phalarope. The river timber attracts migrant and resident songbirds like the rose-breasted grosbeak. Each fall, the area serves as a feeding and resting spot for more than half a million waterfowl migrating through the state. More than 260 different species have been spotted in this area, including a pair of nesting bald eagles. *The Beautiful River* In many ways, now is the best time to paddle and explore the Missouri River since Lewis and Clark. Perhaps the river has been overlooked and forgotten because the beauty of the Missouri River valley is so sublime. It rewards idle moments of contemplation as the sun crashes into the horizon in a fiery blaze, trailing striped skies of vivid blue hues and subtle pinks. The river doesn’t take your breath away in an instant like the first time you see the Rocky Mountains. The beauty of the Missouri comes on slowly as the light shifts and the geese alight. The beauty here lies in its perfect painter’s palette of saturated blues and greens. The river can be as grey as a city park pigeon or as blue as a newborn baby’s eyes. The beauty also lies in the silence. Thousands of cubic feet of water rush by every minute with the force of a hundred freight trains, yet the river is quieter than a sleeping infant. The Big Muddy appears to stretch to infinity. Look to that distant point on the horizon, where the line blurs between river and sky. The river stretches right up until it kisses the sky, and they dissolve into one. *• Take a guided tour.* Going on a float trip guided by one of the two canoe rental businesses on the river offers you an easy and safe way to first paddle the river. Guides explain how to read the river and tell about area history, early explorers, local geology, and how the river has changed. This is a great way to expand your comfort zone. Missouri River Paddling Co., based out of Parkville, offers guided floats on the Missouri and Platte rivers (www.missouririverpaddling.com or 816-352-1765). They offer customized floats and shuttle services. Mighty Mo Canoe Rental in Rocheport offers afternoon trips floating seven miles past Mid-Missouri’s scenic Manitou Bluffs (www.mighty-mo.com or 573-698-3903). You can climb up to the Katy Trail and see an ancient pictograph painted by NativeAmericans, stop on sandbars, and take out at Huntsdale. You can then be shuttled back. Or, you can bike back on the flat Katy Trail on your own bike, which can be dropped off by the shuttle. *• Float elsewhere to learn the basics.* The lower Missouri River is really not an appropriate river to learn to canoe or kayak for the first time. The Missouri State Water Patrol offers an online boating course for free. Even though much of the information is targeted to powerboaters, the safety principles apply to all forms of boating, and there is a section on paddling craft. Visit www.missouririverwatertrail.org for a link to the course and more safety tips. *• Give yourself plenty of time.* The current on the river is typically around three to five miles per hour, and this can help your craft travel down the river. Given ideal conditions, an experienced paddler who keeps moving and does not stop anywhere too long could cover ten to twenty miles in a day. Expedition paddlers may paddle forty miles in a day with favorable conditions. Shore signposts every mile or two have the river mileage posted on them. These are usually given as miles from the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers near St. Louis. By watching for them and knowing the mileage of your take-out point, you will generally know where you are. But beginners should start with small trips and work their way up. A trip between five and fifteen miles is ideal, allowing time to loaf and picnic on sandbars and to let the current do the work. Night paddling on the river is for experts only. *• Allow for the wind.* Winds often blow up the river valley. That’s why Lewis and Clark were able to use a sail to go upriver. At times, wind speeds can be greater on the river than on the surrounding land. An upriver wind can substantially slow you down. During high winds, you may have to “work” your boat down the river, regardless of current. If your canoe is perpendicular to the current and you get caught by a strong crosswind, the canoe will tip more easily. If you get the least bit “tippy,” point your bow downstream. *• Don’t float in fog.* A fog can build up on the river any time of year, especially on autumn mornings and evenings. It is not unusual to wake up on a sandbar and find the river socked in with fog. You may have to wait several hours for the fog to lift. *• Check that your boat has flotation.* This might be foam blocks in the bow and stern of a canoe or an enclosed area on a kayak. The current on the river is strong and could easily take full control of a capsized boat that does not have some type of flotation. *• Learn the navigation system.* The U.S. Coast Guard maintains shore-based beacons or signposts and river buoys marking the channel for the entire lower Missouri River. This will tell you where the river channel is located. Find these navigation guides at www.missouririverwatertrail.org. *• Take river charts with you.* The Army Corps of Engineers provides charts of the river, and someone in your group should have one. Visit www.missouririverwatertrail.org to print maps. *• Stay away from navigation buoys.* They bounce around, and the wake can tip an unbalanced canoe. *• Land pointing upstream.* Having a swift current at your back can make landing tricky. Head upstream before going to shore. *• Stay alert.* While paddling the Missouri can be like paddling a big lake, there’s one big difference. At high water, the current could be carrying big logs and even entire trees. Currents are often strong around them. Especially when the river is rising, debris can end up in the water. Wait until the river begins to drop again, as much of the debris will hang up on shore or wing dams, making travel much better. *• Prepare for wilderness.* It’s a remote river. It allows you to get away from the crowds. But that also means access points can be ten or more miles apart. The surrounding bottomlands are largely agricultural or undeveloped, and one can paddle miles without seeing other people. Tell family or friends where you’re going and when you’ll return, just as you would going into any wilderness. Take your cell phone in a waterproof case; coverage on the river can be surprisingly good, although there are stretches where service is not available. Take walkie-talkies to stay in touch with group members. Take a set of dry clothes in a water-tight bag, too. For floating and camping, take the same wilderness gear, including a first-aid kit, that you would take for backpacking. *• Steer clear of barges.* Look over your shoulder every now and then, and make sure a large barge isn’t sneaking up on you. Barges traveling downriver are quiet. They won’t be looking for you, and they have no ability to steer around you. In fact, a barge needs almost a mile to stop. However, if you learn to read the location of the river channel indicated by the navigation markers, you will know where the channel is and where the barge is headed. When you see a barge, move to the side of the river, point your bow into the wake, and wait for the barge to pass and the waves to settle down. The best place to be is behind a wing dike or out of your canoe on the shore. Steer clear of barges moored on the river, too. Water rushing under the vessel could pull a small craft under. *• Make sure you are visible.* You will also share the river with the occasional fishing boat, houseboat, powerboat, or jet ski. If your craft isn’t a bright color, wear bright-colored life jackets. Turning sideways to the current also makes a bigger display. *• Camp on public sandbars.* Sandbars between the river’s banks are typically open to public use. The lands beyond the river’s banks are mostly private unless marked as public Conservation Areas. Keep in mind that the river can come up fast; a good rainfall can bring the river up several feet in a few hours. Be prepared with an escape route up the bank if the river wants your sandbar back. *• Is the water safe?* As with any body of water in this country, pollutants do exist and are highest after a strong rain. But swimming is as safe as at the Lake of the Ozarks. The murky color is due to silt in the water. The amount of soil in the water today is actually less than during Lewis and Clark's time. *• Respect the river.* It is far more powerful than you are! h1. Know the river level River trips are best at low water levels. The river level determines whether wing dams will be visible or hidden under water. When the tops of the wing dams are out of the water, the current is often more predictable for paddling, with the water behind or below the wing dams typically slower than the main current. A series of gauges on the Missouri River provide real-time river level information. When the Boonville gauge reports fourteen feet, it does not mean the whole river is that deep, but rather, it’s fourteen feet deep at Boonville. Every stretch of the river is different, but as a general guide, when the Boonville gauge is ten feet or lower, many sections of the wing dams are exposed or near the surface. Higher river levels often will overtop the wing dams and result in stronger eddy lines, currents, and boils. Lower river levels expose more sandbars, especially on the stretch of river from Glasgow to Weldon Springs at river levels below seven to eight feet on the Boonville gauge. These sandbars often have fine white sands that rival a Caribbean beach and offer ideal campsites. The web site www.missouririverwatertrail.org has information and links to the river gauge data for the Missouri River. Actual depth of the river channel can range from ten to twenty feet, but the main channel only makes up a fraction of the river's width. Paddlers may be surprised to find that much of the river outside of the channel is very shallow, one to four feet deep. *CANOE OR KAYAK?* Each boat has its own advantages. Canoes are easier to get in and out of, your gear is easily accessible, and a canoe can carry an incredible amount of weight, which is handy for multiple days on the river. Canoes are more prone to being blown off course by the river’s winds, which are generally stronger in the morning but can blow all day. Kayaks have a much lower profile and are unaffected by wind. Kayak paddles make for easy paddling, and most kayaks have solid back support. Short recreational kayaks and canoes often sold for use on lakes do not track well on the river. If your boat is twelve feet or shorter, you could spend your entire outing correcting your boat’s course. A fourteen- to seventeen-foot boat will track much better in the river’s current. High-end composite and wooden boats are fine for the Missouri River. Plastic boats can be both cheaper and hardier. Floating the Missouri River in an inner tube or small inflatable raft is truly a bad idea. These vessels have severely limited directional control required to safely avoid barges, recreational boats, or other hazards in the river. If you live in the St. Louis area, consider attending one of the Alpine Shop’s paddling seminars or river outings. (Visit www.alpineshop.com or call 314-962-7715.) You can also try out a variety of boats on an organized float with one of the two Missouri River canoe rental companies. *CONSERVATION IS ALL ABOUT THE NEXT GENERATION* Each generation uses the Missouri River to make better lives for themselves and their children. Today, the public also recognizes that each generation is also challenged to sustain the river’s natural wealth for the future. The Missouri Department of Conservation has crafted a plan that anticipates the challenges of managing the state’s fish, forest, and wildlife resources and identifies ways to meet them. This strategic plan, titled Next Generation of Conservation, outlines nine goals. The first is conserving plants, animals, and their habitats. Although Missouri is blessed with a rich variety of land and wildlife, the landscape has changed dramatically since settlement. While many plants and animals have been restored to sustainable populations, Missouri continues to lose habitats, leading to the decline of other species. Clearly, to sustain or even boost Missouri’s natural diversity, habitat has to be protected and carefully managed. To meet this goal, the Conservation Department is increasing the variety of natural habitats on public lands. The department is dedicated to managing these lands, which represent less than 2 percent of the state, in ways that both promote more plant and animal diversity and provide easy access and comfortable facilities for the public. _To find out more about the plan for conserving Missouri’s natural diversity, go to www.missouriconservation.org /12843._ *THE WORLD'S LONGEST NON-STOP RACE* Later this summer, the wide banks and gorgeous tree-lined shores of the Missouri River will welcome both novices and seasoned paddlers to the annual Missouri River 340—though those in it to win won’t have the time to enjoy the scenery. West Hansen, last year’s winner, from Austin, Texas, covered the 340 river miles in less than fifty-four hours. Last year, the first race attracted Missourians and visitors from around the country. Requests for information about the second race have come in from Australia, Malaysia, and Canada. Bryan Hopkins from Columbia, who is an environmental education specialist with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, finished second in the men’s solo division and third overall last year. “I felt like a pickup truck in a NASCAR race,” he says. He anticipated having the home-court advantage, but he later realized his handmade wooden kayak couldn’t compete with the “long sleek Kevlar specialized racing canoes and kayaks,” he says. Another racer last year, Katie Pfeffercorn, who was a senior at the University of Missouri at Columbia, took second place in the women’s division and ninth place overall. She was pleasantly surprised at the way participants helped each other and was grateful for the hospitality of people along the way. The Missouri River Communities Network organized volunteers that assisted paddlers at each of the checkpoints. Scott Mansker, the man behind the idea, pioneered the event to increase interest in both paddling and the Missouri River. An idea ten years in the making, he “figured it would be an informal event, maybe only four or five people, including myself, involved.” The race was publicized mainly by word of mouth, and fifteen paddlers competed. So far this year, two dozen have signed up for the second race scheduled for July 24-28. The hundred-hour race starts at Kaw Point Park in Kansas City at 8 am July 24 and ends at noon July 28 at St. Charles. Participants must check in at each of the nine checkpoints, follow all contest rules, and propel themselves “exclusively by paddle power.” You can read competitors’ trip logs and get more information about the race at www.rivermiles.com. For last year’s results, add /resources/2006Results.html. –By Glenna Parks _June 2007_

Nordies at Noon

Sat, 28 Oct 2006 15:11:10 GMT

*By Anita Neal Harrison* When Kim Carlos, a native of Hallsville, found a lump in her breast at age thirty, she called Patti Balwanz, a friend she made at Missouri State University at Springfield. Patti, who’s from Columbia, could empathize because she had found a lump at age twenty-four. She could also introduce Kim to two more young women fighting breast cancer: Jana Peters and Jennifer Johnson, both diagnosed at age twenty-seven. Kim joined the monthly meetings Patti, Jana, and Jennifer had been having at Nordstram’s Cafe in Overland Park, Kansas. At one of these meetings, they decided to write a book together. “We’ve been able to lean on each other and support each other, but a lot of women don’t have that, and we wanted to help them,” Kim says. A few months ago, the friends released Nordie’s at Noon. Every chapter begins with a discussion set at Nordstram’s and then presents
four first-person accounts of the women’s experiences. Those experiences varied widely in part because the four women received their diagnoses at different stages in their lives. Patti was single, Jana was planning her wedding, Jennifer was five months pregnant, and Kim was planning her son’s second birthday party. Each woman writes from a different perspective, but they all use humor and unusual honesty in their tales. “The book is about a serious subject, but it’s also about living life to the fullest,” Kim says. Writing Nordie’s at Noon took three years in part because Patti faced a recurrence. On March 29, 2003, she passed away. While fighting her last battle, she insisted her friends finish the book. “She always said, ‘We didn’t go through this just to help one person; we went through this to help thousands,’” Kim says. _For more on Nordie’s at Noon and the four authors or to order the book ($15.95 plus tax), visit www.nordiesatnoon.com._ February 2006

Governors Choice

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 21:26:52 GMT

_An American Art colony: The Art and Artists of Ste. Genevieve, Missouir 1930-1940_ By R.H. Dick and Scott Kerr, McCaughen & Burr Press, 235 pages, $80, hardcover (oversized) During the 1930s until America’s involvement in World War II, Ste. Genevieve hosted one of the most significant art colonies in America. Yet the general public and art enthusiasts alike have remained largely unaware of this part of Missouri’s cultural heritage. Until now. _An American Art Colony,_ coauthored by Missourians R.H. Dick and Scott Kerr, details this influence on the American art scene and won the 2005 Missouri Governor’s Humanities Book Award. Throughout the 1930s, twenty-three talented and classically trained artists descended upon the French colonial village. They brought with them their own styles and radical beliefs to paint the social and political unrest of the Depression Era. The book features thirteen artists whose works are most significant and representative of the colony. Eight of the artists were Missourians, including internationally known Thomas Hart Benton and Joe Jones, as well as lesser-known Fred Conway and Mathew Ziegler. Often referred to as social realists because of their politically outspoken social reform statements, colony members are also considered regionalist painters because most of their work portrays urban or rural Missouri. The colony thrived under the leadership of two Missouri women, Aimee Schweig from St. Louis and Jesse Beard from Poplar Bluff. Members of the colony studied in the best art schools of their day, throughout Europe and the United States. Many showed their work at esteemed East Coast galleries. The authors searched through smaller museums and private collections throughout the country to find more obscure paintings to include, and the reproductions tell a story of rural Missouri at the time: daily life, worker strikes, and lynchings. _An American Art Colony_ brings to life these extraordinary artists who greatly impacted American art history. *—By Michelle Salater* April 2006

An Ozarks Mystery and a Boonville Heroine

Sat, 28 Oct 2006 15:07:43 GMT

*By Amy Stapleton* _LIMB OF THE JUDAS TREE_ By Robert Dean Anderson, Aux-Arcs Novels, 314 pages, $25.95, hardcover Filled with mystery and suspense, this historical fiction tells the personal stories of the people who lived in Old Linn Creek in 1929 when plans for a massive dam threaten the very existence of the town. The characters are fictional but experience the same gamut of emotions as the real residents of Old Linn Creek must have — anguish over the pending loss of their town and joy when problems threaten to stop the dam. The main character, Deputy Sheriff and aspiring lawyer Joel Dean Gregory, has many mysteries to solve from murder to fraud, while at the same time trying to get the town folk prepared for the destruction and ultimate flooding of their town. A new site is picked for Linn Creek and some folks are willing to pack up and go. Other old-timers refuse to budge from the only home they have ever known. The project to build the dam complicates Joel Dean’s plans to catch a killer, woo the beautiful Estelle, and to save a town. Throughout the story, the Judas tree stands in the center of town, and the end of the story ulminates under it. Joel Dean, like the other townspeople, must confront some new realities of his own. _ASHES_ By Robert Dean Anderson, Aux-Arcs Novels, 319 pages, $26, hardcover In this sequel to Limb of the Judas Tree, the main character, Smith Beauchamps, is sent to town to buy property in Old Linn Creek for the Land Acquisition and Development Company. The bulldozers and crews are coming to finish the destruction and burning of the town before the water comes. He partners with Doyle Savoy, the one-armed sheriff, to look into the murder of Smith’s boss, Happy Meens. Eccentric characters permeate the story from Uncle Billy Jack to Leah, the “tough-as-a-man boss;” Nita German, the “gal who does men favors;” the feisty lawyer, Joel Dean; and the beautiful Estelle. Will Smith or Joel Dean win Estelle? The silent, secretive Meren knows more than she can tell. Can Smith keep his job and his honor? One at a time, the last holdouts in Linn Creek sadly leave, and the rising water changes everthing. _A HEART FOR ANY FATE_ By Suzanne Lyon, Five Star, 303 pages, $25.95, hardcover Combining history, romance, and adventure, this historical fiction details the life of Hannah Cole. In 1790, Hannah Allison married Willard Temple Cole in Virginia. As a wedding present, his cousin, Dolley Todd, who later married James Madison and became First Lady, gave Hannah a journal. Throughout her life, Hannah writes intimate details of her life on the frontier in the form of private letters to Dolley in the journal, but never sends them. From Virginia, Hannah and Temple move west in the footsteps of Daniel Boone to Kentucky. Temple’s brother, Hannah’s sister, and the Allison family slave accompany the Coles. Temple meets an unfortunate fate during an Indian raid, but Hannah and the family party continue westward with Temple’s brother. Hannah shows strength and courage throughout her life as she struggles to make a place on the frontier for her family. As her children strike out on their own, the slave Lucy remains and finds Hannah’s secret journal, and the potential consequences of its revelations provide a dilemma. One of the first white women to venture south of the Missouri River, the real Hannah is revered as an example of strength and fortitude of the pioneer women. Dolley Madison was truly a cousin of Temple Cole, and this fictional story provides an entertaining glimpse into what life was like then and what might have been in Hannah’s heart. _Editor’s note: A statue honoring the real Hannah Cole, aptly named “Breaking New Ground,” stands in the center of Boonville. Twelve miles south on Route 5 in a small cemetery, a marker designates Hannah Allison Cole’s grave. Hannah was the book author’s great-, great-, great-, great-grandmother, and the review author is a cousin of the book author on her maternal grandmother’s side._ _Harry S. Truman and the Cold War Revisionists_ By Robert H. Ferrell, University of Missouri Press, 142 pages, $24.95 hardcover Ferrell argues that revisionists are often hasty and argumentative in their judgments, understanding neither the times nor the players. These essays challenge the revisionists’ perception of President Harry Truman by going below surface appearances of history to examine how this presidency functioned in response to unprecedented problems and crises. _Take Up the Black Man’s Burden: Kansas City’s African American Communities, 1865-1939_ By Charles E. Coulter, University of Missouri Press, 345 pages, $39.95 hardcover Unlike many cities farther north, Kansas City had a significant African-American population by the mid-nineteenth century and also served as a way station for those migrating north or west. Take Up the Black Man’s Burden focuses on the people and institutions that shaped the city’s black communities from the end of the Civil War until the outbreak of World War II, blending historical research with first-person accounts that allow participants in this historical drama to tell their own stories of struggle and accomplishment. _La Charrette: A History of the Village Gateway to the American Frontier Visited by Lewis and Clark, Daniel Boone, and Zebulon Pike_ By Lowell M. Schake, PhD, iUniverse, Inc., 261 pages, $18.95 paperback La Charrette, near present-day Marthasville, played a pivotal role for travelers on their way to exploring the American frontier, serving as a resting place for conducting business or getting maps and advice for their journey. In 1804, Lewis and Clark camped here and gathered information on Missouri River conditions before continuing their expedition west. Also, Zebulon Pike drew the first map of the Santa Fe Trail here after villagers described it to him. _Jessie Benton Frémont:Missouri’s Trailblazer_ By Ilene Stone and Suzanna M. Grenz, University of Missouri Press, 122 pages, $14.95 paperback When Senator Thomas Hart Benton was expecting his second child in 1824, he hoped it would be a boy. Graced instead with a second girl, he named her Jessie (in honor of his father, Jesse) and raised her more like a son than a daughter, introducing her to the leading politicians of the day and making sure she received an education that emphasized history, literature, and languages. Senator Benton was the main influence in Jessie’s life until she married army explorer John Charles Frémont in 1841 against her parents’ wishes. _History and Geography of Lake of the Ozarks: Volume One_ By H. Dwight Weaver, Osage River Trails, 248 pages, $20 paperback History and Geography of Lake of the Ozarks is a key reference in an easy-to-use format, focused on the early history of the Lake of the Ozarks region and its landscape features. Expanding highways and rapid roadside and lakeshore development are changing the region from its former rural Ozark character into a busy and crowded metropolitan environment. It has left the people who have grown up with the Lake nostalgic for what has been lost. The narratives in this book take you back to those lazy days of yesteryear. Obtain the book through www.lakeoftheozarksbooks.com. June 2006