A trip along the Mississippi River

Our journey this weekend took us to Cape Girardeau, and the Steimle's family reunion. We gathered among friends and family to celebrate and visit the ones we hold dear. We also got to stop and visit the Mississippi River where they have the most beautiful murals on display along with touching tales of what they represent. Please join me on our journey along the Mississippi River.

Before humans lived in this area, the Mississippi River Valley was a great wide wetland teaming with plants and animal life. The hawthorn plant, with its brilliant blossoms and bright red berries, became the Missouri State flower. The Carolina parakeet once prevalent in the river valley, had generally vanished by 1900. The last known member of the species died on February 21, 1918, in the Cincinnati Zoo.

900-1200AD

Between 900 and 1200AD, many Native Americans lived in the Mississippi Valley. We do not know what they called themselves, but due to their close relationship with the river, modern historians and anthropologists referred to them as "Mississippian." They constructed earthen mounds throughout the valley leading many to identify them as the "Mound builders." They lived in harmony with nature and their landscape and trained red-tailed hawks to hunt. In this image residents greet the morning sun as it rises over the great river.

1673 - Marquette & Joliet

In 1673 Father Marquette and Louis Joliet led the first French expedition down the Mississippi . Joliet was the explorer, Marquette was the missionary and chaplain. The French hoped to find a rumored big river to the South that might lead to the Pacific. They soon concluded that they were headed not towards to Pacific but towards the Gulf of Mexico. Near the mouth of the Arkansas River, Native Americans warned them that if they went further south, they would encounter extreme heat, fierce people, and great beasts. They turned back to the safety of the French settlements on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence.

1735 - Girardot Post

Sieur Jean Baptiste Girardot established a trading post in the vicinity of Cape Rock in the middle of the 18th century. This remote outpost became a gathering place for river travelers. By 1765, maps of the Mississippi River identified the bend in the river north of this site as 'Cape Girardot.'

1793 - Planning a City

In 1793 Spanish officials in St. Louis named Louis Lorimier the Commandant of the District of Cape Girardeau. Shortly thereafter, he received Spanish land grants totaling several thousand arpents (1 arpent = .85 acres). In 1806 Lorimier and his secretary, Barthelemi Cousin, laid out lot and street plans along the wide, flat riverfront. In 1808 the small riverfront village was incorporated as the town of Cape Girardeau.

1803 - Lewis & Clark

Between 1803 and 1806, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark lead President Jefferson's Corps of Discovery to the great American West. On November 23, 1803, they stopped at Cape Girardeau to deliver letters of introduction to Louis Lorimier. Captain Lewis found him presiding at a horse race. Later that evening, Lewis dined with Lorimier and his Shawnee wife Charlotte and was impressed by the beauty of one of his daughters.

1804 - The Louisiana Purchase

in 1803 the Mississippi River Valley was an important area in international diplomacy and intrigue. Napoleon's brothers, Lucien & Joseph, sought to dissuade him from selling the entire Louisiana Territory to the newly established United States. Napoleon, in his bath, reportedly stood up and declared, "I renounce Louisiana." He then sat down, splashing soapy water and causing the servant to faint in Lucien's arms. In 1803 at New Orleans, the French colors shed a tear. In March 1804 Upper Louisiana was officially transferred to the United States in St. Louis.

1821 - Missouri Statehood

When the territory of Missouri asked for statehood, it sought admission as a slave state since there were already many African-American slaves in the territory. Missouri was granted permission, but would be the only area in the Louisiana Territory north of the 36 degree, 30 minute line which could ever have slavery. To keep the balance equal in the U.S. Senate between slave and free states, the former Massachusetts territory became the 24th state and 12th slave state on August 10, 1821.

1838 - The Trail of Tears

In 1830 the U.S. Congress passed the Indian Removal Act which led to the forced removal of eastern tribes to "Indian Territory" west of the Mississippi (later the state of Oklahoma). In the autumn of 1838, sixteen separate groups of Cherokee, about 16,000 people, began the 1,000 mile overland journey to the west. The loss of life on the trail was high, nearly 4,000 died on the way. Fifteen of the groups crossed the Mississippi north of Cape Girardeau. Residents of the area were reported to have provided baskets of food for the Cherokee caught up in this tragic event.

1861 - The Civil War

This view of the Mississippi is from Fort A, one of the four forts constructed by the Union forces in the summer of 1861. These forts, which encircled Cape Girardeau, provided protection from attack from either land or water. Fort A was on the bluff at the eastern end of Bellevue Street. Fort B encircled the Dittlinger home on the current site of Southeast Missouri State University's Kent Library. Fort C guarded the western and southern approaches to the city and blocked Confederate forces' access to the city via the Old Bloomfield Road at the Old Fairgrounds (between Sprigg and Pacific on Good Hope). Fort D, the only surviving Civil War fort, still stands at Fort and Locust streets east of South Sprigg Street.

1863 

An exciting incident occurred at the "Battle of Cape Girardeau" on April 23, 1863, when Confederate forces attacked from the west and south of town. During the battle several Confederate cannon balls pierced the roof of the residence of Alfred Lacey on Caruthers Street. Ike, a family slave, extinguished the resulting flames in the midst of the battle, saving the house from destruction.

1870 - St. Vincent's Young Ladies' Academy

St. Vincent's Young Ladies' Academy was founded in 1839 by the Sisters of Loretto as a school for young woman. Located at the corner of Spanish and Good Hope streets, it was one of the first schools for woman west of the Mississippi. Prior to its closing in 1923, thousands of young ladies were educated at the institution.

"Cape Girardeau is situated on a hillside and makes a handsome appearance...There was another college higher up on an airy summit - a bright new edifice, picturesquely and peculiarly towered and pinnacled - a sort of gigantic caster, with the cruets all complete. Uncle Mumford said that Cape Girardeau was the Athens of Missouri, and contained several colleges..." from the Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain. Here, Twain on a journey down the river was describing the Third District Normal School, later Southeast State University.

1875 - River Commerce

Before the coming of the railroad, the Mississippi River was the commercial lifeline of Cape Girardeau. The arrival of the packet boats, loaded with goods for local and regional residents, was an exciting event in the community. To the left of the gang plank is the prominent merchant, George Thilenius, observing the crew of roustabouts as they unload the ship's cargo.

1880 - The Coming of the Railroad

After earlier attempts to bring a railroad to Cape Girardeau failed, local attorney Louis Houch made an arrangement with creditors to bring a railroad into the city by midnight of January 1, 1881. If he could do so, he would acquire clear title to the properties of the failed railroad. Running short of rails and time, Houch divided his men into two crews - one building from the west, the other from the east. His men borrowed rails and ties from the abandoned rail line to the north and were able to build sufficient track to connect with the crew coming from Delta. Slowly, one engine moved forward. The last rail was put in place one hour before midnight, and the engine arrived in a sleeping Cape Girardeau at 2 a.m. on New Year's Day. Cape Girardeau had a railroad!

1909 - President Taft's Visit

The first sitting President to visit Cape Girardeau was William Howard Taft, who arrived on the riverfront in the early morning of October 26, 1909. He was part of a 16 boat flotilla carrying cabinet members, Congressmen, governors, river commissioners and a large number of dignitaries who came down the river channel. A large welcome arch was constructed over the Themis Street entrance to the city. A crowd estimated at 25,000 gathered to hear the President speak from the steps of the new Academic Hall on the college campus. It was a day of great celebration in Cape, for years remembered as "Taft Day."

1916 - The Great Fire

The city was awakened to the shriek of a steamboat whistle early on the morning of March 15, 1916, to the biggest fire in Cape's history. The blaze began south of Broadway engulfing the Terminal Hotel, the Buckner-Ragsdale store, the Frisco Railroad Depot, and then leaped north across Broadway to the Riverview Hotel. The railroad brought in additional cars and equiptment to assist in the evacuation of goods from other downtown structures.

1918-1919 The Big Freeze

In the early 20th century, the Mississippi River was a wider and slower river than today. Because it was slower, it was more inclined to freeze over in periods of cold weather. The winter of 1918-1919 was especially frigid, and the river was covered over with ice for several weeks. A fun, but sometimes risky, activity was to walk or drive a team and wagon - or occasionally an automobile - across the frozen surface of the river.

1924 - The Three "Cape Girardeaus"

For most of the 19th century and the first third of the 20th, steamboats were vital to the economic livelihood of Cape Girardeau and southeast Missouri. Three steamboats bore the name "Cape Girardeau," the last being christened here in 1924. Riverboat captains were among the most well known individuals in their towns. Captain William "Buck" Leyhe and his dog "Toodles" were great favorites in Cape Girardeau. He was a big man with a big voice!

1925 - Riverboat Jazz

Tow of the most exciting new trends of the 1920's were jazz and ballroom dancing. The riverboats were ideal locations for both. Here,  Jess Stacy on piano and Raymond F. "Peg" Meyer on saxophone, Berg Snider on drums, and Pete Lowry on banjo perform during the Golden Age of jazz. Meyer's jazz band was one of the most popular to play on the riverboats. Most of the early jazz bands wore costumes to add to the fun.

1927 - The Big Flood

The great flood of 1927 remains the flood by which all Mississippi River floods are measured. The devastateing effect upon the lower Mississippi River resulted in the Jadwin Plan, which sought to control the river with coordinated system of levees and walls from Cape Girardeau to the Gulf of Mexico. The magnitude of the plan changed the nature of the Mississippi River and the course of American history.

1958 - River Industry

The Mississippi River provides an abundant supply of sand to Cape Girardeau. This great resource has enhanced the community's ability to construct such large concrete projects as the A.C. Brase Arena Building, the Common Pleas Courthouse steps, Interstate 55, the Emerson Bridge, and the Mississippi River floodwall. The towboat pictured was owned by the C.W. "Woody" Rushing family and named for Woody's wife, Evelyn Rushing. Captain Woody, one of the great modern river captains, stands watch on the bridge.

1964 - The Great Wall

After century's of floods, the Mississippi River floodwall provided protection from the floodwaters that periodically ravaged Cape Girardeau. Construction began on the massive flood-control project in 1956 and was completed in 1964 at a cost of more than $4 million. The system of earthen levees and concrete walls parallels the river for 7,210 feet and includes two pumping stations, five gates and six drainage structures. It proved its worth in protecting Cape Girardeau's downtown in the huge floods of 1973, 1993 and 1995. The towboat is the Elizabeth Ann, owned by the Erlbacher family of Cape Girardeau.

1980 - Riverfest

Cape Girardeau has a close relationship with the Mississippi River. For 21 years Riverfest celebrated the fact that the community was on the river and of the river. The festival featured music, games, food, fireworks, crafts, and special events. Thousands of people from all over the region came to participate.

2003 - The Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge

After 15 years of planning and 7 years of construction, the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge opened to traffic on December 13, 2003. The bridge was named for Bill Emerson, an eight-term Congressmen who had championed the legislation that brought about the construction of this modern cable-stayed structure, replacing the first bridge which served the community from 1928 to 2003.

Chicago artist, Thomas Melvin, and his lead portrait artist, Cameron Pfiffner, directed the painting of the Mississippi River Tales Mural between April and November of 2004. Other members of the crew are listed under the paint brush.

I hope that you all have enjoyed this little walk down the river with us. It was really hot today so I'm glad we could do all the leg work for you.

Happy Sunday and I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week!