History with a Maine Connection

We experienced the Arch by land and...

Anytime we travel, whether by boat or car, Molly and I always seem to be more conscious than we would be at home of the history around us.  The confluence of two mighty rivers, the Missouri and the Mississippi, is such a place.

by sea.  We traveled with two other
boats and took turns taking each
other's picture.

In 1803 the residents of St. Louis started the weekend as citizens of Spain, slept as citizens of France and woke up as citizens of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase.  We learned that overnight women lost the right to buy and sell property, and blacks lost the right to buy freedom from their masters.   The stage was also set for St. Louis to become the gateway to western expansion.  President Jefferson got Congress to agree to fund the Lewis and Clark expedition with the goal to explore and catalog the new lands, seek the Northwest Passage (that didn’t exist) and claim Oregon for the US.

The white line shows the Lewis and Clark Route while the darkened area is the Louisana Purchase.  Note that Oregon
was still unclaimed by any world power.  Of course, little thought was given to the Native Americans there and elsewhere.

Monument to Lewis and Clark at the
confluence of the Mississippi and the
Missouri Rivers.

Cohokia Indian Mound.

Along the Lewis and Clark trail there are over 50 museums commemorating their journey, and while in Alton, IL, we rented a car and visited three of them.  In our travels, we also stumbled on the Cahokia Mounts National Monument where a thousand years ago the Cahokia Indians built large earthen mounds of several acres and up to 4 levels raising 100 feet over the otherwise flat terrain.  The parking lot here was filled with school buses signifying, perhaps, the importance of exposing school children to one of the few examples in America of the existence and capabilities of Native Americans who lived at a time called here “prehistory.”

The expansion of the United States brought to the forefront the Slavery Question, would a new state be slave or free?   The Missouri Compromise of 1820 brought in Maine as a free state in 1820 and Missouri as a slave state in 1821.  Abolitionists and slave supporters began flocking west in hopes of influencing the future direction to slave or non-slave. 

Monument to Elijah Lovejoy in Alton, IL.

One such person was Elijah Lovejoy, born in Albion, Maine and came to Alton, IL as both a Presbyterian minister and newspaper publisher.  He preached in nearby St. Charles, MO, and was run out of town for his abolitionist views.  Three times his Alton printing presses were dumped in the Mississippi River following his antislavery commentaries, and on the fourth time this happened a mob killed him as he tried to protect his press. This happened in 1837, and Lovejoy has been called “the first casualty of the Civil War.”

We visited St. Louis, touring the impressive Anheuser-Busch Plant,  seeing the Cubs-Cards game at Busch Stadium and visiting the national park with the Arch and the nearby Old Courthouse.  The recently named The Arch National Park was very impressive, both at dusk and in the morning.  The Old Courthouse was the site of the Dred Scott case which petitioned the courts to allow his family freedom since they had lived for a time in a free state.  This famous case took a decade to pass through the courts until the US Supreme Court ruled in 1958 that the word “citizen” in our Constitution only referred to “whites.”  This further inflamed the tensions of the day, leading to the Civil War.

View of the Old Courthouse from the Arch.

We toured the Clydesdale stable at
the brewery.

Their were many Cubs
fans in town for the game.
They were greeted at
our hotel with this.

Depiction of St. Louis waterfront  in 1850.

 While touring Alton we visited the square and statues commemorating the last 1860 presidential debate between Lincoln and Douglas.  Lincoln had an antislavery platform (“A house divided cannot stand”) whereas Douglas promoted states’ rights to decide the question. While Douglas had defeated Lincoln in the 1858 US Senate race,  Douglas only carried two states in the 1860 presidential election, Missouri and New Jersey. 

Robert Wadlow was still growing
at the time of his death at age 22.

Another local landmark was the 8’ 11” life-sized statue of Robert Wadlow, the world’s tallest man.  He was born and lived in Alton and died at the age of 22 from an untreated infection.  He was still growing at the time of his death.  Finally, we could not depart Alton without eating twice at the very popular Fast Eddies, where $3 will get you a half pound burger and fries. 

At Fast Eddies with Looper friends Jay and Barb Morrow.

This institution was started by Anheuser-Busch before breweries were prohibited from operating restaurants and retail establishments.  The restaurant was sold in 1931 during Prohibition, and has been owned by only 2 families since then.

We were in a covered slip for the first time at Alton Marina.

While at the Alton Marina for four nights, we met and/or reacquainted ourselves with fellow Loopers, often over docktails by the pool.  Early on September 29^th we departed with two other boats to make the 200-mile trip down the Mississippi to the Ohio and then 50 miles up to Paducah, KY, the next available gas stop.  Fortunately, the 5-6 mph current in the Mississippi helped ensure that we would arrive with gas to spare.

We are now into our 4th consecutive day of 90+ degree temperatures.  Fortunately, Paducah

Just one of many outstanding displays at the
 National Quilt Museum.

 is a wonderful town with many restaurants and shops along with the National Quilt Museum and Hancock's of Paducah.  October 2nd was Molly's birthday, and we celebrated with visits to the Museum and Hancock's.  The Museum was unbelievable.

Molly was overjoyed to be at
Hancock's of Perducah to
purchase her birthday present.

This was one of the fascinating
quilts at the Museum as the face
can only be seen in small images
and is best viewed through
a camera lens.

At the Paducah dock.  We are the 2nd boat from the left and
most always the smallest boat around.