Old Fort Madison in Iowa-- Part 2: Like a Wal-Mart and Downfall

Old Fort Madison became one of the most popular trading posts with the Native Americans where they could essentially buy anything they needed.

"It was pretty much like a Wal-Mart," said Eugene Watkins.  "The natives could get everything there from pre-made clothes to firearms and they  could get it at cost without  having alcohol pushed on them.

In return, the Indians got top dollar for raw materials like furs, lead and even feathers.

"One shipment to St. Louis contained 578 pounds of feathers traded by the Natives."

The demise of Fort Madison came during the War of 1812 when it was attacked several times mostly by  Ho-Chunk and Menomonee warriors.  

It is unknown how many  civilians, Missouri Territory militia, U.S. Rangers and Native Americans are buried at Fort Madison.  However, there are 21  soldiers and one Ranger buried there, making it the oldest military cemetery in Iowa.

Eventually, the fort was burned by soldiers after the trading became compromised.

--Brock-Perry

Jackson County, Mo., Votes to Keep Jackson Statues

From the November 6, 2020, Kansas City Examiner "Jackson statues to get explanatory signs" by Mike Genet.

A majority of the Jackson County voters voted this week to keep the two Andrew Jackson statues in front of its two courthouses.  The statues are in Kansas City and Independence.

But, the statues will be getting explanatory plaques.

You have to be careful about those contextual plaques as often they are giving more in the line of certain opinions existing today.

But, at least the people have spoken.

You Know, Those Culture-Erase Folk.  --Brock-Perry

Will Voters Remove Andrew Jackson Statues in Missouri?

 From the October 2, 2020, Examiner (Jackson County, Missouri) by Mike Genet.

Voters will decide on November 3 what to do with a pair of Andrew Jackson statues located at Jackson County Courthouse in downtown Kansas City and the Truman Courthouse in Independence.  The county is also named for Andrew Jackson.

If voters vote to take them down, the statues will be moved to other buildings in the county, possibly with historical context because of Jackson's complicated legacy.  He was a military hero of the War of 1812 and prevented the Southern states from seceding during his presidency.

But he was also a slave owner and responsible for the Indian Removal Act that forced Indians off of their land in what became known as the Trail of Tears.

The downtown statue was damaged in the post George Floyd riots.

This is what should be done for all statue removals.  Let the people vote on what is t be done.

--Brock-Perry

Mary Todd Lincoln's Uncle, Samuel Briggs Todd

From Find A Grave.

Born:  15 May 1793, Lexington, Ky.

Died:  30 September 1876, aged 83

Buried:  Columbia Cemetery, Columbia, Missouri.

Veteran of War of 1812.    Wounded in battle.

This name was also given to one of Mary Todd Lincoln's half brothers.

--Brock-Perry

Mary Todd Lincoln's Uncle, David Todd-- Part 2: Missouri and a Whig

In 1819, President James Monroe appointed him territorial circuit judge of northern Missouri.    When Boone County, Missouri, separated from Howard County, Todd was one of the citizens who purchased land on which Columbia was laid out in 1818-1819.

When Missouri became a state in 1821, Governor Alexander McNair appointed Todd  state circuit judge, a position he held until 1837.

In the summer of 1840, Mary Todd traveled to Columbia, Missouri, and visited with her uncle, David Todd.  While there, she became good friends with the judge's daughter, Ann.  This was also the year in which Mary became engaged to Abraham Lincoln.

He was an ardent Whig, serving as a delegate to the Whig National Convention that selected William Henry Harrison, Todd's commanding officer during the War of 1812,  for president in 1840.

In 1850, he was practicing law in Boone County and owned real estate valued at $3,500.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Cap au Gris-- Part 2

From Legends of America.

**  Also called Fort Independence.

**  Eighteen miles east of Troy.

**  The small town of Cap au Gris grew up around the fort.

**  Officially laid out inj 1845.

**  By 1876, the arrival of railroads caused the town to disappear.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Cap au Gris-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

Also called Capo Gray.  A temporary fort near Troy, Missouri, built by Missouri Rangers (U.S. Mounted Rangers) under the direction of Nathan Boone, son of Daniel Boone.

After his defeat at Fort Johnson, Zachary Taylor (later U.S. president) and his soldiers returned to Cap au Gris in October 1814.

The Battle of Sink Hole was fought nearby on May 24, 1815.

The unincorporated community of Cap au Gris occupies the site of the fort.

--Brock-Perry

Battle of the Sink Hole

From Wikipedia.

Fought May 24, 1815, after the end of the War of 1812 between Missouri Rangers and Indians led by Black Hawk.  The Sauk Indians were either unaware or didn't care that the British had signed the Treaty of Ghent.  Most likely didn't care.  Just because the British were out of the war didn't mean that their land was any safer from American encroachment.

It was fought near a low spot near the mouth of the Cuivre River near the present day Old Monroe near Fort Howard and Fort Cap au Gris.

It was an ambush on the Rangers and resulted in a siege in which seven Rangers, including their commander Captain Peter Craig, were killed.  One Sauk was killed.  There are conflicting accounts of the battle from both sides, however.

In 1816, Black Hawk reaffirmed the Treaty of St.Louis.

--Brock-Perry

St. Charles, Mo. & the War of 1812-- Part 4: War on the Frontier Did Not End With Treaty of Ghent

Even after the War of 1812 ended with the Treaty of Ghent, the war along the frontier with the Indians continued.

During the winter of 1814-1815, Captain James Callaway and the U.S. Mounted Rangers operated from Camp Clemson on Loutre (Otter) Island located where the Loutre Creek enters the Missouri River.  This is where present-day Hermann is located.

North of this place was the home of the Sac and Fox Indian tribes.

--Brock-Perry

Thomas Hart Benton in the War of 1812

From the Civil War in Missouri.

Thomas Hart Benton was born into a wealthy Virginia family in 1782 and later moved to Tennessee.

During the War of 1812, he offered his services to Col. Andrew Jackson who made him his aide-de-camp.  Benton engaged the Creek Indians but really wanted to fight the British.  He would get that chance with Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans.

He was so proud of that, that for years afterwards he signed his correspondence "Lieutenant Colonel. 39th Infantry."

In 1815, he moved to Missouri Territory.

--Brock-Perry

Moses Austin-- Part 3: Another Failed Business and Texas Colonization

Moses Austin became founder and principal stockholder of the Bank of St. Louis, but that failed in the Panic of 1819 and he lost his entire fortune.  This most likely is where Zadock Woods ended up losing his money.  Them, Moses became involved in the colonization of Texas.

He died in 1821 of pneumonia and is buried in Potosi, Missouri.

--Brock-Perry

Moses Austin-- Part 2: Failed Business and On To Missouri

Moses Austin then moved to southwest Virginia and got into the lead business in Wythe County.  He and his brother Stephen (namesake of his son) and others industrialized the area, building several smelters and furnaces.  The small village that grew up there became known as Austinville and Moses got the name of the "Lead King."

But, he incurred debts and his company collapsed and Moses skipped out of the state to avoid imprisonment.  His next stop was Missouri for its rich lead deposits, but it was then part of Spanish Louisiana.  In 1798, he was granted land in return for declaring allegiance to the Spanish Crown.

In 1803, Missouri became part of the United States as a result of the Louisiana Purchase.

--Brock-Perry

USMA Class of 1806: Louis Loramier-- Part 3: A Political Appointment by Jefferson

From Thayer's Note on Louis Loramier.

He was appointed to the USMA by Thomas Jefferson "to be of usefulness of winning over key Creoles in the just acquired Louisiana Territory.."

So, his appointment was essentially a political one.  Have a son of a Creole serving in the U.S. Army would only approve relations and make the French Canadians feel more like a part of their new country.

Louis' father was born in Canada and is considered the first European settler in the Cape Girardeau area.  The father played a key role in the rapid switch of the area from Spain to France to the United States during the Louisiana Purchase.

Louis retired to be a farmer and died in Cape Girardeau.

--Brock-Perry

Another War of 1812 Symposium-- Part 2: Death Chants and Powder Kegs

3 p.m.--  Michael D. Harris:  "Death Chants and Powder Kegs: The Battle of the Sinkhole."

4 p.m.--  Christopher T. George:  "Major General Robert Ross: The Saving of Baltimore 1814 and the 'Big martyrs'."

5:30 p.n.--  Dine with the presenters at the historic J. Huston Tavern, Arrow Rock, Missouri.


SUNDAY, APRIL 3RD

9 a.m.--  Lorna Hainesworth:  "The Corps and the War of 1812."  (Marine Corps I presume.)

10 a.m.--  Eric Matthews:  "Medicine in the Frontier Army:  Analyzing the Pharmacopeia of Dr. Thomas, 1st Infantry."

11 a.m.--  John Steinle:  "Commodore Perry's Marines:  Revealing Their True Identity."

Special Exhibit March 5 to April 5 at Arrow Rock State Historic Site:  "The Home and Camp:  The War of 1812 in Missouri."

Too bad, missed It.  --Brock-Perry

Another War of 1812 Symposium Last Weekend-- Part 1: This Time Featuring the West

From the Missouri State Parks Site "war of 1812 in the West Symposium 4-2 to 4-3, 2016"

At Arrow Rock State Historic Site in Arrow Rock, Missouri.

SATURDAY APRIL 2ND

9:10 a.m.--  James Denny:  "William Clark's Troubles With the Cooper Clan in Boonslick County."

10 a.m.--Lynn Morrow:  "Who Were Bryan and Morrison?  The Halliburton of Missouri's War of 1812."

11 a.m.--  Harold W. Youmans:  "Post-war Military and Land Bounties in the West."

12--  Lunch

1 p.m.--  Michael Dickey:  "Native Perspectives on the War of 1812:  Indian Leaders in Their Own Words."

2 p.m.--  David Bennett:  "Light Gives Light, To Discover: The Remarkable Career of Captain John C. Symmes."

More to Come.  --Brock-Perry

Thomas A. Smith, U.S. Army in Patriot War-- Part 2

At the close of the War of 1812, he was assigned to command the Ninth Military District at St. Louis and served until he resigned in 1818.  After his military career, he settled in Saline County, Missouri where he died June 25, 1844.

Fort Smith, Arkansas, founded 1817,  is named after him.  It served as a major U.S. fort during the 1800s and was quite involved with Indian dealings and in the Civil War was occupied by both Confederates and later Union forces.

The town that grew up around it, Fort Smith, is the second largest city in the state of Arkansas.

--Brock-Perry