Well done Dale, your story stirs memories from family stories and provides a glimps into our heritage along the mighty Mo.
Our main transportation for a period of time was provided by the rivers and communities began, traded and interacted by means of the rivers. As other means of transportation grew so did the communities away from the rivers and there dependency on our waterways. My thoughts go to a small port town along the Missouri called Charleston, it was about 7 miles north/north east of the town of Troy Kansas and north/west of St. Joseph Missouri which thrived for a period of time. Charleston dwindled till in the fall of 1903 the post office shut down and was absorbed by the Troy post office. My great grandfather was the last post master. Nothing remains of that little port town, only on the Corp of Engineers Missouri river navigation charts will you even see the name mentioned on a bend in the river.
I now live in Troy Missouri and theres a town on the Cuivre river here called chain of rocks that was the furthest place up the Cuivre which is a Mississippi river tributary that the shipping freights could travel. There still remains a small residual of where they docked and unloaded but that is it. Rivers constantly change and whether we like it or not so does all that surrounds them. My dad told me of his grandfather bringing home a large buffalo from the river, they were and still are a fairly common native fish on the river. Now, non native species are as common as native. Change is everywhere, but folks here on the BOC that love the river know so well the lure of the river, a sanctuary, a breath of fresh air that renews and brings a joy in the mist of this ever changing world. Thanks for sharing your story with us Dale, keep up the good work, I know it is much appreciated here with us.
