Individual Details
James Flatt
(1789 - 2 Oct 1826)
James Flatt and his family entered Franklin County, Missouri in 1810 from Barron County, Kentucky. Franklin County was located in the Lousiana Territory. It became the Missouri Territory when Louisiana became a state in 1812. The Flatts were among the first settlers in the Gasconde area. The area became Gasconde County, Missouri in 1821. Missouri became a state on August 10, 1821. From 1822 to 1825 the family lived in Greene County, Illinois. James' brother Edward had settled in Greene County, Illinois in 1820.
Life In The Missouri Territory
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The pioneer ways of the Missouri Territorial Period would seem poor beyond comparison with the way we live today. The cabin was crude, children were raised to fight and hunt with stealth and deadly aim, it was necessary to exist. Living in reach of a gun made for a hard life and this hard life made hard, suspicious people.
They arose with the dawn. A light was struck with flint and steel. The fire was kindled in the fire place. The father and sons milked and fed the stock while the mother and girls prepared the breakfast. After breakfast a long day of work began. The father and older sons cleared, plowed and planted while the mother and girls completed the home crafts of preparing and processing food, candle making, cloth making and sewing. They were very saving of waste material as this was a period when the necessities of life where often produced from them; as scented soap and candles from fats, shoes and clothing from hides, nitrates from animal and bird waste. Also discarded metal was saved, even to the size of nails as tools and many useful items could be made from it.
To make it the settlers of the Missouri Territory had to become self sufficient. For items the family could not produce, they joined with the community to produce. The community tried to produce craft items or services that could be traded for products of other areas. The items that were personal to the family were rifles, axes, spinning wheels, looms and fire starting materials consisting of flint, steel and tinder box. There was a need to share in the building and use of grist mills, saw mills, blacksmith shops, and iron melters. Tools that were loaned were cross cut saws augers, sausage mills, iron or copper kettles.
The evening meal was served just before dark. After the meal the family gathered before the fireplace where often a pine knot was lighted or a lamp was made by placing a twisted wick in a clay saucer of grease. This was the time for talking, teaching and reading. The Bible was the book most often used as there were few others available.
Most of the social life was conducted during day light. There were shooting matches for various prizes such as cattle, hogs, sheep, turkeys and ducks. The rules made for the matches varied as some became so skilled that they were given a penalty or ruled out completely. Marriage in the community was a community affair that called for a cabin raising. Gifts often included pots, pans. quilts, feather beds, and sometimes a cow or tools.
Entertainment events held at night around a bonfire were fox hunting, coon hunting and square dancing. To include everyone, the square became a circle around the fire called Indian style and included yells and gestures. Though these events were few they furnished pleasant thoughts to be recalled many times after returning home.
Candles for light were usually restricted to use for special occasions such as visitors or travelers who were welcomed and given the best of dry skins for beds and fed meat and wild honey.
As the centers for law enforcement was at a great distance, the job fell to the community leaders. The laws passed for the territory were known and administered by them. There was hate and friction that led to fights and killing but there was a set rule that this must be forgotten during death and burial. Some of the punishment for crimes were set as follows: horse stealing, 20 stripes on the bare back without regard to sex, a fine and loss of the right to vote; hog stealing, whipping, a fine and time spent in the pillory.
Building in Missouri Territorial days, followed a pattern common to all pioneer communities. It was fashioned to give immediate protection against the weather and the enemy. After the home or community had become secure and the physical needs of the family had been met, however, plans were made for a more comfortable, better looking and more permanent building.
The easiest to construct, and often the first constructed, was a pole building. The ends of straight, round poles were driven upright into the ground and capped by a long pole with notched ends to form an interlock. The brush roof was laid on pole rafters and held in place by weighted poles. Occasionally, one end was Ieft open; if so, the house was referred to as a half-faced house.
The permanent buildings of this period changed from the French or Spanish type (poteaux sur solle) square shaped logs standing on a stone foundation to the English type wherein the square shaped logs lay horizontally on the stone foundation.
For chinking the cracks, fine workable clays were used. When most grass or hair was added, these clays, when subjected to the air and heat, became water resistant.
The building of the chimney constituted the main construction problem; therefore, for most families, the fireplace chimney, (though the one requiring considerable effort) was first set in place. It was constructed of rocks or cut stone held together by a mortar of salt and ashes or sand and lime slacked from lime outcroppings.
The easiest chimney type was called the "smoke hole." This was sometimes only an opening in the roof. The most common type was called the "pen" was constructed of poles and chinking above the hearth rock so that the smoke would be directed upward through the roof.
Adjacent of the pen chimney, lofts were often built for sleeping, There were few openings in the buildings. The door was made of split boards or pegged poles. Hinges were leather or wood and the door latch was wood. There was a hole bored above the latch for a rawhide string which was used to open the door from the outside; at night or for protection, the string was pulled to the inside. The windows were equipped with bar shutters. If the weather was warm, greased paper or mats woven from grass were used in the windows for air and light,
To fasten together the squared timbers and split boards, pegs made from small hickory or oak brush, then hardened by fire and wooden nails shaped from dogwood, then hardened by fire, were used. Since few angers were available. the holes for the pegs and nails were burned into the wood.
Building tools were few. The ax was the most commonly used of all the tools and next to the gun, was the item which, in the hands of the settler, made the family self sufficient and helped to insure them a comfortable living.
There were two common types of axes: the regular or wedge type with a bit end used for chopping and a burred end used for driving, and the right or left handed chisel edged broad ax. The broad ax had a crooked handle which allowed the ax to be thrown with both hands, the left or right hand directing the ax in order that it would strike the log in the line that was being hewed.
The right or left hand smoothing ax was used to smooth the timbers before placing and after placing to even the squared timbers. The facing area of doors and windows was evened by use of this ax.
The frow (froe), with a long blade and straight handle, was used for splitting. Boards for framing and shakes (shingles) were made from wood blocks cut to required length then split into half or quarter blocks. The chisel edge of the frow was placed on the end of the block to make the board the required thickness. A wood mallet was used to drive the frow and pressure was placed on the handle of the frow to change the thickness of the board.
In these early building traditions, we find the origin of two of our commonly used expressions: "the latch string is out", meaning a welcome to visit and "to hew a line," meaning to stay on the right and narrow path.
To the settler, the Indian was a mystery. His visits were never the same. He came at times with a smile and an offer of help and trade; at other times, he came yelling like a fiend or crawling like a snake. There were some Indians, remnants of tribes and Clans, who were like stray dogs wanting to cuddle close to any settlement for protection.
In the westward movement of the white settlers, the Indians were pawns for the white man's game. The more civilized tribes were forced into the hunting regions of other warlike tribes; hence they did the fighting and dying. Through this ploy, Indians were eliminated after 1803 from the Ozark uplands of south Missouri.
When the United States acquired south Missouri in 1803, the Indian population was divided between the Osage tribes and their enemies. According to estimates, there were 8,000 Little and Big Osage and 100 Missouri-ote allied with them as opposed to 1500 Delaware-Shawnee, Cherokee, 500 Quapah, and 1M miscellaneous. In 1819, the United States government moved 200 Kickapoos into south Missouri and, in 1820, the Delaware-Shawnee clans were reinforced by 1500 Indians who had moved west of their own accord.
After the Delaware-Shawnee crossed the Mississippi River,they moved into territory claimed by their related clans and for fifty years these clans occupied a forty mile north and south strip lying across Missouri, the south line of which approximates the present Highway #60. In 1822, there were 500 Indians who moved from the upper Current River region to claim a grant located in present day Green County, given them by the United States government. Since some white settlers were already there, the government forced the Indians to continue their westward movement and, while doing so, they had a number of encounters with the Osage.
The upper Current, Eleven Points and Gasconade Rivers were considered by the Osage to be their hunting grounds and immigrant Indians were encouraged to settle in the area. The Missouri Indians had used the upper Current River as their southern hunting grounds but war and disease had depleted their number; therefore, they could not contest a move into their territory. They could only huddle, for protection close to the settlements of their friends, the French. By the year 1907 all the full blood Missouri Indians were dead.
The Quapah Indians who were residents in the Eleven Points and Spring River areas, moved south of the Arkansas River and joined their related clans, the Caddo Indians. The lands which they had vacated, were occupied by the Western Cherokee and the Cherokee made raids on the horse camps of the Osage. War, which continued for over twenty-years, broke out. The Cherokee can be remembered, to this day, by names of their settlements such as Lowassie and Hiwssi. The Kickapoos were located on the Upper Niangura, Gasconade and Current Rivers. After obtaining arms, they began to raid the Osage villages to the northwest. The Osage, therefore, held a council of war in 1826 and formed a war party with instructions to take one hundred Kickapoo scalps. Instead of Kickapoo, however, the war party destroyed a Delaware village on Robidonx Creek and only four Delawares escaped. All the rest were killed and mangled or burned.
The Kickapoo were not content with raiding the Osage. They sent parties east through the Current River country to raid along the "Lead Mine Trail" and one party of filly warriors, under the war chief "Black Buffalo,"' raided as far east as Farmington where they stole a number of well bred horses.
The hunter-pioneer-settler of the Ozark uplands was lured by the wild free spirit of the new country. Although they were aware that their homes might become unmarked graves, the settlers still came in large numbers. They came to a land that had, for many years, been the home of immigrant Indians and mixed bloods and, as they advanced, the Indians and mixed bloods were pushed westward until their movement was blocked by the savage Osage.
There was a new group of settlers that started arriving in large numbers. They were the Scotch and Scotch Irish who, most of the time, bore a prefix of Mc to the name. Some were born in Scotland but many were first generation decendants of solders that came from Scotland to fight the English in the War of Independence of the states. After the war was won they stayed in the United States and received land grants in the west part of Virginia and North Carolina for their services in the war. Most of the grants were in or adjacent to the lands of the Cherokee Indians A large number of the Scotch married the mixed culture women of the Cherokee clans as they were above average in looks and education.
Many more Scotchmen came to the United States to fight the English in the war of 1812 and were not given amnesty by the English and could not return to their homes after the war. These with the sons of the veterans of the War of Independence received land boundaries in this area. As the lands along the Rocky Trails was a lot like the highlands of Scotland the greatest number selected this area. They came to Missouri territory in groups and usually contained at least five families. They were industrious and bought to the area the first real law as they were willing to band together to fight the renegade gangs that so long had ruled all who did not live under the protection of the clan.
The immigrants to the new Missouri territory brought with them a new way of life based on English law. They were far more industrious and chose for their homes locations in the valleys or open prairies instead of at the junctions of trails or river crossings. The land to them was what gold had been to the Spanish and fur to the French. To win a productive plot they would fight, toil long hours and if someone who lived on a good plot had not acquired proper title, as Indians and mixed bloods, they would try to establish title in their name.
The Congress of the United States had always been reluctant to pass laws that gave title to those who occupied and improved the lands, this would recognize the claims of the Indians and mixed blood clans to their ancestors land. A clause in the agreement of Louisiana Purchase was supposed to protect the people who lived on the land at that time and give land title to them under English law. To protect these people Congress of the United States passed a preemption law that gave title to those who lived on the land prior to February 19, 1816. This gave rise to the concept of squatters rights and was supported by many who held on to the idea that God had created the land for them that could hold it They selected a location to their notion, built a cabin, cleared a few acres and planted crops. This was supposed to give them the right to sell their improvements, or trade their claim to the land. This differed from the English principles that land ownership was established by buying it from the government or claiming it under law and living on it and improving it and after a period, patent could be obtained by paying a fee. This difference resulted in many fights and ejection suits.
The new settlers soon owned the businesses, held the official jobs and forced the more prosperous squatters to claim their land or buy it. Those who would not accept the new concept moved on west to establish settlements and open new frontiers. They helped in a large way to give Missouri the name of "Mother Of The West."
Life, for the early settler, was nature oriented; their crafts therefore, largely consisted of converting products of nature into usable items. Wood was the most plentiful and most often used. Furniture for the home was constructed with the use of split boards, poles and strips of bark and other needs of the home, such as dishes, bowls washbasins, buckets and barrels, were made from such light, easily worked woods as cedar, linden and sassafras. Hardwood pegs were used as fasteners on furniture, shoes, tools and other articles.
All coffins were made of wood, in those days, and in order to relieve the family or community of the responsibility of hurriedly preparing a coffin after death, it was made before death and kept on hand until needed. A large tree was cut down and from it a log of the right length was taken. A slab was split off the log leaving a flat side which was then hollowed out to the size of the body and the split off slab was fitted back to become the lid of the coffin. Thus did the settlers prepare for death.
The crafts of carving, spinning and weaving of wool, Cotton, flax and other fibers into clothing was brought to this area by the settlers and dyes were developed from the use of local plants and wood products. For instance, brown was made of hickory or walnut; blue came from wild indigo; yellow was taken from the inner bark of the red oak; green could be made from goldenrod and indigo; pink came from the sassafras root and gray was a combination of walnut and indigo. The cloth to be dyed was boiled in the color solutions and set by adding salt to the dye shortly before the end of the dyeing process.
The care of the sick and wounded was a family responsibility and nature provided most of the remedies used. Diarrhea was treated with a syrup made from the leaves of the dollar vine which had steeped in boiling water. The resulting syrup was given to the luckless patient one tablespoonful at a time.
Bruises and sprains were treated by applying a poultice made from crushed green leaves of the mullein on the injured area and boils were brought to a head by placing the white lining from an egg shell over the boil, pressing the edges against the skin to seal out the air and drying the lining to draw the boil to a head.
Many of the home remedies were beneficial but there were some suggested remedies, passed from generation to generation, which made no sense at all. Some of the most ridiculous of these were the practice of placing an ax under the bed to cut the pain of childbirth, the belief that a rash in the throat of a child could be cured if a man who had never seen his father would blow his breath into the child's mouth and the conviction that a sty could be removed from the eye by going to a crossroads and repeating these words, "Sty, Sty, leave my eye, and catch the next one who comes by."
The new arrivals in the Riverways could not depend upon the trading posts to provide their needs as trips to the post for supplies were seldom made more often than once in six months. This being the case, the gathering of food from the land and the processing, storing and cooking of that food was a much more important aspect of life than can be realized today.
There were, along the rivers, large areas of open land covered with grasses and vines, but these produced little food other than wild game; the woods and border areas, however, furnished blackberries, raspberries haws, papaws, plums, grapes, sorrel, lambsquarter, dock, poke and thistle and the food staples, such as breadroot, lankipin, cattail, acorns, watercress, honey and maple sugar, long known end used by the Indians of the area.
Settlers had only the refrigeration of water, air and ground to keep their foods fresh. Their only means of preserving perishable foods was through the curing process or by preserving after which the foods were processed and stored for future use. Heat and smoke cure was used for most meats. The fireplace was often equipped with crudely constructed "wings" into which meat could be placed to cure; occasionally, however, the "wings" were built with great care, providing smoke pits where large amounts could be cured at one time and equipped with drip pans to catch the fat later to be used to make soap.
Air drying, in which the product was thin-sliced and placed in the sun, was also used. Wild fruit, pumpkin and squash were air cured and air-dried meat, called jerky, was often prepared.
The settlers preserved fruit, berries and some vegetables by placing them in stone jars filled with honey, wine or maple sugar. Meat was preserved by rubbing it with salt and saltpeter or by placing it in fats.
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A Few Early Recipes And Food Hits
Lye: To make hominy and soap, the early settlers must first make lye (spelled "ley"). To leach the wood ashes, an ash hopper is required; this is built from boards or a barrel with a hole in the bottom. To make the lye, one bushel of fresh hickory or oak ashes are placed in the hopper and one gallon of unslaked lime is spread over the ashes. Repeat these operations until five bushels of ashes and four gallons of lime are used. Water (soft water, if possible) is then poured in the hopper and stirred. The solution, which develops, is poured back through the ashes until it will support an egg with only the tip showing.
Yeast: The cakes of yeast to be used through the year are usually prepared in the autumn. Dry hops are picked from vines that grow in shaded areas, placed in a kettle one-half gallon hops to two gallons water, and brought to a slow boil for one-half hour. The hops are then removed from the water and the water is thickened with cornmeal until it has the consistency of mush. It is allowed to cool and set, then dry corn meal is added until it can be formed into thin cakes. The cakes are placed to dry and are stored in woven baskets to allow air circulation.
Beaver Tail Broth: The beaver stores his fat in his tail (which is not included in the pelt of the animal) and a nourishing and tasty broth can be made from this part of the animal. Place the tail in a bed of coals; at frequent intervals, turn the tail to even the heat. After the skin is charred, remove the charred part to expose the fat. Use this fat to make the broth. Store the unused part of the tail in a cool place as it can be used for a period of six weeks. There has always been a need to use the scraps of meat and meat extender is not a new thing. Corn meal can be used as an extender.
Scrapple: Cut or chop scraps of meat and fats into small pieces and place in a pot; add water and salt and boil thirty minutes. Stir as you add corn meal then cook till you have mush. Allow to cool and set then slice into one-half inch slices. Fry until browned and serve.
A cooking hint: If you run short of corn meal, place dry ears of corn in boiling water for four hours. Make a gritter from a piece of tin (this can be done by driving the point of a nail through the tin at one-fourth inch intervals). Use the rough side to grate the meal from the softened ears of corn.
Life In The Missouri Territory
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The pioneer ways of the Missouri Territorial Period would seem poor beyond comparison with the way we live today. The cabin was crude, children were raised to fight and hunt with stealth and deadly aim, it was necessary to exist. Living in reach of a gun made for a hard life and this hard life made hard, suspicious people.
They arose with the dawn. A light was struck with flint and steel. The fire was kindled in the fire place. The father and sons milked and fed the stock while the mother and girls prepared the breakfast. After breakfast a long day of work began. The father and older sons cleared, plowed and planted while the mother and girls completed the home crafts of preparing and processing food, candle making, cloth making and sewing. They were very saving of waste material as this was a period when the necessities of life where often produced from them; as scented soap and candles from fats, shoes and clothing from hides, nitrates from animal and bird waste. Also discarded metal was saved, even to the size of nails as tools and many useful items could be made from it.
To make it the settlers of the Missouri Territory had to become self sufficient. For items the family could not produce, they joined with the community to produce. The community tried to produce craft items or services that could be traded for products of other areas. The items that were personal to the family were rifles, axes, spinning wheels, looms and fire starting materials consisting of flint, steel and tinder box. There was a need to share in the building and use of grist mills, saw mills, blacksmith shops, and iron melters. Tools that were loaned were cross cut saws augers, sausage mills, iron or copper kettles.
The evening meal was served just before dark. After the meal the family gathered before the fireplace where often a pine knot was lighted or a lamp was made by placing a twisted wick in a clay saucer of grease. This was the time for talking, teaching and reading. The Bible was the book most often used as there were few others available.
Most of the social life was conducted during day light. There were shooting matches for various prizes such as cattle, hogs, sheep, turkeys and ducks. The rules made for the matches varied as some became so skilled that they were given a penalty or ruled out completely. Marriage in the community was a community affair that called for a cabin raising. Gifts often included pots, pans. quilts, feather beds, and sometimes a cow or tools.
Entertainment events held at night around a bonfire were fox hunting, coon hunting and square dancing. To include everyone, the square became a circle around the fire called Indian style and included yells and gestures. Though these events were few they furnished pleasant thoughts to be recalled many times after returning home.
Candles for light were usually restricted to use for special occasions such as visitors or travelers who were welcomed and given the best of dry skins for beds and fed meat and wild honey.
As the centers for law enforcement was at a great distance, the job fell to the community leaders. The laws passed for the territory were known and administered by them. There was hate and friction that led to fights and killing but there was a set rule that this must be forgotten during death and burial. Some of the punishment for crimes were set as follows: horse stealing, 20 stripes on the bare back without regard to sex, a fine and loss of the right to vote; hog stealing, whipping, a fine and time spent in the pillory.
Building in Missouri Territorial days, followed a pattern common to all pioneer communities. It was fashioned to give immediate protection against the weather and the enemy. After the home or community had become secure and the physical needs of the family had been met, however, plans were made for a more comfortable, better looking and more permanent building.
The easiest to construct, and often the first constructed, was a pole building. The ends of straight, round poles were driven upright into the ground and capped by a long pole with notched ends to form an interlock. The brush roof was laid on pole rafters and held in place by weighted poles. Occasionally, one end was Ieft open; if so, the house was referred to as a half-faced house.
The permanent buildings of this period changed from the French or Spanish type (poteaux sur solle) square shaped logs standing on a stone foundation to the English type wherein the square shaped logs lay horizontally on the stone foundation.
For chinking the cracks, fine workable clays were used. When most grass or hair was added, these clays, when subjected to the air and heat, became water resistant.
The building of the chimney constituted the main construction problem; therefore, for most families, the fireplace chimney, (though the one requiring considerable effort) was first set in place. It was constructed of rocks or cut stone held together by a mortar of salt and ashes or sand and lime slacked from lime outcroppings.
The easiest chimney type was called the "smoke hole." This was sometimes only an opening in the roof. The most common type was called the "pen" was constructed of poles and chinking above the hearth rock so that the smoke would be directed upward through the roof.
Adjacent of the pen chimney, lofts were often built for sleeping, There were few openings in the buildings. The door was made of split boards or pegged poles. Hinges were leather or wood and the door latch was wood. There was a hole bored above the latch for a rawhide string which was used to open the door from the outside; at night or for protection, the string was pulled to the inside. The windows were equipped with bar shutters. If the weather was warm, greased paper or mats woven from grass were used in the windows for air and light,
To fasten together the squared timbers and split boards, pegs made from small hickory or oak brush, then hardened by fire and wooden nails shaped from dogwood, then hardened by fire, were used. Since few angers were available. the holes for the pegs and nails were burned into the wood.
Building tools were few. The ax was the most commonly used of all the tools and next to the gun, was the item which, in the hands of the settler, made the family self sufficient and helped to insure them a comfortable living.
There were two common types of axes: the regular or wedge type with a bit end used for chopping and a burred end used for driving, and the right or left handed chisel edged broad ax. The broad ax had a crooked handle which allowed the ax to be thrown with both hands, the left or right hand directing the ax in order that it would strike the log in the line that was being hewed.
The right or left hand smoothing ax was used to smooth the timbers before placing and after placing to even the squared timbers. The facing area of doors and windows was evened by use of this ax.
The frow (froe), with a long blade and straight handle, was used for splitting. Boards for framing and shakes (shingles) were made from wood blocks cut to required length then split into half or quarter blocks. The chisel edge of the frow was placed on the end of the block to make the board the required thickness. A wood mallet was used to drive the frow and pressure was placed on the handle of the frow to change the thickness of the board.
In these early building traditions, we find the origin of two of our commonly used expressions: "the latch string is out", meaning a welcome to visit and "to hew a line," meaning to stay on the right and narrow path.
To the settler, the Indian was a mystery. His visits were never the same. He came at times with a smile and an offer of help and trade; at other times, he came yelling like a fiend or crawling like a snake. There were some Indians, remnants of tribes and Clans, who were like stray dogs wanting to cuddle close to any settlement for protection.
In the westward movement of the white settlers, the Indians were pawns for the white man's game. The more civilized tribes were forced into the hunting regions of other warlike tribes; hence they did the fighting and dying. Through this ploy, Indians were eliminated after 1803 from the Ozark uplands of south Missouri.
When the United States acquired south Missouri in 1803, the Indian population was divided between the Osage tribes and their enemies. According to estimates, there were 8,000 Little and Big Osage and 100 Missouri-ote allied with them as opposed to 1500 Delaware-Shawnee, Cherokee, 500 Quapah, and 1M miscellaneous. In 1819, the United States government moved 200 Kickapoos into south Missouri and, in 1820, the Delaware-Shawnee clans were reinforced by 1500 Indians who had moved west of their own accord.
After the Delaware-Shawnee crossed the Mississippi River,they moved into territory claimed by their related clans and for fifty years these clans occupied a forty mile north and south strip lying across Missouri, the south line of which approximates the present Highway #60. In 1822, there were 500 Indians who moved from the upper Current River region to claim a grant located in present day Green County, given them by the United States government. Since some white settlers were already there, the government forced the Indians to continue their westward movement and, while doing so, they had a number of encounters with the Osage.
The upper Current, Eleven Points and Gasconade Rivers were considered by the Osage to be their hunting grounds and immigrant Indians were encouraged to settle in the area. The Missouri Indians had used the upper Current River as their southern hunting grounds but war and disease had depleted their number; therefore, they could not contest a move into their territory. They could only huddle, for protection close to the settlements of their friends, the French. By the year 1907 all the full blood Missouri Indians were dead.
The Quapah Indians who were residents in the Eleven Points and Spring River areas, moved south of the Arkansas River and joined their related clans, the Caddo Indians. The lands which they had vacated, were occupied by the Western Cherokee and the Cherokee made raids on the horse camps of the Osage. War, which continued for over twenty-years, broke out. The Cherokee can be remembered, to this day, by names of their settlements such as Lowassie and Hiwssi. The Kickapoos were located on the Upper Niangura, Gasconade and Current Rivers. After obtaining arms, they began to raid the Osage villages to the northwest. The Osage, therefore, held a council of war in 1826 and formed a war party with instructions to take one hundred Kickapoo scalps. Instead of Kickapoo, however, the war party destroyed a Delaware village on Robidonx Creek and only four Delawares escaped. All the rest were killed and mangled or burned.
The Kickapoo were not content with raiding the Osage. They sent parties east through the Current River country to raid along the "Lead Mine Trail" and one party of filly warriors, under the war chief "Black Buffalo,"' raided as far east as Farmington where they stole a number of well bred horses.
The hunter-pioneer-settler of the Ozark uplands was lured by the wild free spirit of the new country. Although they were aware that their homes might become unmarked graves, the settlers still came in large numbers. They came to a land that had, for many years, been the home of immigrant Indians and mixed bloods and, as they advanced, the Indians and mixed bloods were pushed westward until their movement was blocked by the savage Osage.
There was a new group of settlers that started arriving in large numbers. They were the Scotch and Scotch Irish who, most of the time, bore a prefix of Mc to the name. Some were born in Scotland but many were first generation decendants of solders that came from Scotland to fight the English in the War of Independence of the states. After the war was won they stayed in the United States and received land grants in the west part of Virginia and North Carolina for their services in the war. Most of the grants were in or adjacent to the lands of the Cherokee Indians A large number of the Scotch married the mixed culture women of the Cherokee clans as they were above average in looks and education.
Many more Scotchmen came to the United States to fight the English in the war of 1812 and were not given amnesty by the English and could not return to their homes after the war. These with the sons of the veterans of the War of Independence received land boundaries in this area. As the lands along the Rocky Trails was a lot like the highlands of Scotland the greatest number selected this area. They came to Missouri territory in groups and usually contained at least five families. They were industrious and bought to the area the first real law as they were willing to band together to fight the renegade gangs that so long had ruled all who did not live under the protection of the clan.
The immigrants to the new Missouri territory brought with them a new way of life based on English law. They were far more industrious and chose for their homes locations in the valleys or open prairies instead of at the junctions of trails or river crossings. The land to them was what gold had been to the Spanish and fur to the French. To win a productive plot they would fight, toil long hours and if someone who lived on a good plot had not acquired proper title, as Indians and mixed bloods, they would try to establish title in their name.
The Congress of the United States had always been reluctant to pass laws that gave title to those who occupied and improved the lands, this would recognize the claims of the Indians and mixed blood clans to their ancestors land. A clause in the agreement of Louisiana Purchase was supposed to protect the people who lived on the land at that time and give land title to them under English law. To protect these people Congress of the United States passed a preemption law that gave title to those who lived on the land prior to February 19, 1816. This gave rise to the concept of squatters rights and was supported by many who held on to the idea that God had created the land for them that could hold it They selected a location to their notion, built a cabin, cleared a few acres and planted crops. This was supposed to give them the right to sell their improvements, or trade their claim to the land. This differed from the English principles that land ownership was established by buying it from the government or claiming it under law and living on it and improving it and after a period, patent could be obtained by paying a fee. This difference resulted in many fights and ejection suits.
The new settlers soon owned the businesses, held the official jobs and forced the more prosperous squatters to claim their land or buy it. Those who would not accept the new concept moved on west to establish settlements and open new frontiers. They helped in a large way to give Missouri the name of "Mother Of The West."
Life, for the early settler, was nature oriented; their crafts therefore, largely consisted of converting products of nature into usable items. Wood was the most plentiful and most often used. Furniture for the home was constructed with the use of split boards, poles and strips of bark and other needs of the home, such as dishes, bowls washbasins, buckets and barrels, were made from such light, easily worked woods as cedar, linden and sassafras. Hardwood pegs were used as fasteners on furniture, shoes, tools and other articles.
All coffins were made of wood, in those days, and in order to relieve the family or community of the responsibility of hurriedly preparing a coffin after death, it was made before death and kept on hand until needed. A large tree was cut down and from it a log of the right length was taken. A slab was split off the log leaving a flat side which was then hollowed out to the size of the body and the split off slab was fitted back to become the lid of the coffin. Thus did the settlers prepare for death.
The crafts of carving, spinning and weaving of wool, Cotton, flax and other fibers into clothing was brought to this area by the settlers and dyes were developed from the use of local plants and wood products. For instance, brown was made of hickory or walnut; blue came from wild indigo; yellow was taken from the inner bark of the red oak; green could be made from goldenrod and indigo; pink came from the sassafras root and gray was a combination of walnut and indigo. The cloth to be dyed was boiled in the color solutions and set by adding salt to the dye shortly before the end of the dyeing process.
The care of the sick and wounded was a family responsibility and nature provided most of the remedies used. Diarrhea was treated with a syrup made from the leaves of the dollar vine which had steeped in boiling water. The resulting syrup was given to the luckless patient one tablespoonful at a time.
Bruises and sprains were treated by applying a poultice made from crushed green leaves of the mullein on the injured area and boils were brought to a head by placing the white lining from an egg shell over the boil, pressing the edges against the skin to seal out the air and drying the lining to draw the boil to a head.
Many of the home remedies were beneficial but there were some suggested remedies, passed from generation to generation, which made no sense at all. Some of the most ridiculous of these were the practice of placing an ax under the bed to cut the pain of childbirth, the belief that a rash in the throat of a child could be cured if a man who had never seen his father would blow his breath into the child's mouth and the conviction that a sty could be removed from the eye by going to a crossroads and repeating these words, "Sty, Sty, leave my eye, and catch the next one who comes by."
The new arrivals in the Riverways could not depend upon the trading posts to provide their needs as trips to the post for supplies were seldom made more often than once in six months. This being the case, the gathering of food from the land and the processing, storing and cooking of that food was a much more important aspect of life than can be realized today.
There were, along the rivers, large areas of open land covered with grasses and vines, but these produced little food other than wild game; the woods and border areas, however, furnished blackberries, raspberries haws, papaws, plums, grapes, sorrel, lambsquarter, dock, poke and thistle and the food staples, such as breadroot, lankipin, cattail, acorns, watercress, honey and maple sugar, long known end used by the Indians of the area.
Settlers had only the refrigeration of water, air and ground to keep their foods fresh. Their only means of preserving perishable foods was through the curing process or by preserving after which the foods were processed and stored for future use. Heat and smoke cure was used for most meats. The fireplace was often equipped with crudely constructed "wings" into which meat could be placed to cure; occasionally, however, the "wings" were built with great care, providing smoke pits where large amounts could be cured at one time and equipped with drip pans to catch the fat later to be used to make soap.
Air drying, in which the product was thin-sliced and placed in the sun, was also used. Wild fruit, pumpkin and squash were air cured and air-dried meat, called jerky, was often prepared.
The settlers preserved fruit, berries and some vegetables by placing them in stone jars filled with honey, wine or maple sugar. Meat was preserved by rubbing it with salt and saltpeter or by placing it in fats.
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A Few Early Recipes And Food Hits
Lye: To make hominy and soap, the early settlers must first make lye (spelled "ley"). To leach the wood ashes, an ash hopper is required; this is built from boards or a barrel with a hole in the bottom. To make the lye, one bushel of fresh hickory or oak ashes are placed in the hopper and one gallon of unslaked lime is spread over the ashes. Repeat these operations until five bushels of ashes and four gallons of lime are used. Water (soft water, if possible) is then poured in the hopper and stirred. The solution, which develops, is poured back through the ashes until it will support an egg with only the tip showing.
Yeast: The cakes of yeast to be used through the year are usually prepared in the autumn. Dry hops are picked from vines that grow in shaded areas, placed in a kettle one-half gallon hops to two gallons water, and brought to a slow boil for one-half hour. The hops are then removed from the water and the water is thickened with cornmeal until it has the consistency of mush. It is allowed to cool and set, then dry corn meal is added until it can be formed into thin cakes. The cakes are placed to dry and are stored in woven baskets to allow air circulation.
Beaver Tail Broth: The beaver stores his fat in his tail (which is not included in the pelt of the animal) and a nourishing and tasty broth can be made from this part of the animal. Place the tail in a bed of coals; at frequent intervals, turn the tail to even the heat. After the skin is charred, remove the charred part to expose the fat. Use this fat to make the broth. Store the unused part of the tail in a cool place as it can be used for a period of six weeks. There has always been a need to use the scraps of meat and meat extender is not a new thing. Corn meal can be used as an extender.
Scrapple: Cut or chop scraps of meat and fats into small pieces and place in a pot; add water and salt and boil thirty minutes. Stir as you add corn meal then cook till you have mush. Allow to cool and set then slice into one-half inch slices. Fry until browned and serve.
A cooking hint: If you run short of corn meal, place dry ears of corn in boiling water for four hours. Make a gritter from a piece of tin (this can be done by driving the point of a nail through the tin at one-fourth inch intervals). Use the rough side to grate the meal from the softened ears of corn.
Events
| Birth | 1789 | Madison, Madison County, Kentucky | |||
| Marriage | 17 Sep 1807 | Glasgow, Barren County, Kentucky - Margaret "Peggy" West | |||
| Death | 2 Oct 1826 | Gasconade County, Missouri |
Families
| Spouse | Margaret "Peggy" West (1795 - 1841) |
| Child | Albert Alvin Flatt (1825 - 1918) |
| Father | John Flatt (1759 - 1841) |
| Mother | Patience Logsdon (1765 - 1815) |