Publishers of digital and traditional print media 573.208.6868 , foothillsmedia@yahoo.com
The May 13, 1886 Warrensburg Standard newspaper reported on a rattlesnake raid in the vicinity of Bollinger Mills (present day Zalma). According to the paper the party killed 17 rattlesnakes ranging in size from four feet to six feet. Additionally six “very large” snakes of varying species were killed before the rain stopped “the slaughter of the innocents” as the paper put it.
The following article was originally published in the May 5, 1983 issue of The Tipton Times (Tipton, Missouri).
The January 12, 1917 issue of the Bloomfield Vindicator carried the news of a Black porter (railroad employee who handled baggage and assisted passengers) who assaulted a citizen in Delta, Missouri at the Delta Hotel. The article, originally published in the Lutesville Banner reported:
“It is reported that last Monday evening a negro porter at the Delta Hotel, who had his hide full of bad whiskey, picked up an oil wrench which was laying on a barrel at the depot and hit Lem Boone, one of the hands at the Goodwin and Jean poultry house, across the head. It was thought for some time that he had killed Boone. He stood the crowd at the depot off with an automatic and made his escape before the citizens could get their guns, and it is well that he did, for it is said there would have been a hanging in Delta and one less bad negro. The telephones were used and after a few hours the negro was arrested in the Cape and was landed in the Jackson jail.”
The May 11, 1893 edition of the Marble Hill Press reported that big plans were in the works for Bollinger County, Missouri which included either an improved (possibly new) railroad depot in Lutesville and a mining operation at Alliance.
A planned zinc mining operations near Alliance was also taking shape. For those unfamiliar with Alliance it is located in the northern portion of Bollinger County. A brief history of the area can be found on the Wikipedia website, which states Alliance was also known as “Jugtown”:
“Alliance is an unincorporated community in the northwestern part of Whitewater Township in Bollinger County, Missouri, United States.
The community was named after the organization Farmer’s Alliance, an organized agrarian economic movement among American farmers which had been organized in Illinois in 1880. Farmer’s Alliance was a strong and flourishing organization in Alliance at that time. Alliance is also called Jugtown because of the pottery that was manufactured from the clay found there. A post office was established there in 1889 and was in operation until 1953.”
I found this old advertisement for Champion Equipment in the May 21, 1902 issue of the Marble Hill Press newspaper. There isn’t much left of Laflin, Missouri now but in 1902 it was a small community with a store and home to an equipment dealer named Fred Clippard.
Foothills Media Baseball Cap
Support independent media by purchasing our stylish and comfortable Foothills Media baseball cap, 100% cotton, one size fits all with adjustable strap. Features our trademark Foothills Media logo.
$20.00
Thomas Fletcher was the 18th Governor of Missouri serving from 1865-1869.
During the Civil War he served as a colonel in the 31’st Missouri Volunteer Infantry (Union) and was captured in 1862.
Fletcher was released via a prisoner exchange in May, 1863 and saw service during the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, the Battle of Chattanooga, Tennessee and the Atlanta Campaign. According to Wikipedia.org:
“Returning home because of illness in the spring of 1864, Fletcher recovered in time to organize the 47th and 50th Missouri infantry regiments and to command a regiment at the Battle of Pilot Knob, Missouri, where General Sterling Price‘s advance on St. Louis was stalled. For this service, he was brevetted brigadier general of volunteers.”
At first glance, reading a brief summary of Fletcher’s military and political career in a Wikipedia article seems impressive, however, a closer look at this career will reveal he was a corrupt criminal and a very accurate view of just how the citizens of Missouri felt about him can be found in the June 28, 1866 issue of the Cape Girardeau Argus (Cape Girardeau, Missouri).
The Probity of Thomas Fletcher:
“Although Tom Fletcher and his contemptible minions are detested are detested by the people of Missouri, scornfully and haughtily treated in their private and official relations ( as becomes a dignified and honorable society , when forced into communication with dissolute and unprincipled characters, ) still with shameless and what is still worse malignant audacity, he and they , exercise the functions of their respected offices regardless of law or common decency.
It is not enough to appoint men tainted with impiety and steeped in crimes – such as arson, larceny and murder, to responsible and once honorable offices, but he selects those against even Radicals have expressed their disapprobation , so horribly vile and unnaturally low were the people defying aspirants.
Yet it is the malignant pleasure of this excorable Executive, by such appointments , to sink the State, if possible, beyond redemption.”
Bollinger County, Missouri suffered the fate of one of Governor Fletcher’s “appointees”, James Rogers was appointed sheriff of the county in 1866. In a previous blog post I wrote of Roger’s reputation:
“The June 28, 1866 issue of the Daily Union and American newspaper (Nashville, TN) reported:
General J.R. McCormack, who is a candidate for the Conservative nomination for Congress in the third district, delivered a speech in Dallas, Webster County [Editors note: mistake by newspaper, Dallas present day Marble Hill, Missouri is in Bollinger County] on the 14th inst. , and he was attentively listened to. Shortly afterward a squad of five or six ruffians surrounded him, when one of them, named James Rogers, without provocation, knocked the Doctor down, the blow for a time rendering him speechless.
On recovering , he found the ruffians had left. Rogers is Sheriff of Bollinger county, an officer of the peace, appointed by Governor Fletcher. He is also charged with committing murder during the troubles in Southeast Missouri, and to have been guilty of swindling the Government in some lead and beef contracts down there.”
In 1996 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published a public interest story about Bollinger County resident Richard “Mac” Saling. The paper, in its March 10, 1996 issue reported that when “Mac” Saling died around Christmas, 1994:
“He left behind 40 acres of timber and stickerweed, a $25,000 checking account, a collection of over 100 shotguns and rifles, six guitars, 18 pairs of brand new overalls and thousands of dollars in cash hidden in and around the little house where he had spent most of the past 40 years.
In fact they found a little bit of everything when they started poking through what was left of the old man’s life.
Everything except a will.
In the year since his death, Salings relatives have been locked in a battle for the disabled World War II veteran’s estate, an estate that some say is worth a quarter of a million dollars.
According to the paper, the fight for Saling’s estate, which was located near the Gimlet Creek Bridge on Highway 34, was between a group of cousins from Illinois and Jackie Lee Makara, a woman who claimed she was Saling’s daughter.
The Post-Dispatch also quoted a local neighbor of Saling’s (one that local readers probably know and recognize):
“Deanie Givens, a neighbor of Saling for 40 years, says she has no doubt that Makara is Saling’s daughter and legitimate heir.”
The Post-Dispatch reported that an auction of Saling’s property netted between $60,000-$150,000.
“The house had no running water or indoor plumbing. Saling burned firewood in a big stove in the middle of the living room before the pain in his legs became so bad he had to move to the apartment in Glen Allen several months before he died.”
On July 23, 1997 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch followed up on the story reporting that Jackie Lee Makara had sought and was granted an exhumation to extract a DNA sample from Mr. Saling and that the test proved (with a 99.4 % probability) she was the daughter of him.
The paper also reported that this did not dissuade Saling’s cousins from challenging Makara for his estate.
This however, is where this story seems to end, in the press anyway.
I found this advertisement in the December 6, 1945 Wayne County Journal- Banner newspaper. Public transportation has always been a problem in the Eastern Ozarks of Southeast, Missouri but Scofield Bus Lines tried to address the problem.
Foothills Media Baseball Cap
Help support independent media with your purchase of our Foothills Media baseball cap. Stylish and comfortable, 100% cotton, one size fits all. Cap features our trademark Foothills Media LLC logo on the front, with our web address (www.foothillsmedia.net) on the back. $20 price includes, shipping/ handling and tax.
$20.00
The February 17, 1986 edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on the possible merger of the towns of Lutesville and Marble Hill, Missouri. The two tiny towns separated only by Crooked Creek were probably unfamiliar with the vast majority of its readers.
The paper reported:
“In a move to blend progress with local sensibility, two adjacent towns in southeastern Missouri are seeking to merge without either one having to give up its name.
The two are Lutesville and Marble Hill in Bollinger County. They propose to achieve their compromise with an old trick of punctuation- the hyphen. Assuming the voters approve, the new town will be Lutesville- Marble Hill, population 1466.”
The previous fall voters in Marble Hill voted (209- 4) to merge the two towns under that town’s name. However, voters in Lutesville narrowly defeated (97-3) merging the two towns under the name Marble Hill.
The proposed name of Lutesville- Marble Hill was the result of a compromise, as residents of Lutesville were concerned about losing their town’s identity.
The Post-Dispatch also reported that:
“Commission members have said a merger would make the area more attractive to industries. International Hat Co., the area’s largest employer, employs about 135 in its plant in Lutesville.
Both communities also benefit from an industrial park in Lutesville , an airstrip in Marble Hill and a regional park in Lutesville.”
In the years since the article was written, Lutesville lost its identity (the only trace of it being Lutesville Ford) and both towns lost the hat factory and most recently the airport.
The July 16, 1909 issue of The Democrat- News (Fredericktown, Missouri) carried a fascinating, yet outlandish tale of buried treasure in the Bessville, (Bollinger County) Missouri area.
According to the paper, it received several reports of area residents meeting the ghost of an Indian chief, near a haunted house, where a murder had taken place years before.
From the Democrat-News:
“The general quarry around Marquand at this time is “anything about the haunted house.” It seems that this house is located one half mile north of Bessville and was owned by Andrew Whitener some 5 years ago.
Strange and weird tales are now being told of happenings in the vicinity of the house, one of which is that about 19 months ago a lady living in the house started to Marquand on foot, when about a mile and one half from Bessville she was accosted by an Indian chief who informed her that near Union church on Crooked creek a large amount of money is buried, the “chief” described the spot very minutely; after imparting this information the “chief” vanished into air.
It is said that Will Collins met this spirit chief and had a talk with him and he also told Will about the money and where it was buried and went with him to the spot and told him to dig; two more living in the vicinity of Bessville have run across the “chief” and money has always been his theme.
It is said that the “Chief” held quite a lengthy conversation with one of the people living in that community and imparted to him the following story as to how the money came to be buried in that particular location.
“Many years ago the Mexicans would travel from their home country to Mine La Motte , the trip being made to get lead, which was hauled to the river and sold , one old Mexican prospector named Juan Jesus de Gareero had been particularly fortunate and had accumulated a large amount of money, he had a handsome daughter who had shared with him in the privations and hardships endured while working at Mine La Motte, he started for his old home in Mexico with his daughter, intending to live in comfort for the balance of his days.
When he left Mine La Motte, he was followed and when near the spot where this house stands he was set upon, killed and robbed and his daughter outraged and killed by the men who had followed them. It is said that he carried his money, which was in gold coin, in three old pots which were sealed up and slung across a mule which carried their other luggage.
The robbers after securing the treasure had a falling out had a falling out amongst themselves as to a division of the coin and one night before a division has been made and while the money was still in the pots, one of the Mexicans stealthily arose and killed his three companions, throwing their bodies in the waters of Crooked creek. He then fearing to take the money with him buried it in the sands of Crooked creek.
On his way back to Mine La Motte he stole a horse, was captured by a posse and hung and his ill gotten money, never did him any good and it is said to be the spirit of the murdered Mexican who hovers around the country in the guise of an Indian Chief.”
Be that as it may, several parties have prospected in the vicinity of Union church, three holes have been dug, one of which is about 14 feet deep; it is also said that the spirit of the girl is often seen around the place: one party states that she saw the girl at the house and that she was dressed entirely in black with a bible in her hand, the vision was also seen by other parties.”
Foothills Media Baseball Cap
Stylish and comfortable, fully adjustable, one size fits all, 100% cotton, cap features our trademark Foothills Media logo on the front.20
$20.00
Foothills Media LLC 