While in the area, we stayed with our friends Bonnie and Jimmy in Republic just south of Springfield. Bonnie is the older daughter of my second parents, Barney and Gina Brogan. They let us stay in their driveway and use their electricity and water. We shared our dinners each night and played Skyjo (one of our favorite card games) and talked and talked. Sunday afternoon after church we visited the home store of Bass Pro (not our first visit) and were amazed at how big it had become. Afterwards, we drove to a Civil War cave just outside of town that our son Jason found for us online. What a great time we had in Republic with our friends.
Bass Pro
What we saw in the next picture were the original doors, cabinetry, lighting fixtures, roof ceiling, and aquarium. Even then the founding principles of quality, selection, price, and service were obvious to those shopping in the store.
While shopping, we found our patriotic shirts for the 4th of July, and Barney got a new white hat advertising Bass Pro.
Civil War cave
He and a pair of guides followed a stream of pure water to the cave’s mouth. He was so inspired by the majesty and beauty of the huge cave entrance before him through the forest that he “wanted to shout.”
a state split during the Civil War
Missouri was the site of the 3rd most fought over state in the Union during the Civil War. It’s believed that over 70% of the state’s established rural population in 1861 was from the “traditional” South: Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia. Most of these residents didn’t want to be pulled into the conflict.
On the other side of the conflict, Missouri was also home to a large population of German immigrants who had strong patriotic loyalties to the Union. While the sitting governor was a southern-sympathizer, he knew that the best way to maintain the fragile balance of peace was to declare his state “neutral” in 1861.
Lyon discovered that military supplies at the St. Louis dock had been sent from the Confederacy to Camp Jackson, the state arsenal in St. Louis. Immediately he took action to move most of the weapons secretly to Illinois and then make a show of force to stop the rebellion in its tracks. He marched 7000 Union troops to Camp Jackson and forced its surrender. The Missouri Militia was arrested and then marched down the streets of St. Louis to jail. Citizens hurled insults and stones at the Union soldiers, and the shooting began. When the dust settled, 8 civilians were dead in the streets, including 2 women and a child. From then on the people decided they needed to choose sides.
The governor and now Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon tried to resolve their differences, but they couldn’t come to a resolution. Missouri’s secession from the Union was signed on August 5, 1861, and the Confederate Government was recognized as the 12th Confederate state on November 28, 1861.
During the same time frame, the pro-Union legislators met in Jefferson City and declared the state’s loyalty to the Union. For the rest of the war, Missouri had 2 governments and representation in both the U.S. Congress and the Confederate Congress and a star on both flags.
Missouri was the site of over 1,100 Civil War engagements, a total exceeded only by Virginia and Tennessee. As a fiercely contested border state, it experienced major conventional battles, severe guerrilla warfare, and pivotal campaigns. (AI)
Next we’ll go to the retirement home of the author of Little House on the Prairie books, Laura Ingles Wilder and her husband Almanzo.
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