Big Muddy Speaker Series

Presentation by historian Ken Kamper

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

6. p.m. Social Hour at Big A’s Restaurant
7:00 p.m. Presentation

At Big A’s Restaurant (in the back room)
308 N Main St. –  St Charles, MO
(directions below)

Presentation is FREE and open to the public!

Hosted by Greenway Network

St. Charles County is dotted with important sites related to Daniel Boone and his family’s migration westward along the Missouri River corridor. His son Nathan’s home and property, near Defiance, is now part of the St. Charles County Parks system and is where Daniel spent the last 20 years of his life.

Our guest presenter, historian Ken Kamper, has spent 40 years tracking Daniel Boone and his family’s travels west from Pennsylvania, through North Carolina, Ohio, Kentucky and finally to the Missouri River valley.

Ken will outline the Boone family sites here in St. Charles County as well as the political role Boone played during the transition from Spanish rule to the American acquisition of the Louisiana Territory. He will mention the trails his sons blazed westward after the family arrived in 1799 (Daniel Boone was 65 years old). The Boone family opened up the way west from the Spanish settlements, along the north side of the Missouri River.  This will be an informal opportunity to gain real insight about Missouri’s early culture in an informal sit down Q&A session with Ken.

Engraving by Chester Harding and James Otto Lewis, ca. 1820. This tree is believed to be the “Judgement Tree” located in the Missouri River bottoms near present day Matson, MO, where Boone held court proceedings while being the district judge under Spanish jurisdiction.

Mr. Kamper has been the Historian for the “Boone-Duden Historical Society”, Historian for the “Boone Family Association of California”, Resident Historian at the Boone Home near Defiance, Mo, and is currently Historian for the “Daniel Boone and Frontier Families Research Association” and Historian for the “Boone Society”.  In 2006 he was the recipient of the Daughters of the American Revolution Historic Preservation Award. Ken has found a number of Boone and frontier historic structures and sites, including the stone house of Daniel’s brother Squire Boone, built ca. 1800 in Missouri.  He also identified and located America’s westward expansion migration trail, from Pennsylvania to and through Missouri, including three segments of the trail through Missouri.

Ken Kamper and Greenway Network have a strong a desire to see that the original and only “Spanish Land Grant” given to Daniel Boone, which is on the Missouri Dept. of Conservation’s “Darst Bottom Tract”, become accessible to the public from the Matson Katy Trail Trailhead or from Hwy 94.  This MDC property is the site of “Missouriton” a town Boone’s son designed on Daniel’s Land Grant, with residences and commercial establishments (including a Post Office) and will always be important historically.  Unfortunately, this area is now only accessible by boat access from the Missouri River. Direct access would open avenues for better historic tourism and cultural appreciation.

Directions

To Big A’s on the Riverfront, our host for the Speaker Series.

To get there from I-70

• Take I-70 to exit 229B – the 5th St. Exit
• Merge onto 5th St. headed north toward St. Charles.
• After about 1 mile, turn right on Monroe St.
• Turn left onto N. Main St.
• Big A’s will be on your right (308 N. Main St.) Additional parking is available in the rear.
• View on Google Maps.