While most Missourians didn’t steal bodies, some Missourians owned them. Along the Missouri River, several old plantation houses still stand in the fields. Some of these plantations apparently engaged in the export of human flesh. They were slaves, raised and … Read More
Evading the Body Snatchers, Part 2
When Europeans came to Missouri, it didn’t take long for Moses to play a pivotal role. Like the man for whom he was named, this Moses was a leader, and the grandfather of a modern day version of the promised … Read More
Evading the Body Snatchers, Part 1
Thomas Jefferson’s original grave marker can’t sit still. More than a century ago, it migrated from Monticello to Mizzou. Since then it has moved a couple of times on the campus quadrangle. I suspect Tom wouldn’t mind this movement, … Read More
Searching for mom under the snow
I wasn’t expecting this. Time was running out to retrieve the holiday wreaths we had made to dress family graves. Grandview Cemetery warned us they would destroy decorations remaining after March 1. Fair enough. I jumped in my car and … Read More
121 Years Ago Today
Sunday evening, February 5, 1911. Unusually warm. A thunderstorm approached the state capitol from the west and lightning struck the dome around suppertime. Among the dozens of eyewitness reports and photographs is this one, courtesy Cole County Historical Society. The … Read More
The Good Badass Samaritan
It was Friday, already scorching hot, and the sun’s heat shimmered on the highway ahead. My car, Erifnus Caitnop, pointed her nose toward Columbia, and we both looked forward to some rest after a grueling week on the road. By … Read More
The Bridge to Nowhere
I was running late. Hannibal was still an hour away. So I took a short cut. My Pontiac was making good time on the backroads, slicing down straightaways that squeeze between flat soybean fields, fallow before spring planting. Oncoming cars … Read More