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THE AMERICAN FRONTIER
Lindenwood
University preserves frontier site while expanding educational opportunities.
By Liese Hutchison
Why does a university
purchase an historic home and re-created frontier village? The answer
is simple, notes Dennis Spellmann, president, Lindenwood University.
"It ties in with Lindenwood, because our founders were very involved
in the area during this time," he states. Founded in 1827 by Mary
Sibley and her husband, Major George Sibley, Lindenwood stresses
a strong values education.
The
university purchased the home and property last year. "This fits
in with our mission and our emphasis on entrepreneurism, citizenship,
independence and hard work," Spellmann states. "What we're trying
to do is educate the whole person based on American values and
culture. We think tying in our courses and program with the Boone
Home helps students succeed in the frontier of the new century."
Above:
The historic Daniel Boone Home was purchased by Lindenwood University
last
year.
Spellmann
notes that Boone's pioneering spirit and his ideals of independence,
integrity and responsibility lend themselves to higher education.
The university has opened the National Center for the Study of
American Culture and Values at the site. Courses that are currently
being offered or that are proposed include:
- Native
American Crafts
- Interpretive
Storytelling
- Historic
Renovation
- Art
History
- History
of the Frontier
- Frontier
Writers
- The
Frontier Culture.
Spellmann
envisions students preserving crafts such as fabric art, woodworking
and blacksmithing. In the historic renovation program, students
hew logs and restore buildings from the early 1800s. In addition,
students and faculty are creating an arboretum on the 860 acres
with indigenous species. All non-native species are being eliminated.
The arboretum will house a nature walk and will offer field experiences
for students in natural sciences.
The
university is also planning an amphitheater for summer concerts,
a conference center, apple orchard, popcorn field and sheep farm.
"We'll have students sheer the sheep, spin the wool and turn it
into fabric art," Spellmann says. "We want to be a conservator
of these skills so people from all around the world can come here
and learn."
Above:
Lindenwood University is tying in some of their courses with the
history, culture and values of American life during the time of
Daniel Boone.
Accounting,
marketing and business students will also be involved in running
and promoting the property. The computer science students are
putting the historic buildings on Computer-Aided Design (CAD)
systems. "I'm still trying to figure out a way to get the chemistry
program involved in this," Spellmann ponders.
Currently,
the site receives 50,000 visitors a year. Lindenwood plans to
add 40,000 area school children to that number for hands-on history
classes.
Spellmann
notes that other universities may own an historic home or site,
but no other universities' programs are as comprehensive as Lindenwood's
with its center on American culture, arboretum, historic village,
amphitheater, nature trails, conference center and restoration
area.
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"Columbus
of the Woods"
George
Caleb Bingham, an acclaimed frontier painter, depicted Daniel
Boone as an explorer opening up the American frontier in his painting
"Columbus of the Woods."
Boone
(1734-1820), one of the original settlers into the wilds of Kentucky,
moved west to Missouri in 1799 when Kentucky became a state and
wanted to tax its landowners. Boone, notes Carolynn Whetzel, director
of the Daniel Boone Bicentennial Committee, was granted vast amounts
of land due to his pioneering efforts to settle Kentucky. Unable
to pay the taxes, he followed one of his sons, Daniel Morgan Boone,
to Matson, Mo.
It
wasn't just Boone and his extended family that moved. Hearing
that he was exploring a new frontier, others followed Boone to
Missouri. The Boone women arrived via canoe, but most of the Boone
men walked from Kentucky, herding their live stock. The trip took
six weeks. Not wanting to cross two rivers, the Boone family walked
up to Alton to cross the Mississippi. This crossing and trail
along the Missouri to Boone's new home was followed for decades
by other explorers, including Lewis and Clark in 1804.
"Daniel
Boone, along with his children and grandchildren, played a significant
role in westward expansion that is not readily recognized in Missouri,"
Whetzel states. She says his influence is considerable, because
he established the first trail west through Missouri, people followed
him here, and he became an icon in his own time.
After
his arrival, Boone lived with Daniel Morgan and the duo had side-by-side
land grants. His daughter, Jemima Boone Callaway, lived in Marthasville,
Mo., and that's where Boone and his wife Rebecca eventually spent
most of their time. In 1813, Rebecca died in her daughter's home.
Around that time, Boone's other son, Nathan, began building a
home in St. Charles county in the Femme Osage Valley. Boone did
spend time there with Nathan and died in the home in 1820. That
home is what is now known as the Historic Daniel Boone Home and
is in Defiance, Mo.
Boone
and his sons operated a salt lick in Boonville, which is west
of Columbia, Mo. Nathan followed his father's pioneering ways
and opened the overland trail straight west, instead of following
the Missouri River, from St. Charles to Boonville, saving considerable
time for frontier travelers.
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Boonesfield
Village
In addition
to the preservation of the Historic Daniel Boone Home, the 860-
acre complex
is also home to Boonesfield Village. This village houses historic
structures
from the Boone era.
Currently
located in Boonesfield Village, are a:
- Schoolhouse
(circa1831)
- Milliner's
Shop (circa 1840)
- Woodworker's
Shop (circa 1837)
- Peace
Chapel (circa 1840)
- Stake
House from (1828 and 1840)
Structures
under construction, renovation
and anticipated to be added to Boonesfield Village by 2002 are:
- The
Sappington/Dressel House (circa 1812)
- Flanders
Callawy House (circa 1812)
- Newton
Howell Log House (circa
1814)
- Sash Lumber
Sawmill (circa 1815)
- Borgmann
Animal Driven Mill (circa
1840)
- Fritz
Von Der Bruelge Store (circa
1830)
- Phillip
Creamer House (circa 1820)
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| Liese L.
Hutchison is an assistant professor in the department of communication
at Saint Louis University and a free-lance writer. |
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