Annals of Platte County, Missouri - Paxton




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11 ZADOCK MARTIN. he shouldered his rifle. called his dogs. and went game-hunting. His negroes had cabins scattered around on his lands and were ready at all hours to do him feudal service. . ]( DST-( )Il H F. May 29. ]8.8A post-office was established at Fort l.eae11~ worth, and Philip 1. Rand was the first postmaster. 1reiousy, tl1e officers and menreceived their mails at Liberty. STATEMENTS OF WOODS AND BERRY Adam C. Woods and -James H. Be11y were citizens of Clay i11 1829. and frequentl visited the Fort. They saw the soldiers eo11st111etii11g their quarters of hewed logs. and their stables of round cottonwood trees. The (anto111ne11t aorded a market for the surplus produce of the west half of (la). ll1ere were no Indians in Platte. A few Iowas were at Bla eksnake Hills. and at Agency, in I-int-lianan. The best-k11ow11 officers at tl1e Fort were Maj. Riley and (ols. Sumner. Harvey. a11d Kear11e. THE FALLS OF PLATTE Mr. Geo. B. Duncan says: I travelled the new road from Barry to Fort Leavenworth. by way of the Falls. in autumn of 1828. The road iii the timber was very 1-ou;:l1. e crossed the Platte between the upper and the lower falls. which were about 2 perpendicular feet each. a11 about 200 feet apart. The interim was a gently inclined plane. for111ed of large flat rocks. divided into parallelogramss by seams, 4 to 6 inches wide. They extended from shore to shore, and when the river was full. a sheet of water. with flume-like rapidity. descended over them. When low. the surface of the rocks was bare, and the noisy water rippled through the seams. The natural fall. before the dam was built. was about 6 feet." 1829. FORT LEAVENWORTH, PRICES, GAME, etc Mr. Duncan eontinues: In the fall of 1829, Riee Davenport and my father. James Duncan. sold a lot of bacon to the quarter- master at the Fort for 1:, cents per pound. I drove the team. We crossed the Missouri in a. flat-boat. constructed at Liberty. and brought up the river by a steam-boat. Two yoke of oxen were first taken over. and then the wagon. .et pork. in 1.929. sold for 75 eents per hundred; horses brought $15 to $20. oxen per yoke $30. a11d largze steers $10. . purchaser of horses took :1 lot to Ohio. I 111ade two trips to Ohio as a di-over. .fter selling our horses, I retur11ed on foot. Ve often Visited the llatte te1ritorV. hunting deer and bees. Both were abu11da11t. Ren (orneis was the champion bee-l111nter. He often camped o11 Ree (1-eek. a11d gave it its name. One fall I killed one hundred :1 nd twenty deer. There were no buffaloes on this side of the .Iissoi1ri. I never saw but one elk. and that was after it was killed. meswax was a