The State Historical Society o£ Missouri COLUMBIA, MISSOURI iiaiEisiaisisisiissiiisiiaisiiSHiiii Bl THE COVER: In the article, "The Bis d & H Neck Affair: Tragedy and Farce on g] M the Missouri Frontier," the author gj refers to the visit of Big Neck to gj Washington, D. C. in 1824. At that | time Charles Bird King, noted artist, |j| painted his portrait which was placed M in the Indian Gallery of the War IE M Department. The portrait was repro- g] duced in color in Volume I of the gl§]! 1836 folio edition of The Indian | Tribes of North America, by Thomas H L. McKenney and James Hall. MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW Published Quarterly by THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI COLUMBIA, MISSOURI RICHARD S. BROWNLEE EDITOR DOROTHY CALDWELL ASSOCIATE EDITOR JAWES W. GOODRICH ASSOCIATE EDITOR The MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW is owned by the State Historical Society of Missouri and is published quarterly at 201 South Eighth Street, Columbia, Missouri 65201. Send communi­ cations, business and editorial correspondence and change of address to The State Historical Society of Missouri, corner of Hitt and Lowry Streets, Columbia, Missouri 65201. Second class postage is paid at Columbia, Missouri. VOLUME LXIV The REVIEW is sent free to all members of The State Historical Society of Missouri. Membership dues in the Society are $2.00 a year or $40 for an individual life membership. The Society assumes NUMBER 4 no responsibility for statements made by contributors to the magazine. JULY 1970 THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI The State Historical Society of Missouri, heretofore organized under the laws of the State, shall be the trustee of this State—Laws of Missouri, 1899, R.S. of Mo., 1959, Chapter 183. OFFICERS 1968-71 T. BALLARD WATTERS, Marshfield, President L. E. MEADOR, Springfield, First Vice President LEWIS E. ATHERTON, Columbia, Second Vice President RUSSELL V. DYE, Liberty, Third Vice President JACK STAPLETON, SRV Stanberry, Fourth Vice President JOHN A. WINKLER, Hannibal, Fifth Vice President REV. JOHN F. BANNON, S.J., St. Louis, Sixth Vice President ALBERT M. PRICE, Columbia, Treasurer FLOYD C. SHOEMAKER, Columbia, Secretary Emeritus and Consultant RICHARD S. BROWNLEE, Columbia, Director, Secretary, and Librarian TRUSTEES Permanent Trustees, Former Presidents of the Society RUSH H. LIMBAUGH, Cape Girardeau LEO J. ROZIER, Perryville GEORGE A. ROZIER, Jefferson City E. E. SWAIN, Kirksville ROY D. WILLIAMS, Boonville Term Expires at Annual Meeting, 1970 WILLIAM AULL, III, Lexington GEORGE FULLER GREEN, Kansas City WILLIAM R. DENSLOW, Trenton GEORGE H. SCRUTON, Sedalia ELMER ELLIS, Columbia JAMES TODD, Moberly ALFRED O. FUERBRINGER, St. Louis T. BALLARD WAITERS, Marshfield Term Expires at Annual Meeting, 1971 LEWIS E. ATHERTON, Columbia R. I. COLBORN, Paris ROBERT A. BOWLING, Montgomery City RICHARD B. FOWLER, Kansas City FRANK P. BRIGGS, Macon VICTOR A. GIERKE, Louisiana HENRY A. BUNDSCHU, Independence ROBERT NAGEL JONES, St. Louis Term Expires at Annual Meeting, 1972 GEORGE MCCUE, St. Louis RONALD L. SOMERVILLE, Chillicothe L. E. MEADOR, Springfield JACK STAPLETON, SR., Stanberry W. WALLACE SMITH, Independence HENRY C. THOMPSON, Bonne Terre ROBERT M. WHITE, Mexico EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE The twenty-nine Trustees, the President and the Secretary of the Society, the Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, and President of the University of Missouri constitute the Executive Committee. FINANCE COMMITTEE Four members of the Executive Committee appointed by the President, who by virtue of his office constitutes the fifth member, compose the Finance Com­ mittee. ELMER ELLIS, Columbia, Chairman WILLIAM R. DENSLOW, Trenton LEO J. ROZIER, Perryville GEORGE A. ROZIER, Jefferson City T. BALLARD WATTERS, Marshfield NEW SOCIETY MEMBERSHIPS The State Historical Society of Missouri is always interested in obtaining new members. For more than seventy years thousands of Missourians who have be­ longed to the Society have been responsible primarily for building its great research collections and libraries. They have given it the support which makes it the largest organization of its type in the United States. The quest for interested new members goes on continually, and your help is solicited in obtaining them. In every family, and in every community, there are individuals who are sincerely interested in the collection, preservation and dissemination of the his­ tory of Missouri. Why not nominate these people for membership? Annual dues are only $2.00, Life Memberships $40.00. Richard S. Brownlee Director and Secretary State Historical Society of Missouri Hitt and Lowry Streets Columbia, Missouri 65201 Society to Present Awards At the Annual Meeting in October the Society will M confer two awards. An engraved citation and a medallion | will be awarded to a member who has given distin- u SI guished service to the Society and to the State of Mis- |j souri in the promotion and dissemination of knowledge j§ [5] concerning the history of our region. A second engraved m citation and a one-hundred-dollar cash award will be || given for the REVIEW article during the calendar year §| which has contributed most in depth in a scholarly and (1 popular sense to the history of our State. | The Distinguished Member will be selected by a j§ three-member committee appointed by the Society presi- ii dent. One member of the selection committee will serve H IK] for two years and two members for one year. No active j§ officers or trustees of the Society, with the exception of ® past presidents, may be nominated for the Distinguished Member Award. Nominations should be made in writing to Richard S. Brownlee, director of the Society, any time during the calendar year. The prize-winning article will be selected by three historians appointed by the editor of the REVIEW. The selection committee will be changed each year with the exception of one member who will be replaced after two years. EmmmmmwmmmmmmmmmmmMmmmmmmmmm^ m m EDITORIAL POLICY The MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW is always inter­ ested in articles and documents relating to the history of Missouri. Articles pertaining to surrounding states and other sections are considered for publication when they involve events or personalities having a significant bearing on the history of Missouri or the West. Any aspect of Missouri history is considered suitable for publication in the REVIEW. Genealogical studies are not accepted because of limited general reader interest. In submitting articles for the REVIEW, the authors should examine back issues for the proper form in foot­ noting. Originality of subject, general interest of the article, sources used in research, interpretation and the style in which it is written, are criteria for acceptance for pub­ lication. The original and a carbon copy of the article should be submitted. It is suggested that the author retain a carbon of the article. The copy should be double-spaced and the footnotes typed consecutively on separate pages at the end of the article. The maximum length for an article is 7,500 words. All articles accepted for publication in the REVIEW become the property of the State Historical Society and may not be published elsewhere without permission. Only in special circumstances will an article previously published in another magazine or journal, be accepted for the REVIEW. Because of the backlog of accepted articles, publica­ tion may be delayed for a period of time. Articles submitted for the REVIEW should be ad­ dressed to: Dr. Richard S. Brownlee, Editor MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW The State Historical Society of Missouri Corner Hitt and Lowry Streets Columbia, Missouri 65201 CONTENTS THE BIG NECK AFFAIR: TRAGEDY AND FARCE ON THE MISSOURI FRONTIER. By Dorothy J. Caldwell 391 THE MISSOURI NEGRO PRESS, 1875-1920. By George Everett Slavens 413 THE UNWANTED CONFLICT: MISSOURI LABOR AND THE CIO. By Gary M. Fink 432 THE ALIENATION OF THE SOUTH: A CRISIS FOR HARRY S. TRUMAN AND THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, 1945-1948. By Robert A. Garson 448 HISTORICAL NOTES AND COMMENTS Thomas Hart Benton Receives Society's 1969 Distinguished Service Award and Medal 472 State Historical Society Exhibits "The Frederick Douglass Years" 473 Views from the Past: Missouri Courthouses 474-475 News in Brief 476 Local Historical Societies 478 Gifts 492 Missouri History in Newspapers 496 Missouri History in Magazines 501 In Memoriam 504 BOOK REVIEWS 506 BOOK NOTES 510 THE EXPERIMENT THAT FAILED. By Harold Calvert 516 INDEX TO VOLUME LXIV 519 MARY ALICIA OWEN Inside Back Cover vi "MSAlf" The Big Neck Affair: Tragedy and Farce on the Missouri Frontier BY DOROTHY J. CALDWELL* Adventurous Missouri frontiersmen, ever desirous of acquiring land for farming and stock raising, in 1829 settled in the wilderness bordering on the Chariton River, six miles west of the present site of Kirksville in Adair County. James Myers, Isaac Gross, Stephen Gross, Nathan Richardson, Reuben Myrtle and Jacob Gupp, of Howard County, built log cabins at the site which became known as the "Cabins of the White Folks" or, more popularly, as the "Cabins."1 Although Howard County settlers, during their annual fall hunt for honey, traversed the Chariton River country as they followed the Bee Trace northward along the Grand Divide, this was the first settlement in the area.2 Located in territory attached *Dorothy J. Caldwell is an associate editor of the MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW. i History of Adair, Putnam and Schuyler Counties, Missouri (Chicago, 1888), 235; E. M. Violette, History of Adair County (Kirksville, 1911), 9; R. A. Campbell, Gazetteer of Missouri (St. Louis, 1874) , 33. James Myers, in a deposition, said he settled at the site about March 15, 1829. Fayette Missouri Intelligencer, September 18, 1829. 2 Bee hunters had followed the Grand Divide between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, up to and above present Schuyler County, prior to the cession of the land by the Indians, and had given it the name "Bee Trace." Richard Gay wood, "History of Schuyler County, Missouri," An Illustrated Historical Atlas of Schuyler County, Missouri (Philadelphia, 1878) , 9.