RIPLEY COUNTY TIMELINE
12,000 – 11,000 B.C.
Current River area formed during Pleistocene era, Paleo-Indian hunters first people living in the area.
8,000 – 500 B.C.
Abundant occupation with villages, hunting camps and burial grounds. Woodland period begins in 500 B.C with introduction of pottery and the bow and arrow. People in Little Black River watershed are manufacturing sand-tempered ceramics.
1200 A.D.
Mississippian Stage underway. Powers Fort, near what is now Naylor, was a major fortified ceremonial center. Native Americans vanish from area ca. 1350.
1540.
DeSoto expedition reaches northeast Arkansas. No one living in Ripley County.
1700 – 1800
New Madrid district, under Spanish rule, includes area that will become Ripley County. Delaware, Osage, Shawnee and Quapaw tribes hunt and camp in Current River valley. Cherokee bands appear in late 1700s. Spanish and French trappers travel the river French call “La Riviere Courante.” The pre-historic Indian path, the Natchitoches Trail, is probably used by many traveling through what would be Ripley County.
1800 – 1810 Louisiana Purchase makes southeast Missouri part of U.S. in 1803
French trapper Francois Ador reported living with Indians on Current River at site of Doniphan in 1802. First European settler, “Wees” Riley arrives with Delaware Indian wife who dies in childbirth. He then marries school teacher Hannah Walker in St. Genevieve, MO in 1804 and they return to Ripley County. Riley is known as a Spaniard because he came west from Spanish territory. William Hix settles on county’s southern border near Buckskull trading post and establishes ferry service across Current River at Pitman, AR. Isaac Kelley traverses Current River again and again, and opens Indian trading post seven miles north of present day county line.
1810 – 1820
Territory of Missouri established 1812, Ripley County within New Madrid County. Lawrence County, 1815, includes southern Missouri west of St. Francis River and part of northeast Arkansas. In 1818 Ripley becomes part of Wayne County. New Madrid earthquakes drive pioneers westward, including Micajah and Sally Harris who build one- room log cabin on Natchitoches trail near present day Oxly. Doniphan’s first permanent white settler, Lemuel Kittrell arrives. Explorer Schoolcraft travels Natchitoches, spends night at Harris cabin. Major Stephen Long’s expedition returning from Rocky Mountains crosses Current River and comes up Natchitoches. U.S. Army improves trail and settlers begin calling it the Old Military Road
1820 – 1830
Missouri enters Union in 1821. Early pioneers, mostly of Scots-Irish descent, include the Merrells in the Pratt area, Littles, Pulliams and Daltons in Fourche Creek watershed and Prices in the Mill Creek area. Nathan Boone, Daniel’s son, surveys part of county’s border with Arkansas.
1830 – 1840
Stephen and Moses Austin and others follow trail through Ripley County on their way to Texas. Benge party of 1200 Cherokee comes down Old Military Road making it part of Trail of Tears. Potosi-Little Rock road completed and passes through what will become Doniphan. Ripley County, named after Revolutionary War General Ebenezer Ripley, formed with county seat in Van Buren. John Martin opens tavern/inn/post office at Martinsburg near present day Oxly. Elder Tim Reeves forms Cane Creek Baptist Church.
1840 – 1850
Shannon, Oregon and Howell counties carved out of Ripley. Doniphan, named after Missouri Mexican War hero Alexander Doniphan, founded on 32 acres donated by George Lee. Wooden courthouse built; county seat moved from Van Buren.
1850 – 1860
Population almost 3,000. Several gristmills and sawmills in operation. Post offices at Mill Creek, Little Black, Martinsburg, Gatewood, Dry Spring, Doniphan. Hamlet named after Lewis Barfield will later become Naylor. Northern half of Ripley County becomes Carter County named after Zimri Carter. Father Hogan founds Irish settlement on Ripley-Oregon county line.
1860 – 1865 – Civil War
At outset of Civil War Doniphan has 18 households and a population of 99. Ripley County, a no-man’s land border county, becomes site of ugly guerrilla conflict where no quarter is given. County provides several Colonels to Confederacy including Aden Lowe who is killed at battle of Fredericktown. Union troops under Maj. James Wilson attack Col. Timothy Reeves’ recruitment camp at Pulliam’s farm on Christmas Day, 1863. Some 35 Confederates are killed and over 100 captured. About 100 Union prisoners are freed; no casualties on Union side. Some of the Confederate dead are brought to Doniphan and buried in the pioneer cemetery. Father Hogan’s Irish Wilderness settlement disappears.
Sept. 1864 – Confederate General Sterling Price’s army invades Missouri through Ripley County. Retreating Union forces burn Doniphan, later skirmish with General Joe Shelby’s cavalry at Ponder’s mill on Butler County line.
1865 – 1870
Reconstruction – County Clerk Hutcherson retrieves court records hidden in cave during war. Thomas Ponder establishes Doniphan’s first ferry across Current River. Catholic church established; Union church started by Methodists and used by Presbyterians and Baptists. New brick courthouse built and opened in 1871.
1870 - 1880
County population 3,175 at start of decade. First public school opens. Rural communities of Gamburg, Bennett, Shiloh Springs, Pleasant Grove, Briar, Fairdealing and Ponder have schools, stores, churches, post offices as cheap land brings new settlers. Doniphan has population of 200 and Pinckney Mabrey publishes first newspaper, “The Doniphan Prospect.” Night riders of the Ku Klux Klan terrorize citizenry. Governor Hardin sends Adjutant General George Caleb Bingham to investigate. Sheriff Joel McClaren restores law and order and suppresses the Klan.
1880 – 1890
St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad completes branch line from Neelyville to Doniphan and first train arrives in Doniphan on March 23, 1883. Lumber companies begin buying large tracts of Ripley County’s short-leaf, yellow pine forest land. Saw mills and stave mills are built, Doniphan Lumber Company established in 1885, Missouri Lumber and Mining Co. begins constructing giant mill at Grandin in Carter County. “Prospect” and “Current River News” merge in 1883 to become “Prospect-News.” Rural schools and post offices proliferate as communities become more united. Current River Hunting and Fishing Club organized. Alivilda Lee opens millinery shop and becomes Doniphan’s first woman merchant.
1890-1900
County boasts 54 schools, 25 churches and a population of 8,332. Doniphan incorporated as a fourth-class city has a bank, a new three story brick schoolhouse, hotels and a variety of commercial establishments. Logging is in full swing as Grandin mill extends tram lines into Ripley County and T.L.Wright Lumber company founds mill town of King Bee. Courthouse destroyed by fire, new three-story brick courthouse built. Capt. Berthold Ladd forms Company E, 6th Missouri Infantry for Spanish-American War. City opens new cemetery at Oak Ridge. First bridge over Current River opened 1899. High School has first graduation. Thomas Mabrey serves as Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives.
1900-1910
Population reaches 13,186. Lumber industry peaks with increased production of railroad ties. Doniphan gets telephone company, water works, ice plant and new high school. Missouri gives numbers to school districts, county will eventually have 81. Gasoline powered boats replace steam driven paddle wheelers on Current River. Fishing guides with homemade johnboats attract tourists and anglers. James Dalton invents adding machine. Tornado kills five members of Elmore family. Wright sells King Bee, Grandin Mill closes.
1910-20
Canning factories open, automobile and electricity arrive, Princess Theater opens, Sol Wall has Opera House built on second floor of store. Capt. Henry Braschler organizes Company E of the 140th Regt., 35th Inf. Div. Ripley County loses 22 men in WWI.
1920-1930
Prohibition revives moonshiners and thousands of gallons of corn whiskey pour annually from the hills and hollows north of Fairdealing. Sheriff Jim Frank Young makes reputation confiscating moonshine stills. Tornado strikes on Easter Sunday in 1929, taking off courthouse tower and part of roof. James Fulbright is three-term U.S. Congressman. State highway opens to Alton, new road to Poplar Bluff completed, Current River gets new bridge. Doniphan has bus line to Poplar Bluff. Conservationist Aldo Leopold has cabin on Current River. Fires destroy much of downtown Doniphan in 1920 and 1927.
1930 – 1940
Great Depression begins, banks close, teachers go on half-salary, Red Cross provides relief. U.S. Forest Service buys tax delinquent land establishing Clark National Forest in 1933. Local boys rob Briar post office, Oklahoma outlaw “Pretty Boy” Floyd seen dining in local restaurant, Ma Barker gang believed in the area. WPA projects include ballpark, water works, courthouse renovation including new wall. County men join CCC at Camp Bardley and build roads, lookout towers, telephone lines. Public Library opens, Rural Electrification Administration brings electricity to Fairdealing and other outlying areas. First 4-H Club established. Doniphan boy’s basketball team finishes third in state.
1940 – 1950
National Guard unit called up and sent to Camp Robinson, AR in January 1941. WWII brings the draft, bond drives, rationing and other war effort activities. Doniphan’s Major General James Bradley leads 96th Infantry Division in invasion of Philippines. Lt. Gwen Harper of Poynor is one of first WAC officers. County loses 52 men killed in action. Wright Leather Specialty Co., later Vitronic, opens. Ripley still has seven railroad tie companies. Last railroad passenger train leaves Doniphan depot.
1950 – 1960
Korean War brings back the draft and County loses 16 men in action. Young, unknown singer/guitar player Elvis Presley appears at Hunt Theater. Bond issue passed to build modern hospital. Forest fire burns 20,000 acres in northern part of county. Rural school system ends as schools begin to consolidate into Doniphan, Naylor, Gatewood and Lone Star schools. Lake Ripley built, local developers’ plans to dam Current River are defeated. Highway 14 becomes U.S. 160. Albert Sheppard named Adjutant General in charge of Missouri National Guard.
1960 – 1970
Average farm acreage up to 200, cattle industry grows, pig sales jump from 9,000 to 12,00 between 1958 and 1964. Federal government closes open range in 1965. KDFN radio starts, new Junior High School completed, Three Rivers Community College opens in Poplar Bluff. Ozark National Scenic Riverways formed on upper Current River and Jacks Fork, county residents protecting private property rights stop project at Ripley County line.
1970 – 1980
Historical Society helps get Federal grant and county courthouse is restored, not torn down. The city dump is converted into a fairground. Clark Forest becomes part of Mark Twain National Forest. Fourche Lake formed north of Gatewood. Drug culture arrives with record seizures of marijuana and numerous arrests. Putt Mossman fails in attempt to leap across Current River on his motorcycle. Max Peterson becomes Director of U.S. Forest Service.
1980 – 1990
Current River reaches record flood stage of 27.3 feet, 20 businesses inundated, 250 head of cattle lost, County declared disaster area. Railroad freight service is discontinued. T.L. Wright boat landing built; Irish Wilderness established on county’s western border; National Canoe Race championship held on Current River. Billy Yates appears on country music show with Reba McIntyre and launches songwriting career. Cliff and Jerry Braschler open Braschler Quartet music show in Branson. Doniphan Neighborhood Assistance Program starts and downtown triangle of old buildings becomes Heritage Park. National Guard unit called up for duty in Panama.
1990 – 2000 Guard unit serves in Middle East in Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield. Current River Heritage Museum founded, Community Center opens, second conservation agent placed in county to combat poachers. Methamphetamine production overtakes marijuana and Southeast Missouri Task Force formed to fight it. County gets first traffic light.
2000 – 2006
New millennium opens with Doniphan population 1,932 and County at 13,509. Doniphan Donettes finish second in state basketball tournament. Bond issue passes to expand libraries in Doniphan and Naylor. Current River given over to inner tubes, jet skis and power boats. High School gymnasium named after the late Bill Wright. Lodging tax passed to allow hiring of tourism director.