Randolph County, Missouri - Chapter 7: Early Settlements in the Boonslick Country, 1920

DANIEL BOONE'S FIRST EXPEDITION HERE - HE DISCOVERS A SALT SPRING - BENJAMIN COOPER AND FAMILY SETTLE HERE - AN ATTRACTIVE COUNTRY - FIRST PERMAJSTENT SETTLEMENT - A COLONY OF KENTUCKIANS COME - ROADS - FIRST SETTLERS IN BOONSLICK COUNTRY.

Daniel Boone in some one of his hunting and trapping expeditions discovered a salt spring about eight miles northwest of the old town of Franklin in Howard County. Afterward, in 1807, Boone's sons Nathan and Daniel M. made salt at this spring, and it is probable that the elder Boone had made salt there prior to this time. This salt spring was given the name of Boonslick, and all the country thereabouts without limit was known as the Boonslick Country.

In the spring of 1808, Benjamin Cooper and family, consisting of his wife and five sons, moved into the Boonslick Country, built a cabin and cleared some ground about two miles southwest of Boonslick. He had thus far progressed toward making a permanent home, when Governor Lews issued an order, directing him to return below the mouth of the Gasconade River. This order was given because trouble with the Indians, which soon occurred, was anticipated, and the location he had chosen was so far away, that the government could extend him no protection; another reason was that Cooper was trespassing upon lands that belonged to the Indians. In obedience to this order he returned to Loutre Island, and remained there until 1810.

This section of the Boonslick Country was not destined to be left long to the reign of the wild beasts and the savage Indian. It was attractive and presented advantages which those seeking homes where they could find the richest of lands and the most healthful of climates, could not, and did not fail to receive attention. Its fertile soil promised, with little labor, the most abundant of harvests. Its forests were filled with every variety of game, and its streams with all kinds of fish. It is no wonder that those seeking homes looked upon this section as a "promised land," where provisions could be found, and that they should select and settle the rich lands here, accommodating themselves to the scanty fare of the wilderness, and risking all the dangers from the wild beasts and the Indians who lived in great numbers nearby.

Two years after the first settlement of Benjamin Cooper and after his removal to Loutre Island, the first permanent and abiding settlement was made in this section; this was but a forerunner of the stream of emigration which soon followed.

On Feb. 20, 1810, Benjamin Cooper with several others returned to what is now Howard County. They came upon the north side of the Missouri from Loutre Island, and all of them, except Hannah Cole, the widow of William Temple Cole, and her family and Stephen Cole and his family, settled in Howard County, north of the Missouri River. Hannah Cole and Stephen Cole, together with their families, settled in what is now Cooper County.

Benjamin Cooper settled in Howard County, at the same place and in the cabin which he had built two years before. This cabin had not been disturbed by the Indians, although they had occupied all the adjacent country and doubtless had passed it many times.

In the year 1810 a colony of Kentuckians, consisting of from fifty to a hundred, families came to and settled in that part of the Boonslick Country, now Howard and Cooper counties. These settlers located on both sides of the Missouri River, the greater number on the north side, between Rocheport and the west end of Coopers Bottom. Many of them became the neighbors of Benjamin Cooper, the first settler.

When the Coopers and the Coles came to this section, there was neither road nor path for them to pass through the wilderness, save here and there the trail of the savage or the path of the wild beast. They had to take care as to the course in which to travel; any opening which they could find in the thickets, or through the forest, that would permit the passage of their wagons and animals, and frequently were compelled to chop their way through with the axe, an essential accouterment of the early pioneer.

Names of first settlers in Boonslick Country and whence they came: Those who settled in the central Boonslick Country in 1810 are as follow: From Madison County, Ky., Lieut. Col. Benjamin Cooper, Francis Cooper, William Cooper, Daniel Cooper, John Cooper, Capt. Sarshall Cooper, Braxton Cooper, Sr., Joseph Cooper, Stephen Cooper, Braxton Cooper, Ji-., Robert Cooper, James Hancock, Albert Hancock, William Berry, John Berry, Robert Irvin, Robert Brown, Joseph Wolfscale, William Thorpe, John Thorpe, Josiah Thorpe, James Thorpe, Gilead Rupe, James Jones, John Peak, William Wolfscale, Adam Woods. From Estill County, Ky., Amos Ashcraft, Otho Ashcraft, Jesse Ashcraft, James Alexander. From Tennessee, John Ferrell, Henry Ferrell, Robert Hancock. Fi'om Virginia, James Kile. From South Carolina, Peter Popineau. Previous residence unknown, John Busby, James Anderson, Middleton Anderson, William Anderson. From Wayne County, Ky., Hannah Jennie, Mattie, Dickie, Nellie, James, Holbert, Stephen, William, Samuel, Stephen, Phoebe (Stephen's wife), James, Rhoda, Mark, Nellie, and Polly Cole.

Those from Wayne County, Kentucky, settled south of the river. The women belonging to some of these families on the north side of the river did not arrive until the following July or August. There may have been others but the above list is all that we are able to trace.