First Trail West from St Louis, Missouri - Wagon Roads and Trails on Waymarking.com

The text on the sign reads:

"St Charles Rock Road
Boones Lick Road
St. Louis
First Trail West started near this corner 1764.
marked by the Daughters of the American Revolution
and the State of Missouri.
1913,
Rededicated 1970-DAR"

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Details:
Thirty granite markers were placed by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1913, along a path stretching 120 miles from St. Charles to New Franklin. The stones mark specific sites, such as a stagecoach stop, a tavern, a fort and other outposts along the Boone’s Lick Trail, an early road traveled by pioneers who settled Missouri. The Trail was important during the development of Missouri but today it's name is mostly forgotten by most residents of the state.

The history is the some of the most important and most valuable history west of the Mississippi River and Missouri, but seldom earns an entry in history books. The Boone’s Lick Trail was the major trail early settlers used when traveling west for 40 years, until the Oregon and Sante Fe Trails were established. Boonslick Trail provided the travel route as far as Franklin, where the beginning of the Sante Fe Trail is located, a spot where back-to-back historical markers record the ends of the two trails. Daniel Boone was the major promoter of the trail, as he spent a large part of his life traveling the trail, assisting settlers with the journey into the western frontier, first leading settlers across the Blue Ridge Mountains into Kentucky and later into Missouri.

Boone first arrived in Missouri in 1799, when Missouri was still a Spanish territory, enticed by the offer of a generous land grant for himself and every family that followed. The extended Boone family settled in the Femme Osage Creek Valley, not far from the Missouri River (near Matson). The Boone settlement was thought to be located further west than any other American settlement at that time, and was mentioned in the journals of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

In 1805, brothers Nathan and Daniel Morgan Boone located a salt deposit (called a "lick"), in Howard County of present-day central Missouri. Since salt was an essential commodity for settlers and was used to cure meat, the Boones were able to establish a business, boiling water from the saline spring at the salt deposit, and shipping the precious salt 160 miles down the Missouri River to the Boone settlement. The Historical Site called Boone's Lick preserves the site of the salt deposit.

In the early settlement of the Midwest, settlers traveled along a faint trail along the river to purchase the salt from the Boone's brothers, and eventually an outpost was established to handle the business; the trail became known as Boone Trace. In 1808 Nathan Boone guided William Clark and a group of his militiamen, from St. Charles to Franklin along a path a few miles north of near the salt works, and their trail eventually became the Boone’s Lick Trail. That trail developed into “the state road”, with continuing adjustments and improvements until modern day, and now the route closely parallels the current Highway N through St. Charles and Warren counties and then Interstate 70 from Warrenton to Boonville. Boone's Lick Trail essentially began the road that established the interstate road system. In 1911, the determined organization called "Daughters of the American Revolution" led a public movement that was largely successful and led to the creation of a national highway system that was built along the historic old frontier roads. Much of the Boone’s brother's salt lick trail became U.S. Highway 40 and later I-70, with the very the first section of the interstate located just a few blocks from the beginning of the original Boone’s Lick Trail.

Road of Trail Name: St Charles Rock Road or Boones Lick Road State: Missouri County: St. Louis Couty Historical Significance: First major trail west for the settlers that were expanding the Western Frontier, and beginning of the interstate road system. Years in use: Approximately 1808-1860 How you discovered it: I noticed the marker while vacationing in St. Louis. Website Explination: http://www.ruralmissouri.org/04pages/04OctBooneslick.html http://boonehistory.blogspot.com/2010/01/tavern-played-important-role-in-pioneer.html Why?: Originally the trail was used to obtain the important commodity of salt; later the trail was used for general travel and finally used as an interstate highway. Directions: Kiener Plaza (Park), St. Louis, Missouri. (At the corner North Broadway & Market Streets) Book on Wagon Road or Trial: Not listed

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