Water Highway - Boonville, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 58.422 W 092° 45.665
15S E 520695 N 4313885
A second marker at this site (Lovers' Leap) and this one about the river below you.
Waymark Code: WM15QXD
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 02/12/2022
Views: 1
County of marker: Cooper County
Location of Marker: Lovers' Leap, Harley Park Overlook, W. Spring St. (Santa Fe Trail), Boonville
Erected by: Santa Fe Trail Association; National Park Service, Department of the Interior; Harley Park, City of Boonville
Marker Text:
Water Highway
Rivers were once America's super highways. Westbound riverboats churned by here, hauling American goods - cloth, hardware, paper, mirrors - from St. Louis to the frontier town of (Old) Franklin, once located across the river near the railroad bridge. Traders then coaxed heavily laden mule-drawn wagons over the Santa Fe Trail, journeying for 6 to 7 weeks. Wool, silver coins, and mules were hauled from Mexico. These items, along with harvests from local farmlands, and salt from local mineral springs, were loaded onto riverboats gliding downstream. The area boomed, along with the Santa Fe trade.
But the Missour5i River floods. In 1826, floodwaters nearly destroyed Old Franklin. By 1828, the major riverboats landing serving the Santa Fe trade moved upstream to a site near Independence, Missouri, but many traders continued to leave from Central Missouri. Boonville traders such as William Harley became commissioning and forwarding agents, hauling westbound goods from St. Louis to the Santa Fe Trailhead.