Oldest Military School west of the Mississippi - Boonville, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 58.259 W 092° 44.749
15S E 522019 N 4313587
This marker (plaque) is pole mounted near the original entrance to the school.
Waymark Code: WM16AZT
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 06/18/2022
Views: 1
County of marker: Cooper County
Location of marker: 3rd St., just N of Spruce St., Entrance columns, Boonville
Marker Text:
KEPMER MILITARY SCHOOL
& COLLEGE 1844-2002
On this site stood one of America's premiere military schools. Founded in 1884 by Professor Frederick T. Kemper,
the school became known as the "Oldest Military School west of the Mississippi" and was regarded as the "West Point of the West". The school's graduates went on to serve in all the professions and have been represented in every war the United States has fought from the Civil War to Operation Enduring Freedom.
Cadets who attended Kemper came from every state in the Union and from nearly every country in the world. Will Rogers, a noted American actor and humorist attended Kemper as a young man. The school's "Gold Star" Alumni Roll of Honor denoting those who had fallen in time of war is one of the largest for a school this size.
Founded as a male boarding school, Kemper used peer leadership and a system of voluntary compliance called the Standard of Honor for instilling and maintaining order and discipline. Professor Kemper's creed for his beloved school, "The object is to develop in harmony the physical, mental, and moral abilities, not to create mere scholars but to make men." became so copied it has been used by most institutions of higher learning and even some of the Armed Forces of the United States.
At the school's peak from about 1920 through 1970, the school annually enrolled nearly 500 cadets. The orderly conduct and day to day routine of the Corps of Cadets was administered by the students themselves. Today the Eternal Corps of Cadets through four of the original founders of Echo Company, Kemper Military School, present you with a portion of out heritage -- Nunquam Non Paratus or never unprepared. Be prepared for whatever may come, the future is yet to be written.