This Month in Missouri History

Before 1904 World's Fair, we needed clean water

Before St. Louis could contemplate staging the 1904 World's Fair, the city needed to clean up its drinking water supplies. St. Louis city mayor was the guy who did it.

Mayor-to-be Rolla Wells was born June 1, 1856. He was the person who would eventually make the city's drinking water suitable for use by millions who would visit during the World's Fair.

Other June anniversary events include a first local color TV broadcast, a Democratic National Convention, the capture of a fort at Kaskaskia and birth of a writer who claimed to have written a book by "channeling" with a dead Mark Twain.

(Each month, the Missouri History Museum collects information about people and events that made area history during the current month. Young Saint Louis.com then presents them for your information and enjoyment.

(YSL.com also gives links in each item so you can get more information from other Internet sources. If you'd like to know more about the Missouri History Museum, visit www.mohistory.org.)

Clean water for 1904 World's Fair

Rolla Wells was born in St. Louis on June 1, 1856. He became mayor of the city in 1901, just as the city was getting ready for the 1904 World's Fair.

During his term, the city completed the significant feat of making the city's water supply clear and safe. Prior to that, drinking city water was considered an "adventure." A big problem was the sediment in the water which had a cloudy look.

In the spring of 1904, the city water department began using a combination of milk of lime and iron sulphate to coagulate the sediment. It was considered an experimental process at the time but did the job.

So, when visitors came for the fair, they had a chance to drink clean water. This was considered to be highly desirable as the city welcomed new visitors from around the world.

After his terms as mayor, Wells became the treasurer of the Democratic National Committee and later the first governor of the 8th Federal Reserve District. He died in 1944 and is buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery.

(For more on Wells, visit http://exhibits.slpl.org/mayors/data/dt65048758.asp.)

First color TV broadcast in 1956

The first local live, color telecast was done by KSDK (Channel 5) in June, 1956.

KSDK has been in the forefront of television broadcasting from the beginning. When it began broadcasting in 1947, it was one of only seven stations in the country.

It was St. Louis' only television station until 1953.

(For more on the history of TV, visit: http://inventors.about.com/library/
inventors/ blcolortelevision.htm)

1888 National Democratic Convention

The 1888 National Democratic Convention was held in St. Louis in the St. Louis Exposition and Music Hall. That was a giant building that has totally vanished from the current St. Louis scene.

The St. Louis Public Library headquarters is now built on the site.

But, in 1888, is hosted the national Democratic convention that re-nominated Grover Cleveland for president and Allen G. Thurman as vice president.

The building was named the J.B. Legg's Exposition and Music Hall, named after the designer.

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra was headquartered there. It had a stage which could accommodate 1,500 and was considered to be the world's largest. Its audience seating capacity was 3,500.

For more on the hall and its colorful designer, visit: http://www.landmarks-stl.org/architects/bio/jerome_bibb_legg_1838_19/

The man who captured Fort Kaskaskia

George Rogers Clark was one of the heroes of the American Revolution. But, most of his fighting was in the western frontier territory around St. Louis.

On June 24, 1778, he and 120 men left Virginia bound for Kaskaskia, on the Mississippi River south of St. Louis. His goal was to capture the British fort that was paying Indians to harass American colonists.

The troops arrived on July 4 and captured the fort without firing a shot. The lack of fighting was due primarily to the unwillingness of most residents, either French Canadians or Indians, to fight for the British.

He then went on to Vincennes where he captured another fort. These military actions greatly weakened British influence.

When the British the Northwest Territory in the 1783 Treaty of Paris, Clark was hailed as the "Conqueror of the Old Northwest."

George Rogers Clark was the older brother of William Clark, of Lewis and Clark fame.

For more on Clark, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Rogers_Clark.

Revolutionary war, see www.americanrevolution.com/his_battles_vincennes.html.

Kankaskia, visit www.greatriverroad.com/stegen/randattract/kaskaskia.htm.

Author Emily Grant Hutchings' "channeled" novel

Missouri author Emily Grant Hutchings and her husband, Edwin, apparently met Mark Twain for the first time in June, 1902. His speech to the Art Students Assn. luncheon in St. Louis was based, in part, on two letters from Twain to Emily and her husband.

Ms. Hutchings'novel, "Jap Herron," was published in 1917. Ms. Hutchings said she and spiritualist Lola Hays began getting messages from the dead Twain in 1915 via a Ouija board.

Ouiji boards were a popular fad for communicating with the dead. In the mid-1900s, Ouiji boards also were a common game board in many American homes.

But, it wasn't long before the credibility of the novel came under fire. The most vigorous attack was in the form of a lawsuit by Twain's surviving daughter Clara Clemens and the Harper and Brothers publishers.

In the end, Hutchings' publisher declined to fight the suit, withdrew the book from circulation and destroyed most of the copies. The New York Times had published a less than flattering review of the book.

Despite the flap over the novel, Ms. Hutchings had a distinguished career as a journalist in Missouri and elsewhere. She wrote for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat as well as for such magazines as Cosmopolitan and Atlantic Monthly.

(For more about Ms. Hutchings, Mark Twain and the novel, visit two websites: www.twainquotes.com/japherron.html and www.twainquotes.com/Emilygranthutchings.html.)