This Month in St. Louis History

Ladies bowling, Bobby McFerrin and the Phantom

St. Louis is the home of the Bowling Hall of Fame and birthplace of all-star bowlers. But, did you know it also hosted the first women's bowling tournament in March, 1917?

The famous father of "Don't Worry, Be Happy" singer Bobby McFerrin was born here in a past March.

Also, artist/writer of two old-time comic strips, Lee Falk, died here in a past March.

And a complaining letter by Meriwether Lewis to his mother about hardships on the Lewis & Clark expedition was written in March 200 years ago.

Each month, The Missouri History Museum compiles some unique historical happenings for the current month. Young Saint Louis.com brings them to you to give a look at people and events that shaped the area's rich and colorful history. (For more about St. Louis' and Missouri's history, you can visit www.mohistory.org.)

First women's bowling tournament here

The first women's bowling tournament was held in St. Louis on March 17, 1917-with the women competing in the floor-length dresses of the day.

The American Bowling Congress had been in operation since the mid-point of the 19th century. But, the competitors were all men.

Then, in 1917, the Women's International Bowling Congress was born in St. Louis. The group held its first tournament, with almost 100 women competing.

In early days, the bowling balls were made of wood. But, by the time the women started competing, the standard for bowling balls was a "mysterious rubber compound" called Mineralite.

For more about bowling, visit www.bowlingmuseum.com/history.asp.

Bobby McFerrin's musical roots in St. Louis

Bobby McFerrin became famous in the 1980s with his a cappella singing. Perhaps his most famous song was "Don't Worry, Be Happy," which seemed to be everywhere during its heyday.

The Grammy-winning McFerrin's parents were both classical singers with St. Louis connections.

His father, Robert McFerrin, Sr., got much of his early musical experience at Sumner High School in St. Louis. McFerrin, Sr., was born March 19, 1921, and moved to St. Louis in 1936.

McFerrin, Sr., became the Metropolitan Opera's first African-American male soloist in 1955. And he provided the vocals for Sidney Poitier in the famous movie, "Porgy and Bess" in 1959.

McFerrin, Sr., received his star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame in 2004.

Lee Falk, famous comic strip artist/writer

One of the most prolific early comic strip artist was Lee Falk, who was born in St. Louis in 1911 and died in New York on March 13, 1999.

Falk edited his high school newspaper while in St. Louis. Then, as a student at the University of Illinois, he developed the first ideas for a comic strip. The Mandrake the Magician strip debuted while Falk was still in college.

Soon after Mandrake went into publication, Falk came up with another comic strip idea. This was about a masked avenger, The Phantom.

At one time, Falk was writing four sets of continuity. Two of the daily and Sunday Mandrake strip and two more for the daily and Sunday Phantom strips. And in World War II, he also was chief of the U.S. office of War Information's radio foreign language division.

He also produced over 300 plays, featuring artists such as Ethel Waters, Marlon Brando, Ezio Pinza and Charlton Heston.

For a look at the Phantom strip, visit: www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/phantom/aboutMaina.php.

Meriweather Lewis' "hair-raising" letter to his mother

One of the best descriptions of troubles encountered by the Lewis & Clark exploration of the Missouri River is from a letter by Lewis to his mother March 31, 1805. This section is reproduced with the misspellings by Lewis:

"So far, we have experienced more difficulty from the navigation of the Missouri, than danger from the Savages. The difficulties which oppose themselves to the navigation of this immence river, arise from the rapidity of it's current, it's falling banks, sandbars, and timber which remain wholly, or partially concealed in it's bed, usually called by the navigators of the Missouri and Mississippi 'Sawyers' or 'planters.'

"One of those difficulties, the navigator never ceases to contend with, from the entrance of the Missouri to this place; and in innumerable instances most of those obstructions are at the sam(e) instant combined to oppose this progress, or threaten his distruction. To these we may also add a fifth and not much less inconsiderable difficulty, the turbed quality of the water, which renders it impracticable to discover any obstruction even at a debth of a single inch.

"Such is the velocity of the current at all seasons of the year, from the entrance of the Missouri, to the mouth of the great river Platte, that it is impossible to resist it's force by means of oars or poles in the main channel of the river; the eddies therefore which generally exist one side or the other of the river, are saught by the navigator; but these are almost universally incumbered with concealing timber, or within the reach of the falling banks, but notwithstanding are usually preferable to that of passing along the edges of the sand bars, over which, the water tho' shallow runs with such violence that if your vessel happens to touch the sand, or is by any accident turned sidewise to the current it is driven on the bar, and overset in an instant, generally destroyed, and always attended with the loss of the cargo.

"The base of the river banks being composed of a fine light sand, is easily removed by the water, it happens that when this capricious and violent current, sets against it's banks, which are usually covered with heavy timber, it quickly undermines them, sometimes to the debth of 40 or 50 paces, and several miles in length. The banks being unable to support themselves longer, tumble into the river with tremendious force, distroying every thing within reach. "The timber thus precipitated into the water with large masses of earth about their roots, are seen drifting with the stream, their points above the water, while the roots more heavy are draged along the bottom until they become firmly fixed in the quicksands which form the bed of the river, where they remain for many years, forming an irregular, tho' dangerous chevauxdefrise.*

*Properly, this is spelled cheveux defrise (literally, "to straighten the hair). This is a French-Canadian riverman's expression meaning "hair-raising" or "frightening."