This Month in Missouri History

"Calamity Jane" and St. Louis' 1st amusement park

One of the most colorful women on the early western frontier was "Calamity Jane" Canary, once a resident of St. Louis. Another historical fact during a past May was establishment in 1897 of St. Louis' 1st amusement park, Forest Park Highlands.

These and thousands of other historical footnotes about St. Louis and Missouri's colorful past have been gathered by St. Louis historian and former radio personality Joe Sonderman.

Young Saint Louis.com has featured Mr. Sonderman's historical work several times in the past. The items quoted in this story are from Mr. Sonderman's unique and exhaustive listings on the STLMedia.net website.

"Calamity Jane"

That website features a day-by-day list of historic facts compiled by Mr. Sonderman. (To access the feature, visit http://www.stlmedia.net/
sonderman/index.htm.)

A sampling of items from Mays past:

May 1, 1852: Martha Jane Canary, "Calamity Jane," was born in Princeton, MO. Her father was a lay preacher in Kirkwood, MO, before he took the family west. Jane's parents died, leaving three kids to fend for themselves in Virginia City. Calamity Jane claimed to have scouted for General Custer and killed hundreds of Indians. She also said she had a child by Wild Bill Hickok. Historians doubt it.

Alexander McNair

May 5, 1775: Alexander McNair was born in Pennsylvania. A former St. Louis trustee and county sheriff, McNair defeated territorial governor William Clark, of Lewis & Clark fame, in the 1820 election to become the first governor of Missouri.

May 10, 1869: A golden spike driven at Promontory, Utah, symbolized completion of the first trans-continental railroad. That railroad ensured Chicago would soon pass St. Louis in population and economic importance. In 1848, Senator Thomas Hart Benton had persuaded businessmen to finance a southern trans-continental route through St. Louis. But, there was no Mississippi River bridge at St. Louis. Benton lost power in Congress. The northern route was chosen in 1862.

Louis Blanchette grave

May 15, 1793: The founder of St. Charles was buried under the floor of the St. Charles Borromeo Church. Louis Blanchette had been instrumental in establishing the church. His remains were moved in 1938 to a cemetery on Randolph Street.

May 20, 1862: President Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, opening millions of acres of free land to settlers in the West. Missouri Sen. Thomas Hart Benton was largely responsible for getting the law passed. Citizens could buy land for $1.25 per acre up to 160 acres. The only stipulation was that they had to settle on the land for five years.

James S. Thomas

May 25, 1802: James S. Thomas was born in Maryland. He served as the 23rd mayor of St. Louis, from 1864 to 1869. Thomas approved the city's present house-numbering system in 1865. Compton Hill and Compton Ave. were named in honor of his wife.

May 30, 1897: The Post-Dispatch reported on the first amusement park in St. Louis. Businessman Anton Stuever was bringing "high class vaudeville" to the Forest Park Highlands. The park also boasted a "scenic railway," billed as one of the longest tracked rides in the world. (To read about how the former Highlands' carousel lives on at St. Louis County's Faust Park, check a story on the Home Page of this edition.)

General Jonathan Wainwright

May 31, 1948: The World War II Court of Honor in Memorial Plaza was dedicated by General Jonathan Wainwright, the hero of Corregidor in the Philippines. The names of 2,500 St. Louisans, who lost their lives in World War II were inscribed on 16 granite tablets.

(Editor's note: This material is copyrighted by Joe Sonderman and reprinted with permission.)