Pular para o conteúdo
Hub Nexus

Santa Fe National Historic TrailPágina 23 de 47

Were the Trailhead Towns Along the Missouri Places of Independence for All?

Westward travel in the nineteenth century calls up ideas of freedom, independence and fresh starts. But were the towns where westward travelers began their journeys, such as Independence, Missouri, at the eastern end of the Oregon, California and Santa Fe trails, places of independence for everyone? A National Park Service article says that these towns were particularly inhospitable to Black Americans, even those who were not enslaved.

Bustling, lawless jumping-off places

Many overlanders began their journeys at one of the trailhead towns along the Missouri River. They were bustling places, with huge crowds, loud noises and outlandish prices, and they had hotels, stores, blacksmiths, livery stables and other businesses for outfitting expeditions west. The towns straddled the border between the more densely settled United States and the vast territory to the west, and general lawlessness reigned, as gamblers, cheats and thieves preyed on unsuspecting travelers. In Westport, the historian Francis Parkman observed that "whiskey, by the way, circulates more freely…than is altogether safe in a place where every man carries a loaded pistol in his pocket."

A hard place for Black travelers

Trailhead towns like Westport were particularly inhospitable to Black Americans, even those who were not enslaved. The jumping-off places were diverse communities that offered economic opportunities to people of color, such as Hiram Young and Emily Fisher. But they carried the same anti-Black attitudes as much of the United States. Merchants, outfitters, hotels and restaurants frequently refused their services to Black emigrants. Overland travelers usually joined wagon companies, pooling labor and capital to make a journey succeed, yet the companies did not often accept Black members, so Black emigrants had to convince them to let them join. Many spent extra money and time in the trailhead towns before they could set out.

Free Black men and women had to be extremely cautious along the Missouri River. Missouri, home to the important jumping-off points of Independence and St. Joseph, was admitted to the Union as a slave state in 1821. Officials passed laws in 1835, 1843 and 1847 prohibiting freedpeople from entering the state. State law also required free Black people already living in Missouri to carry a license, and without one they could be fined or even imprisoned as runaway slaves. Essentially, Black people were presumed to be enslaved unless they could prove otherwise. Slave catchers operating along the Missouri border used the same logic, capturing Black people and selling them into bondage whatever their legal status, and they also operated in free states along the river, such as Iowa.

A historic photograph of men standing in front of a wooden building

Lynch's Slave Market, 104 Locust Street, St. Louis. The article says there were constant reminders of the horrors of slavery in antebellum St. Louis, and that one of the worst was the open sale of enslaved people at various places along the city's busiest streets, an accepted community practice. Public domain photograph.

Captivity as part of the story

Black travelers who visited the jumping-off places did so voluntarily, despite the hazards. The enslaved had no choice: they went west with their enslavers, often leaving family and friends behind. A traveler who wanted extra help for the journey could find it at the public slave auctions that trailhead towns such as St. Joseph and Independence regularly hosted; in Independence they were held on the steps of the courthouse. The story of westward expansion, the article concludes, is not simply one of personal liberty, because captivity and bondage are essential to the narrative as well. Although jumping-off points are associated with freedom and adventure, they have a more complicated legacy.

Sources