Boonslick Country

Central Missouri in the early 1800s was known as Boonslick Country, named after none other than Daniel Boone and the area's most famous resident.  He discovered a large valuable salt lick in central Missouri and decided it was a great place to set up home.

Boone himself, however, felt unappreciated and didn't welcome newcomers who took property he felt was rightfully his as a pioneer.  He left the state and settled on the Missouri River in 1799 when Joe Walker was a mere infant.

Franklin, Missouri was the capital of Boonslick Country and where Joseph Walker took the steamboat ride to.  1000 people strong, it was the largest settlement west of St. Louis.  The town boasted 125 cabins, six warehouses, four taverns, two billiard parlors, a steamboat landing, and $300 courthouse, two story jail, a race track, a brothel, a barber, and banker and the only newspaper published in the Mississippi Valley at that time.

As early frontier towns go, Franklin was quite a place!

Next time - Walkers go off the beaten path...