Pond Fort

[Pond Fort DAR MARKER 8780 Highway N, Lake St Louis, MO 63367, USA – not the original location]

The original trail used by the Boone family in 1804 to reach their salt lick in Howard County, had already been used by the buffalo and the Native Americans for years before that. The expansion of Americans into the area had disrupted the original residents, and forced Native Americans tribes in the east to crowd into the Missississippi and Missouri River area in the early 1800s. This had caused the settlers to fear and be caught up in the depradations and raids on the settlements by 1812. Many of the early residents along “the Osage Trace” soon would be forced to Fort Up, or fortify their homes, in order to give them and thier neighbors safety. These early forts were not “Forts” in the traditional sense, as the military would erect for hundereds of soldiers, but homes where the windows were boarded up, and provisions stored in case of an attack.

Pond Fort was started by Robert Baldridge, a native of Ireland, who moved to Kentucky and then Missouri. The fort was said to be built in the form of a hollow square on land from a Spanish land grant. A single family there originally and the fort was given the name for a large pond two hundred yards away. This fort, as well as several others, were constructed on the lower Missouri in 1800. It was also a stopover for William Clark on his expedition along the Missouri River.The marker is located on the south side of Highway N, about two miles west of Highway 40-61.

On April 12, 1809, the Missouri Gazette, a newspaper published in St., Louis, Missouri stated “Lewis ordered all volunteer companies of cavalry, riflemen, and infantry in Upper Louisiana to hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment’s warning, and appointed a committee—Colonel Timothy Kibby, Major Daniel Morgan Boone, and James Morrison – to superintend the building of blockhouses from the Mississippi to the Missouri.”

Robert Baldridge (1737-1822) was one of the thousands of Scotch Irish Presbyterians who would emigrate from Ireland, and settle in Kentucky, which had been formed out of Virginia in 1792. One of the first settlers of what was to become St. Charles County, he’d married Hannah Beverly Fruit in Kentucky, and together they had James, Elizabeth, John, Daniel, Catherine, Malachi, Alexander, Grace, Nancy and Robert Junior. Their children would intermarry with several other of the earliest families; the Hoffmann, Zumwalt, Howell, Price, Scott, and Ryebolt families, among others.

Robert’s son Malachi and two of his companions, Price and Lewis, were killed while hunting on Loutre Prairie (today’s Montgomery County). Shortly after this event, Robert’s son Daniel, who wanted to avenge his brother’s death, tracked the party of Native Americans to their camp at night and attempted to shoot their Chief as he sat by the campfire. Daniel then concealed himself in the tall grass and watched while they searched for him; however, they failed to find him. Robert’s sons Robert Junior and John both served as rangers in Callaway’s company, during the War of 1812. The Baldridge family had established what was called Pond Fort, one in a series of private forts that formed a line of defense against the Native Americans by the settlers. The fort was built in the form of a hollow square and named for a pond, two hundred yards away.

In 1868 Historian Lyman Draper was talking with Major John Gibson who described the Ranger activities as follows:

In 1811 Nathan Boone raised a Company of Rangers for 12 months we went into Building forts in Different places over the country to keep the Indians from murdering our helpless women and children. We built Fort Howard, 17 miles from St. Charles; then we Built Capogri; then we built Buffalo, then Fort Mason; then we built fort Madison 24 miles above the mouth of Desmoines [sic] river; then we built prarai Deshain [sic] and Built forts over the country. We built Stouts Fort; we built one at Troy, then crossed over on the Missouri River to Bellefountain Below St. Charles; then fortified at St. Charles; then came to Pinkney; then we built a fort at Charette Village; then came to Louter Island and built Fort Clemson: then up to Cote San Dessein, built a fort there; then thence to Boon’s Lick, and Built Coopers fort; then to the Council Bluffs; then we Returned back to St. Charles commenced building forts out in the country from the Missouri River we built Pond fort; then we built Kennedy’s fort on Peruke [sic] Creek; we finished all those garrisons in the year 1812 and had our women and children out of danger of the wild Savages.

Sapp’s Mapping the Boone’s Lick Road cites historian Kate Gregg with:

It is at Pond Fort that the Stephen Long expedition joins the road on their way west. Having crossed the Missouri River from St. Louis on May 4, 1820, Capt. Bell reported that they “rode on 8 miles to Pond fort, situated on a prairie, this work of defence was erected during the late war by the scattered inhabitants of the country . . . it is constructed of logs and a square, whose sides are about 200 feet, having block houses at each of the angles, in the interior, and joining to the sides are erected cabins for the accomodation of families . . . . It stands on a quarter section of land belonging to Mr. Baily, he resides here and keeps excellent entertainment for travellers . . . .

Further up the Boone’s Lick Road (Today’s Hwy N in St. Charles County) sits the site of Rodman Kenner’s Tavern

[2480 West Hwy N, Foristell, MO 63348, USA is where Pauldingville now stands. The marker was dedicated on 21 October 1913.]

As we reach the edge of today’s St. Charles County, we have to remember that it was organized as one of the five original counties organized in 1812. By 1818, its territory was what comprises Montgomery, Warren and St. Charles, half of the six counties it crosses today. When Warren County was organized in 1833, St. Charles took today’s shape. However, when early settlers like Rodham (also known as Rodman) Frederick Kenner arrived this didn’t really matter. He’d been born in Virginia December 3, 1791, to Rodham and Jennie (Burke) Kenner who had served in the Revolutionary War. Rodham served in the War of 1812 in Virginia and earned a Land Bounty in Missouri. He married Elizabeth Johnson, in Virginia, prior to 1812, and they would come to Missouri in 1834, bringing four sons, George, William, Rodham and a twin brother Winder. They also brought an enslaved family with them, who had a son named Rodman Kenner as well. Elizabeth’s brother Charles M. Johnson came to Missouri in 1835 and would purchase the old Boone home and 680 acres from Nathan Boone on 24 January 1837. Boone then left St. Charles County and resettled in Ash Grove in Greene County.

Kenner was a first-class landlord, and his hotel became a noted resort and stage stop. He also played the fiddle so well he could almost make the “trees dance.” When he heard the stagecoach approaching or the dogs with their bark of welcome, would take his seat outside the door, his fiddle in hand and play Money Musk, Arkansas Traveler or some other lively tune. Kenner said the blessing at mealtime, ending with, “And for all these blessings we thank Thee, O Lord. Amen. Kick that blamed dog out from under the table.” Col. Thomas Hart Benton, one of Missouri’s first Senators, after stopping in the area visiting friends, commented on the good food and good beds. Many travelers would ride extra hard to make Kenner’s Tavern for the night. Kenner’s Tavern was also the location for sale auctions for the area’s enslaved individuals prior to the Civil War. Kenner made a fortune and died in 1876 at eighty-six years of age in what was by then called Pauldingville. He is buried in the small cemetery nearby which may be attributed to the early Pauldingville Baptist Church at that location. So ends our journey across St. Charles County along the Boone’s Lick Road.

For more about the entire Boone’s Lick Road visit https://booneslickroad.org/

ST. CHARLES COUNTY HISTORY

recent posts

about

Pond Fort

recent posts

about

Pond Fort

Share this: