Boone Family Boots

1850s

A child and woman’s boot from the Nathan Boone Homestead State Historic Site. Nathan and Olive Boone settled in the Ozarks in 1837 with the assistance of four of their fourteen children. They remained in Ash Grove, Missouri, until their deaths in the late 1850s.

Nathan Boone was the youngest son of the famous trapper and surveyor Daniel Boone. He arrived in Missouri in 1799 shortly after his father, where they settled west of St. Louis in present-day Defiance. At the time of the Boone’s arrival, Missouri was under Spanish control and known as Upper Louisiana. The Spanish granted Daniel Boone 805 acres of territory to settle. Nathan and Olive eventually joined him, purchasing 680 acres of their own. The Boone’s settled the land, building a large stone home which still stands today.

After the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, Nathan Boone received work as a contract surveyor for the federal government. In 1808, William Clark asked Nathan to guide him on an expedition to build a trading post. He gained further notoriety during the War of 1812 where he served as a captain with the Missouri Rangers. He also served in the Black Hawk War in 1832 and was later promoted to captain of the first regiment of Dragoons. In addition to an illustrious military career, Nathan Boone also had a notable political career. In 1820, he was elected as a delegate to the Missouri constitutional convention, where he participated in many crucial deliberations furthering Missouri’s statehood. After becoming a reputable surveyor, respected military leader, and notable delegate, Nathan retired to his homestead in southwest Missouri. This modest homestead is still accessible in Ash Grove, Missouri.

Object Details

Categories: People

Date: 1850s

Subject: Boone family

Contributing Institution: Springfield-Greene County Library District

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County: Greene

Region: Southwest

Language: English

Latitude: 37.345939

Longitude: -93.577519

Photographer: Ben Divin