Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society

Historical Perspective

by David W. Jackson

Visit Fort Osage, see our past

The Fort Osage Bicentennial celebration that took place last weekend in Sibley, Missouri, was just the icing on a truly scrumptious experience. What awaits you at Fort Osage is an impressive day trip you should not miss. If you haven’t been in a while, you might not recognize it…the site continues to improve, and is a real gem for Jackson Countians to boast.

I found the meandering drive to Sibley enchanting. Whether you take Highway 24 into Buckner and go north on Sibley Road (aka. North Buckner-Tarsney Road, or BB Highway), or travel from the east on Blue Mills Road, the scenery and vistas are fantastic. Approaching Sibley you must cross an old, iron, one-lane bridge over railroad tracks that gives you the feeling that you venturing onto an island as you drive back 200 years into the past.

In September 1808, William Clark directed the construction of the Fort. In June 1804, he and Meriwether Lewis, while exploring the Missouri River Valley on their famous expedition, had spotted the promontory point as the perfect location for a federal fortification on the westernmost frontier of the United States (and the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase). There, a military garrison was established to oversee trade between the European- and Native-Americans. Fort Osage remained a part of the fur trading system until the U.S. government ended the system in 1822, but it remained a military storage facility in support of Ft. Atkinson, Nebraska, until 1827, when both were closed and Ft. Leavenworth was established.

After parking, your first educational experience grows before you. Native Missouri wildflowers, grasses and sedges have replaced modern turf. The diversity of flora is much like that which the early explorers, pioneers, traders and trappers were accustomed. This natural laboratory provides habitat and food for birds, bees, and all kinds of Mother Nature’s critters. And, as we come to better understand our place in an ecosystem and responsibility for protecting nature, this new element at Fort Osage is quite timely.

Looking south you’ll notice an ancient cemetery, protected by a stone wall. This originally served as the burial place for those garrisoned here, and the families that settled around the ancient Fort.

In the distance you can see the log fortifications, but the sidewalk first will direct you to a distinctly modern building that is tucked halfway into the earth on one end, and extends over the edge of the bluff on the other. The newly constructed Fort Osage Education Center has a “green roof” of shorter-growing native plants. Inside, the gift shop adjoin temporary exhibits that for the next three months will highlight the reconstruction of the Fort between 1941 and 1961. But, don’t miss the exceptional, first-class permanent exhibits downstairs on the geology, flora, fauna, and life and times of the Osage Indians, and their interactions with the early traders and trappers.

Fort Osage’s reconstruction started with archaeological excavations beginning in 1941 (there have been a total of six archeological digs through 2006). President Harry S Truman congratulated responsible parties through telegram at the dedication of the first blockhouse in 1948: “You are helping all Americans to a fuller understanding of our great past and are advancing the valuable and important movement to conserve those places which remind us of it.”

In November 1961, Fort Osage was Jackson County’s first site to be listed as a national historic landmark. It is also a national archeological district, with four known archaeological sites in the Fort Osage Park.

In the 1980s, Jackson County Parks and Recreation, owners and custodians of Fort Osage, moved from static exhibits to a living history approach that engages visitors much more fully. I highly recommend your making plans to visit this historic site ASAP. For up-to-date hours and admissions: http://www.fortosagenhs.com/generalinfo.html

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