As we journey through life we leave footprints, but time has a way of erasing the footprints. Those of us who are on the journey now, must remember that we are who we are because of our ancestors.
We want to acknowledge other settlers who have had an impact of making Grundy County what it is today. Let us keep and preserve the legacy left to us by our ancestors.
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The following are verbatim excerpts from volume 1 of Grundy County, Missouri And Its People published by the Grundy County, Missouri, History Book Committee and the Trenton, Missouri, Sesquicentennial Committee. (For a list of individual contributors to the book, see page 3 of volume 1.)
How it all Began
"First there was land. Shaped by the winds, the waters and rhythms of climactic change, the land evolved. Rolling hills and vales traced through by gentle waterways became home to oaks and sycamores, buffalo and deer, fish and fowl. As though invited to share in the wonder, people came. Native Americans crossed the land seasonally and built villages near the waterways. European explorers ranged over the landscape, making note of what it had to offer, and scouts and traders touted its potential. At last pioneers walked and rode horseback over the land and found it good. Their friends and families followed, and Grundy County was populated."
"Natives of the Grand River watershed, as we call it today, were primarily of the tribes of Iowa, Otoe, some Mesquaki, Sac and Fox, the Missouri, and some Kansas, Ponca, Quapaw and Osage. Principal among them from about 1650 to 1790 were the Missouris. "Missouri" is an Illinois Indian word that means "people of the big canoe," a reference to their building canoes, or as the French called the, "pirogues," from hallowing out large cottonwood tree trunks for boats."
"Etienne de Veniard sieur de Bourgmont was the first known white man to explore the lower and middle Missouri River and systematically record his observations. He lived for years, approximately 1712 to 1719, among the Missouri tribe near the mouth of the Grand River and used their village as a base for wide-ranging explorations and trading missions. He was undoubtedly the first white man to visit the villages up the Grand River, including the village at what we know today as Crowder State Park." (See information on Fort Orleans)
Early Settlers: Thompsons and Moores
"General William P. Thompson along with his brothers-in-law Harvey Meek and John Scott settled on the west branch of the Grand River (now known as the Thompson Fork in honor of Thompson)."
"The other group-the Moore clan-settled on the east side of the river on land that is the present site of Trenton, but in the early days know as Moore's Settlement."
"So as to which group was first, it is not certain. However, what is certain is that each group established a settlement with both communities thriving by the time Grundy County was officially formed in 1841."
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For more information of Grundy County see volumes 1 & 2 of Grundy County, Missouri And Its People.
