Boone's Lick Road - Pond's Fort - St. Charles County, MO
Posted by: gparkes
N 38° 45.601 W 090° 48.818
15S E 689969 N 4292415
Quick Description: Pond's Fort waypoint along the historic Boone's Lick Road.
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 2/9/2009 6:07:32 PM
Waymark Code: WM5T81
The marker states:
BOONE'S LICK ROAD
Pond's Fort (1800)
Marked by the
Daughters of the
State of Missouri
This fort was one in a series of private forts that formed a line of defense against the Indians, in the Indian Wars of 1812. Pond Fort was started by Robert Baldridge, a native of Ireland, who moved to Kentucky and then Missouri. The fort was built in the form of a hollow square on land from a Spanish land grant. A single family lived in the fort and the fort was named for the 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. Malachi Baldridge, Robert’s son, was one of the leading Indian fighters on the Dardenne Prairie. Malachi was later scalped and killed by the Indians.
The trail originated as an old Indian trace. In the 1764, the first part of the trail was expanded by trappers through St. Louis County, Missouri. This part of the trail is known as St. Charles Rock Road. The trail was expanded by brothers Daniel Morgan and Nathanal Boone, sons of famous frontiersman Daniel Boone, as part of gaining access to salt springs near present day New Franklin, Missouri. The complete trail from St. Louis to Franklin, Missouri takes its name from the Boone brothers. In 1821, William Becknell established a trail from Franklin to Santa Fe, Mexico, there by establishing the Santa Fe Trail. The Santa Fe Trail at Kansas City splits off into other major trail such as the California and Oregon Trails. The Boone's Lick trail is the land route to the beginning of the Santa Fe Trail and carried many of those who would settle the west.