One of the individuals who contributed in an outstanding manner to the distinction of the Cape Girardeau-Jackson area was Col. William H. Ashley. His story adds to the bicentennial in an important way.

Ashley arrived in Cape Girardeau soon after the Louisiana Territory became part of the United States, and lived in Cape Girardeau when the town was being formed. He met and married Mary Able, one of Ezekiel Able's two daughters. Able was a land speculator and a builder. As a wedding gift he gave his daughter almost 500 acres of land in Jackson.

At the time, Jackson was called "Byrdtown," honoring the Byrd family from Tennessee, whose members were among the first residents of the area. Abraham Byrd resided in Cape Girardeau and was one of the commissioners of the courthouse and jails, which later purchased the Ashley land for the nucleus of the Cape Girardeau county seat in 1814. The town was renamed Jackson the following year in honor of Gen. Andrew Jackson.

Ashley and his wife sold the Jackson land and moved to Potosi where Ashley went into business with Lionel Browne, a lawyer, making gunpowder and bullets that were shipped to the government during the War of 1812, and later to Gen. Jackson for the battle at New Orleans in 1815. The munitions were later used in Florida, where Jackson fought the Indians.

Col. Ashley had fought in the American revolution, as had Ezekiel Able. He was persuaded to come to Missouri because of the unusually interesting things he heard about the territory.

A scientific fact about Missouri that many residents are uninformed about is that it is the oldest part of the continent. As the crust of the earth cooled and shrinkage continued, convulsion shattered the strata and threw up the mountain ranges. One great convulsion reared the Rockies, another reared the Alleghenies, but earlier and located between these two ranges, there occurred an entirely different movement. A great, irregularly bounded section broke off from the crust, and was raised to a higher level. This was the Ozark Uplift. The manner of the formation explains why the state that is today Missouri is endowed with so many minerals.

The southeastern section of the state is where the largest deposits of minerals are found, especially in the Lead Belt. But every location in the state has mineral wealth, and has made use of them.

As far back as the colonial period when our area was controlled by the French, a Frenchman named Phillipe Renault discovered and began to mine the lead around Old Mines in Washington County in 1726. He brought a settlement of Frenchmen with him. They had crude tools to work with at first, and a percentage of the lead was lost in refining.

Renault was an ambitious mining promoter who set up the first extensive lead mines in Ste. Genevieve County in 1720 with 200 workers, using mining tools brought from France and slaves from the West Indies. He continued the operation for about 20 years. He transported the lead to the Mississippi River and on to New Orleans and France.

The first settlement in Washington County was Potosi near Mine A Breton, named for the man who originally owned and worked the mine. The Indians before the French knew about the lead and in the only way they knew, refined and worked it, making handles and tools from the ore.

When the Louisiana Territory was purchased by the United States in 1803, the government reserved the mineral and salt rights in the entire territory. But the government found it too complicated to work and decided to sell and lease the mines. However, in an effort to learn about the mineral wealth, the government sent Henry B. Schoolcraft to report on the condition.

Schoolcraft was born in Albany, N.Y. in 1793, and had but a rudimentary education. He continued his education on his own, learning about things that interested him especially mining and geology. He became an agent for the government after he came to St. Louis. He discovered the location of the deep veins of minerals, and that Missouri had almost every kind of mineral, except gold. He even found some deposits of silver. One is near Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

Settlers hearing of the mineral wealth were attracted to Missouri, and mining became a prime business.

Ashley's business partner, Browne, had a conflict with Col. Smith T. (he added the T to distinguish his Smith name). Browne challenged Smith T. of Potosi to a duel. This occurred before dueling was outlawed. Col. Augustus Jones was a second for Browne, who was a nephew of Aaron Burr. Col. McClenehan was a second for Smith T.

Browne was shot in the forehead and died instantly. And the business with Ashley ended. Smith T. fought many duels. But with many enemies, he20finally left Missouri. His body was returned for burial when he died.

Ashley formed the Rocky Mountain Fur Co.. He had been an explorer, and nearly lost his life exploring the Green River Territory. He moved to St. Louis after Mary died, remarried, went into politics; became the first lieutenant governor of Missouri at the first state election in 1820; became a millionaire in the fur business, sold it, retired; and was a Republican congressman from Missouri from 1831-1836.

The story of his mining days emphasizes the fact that Southeast Missouri was noted for mineral wealth, timber and water power.

The mineral wealth of Missouri contributes to our bicentennial history.