I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. The importance of St. Louis when looking at the history of American agriculture cannot be overstated. With railroads just beginning to be important in the late 1850s, the riverboat traffic dominated transportation and trade, and St. Louis flourished as the center, connections east along the Illinois, Ohio, Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, …
American Agriculture History Minute: Future Farmers of America Begins
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Henry C. Groseclose is an important part of American agricultural history. Groseclose was an ag education teacher at Blacksburg Virginia High School. In March of 1920, he organized a club for any high school boy who was interested in making agriculture a career. Word spread across the state to other high …
American Agriculture History Minute: Missouri Boot Hill Logging Industry Begins
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Agricultural development flourish in most Midwestern states, including Missouri. But the Missouri Bootheel remains swampy and subject to flooding and remain heavily forested, remain underdeveloped, underpopulated. But, beginning in the 1880s, railroads opened up the Bootheel to logging. 1905, Little River Drainage District constructed elaborate ditches, canals, and levees to drain …
American Agriculture History Minute: State of Missouri Admitted to the Union
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Missouri was admitted to the Union in 1821, the 24th state. State capital was temporarily located in St. Charles until a permanent capital could be built. Missouri was noted to be the first state entirely west of the Mississippi to be admitted to the Union. The state capital eventually moved to …
American Agriculture History Minute: Gateway to the West
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Once the California Gold Rush began in 1848, Missouri cities like St. Louis, Kansas City, Independence, and especially St. Joseph became departure points for those joining wagon trains to the west. They bought supplies and all that they needed in those cities to make the six-month journey to California. And that …
American Agriculture History Minute: Rich Ag History of Missouri
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Agriculture has a rich history in the state of Missouri in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The agricultural surplus produced by Missouri farmers was often sold downriver to plantation societies in the lower Mississippi Valley. The best agricultural lands at that time lay along the Missouri River. They attracted wealthy …
American Agriculture History Minute: Longest River in the U. S.
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Many people assume the longest river in the U.S. is the Mississippi, but that title belongs to the Missouri and part of American agriculture history. Rising from the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Montana, the Missouri flows east and south for 2,341 miles before entering the Mississippi north of St. Louis. The …
American Agriculture History Minute: Ag History of Michigan
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. 1855 to 1900 was an important time in the history of the state of Michigan. Iron and copper discovered in the Upper Peninsula during that time and impetus was created to construct the Sue Locks completed in 1855. Along with mining, agriculture and logging became important industries. Ransom Olds founded Oldsmobile …
American Agriculture History Minute: Different Strains of Plants Developed
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Luther Burbank is part of American agriculture history. Despite receiving only an elementary education, he developed more than 800 strains in varieties of plants, including 113 varieties of plums and prunes, 10 varieties of berries, 50 varieties of lilies, but he’s best known for improving the common Irish potato. His potato …
American Agriculture History Minute: Birth of a Giant
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Leo Burnett is part of American agriculture history. He worked for the Minnesota Valley Canning Company. Now in 1924, the canning company located in LeSueur, Minnesota, released golden cream style corn. Now before this recipe, white sweet corn predominated the market. Yellow corn served as horse feed. Well, the canning company’s …