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Fred Harvey, Fall 2006.htm
Independence
Lewis and Clark noted the location of an Osage Indian village on hills of
about 160 to 180 feet to the south of the Missouri River on June 25, 1804.
In 1827 traders set up a town with a landing on the river, and steamboats
began arriving with goods bound for Santa Fe, moving the start of the Santa Fe
trail west of its initial start point in Franklin. In the 1840s emigrants
bound for Oregon began using Independence as their main outfitting point.
But, like the towns to the east, Independence was soon eclipsed by Westport and
then Kansas City as steamboats pushed further upriver.
But,
unlike Franklin, Independence continued to prosper. Among those who
managed to make their fortune in Independence was George Porterfield Gates, who
went into the flour milling business with Peter and William Waggoner. In
1867, Gates purchased the property at 219 North Delaware Street, and in 1885 he
remodeled and enlarged his home to reflect his success in business. At
some point his daughter and her children moved back into the house with his
widow. His one grand-daughter Elizabeth, known as Bess, was courted by a
farm boy named Harry Truman, and after a nine-year courtship, Bess and Harry
married and moved into the house with her mother and grandmother. Until
their deaths in 1972 and 1982, Harry and Bess considered 219 North Delaware
Street their home--even when they were living in the White House at 1600
Pennsylvania Ave, NW.
The Truman Library contains a replica of the Oval Office as it was during
Truman's time as President and a number of excellent exhibits. The mural
on the main wall of the entry foyer was painted by Thomas Hart Benton.
