The Gray Ghosts Trail

In 1958, Richard S. Brownlee of the State Historical Society of Missouri penned his classic study of the Civil War in Missouri: "Gray Ghosts of the Confederacy, Guerrilla Warfare in the West 1861-1865." Missouri's Civil War Heritage Foundation presents a driving trail concept, modeled after the highly successful program established in Virginia in 1994, to honor Dr. Brownlee and all those who have kept alive the memory of the most unique aspect of our history.

NUMBER 25

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Callaway County dedicated an educational panel on October 22, 2011, and Williamsburg, Missouri, became "the Gateway to the Boone’s Lick."  HIghlights of the ceremony included a parachute jump and gorgeous October Missouri weather.
The panel, called the Gateway to the Boone’s Lick, features stories of the old Boone’s Lick Trail and some Southern boys who came from eastern Callaway County.  It has been erected on old Highway…... Read more >

COME SHARE THE “KINGDOM’S” 150th

From Kingdom of Callaway Civil War Heritage FULTON, Mo. — Located in the heart of Missouri’s “Little Dixie,” Callaway County and its county seat, Fulton, are rich in Civil War–era history — especially that of the first year of the war, 150 years ago. Today, Callaway’s informational panels are the heart of the Gray Ghosts Trail driving tour. In early 1861, the pro-Confederate Callaway Guards &md…... Read more >

BOONVILLE EVENT A WINNER

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The nation’s first full-scale battle reenactment of the sesquicentennial period went off without a hitch on June 17-19, 2011 in a field east of Boonville, Missouri.  A violent storm the night of June 17 created some challenges – but the 700 or so reenactors who participated rose to the challenge of the storm and stifling heat that followed it.  Organizers estimate that 10,000 spectators attended, watching the action as it unfolded on…... Read more >

Liberty Arsenal Events

In 1861 in Clay County, the raid on the Missouri Depot, also known as the Liberty Arsenal, was the first overt act of citizens of Missouri against the Federal government. This occurred just one week after the firing on Ft. Sumter. Col. Henry Routt commanded the forces that captured the arsenal. Major Nathaniel
Grant surrendered his post and the contents of the depot. The property taken consisted of three cannons, twelve iron guns, five caisso…... Read more >

WESTMINSTER COLLEGE PANEL HONORS CIVIL WAR HEROES

FULTON, MO. — At an April 16 ceremony for a new historic informational panel at Westminster College, a pair of keynote speakers will address two kinds of Civil War heroes — the pro-Southern Missouri State Guard soldiers who marched off to war soon after Fort Sumter, and Callaway County slaves who became Union soldiers, thereby earning their freedom. It is the year’s first official Civil War Sesquicentennial event co... Read more >