The Joplin Exposition of 1879 & 1880

Joplin held its first exposition in 1879. Joplin gambling room operator and former Kansas jayhawker Charles "Doc" Jennison was involved in organizing and promoting the event. It was held at the newly constructed fairgrounds on the edge of town (on the east side of present-day Maiden Lane across from the James River Church). Given Jennison's interest in betting on horse racing, horse racing was, indeed, the main attraction of that first fair. 

In anticipation of the event, the Springfield Patriot-Advertiser mentioned that about $3,600 would be given out in prizes and that the largest amount, about $800, would be awarded to the top three finishers in "a great trotting race." The winner would get $500, and $300 would be divided between second and third. The large prize money was expected to draw entries from St. Louis, Kansas City, and elsewhere, meaning that "some of the best horses ever seen in this part of the state" would make their appearance. 

However, when information was later released suggesting that the percentage of prize money going to the races was even greater than the Patriot-Advertiser first thought, the newspaper complained about the inequity. Two-thirds of the total money to be given out at the Joplin fair was earmarked for winners of the horse races, with only one-third left for everything else, including all the agricultural and mechanical categories. "This is no business of ours," opined the Springfield paper, "but it does seem as though there are several other interests in the Southwest quite as worthy of encouragement as the raising of fast horses."

Perhaps the organizers of the expo were aware of critics like the Springfield newspaper, because the next year, 1880, Joplin staged a much bigger exposition that included competition in all sorts of categories. In the lead-up to the event, an article in the Joplin Daily Herald expressed the opinion that the Joplin Exposition would be such an overwhelming success that it would "pale into insignificance all other fairs ever held in the West, save perhaps the Kansas City show."

A large crowd was expected, with people coming from all over, and the Herald promised that the ground would be "chuck full with almost everything of interest to the people of the Southwest." There would be a large collection of fruits, flowers, and plants, as well as some of the best livestock in the country. There would also be a fine arts hall with many works of art and other curiosities. Since Joplin was the center of the mining district, there would naturally be a huge display of minerals. The "speed ring" would still be one of the main attractions, though. "Some of the most noted flyers in the West will be here."

The 1880 Joplin Exposition started on September 28 and lasted into early October. Although I could not find an estimate of attendance, the Herald deemed the event a huge success, with an "admiring multitude" in attendance. 

Kennedy Dedicates Greer's Ferry Dam

Several years ago, I briefly mentioned on this blog President Truman's dedication of Norfork Dam and his same-day dedication of Bull Shoals Dam in 1952, and I might write more extensively about those events in the near future, but Truman's dedication of those two dams was not the only time a sitting president visited the Ozarks to dedicate a dam. On October 3, 1963, President Kennedy dedicated the Greers Ferry Dam at Heber Springs, Arkansas, on the southern edge of the Ozarks, just a month and a half before he was killed by an assassin's bullet in Dallas. 

Kennedy was scheduled to speak at 11:00 a.m. on October 3, but several thousand people had already gathered at the site of the new dam two hours before that time. A few were protestors carrying sings, but most of those present were there to witness history.

Some officials estimated that as many as 25,000 people might turn out for the event. Although attendance probably didn't reach that figure, the crowd that did show up was likely the largest ever gathered in the history of Heber Springs, the town adjacent to the dam.

In his address, Kennedy praised those who helped fund and construct the dam. He vowed that America would continue to develop its resources, build its "strength and greatness," and "move ahead." He pointed out that the dam project would expand employment opportunities and stimulate the economy in the Heber Springs area and would be a benefit to the whole country that would eventually more than pay for itself.  

In an ironic aside, at least one newspaper ran a brief article along with its reporting on Kennedy's dam dedication that said that military officials and the White House had issued a statement saying that things were going well in Viet Nam and that they expected they would be able to withdraw all US personnel from Southeast Asia within a couple of years. I can tell you from personal experience that that most certainly did not happen.

A Gay Picnic

I ran onto an article recently in a Springfield (MO) newspaper about a gay picnic, and the descriptor had nothing to do with anybody's sexual orientation. Of course, the article was published in 1877, back when "gay" had a completely different connotation than it does nowadays. These picnickers were just happy and lighthearted. 

I found the article interesting because it sheds light on what fashionable young people of Springfield did for entertainment in the 1870s. On a Friday evening in mid-August about sixty "representatives of the youth, beauty and fashion of Springfield" left town around dark in a procession of omnibuses, carriages, and buggies, most of them "filled to their utmost capacity." Their destination was a social gathering hosted at the Rountree farm about two miles west of town. 

Upon their arrival, the "gay picnicers found the grounds brilliantly illuminated by torches, the poles being driven into the ground, giving the lights the appearance of lamp-posts placed at regular intervals, making the scene resemble a camp-meeting after nightfall, or a gorgeous French fete-champetre." 

A platform was set up for dancing, and a string band played "bewitching strains of music, inviting attendees to participate in the "poetry of motion." For those who did not want to dance, several croquet courses were laid out in the well-lit grove. Those who neither danced nor played croquet contented themselves to sit in the omnibuses and "hold hands." 

Later, refreshments, including ice cream, cake, lemonade, and other delicacies, were served. After the table had been cleared, the "dancing, croquet playing, and flirting were resumed." The party broke up some time after midnight, and the group returned to Springfield "heartily tired but full of pleasant memories of a delightful evening." 

Bicycling

Bicycling mainly started in the 1860s as competitive racing, but shortly afterwards people began riding bicycles as a recreational activity. By the late 1880s, bicycling had become extremely popular, and the craze continued throughout the 1890s and into the very early 1900s.

Bicycling as an organized sport or organized leisure activity came to Missouri at least as early as 1887, when the St. Louis Cycling Club was formed. That club is still going today and is the oldest cycling club in the United States still in existence.

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, though, cycling wasn't confined just to St. Louis. For instance, efforts to organize a cycling club in Springfield were underway in July of 1903, and it's clear from a report about the effort that appeared in a Springfield newspaper that cycling had been popular in Springfield for a long time. 

The newspaper said that the announcement that a cycling club was forming would be "gladly read by the numerous followers of the wheelman's art in this vicinity." 

The paper went on to say that "many expert riders" resided in Springfield and that several years earlier Springfield had been considered "the bicycle racing headquarters of the west." In recent years, however, "interest had been allowed to slacken" and had "almost died out." 

The purpose of the new club would be to host races, both road races and track races, and to sponsor "long rides over the country."