Franklin is a city in Howard County,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, United States. It is located along the

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

in the central part of the state. Located in a rural area, the city had a population of 70 at the 2020 census. It is part of the

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1821 as the county seat of Boone County, Missouri, Boone County and had a population of 126,254 as recorded in the 2020 United States census, making it the List of cities in Misso ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area. As the eastern terminus of the

Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, the ...

, the community played a major role in the westward expansion of the United States.

History

The town of Franklin was founded by European Americans in 1816 and named for Founding Father

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

of the United States. William Becknell, who is now known as the "Father of the

," lived on a farm a few miles northwest of Franklin. There was a spring near Becknell's property, Boone Lick Spring. The spring had saline water and attracted people from St. Louis and points east, who came to distill the water for its salt. They came so often that they created a trail, calling it

Boone's Lick Road The Boone's Lick Road or Boonslick Trail was an early 1800s transportation route from eastern to central Missouri in the United States. Running east–west on the north side and roughly parallel to the Missouri River the trail began in the river ...

. "Boone" refers to Nathan and Daniel Morgan Boone, sons of explorer

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (, 1734September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyo ...

. The brothers first operated the saltlick business.Franklin Missouri - Kansas City Kansas
, Santa Fe Trail Research In 1821, William Becknell put a notice in the ''Missouri Intelligencer,'' announcing that he was organizing a party to go "westward, for the purpose of trading for horses and mules and catching wild animals of every description." On September 1, 1821, his party crossed the Missouri River at Arrow Rock and set out along what would become known in a few years as the Santa Fe Trail. There had long been trade along this way: years before the US acquired the Louisiana Purchase, the Chouteau family of St. Louis had been granted a

fur trading The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

monopoly with the Spanish at Santa Fe. But the following year, Becknell searched for a path that would be wide enough for wagons and draft teams, to accommodate more trade. This improvement was integral to the growth of the Santa Fe Trail for use by both traders and the emigrants of the 1830s who moved on by various branches to the territories of the West: the future states of Oregon, California, and Washington. In 1827, a devastating flood of the Missouri River destroyed much of Franklin. Residents rebuilt a short distance away on higher ground, creating

New Franklin, Missouri New Franklin is a city in Howard County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,027 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Columbia, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. The community is northeast of and uphill from Franklin, a fl ...

. The Cedar Grove was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1982.

Kit Carson

Born in Madison County, Kentucky, near the city of Richmond,

Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman, fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent and United States Army, U.S. Army officer. He became an American frontier legend in his own lifetime ...

migrated as a boy with his family to Franklin, where he was raised. Lindsey Carson was a farmer of Scots-Irish descent who had fought in the Revolutionary War under General Wade Hampton. He had a total of fifteen surviving children: five by his first wife, and ten by Rebecca Robinson, his second wife and Kit's mother. The Carson family settled on a tract of land owned by the sons of

, who had purchased the land from the Spanish during their brief period of rule here after the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. This was prior to the United States annexing the territory following its

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...

of 1803 from France. Carson was eight when his father was killed by a falling tree while clearing land. The father's death reduced the Carson family to a desperate poverty. Young Kit dropped out of school to work on the family farm, and to assist in hunting. At the age of 14, Kit was apprenticed to a saddlemaker (Workman's Saddleshop) in Franklin. The town was considered the eastern terminus of the

, which had opened two years earlier. Many of the customers at the saddleshop were trappers and traders, from whom Kit would hear stirring tales of the Far West. Carson is reported to have found working in the saddle shop to be suffocating: he once said "the business did not suit me, and I concluded to leave". Around 1826, aged 16, Kit secretly signed on with a large, merchant, Santa Fe-bound caravan in Franklin purportedly wagon-mastered by Stephen Turley and Jesse B. Turley, friends from nearby Lamine.

Geography

Franklin is located at (39.011316, -92.753747). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 95 people, 42 households, and 26 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 52 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.9%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

and 1.1%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.1% of the population. There were 42 households, of which 28.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.6% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 38.1% were non-families. 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.88. The median age in the city was 47.1 years. 24.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 3.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.1% were from 25 to 44; 36.8% were from 45 to 64; and 13.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 53.7% male and 46.3% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 112 people, 47 households, and 28 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 53 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 99.11%

, and 0.89% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.89% of the population. There were 47 households, out of which 31.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.9% were

living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.3% were non-families. 34.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 3.03. In the city the population was spread out, with 27.7% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 32.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $28,542, and the median income for a family was $27,500. Males had a median income of $37,500 versus $21,250 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $15,104. There were 16.7% of families and 20.8% of the population living below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 39.3% of under eighteens and 37.5% of those over 64.

References

External links

{{authority control Columbia metropolitan area (Missouri) Cities in Howard County, Missouri Santa Fe Trail Cities in Missouri