Flat River, MO

Written by Ferlin Husky

(Chorus)
Flat River, MO, Flat River, MO.
It's been a many a day since I watched her waters flow
If I ain't a got the money to pay
I'm gonna walk every step of the way
Cause I gotta go, back to Flat River, MO.

The clothes on my back have been friends with the ground too long
And my foolish dream of wealth and fame is gone
Each day the hand of failure, wakes me up at the break of dawn
and tells me to go back home to Flat River, MO.

(Repeat Chorus)

I wonder, if Mary's heart has ventured and grown fond
I wonder, if the baby calls her Mom
At night when the city lights and neon signs come on
they don't shine like the moon back home over Flat River, MO.

(Repeat Chorus)

Visit the official Ferlin Husky Web Site:

http://www.ferlinhusky.com

Sam Hildebrand

January 1836 - March 1872

Sam Hildebrand was one of the most notorious southern guerrilla leaders to operate in the Southeast Missouri Region.  He was born in 1836 in a home that had been built by his father near the Big River in 1832.  Hildebrand’s reign of terror began following the murder of his brother by Union vigilantes in Ste. Genevieve County at the start of the war.  Hildebrand himself was attacked by Union soldiers at his farm in the Flatwoods area of St. Francois County.  The wounded Hildebrand was taken to rebel camp in Greene County, Arkansas where he was commissioned a major by confederate General Jeff Thompson.

When he recovered, Hildebrand returned to the county and killed the two men he believed to be responsible.  In retaliation, Federal troops burned the Hildebrand home and killed his 13 year old brother.  Neighbors built a log cabin near the burned-out-family home for his mother.  Operating from a Confederate base in Arkansas, Hildebrand’s knowledge of the area allowed him to make repeated forays into Southeast Missouri, often returning to the small community of Big River Mills north of Bonne Terre for supplies.  A network of Confederate sympathizers provided Hildebrand and his men shelter and food, allowing them to escape Union traps.

For several weeks in 1864, Hildebrand and his men commandeered the St. Joe Lead Mines and manufactured lead for General Sterling Price to be used during his invasion of Missouri.  Afterwards Price ordered the furnaces blown up so that they would not fall into federal hands.  The lead was stored near Big River Mills.  While recovering the lead, Hildebrand’s men were attacked by federal troops under Major Samuel Montgomery at Tyler’s Mill at Big River.  According to Montgomery, twenty one confederates were killed. 

Hildebrand’s raids earned him a hatred which lasted long after the war ended.  Sam Hildebrand was killed in Pinchneyville, Illinois by a sheriff’s deputy in May of 1872.  He was buried in what is now the Hampton Cemetery in Park Hills, MO.  The grave is marked by a simple stone.  Hildebrand’s brother, William, served in the Union army.

In Park Hills, along old State Route 8, visitors can still view the 164 year old home of Dick Berryman, now a private residence.  One of Hildebrand’s closest friends, Berryman accompanied Hildebrand on several of his deadly raids into Southeast Missouri.  During the war the house served as an underground recruiting center for the Confederate cause.  One of Hildebrand’s many local hideouts, the cave in St. Francois State Park in northern St. Francois County, still bears his name.

Our Chat Piles

A reminder of the towns lead-mining history

One of Missouri's oldest counties, St. Francois (pronounced "Francis") County was organized in 1821. The county seat is Farmington. Beginning in the 1840s, large-scale iron mining and smelting was carried out in the area of Iron Mountain in the southwestern corner of the county. From the 1860s to the 1960s the northern part of the county around Bonne Terre and present-day Park Hills was one of the world's major areas for the production of lead.

Throughout those years, workers drawn to steady employment and investors attracted by the promise of profit created of some of the oldest towns in the state.

Settlers took pride in their work and the names of many of the cities that dot eastern Missouri reflect that. Leadington. River Mines. Old Mines. Leadwood. For decades, mine and mill workers and the bankers and shop owners who served them filled the homes, schools and churches of these communities.

As the discovery of lead ore increased, the ranks of workers who turned the ore into a commercial product swelled. By the late 1950s, Doe Run’s predecessor, St. Joe Lead Company, directly employed about 5,000 workers in an area now called the Old Lead Belt. Thousands of others taught in the schools owned local shops and provided other goods and services to the industry.

The area provided employment for decades. Because lead is a natural resource, over time it becomes depleted. By the late 1950s, that occurred in the Old Lead Belt. Many employees moved southwest to what is called the New Lead Belt when a large source of lead ore was discovered there. Others stayed in the towns they knew best and commuted to jobs with St. Joe Lead. That remains true today.

Still visible throughout  three St. Francois County towns, four large Chat Piles serve as a daily reminder of our city & county's lead mining heritage.

Local Historical Literature For Sale

Here at the Park Hills Chamber office we have a variety of historical books available for purchase.

For the avid reader we have the following books:

For those interested in historical pictures of Park Hills and St. Francois County, we offer these:

Other Park Hills memorabilia available include:

If you are interested in purchasing any of the above items, please email us at phlcoc@sbcglobal.net.

Shipping Charges will apply.