"DEALING WITH CHANGE"

This entire text is taken from a "Gunstocks and Bustles" flyer. The section title is "1880s Arrow Rock Copes with Change."

Founded in 1829 above a ferry crossing on the Missouri River, Arrow Rock reached a peak population of one thousand residents by 1860, up to one half of whom were slaves. Hemp, tobacco, and livestock were shipped through this thriving river port from the surrounding agricultural communities of Saline County. Many wagons laden with goods for sale in Santa Fe in Mexico were outfitted by enterprising merchants and investors in the Arrow Rock area. Prominent Missourians made their fortunes in this central Missouri region known as the Boonslick.

Arrow Rock saw many economic changes during the post-Civil War years. The southern Democrats were no longer in power. The abolition of slavery meant changing to less labor-intensive crops. Railroads usurped river transportation, but by-passed Arrow Rock, the river channel continued to change making river access increasingly more difficult. By the 1880's, the population of Arrow Rock had declined to 800.

In the last quarter of the 19th century, the black population of Arrow Rock saw a change from "living-in" the homes of white citizens to owning their own houses and other property. They organized a school, two churches (Free Will Baptist and African Methodist Episcopal) and four different lodges with their auxiliary groups. Negro men in Arrow Rock voted for the first time in 1872.