I had an opportunity this week to visit the Arch – Gateway to the West – above the Mississippi River in St. Louis. I didn’t have much time, so I didn’t go up in the Arch. But it sure was tall and beautiful above me with the blue sky and sun bouncing off it. A kind park ranger gave a mini tour and history lesson.
I wandered around the Mississippi riverfront close by, taking in the history. What great events happened here that grew our country. The people then just lived their lives. I’m sure they did not give much thought about their actions building a nation.
The mountain men made St. Louis a hub of trade. I have been to some of the places in the Rockies where they camped and trapped beavers. My mind feels like a video, replaying the scenes as I imagine them.
The pioneers outfitted their Conestoga wagons and headed west in what we now call the Great Migration. What courage that must have taken. Did they ever see their families again? My grandsons live far from me. I have phones, cars, computers so I can communicate with them. Not so for America’s great pioneers who built a nation. What sacrifices!
I sat on the banks and walked on the bridge above the Big Muddy. Rivers from my neck of the country are blue. The Mighty Columbia is big, beautiful and blue. I was shocked to see that the Mississippi really does look like brown gravy. Yet so much happened on these very shores.
Trade from East to West moved through on this river. The riverboats carried their fine ladies and gentlemen as well as the gamblers who LOOKED like fine ladies and gentlemen.
I couldn’t forget Mark Twain and the adventures of Huck, Jim and Tom Sawyer.
This is a heritage worth saving. A part of the whole story that makes up our nation. We are celebrating our Independence Day this weekend. The land of the free and the home of the brave. May it ever be so!
"Freely you have received, freely give" Matt 10:8b
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