Tomorrow night, I'll be covering the topic of Pilot Knob and Fort Davidson (from Price crossing the border into Missouri to the escape/rescue at Leasburg) at the Mid-Missouri Civil War Roundtable in Columbia, Missouri. It's at 7 p.m. at the Boone County Historical Society. You can see the historical society's building on Ponderosa Drive south of the Nifong exit on US 63, south of I-70. It's been a positive learning experience for me, and I'm covering it from an unusual angle, that of the natural resource behind the need - iron.

In 1850, Missouri was the 5th largest producer of iron in the US with foundries at Meramec (south of St. James) and (you guessed it) Pilot Knob. By 1860, four additional foundries had been opened at Iron Mountain and Pilot Knob. Think for just a moment about the name of the railroad - the St. Louis and Iron Mountain Railroad. Any guesses as to what they were hauling?