Serving the Counties of: Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Iron, Madison, Perry,
St. Francois, and Ste. Genevieve
Phone: (573) 547-8357 | Fax: (573) 547-7283 | semo@semorpc.org
Our Living Treasures
As much a part of the tapestry of the Southeast Missouri Region as the art and architecture of historic buildings, the museum displays, the log cabin and Civil War sites are the glorious natural settings which frame them and the event which interpret and bring them to life. We invite you to discover our living treasures. Escape to the fun and excitement of one of the dozens of festivals and fairs held throughout the Region. Take a Christmas walk with Les Petits Chanteurs, a French children’s choir. Stoll through the magnificent rose garden in Capaha Park. Experience the drama of a Civil War battle re-enactment, The camaraderie of a frontier rendezvous or the mesmerizing beat of drums at an American Indian gathering.
In summer, the sound of music fills the evening air at free outdoor concerts performed be a unique “living treasure,”our municipal bands. The Jackson Municipal Band, formed in 1920, performs weekly during the summer on Thursday nights at the Jackson City Park. The Cape Girardeau Municipal Ban, organized in 1926, performs on Wednesday nights at Capaha Park. The 70-member Ste. Genevieve Municipal Band, formed in 1945, performs on-hour concerts every Thursday night during a 10-week season on the Valle High School parking lot. While once there were many municipal bands in Missouri, today only a handful remain.
Once you experience the historic treasures and natural beauty of the Southeast Missouri Region, you will find yourself drawn back again and again.
Before the White Man:
The first inhabitants of what is now the Southeast Missouri Region were probably descendants of nomadic people who crossed the frozen Bering Strait from Asia to North America. By the time the first European explorers ventured into Missouri, the vast Mississippian Indian culture had already emerged, flourished and disappeared, leaving behind only burial mounds and scant artifacts to remind us of their existence. A number of American Indian Nations inhabited the Region before the coning of the white man. Among these were the Osage, the Capaha, the Delaware, the Shawnee, the Chicasaw, the Piankishas and the Cherokee.
Legends, place names and an occasional arrowhead unearthed from under fallen leaves remind us of the days when the river valleys, meadows and forests were home to these tribes. Visitors to Taum Sauk Mountain State Park in Iron County can hike a quiet trail to a cascading waterfall named for Mina-Sauk, a Delaware maiden who, according to legend, leaped from the heights of Taum Sauk Mountain to her death. Information about the Cherokee Nation in Missouri can be found at the office of the Northern Cherokee Nation of the Old Louisiana Territory in Cape Girardeau and at Trail of Tears State Park in Cape Girardeau County.
Each autumn, beating drums and colorful authentic costumes welcome visitors to the two American Indian Pow Wows held annually in the Region. The St. Francis River Pow Wow, which is held the third weekend of each September in Farmington features storytellers, gourd dancers, inter-tribal dancing and contest dancing, as well as vendor booths where handcrafted and other items are sold. The SEMO Pow Wow, held in November on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University, features inter-tribal dancing and competition dancing which attracts Indian dancers from many tribes.
The Age of Colonization:
Very likely, the first white men to set foot in the Southeast Missouri Region were Spanish conquistadors. By the 16th century, Spain had developed a thriving colonial empire in the New World. Gold and silver mined by Indians in Mexico and Peru already helped fuel Spain’s economy. Hernando de Soto, then Governor of Cuba, received permission to launch an expedition to explore the vast interior of North America in search of new mineral wealth.
In 1542, the expedition crossed the Mississippi River into Arkansas and made its way up the St. Francis River basin to an area inhabited by the Capaha Indians. From here, de Soto sent two of his soldiers north on an exploratory trip. The two returned in 11 days with a large supply of salt and samples of copper ore, items which could only have been found on Saline Creek in Ste. Genevieve County, and the copper ore in Madison County.
Disappointed by the failure to discover new mineral riches, Spain decided to concentrate its colonial efforts in those areas that could promise more immediate returns in the form of gold and silver mines. Spain maintained its New World monopoly until the end of the 17th century, but shortly after the turn of the century, the English established colonies along the Atlantic coast, while the French gradually spread west to the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes.
