Volume 7, Number 11 - Spring 1982
The History of Cross Roads, Missouri
by Sherri Sanders
In the early to mid-eighteen hundreds, there was a beautiful spot in the Ozark hills that was to become a thriving settlement. There was no sound of machinery or man-made things at that time, just the sound of wild animals running across the beautiful, untouched hills and valleys.
This place was where two trails crossed--one trail from southern Arkansas going towards Springfield and the other from the east around Ava, Missouri, going to the White River area. This crossing would soon he known as Cross Roads , Missouri, in Douglas County.
People soon started settling in this area and felt the need for a store, so a man by the name of Witty built a store on his land at Green Valley, about 2 miles from Cross Roads. A few years later, a store was built by Jonn Deeds at Cross Roads.
More families came, and a school was needed. A man by the name of Patterson donated a small portion of his land for the schoolhouse. The school was built of logs, with split logs for benches. Mud was placed in the cracks so as to keep wind and rain out. School only lasted for about four months, since children were needed at home to plant crops and do other small jobs.
The school house was also used for the church. A circuit rider or preacher would ride from town to town, preaching at different churches, he usually came around Cross Roads one time a month. On Sundays when he wasn’t there, the folks would only have Sunday School, and then they would go home.
Now in 1865. a very important link moved in that would help the settlement of Cross Roads. Elyjah Sanders and his family became the first Sanders’s to settle in Missouri. Elyjah had moved here after being forced off of his prosperous cotton mill in Yellville, Arkansas, by the Union Army.
After getting settled, Elyjah started the first mill at Cross Roads. People would take their corn there to be ground into corn meal and their wheat to be ground into flour. If they did not have the money to pay for the grinding, Elyjah would take a small part of the meal or flour for the labor.
A molasses mill was built. People would raise their own sargo, a type of cane. Then it was cooked down to make molasses. This and honey were the only sweeteners some people had in those days.
By now, the Cross Roads community was pretty well settled, boasting a new store, owned by Joe Letho; a blacksmith shop; a saw mill; a flour mill; a molasses mill; and the church and school.
It was around this time, in 1870 to 1872, that old Elyjah met a man. Elyjah, being a friendly person, invited the stranger to stay with them. Elyjah thought this man was very interesting after learning that he had settled Bakersfield, California, which was named after this man, William Baker. This was his story: In his early manhood, he bought himself a mule and set out for California. He claimed to have ridden the mule all the way. However, he did travel along with a wagon train. After reaching California, the young man married an Indian girl and homesteaded a portion of land. At one corner of his land a trading post was set up; however, it’s not known for certain if William owned it or not. People would come along the Kern River and across the mountains and ask settlers how to get to the trading post that they had heard of. The settlers would then reply, "Go across Baker’s field here, and you can’t miss it." Well, soon the trading post was being referred to as Bakersfield, so in 1869 Bakersfield, California, was declared a town. Then William, now an old man, returned to the Missouri hills to die, not ever saying what happened to his Indian wife. After William had told his story to Elyjah, he also told him where he wanted to buried; it was up on a small flat surrounded by timber on a portion of Elyjah’s land; and on August 16, 1873, Elyjah laid William Baker, age 67, to rest in peace in the very spot he had chosen. This event started a prominent cemetery. Many townspeople were buried there, and it was later to be known as Sanders Cemetery.
As the Cross Roads community continued to grow, other growing pains were to he encountered--droughts occurred, crops were ruined, land was dried up, and other tragedies befell the settlers’ land and livestock, but the people stuck together and shared through these hard times. Plagues and diseases came, and no doctor was available. The settlers used the old herb and tea remedies that they had been taught. Babies were born with no doctor available, just the women of the community to assist. Many lives were lost because little was known about medicine. Riley Sanders, a son of Elyjah, was one of the lives lost. When he was hauling tomatoes from the field to the factory at Rome, Missouri, the team of horses jumped, throwing Riley under the loaded wagon’s iron wheels, which crushed his chest, and he died in a few hours.
In the community of Cross Roads, there were also many happy times. Going to church and worshiping together on Sunday was a great time to share joys and sorrows. Then Sunday afternoon in a field in front of the store, a baseball game would be played by the men and the boys, while the women watched. The old swimming hole was enjoyed by both young and old in the summertime.
Sometimes an old country dance would be held at someone’s house or barn. There was always some fiddle, banjo, and guitar players that would play until everyone was worn out. Big picnics were held, with watermelons, fried chicken and plenty of other good food.
Cross Roads reached a point where a post office was needed, so the government put one in. At first, mail service wasn’t very good. As time passed, it began to run daily. The last to carry it was Jesse Sanders, a son of Riley, and my grandpa. He first carried the mail on horseback. He had little cloth pouches made about twelve inches deep and six inches across with each patron’s name on it, and a handle to place over the saddle horn. Later Jesse carried the mail by car.
The general store was sold again. This time, it sold to my great-grandpa, Jim Mathes, who was also a stock buyer. He set up pens and a pair of stock scales. People would drive their cattle through Cross Roads and would often pen the cattle and spend the night at Jim’s house.
[8]
As the store grew, it changed hands many times. It became a place where you could buy just about anything, such as clothes, shoes, farming supplies, plow points, harnesses, plows, axes, saws, groceries and feed. On Saturdays you could see wagon after wagon going to the store to buy supplies.
Cross Roads grew to be a very large community. As people moved out to find work, the town slowly began fading away.
Cross Roads today is just a small store, with a state highway running past it. No longer are there tracks of wagons coming to the store, or the sound of men working in the surrounding fields.
Cross Roads has come and gone, but memories will always live in the hearts of those who have roots planted there.
[9]
This volume: Next Article | Table of Contents | Other Issues
Other Volumes | Keyword Search | White River Valley Quarterly Home | Local History Home
Copyright © White River Valley Historical Quarterly
