After Archer Alexander (1806-1880) reported the Confederates plan to destroy the Peruque Creek Bridge, the Union troops would investigate his claim that there were guns and ammunition stored in the icehouse at Captain James Campbell plantation (6893 State Route N). The old stone house had been built in 1836 by the enslaved and would be an essential part of the Confederates’ plan.
The area secessionists were livid when their plot was revealed and determined to find the person they considered a traitor. Everyone was suspect, and everyone would be questioned, including the enslaved. They had beaten one of the slaves at the McCluer place, and he would die from his injuries. No one was safe, especially the enslaved. Archer knew they were coming closer. He set out; a German neighbor offered help and told him where to find a boat if he was headed to St. Louis. Archer knew where to find help once he got there. As he headed south on Boone’s Lick Road (Today’s Missouri State Route N), he fell in with others on the same mission.
St. Charles County had many German immigrants who had come to this country thirty years ago. They had joined the Union Army when the war broke out and offered help anytime they could, though the laws were strict. The Fugitive Slave Law insisted that any enslaved person caught must be returned to their enslavers. If you assisted them or harbored them in any way, you could be fined or even imprisoned.
On a bitter, cold February night, the men would make their way across the ice-choked Missouri River. Area farmers had used Howell’s Ferry Landing for years to cross, with a road on the eastern side that led all the way to the St. Louis landing on the Mississippi River. But no one would be brave enough to try this crossing at 3 am on a moonless night! But if your life is threatened and freedom can be found, you will. And they did. They had made their way towards the city when, that afternoon, the area’s slave patrol caught them.
This site is listed on the NPS National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom site called: Missouri River Freedom Crossing Site, Wildwood, MO The Address is 495 North Eatherton Road Wildwood, Missouri 63005 designate in 2025. At 3 a.m. on a cold Sunday morning in February 1863, sixteen freedom seekers began a quest to secure their freedom and crossed the Missouri River at Howell’s Ferry. The group of freedom seekers secured a boat at a ferry crossing owned by Thomas Howell. The group of freedom seekers included 57-year-old Archer Alexander and fifteen others from neighboring farms. The sky was cloudy, and the freezing Missouri River was running high and fast. Landing on the east bank of the river, they found themselves surrounded by a slave patrol. The freedom seekers faced the reality of being returned to their enslavers and punished for absconding. All were captured, but Archer Alexander managed to escape and later secured his freedom. Howell’s Ferry marks an incredible story representing the possible failure every freedom seeker faced and the great reward for those who overcame oppression to seize their liberty. For more paste in to your menu bar https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1205/index.htm
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