"Missouri River Country' celebrates history, vitality of river

Book written by former Jefferson City resident

Dan Burkhardt compiled "Missouri River Country," a book detailing various aspects of the land along the Missouri River from Hermann to St. Louis.
Dan Burkhardt compiled "Missouri River Country," a book detailing various aspects of the land along the Missouri River from Hermann to St. Louis.

Galvanized by a vision of permanent land preservation along the Missouri River, Dan Burkhardt compiled "Missouri River Country," a book detailing various attractive aspects of the land surrounding the Missouri River from Hermann to St. Louis.

A former Jefferson City resident, Burkhardt recruited more than 60 contributors including Gov. Jay Nixon and Sens. Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill to comment on Missouri's history, agriculture and tourism sites, among other topics.

"It (the Missouri River) has a tremendous value for the state. It has tremendous value for the towns and people that live along it. If it was developed, it wouldn't have the same appeal," Burkhardt said.

In a series of vignettes by various authors, the book features commentaries on current topics such as Missouri wine production and conservation efforts, as well as on historical topics such as the exploration of Lewis and Clark and Native American culture.

Burkhardt believes the diverse array of topics will enthrall readers of different interests.

"It's attractive on one level, then it becomes really interesting and valuable on others," he said.

In one section of the book titled "The Bounty of the Countryside," Chef Gerard Craft, who owns several restaurants in St. Louis, discusses the advantages of utilizing local produce for his high-end cuisine.

Despite his use of homegrown produce from many different areas of the nation, Craft heartily lauded the quality of Missouri produce. The book spotlights Craft's dishes and the produce with which they are made in several photos.

With the book, Burkhardt intends to highlight the beneficial components of land along the Missouri River in hopes of rallying support for the preservation of that land, he said.

"You can't get people to conserve and preserve something unless they think it's worthy of that. The core message of the whole thing is conservation. We make that case in these 21 chapters," he said.

Burkhardt grew up in Jefferson City and spent ample time along the Missouri River, living in a house on Boonville Road, then in an apartment on Clay Street, both of which overlook the river.

"It (the river) was imprinted on me. I was always fascinated by it," he said.

Burkhardt also experienced the river from the views of Highway 94 aboard his motorcycle, he said.

"I always enjoyed being in the river bottoms," he said.

Burkhardt believes Jefferson City residents possess a unique understanding of the significance of the river to Missouri lifestyles.

"The goal was to get people in St. Louis as aware of the river as people are in Jefferson City. In Jefferson City, people are back and forth across the river frequently. Most people in St. Louis don't know where the Missouri is," Burkhardt said.

Though the confluence, the joining point of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, is just eight miles north of the St. Louis Arch, Burkhardt believes most St. Louisans have not visited the publicly accessible site, he said.

"We're trying to connect people in St. Louis with the Missouri River and illustrate that it's a historic, scenic and valuable place," he said.

With historical value as one of the focuses of the book, "Missouri River Country" references many subjects such as the establishment of railroads, the exploration of Daniel Boone, and the settlement of Hermann, which Burkhardt characterized as the most significant event to shape the development of land along the Missouri River, along with the establishment of the August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area in St. Charles in 1947.

"These are examples of people that did something many, many years ago to protect and conserve land that still has great value today," he said.

While Burkhardt specified an objective of conserving the land around the Missouri River and informing readers of this importance, he aspires to encourage enthusiasm for the Missouri River through an assortment of mediums, he said.

"We hope to connect people to it through historic artists, current artists, food, wine, not just science...ways that might be more relevant to them," Burkhardt said.

"Missouri River Country" is available for sale locally at Downtown Book & Toy.