4B
April 24, 2003
Do you know the boundaries of your state, or who runs
your state government? If you had a problem that the
government needed to solve, would you know who to
go to? At the time of the Louisiana Purchase, no one knew
the exact boundaries of the territory. And even though
many different people Lived. explored and settled in the
Louisiana Territory, people weren't always sure who was in
charge. Native Americans had been living in the region for
thousands of years. French and Spanish settlers also called
the Louisiana Territory home. Before the Purchase. people
Living in the Louisiana Territory were not part of the United
States. They were governed by people sent by the King of
France. who claimed the land. Sometimes. though, these
leaders were not very interested
in helping solve problems.
Education
,>;: ....
Even if they wanted to help, the area was just too big for
them to be able to get around to everyone. What would life
be like if it took days for you to find someone who was
supposed to be in charge, only to find that person could
not do anything to help you?
The first European settlers were French trappers and
traders. At first, only men came to the territory. They
In the Louisiana Purchase of April 1803, the United States bought a huge piece of land west of the
Mississippi River,.doubling the young country's size. More than just a political dea the Louisiana
Purchase suddenly changed the lives of all sorts of people.
traveled the Missouri and Mississippi rivers in search
of beaver pelts. Beaver pelts were worth a lot of money
in Europe. Hats made from beaver fur were fashionable
at that time and they were very expensive. Trapping
beaver in the Louisiana Territory was dangerous work.
Men were willing tc risk their lives to get the furs! Other
early European settlers built and worked in lead mines.
Lead was useful to the French because it could be made
into bullets for guns.
As trade increased, families began to move to the Territory.
The first French city was Sainte Genevieve, in present
day MissoLLrL Most of the people who lived there were
French farmers and African slaves. They moved across the
MLssLssippi River from Illinois territory to settle rich farmland
on the western side of the river By 1750, there were a few
thousand French living in the Louisiana Territory. However,
the French never lived on most of the land that they claimed
to own. Native American tribes Lived and hunted on
this land.
In 1763, the King of France gavethe Louisiana Territory to
his cousin, the King of Spain. The Spanish had been living
in southern parts of North America for many years. They
had bulk trade relationships with Indian tribes and made
a great profit for their homeland. When they took over
the Louisiana Territory, they did not see much use for iL
However, the King of Spain still took the land because
he did not want the Americans or the British to claim
control of iL
Most people living in the Louisiana Territory did not know
Spain owned the land. For two years, Spain did not even
send anyone to control the land or the trading system, The
French continued to rule over the land un it was formally .
given back to them shortly before the Louisiana Purchase.
Everyday people living in the Territory weren't usually
affected by changes in government. They did not have
a formal government and sometimes didn't even know
change had occurred until years after The Louisiana
Purchase marked the beginning of a formal government
for the Territory's settlers.
Today, many young people wear fashionable
baseball caps, visors or hooded sweatshirts.
At the time of the Louisiana Purchase, beaver
hats were very fashionable in Europe. In
fact, beaver felt hats were so popular that the
beaver was hunted to extLnction in Western
Europe. Because everyone still wanted to
wear this type of hat, beaver pelts were
major trade goods from North America.
Creating beaver hats was a very long and
dangerous process for the hat maker, or
"hatter." The hatting process involved pulling
rough hairs from the pelt and brushing the
remaining soft hairs with mercury. After
brushing with mercury, the fur became very
fuzzy. The fur was then matted into felt and
shaped into a hat. Hatters had different ways
of shaping the felt into a hat. These different
ways of making hats were the hatter's trade
secrets, or secret recipes. Finishing steps
included lining the hat with silk or cotton
and ironing it to make it smooth.
Sadly, the mercury used in making hats often
caused brain damage to those who used it for
a long ne. Hatters sometimes had problems
talking, thinking and controlling muscles.
In fact, the phrase "mad as a hatter" became
a way to describe someone who seemed to
have mental problems. This is how Lewis
Carroll got the idea for the Mad Hatter
character in Alice in Wonderland.
This Newspaper In Education series is underwritten by a Contribution from
Brown & Associates, St. Louis, Missouri.
J'ati°nal' "
mstanapurenase Cuba Free Press
Bi{::entennial Committee
Local community team advances to World Finals
y Lauren Herman
: On Saturday, April 5, local Cuba youths
participated in a challenging statewide
]:ompetition at the University of Missouri-
Rolla called Odyssey of the Mind, or "OM."
DM is a brain-teasing contest that requires
knowledge of math, science, performing
fcs, and the ability to work as a team." It
eaches kids to learn creative problem-
olving methods while having fun in the
]rocess.
; Odyssey of the Mind teaches children
}low to think divergently by solving open-
nded questions over a variety of subjects.
rhile solving a problem, contestants
become skilled at working together and
thinking creatively.
This year six of Cuba's young people
involved in a community group called
Problem Solvers 88 (PS 88) chose to partic-
ipate in this competition.
These team members are Lauren
Herman, Morgen Reed, Brianna
Blankenship, David Turntine, A.J.
Hughes, and Kevin Mullally. Amanda
Henager is head coach of PS 88 with Sean
Tillman as assistant coach.
The team chose to do a problem called
"Fooled Ya!" In this problem, participants
were to create a performance with two
main characters that perform five illu-
sions. These illusions have to entertain the
audience or other characters in the per-
formance. One obstacle in this problem is
that one illusion will turn out to actually
happen. The team chose to do a perform-
ance based on space exploration.
"The group did an amazing amount of
research and learned a lot while they were
working together," said head coach
Amanda Henager.
The team competed against other teams
of young adults solving the same problem
in the same age division. The first place
team in each divi-
sion is the only team
toadvance to the
World Finals.
The commission
of the state competi-
tion grants OMER
awards, which are
awards given to
individuals or
groups for excep-
tional work. The PS
88 members were
given an OMER for
the depth of their
research and the
impact it had on
their performance.
This group was the
only community
group bestowed
with this high
honor. The team was awarded second place
in the final awards ceremony.
The commission made a special
allowance for the PS 88 team, however.
The team was told at the awards ceremony
that because they scored so high and were
within just a few points of first place, they
were also being invited to represent their
community and the state of Missouri at the
World Finals.
World Finals is May 28-June 1 in Ames,
Iowa. The OM team is raising money to
help them go to the World Finals. They will
be doing many fund-raisers around town.
The team members and their coaches have
Submitted photo
Back row, from left, Amanda Henager, Morgen Reed, Brlanna
Blankenahip, AJ Hughes, Sean Tillman. Front row, David
Turntine, Kevin Mullally, Lauren Herman.
worked very hard this year and are very
excited about participating in the World
Finals competition.
If you see them around town, congratu-
late them on a job well done, wish them
luck at World, and donate what you can to
help the team represent the Cuba commu-
nity.
Today's Health Tips
John W. Hewkin R.Ph
BACK pAIN cAUTION
pregnant women, should not teen forward
Peopte with low-back pains, and in a chair with armS. When rising,
rising from a chair. PreterabtY sit leer direCtty under you. Then,
when. J -^ *,e edge of the cheer wflh .... sition This minimizes
lide lorwaro u -, urseff to a stanolng t... :,^,,,, to low the
s ...... ell ereCt boost yo ...... when slit ng uu,,.,
keeping yuu,o ' 'd the v, tm.
strain on both back muscle= =-
reverse procedure.
Fast, professional
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pHONE: 885-3318
114 Downey St., Cuba, Me
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Stephen K. Paulus
600 West Washington, Cuba, MO
573-885-6474
cfD-10/3-tfn
The Cuba
Free Press
Dustin Headrick was the winner of the bulletin board
the month of March Be a Risk Taker.
Cuba School Menus
Grades K-4 Chef salad with cra
Monday, April 28 Carrots & celery
Crispito with chili, Bologna Green beans, Peas,
& cheese sandwich, Parsley apples, Peaches,
potatoes, Peas, Peaches, Milk- variety, Condiments
variety, Condiments Tuesday, April 29
Tuesday. April 29 Spaghetti, Corn dog,
Spaghetti with garlic bread, Chef salad with
Bologna & cheese sandwich, Salad, Green beans,
Salad, Green beans, Fruit Jello, Fruit cocktail,
cocktail, Milk-variety, Con- variety, Condiments
diments Wednesd
Wednesday, April 30 Hamburger on bun,
Hamburger on bun, Bologna on bun, Pizza, Chef
& cheese sandwich, Tater with crackers, Salad,
tots, Corn, Wacky cake, tots, Corn, Peaches,
Milk-variety, Condiments cake, Milk-variety,
Thursday, May 1 ments
Meatloaf with bread & butter, Thursday, May 1
Bologna & cheese sandwich, Meatloaf, Hot ham &
Mashed potatoes with gravy, on bun, Pizza, Chef
Peas, Pineapples, Milk- with crackers, Beets,
variety, Condiments potatoes, Broccoli,
Friday. May 2 Pineapple,
Pizza, Bologna & cheese Condiments
sandwich, Salad, Green Friday, May 2
beans, Pears, Milk-variety, French bread pizza,
condiments rine sandwich, Chef
Grades 5-12 with crackers, Salad,
Monday, April 28 Green beans,
Crispito with chili, Bologna Pears, Milk-variety,
& cheese sandwich, Pizza, ments
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