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Fort Osage and Sibley Cemetery
Fort Osage was the second U.S. outpost built following the Louisiana Purchase. The site, overlooking the bends and currents of the Missouri River, was first observed on June 23, 1804 by William Clark during the Voyage of Discovery as a likely spot for a fort. Under the direction of Clark, joint commander of the Lewis and Clark expedition, 80 volunteer dragoons from St. Charles and the regular garrison under the command of Captain Eli Clemson, erected the Fort in 1808 to serve several purposes. It functioned as an outpost in the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase, housing soldiers to guard the new territory and to protect the United States Factory Trade House there, aided the American government in befriending the area's Osage Indians, and offered Missouri's first settlers a sanctuary from which to venture westward. During its nineteen years of existence, Fort Osage received explorers and dignitaries, trappers, traders and the great Native American leaders. Today's Fort is a reconstruction from original plans still in existence in Washington, D.C.
The Sibley Cemetery is reputed to be the oldest historic-era cemetery in Jackson County and western Missouri and contains roughly 600 graves. It is located on a high bluff edge immediately above the Missouri River. This cemetery began as the military cemetery for Fort Osage, and the oldest known graves are those of 48 soldiers from Fort Osage and Fort Atkinson buried here from 1810-1820. After the fort was abandoned, the cemetery was greatly enlarged as it was used by local occupants, and the military portion of the cemetery was all but forgotten until it was relocated in the 1990s. The cemetery is part of the Fort Osage National Historic Landmark.
Train and bridge over the Missouri River.
Fort Osage blockhouse.
Rusty door.
Dirty window pane.
Sign on door.
Blockhouse and flag.
View through window.
American flag in breeze.
Trees by Missouri River.
Power lines through window pane.
 
Power plant by the Missouri River; broken headstone against tree.
Headstone at Sibley Cemetery.
Piece of headstone by tree.
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