Missouri River Bottom Land

Nestled in Platte County, Missouri, in the bottoms, under an overcast sky heavy with moisture, lies a small parcel of twenty acres that was once owned by Hiram McDaniel in the 1850s. Where the ground drops off to the west is the life-giving Missouri River. Kansas trims the horizon. Bluffs rise from the bottoms to the east. A neglected house, weathered brown, sleeps on this land. How long has it been there? Who lived in it? There once was a house on this land filled with the purposeful movements of Janettie McDaniel and chatter from the children, Lucretia, John Hiram, and James. Today, remnants of dried stalks and cobs indicate that corn is grown in the dark gray clay. Did Hiram grow corn, too? The bottoms continue to be home to hard working farmers like the McDaniels.