American West Heritage (1912)

Did you know that Natti Dickson of Arrow Rock,
Missouri, had a big dream and was the towns talk?
A gracious lady from the school of long ago
A pioneer of history in the "show me state," below.

Above the Missouri River, Lewis and Clark came through.
Many traveled the same trail as population grew.
Men would travel to Arrow Rock, a place to stop and meet.
They built a hotel a saloon, and a public place to eat.

A vital river port, where settlers hoped to start
and make the town gorw.  That fell apart.
Dreams did not come true.  There was a reason why.
Railroads and projects soon passed the town by.

People moved away and the village was frozen.
The buildings fell in time.  Crumbled from erosion.
Natty didn't want this to happen to her town.
She gathered antiques and memorabilia, from around.

Teaching Missouri history to many passerby
making it "A Historic Site", that caught the public's eye.
She never gave up and was true to her race.
The American West, then preserved, This Historic Place.

Natty died in 1949, but many structures came about.
She became the first example to lay our History out.
Many follow Natty Dickson's preserved Historic route.