Editing Franklin County, Missouri (section)

==History==
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Occupied by succeeding cultures of [[indigenous people]]s, this area was populated by the historic [[Osage Nation|Osage]] tribe at the time of European encounter. The region was first settled by Europeans during the rule of the [[Spanish Empire]]. The Spanish log fort ''San Juan del Misuri'' (1796–1803) was built in present-day [[Washington, Missouri|Washington]]. After the [[American Revolutionary War]], migrants from the new United States started moving West. Among them were the family and followers of [[Daniel Boone]], an explorer from Kentucky who settled the area starting in 1799. For the next two decades, most settlers came from the [[Upper South]], especially Kentucky and Virginia, bringing their [[slaves]] with them to work the land.

In 1833 substantial numbers of [[Germany|German]] immigrant families began settling in the area, and soon they outnumbered the slave owners in the county. The German newcomers were opposed to slavery, and their sons would become [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] supporters during the [[American Civil War|U.S. Civil War]]. Former governor and then Confederate General [[Sterling Price]] led his cavalry through the county during his Missouri raid of 1864.

Before the war Franklin County had been served by [[steamboat]]s that moved freight and passenger traffic on the Missouri River. Afterwards, it became a [[railroad]] transportation center. Manufacturing industries were established at the end of the Civil War and successive ones have continued.

Bias Vineyard, near the small city of [[Berger, Missouri|Berger]], is located within the [[Hermann, Missouri|Hermann]] [[American Viticultural Area]] (AVA), designated in 1983. Röbller Vineyard and Winery near [[New Haven, Missouri|New Haven]] is also in the Hermann AVA. Wineries along both sides of the [[Missouri River]] are part of the [[Missouri Rhineland]], whose vineyards were started by German immigrants in the mid-19th century. Before [[Prohibition]], Missouri was the second-largest wine-producing state in the nation. Everything was closed down except for limited production of wine allowed for religious purposes. The state's wine industry had to be completely rebuilt, which has been taking place since the 1960s.

The rural county has had severe problems with local production, distribution and consumption of [[methamphetamine]]. The struggles of the county with adverse effects of the drug, was explored in a 2005 [[A&E Network|A&E]] documentary entitled ''Meth: A County in Crisis''.