Editing Dalton, Missouri (section)

==History of Dalton==
[[Meriwether Lewis|Lewis]] and [[William Clark|Clark]] made camp at what would later be known as the Cut-Off on June 12, 1804,<ref name="moriver.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.moriver.org/bicentennial/tour1boonslick/x09daltontext.html|title=Lewis and Clark Tourism Site: Dalton Text Page|website=www.moriver.org}}</ref> and it was here that the expedition met with Pierre Dorion,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/inside/pdori.html|title=Lewis and Clark . Inside the Corps . The Corps . Pierre Dorian - PBS|website=www.pbs.org}}</ref> a man who had reportedly been with the Sioux for 20 years and was thought to have some influence upon them. The Lewis and Clark journal entry describes the Dalton Cut-Off as connected to the Missouri River by a creek.<ref name="moriver.org"/>

More than sixty years after the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]] passed through the area—after the end of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]—the village of Dalton was born when the railroad created a need for it. The village was named for William Dalton, who had donated the {{convert|40|acre|m2}} and a railroad depot was built for the St. Louis & Pacific line.<ref name="moriver.org"/> [note:  William Dalton was believed to be the grandfather of Missouri's sitting governor at the time the village was named, but the contributor has not yet found sources to support that claim.]

===Dalton Vocational School===
{{Main|Dalton Vocational School Historic District}}
Dalton is best known as the site of the Dalton Vocational School, originally the Barlett Agricultural and Industrial School, also referred to as the "Tuskegee of the Midwest" or "Missouri Tuskegee".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmissour00lars|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofmissour00lars/page/112 112]|quote=Missouri Tuskegee of the Midwest.|title=A History of Missouri|first1=Lawrence H.|last1=Larsen|first2=William Earl|last2=Parrish|first3=Richard S.|last3=Kirkendall|first4=William E.|last4=Foley|first5=Lawrence O.|last5=Christensen|first6=Perry|last6=McCandless|first7=Gary R.|last7=Kremer|publisher=University of Missouri Press|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> It was founded in 1907 by Nathaniel Bruce, a student and disciple of [[Booker T. Washington]]. The first permanent building was erected in 1909 after flooding forced a move to higher ground. In 1923, the school received funds from the state legislature to construct a model farm home, trade shop, and hog and poultry houses. Eventually the campus would expand to {{convert|123|acre|km2}}. Bruce shared Washington's view that a practical education for African American youth was best. The emphasis was on vocational and agricultural training. African American students from a relatively wide geographical area were bussed to Dalton where they studied agriculture, industrial arts, and home economics.<ref name="sos.mo.gov">{{Cite web |url=http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/africanamerican/guide/rg106.asp |title=RG 106  |access-date=March 19, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527152346/http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/africanamerican/guide/rg106.asp |archive-date=May 27, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Huber, Patrick J., and Kremer, Gary R. "Nathaniel C. Bruce, Black Education and the 'Tuskegee of the Midwest'."
''Missouri Historical Review'' 86 (October 1991): 37-54 [http://digital.shsmo.org/cdm/ref/collection/mhr/id/45529?_gl=1*x6bmk7*_ga*MTkyNjAzOTc5My4xNjk4NDYxMDM0*_ga_B5NXL6MKLP*MTY5ODU3MjcxNy4yLjAuMTY5ODU3MjcxNy4wLjAuMA.. online].</ref>

The demonstration farm and school came under the supervision of the University of Missouri College of Agriculture in 1924. Eventually Lincoln University, a then all-Black college in [[Jefferson City, Missouri|Jefferson City]], took control of the school. The Supreme Court's 1954 ruling that schools were to be integrated forced the closing of Dalton Vocational School; the last school year was 1955–1956. Buildings and property were later sold at auction. The campus has sat empty since that time and all but two of the buildings are gone.<ref name="sos.mo.gov"/>

===Recent===
Large portions of the [[Tom Sawyer (1973 film)|1973 Tom Sawyer film]] were filmed at the Dalton Cut-Off, especially footage that featured shots of Tom and Huck's adventures on the Mississippi River.<ref>[[Tom Sawyer (1973 film)]]</ref>

In 1979, Dalton resident Rod Skillman was a walk-on for the [[University of Missouri|Missouri]] football team at defensive tackle and later played professionally for the [[New Jersey Generals]] ('83–'84) and [[Hamilton Tiger-Cats]] ('84–'92).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mutigers.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/nfl-players.html|title=The Fifth Down. The Flea-Kicker. 4.8 Seconds. The page you wanted.|website=www.mutigers.com}}</ref>

As for the village of Dalton today, the decline of the rural economy and flooding have taken their toll. The 1993 flood reduced Dalton to a grain elevator, a post office, two churches, a community center and a few houses. But the small community still celebrates its heritage with the annual Dalton Days festival.<ref name="moriver.org"/>

Today, the Dalton Cut-Off is part of what waterfowl enthusiasts call the "Golden Triangle" because it winters an exceptionally large number of birds.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.habitatflats.com/|title=#1 Waterfowl Lodge Network in North America|website=www.habitatflats.com}}</ref>

[[Dalton Vocational School Historic District]] was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 2002.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>