A cross for Tower Rock

Tower Rock in Perry County, Missouri, is a sight to see, especially from a small boat in the middle of the Mississippi River.

Big Sis and I got to experience just that in 2016 through Southeast Missouri State University's Continuing Education program and the kind folks with the Missouri Department of Conservation, who supplied the three boats that ferried our tour group up the to that big lump of limestone and back again.

Along the way, we learned about the history of the river and its various natural features. We spotted bald eagles and dodged "flying" Asian carp, even lunching on that invasive species at Trail of Tears State Park.

I was reminded of our river tour recently, when I ran across this article in the Southeast Missourian.

Whether this "huge lighted cross" ever materialized, I don't know, but I doubt it. Aside from this article, the Missourian file doesn't mention the effort. And no cross was visible the day we circled the Rock.

Tower Rock was elevated to a protected spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and was designated a natural area in 1972, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation, which owns the property.

The site has seen other government protection as well. According to the Missouri Department of Conservation website: "At the end of the Civil War the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed clearing rocks from the river at this location to eliminate obstacles to navigation. Upon a recommendation of the Secretary of the Interior, then President Ulysses Grant issued an executive order on March 4, 1871, which spared Tower Rock from blasting."

Thanks to Grant and a lot of historic preservation-minded people since then, Tower Rock is still there for us to enjoy.