(gentle music) - [Jim] A St. Louis County Parks program entitled Women in the Wild.

- Introducing them and getting them comfortable and confident in the outdoors.

Tonight we're going to start out with some basic campfire building.

(rhythmic percussive music) - [Jim] St. Alphonsus Rock Church has changed with the times and the neighborhood.

Their home is a landmark and a big responsibility.

- It takes a tremendous amount of work to maintain it.

- Next on the to-do list?

The 120-year-old stained glass windows.

And remembering the man who gave us the Missouri Bootheel really.

That's him up there, right?

- That is John Hardeman Walker.

- [Jim] It's all next on "Living St.

Louis."

(lively jazz music) (lively jazz music continues) (lively jazz music continues) - I'm Brooke Butler.

The last few years, the St. Louis County Parks Department has been offering about the closest thing women can find to adult summer camp.

The classes are described as judgment-free introductions to the great outdoors.

Veronica Mohesky checks in on women in the wild.

- My battery's not dead.

There we go.

(onlookers laugh) (Laura laughs) A lot of times, it's just the safety aspect.

Women are not sometimes comfortable being out in the outdoors, being on their own, not knowing the equipment, not knowing just how to do it.

So it's just introducing them and getting them comfortable and confident in the outdoors.

- [Veronica] That's Laura MacLeod, a sergeant with the St. Louis County Park Rangers.

Tonight, she's helping to teach a course for women in the wild.

- Women in the Wild is a program we started three years ago.

This is our third year.

And it is just a program that we wanted to bring about with the park system to help women have more access to being out in nature.

- [Veronica] This session is called Campfire Basics and Cooking.

The women met at James McDonnell County Park in St. Ann, Missouri.

- [Laura] Tonight we're going to start out with some basic campfire building.

A lot of people can do it with charcoal and lighter fluid and a match, but we're gonna go into a little bit more depth with that.

You wanna do at an angle, and you get that good spark going.

And then we're also gonna go into some campfire cooking.

So we've got another fellow here, Scott Douglas.

He's a great campfire cooking aficionado.

He's gonna show us how to make some fun calzones, an interesting orange marmalade dessert.

It's gonna be some delicious stuff.

- [Veronica] One participant, Danielle, says she came to the course to be more prepared on camping trips.

- And I have a friend who has even less camping experience than me, so I was like, oh, I'm gonna need to cook for us.

So I was hoping that this would give me a little bit more confidence and some recipes for whenever we go camping later.

- [Veronica] And this is just one of many sessions which range from camping to kayaking to geocaching.

- This year, I think we're up to about nine courses, and each of them run about two hours or so.

We do have, obviously, the overnight camping is going to take a little bit longer.

And we also have a Meramec River float that we're doing that's gonna be an all-day float.

- [Veronica] MacLeod says a diverse group of women with a wide range of skill sets attend the sessions.

- Some people have never done anything in the outdoors, and this is brand new.

Some people have been doing this for a little while, and they're just advancing their skills.

And we have had people who actually are quite advanced in their skills, but they're just coming to learn more and meet more people.

- [Veronica] And the sessions have been very popular.

- Unfortunately this year we are sold out, but we do this every year.

So we'll be looking to set up some new courses again in January of next year.

So keep your eyes out.

The waiting list is actually quite long for this.

So when people... We try and contact people ahead of time saying, hey, if plans have changed, if something has come up, let us know, so we can get these people on the wait list in, because people are loving it.

And when I send out something from the wait list, man, people are jumping on it.

- [Veronica] And Danielle says she's coming away from the session with some useful skills.

- It made it very accessible, and it made it very, like, broken down.

Somebody was walking us through it, having different methods.

So both over-the-fire camping and then the person who was teaching us also brought in, like, other cooking methods.

So the stoves for, like, car camping or backpacking.

So it was very broad, and there were different methods that he gave us to cook with.

- [Veronica] The classes also lead to connection.

- People love it.

They're having a lot of fun with this.

They're going away with those new skills and in some cases a lot of new friends.

- [Veronica] And the sessions give women the opportunity to explore parks in our region.

- I think it's important just to let people get more in the outdoors, more comfortable in our parks system, getting to just see different parks in our system.

A lot of people don't know some of our parks.

They pick that one park.

That's the park they go and hike.

But we've got 70 parks in the county parks system, so besides introducing them to outdoor skills, we introduce them to different county parks that you might want to visit in the future.

- This next story by Jim Kirchherr we might title, "This Old Church," because while the Landmark Rock Church has gone through a lot of changes over a century and a half, there has been one constant from era to era.

The building itself can be very demanding.

- This was the Palm Sunday procession at St. Alphonsus Ligouri, the Rock Church on North Grand.

This is a church that stands tall and proud, a landmark created in one era and a survivor in many ways in our own time.

(choir singing) It survived changes in the city, in the neighborhood, a fire that some thought would be the end of it.

But the Rock Church lives on now as a predominantly Black Catholic church and still not without its challenges.

I tell you what, Father.

They don't make churches like this anymore, do they?

- [Father Rodney] Oh, no.

- [Jim] People must be overwhelmed, I think, the first time they come in here.

- [Father Rodney] Yeah.

- [Jim] A few weeks before, we met up with Father Rodney Olive and two parishioners to talk about the privilege and the responsibility of taking care of a church built in 1872.

You think about the congregation.

You think about the spiritual lessons.

But you also gotta worry about your boiler and your roof.

And your windows, right?

- Exactly, exactly.

- You got it.

- [Jim] And it was the windows that brought us here.

These were installed in 1904, and the Rock Church was recently awarded a $500,000 grant to help restore them.

The money came from the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Preserving Black Churches Fund.

And although the Rock church has Black, Brown, and white members, when it comes to Mass, this is a Black Catholic church.

(uplifting gospel music) Parishioner Shannon Horstmann knew that was going to stand out when she wrote the grant application.

- Just sitting in some of the Q&A with some of the other grantees, you know, almost a thousand people, there were no Catholic churches in there, and there were no Black Catholic churches in there.

Yes, this is my favorite.

This is the Mary and Joseph window, I call it.

- [Jim] She was in charge of getting the money.

Church Finance Director Monica Huddleston will be in charge of spending it.

- Every window is gonna be different in terms of what needs to be done.

So the cost of each will be different.

We had one window done last summer just to see what was involved and how things could be.

And that took several weeks.

- [Jim] You can visually see the difference.

- You can indeed.

The one window that was done, the colors are a brighter blue, a brighter red.

You can really tell the difference in that if you look at the ones that have not been done compared to that one.

And if you step outside, you can really see the framing and the peeling paint and the crumbling caulk and all of that for the windows that weren't done.

- [Jim] She says the fact that these windows are still here, that they survived the 2007 fire, is something of a miracle.

If it was divine intervention, it was carried out through the words of former Fire Chief Sherman George.

- And he gave the order to his firefighters.

Do not touch those stained glass windows.

And they did not.

- [Jim] During a storm in August of 2007, lightning struck the church, and the fire burned through the roof.

Water from the fire hoses poured down.

Heat and smoke went up the spire.

Yes, the windows were saved, but it would take a long time to bring this church back.

And that was quite a story.

In 2008, eight months after the fire, we wanted to see how things were coming along.

The spire was covered in scaffolding, and we thought that was impressive.

And then we went inside.

(tools whirring) - The main damage was the roof.

The fire started behind the steeple, and that's what got struck.

And that burned a huge hole there.

- [Construction Worker] All right.

- [Jim] Jeff Myers of Wachter Construction is the project superintendent.

He and retired Rock Church priest, Kyle Fisher, took us up to see how things were coming along.

The first job was to give the church a new roof and not just shingles and such, but the whole top section of the Rock Church had to be rebuilt, and few will ever see the work they did here.

- The main trusses, they were all burnt, all destroyed.

And we replaced all of those.

The original stuff you could see was actually hand hewn with a hatchet in places.

- [Jim] When the church had a roof, it was then time to work on the vaulted ceiling, which is made up of wood and plaster, all of it curving and bending, and damaged by water, fire, and smoke.

- This was what was left: the wood framing, all the square nails, and then the plaster was over that.

- [Jim] When the framing is repaired, the plasterers step in to do their work in very much the same way it was done in the 1800s.

This is a big job, and there really aren't all that many people who do this sort of thing.

Jack Shipley came out of retirement and was helping to rebuild one of the decorative medallions.

Eight months after the fire, there were still places that had hardly been touched, but there was a section that was starting to look good as new.

The work on the Rock Church roof and steeple would be completed, and the church building ended up better, even stronger than before.

But inside, the scaffolding would stay up a lot longer, and it was worth the wait.

(workers chattering) (tools whirring) (gentle piano music) At this point, it looked like they were just freshening up the place, painting here, cleaning there.

You'd never know what had gone into getting the soaring vaulted ceiling looking like this again or what this mosaic had been through.

- There's not much that we haven't touched.

- [Jim] Right.

For more than a year and a half, Mass was held in the gymnasium.

And then on Palm Sunday of 2009, the procession took them back home, and they've been there ever since.

Once work on the stained glass windows begins, there will be scaffolding up once again, just not quite as much.

The half-million-dollar grant will not cover all of the windows.

And the grant is part of a larger capital campaign.

- It's 150 years old.

And even though it's a architectural marvel, as a pastor, I also look at the other side of it.

It takes a tremendous amount of work to maintain it, you know?

'Cause a church like this, the building, it's made out of stone.

Well, it has to be tuckpointed.

We have to redo some of the AC and maintain a lot of different things that people never see, you know?

And so that's why the capital campaign.

- [Jim] But the Rock Church has proved time and again, it is a survivor, a Black Catholic church that serves more than just those who show up for services.

- You know, 'cause a lot of our church, especially the Rock, has tremendous social ministry that really is right in line with the scriptures and the teachings of our church.

If there's a need, go to the Rock.

If they can't help you, they'll know who can.

- As Mental Health Awareness Month approaches in May, schools across the country will likely highlight the importance of treatment, support, and open dialogue around mental wellbeing.

But as Kara Vaninger discovered, at one St. Louis high school, these conversations are already well underway.

- [Teacher] Light.

(projector clattering) - [Kara] Health class, that awkward rite of passage for most pre-teens and teenagers where they learn about the virtues of good hygiene, the mechanics of sex, and the myriad changes their adolescent bodies are going through.

For decades, the focus was mainly on students' physical wellness.

But now many schools are taking a more holistic approach to these coming-of-age classes by highlighting the importance of mental health.

- And being mentally healthy does not mean that we are happy all the time.

What it actually means is we're able to navigate the things that we go through in healthy ways, our challenges, our struggles, and our stresses, in ways that don't hurt ourselves or hurt others.

- This is some of the most challenging times in a young person's life.

It's important to give them the tools and resources to understand their mental health, but we know that they need to do that with support.

- [Kara] One of the resources that Principal Calcaterra has brought in to Lafayette High School is Ending the Silence, a free presentation offered to schools all over the region by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI St. Louis.

NAMI St. Louis is a grassroots organization that provides support and education for not only people living with a mental health condition, but also their loved ones.

- Ending the Silence is a presentation that's geared towards 5th through 12th graders to essentially combat common misconceptions about mental health, what it is, what it is not, what are the warning signs of a mental health condition.

Sudden overwhelming fear for no reason.

Now this could be coupled with a racing heart, fast breathing, or physical discomfort.

What might this be known as?

- [Student] Anxiety.

- Anxiety, thank you.

And then we kind of segue into talking about ways to start feeling better.

So in addition to treatment options such as one-on-one therapy, group therapy, and medication, positive coping strategies are other ways that we can take really, really good care of our mental health.

- [Kara] NAMI St. Louis Director of Programs, Andrew Loiterstein spent the first part of his career as a middle school teacher, then principal, and understands just how tough it can be to encourage kids to be open about mental health.

- There's still a stigma around mental health and mental health conditions.

And because of that stigma, they're not getting the help that we know can be so effective.

- We really hone in on a real-life example of someone that has navigated getting a mental health diagnosis and what success and what their life looks like now.

- But I'd like to start my story back in 2014 when I was 19 years old and in college.

And at the time, I was taking lots of classes and competing for money in a business competition.

And I was really excited about the possibility of winning this money in this business competition that I started losing sleep, and my excitement grew into what's called mania.

And mania is basically like when you have a lot of energy, but you can't really control that energy, and it's difficult to know what to do with it.

- All of NAMI programming is peer led.

So every single one of us, we have lived experience with a mental health condition, with ourselves or with a family member.

- After a number of days of not being able to fall asleep, it's easy for your mind to play tricks on you and to start making up stories in your head that aren't real.

And so I slipped into what's called delusional thinking, or psychosis.

So I'm diagnosed with bipolar.

I have worked through experiences of mania and depression and have found a lot of resources in community and friends and family and taking medication.

And I find a lot of power in movement.

(upbeat music) - [Kara] Ethan graduated with two degrees, traveled the world, and started a nonprofit called Dork Dancing that combines his love of movement and community with mental health advocacy.

The events are fun, judgment-free opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to engage in dance and connect with others.

- [Ethan] It's the simple things that can go really far, providing a safe place for you if you're struggling.

- At the end of our presentation, we do what we call an immediate assistance form.

And that's an opportunity for the students to share if they feel like they need extra support, they need to get connected with counseling.

Their responses are 100% confidential, and we're not sharing it with anyone outside of our team and their counseling team at school.

- Asking for help or telling someone isn't just telling a friend or a peer, you know?

It's really about reporting it to an adult that is trusted.

- And that's what I love most about this presentation is that it brings students to the surface that maybe otherwise wouldn't speak up.

They can do that in that really discreet and safe way.

- [Kara] NAMI St. Louis is passionate about mental health resources being accessible to everyone, which is why they provide all of their services for free.

This includes Ending the Silence presentations for school staff and parents.

These sessions break down stigmas and help to demystify mental health diagnoses and treatment options in a supportive environment.

- There's a natural fear of the unknown, 'cause there's so little education about what happens if.

So what happens if there is a diagnosis of a mental health condition?

And in actuality there are great resources and great treatments.

- But that's a scary thing for parents and caregivers to go through.

And so we wanna make sure that they also know we'll have those conversations not only with your children, but we'll have 'em with you.

- It's okay to not be okay, and you're not alone.

- Any way that we can lower the barriers for having that conversation, it's a step in the right direction.

(uplifting music) (dramatic music) (typewriter clacking) - 165 years ago in April of 1860, a man by the name of Walker passed away.

He's got an honored spot in this Missouri town, because, well, if it wasn't for him, this place would be in Arkansas.

There's no good geographic reason for this southern thrust into Arkansas, which apparently challenged not just surveyors but mapmakers as well.

And in fact, when Missouri petitioned for statehood, it wasn't there.

This is what Missouri was supposed to look like.

The northwest corner, the Platte addition, that was originally Indian territory.

It was added to the state and opened to settlers in 1837.

And the southern border, that was just a straight line along the 36-30 parallel.

That was a dividing line going back to Colonial times, the border between Virginia and North Carolina.

It was just extended out and became the Kentucky-Tennessee border and would've been extended across the Mississippi to become the Missouri-Arkansas border.

So what happened?

Well, the town of Caruthersville, population about 6,000, county seat of Pemiscot County, is a good place to find out.

And what you find out is it's not so much a question of why, but who.

That's him up there, right?

- That is John Hardeman Walker.

- [Jim] We met with Donald Jeffries of the Pemiscot County Historical Society to learn about the man considered the father, sometimes called the czar, of the Missouri Bootheel.

Is it really one guy who made this happen?

- Actually with some assistance, but it was primarily him.

- [Jim] John Hardeman Walker came from Tennessee to settle in this region in 1810.

Not an easy place to make a living.

It was swampy, prone to flooding, sparsely populated.

And when the big New Madrid earthquakes hit in 1811-1812, a lot of people who survived simply moved out and never came back.

And Walker stayed?

- [Donald] Yes.

- [Jim] He might have seen the post-earthquake situation as an opportunity.

- Yes, he did.

- [Jim] 'Cause if other people are leaving, that's just more land for him.

- Yes.

He had a immense land holdings with the farming that he was doing, you know, on what he could, but he also had immense herds of livestock.

- [Jim] When the issue of Missouri statehood came up, Walker was a leading citizen of what was then called Little Prairie.

And with his business and political connections, he looked forward to being part of the new state instead of a federal territory.

And the borders weren't set yet.

One proposal included pieces of today's Iowa and Kansas and a big chunk to the South.

But Congress opted for a smaller squared-off version, and Walker found himself south of the border.

- He wanted the protection of a state.

Then that's when Walker went to Washington.

- [Jim] This is when the facts get mixed up with the legend.

Jeffries found a 1937 newspaper article allegedly recounting the moment Walker heard the bad news.

- And it starts out, "They can't do that to me," according what he supposed to have said.

And he jumped on his mule, but more likely, a man with his prominence probably jumped on a horse.

- [Jim] So we're already questioning the historical record here?

- Uh huh.

- [Jim] Okay.

(Donald laughs) - Anyway, he rode 700 miles to Washington DC.

- [Jim] Very little is known about what Walker actually did, whom he talked to when he got there.

There's no records.

But Jeffries and other historians reject colorful versions that portray Walker wandering the halls of Congress, making his argument with a muzzle-loading shotgun.

More likely, things back then got done pretty much like they get done today.

- He did have connections.

Plus, he was a prominent landowner.

He was a person of wealth.

So there might have been a little backdoor dealings going on as well.

Anyway, he got what he wanted.

- [Jim] When Walker returned from the capital, bottom line, so to speak, the new state of Missouri had a Bootheel.

The Bootheel is more than just lines on a map.

It is distinct in its geography, its history, economy.

And Jeffries says, while it is a part of the state, it is also in some ways apart from the state.

- And yes, it should have been Arkansas land.

The culture here is more akin to Arkansas.

You go up to Cape Girardeau, it's different culture.

But, you know, Walker did what he did, and here we are today.

- If you're looking for signs of this chapter of Missouri history, and I am, you don't have to go very far, because John Hardeman Walker is still here, right in the center of town.

Just a short walk off the main street in downtown Caruthersville, you will find his grave and a plaque placed here by the DAR.

John Hardeman Walker, 1794-1860, enterprising citizen of Little Prairie.

Through his efforts, the Bootheel became a part of Missouri.

So that's the story of the Bootheel, the story of a time and a place and a man who died this week 165 years ago in his own special corner of Missouri.

- And that's "Living St.

Louis."

You can watch all these stories and more on our YouTube channel or on the PBS app.

And don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions at NinePBS.org/LSL.

I'm Brooke Butler, thanks for joining us.

(lively jazz music) (lively jazz music continues) (lively jazz music continues) - [Narrator] "Living St. Louis" is funded in part by the Betsy & Thomas Patterson Foundation and the members of Nine PBS.