Gibson's Mill

John Gibson's mill and house once stood in the valley along Wilson Creek. On August 9, 1861, the day before the battle, the Gibson family and their neighbors found themselves surrounded by more than 12,000 Confederate soldiers whose camps extended two miles south along the creek. The Gibsons made their living by grinding corn and oats into flour and by carding wool. When the cannon began to roar on the morning of August 10, they took refuge in their cellar. The house and mill are gone, but foundation ruins remain visible, and remnants of the millrace, a narrow earthen canal that carried water to turn the mill's water wheel, may still be seen along the creek.

Battlefield, Missouri · United States