Missouri enslaved few people; those who owned ten were considered wealthy. In the southeastern Bootheel area and along the fertile Missouri River valley known as "little Dixie," large, single-crop plantations predominated, with an intensive use of enslaved labor. Elsewhere in the state, large farms produced a variety of staples, including hemp, wheat, oats, hay, and corn. On many of these estates the owner worked alongside his slaves to harvest the greatest economic benefit from the land. This forced labor system was less entrenched in the city of St. Louis, where the African American population was 2% in 1860, down from 25% in 1830. Enslaved people were often "hired out" by their masters in return for an agreed upon wage. A portion of the wage was sometimes paid to enslaved people, allowing a measure of self-determination and in rare cases the opportunity to purchase their freedom. Early farm residents and slavery Each of the farm's early residents enslaved people during their tenure on the Gravois property. When Theodore and Anne Lucas Hunt purchased William Lindsay Long's home in 1818, there existed "several good log cabins" on the property—potential quarters for the five enslaved people purchased earlier by Hunt. The work of Walace, Andrew, Lydia, Loutette, and Adie would be an important part of the Hunts' farming venture. The Hunts sold the Gravois property to Frederick Dent in 1820, for the sum of $6,000. Naming the property "White Haven" after his family home in Maryland, Colonel Dent considered himself a Southern gentleman with enslaved people whom he could force to do the farmwork. By the 1850s, 18 people were enslaved at White Haven. Growing up as an enslaved person In 1830, half of the people enslaved by Dent were under the age of ten. Henrietta, Sue, Ann, and Jeff, among other enslaved people, played with the Dent children. Julia Dent recalled that they fished for minnows, climbed trees for bird nests, and gathered strawberries. However, slave children also had chores such as feeding chickens and cows, and they mastered their assigned tasks as the white children went off to school. Returning home from boarding school, Julia noted the transition from playmate to servant. She noted that the enslaved girls had "attained the dignity of white aprons." These aprons symbolized forced labor, a departure from the less structured days of childhood play. Household responsibilities Enslaved adults performed many household chores on the Dent