Missouri

See also: National Parks and Monuments (table)National Parks and Monuments

National Parks
Name Type¹ Location Year authorized Size
acres (hectares)
Description
Acadia NP SE Maine 1919 48,419 (19,603) Mountain and coast scenery.
..... Click the link for more information.

Missouri,

river, c.2,565 mi (4,130 km) long (including its Jefferson-Beaverhead-Red Rock headstream), the longest river of the United States and the principal tributary of the MississippiMississippi,
river, principal river of the United States, c.2,350 mi (3,780 km) long, exceeded in length only by the Missouri, the chief of its numerous tributaries. The combined Missouri-Mississippi system (from the Missouri's headwaters in the Rocky Mts.
..... Click the link for more information. River. The length of the combined Missouri-Mississippi system from the headwaters of the Missouri to the mouth of the Mississippi is c.3,740 mi (6,020 km), making it the world's third longest river after the Nile and the Amazon. The Missouri River drains an area of c.580,000 sq mi (1,502,200 sq km), including 2,550 sq mi (6,600 sq km) in Canada.

Course

The principal headwaters of the Missouri are the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin rivers, which rise high in the Rocky Mts., SW Mont., and join to form the Missouri near Three Forks, Mont. The Missouri's upper course flows north through scenic mountain terrain including Gate of the Mountains, a deep gorge. At Great Falls, Mont., the river enters a 10-mi (16-km) stretch of cataracts that prevented navigation to the upper river and effectively established Fort Benton, Mont., as the head of navigation for 19th-century riverboats. Below Fort Benton the Missouri follows a meandering course east through the unspoiled Missouri Breaks and Fort Peck Lake (behind Fort Peck Dam) then southeast through the dammed Lakes Sakakawea and Oahe and across the Great Plains of the W central United States, crossing Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota, and forming part of the boundaries of Nebraska, Kansas, and Iowa before crossing Missouri and entering the Mississippi River 17 mi (27 km) N of St. Louis. Nicknamed "Big Muddy" for its heavy load of silt, the brown waters of the Missouri do not readily mix with the gray waters of the Mississippi until c.100 mi (160 km) downstream. The Yellowstone and Platte rivers are the Missouri's chief tributaries.

Human Impact and Use

Above Sioux City, Iowa, the Missouri's fluctuating flow is regulated by seven major dams (Gavins Point, Fort Randall, Big Bend, OaheOahe Dam
, major unit of the Missouri River basin project, 242 ft (74 m) high and 9,360 ft (2,853 m) long, on the Missouri River, central S.Dak., near Pierre; built 1948–63 by the U.S. Corps of Engineers. The reservoir impounded by the dam extends c.
..... Click the link for more information. , GarrisonGarrison Dam,
c.11,300 ft (3,400 m) long and 210 ft (64 m) high, on the Missouri River, near Riverdale, W central N.Dak.; one of the world's largest earth-filled dams used for irrigation power. Built by the U.S.
..... Click the link for more information. , Fort PeckFort Peck Dam,
21,430 ft (6,531 m) long and 250 ft (76 m) high, on the Missouri River, NE Mont.; one of the world's largest earth-filled dams. The dam was built (1933–40) by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a flood-control and navigation-improvement project.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Canyon Ferry) and more than 80 other dams on tributary streams. These dams, with their reservoirs, are part of the coordinated, basin-wide Missouri River basin projectMissouri River basin project,
comprehensive plan authorized in 1944 for the coordinated development of water resources of the Missouri River and its tributaries, draining an area of c.
..... Click the link for more information. (authorized by the U.S. Congress in 1944), which provides for flood control, hydroelectric power, irrigation water, and recreational facilities. The dams serve to impound for later use the spring rains and snowmelt that swell the volume of the river in March and April and also the second flood stage that frequently occurs in June as the snow melts in the remoter mountain regions. Despite this system of dams, during the extremely rainy summer of 1993 the lower Missouri reached record levels, flooding many areas, eroding farmland, and depositing huge quantities of sand that damaged many thousands of acres of fertile bottomland. Flooding was also a significant problem along the river in 2011.

Since the dams have no locks, Sioux City is the head of navigation for the 9-ft (2.7-m) channel maintained over the 760-mi (1,223-km) stretch downstream to the Mississippi. Tugboats pushing strings of barges move freight along this route. From December to March, navigation is interrupted by ice and low water levels (resulting from upstream freezing); summer water levels, which frequently fell so low as to cause river boats to go aground, are now maintained at safe levels by the release of water from Gavin Point Dam. Silt, fertilizers, and pesticides, which are contained in the runoff from agricultural lands, pollute the water above Sioux City, but wastes from industrial plants and from inadequately treated municipal sewage create a more serious level of pollution downstream. There has been a reduction in wetland areas and a loss of fish and wildlife due to the damming of the river.

History

The Missouri River was an important artery of commerce for Native American villages of the Plains culture long before Europeans arrived. The French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet passed the mouth of the river in 1683 and the Canadian explorer Vérendrye visited the upper reaches of the river in 1738. David Thompson, a Canadian fur trader, explored part of the river in 1797. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark followed the Missouri on their journey (1803–6) to the Pacific Ocean and described it at length (see Lewis and Clark expeditionLewis and Clark expedition,
1803–6, U.S. expedition that explored the territory of the Louisiana Purchase and the country beyond as far as the Pacific Ocean. Purpose
..... Click the link for more information. ). The first steamboat ascended the river in 1819, and hundreds more later navigated the uncertain waters to Fort Benton. Mormons bound for Utah and pioneers bound for Oregon and California followed the Missouri valley and that of the Platte overland to the West. River traffic declined with the loss of freight to the railroads after the Civil War. Although it was revitalized in the mid-20th cent., in the section below Sioux City, through the navigational improvements and flood control efforts of the Missouri River basin project, barge traffic declined in the late 20th cent. Two stretches of the river are protected as the Missouri National Recreational River (see National Parks and MonumentsNational Parks and Monuments

National Parks
Name Type¹ Location Year authorized Size
acres (hectares)
Description
Acadia NP SE Maine 1919 48,419 (19,603) Mountain and coast scenery.
..... Click the link for more information. (table)).

Bibliography

See B. De Voto, Across the Wide Missouri (1947, repr. 1972); H. M. Chittenden, Early Steamboat Navigation on the Missouri River (1972); B. Priddy, Across Our Wide Missouri (2 vol., 1982–84).

Missouri

(mĭzo͝or`ē, –ə), one of the midwestern states of the United States. It is bordered by Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee, across the Mississippi River (E), Arkansas (S), Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska (W), and Iowa (N).

Facts and Figures

Area, 69,686 sq mi (180,487 sq km). Pop. (2010) 5,988,927, a 7% increase since the 2000 census. Capital, Jefferson City. Largest city, Kansas City. Statehood, Aug. 10, 1821 (24th state). Highest pt., Taum Sauk Mt., 1,772 ft (540 m); lowest pt., St. Francis River, 230 ft (70 m). Nickname, Show Me State. Motto, Salus Populi Suprema Lex Esto [The Welfare of the People Shall Be the Supreme Law]. State bird, bluebird. State flower, hawthorn. State tree, dogwood. Abbr., Mo.; MO

Geography

Two great rivers, the Mississippi and the Missouri, have had a great influence on the development of Missouri. The Mississippi tied the region to the South, particularly to New Orleans. The Missouri crosses the state from west to east and enters the Mississippi near St. Louis; the portion of its valley between St. Louis and what became Kansas City was the greatest avenue of early-19th-cent. advance westward across the continent.

The region N of the Missouri River is largely prairie land, where, as on the Iowa plains to the north, corn and livestock are raised. Most of the region S of the Missouri is covered by foothills and by the plateau of the Ozark Mts., a region of hill country populated by a relatively isolated, self-reliant people. The rough, heavily forested eastern section of the Ozarks extends into the less hilly farming plateau in the west and encompasses the irregular, twisting Lake of the Ozarks to the northwest.

In SW Missouri is a long, narrow area of flat land, part of the Great Plains, where livestock and forage crops are raised. In the southeast, in the "Bootheel" region below Cape Girardeau, are the cotton fields of the Mississippi floodplain, a once-swampy area improved after the establishment of a drainage system in 1805. The state's rivers have periodically flooded and eroded fertile farmlands. In 1993 flooding cost 31 lives and caused an estimated $3 billion in damage, much of it to agriculture. The Missouri River basin project represents a major flood control effort.

The capital is Jefferson CityJefferson City,
city (1990 pop. 35,481), state capital and seat of Cole co., central Mo., on the south bank of the Missouri River, near the mouth of the Osage; inc. 1825.
..... Click the link for more information. , and the largest cities are Kansas CityKansas City,
two adjacent cities of the same name, one (1990 pop. 149,767), seat of Wyandotte co., NE Kansas (inc. 1859), the other (1990 pop. 435,146), Clay, Jackson, and Platte counties, NW Mo. (inc. 1850).
..... Click the link for more information. , Saint LouisSaint Louis
, city (1990 pop. 396,685), independent and in no county, E Mo., on the Mississippi River below the mouth of the Missouri; inc. as a city 1822. St. Louis has long been a major industrial and transportation hub.
..... Click the link for more information. , SpringfieldSpringfield.
1 City (1990 pop. 105,227), state capital and seat of Sangamon co., central Ill., on the Sangamon River; settled 1818, inc. as a city 1840. In a rich agricultural region (sorghum, corn, cattle, and dairying), it is a wholesale trade, retail, and distribution
..... Click the link for more information. , and IndependenceIndependence.
1 City (1990 pop. 9,942), seat of Montgomery co., SE Kans., on the Verdigris River, near the Okla. line, in an important oil-producing area where corn and wheat are also grown.
..... Click the link for more information. . Places of interest include Gateway Arch National Park, in St. Louis; George Washington Carver National Monument, in Diamond; Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, near Springfield; the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, in Kansas City; the Harry S. Truman Memorial Library, in Independence; and the Museum of the American Indian, in St. Joseph. A 185-mi (300 km) bicycle trail stretches from near St. Louis to Sedalia.

Economy

Missouri's economy rests chiefly on industry. Aerospace and transportation equipment are the main manufactures; food products, chemicals, printing and publishing, machinery, fabricated metals, and electrical equipment are also important. St. Louis is an important center for the manufacture of metals and chemicals. In Kansas City, long a leading market for livestock and wheat, the manufacture of vending machines and of cars and trucks are leading industries.

Coal in the west and north central sections, lead in the southeast, and zinc in the southwest are among the resources exploited by Missouri's mining concerns. Lead (Missouri has been the top U.S. producer), cement, and stone are the chief minerals produced.

Missouri remains important agriculturally; with over 100,000 farms, the state ranks second only to Texas. The most valuable farm products are soybeans, corn, cattle, hogs, wheat, and dairy items. The development of resorts in the Ozarks, including Branson and several lakes, has boosted tourism income.

Government, Politics, and Higher Education

In 1945, Missouri adopted a new state constitution that remains in effect. The governor is elected for a term of four years. The general assembly (legislature) has a senate with 34 members and a house of representatives with 163 members. The state sends eight representatives and two senators to the U.S. Congress and has 10 electoral votes in presidential elections. In 1992, Democrat Mel Carnahan was elected governor; he won reelection in 1996. After Gov. Carnahan died in a plane crash in Oct., 2000, Lt. Gov. Roger B. Wilson succeeded him. In November, Democrat Bob Holden was elected to the office. In 2004 Republican Matt Blunt won the governorship, but in 2008 and 2012 voters elected a Democrat, Jay Nixon. Republican Eric Greitens won the office in 2016, but resigned in 2018 in return for the dropping of a computer tampering charge. He was succeeded by Lt. Gov. Michael L. Parson, also a Republican.

Institutions of higher learning include the Univ. of Missouri, with campuses at Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla, and Saint Louis; Missouri State Univ., at Springfield; Saint Louis Univ., Washington Univ., and Webster Univ., at St. Louis; Rockhurst College, at Kansas City; and Westminster College, at Fulton.

History

French Exploration and Settlement

Missouri's recorded history begins in the latter half of the 17th cent. when the French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet descended the Mississippi River, followed by Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, who claimed the whole area drained by the Mississippi River for France, calling the territory Louisiana. When the French explorers arrived the area was inhabited by Native Americans of the Osage and the Missouri groups, and by the end of the 17th cent. French trade with the Native Americans flourished.

In the early 18th cent. the French worked the area's lead mines and made numerous trips through Missouri in search of furs. Trade down the Mississippi prompted the settlement of Ste. Geneviève about 1735 and the founding of St. Louis in 1764 by Pierre Laclede and René Auguste Chouteau, who were both in the fur-trading business. Although not involved in the last conflict (1754–63) of the French and Indian WarsFrench and Indian Wars,
1689–1763, the name given by American historians to the North American colonial wars between Great Britain and France in the late 17th and the 18th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. , Missouri was affected by the French defeat when, in 1762, France secretly ceded the territory west of the Mississippi to Spain. In 1800 the Louisiana Territory (including the Missouri area) was retroceded to France, but in 1803 it passed to the United States as part of the Louisiana PurchaseLouisiana Purchase,
1803, American acquisition from France of the formerly Spanish region of Louisiana. Reasons for the Purchase

The revelation in 1801 of the secret agreement of 1800, whereby Spain retroceded Louisiana to France, aroused uneasiness in the United
..... Click the link for more information. .

French influence remained dominant, even though by this time Americans had filtered into the territory, particularly to the lead mines at Ste Geneviève and Potosi. By the time of the Lewis and Clark expeditionLewis and Clark expedition,
1803–6, U.S. expedition that explored the territory of the Louisiana Purchase and the country beyond as far as the Pacific Ocean. Purpose
..... Click the link for more information. (1803–6), St. Louis was already known as the gateway to the Far West.

Territorial Status and Statehood

The U.S. Territory of Missouri was set up in 1812, but settlement was slow even after the War of 1812. The coming of the steamboat increased traffic and trade on the Mississippi, and settlement progressed. Planters from the South had introduced slavery into the territory, but their plantations were restricted to a small area. However, the question of admitting the Missouri Territory as a state became a burning national issue because it involved the question of extending slavery into the territories. The dispute was resolved by the Missouri CompromiseMissouri Compromise,
1820–21, measures passed by the U.S. Congress to end the first of a series of crises concerning the extension of slavery.

By 1818, Missouri Territory had gained sufficient population to warrant its admission into the Union as a state.
..... Click the link for more information. , which admitted (1821) Missouri to the Union as a slave state but excluded slavery from lands of the Louisiana Purchase north of lat. 36°30'N. (All of Missouri lies north of 36°30' except for the southeastern "bootheel.")

Slaveholding interests became politically powerful, but the state remained principally a fur-trading center. In 1822, W. H. Ashley (who later made a fortune in fur trading) led an expedition of the adventurous trappers who became known as mountain menmountain men,
fur trappers and traders in the Rocky Mts. during the 1820s and 30s. Their activities opened that region of the United States to general knowledge. Since the days of French domination there had been expeditions to the upper Missouri River, and in the early 19th
..... Click the link for more information. up the Missouri River to explore the West for furs. From Missouri traders established a thriving commerce over the Santa Fe TrailSanta Fe Trail,
important caravan route of the W United States, extending c.780 mi (1,260 km) from Independence, Mo., SW to Santa Fe, N.Mex. Independence and Westport, Mo., were the chief points where wagons, teams, and supplies were obtained.
..... Click the link for more information. with the inhabitants of New Mexico, and pioneers followed the Oregon TrailOregon Trail,
overland emigrant route in the United States from the Missouri River to the Columbia River country (all of which was then called Oregon). The pioneers by wagon train did not, however, follow any single narrow route.
..... Click the link for more information. to settle the Northwest. Franklin, Westport, Independence, and St. Joseph became famous as the points of origin of these expeditions.

Settlement of Missouri itself quickened, spreading in the 1820s over the river valleys into central Missouri and by the 1830s into W Missouri. The boundaries of the state were formed after Native Americans gave up their claim to Platte co. in 1836; this strip of land in the northwest corner of Missouri was added to the state. Mormon immigrants came to settle Missouri in the 1830s, but their opposition to slavery and their growing numbers made them unwelcome and they were driven from the state in 1839. German immigrants, however, were cordially received during the 1840s and 50s, settling principally in the St. Louis area.

Slavery, Civil War, and a New Missouri

In 1854 the problem of slavery was made acute with the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska ActKansas-Nebraska Act,
bill that became law on May 30, 1854, by which the U.S. Congress established the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. By 1854 the organization of the vast Platte and Kansas river countries W of Iowa and Missouri was overdue.
..... Click the link for more information. , leaving the question of slavery in the Kansas and Nebraska territories to the settlers themselves. The proslavery forces in Missouri became very active in trying to win Kansas for the slave cause and contributed to the violence and disorder that tore the territory apart in the years just prior to the Civil War. Nevertheless Missouri also had leaders opposed to slavery, including one of its Senators, Thomas Hart Benton.

During the Civil War most Missourians remained loyal to the federal government. A state convention that met in Mar., 1861, voted against secession, and in 1862 the convention set up a provisional government. Guerrilla activities persisted during this period, and the lawlessness bred by civil warfare persisted in Missouri after the war in the activities of outlaws such as Jesse James.

A new Missouri rose out of the war—the semi-Southern atmosphere, along with the river life and steamboating, began to decline, but the flavor of the period was preserved in the works of one of Missouri's most celebrated sons, Mark TwainTwain, Mark,
pseud. of Samuel Langhorne Clemens,
1835–1910, American author, b. Florida, Mo. As humorist, narrator, and social observer, Twain is unsurpassed in American literature.
..... Click the link for more information. . The coming of the railroads brought the eventual decay of many of Missouri's river towns and tied the state more closely to the East and North. Urbanization and industrialization progressed, and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, held at St. Louis in 1904, dramatically revealed Missouri's economic growth.

Political History

Since the brief period of radical Republican rule from 1864 to 1870, Missouri has been permanently wedded to neither major party. While tending toward the Republicans in the days of Theodore Roosevelt, it turned solidly Democratic for Franklin D. Roosevelt and helped to elect Missourian Harry S. Truman to the presidency in 1948. Political machines in the large cities have attracted national attention, notably the machine of Thomas J. Pendergast (1872–1945) in Kansas City. Missouri has contributed to the United States such outstanding statesmen as Champ Clark, James Reed, and W. Stuart Symington. Thomas Hart Benton, a descendant of the Missouri Senator of the same name, was one of the country's important artists.

World War I to the Present

Although during World War I general prosperity prevailed in the state, the depression years of the 1930s sent farm values crashing, and many banks, especially in rural areas, failed. Prosperity returned during World War II, when both St. Louis and Kansas City served as vital transportation centers, and industrialization increased enormously. In the postwar period, Missouri became the second largest producer (behind Michigan) of automobiles in the nation. Although most industry remains based in the two metropolitan centers, smaller Missouri communities, especially suburbs, have since attracted much light and heavy industry, as well as former city dwellers. St. Louis lost half its population between 1950 to 1990, and out-migration has continued; what was once the fourth largest U.S. city is now barely in the top 50 in size.

Bibliography

See State Historical Society, Historic Missouri (1959); E. C. McReynolds, Missouri: A History of the Crossroads State (1962); Federal Writers' Project, Missouri: A Guide to the "Show Me" State (1941, repr. 1981); M. D. Rafferty, Missouri: A Geography (1983); A. M. Gibson, The Encyclopedia of Missouri (1985).

Missouri State Information

Phone: (573) 751-2000
www.missouri.gov

Area (sq mi):: 69704.31 (land 68885.93; water 818.39) Population per square mile: 84.20
Population 2005: 5,800,310 State rank: 0 Population change: 2000-20005 3.70%; 1990-2000 9.30% Population 2000: 5,595,211 (White 83.80%; Black or African American 11.20%; Hispanic or Latino 2.10%; Asian 1.10%; Other 2.80%). Foreign born: 2.70%. Median age: 36.10
Income 2000: per capita $19,936; median household $37,934; Population below poverty level: 11.70% Personal per capita income (2000-2003): $27,241-$29,464
Unemployment (2004): 5.80% Unemployment change (from 2000): 2.50% Median travel time to work: 23.80 minutes Working outside county of residence: 33.40%

List of Missouri counties:

Adair County

Andrew County

Atchison County

Audrain County

Barry County

Barton County

Bates County

Benton County

Bollinger County

Boone County

Buchanan County

Butler County

Caldwell County

Callaway County

Camden County

Cape Girardeau County

Carroll County

Carter County

Cass County

Cedar County

Chariton County

Christian County

Clark County

Clay County

Clinton County

Cole County

Cooper County

Crawford County

Dade County

Dallas County

Daviess County

DeKalb County

Dent County

Douglas County

Dunklin County

Franklin County

Gasconade County

Gentry County

Greene County

Grundy County

Harrison County

Henry County

Hickory County

Holt County

Howard County

Howell County

Iron County

Jackson County

Jasper County

Jefferson County

Johnson County

Knox County

Laclede County

Lafayette County

Lawrence County

Lewis County

Lincoln County

Linn County

Livingston County

Macon County

Madison County

Maries County

Marion County

McDonald County

Mercer County

Miller County

Mississippi County

Moniteau County

Monroe County

Montgomery County

Morgan County

New Madrid County

Newton County

Nodaway County

Oregon County

Osage County

Ozark County

Pemiscot County

Perry County

Pettis County

Phelps County

Pike County

Platte County

Polk County

Pulaski County

Putnam County

Ralls County

Randolph County

Ray County

Reynolds County

Ripley County

Saint Charles County

Saint Clair County

Saint Francois County

Saint Louis (Independent City)

Saint Louis County

Sainte Genevieve County

Saline County

Schuyler County

Scotland County

Scott County

Shannon County

Shelby County

Stoddard County

Stone County

Sullivan County

Taney County

Texas County

Vernon County

Warren County

Washington County

Wayne County

Webster County

Worth County

Wright County

Missouri Parks

US National Parks

George Washington Carver National Monument
Harry S Truman National Historic Site

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial
Ozark National Scenic Riverways

Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site
Wilson's Creek National Battlefield

Urban Parks
Carondelet Park
Fleming Park
Forest Park
Longview Lake Park
Richard L. Berkley Riverfront Park
Robert H. Hodge Park
Swope Park
Tower Grove Park
Willmore Park

State Parks

Arrow Rock State Historic Site
Battle of Athens State Historic Site
Battle of Carthage State Park
Battle of Lexington State Historic Site
Bennett Spring State Park
Big Lake State Park
Big Oak Tree State Park
Big Sugar Creek State Park
Bollinger Mill State Historic Site
Boone's Lick State Historic Site
Bothwell Lodge State Historic Site
Castlewood State Park
Clark's Hill/Norton State Historic Site
Confederate Memorial State Historic Site
Crowder State Park
Cuivre River State Park
Deutschheim State Historic Site
Dillard Mill State Historic Site
Dr. Edmund A Babler Memorial State Park
Edward "Ted" and Pat Jones-Confluence Point State Park
Elephant Rocks State Park
Felix Valle House State Historic Site
Finger Lakes State Park
First Missouri State Capitol State Historic Site
Fort Davidson State Historic Site
General John J. Pershing Boyhood Home State Historic Site
Governor Daniel Dunklin's Grave State Historic Site
Graham Cave State Park

Grand Gulf State Park
Ha Ha Tonka State Park
Harry S Truman Birthplace State Historic Site
Harry S Truman State Park
Hawn State Park
Hunter-Dawson State Historic Site
Iliniwek Village State Historic Site
Jefferson Landing State Historic Site & Missouri State Museum
Jewell Cemetery State Historic Site
Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park
Katy Trail State Park
Knob Noster State Park
Lake of the Ozarks State Park
Lake Wappapello State Park
Lewis & Clark State Park
Locust Creek Covered Bridge State Historic Site
Long Branch State Park
Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Site
Mark Twain State Park
Mastodon State Historic Site
Meramec State Park
Missouri Mines State Historic Site
Montauk State Park
Morris State Park
Nathan Boone Homestead State Historic Site
Onondaga Cave State Park
Osage Village State Historic Site
Pershing State Park

Pomme de Terre State Park
Prairie State Park
Roaring River State Park
Robertsville State Park
Rock Bridge Memorial State Park
Roger Pryor Pioneer Backcountry
Route 66 State Park
Saint Francois State Park
Saint Joe State Park
Sam A. Baker State Park
Sandy Creek Covered Bridge State Historic Site
Sappington Cemetery State Historic Site
Scott Joplin House State Historic Site
Stockton State Park
Table Rock State Park
Taum Sauk Mountain State Park
Thomas Hart Benton Home & Studio State Historic Site
Thousand Hills State Park
Towosahgy State Historic Site
Trail of Tears State Park
Union Covered Bridge State Historic Site
Van Meter State Park
Wakonda State Park
Wallace State Park
Washington State Park
Watkins Woolen Mill State Park & State Historic Site
Weston Bend State Park

Parks and Conservation-Related Organizations - US
Association of Conservation Engineers (ACE)
Center for Plant Conservation (CPC)
Oregon-California Trails Association

National Wildlife Refuges

Big Muddy National Fish & Wildlife Refuge
Clarence Cannon National Wildlife Refuge

Great River National Wildlife Refuge
Mingo National Wildlife Refuge

Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge
Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge

National Trails
California National Historic Trail
Oregon National Historic Trail
National Scenic Byways
Crowley's Ridge Parkway - Missouri
Little Dixie Highway of the Great River Road
National Forests
Mark Twain National Forest

Missouri

a state in the central USA, in the basins of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Area, 180,400 sq km. Population, 4.7 million persons (1970), of whom 70.1 percent were urban dwellers. The capital is Jefferson City and the largest cities are St. Louis and Kansas City.

The surface is an undulating plain that gradually rises to the west. To the south lies the limestone Ozark Plateau, with a maximum elevation of 540 m. The climate is temperate. The mean January temperature is about 0°C, and the mean July temperature, 27°C. Annual precipitation totals about 1,000 mm, and droughts are frequent. Areas along river valleys are subject to devastating floods.

Missouri is an industrial and agricultural state. The economically active population numbered 1.8 million persons in 1970, of whom one-fourth were employed in industry and one-tenth in agriculture. It is the country’s leading producer of lead (383,000 tons in 1970). Iron ore, coal, barite, and building materials are also extracted. Manufacturing industries, chiefly machine building and food processing, are concentrated in St. Louis and Kansas City. The leading industrial products are aircraft and missiles (at the McDonnell-Douglas plants in St. Louis, the largest in the USA), motor vehicles (large auto assembly plants in Kansas City and St. Louis), electronic equipment, chemicals, canned meat, and flour. Road-building and farm machinery, clothing, leather footwear, cement, and ferrous and nonferrous metals are also produced. The installed capacity of electric power plants was 8.5 million gigawatts in 1972. Livestock raising accounts for 70 percent of the agricultural output. In 1971 there were 5 million head of cattle and 5.5 million pigs. The principal crops are corn, soybeans, and wheat. Oats are grown on the Ozark Plateau and cotton in the Mississippi floodplain in the southeast.

V. M. GOKHMAN

Missouri

(in the local Indian language, “muddy river”), a river in the USA and the largest tributary (right) of the Mississippi River. It is 4,740 km long (3,970 km according to some sources) and drains an area of 1,370,000 sq km, of which about 10,000 sq km are in Canada. The Missouri rises on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Yellowstone National Park; it is formed by the confluence of the Jefferson (its main tributary) and Madison rivers. Much of the river’s upper course is in the Rocky Mountains, where in some places it flows through gorges and forms rapids. The largest rapids are at Great Falls, where the river drops 187 m over a 16-km stretch. In its middle course the Missouri crosses the Missouri Plateau in a deep valley with steep bluffs. The water is muddy and of a dirty brown color. Several large dams have been built, transforming the river into a chain of long, winding reservoirs. In its lower course, crossing the Central Plains, the riverbed is winding and unstable and the broad flood plain has been embanked for flood protection. The largest tributaries, the Yellowstone, Platte, and Kansas, empty into the Missouri from the right.

The river is fed by snow in the upper course and chiefly by rain in the middle and lower courses. The volume of water varies greatly: during spring high water the water level in the lower course rises 8–12 m and the maximum discharge is 19,000 cu m per sec. During summer low water, the discharge decreases to 150–170 cu m per sec. At the mouth the discharge averages about 2,250 cu m per sec. Catastrophic floods occur frequently, most recently in 1952. The river carries much sediment, averaging about 220 million tons annually. A system of large multipurpose reservoirs on the Missouri (Fort Peck, Garrison, and Oahe) and its tributaries regulates the flow, provides irrigation and electric power, and improves navigation. The river is navigable for large river boats as far as Sioux City and for small vessels during high water as far as Fort Benton. The most important cities on the Missouri are Sioux City, Omaha, St. Joseph, and Kansas City.

A. P. MURANOV

Missouri

Twenty-fourth state; admitted on August 10, 1821

State capital: Jefferson City Nickname: Show Me State State motto: Salus populi suprema lex esto (Latin “Let the

welfare of the people be the supreme law”) State amphibian: American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) State bird: Bluebird (Sialia sialis) State day: Missouri Day, third Wednesday in October State dinosaur: Hadrosaur or duck-billed (Hypsibema mis

souriense) State fish: Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) State flower: Hawthorn blossom (Crataegus) State folk dance: Square dance State fossil: Crinoid (Delocrinus missouriensis) State grape: Norton/Cynthiana grape (Vitis Aestivalis) State horse: Missouri fox trotting horse State insect: Honeybee (Apis mellifera) State land animal: Missouri mule; aquatic animal: Paddle

fish State mineral: Galena State musical instrument: Fiddle State rock: Mozarkite (chert or flint rock) State song: “Missouri Waltz” State tree: Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) State tree nut: Eastern black walnut (Juglans nigra)

More about state symbols at:

www.sos.mo.gov/symbols/

SOURCES:

AmerBkDays-2000, p. 579 AnnivHol-2000, p. 134

STATE OFFICES:

State web site: www.missouri.gov

Office of the Governor PO Box 720 Jefferson City, MO 65102 573-751-3222 fax: 573-751-1495 www.gov.state.mo.us

Secretary of State
PO Box 778
Jefferson City, MO 65102
573-751-4936
fax: 573-526-4903
www.sos.state.mo.us

Missouri State Library
600 W Main St
PO Box 387
Jefferson City, MO 65102
573-751-3615
fax: 573-526-1142
www.sos.mo.gov/library

Legal Holidays:

Harry S. Truman Day	May 8
Lincoln Day	Feb 12

Missouri

1. a state of the central US: consists of rolling prairies in the north, the Ozark Mountains in the south, and part of the Mississippi flood plain in the southeast, with the Mississippi forming the E border; chief US producer of lead and barytes. Capital: Jefferson City. Pop.: 5 704 484 (2003 est.). Area: 178 699 sq. km (68 995 sq. miles) 2. a river in the W and central US, rising in SW Montana: flows north, east, and southeast to join the Mississippi above St Louis; the longest river in North America; chief tributary of the Mississippi. Length: 3970 km (2466 miles)

Missouri

Related to Missouri: Missouri Compromise

MISSOURI. The name of one of the new states of the United States of America. This state was admitted into the Union by a resolution of congress, approved March 2, 1821, 3 Story's L. U. S. 1823, by which it is resolved, that Missouri shall be admitted into this Union on an equal footing with the original states, in all respects whatever. To this resolution there is a condition, which having been fulfilled, it is now useless here to repeat.
2. The convention which formed the constitution of this state assembled at St. Louis, on Monday the 12th of June, 1820, and continued by adjournment, till the 19th day of July, 1820, when the constitution was adopted, establishing "an independent republic by the name of the `state of Missouri.'"
3. The powers of the government are divided into three distinct departments, each of which is confided to a separate magistracy. Art. 2.
4.-1st. The legislative power is vested in a general assembly, which consists of a senate and house of representatives. 1. The senate is to consist of not less than fourteen nor more than thirty-three members. The senators are chosen by tho electors for the term of four years; one-half of the senators are chosen every second year. 2. The house of representatives is never to consist of more than one hundred members. The members are chosen by the qualified electors every second year.
5.-2d. The executive power is vested in a governor and lieutenant-governor. 1. The supreme executive power is vested in a chief magistrate, styled "the governor of the state of Missouri." Art. 4, s. 1, He is elected by the people, and holds his office for four years, and until a successor be duly appointed and qualified. Art. 4, s. 3. He is invested with the veto power. Art. 4, s. 10. The lieutenant-governor is elected at the same time, in the same manner, for the same term, and is required to possess the same qualifications as the governor. Art. 4, s. 14. He is by virtue of his office president of the senate, and when the office of governor becomes vacant by death, resignation, absence from the state, removal from office, refusal to qualify, or otherwise, the lieutenant-governor possesses all the powers and discharges all the duties of governor until such vacancy be filled, or the governor, so absent or impeached, shall return or be acquitted. And in such case there shall be a new election after three months previous notice.
6.-3d. The judicial powers are vested by the 5th article of the constitution as follows:
Sec. 1. The judicial powers, as to matters of law and equity, shall be vested in a "supreme court," in a "chancellor," in "Circuit courts," and in such inferior tribunals as the general assembly may, from time to time, ordain and establish.
7.-2. The supreme court, except in cases otherwise directed by this constitution, shall have appellate jurisdiction only, which shall be coextensive with the state, under the restrictions and limitations in this constitution provided.
8.-3. The supreme court shall have a general superintending control over all inferior courts of law. It shall have power to issue writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, quo warranto, certiorari, and other original remedial writs; and to hear and determine the same.
9.-4. The supreme court shall consist of three judges, any two of whom shall be a quorum, and the said judges shall be conservators of the peace throughout the state.
10.-5. The state shall be divided into convenient districts, not to exceed four; in each of which the supreme court shall hold two sessions annually, at such place as the general assembly shall appoint; and when sitting in either district, it shall exercise jurisdiction over causes originating in that district only: provided, however, that the general assembly may, at any time hereafter, direct by law, that the said court shall be held at one place only.
11.-6. The circuit court shall have jurisdiction over all criminal cases which shall not be otherwise provided for by law; and exclusive original jurisdiction in all civil cases which shall not be cognizable before justices of the peace, until otherwise directed by the general assembly. It shall hold its terms in such place in each county as may be by law directed.
12.-7. The state shall be divided into convenient circuits, for each of which a judge shall be appointed, who, after his appointment, shall reside, and be a conservator of the peace, within the circuit for which he shall be appointed.
13.-8. The circuit courts shall exercise a superintending control over all such inferior tribunals as the general assembly may establish; and over justices of the peace in each county in their respective circuits.
14.-9. The jurisdiction of the court of chancery shall be co-extensive with the state and the times and places of holding its sessions shall be regulated in the same manner as those of the supreme court.
15.-10. The court of chancery shall have original and appellate jurisdiction in all matters of equity, and a general control over executors, administrators, guardians, and minors, subject to appeal, in all cases, to the supreme court, under such limitations as the general assembly may by law provide.
16.-11. Until the general assembly shall deem it expedient to establish inferior courts of chancery, the circuit courts shall have jurisdiction in matters of equity, subject to appeal to the court of chancery, in such manner, and under such restrictions, as shall be prescribed by law.
17.-12. Inferior tribunals shall be established in each county, for the transaction of all county business; for appointing guardians; for granting letters testamentary, and of administration; and for settling the accounts of executors, administrators, and guardians.
18.-13. The governor shall nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, appoint the judges of the supreme court, the judges of the circuit courts, and the chancellor, each of whom shall hold his office during good behaviour, and shall receive for his services a compensation, which shall not be diminished during his continuance in office, and which shall not be less than two thousand dollars annually.
19.-14. No person shall be appointed a judge in the supreme court, nor of a circuit court, nor chancellor, before he shall have attained to the age of thirty years; nor shall any person continue to exercise the duties of any of said offices after he shall have attained to the age of sixty-five years.
20.-15. The courts respectively shall appoint their clerks, who shall hold their offices during good behaviour. For any misdemeanor in office, they shall be liable to be tried and removed by the Supreme court, in such manner as the general assembly shall by law provide.
21.-16. Any judge of the supreme court, or of the circuit court, or the chancellor, may be removed from office on the address of two-thirds of each house of the general assembly to the governor for that purpose; but each house shall state on its respective journal the cause for which it shall wish the removal of such judge or chancellor, and give him notice thereof; and he shall have the right to be heard in his defence in such manner as the general assembly shall by law direct; but no judge nor chancellor shall be removed in this manner for any cause for which he might have been impeached.
22.-17. In each county there shall be appointed as many justices of the peace as the public good may be thought to require. Their powers and duties, and their duration in office, shall be regulated by law.
23.-18. An attorney general shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the senate. He shall remain in office four years, and shall perform such duties as shall be required of him by law.
24.-19. All writs and process shall run, and all prosecutions shall be conducted in the name of the "state of Missouri;" all writs shall be tested by the clerk of the court from which they shall be issued, and all indictments shall conclude, "against the peace and dignity of the state."

Missouri

Mis·sou·ri 1

Mis·sou·ri 2

Missouri

Mis•sour•i

Missouri

I'm from Missouri

from Missouri

from Missouri

from Missouri, I'm

I'm from Missouri, you've got to show me

I'm from Missouri

Missouri

Missouri,

Course

Human Impact and Use

History

Bibliography

Missouri

Facts and Figures

Geography

Economy

Government, Politics, and Higher Education

History

French Exploration and Settlement

Territorial Status and Statehood

Slavery, Civil War, and a New Missouri

Political History

World War I to the Present

Bibliography

Missouri State Information

List of Missouri counties:

Missouri Parks

Missouri

Missouri

Missouri

Legal Holidays:

Missouri

Missouri

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Synonyms for Missouri

noun a midwestern state in central United States

Synonyms

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noun the longest river in the United States

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noun a member of the Siouan people formerly inhabiting the valley of the Missouri river in Missouri

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noun a dialect of the Chiwere language spoken by the Missouri

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