The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1895-02-16
THE MISSOURI
PAN HANDLE.
A Wonderfully Fertile
Country With a New
Railroad.
A Magnificent Levee-A Sportsman's
Paradise-An Historic Incident
The Country for Home Seekers.

A Magnificent Levee-A Sportsman's
Paradise-An Historic Incident
The Country for Home Seekers.
That the South line of Missouri is
not a straight East and West line is
owing to the influence and determina-
ton of one man. The original bill for
the admission of the State of Missouri
into the Union provided a straight
line on parallel 800 800 North Latitude.
By this line, however, the old Spanish
settlement, Little Prairie" located
near the present town of Caruthers-
vile. in the county of Pemiscot, would
have been left out of the new state and
attached to the territory OF Arkansas.
This arrangement did not suit Col.
Hardeman Walker who had Il large
plantation just below that old post.
He was a typical southern planter, 4
man of great will and determination
as well as ability and. of course. Il
politician but not an Office seeker. As
soon as he ascertained what was pro-
posed he began to demonstrate. He
enlisted the leading men in Southeast
Missouri then the most settled part
of the State who were his personal
friends IN the matter and the result
was that the original act was amend
ed so as to embrace within the terrific
ry of the new State a larger portion
of what now constitutes the counties
of New Madrid and Dunklin and the
entire county of Pemiscot.
THE PANHANDLE.
That is the reason Missouri has a
''panhandle. OF course this terrific
ry in those days was not considered
as of any remarkable value. 1t is a
district embracing about eleven hun
dred thousand acres of alluvial land
in the upper portion of the St. Francois
basin. The earthquake in 1911 was
also supposed to have greatly injured
this districtand undoubtedly injurious
ly effected the same. Lakes and bayous
were formed in Pemiscot and Dunklin
counties by that earthquake. On the
other hand Little River. stream that
ran parallel with the Mississippi, was
choked up by falling timber in New
Madrid county and so the waters of
that stream coming from the Ozark
hills spread over large portion of
the land. The overflows of the Mis-
sissippi also inundated large portion
of this district periodically.
VERY FERTILE TERRITORY.
So very likely when the boundary
was changed it was thought that Mis-
souri, did not gain much by having
this territory added. But that was a
superficial view. Undoubtedly this
Missouri panhandle" embraces with
in its limits corn and cotton land as
rich and valuable as any in the Mis-
sissippi Valley. The value of these
lands is just now beginning to be ap-
preciated The wonderful fertility of
the soil of Mississippi, Desha and
Chicot counties, Arkansas. as we'll as
Yazoo Delta is we'll known. The soil
of the Missouri panhandle" and
especially the soil of Pemiscot county
is equal in every respect to the far
famed fertility of the land of the
counties named further south. Corn
and cotton grows in Pemiscot county
to perfection and crops never fail.
Dunklin county raises more and better
cotton than any county West of the
Mississippi River and North of the
Arkansas.
OVERFLOWS AND LEVEES.
AS stated large portion of the ''pan-
handle" has been subject to overfiows
from the Mississippi River. The Mis-
sissippi overiowed the county of
Pemiscot two years in succession in
1891 and 1892 and the farmers and
planters were nearly ruined owing to
the fact that these overhows came very
late and the ground remained covered
with water until the beginning of June.
Nevertheless the farmers of those
counties raised enough corn and cot
ton in those two years to not be de-
pendent on others. But in the fall of
1892 the people determined that levee
should be built along the river. Ac-
cordingly an act was passed by the
General Assembly of the State author
izing the organization of the St
Francois Levee District, and in the
fall of 1892 the farmers of that county
began the construction of levee along
the river front twenty-seven miles
long. This levee was built according
to the plans and specifications of the
Ger eral Government with a slope Of
three to one with crown of eight
fest. Not only that but before the
construction of the levee was begun q