Before the first arrival of Free-State emigrants from the northern and eastern States, nearly every desirable location along the Missouri River had been claimed by men from western Missouri, by virtue of the preemption laws.
北部や東部の自由州から最初の移民が到着する前に、ミズーリ川沿いのあらゆるめぼしい場所は、ミズーリ州西部からの住人によって、優先権法を楯に抑えられた。