Missouri

One of the central States. Its area is 69,415 sq. m. The portion lying n. of the Mi ouri is mainly prairie, being level or undulating, with comparatively little timber. The s. portion is largely within the area of the Ozark hills. and is broken, without presenting any high degree of relief. The s.e. portion, bordering the Mi i ippi, is low and alluvial. The n. prairie portion and the w. part of the s. are overlaid by the Carboniferous formation. The Ozark hill region is Silurian, with an area in its e. part of Cam brian beds, in which is the celebrated mining district of Iron Mountain. The s. alluvial region is Quarter nary. The industries of the State are agricultural, manufactures being confined to two or three cities. Wheat, Indian corn and tobacco are largely raised. The value of farms in 1890 was $625,858,361, and the product was valued at $109,751,024. M. has very valuable mineral resources. produced, 1895, 2,383,322 tons of coal. When La Salle took po e ion of Louisiana 1682, what is now M. was included in It it. St. Louis was settled ab. 1763, and other settlements were established, mostly on the banks of the Mi i ippi. When Louisiana was ceded to the U. S. 1803, the territory was divided into two portions. The upper portion was organized as a Territory 1812, and applied 1818 for admi ion as a State. There upon arose one of the bitterest controversies which has ever taken place in Congre , lasting two years. M. was admitted 1821 on the basis of the MISSOURI COMPROMISE (q.v.). During the Civil War it was kept in the Union with great difficulty, the governor having i ued a proclamation declaring it out of the Union, but a State convention had just been called having sufficient Union men to prevent sece ion. Capital, Jefferson City; chief cities, St. Louis and Kansas City. Pop., 1890, 2,679,184.