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Bootheel History

--- Regional Area ---

History of the "Bootheel"

According to the history of the state of Missouri, a little more territory was included in the Enabling Act than had been asked for in the petitions of 1817, including the panhandle district between the Mississippi River and the St. Francois rivers in the southeastern part of the state, now know as the “Bootheel of Missouri”.

According to tradition, the little panhandle district in southeastern Missouri was included within the boundaries of the new state of Missouri because of the activity of Mr. J. Hardeman Walker, who lived on a plantation near Little Prairie, now Caruthersville, MO.

If the southern boundary line of the state had been fixed as originally designated, that section of the country in which he was interested would have been left out of the new state of Missouri. He is credited with handling the matter in some way so that the territory lying between the Mississippi and St. Francois rivers was included in the state of Missouri, rather than in the state of Arkansas.

Cities Near Steele


	Dyersburg, TN – 34 miles Caruthersville, MO – 15 miles Hayti, MO – 14 miles Kennett, MO – 30 miles Blytheville, AR – 15 miles Jonesboro, AR – 60 miles Osceola, AR – 33 miles Memphis, TN – 80 miles Cape Girardeau, MO – 90 miles Poplar Bluff, MO – 70 miles Sikeston, MO – 65 miles Nashville, TN – 205 miles Little Rock, AR – 200 miles Paducah, KY – 120 miles St. Louis, MO – 204 miles

Recreation Sites

Reelfoot Lake Tiptonville, TN	Norfolk Lake Mountain View, AR
Kentucky Lake Land between the Lakes, KY	Lake of the Ozarks Lake of the Ozarks, MO
Greer’s Ferry Lake Heber Springs, AR	Lake Wappapello Wappapello, MO

River Access

I-155 bridge from Caruthersville, MO to Dyersburg, TN

I-57 bridge from Charleston, MO to Cairo, IL

MO-34/IL 146 Cape Girardeau, MO to East Cape Girardeau, IL

I-55 bridge from West Memphis, AR to Memphis, TN

I-40 bridge from West Memphis, AR to Memphis, TN

Barge access at the Port Authority in Caruthersville, Missouri

Area Map

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