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State of Missouri
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Missouri Territory
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Flag Of Missouri
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Map of USA MOsvg
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The Show Me State''<br />
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Salus Populi Suprema Lex Esto
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Jefferson City
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Kansas City
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St Louis http://wwwcensusgov/population/cen2000/phc-t29/tab03bxls US Census 2000 Metropolitan Area Rankings ranked by population
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Matt Blunt (R)
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Kit Bond (R)<br/> Claire McCaskill (D)<br/>
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MO
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English
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21<sup>st</sup>
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69,709
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180,693
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68,898
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178,590
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811
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2,101
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116
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18<sup>th</sup>
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5,595,211
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27<sup>th</sup>
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8027
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31
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$37,934
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31<sup>st</sup>
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24<sup>th</sup>
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August 10 , 1821
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-6/ -5
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36° N to 40°󈐍′ N
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89°𔁪′ W to 95°󈐖′ W
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240
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385
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300
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480
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Taum Sauk Mountain 1
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800
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Saint Francis River
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US-MO
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(,
Illinois ,
Kentucky ,
Tennessee ,
Arkansas ,
Oklahoma ,
Kansas and
Nebraska . Missouri was originally purchased from
France as part of the
Louisiana Purchase . The
Missouri Territory was admitted into the union as the 24th state in
1821 . The state has
114 Counties and one
Independent City .
St. Louis, a large city in Missouri is known as the "Gateway to the West" because it served as a departure point for settlers heading to the west as well as the starting point and the return destination of the of the
Mississippi and
Missouri rivers is located in Missouri.
Missouri's borders physically touch a total of eight different states, as does its neighbor, Tennessee. No state in the U.S. touches more than eight states. Missouri is bounded on the north by
Iowa ; on the east, across the Mississippi River, by
Illinois ,
Kentucky , and
Tennessee ; on the south by
Arkansas ; and on the west by
Oklahoma ,
Kansas , and
Nebraska (the latter across the Missouri River.) The two largest Missouri rivers are the
Mississippi which defines the eastern boundary of the state and the
Missouri that flows west to east through the state connecting the two largest cities, Kansas City and St. Louis.
Although today the state is usually considered part of the ,
St. Louis ,
Columbia ), typically consider themselves Midwestern, while in rural areas and cities farther south (
Cape Girardeau ,
Poplar Bluff ,
Springfield , and
Sikeston ), people typically consider themselves more Southern.
North of the Missouri River lie the Northern Plains that stretch into Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. Here, gentle rolling hills remain behind from a glacier that once had extended from the north to the Missouri River. Missouri is made up of many large river bluffs along the Mississippi, Missouri, and Meramec Rivers. THe Ozark foothills begin around Rolla, and the
Ozark plateau begins around Springfield and extends into northwestern Arkansas, southeast Kansas, and northeast Oklahoma.
Springfield in southwestern Missouri lies on close to the northernmost part of the Ozark plateau. Southern Missouri is the home of the
Ozark Mountains , a
Dissected Plateau surrounding the
Precambrian Igneous St. Francois Mountains .
The southeastern part of the state is home to the of 1811–1812.
Missouri generally has a humid continental climate (Koppen climate classification Dfa), with cool to cold winters and hot and humid summers. In the southern part of the state, particularly in the Bootheel, the climate borders on a humid subtropical climate (Koppen Cfa). Due to its location in the interior United States, Missouri often experiences extremes in temperatures. Not having either large mountains or oceans nearby to moderate its temperature, its climate is alternately influenced by air from the cold Arctic and the hot and humid Gulf of Mexico.
See Also: List of Missouri state parks
See Also: History of Missouri
See Also: Missouri in the American Civil War
behind the Old Courthouse in St. Louis]]
Originally part of the
1803 Louisiana Purchase , Missouri was admitted as a state in 1821 as part of the
Missouri Compromise . It earned the nickname "Gateway to the West" because it served as a departure point for settlers heading to the west. It was the starting point and the return destination of the
Lewis And Clark Expedition .
Originally the state's western border was a straight line, defined as the meridian passing through the Kawsmouth,Hoffhaus. (1984). Chez Les Canses: Three Centuries at Kawsmouth. Kansas City: Lowell Press. ISBN 0-913504-91-2. the point where the was added to the northwest corner of the state after purchasing the land from the native tribes, making the Missouri River the border north of the Kansas River. This addition made what was already the largest state in the Union at the time (about 66,500 square miles to Virginia's 65,000 square miles (which included West Virginia at the time) even larger.
Meinig, D.W. (1993). The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History, Volume 2: Continental America, 1800-1867. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-05658-3; pg. 437
Many of the early settlers in western Missouri came from the southern states, and along with them came the institution of slavery. In the area of Independence and areas just north of there,
Mormon settlers began arriving in the early 1830s. It wasn't long before conflict arose between the 'old settlers' (mainly from the south originally) and the Mormons (mainly from the north and Canada). The '
Mormon War ' erupted and by 1839 the Mormons had been expelled from Missouri. In 1838-1839 a border dispute with Iowa over the so-called
Honey Lands resulted in both states calling up militias along the border.
After many incidences with Kansans crossing the Western border (including a fire in the historic Westport area of
Kansas City ), a border war began between Missouri and
Kansas . The tradition continues between the
University Of Missouri - Columbia and
University Of Kansas . The rivalry is mainly focused on football between the two colleges. It is the oldest college rivalry west of the
Mississippi River and the second oldest in the nation. Each year when the universities meet to play, the game is coined "Border Showdown." An exchange occurs following the game where the winner gets to take a historic marching band drum which has been passed back and forth for decades.
After the secession of Southern states began, the MO legislature called for the election of its own special convention on secession. The convention voted decisively to remain within the Union, but pro-Southern Governor
Claiborne F. Jackson ordered the mobilization of several hundred members of the state militia who had gathered in a camp in
St. Louis for training. Union General
Nathaniel Lyon struck first, encircling the peaceful camp and forcing the state troops to surrender. Lyon then directed his soldiers, largely non-
English -speaking
German immigrants, marched the prisoners through the streets then opened fire on the largely hostile crowds of civilians who gathered around them, killing unarmed prisoners as well as men, women and children of St. Louis in an incident that became known as the "
St. Louis Massacre ."
These events caused greater Confederate support within the state. Governor Jackson appointed
Sterling Price , president of the convention on secession, as head of the new
Missouri State Guard . Jackson and Price were forced to flee the state capital of
Jefferson City on
June 14 ,
1861 , in the face of Lyon's rapid advance against the state government. In the town of
Neosho, Missouri , Jackson called the state legislature into session where they enacted a secession ordinance that was recognized by the Confederacy on
October 30 ,
1861 . With the elected governor absent from his capital and the legislators largely dispersed, Union forces installed an unelected pro-Union provisional government with
Hamilton Gamble as provisional governor. President Lincoln's Administration immediately recognized Gamble's government as the legal government, which provided both pro-Union militia forces for service within the state and volunteer regiments for the Union Army.
Fighting ensued between Union forces and a combined army of General Price's Missouri State Guard and Confederate troops from
Arkansas and
Texas under General
Ben McCulloch . After winning victories at the battle of
Wilson's Creek and the siege of
Lexington, Missouri and losses elsewhere, the Confederate forces had little choice but to retreat to Arkansas and later
Marshall, Texas , in the face of a largely reinforced Union Army. Though regular Confederate troops staged large-scale raids into Missouri, the fighting in the state for the next three years consisted mainly of
Guerrilla Warfare conducted by citizen soldiers such as Colonel
William Quantrill ,
Frank and
Jesse James , the
Younger Brothers , and
William T. Anderson . Such small unit tactics pioneered by the Missouri Partisan Rangers were also seen elsewhere in occupied portions of the Confederacy during and after the Civil War.
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In 2006, Missouri had an estimated population of 5,842,713; an increase of 45,010 (0.8 percent) from the prior year and an increase of 246,030 (4.4 percent) since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase of 137,564 people since the last census (480,763 births less 343,199 deaths), and an increase of 88,088 people due to net
Migration into the state.
Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 50,450 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 37,638 people.
The
Center Of Population of Missouri is located in
Osage County , in the city of
Westphalia {Link without Title} .
As of 2004, the population included 194,000 foreign-born (3.4 percent of the state population).
The five largest ancestry groups in Missouri are:
German (23.5 percent),
Irish (12.7 percent), American (10.5 percent),
English (9.5 percent),
French (3.5 percent). "American" includes those reported as
Native American or
African American .
German Americans are an ancestry group present throughout Missouri. African Americans are a substantial part of the population in St. Louis, Kansas City, and in the southeastern bootheel and some parts of the Missouri River Valley, where plantation agriculture was once important. Missouri Creoles of French ancestry are concentrated in the Mississippi River valley south of St. Louis. The State has a Small
Bosniak community mostly living in the St. Louis area
In 2004, 6.6 percent of the state's population was reported as younger than 5 years old, 25.5 percent younger than 18, and 13.5 percent was 65 or older. Females were approximately 51.4 percent of the population. 81.3 percent of Missouri residents were high school graduates (more than the national average), and 21.6 percent had a bachelor's degree or higher. 3.4 percent of Missourians were foreign-born, and 5.1 percent reported speaking a language other than English at home.
In 2000, there were 2,194,594 households in Missouri, with 2.48 people per household. The homeownership rate was 70.3 percent, and the mean value of an owner-occupied dwelling was $89,900. The median household income for 1999 was $37,934, or $19,936 per capita. There were 11.7 percent (637,891) Missourians living below the poverty line in 1999.
The mean commute time to work was 23.8 minutes.
Of those Missourians who identify with a religion, three out of five are Protestants. There is also a moderate-sized Catholic community in some parts of the state; approximately one out of five Missourians are Catholic. Heavily Catholic areas include St. Louis and Kansas City.
The religious affiliations of the people of Missouri according to the
2001 American Religious Identification Survey :
Several religious organizations have their headquarters in Missouri, including the
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod , which has its headquarters in
Kirkwood , as well as the
United Pentecostal Church International in Hazelwood, both outside St. Louis. Kansas City is the headquarters of the
Church Of The Nazarene .
Independence , outside of Kansas City, is the headquarters for the
Community Of Christ (formerly the
Reorganized Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints ), and the
Latter Day Saints group
Remnant Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints . This area, and other parts of Missouri is also of significant religious and historical importance to
The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints , which maintains several sites/visitors centers, and whose members comprise about 1 percent of Missouri's population.
Springfield is the headquarters of the
Assemblies Of God and the
Baptist Bible Fellowship International . The
General Association Of General Baptists has its headquarters in
Poplar Bluff . The
Pentecostal Church Of God is headquartered in
Joplin .
The
Bureau Of Economic Analysis estimates that Missouri's total state product in 2003 was $195 billion. Per capita personal income in 2003 was $29,464, ranking 27
th in the nation.
Major industries include
Aerospace ,
Transportation Equipment ,
Food Processing ,
Chemicals , printing/
Publishing ,
Electrical Equipment ,
Light Manufacturing , and
Beer .
The agriculture products of the state are
Beef ,
Soybeans ,
Pork ,
Dairy Products ,
Hay ,
Corn ,
Poultry , and
Eggs . Missouri is ranked 6th in the nation for the production of hogs and 7th for cattle. Missouri is ranked in the top 5 states in the nation for production of soy beans. As of 2001, there were 108,000 farms, the second largest number in any state after
Texas . Missouri also actively promotes its rapidly growing
Wine Industry .
Missouri has vast quantities of
Limestone . Other resources mined are
Lead ,
Coal ,
Portland Cement and crushed
Stone . Missouri produces the most lead of all of the states in the Union with most of these mines in the
Central Eastern Portion of the state. Missouri also ranks first or near first among the production of
Lime .
Tourism, services and wholesale/retail trade follow manufacturing in importance.
Personal
Income is taxed in 10 different earning brackets, ranging from 1.5 percent to 6.0 percent. Missouri's
Sales Tax rate for most items is 4.225 percent. Additional local levies may apply. More than 2,500 Missouri local governments rely on
Property Tax es levied on real property (
Real Estate ) and
Personal Property . Some personal property is exempt, including household goods, inventories, wearing apparel and items of personal use and adornment. Exempt real estate includes property owned by governments and property used as nonprofit cemeteries, exclusively for religious worship, for schools and colleges and for purely charitable purposes. There is no
Inheritance Tax and limited Missouri
Estate Tax related to
Federal Estate Tax collection.
The state of Missouri has two major and
Kansas City International Airport .
Kansas City is still a major
Railroad hub for
BNSF Railway ,
Norfolk Southern ,
Kansas City Southern , and
Union Pacific . Kansas City is the second largest freight rail center in the US. Like
Kansas City ,
St. Louis
is a major destination for train freight.
Amtrak passenger trains serve
Kansas City ,
Jefferson City ,
St. Louis ,
Lee's Summit ,
Independence ,
Warrensburg ,
Hermann ,
Kirkwood , and
Sedalia . The only light rail/subway system in Missouri is the
St. Louis Metrolink which connects the City of St. Louis with suburbs in Illinois and St. Louis County.
Springfield remains an operational for the
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.
The
Mississippi River and
Missouri River are commercially navigable over their entire lengths in Missouri. St. Louis is a major destination for barge traffic on the Mississippi River.
Several
Highway s, detailed below, traverse the state.
Following the passage of Amendment 3 in late 2004, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) began its Smoother, Safer, Sooner road-building program with a goal of bringing 2,200 miles of highways up to good condition by December 2007. In 2005. the number of traffic deaths in the state increased by 10 percent to 1,241.
See Also: List of Missouri state highways
Missouri Supplemental Route
See Also: Law and Government of Missouri
List of Missouri Governors
The current constitution of Missouri, the fourth constitution for the state, was adopted in 1945 and provides for three branches of government, the legislative, judicial and executive branches. The legislative branch consists of two bodies, the House of Representatives and the Senate. These bodies comprise the General Assembly of the State of Missouri.
The House of Representatives has 163 members that are apportioned based on the last decennial census. The Senate consists of 34 members from districts divided such that the population of each district is approximately equal. The Judicial department consists of a
Supreme Court consisting of 7 judges. Superior and inferior courts are also provided. The executive branch is headed by the governor and made up of five other state wide elected offices.
One interesting fact about Missouri is its status as a bellwether of national politics. Missouri has a longer stretch of supporting the winning presidential candidate than any other state, having voted with the nation in every election since 1904 with the exception of
Adlai Stevenson in 1956. In 2004, George W. Bush won the state's 11 electoral votes by a margin of 7 percentage points with 53.3 percent of the vote. Missouri has a very notable
Urban-rural Split , as Democrat John Kerry only won four of the state's 115 counties: St Louis City, St Louis County, Ste. Genevieve, and Jackson County (which contains most of Kansas City).
Missouri has previously been considered a Democratic state, with its most prominent Democrat being
Harry S. Truman . However, since the late 1970s the state has trended to Republicans, yet neither party is dominant. Democrats are generally strongest in the inner cities of Kansas City and St. Louis and Columbia, home of the
University Of Missouri–Columbia . Republicans are strongest in the southwestern areas near Springfield (home of Governor Matt Blunt) and Joplin and southeastern areas near Poplar Bluff and Cape Girardeau (home of Rush Limbaugh) of the state. Many of the rural areas throughout have recently trended to vote Republican.
Missouri is also viewed as a bellwether on hot-button issues such as same-sex marriage and embryonic stem cell research. In 2004, voters overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment with 71 percent of the vote to define marriage as being the union of a man and a woman. Over twenty states have followed Missouri's lead as voters elsewhere across the nation have banned same-sex marriage through constitutional referendums. In 2006, Missouri had a ballot initiative regarding embryonic stem cell research. The measure drew widespread attention as to the national sentiment on the issue. It was also a determining factor in the 2006 U.S. Senate race between Republican incumbent Jim Talent, who opposes embryonic stem cell research, and Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill who supports it. A television ad featuring Michael J. Fox expressing his support for stem cell research drew harsh comments and criticism from conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh. The measure, labeled Amendment 2, narrowly passed with a 51-49 margin. Claire McCaskill also defeated Jim Talent for the U.S. Senate seat, a race that was considered crucial to seeing which party would control Congress.
See Also: Missouri bellwether
See Also: List of counties in Missouri
Missouri has 114 counties and one
Independent City (
St. Louis ).
The largest county by size is
Texas County (1,179 sq. miles),
Shannon County second (1,004 sq. miles), and with
Worth County being the smallest (266 sq. miles). The independent city of St. Louis City is smaller yet, at only 62 sq. miles.
The largest county by population (2000
U.S. Census ) is
St. Louis County (1,016,315 residents),
Jackson County second (654,880 residents), and with Worth County being the least populous (2,382 residents).
See Also: List of cities in Missouri
List of towns and villages in Missouri
The seven largest cities in Missouri are
Kansas City ,
St. Louis ,
Springfield ,
Independence ,
Columbia ,
Lee's Summit and
Saint Joseph .
St. Louis is the largest metropolitan area in Missouri and is the principal city of the sixteen-county
St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area and includes eight counties in the state of
Illinois . As of 2004, it was the 18th largest metro in the nation. Some of the major cities comprising the St. Louis Metro in Missouri include
St. Charles ,
St. Peters ,
Florissant ,
Chesterfield ,
Creve Coeur ,
Maryland Heights ,
O'Fallon ,
Clayton ,
Ballwin , and
University City .
Kansas City is the principal city of the fifteen-county
Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area and includes six counties in the state of
Kansas . Kansas City is Missouri's largest city. As of 2004, it was the 27th largest metro in the nation. Some of the other major cities comprising the Kansas City Metro in Missouri include
Independence ,
Lee's Summit ,
Blue Springs ,
Raytown ,
Liberty , and
Gladstone .
See Also: Education in Missouri
The
Missouri State Board Of Education has general authority over all public education in the state of Missouri. It is made up of eight citizens appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Missouri Senate.
and the
Francis Quad on the
University Of Missouri campus.]]
See Also: List of school districts in Missouri
List of high schools in Missouri
Education is compulsory from ages seven to sixteen in Missouri, commonly but not exclusively divided into three tiers of ,
Middle School or
Junior High School and
High School . The public schools system includes kindergarten to 12
th grade. District territories are often complex in structure. In some cases, elementary, middle and junior high schools of a single district feed into high schools in another district. High school athletics and competitions are governed by the
Missouri State High School Activities Association or MSHAA.
See Also: List of colleges and universities in Missouri
There are a large number of
College s and
Universities in Missouri. The
University Of Missouri System is Missouri's statewide public university system, the flagship institution and largest university in the state is the
University Of Missouri campus in
Columbia . The others in the system are
University Of Missouri–St. Louis ,
University Of Missouri–Kansas City and
University Of Missouri–Rolla (which will become Missouri University of Science and Technology on
January 1 ,
2008 ). Notable private institutions include
Saint Louis University ,
Washington University In St. Louis ,
In 1905 the state established a series of
Normal School s to teach "teaching norms" at colleges in each region of the state. The initial network consisted of
Southeast Missouri State University in
Cape Girardeau ,
Missouri State University (formerly Southwest Missouri State University) in
Springfield ,
Truman State University (formerly Northeast Missouri State University) in
Kirksville ,
Northwest Missouri State University in
Maryville , and
University Of Central Missouri (formerly Central Missouri State University) in
Warrensburg . There are numerous junior colleges, trade schools, church universities and private universities.
The state also funds a $2000, renewable merit-based scholarship,
Bright Flight , given to the top 3 percent of Missouri High School graduates who attend a university in-state.
- The USS ''Missouri'' , a U.S. Navy Battleship , was named in honor of the state.
- The phrase "I'm from Missouri" means I'm skeptical of the matter and not easily convinced. This is related to the state's motto of "Show Me," whose origin is popularly ascribed to an 1899 speech by Congressman Willard Vandiver , who declared that "I come from a country that raises corn and cotton, cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I'm from Missouri, and you have got to show me." However, according to researchers, the phrase was in circulation earlier in the 1890's."I'm from Missouri -- Show Me." http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/summary3According to another story, the phrase was originally a reference to Missouri laborers being brought to Colorado to quell a miner's strike and requiring frequent instruction. Origin of "Show Me" Slogan. Secretary of State, Missouri. http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/history/slogan.asp
- Missouri is known as "The Cave State." In fact, Perry County is believed to have 650 Caves , more than any other county in the state.
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