The Bootheel

• by George Bailey • Published: May 31, 2007

The southern corner of Missouri, commonly known as “The Bootheel”, plays a turbulent role in the development of the state. It was added to Missouri's boundaries in 1820, the same year Missouri was granted statehood by the United States Congress. The addition of The Bootheel is largely due to the influence of a man named John Hardeman Walker. Born in Tennessee, Walker moved to the New Madrid Territory of Missouri in 1810. In December of the following year, the famous New Madrid Earthquakes hit the area, scaring many settlers away. Walker, however, who had already invested himself in farming that region, remained. When, in 1818, Congress began negotiations concerning statehood, Walker and the few other citizens of Little Prairie realized that current boundaries would place them some twenty-five miles south of the Missouri border, and therefore under Arkansas legislation. Walker objected and was able to convince Congress to expand the initial boundary to include "The Bootheel". That part of the state lies in the flood plain between the Mississippi and St. Francis rivers. The extremely flat land was not cultivated until the twentieth century. "The Bootheel" region borders the Mississippi Delta and inherited the largely African-American culture revolving around Delta blues music. Today, the atmosphere of The Bootheel remains more typically southern than mid-western, allowing the fusion of cultures that characterizes major Missouri destinations such as Branson.