COUNTIES OF MISSOURI. 59 
lime stone. The county was first settled in 1831: Its name was 
changed from Rives to Henry in 1841. Its area is 765 square 
miles, or 489,600 acres. 
Hickory County—Is located near the center of the southwestern 
part of the State, and is drained by the Pomme de Terre River 
and other affluents of the Osage River. 
HERMITAGE, the county seat, population in 1870, including 
township, 1,245, has a pleasant site near the center of the county. 
It was first settled in 1843. It is 55 miles airline north from Spring- 
field, Greene County, and 36 miles air line southeast of Clinton, 
Henry County, the former a station on the Atlantic & Pacific 
Railway, 241 miles southwest from St. Louis, and the latter a sta- 
tion on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway, 228 miles by rail 
from St. Louis: 
The face of the country is undulating and sometimes broken, 
with prairie and timber land in equal amounts. The soil is gen- 
erally fertile and adapted to agriculture. There are also lead and 
iron, and unimproved water power. 
Holt County—Is located near the extreme northwestern part of 
the State, on the eastern borders of Nebraska and Kansas, from 
which it is separated by the Missouri River, which, together with 
the Big and Little Tarkeo, Mill, Kenzie and Davis Creeks, and 
Nodaway River, forms its principal drainage. 
OREGON, the county seat, population in 1870, 824, is pleasantly 
located in the southern part of the county, two anda half miles 
east of Forest City, and was first settled in 1845, and incorporated 
as a city November 5, 1857. 
Forest City, population in 1870, 676, is on the east bank of the 
Missouri River, and is a station on the Kansas City, St. Joseph & 
Council Bluffs Railway, 29 miles northwest of St. Joseph, 99 miles 
northwest of Kansas City, and 335 miles west of St. Louis. 
The surface of the country is undulating, prairie and timber 
land about equal. The soil is very fertile, especially in the Mis- 
souri bottom, where it is also very deep. The county is well 
adapted to agricultural purposes, including fruit and stock raising. 
It also possesses good water power and some coal. This county 
is one of the six that composed the ‘‘Platte Purchase.’’ It was 
first settled in 1835, by JosepH Kenzig, JAMES MILLER and others, 
from Tennessee, Virginia and Indiana, and was named in honor of 
Dr. HOt, an early citizen. 
Howard County—Is located in the north central part of the 
State, on the left bank of the Missouri River, which washes its 
western and southern borders. Its interior is drained by the 
Bonne Femme, Salt and Moniteau Creeks and their tributaries. | 
FayETTE, the county seat, population in 1870, 815, has an ele- 
vated site and pleasant location, and possesses a refined and intelli- 
gent class of citizens. It became the county seat in 1821, and 
was incorporated December 7, 1855. It is 12 miles southeast from 
Glasgow, 22 miles southwest from Renick, Randolph County, and 
12 miles north of Booneville, Cooper County. Renick, Randolph 
County, is a station on the St. Louis, Kansas City & Northern 
Railway, 140 miles northwest from St. Louis. 
Glasgow, population in 1870, 1,795, was incorporated February 
27, 1845, and is located on the Missouri River, 12 miles north- 
west of the county seat,.264 miles by water from St. Louis, 
go miles from Jefferson City, and 24 miles southwest from Moberly, 
Randolph County, which is a station on the St. Louis, Kansas City 
& Northern Railway, 146 miles northwest from St. Louis, and 129 
miles east of Kansas City. 
The face of the country is undulating, with some portions quite 
broken. Hurricane Hills are beautiful and picturesque. Timber 
is abundant. There are but four prairies in the county. The 
soil of the county, which is very fertile, and the climate, are well 
adapted to all agricultural purposes. Tobacco is very extensively 
raised and employs a large amount of capital. Cereals and fruit 
also yield abundantly. There are a number of Saline Springs in 
the county, the largest of which is Boon’s Lick, at which Colonel 
NaTHAN Boone and Davip Boone, son of Colonel DanreL Boone 
of Kentucky, made salt from 1806 until 1810, since which, at 
remote intervals, the lick has been worked by other parties. Coal, 
limestone grit and sandstone for building purposes are abundant 
in the county, and lead has also been found. 
The county was first settled by Colonel Benjamin Cooper, 
DANIEL Boone and others in 1807, and was named in honor of 
General BenyJaMIN Howarp, then Governor of Missouri. The 
early pioneers suffered greatly from the assaults of the Indians, 
and were compelled to erect stockades and forts and to go con- 
stantly armed. The county was organized under a territorial act 
in the winter of 1815-16, and from it, Cooper in 1818, and 
Chariton, Boone and Ray in 1820, were formed. More votes were 
polled in Howard County in 1823 than in any other county in 
Missouri, not excepting St. Louis. Its area is 432 square miles or 
276,480 acres. 
Howell County—Is situated in the southern part of the State on 
the northern border of Arkansas, and is principally drained by 
Spring River and its tributaries. 
West Pains, the county seat, population in 1870, 130, is located 
near the center of the county, 70 miles, air line, southeast of 
Marshfield, Webster County, and 85 miles, airline, south of Rolla, 
Phelps County, both of which are stations on the Atlantic & 
Pacific Railway, the former 217 miles and the latter 114 miles 
southwest from St. Louis. 
' The surface of the country is broken and hilly, and some por- 
tions high table land, and adapted to fruit and grape culture. The 
valleys are generally fertile. The scenery around King’s Mount, a 
high central point from which streams run in every direction, is 
wild and picturesque. The water courses are clear and rapid, and 
shaded by heavy forests of pine. 
The county was formed from Oregon County in 1857, and’ con- 
tains 650 square miles or 416,000 acres. Spring River was 
explored and named by Captain JoHn SHaw in 1809. 
Iron County—Is located in the southeastern part of the State, 
and is drained by a number of creeks, affluents of the Black and 
St. Francois Rivers. , 
IRONTON, the county seat, population in 1870, 573, is pleasantly 
situated on the eastern slope of Shepherd Mountain, and extends 
into the valley at its base. It is a station on the Arkansas Branch 
of the St. Louis & Iron Mountain Railway, 89 miles south of 
