Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/240

 180 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI Kentuckj' and settled on the middle fork of Black river. Some of the other early set- tlers were the families of Henrj', Logan and Hyatt. The territory embraced in the coimty was first a part of Ripley coimty, but was later attached to Washington. Zimri Carter made a settlement on Current river in 1820 ; this was not far from the pres- ent town of Van Buren. Other families, the Chiltons, Colemans and others, settled in the same vicinity at a somewhat later date. These were the beginnings of settlements in Carter coimty, which was named for Zimri Carter. The first settlement in Ripley comity was made about 1819 on Current river. The set- tlers of that date were George Lee, William Merrill, Joseph Hall, Willis Dudley and Ab- ner Ponder. William Little and James Pul- liam settled about the same date on La Fourche de Main. According to this account we find that set- tlements had been made before the admission of the state, in all the counties in Southeast Missouri, except Stoddard and Dimklin. Stoddard coimty was settled in 1823, but no settlement was made in Dunklin coimty until about 1835. Owing to its location this latter county was very difficult of access. It was. therefore, not settled as soon as the other counties in the section. Of course it will be remembered that not all of these coimties were in existence M^hen the state was admitted. Most of them were organized after that time. The territory formed a part of some one or other of the existing counties. The principal industry in this period, as in the one preceding it, was agriculture. A large part of the population was engaged in farm- ing. It is quite evident that the methods used were very primitive and the crops corre- spondingly small. The timber that grew upon the land selected was cut down, burned or otherwise disposed of in the easiest way pos- sible, and the land thus cleared was farmed in a rude, inefficient way. In spite of these handicaps, however, the crops obtained were better than we might expect, owing to the fact the the land M^as exceedingly rich. Corn, wheat, oats, formed perhaps the principal grain crops that were grown. Nearly all farm- ers were also stock raisers on a limited scale. They were induced to grow cattle and horses partly on account of the necessity of their use and partly because it was possible to raise stock at comparatively little expense. It was easy to raise both cattle and hogs and prepare them in a way for market, with but very little food other than they obtained in the woods. The vast forests offered the very best range for stock, and it was not unusual for cattle to stay out through the .entire year. Some of them became almost wild. Such a circum- stance, of course, made it easy for persons so disposed to kill stock which did not belong to them. So great was this abuse that the terri- torial assembly passed a law providing that any person who should kill any domestic ani- mal in the woods should report the matter to the justice of the peace within three days, and should bring to the justice the head of the animal slain. This was done in order to identify the animal by any marks which might be upon the head. The produce of the soil was very largeh' used by those who grew it. Some part of it was available for export and the towns in the territory derived their food supplies from the surrounding coimtry, but the greater part of all that was grown was used on the farms where it was produced. A number of small mills were erected and operated at convenient