Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/504

 444 HISTORY OP SOUTHEAST MISSOURI of men who, for one reason or another, had left their homes and who had vicious and evil habits that they brought to the new coun- try. They considered themselves to be out- side of the domain of law and order and to have a license to conduct themselves as they chose. It was exceedingly difficult to reduce them to orderly living. They formed a con- siderable part of the population and by their boldness they imposed themselves upon the quieter and better class. There were many crimes committed by them, more especially the crime of eovuiterfeiting and forgery. Judge Watson says that it became a matter of the greatest difficulty to determine whether a bill or cheek or a piece of money was really valuable or whether it was only a counter- feit or a forgery. This condition of affairs lasted until the better citizens of the county determined for the safety of the county, for the sake of their good names and self protection, to rid them- selves of these undesirable persons. Accord- ingly, they banded themselves together into an organization, not imlike the later vigilance committees of California. They served notice on those who were giving trouble that they would be summarily dealt with, that they need no longer expect to be tolerated or al- lowed to continue their nefarious practices. At first it seemed that resistance would be made and that blood would flow as a result of this action. The better citizens, however, stood firm for their rights and finally those whose presence was not desired slunk away and the country was left much better off' than it had been. Industries During these years the principal industries in the coimtry continued to be farming and mining. A great deal of farming land was opened, and the products of the soil in- creased in number and value. Agriculture was studied more carefully, and the great fertility of much of the soil enabled the grow- ing of large crops. The great majority of the population were directly dependent upon the produce of the soil. Tliis was true even in the mineral section, for while many pei'- sons worked at times in the mines, there was no great number, even in that district, who were not also directly interested in the culti- vation of the soil. The better lands of South- east .Missouri, which are to be found in the alluvial soil of the ^lississippi bottoms, be- gan to be opened up during this period. The building of the levee in Pemiscot county was an evidence of the growing appreciation of value of this soil. In Butler, Stoddard, Dunklm and Mississippi counties, there were large tracts of land being put into cultiva- tion during this period. It is impossible to give any accurate statistics as to the value of the produce of the soil, for the reason that no such statistics were gathered during part cf this time. It Mas not imtil the census of 1S60 that the government began to make in- quirj' into the occupations of men and to take account of the things which they grew or manufactured. It was long before the or- ganization of the bureau of labor or of the labor department of the .state government, and no particular attention was paid to the gathering or preservation of statistics having to do with these matters. The growth of the population, however, enables us to decide that production was increasing rapidly because the country was self-supporting. It grew prac- tically everything necessary for the life of the people. The crops were not greatly different from those that are now grown, though hardly so