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MISSOURI RIVER with Spanish governors until 1804. The territory of Missouri was founded in 1812, and in 1821 part was made into the state of Missouri, though its boundaries were not settled until 1836. The contest over the admission of Missouri into the Union ended with what is known as the Missouri Compromise, which allowed slavery in Missouri on condition that it be permitted in no other state north of 36½°. The state suffered severely in the Civil War, being divided in sentiment and overrun by both armies, but has since been very prosperous.  Missouri, a river of the United States, the longest tributary of the Mississippi. The name means the Big Muddy. It is so much larger and longer than the Upper Mississippi that it ought to be considered the main river, and with the Lower Mississippi form the longest river in the world. It rises among the Rocky Mountains, near the border of Montana and Idaho, its general direction being southeast to the Mississippi, which it reaches, after crossing the whole state of Missouri, near St. Louis. It is 2,980 miles long, and can be navigated for about 2,500 miles. A narrow gorge made by walls 1,200 feet high and only 450 feet apart, called the Gates of the Rocky Mountains, through which the river flows, is about 400 miles from its source, and 145 miles further down are the Great Falls, of four cataracts, 26, 47, 19 and 87 feet high, separated by rapids.  Missouris, a tribe of Indians belonging to the Dakotah family, first found near the Missouri. They sided with the French against the English in the early struggles for the country. Lewis and Clark found them in 1805 on the Platte River, numbering about 300. They had left their home in Missouri and joined the Oto tribe, with whom they have since been connected. The United States pays them $9,000 a year.  Mist. See.  Missouri, University of, comprises (1) a graduate department, (2) an academic department, (3) the department of education, (4) the law, (5) medicine, (6) military science, (7) agriculture and arts and (8) mines and metallurgy. The college of agriculture includes the schools of agriculture and engineering and the experiment-station. The degrees conferred are bachelor of arts, bachelor of laws, bachelor of science, doctor of medicine, master of arts, doctor of philosophy, master of science, master of laws and civil, electrical, mechanical, sanitary and mining engineers. Women are admitted on equal terms to all departments except military science. The libraries contain over 55,000 volumes. The endowment is about $2,500,000, the income annually about $425,000. The state sometimes appropriates additional amounts for particular purposes. The students number about 1,700, the faculty about 100.

 Mistletoe a parasitic green shrubs or herbs, which grow upon woody plants and absorb their sap by means of special sucking organs known as  (which see). There are over 20 genera and 500 species, which are widely distributed but most abundant in the tropics. In portions of the south of England the parasite is very common. In winter its evergreen leaves stand out conspicuously from the bare branches of the trees. In the lore of British Druid and ancient German the mistletoe had prominent place. The mistletoe of Europe is Viscum album; while the common American mistletoe is Phoradendron flavescens, a small, shrubby, brittle form of yellowish color and with white berries, growing in bunches on deciduous trees of various kinds, found from New Jersey southward and westward. The mistletoes which grow in abundance upon various species of conifers, especially in the western mountain regions, are species of arceuthobium, which are greenish-yellow and brown, and with small scale-like leaves.  Mitch′ell, Donald Grant, American novelist and essayist, was born at Norwich, Conn., April 12, 1822. His college course was taken at Yale, and his law studies in New York city. He wrote under the name of Ik Marvel. In 1853 he was appointed United States consul at Venice, and in 1868 became editor of the Atlantic Monthly. His best-known works are Dream Life, Reveries of a Bachelor, My Farm at Edgewood, Wet Days at Edgewood, Doctor Johns, English Lands, Letters and Kings and American Lands and Letters. He died on Dec, 15, 1908  Mitchell, John, was born in Braidwood, Will County, Ills., Feb. 4, 1869. His school education was limited to the years between six and ten. At 13 he began working in the coalmines. At 16 he moved to the western mines, still as a common miner. At that age he was eligible to join the Knights of Labor, and did so. He returned to Illinois in 1890. He had studied much at night, and had given one year largely to the study of law. But at this time he joined the miners' labor association, and it is there that he feels he received his real education. In 1895 he was elected to the secretary-treasurership of the local district of the United Mineworkers of America. In 1897 he was appointed an organizer, a very important office in those days, when the men had still<section begin="Mitchell, John" />