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 662 MISSOLONGHI MISSOURI of the Mississippi valley was De Soto, who with his party reached the river in June, 1541, as is supposed not far below the site of He- lena in Arkansas. (See DE SOTO.) In 1673 Marquette and Joliet descended the river to within three days' journey of its mouth. La Salle in 1682 descended the river to the gulf of Mexico, and took possession of the country in the name of the king of France. About the year 1699 Iberville built a fort upon the banks of the river, and in 1703 the settle- ment of St. Peter's was made upon the Yazoo branch. New Orleans was laid out in 1718, and levees were immediately commenced, which were completed in front of the city ten years afterward. At that time the levee system of lower Louisiana was fully established. MISSOLOXGHI, or Mesolonghi, a town of Greece, capital of the united nomarchy of Acarnania and ^Etolia, 24 m. W. of Lepanto, on the N. side of the gulf of Patras ; pop. about 6,000. It stands in a level plain 18m. long and 4 m. broad, watered by the Achelous and Evenus, and extending from the base of Mt. Aracyn- thus to the gulf. The walls are washed by the sea, but the water is so shallow that nothing larger than a small fishing boat can approach nearer than 4 or 5 m. Missolonghi is the most important strategical point of western Greece, and is famous for the sieges it has sustained. In 1804 it fell under the dominion of Ali Pasha. In 1821 it joined in the revolt against the Turks, and on Nov. 5 Mavrocordato and Mar- co Bozzaris threw themselves with 400 men into the plaee, which was almost deserted and scarcely defensible, the fortifications consisting only of a low and ruinous wall, without bas- tions, and a small ditch in many places filled with rubbish. With only 14 old guns and scanty ammunition, Mavrocordato made a bril- liant defence for more than two months against a Turkish army of 14,000. On Nov. 23 the Greeks succeeded in throwing in reenforce- ments by sea, and the Turks were compelled to raise the siege, Jan. 6, 1823. The town was then fortified under the direction of Eng- lish officers, at the expense of an Englishman named Murray, and became one of the strong- est places in Greece. From September to De- cember, 1823, Missolonghi was blockaded for 59 days by the Turks, who besieged the neigh- boring Anatolico, and was defended by Con- stantine Bozzaris, until relieved by Mavrocor- dato. Lord Byron reached Missolonghi Jan. 5, 1824, and died there April 19. The last and greatest siege of Missolonghi began in April, 1825, when Reshid Pasha invested- it with a large army, which was refinforced in July by the arrival of a powerful fleet, and in January, 1826, by Ibrahim Pasha with an army of 20,000 Egyptians. The garrison of 5,000 Greeks, commanded by Noto Bozzaris, made a desperate defence, repulsing repeated assaults, and, though suffering terribly from want of provisions, refused to capitulate, notwithstand- ing repeated offers of the most favorable terms. "When continual bombardment had reduced the town to a heap of ruins and the last of their food had been consumed, at midnight of April 22, 1826, the garrison, placing the women in the centre, sallied forth in a body, and cutting their way through the Turkish camp gained the mountains, to the number of about 2,000. Those who were too feeble to join in the sortie assembled in a large mill which was used as a powder magazine, and when the Turks entered the town blew themselves up together with a large number of the enemy. The town has been rebuilt of late years, but the fortifications are decayed. Marco Bozzaris is buried here, and a statue in white marble, presented in 1835 by the French sculptor David, has been erect- ed over his grave. Near this monument is a mound of earth with an inscription com- memorative of other victims of the war. By- ron's remains were conveyed to England, but his heart, which was deposited in a silver box in a mausoleum erected to his honor, was lost in the confusion of the sortie of 1826. MESSOULA, the N. W. county of Montana, bounded N. by British America and W. and S. by Idaho ; area, 20,400 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 2,554. It lies mostly between the Bitter Root and Rocky mountains, contains the head waters of Clarke's fork of the Columbia, and is in- tersected in the N. W. by the Kootenay river. Flathead lake, 10 m. wide and 25 m. long, is the only important lake in the territory. Gold is found, and the census of 1870 returns 68 placer mines as in operation. The chief pro- ductions were 32,436 bushels of wheat, 15,836 of oats, 1,534 of barley, 12,152 of potatoes, 12,925 Ibs. of butter, and 956 tons of hay. There were 1,045 horses, 1,134 milch cows, 1,373 other cattle, and 874 swine; 3 flour mills, and 4 saw mills. . Capital, Missoula. MISSOURI, a central state of the American Union, and the llth admitted under the federal constitution, situated between lat. 36 and 40 30' N., and Ion. 89 2' and 95 42' W. ; length N. and S. 277 m. ; average breadth about 244 m., varying from 208 m. in the north to 312 m. in the south; area, 65,350 sq. m., including a narrow strip between the St. Francois and Mississippi rivers, extending beyond the general body of the state -J- southward between Arkan- sas and Tennessee. Missouri is bounded N. by Iowa ; E. by Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee, from which the Mississippi river divides it; S. by Arkansas ; and W. by Indian territory, Kan- sas, and Nebraska, from which it is divided by a N. and S. line on the meridian of the mouth of Kansas river, and thence N. by the main chan- nel of the Missouri river. The state is divided into 114 counties, viz.: Adair, Andrew, Atch- ison, Audrain, Barry, Barton, Bates, Benton, Bellinger, Boone, Buchanan, Butler, Caldwell, Callaway, Camden, Cape Girardeau, Carroll, Carter, Cass, Cedar, Chariton, Christian, Clarke, Clay, Clinton, Cole, Cooper, Crawford, Dade, Dallas, Daviess, De Kalb, Dent, Douglas, Dunk- lin, Franklin, Gasconade, Gentry, Greene, Grun-