How Missouri Became More Than a Square

The Platte Purchase was so much bigger than it appears

Missouri was supposed to be pretty much a square. But the bootheel and the Platte Purchase gave us the unusual shape we know today.

It’s Hip To Be Square

When our Founding Fathers started plotting out boundaries for states west of the Mississippi River, they were supposed to be as square as possible. The primary reason for the straight, grid-like borders in the American West is the implementation of the Public Land Survey System (PLSS). That was established by the Land Ordinance of 1785. This system was designed to standardize the surveying, selling, and settling of vast, newly acquired federal territories, contrasting sharply with the irregular “metes and bounds” system used in the original eastern colonies that relied on natural features like trees or streams. But then Missouri messed it all up!

Changing Our Shape

Prior to 1837, much of the northwestern part of present-day Missouri was not a part of the state at all. When Missouri was founded in 1821, the land along the present-day Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska borders was reserved for the relocation of Native American tribes. At that point in time, Missouri’s western border was a near vertical line running north of Jackson County all the way to the Iowa border. That was until the state of Missouri annexed those lands in what was known as the Platte Purchase.

The Platte Lands

The vast transfer of land that now comprises the counties of Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Holt, Nodaway, and Platte did not happen all at once. Instead, several treaties were signed with various tribes between 1830 and 1837 that led to this large land acquisition by the state. The first meeting about the annexation happened near Liberty, Missouri in 1835. Senator Thomas Hart Benton then introduced the bill in Congress to legally acquire the lands. Then in 1837, President Martin Van Buren issued a proclamation that completed the annexation of nearly 2-million acres. When it was done, the new lands officially outlined the northwestern border of the state.

The Platte Area Today

The annexation of the rural led to a significant population increase of European settlers but also pushed out nearly all of the Native Americans who called that area home. The most prominent town in the region was St. Joseph, although it was known as Blacksnake Hills at the time.

Other towns in the region now include:

• Savannah
• Rock Port
• Tarkio
• Oregon
• Mound City
• Maryville
• Platte City
• Northern suburbs of Kansas City.

It also includes the land once owned by John Sliker Bilby, the largest landowner in America in 1900.

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So What About That Bootheel?

The southeastern portion of Missouri was also supposed to be much more uniform in shape. But then came John Hardeman Walker.