MISSOURI

flagship of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in World War II and scene of the Japanese surrender. One of the four battleships of the Iowa class that were completed during the war, the USS Missouri numbered among the largest warships afloat, displacing 58,000 tons, carrying a main battery of nine 16-inch guns, and capable of a speed of 35 knots. The ship participated in combat action in the Pacific theatre throughout the later stages of the war. Chosen by General Douglas MacArthur, the Allied commander in chief, for the surrender ceremony, the Missouri entered Tokyo Bay flying the flag that had flown over the White House on Dec. 7, 1941. On Sunday morning, Sept. 2, 1945, the nine-man Japanese delegation arrived on board, and, at MacArthur's invitation, Foreign Minister Shigemitsu Mamoru and General Umezu Yoshijiro signed two copies of the document proclaiming unconditional surrender . . . of all Japanese armed forces. The Missouri was occasionally recommissioned for service in the latter half of the 20th century. constituent state of the United States of America. To the north lies Iowa; across the Mississippi River to the east, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee; to the south, Arkansas; and to the west, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. With the exception of Tennessee, Missouri has more neighbouring states than any other U.S. state. The area of Missouri is 69,697 square miles (180,516 square kilometres). Slightly more than half of the population lives in the two major cities, St. Louis and Kansas City, and their surrounding counties. Jefferson City is the capital. Located near the centre of the coterminous United States, Missouri is the meeting place of the timberlands of the East and the prairies of the West, of the cotton fields of the South and the cornfields of the North. It has represented the political and social sentiments of a border state since its admission as the 24th member of the Union on Aug. 10, 1821. The question of its admission as a slave or free state produced in Congress the Missouri Compromise (1820), which regulated the spread of slavery in the western territories. Missouri was the westernmost state of the nation until the admission of Texas in 1845, and for decades it served as the eastern terminus of the Santa Fe and Oregon trails. For the West, St. Louis, Missouri's largest city, long was the closest contact with the more settled society and the culture of the East, and for the East the state had a reputation as the chief gateway to the West. The Missouri River cuts across the state from Kansas City in the west, through Jefferson City in the centre, to just above St. Louis in the east, where the river joins the Mississippi. Missouri was the name of a group of Indians who lived in the area; the French gave the name to the river, and it was later transferred to the state. Missouri ranks high in urbanization and industrial activity, though it maintains a vigorous and diversified agriculture. The rugged Ozark Plateau is a scenic beauty, and many lively folk traditions persist among its communities. Missouri retains numerous conservative characteristics of the rural life that predominated prior to the 1930s. Its nickname, the Show-Me State, suggests a tradition of skepticism regarding change. In Missouri the Democratic Party does not necessarily represent more liberal political philosophies than does the Republican, and the latter has made inroads into the traditional Democratic orientation. Continuing low tax bases prevent the elaboration of social services, a problem felt most acutely in the two major cities, which have had an increasing loss of wealth to the suburbs, coincident with greatly expanding needs of the cities. extinct North American Indian people of the Chiwere branch (including the Oto and Iowa) of the Siouan linguistic family. In their historic past the Missouri, together with the Iowa and the Oto, separated from the Winnebago and moved southwest. The Missouri settled at the mouth of the Grand River, while the Oto continued to follow the Missouri River. Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet encountered them on the Missouri in 1673. Defeated in a war with the Sauk and Fox in 1798, the remnants of the tribe scattered to live with the Osage, Kansa, and Oto. By 1805 some of the tribe had reassembled, but another defeat, by the Osage, dispersed them among the Oto and Iowa. The Midwest. constituent state of the United States of America situated in the Middle Western region of the country. It is bounded on the north by Iowa, on the east by Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee, on the south by Arkansas, and on the west by Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. The state capital is Jefferson City. The state was originally settled by a diverse group of American Indian peoples, one of which, the Missouri, gave the state its name. Numerous mounds and other archaeological remains indicate a large, prosperous settled populace. The first permanent white settlement in Missouri was made in 1735 at Ste. Genevieve by French lead miners and hunters. St. Louis was founded in 1764. Missouri became a U.S. possession in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase. At that time its population was about 10,000, most of whom were French. The great rush of American settlers occurred after the War of 1812. Missouri entered the Union in 1821 as the 24th state, but only after the Missouri Compromise allowed its admission as a slave state. The 1850s were years of increasing dissension in Missouri that pitted slave- and free-state advocates against one another, but Missouri was already moving toward a free economy, and a wave of immigrants from the Northeast and from Europe was influential in keeping the state within the Union. Missourians fought on both sides during the American Civil War, but its Union soldiers outnumbered Confederates by nearly four to one. North of the Missouri River, the state's landscape is characterized by gently rolling hills, open, fertile plains, and well-watered prairie country. South of the Missouri, except in the extreme southeastern corner of the state and along the western boundary, the land is rough and hilly, with some deep, narrow valleys and clear, swift streams. Much of the land lies 1,000 to 1,400 feet (300 to 425 m) above sea level, though the alluvial plain of southeastern Missouri is less than 500 feet (150 m) in elevation. Maximum January temperatures in Missouri range from about 36 F (2 C) in the north and northwest to 48 F (9 C) in the southeast. Summer temperatures above 100 F (38 C) with high humidity may occur in any part of the state. Rainfall varies from about 34 inches (864 mm) in the north and northwest to 50 inches (1,270 mm) or more in the extreme southeast. Tornadoes average 27 a year. After the early French settlers, immigration came largely from other, especially Southern, U.S. states. Immigration from abroad, especially German, Irish, and English, accelerated after 1820. Migration of blacks to the state increased after 1940, and by 1980 blacks comprised more than 10 percent of the state's population, although they constituted nearly half of the population of St. Louis and more than a quarter of Kansas City. The population of St. Louis declined by nearly one-third from 1970 to the mid-1980s, the largest percentage decline of any large American city. Drainage and soil conditions permit farming in all of Missouri's counties. Livestock, mostly cattle and sheep, account for a higher proportion of farm marketings than crops. Soybeans, corn (maize), and wheat are the major crops. Missouri leads the nation in lead production, mainly from the Ozarks region. It also has significant deposits of iron ore and limestone. Almost a third of the state remains forested, and timber is becoming an increasingly important resource. Manufacturing is one of the major components of the economy. Production of aerospace and transportation equipment is the leading activity, followed by the processing of food and kindred products and the production of chemicals. Missouri has an extensive highway system that includes six interstate highways. Its railroads are linked with most of the nation's major trunk lines. The Mississippi and Missouri rivers, providing more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of navigable waterways within the state, connect waterborne traffic with New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. St. Louis and Kansas City are regional air hubs. Diversity characterizes Missouri's cultural milieu, from the centres of fine art, music, and theatre along the St. LouisKansas City axis to the folk culture and native crafts of the Ozarks. The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is the second oldest in the country. Independence is the home of the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. Both Kansas City and St. Louis have professional sports teams. Artists George Caleb Bingham and Thomas Hart Benton and writers Mark Twain and T.S. Eliot were all from Missouri. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch was founded by Joseph Pulitzer, and the University of Missouri had the world's first school of journalism. Area 69,697 square miles (180,516 square km). Pop. (1990) 5,117,073. Additional reading Writers' Program, Missouri: A Guide to the Show Me State (1941, reprinted as Missouri: The WPA Guide to the Show Me State, 1998), provides good and still-useful information on the state's people and economy and the cultural landscape of its cities and small towns. Milton D. Rafferty, Missouri (1983), includes discussion of physical, economic, political, and cultural topics, and his Historical Atlas of Missouri (1982) presents maps of the state's historical geography, economy, and social conditions. DeLorme Mapping Company, Missouri Atlas & Gazetteer (1998), focuses on the state's topography. Milton D. Rafferty, Russel L. Gerlach, and Dennis J. Hrebec, Atlas of Missouri (1970), emphasizes economics and political and demographic resources, divisions, and concentrations. Local geography and history are detailed in Robert L. Ramsey, Our Storehouse of Missouri Place Names (1952, reprinted 1991). Russel L. Gerlach, Settlement Patterns in Missouri (1986), is a concise work. Noel P. Gist et al. (eds.), Missouri: Its Resources, People, and Institutions (1950), contains essays and studies on every aspect of the state's develoment.Historical treatments include Louis Houck, A History of Missouri from the Earliest Explorations and Settlements Until the Admission of the State into the Union, 3 vol. (1908; reissued 3 vol. in 1, 1971), the definitive history up to statehood; William E. Parrish (ed.), A History of Missouri (1971 ), a comprehensive historical survey; Paul C. Nagel, Missouri (1977, reprinted 1988); and Duane Meyer, The Heritage of Missouri, 3rd ed. (1982), perhaps the best one-volume history of the state. Milton D. Rafferty The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica