one of the middle western states of the North American Union, bounded on the N. by Iowa, E. by Illinois, S.E. by Kentucky and Tennessee, S. by Arkansas, and W. by the Indian territory and the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. It is the largest of the states in the American Union, with the exception of Texas and California, having an area of 67,370 square miles.

A large portion of the south-eastern section of the state, to a considerable distance W. from the Mississippi River, is low, swampy, abounding in lakes, and subject to inundations. Beyond this the country swells into roundish hills, rising continuously to the mountainous districts of the lead mines. Farther still it is broken and hilly, until it reaches the boundless prairies of the western limits of the state. The lands of Missouri are generally more loamy and friable, and the soil less stiff, than upon the Ohio. The rich uplands are of a darkish gray colour, except about the lead mines. The poorer uplands are generally covered with white oak, and are of a light yellow colour; the prairies are for the most part level, and of an intermediate character between the richer and poorer uplands. Those which are alluvial, as in the N. between the Mississippi and Missouri, are always rich; as are also the bottoms of all the water-courses. Those of the Missouri are loamy, intermixed with sand; those of the Mississippi are blacker, more clayey, less sandy, and, if not so immediately fertile, are more inexhaustible. Great varieties of soil abound in Missouri, from best to worst, and there are extensive tracts of each; but in general the better districts are of great fertility, indicated by a rank and abundant vegetation.

The Ozark Mountains traverse a large part of Missouri. The Missouri River, which gives name to the state, and the Mississippi washing its boundary, give to Missouri the navigation of two of the greatest rivers in the world. By means of this navigation she can open her commerce with the Gulf of Mexico, and by the waters of the Ohio with the Atlantic states. The tributaries of the Missouri within the state are the Chariton and Grand Rivers from the N., and the Osage and Gasconade from the S.; whilst the Mississippi receives the Salt and the Maramee. The St Francis and White Rivers are on the south-eastern part of the state, and pass on to Arkansas.

The mineral wealth of Missouri has long been proverbial. Of lead the state produces immense quantities. The iron mountains are estimated to contain 600,000,000 tons of that metal. Copper is next in importance, and has been discovered in the Current River and on the Maramee, and in the southern parts of the state. Cobalt occurs in the form of black oxide and sulphuride, and is found in thin layers or in connection with manganese. Zinc also abounds in the lead mines, and might be worked to great advantage. It is estimated that the average quantity of silver contained in the Missouri lead mines is from six to eight ounces to the ton; but it has never been attempted to separate this before bringing the lead to market. Tin also is found. Nickel accompanies the copper; and cobalt and manganese are abundant over the southern parts of the state. Limestone is found in great quantities, and also marbles, beautifully crystalline and veined; gypsum, sandstone, porphyries, sienite, saltpetre, kaolin, and inferior clays. Bituminous coal exists in vast beds on both banks of the Missouri; and the largest body of cannel coal known is in Callaway county. A geological survey of the state has been ordered, and is in progress. The coal trade of St Louis alone in 1856 was estimated, on high authority, at £28,150. The coal beds of the state, says the state geologist, can furnish 100,000,000 tons annually for 1300 years. In 1855 nine iron establishments at St Louis produced £21,000, and the whole capital of the city invested in that branch of industry was about £625,000. The smelting works engaged in Missouri in 1856 were estimated to produce 35,000 tons of pig-iron; and the state geologist says,—“There is ore enough of the best quality above the surface of the valleys to produce 1,000,000 tons per annum for 200 years, which would be worth £1,042,000,000. But this is but a small part of the iron resources of the state, which would reach nearer £20,000,000,000.” (Western St Louis Journal, vol. xv., No. 3.)

Below the mouth of the Ohio the climate approximates that of the southern states. Throughout the state, however, it is generally of a variable character. The transitions are in many parts rapid and unfavourable to health. Winter commences about the last of December, when the Missouri becomes one solid mass of ice; and is mostly over in February. The snows are not deep. The greater part of the summer is intensely hot, though the freedom of the country from mountains admits of more or less breeze. The air is dry and pure. Autumn is serene, temperate, and delightful. Except in deep bottoms and unfavourable situations, however, the chances of life are as great in Missouri as in most countries reputed to be healthy.

Farming is very easy. The soil is readily worked, and Agriculture generally fitted for the plough. Fencing material is the only deficiency, and artificial hedges have been resorted to. In 1850 there were 54,458 farms or plantations, containing 2,938,425 acres of improved and 6,794,245 acres unimproved lands. The average number of acres to each farm was 179, and the average value, £242: total value of farming lands, £13,172,000; value of farming materials, £829,500. The chief agricultural productions of the state were—Swine, 1,702,625; wheat, 2,981,652 bushels; oats, 3,278,079 bushels; Indian corn, 36,214,537 bushels; potatoes, 1,274,511 bushels; hemp, 16,000 tons; cotton, 121,122 lbs.; tobacco, 17,113,784 lbs.; wool, 1,627,124 lbs. It will thus be perceived that tobacco, hemp, Indian corn, and wheat are the leading agricultural products of Missouri. Among the smaller products were,—rye, barley, buckwheat, hay, hops, seeds, wax, honey, wood, flax, maple, sugar, molasses, rice, silk, wines; besides dairy, garden, and orchard products. In the state there were 5762 families holding 1 slave; 6878 holding more than 1 and under 5; 4370 holding 5 and under 10; 1810 holding 10 and under 20; 345 holding 20 and under 50; 420 holding over 50. The value of the real estate of Missouri in 1850 was £13,917,128; personal, £6,623,600 as rated for taxation; but the true value of both was given at £28,593,270.

This state, like others of the west and south-west, has as yet made but small advances in the manufactures. The latest official reports show that the capital invested was £1,891,600; raw material used, £2,593,000; hands employed, 16,870; wages paid, £663,500; annual product, £4,947,760. Of the above capital £21,250 was invested in cotton manufactures, £4275 in woollen, £129,000 in pig-iron, £39,000 in castings, £8770 in wrought iron, £62,500 in breweries and distilleries. The present amount of manufacturing capital in Missouri may be stated at double of the above statistics. In 1855, 603,352 barrels flour were manufactured in St Louis alone.

The large and growing commercial importance of St Louis, the chief city of Missouri, is universally acknowledged. Its chief receipts in the year ending 1st January 1856 were,—1,307,818 sacks corn; 331,368 bushels flour; 315,556 pigs lead; 18,000 hds. and packages tobacco; 407,000 sacks salt; 58,215 hds. sugar; 81,328 barrels and 8712 casks pork; 52,046 barrels molasses; 22,767 casks and 959,635 pieces bacon; 98,000 barrels and kegs lard; 93,186 bales hemp; 136,610 sacks coffee; 21,000 harrells and tierces beef; 64,868 sacks barley; 1,769,768 sacks wheat; 68,488 barrels whisky. The number of arrivals of steamboats in the same year was 3449, of a tonnage of 918,791. Real estate, which in 1820 reached in value but £857, in 1853 was valued at £8,600,000. The foreign direct trade of Missouri is very small, and scarcely exceeds L200,000 or L250,000.

The internal improvement system of Missouri is so devised that the business to be conducted will receive accessions from almost every road that can be constructed to the W. of the Mississippi. Diverging from a common point, and extending to the state line, her railroads will each form the basis of a system in the adjoining states; and as the revenues of the great west and of the Mississippi are developed, their business must increase to an amount almost incredible. The state is very liberal in its grants of aid to the railroads. Among those in progress are,—the Pacific Railroad, extending westward to Kansas, &c.; the Hannibal and St Joseph; the St Louis Iron Mountain; the North Missouri, connecting with Iowa; estimated length of these roads, 922 miles; and estimated cost, L8,600,000. The actual miles in operation in the state are from 75 to 100. Missouri has pledged her state credit to the extent of L3,960,000 in aid of this magnificent system of public works.

The state constitution of Missouri was adopted in 1820, but was amended in 1822, 1843, 1848, and 1850. The right of suffrage is free to all citizens of the United States who have resided one year in the state. The legislature meets biennially. The governor is elected for four years. The judiciary consists of a supreme court, circuit, county, and justices' courts, &c. The judges are elected by the people.

In 1856 the total expenditure of the state government was L98,810, of which the poll tax was L8224; land tax, L32,660; slaves, L13,240. The state debt of Missouri, as the railroads progress, will soon reach L1,300,000. The banking capital in 1856 was L251,000, with a specie basis of L380,000, and a circulation of L679,850.

There is a state lunatic asylum, with 80 inmates; a deaf-and-dumb asylum, with liberal endowment; an asylum for the blind; and a state penitentiary.

The school fund reaches in amount L139,500, the revenue from which, and from state and from public schools, reaches yearly L29,000, which is distributed among the counties. In 1850 there were 9 colleges, with 1009 students; 1570 public schools, with 51,754 students; and 204 other schools, with 8829 pupils. There are 2 medical schools, with 210 students; and the state university is liberally endowed. There were 878 churches, of which 300 were Baptist, 250 Methodist, 125 Presbyterian, 65 Catholic; value of church property, L322,732. About 10 daily and 75 weekly or monthly newspapers are published in the state. The population of St Louis, the chief town, in 1850 was 77,860, and in 1857 was estimated at 125,000. The following statistics will show the progress of Missouri in population from the earliest records:

| Population | 1810 | 1820 | 1830 | 1840 | 1850 | |------------|------|------|------|------|------| | Whites | 17,227 | 55,988 | 114,795 | 323,888 | 592,044 | | Free coloured | 607 | 347 | 569 | 1,574 | 2,618 | | Slaves | 3,011 | 10,222 | 25,091 | 58,240 | 87,422 | | Total | 20,845 | 66,557 | 140,455 | 383,702 | 682,044 |

By the state census of 1852, the white population was 623,319; free coloured, 2526; slaves, 87,172;—total, 718,017.

The region now known as Missouri was included by the French and Spaniards in the Illinois country, but was popularly and historically known as Upper Louisiana. In 1755 St Genevieve, the oldest town in the state, was founded, and in 1764 St Louis. Early settlements were made from Canada. When this country came into the possession of the United States in 1803, it was divided into two territorial governments,—Orleans, including the present Louisiana; and Louisiana territory, embracing Missouri and the upper regions of the Mississippi. In 1812 the name was Missouri changed to Missouri Territory; numerous American pioneers flocked in from Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, &c.; and American habits, institutions, and laws, soon became predominant. In 1817 application was made for admission as a state into the Federal Union, which led to fierce and stormy debates in Congress regarding the admission or exclusion of slavery. The discussion raged for two years, threatening the existence of the Union, and was only adjusted by a compromise, in which it was agreed that the institution of slavery should be recognised in Missouri, but in no other state north of the latitude of 36° 30' which might be formed out of the territories of the Union. This compromise was abrogated by a new one made upon the admission of California; and when the territorial governments of Kansas and Nebraska were formed, the abrogation was distinctly referred to and confirmed. The supreme court of the United States has recently pronounced such a compromise to be unconstitutional, thus leaving the territories open to slavery or not, as may be determined upon by their inhabitants.