Draining the Swamp: The Little River Drainage District

In southeastern Missouri there is an area of around 1700 square miles that, owing to its shape in relation to the rest of the state, is called the Missouri Bootheel. A little known part of Bootheel history is a project that has been described as one of the greatest engineering projects in American history, at one time the world’s largest drainage project, which moved more dirt than the digging of the Panama canal.
Photos courtesy Courtesy of the Missouri State Archives. mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/msalrdd
This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
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#history #thehistoryguy #Missouri

[@jeffstrite8190]

I appreciate the balance of explaining the rationale of draining this area with the rationale of the value of wetlands. It explained without denigrating and villainizing those who made decisions in the past

[@loke6664]

Well, our knowledge have increased a lot in the last 100 years, we did figure out that swamps helps preventing catastrophic flooding during hurricanes but sadly, we figured it out since we removed so much of it. But hindsight is 20/20 and it wasn't that people were stupid back then, or at least not more so then we are today, we know this now because we have learned from past mistakes. There is also the fact that these lands might become crucial for United states as the western agricultural lands are getting more and more hit by droughts now and a new dustbowl isn't impossible. In that case these lands will be incredible important to feed people. So right now, we wish they had drained far less country from an ecological standpoint but if the western drought get worse it is very possible that we will change our mind about the project again. It is not as straightforward as one might think at first glance, even with our modern knowledge. Another thing to consider is that new discoveries show that grassland actually takes away as much carbon as woods, not as much as wetlands, butt way more then we thought so it might be smarter to restore more of the prairies then the wetlands. That would help a bit with the drought which at the time is more of a threat to agriculture then flooding is. That also might change with raising sea levels though, as I said, it is a complicated issue. Personally, I would stop the subsiding of corn in the midwest who is draining the groundwater far too much and restore some of that land and let the former swampland be for now but I admit I am no expert.

[@aimeepotts2137]

Yes. I think History has more value when it is related without passing judgement on the people involved.

[@loke6664]

@@aimeepotts2137 True, and if you judge them anyways you have to at least judge them for the knowledge they had, not what we have today. Looking for the Northwest passage was a good idea, totally logical but it just wasn't there. There was no way they could have known that. Columbus though should have known he wasn't in India, he had pretty good evidence that he was in another place but I think he just didn't want to consider them. That Amerigo Vespucci (don't check that spelling) figured it out a couple of years later without gaining much more evidence makes that pretty clear. People do some stupid things today and have done so in the past as well, but doing logical things to your knowledge is not stupid even if it might seems laughable today with our knowledge. I assume future generations will think we were morons in the stupid age when they look back on our actions as well and that is as unfair as us judging Newton for trying to make gold with alchemy.

[@beerye9331]

Presentism is a misguided practice.

[@craigcampbell7638]

Sigh. Puts pitchfork away

[@UncleDansVintageVinyl]

I was born west of Sikeston, near the little community of Salcedo. I grew up around that area, and I still have a brother living there. My mother moved into the Bootheel in 1927 and was there during the great flood of that year. It was stilll almost a wilderness when her family moved there. I have seen a change in the ditches since my childhood. I fished the ditches a lot back in the 1970s. Back then (and earlier), many of the ditches held fish: bass, crappie, bluegill, even grass pike, along with catfish, carp, gar, and bowfin. Now many of the ditches are too polluted even for carp, gar, and bullheads. They hold nothing more than turtles. With that said, I've seen wildlife there that I never saw when I was young. A couple of years ago, I passed over the North Cut ditch north of Diehlstadt and saw a buck standing in the ditch, drinking. Eagles have also returned to the area. So there has been some improvement. The water table has generally dropped over the years. We were on well water when I was young, and the well was originally driven thirteen feet. (That was in the town of Morley, which stands on a sand ridge.) I knew other people whose wells were driven only seven feet. But our well was later driven down to twenty-one feet, as the water table had dropped significantly. (Probably healthier having it down that far.) Overall, the Little River Drainage District constitutes at the same a major engineering feat, with significant economic benefits, and a massive environmental disaster.

[@everettreed2730]

As a native son of Missouri, I thank you for a well balanced and factual account of this forgotten, herculean, achievement. Bravo Zulu.

[@haroldjones8521]

I'm sorry to be late to this video; I don't know how I missed it. I was born in Mississippi County, Mo. Mississippi County is the "bump" that the Mississippi River goes around. Our farm was in Tywappity Township, where some of the survivors of the New Madrid Earthquake found refuge. My father was born there in 1907. My mother was born in 1910. My paternal grandfather was was president of a drainage company, St. Joseph, I think. My maternal grandfather was a worker in the dredging camps. My mother, as a child, lived on a houseboat floating in the swamps and her mother was a cook for the workers. She took photos of the camp with a small camera. When they were blown up we could read the signs, see the faces of the people, including my grandmother, who died in 1930. That is how good the cameras and film were then. Thank you for your coverage of this. The Bootheel rarely gets any notice. ps. My family moved away from the Bootheel when I was 14, to North-Central Missouri, the "Kingdom of Callaway." That is a story on its own.

[@budwillis898]

Lived at Sugar Tree Ridge, have the Threshold of the school house, wish I had some of the indian artifacts I found as a kid

[@haroldjones8521]

@@budwillis898 My father found 3 Indian agricultural tools in one of our fields. I took them to NA archeologist and he identified them as 11th-13th century. He could even identify the stone of the hoe. It was from Illinois, around Cahokia. So our land was probably an agricultural colony for Cahokia.

[@budwillis898]

@@haroldjones8521 What area was the find?

[@haroldjones8521]

@@budwillis898 In Mississippi County, on our farm in the northern part of the Saint James township. Between Charleston and East Prairie. North of the Anniston turn off on 105. My birth certificate says Tywappity, but that is probably because the county seat is in Charleston, which is in Tywappity.

[@Kennygrhm1]

I grew up just off the St. John ditch which was part of the project. Between Blodgett Missouri and Grant City Missouri. Thank you for this

[@660einzylinder]

Very interesting, especially to one who earns his living maintaining drainage channels in the Cambridgeshire Fens. Mind you, a fall of 1 foot/mile is luxury! I have to pump water from my drainage district up 17 feet into the river, which has a fall of approx three feet over 25 miles. Living below sea level focuses my mind on my work! Keep it coming History Guy.

[@kevinwagers9015]

The Fens have a very interesting history. I always found that the history of Ely or the Island Ely fascinating. I lived in Feltwell for many years and now in Missouri.

[@Invictus13666]

Fascinating. Always interested in the Fens because of the archaeological finds there. Flag Fen etc.

[@frankfowler5079]

Ah a fellow fenman.

[@jmcd3970]

My wife’s great grandfather was one of the original people that started that project and her grandfather had a sawmill in Morehouse Missouri that cut that lumber for years in years in years Jerry Mcdonogh

[@benbohannon]

Morehouse, grand suburb of Sikeston. Never really knew about timber being such a big industry. Sikeston and Miner and Morehouse could use another economic breakthrough in this century!

[@ericcroel459]

One of the few history content creators i respect anymore. Thanks for keeping it objective and interesting. Much love.

[@karenstein8261]

I live in this area. Exploring the countryside, I see and fully grasp the scale of the task. Even today the ground water level is typically within two feet of the surface. I knew there had to be a story behind this gargantuan task, but didn’t find it until today. Thank you!

[@slimpickens3220]

I was born in wardell

[@BenjaminHeyser]

I suppose basements aren't common with a water table that high!

[@slimpickens3220]

@@BenjaminHeyser no basements all attics

[@gqp3215]

Former well driller. I have dug a hole 2 feet deep and filled 250 gallon water tank trailer in half hour with a trash pump

[@d.unterreiner161]

Go SEMO!

[@joegomez5807]

Great video. I am a Missourian living in the Netherlands. I went to the Little River Water District’s website and found that the district covers 550,000 acres or about 2 million hectares, which is half the size of the Netherlands. The LRWD’s scale is quite impressive!. I even think the Ditch water engineers would be impressed. Bravo!

[@chokkan7]

My great grandfather won two sections of land close to Frisco, MO in a poker game in SC (don't know the year; I got this from listening to the family talk). He sold his belongings and moved to the area, but most of the land he now owned was covered in cypress swamps. He dug in and cleared a couple of acres by hand, and then news came that the drainage project you've described would soon begin. After it was drained, he contracted to sell cypress lumber, and then came years of pulling and burning stumps to reveal some of the richest gumbo soil anyone had ever seen. The family was wealthy as a result though WWII. I moved away years ago; don't miss the mosquitoes...

[@DavidLaFerney]

This is very relevant to the history of my family. My parents both grew up during the depression in Portageville Missouri. My Grandfather was still farming 80 acres of cotton and soybeans when I visited as a child in the 60s. It was a storybook farm with silos, a milk cow, pig pen, chickens and a big kitchen garden. I loved visiting there from my city home in East TN at holidays. My many cousins who lived there (I never did - my parents got out). Had one aspiration as teenagers - to get out of their tiny hometown. Most did. I thought for decades that the whole state was as flat as a table out to the horizon - it’s not of course, but that area is. Thanks for this interesting insight into why my ancestors came to be there.

[@Market_time799]

My family is from Portageville also. My Dad always referred to Missouri as “misery “.

[@DavidLaFerney]

@@Market_time799 mine too.

[@josephrodgers3119]

I was born and raised there, Class of 77. Left home and never came back, except for funerals. Look back on it though growing up. There was some good times. Bless y'all.

[@DavidLaFerney]

@@josephrodgers3119 Did you know Mark Patton, Coy LaFerney, or Terry Crockett? Some of my cousins that are about that age.

[@josephrodgers3119]

@@DavidLaFerney yes I did. Mark and I graduated in the same class, he lived a block from me,we use too shoot hoops in his back yard. Always remember CCR painted on the back board. " Credence Clearwater Revival " I considered Mark one of my best friends in school. Next time you see him tell him Joey Rodgers says hey. Thank ya.

[@nathanmcghee9355]

I cross the Floodway ditches twice a day, love hearing about local history

[@945hilo]

Always hated seeing them run into each other after a big flooding rain!

[@johnserrano9689]

Trump said fake News....... Biggest easily varifiable liar in recorded history so he must be telling the truth this time right! Lol

[@thomasbeard838]

@@johnserrano9689 what a tool you are

[@phredphlintstone6455]

@@johnserrano9689 tds much?

[@johnserrano9689]

@@phredphlintstone6455 big time man. He and the fake modern republican party gave us the worst debt, deficits ever. Most funding raped from our children's schools yet boosted rich kid schools. Biggest increase in the cost of business for most American companies from trumps disaster trade war that we lost and China was fine as they simply bought everything from other nations including our Allie's. Also he intentionally lied and mislead to divide our people from short term gain that's not a leader that's a con man. I am a life long conservative myself so there is no snowflake bllsht here. Worst of all he pushed the few thousand of his supporters to storm our own CAPITOL BUILDING when he wasn't man enough to accept we the people have had enough of him and his licking of Russia/Putin's ass.

[@jobethk588]

I grew up in northeast Arkansas just south of the bootheel. I was amazed as a child when I learned of the great trees that once grew in that fertile soil. As a child I took that lovely black dirt for granted. It now seems like magic soil that could easily have produced Jack's huge beanstalk. Growing up in Blytheville, Arkansas, 6 miles from the Mississippi River ruined me on other rivers. "You call that a river?" Years later I wondered who threw all the rocks in the fields when I lived away from all that alluvial soil. I loved the wide open vistas of the flatland but also enjoyed driving through Crowley's ridge. Thanks for covering the swamp draining of the area near where I grew up.

[@tygrkhat4087]

On the flip side, I've known people familiar with the ocean who freak out at seeing Lake Erie for the first time.

[@lehampton1]

I grew up in Blytheville as well, BHS ‘74. I found this very educational and interesting! The trees in Walker Park are supposed to be old growth trees never harvested for lumber. It was set aside for us to know what the land used to be like before it was drained and row cropped.

[@theblacksheep5226]

You are so right about being from near Mississippi River seeing most rivers and seeing them as nothing more than big creeks. I've lived in dif places near the Mississippi most of my life. These other rivers are nothing.

[@davidcox3076]

Can relate to the "you call that a river"? Also can relate to the rocks. I lived for a couple of years in Southwest Missouri. The first day there I walked across the front yard to the mailbox. Barefoot. Big mistake. Who put all these rocks in my yard? Oh, in the Ozarks now. Rocks are everywhere.

[@carywest9256]

I have read that during The War Between the States, on Crowley's Ridge some Confederates waylaid a Bluebelly contingent transporting a payroll.And the Bluebellies never saw a dime of that payroll again. I reckon those partisan rangers lived high on the hog fer awhile after that little escapade!

[@russbear31]

I'm a lifelong Missouri resident (50+ years) and I never heard of this project or its history. Thank you. I was only aware of the history behind the Lake of the Ozarks, another massive project in the state. It's completely man-made and transformed the state's landscape.

[@1TnRiceFarmer]

My Moms family has lived in Stoddard Co MO since the 1850’s and my Dads side in NE Arkansas just across the line since 1855. My Grandfathers helped clear the land of trees in the 1920s. I own an WRP Marsh now in the area and placed a 1000 acres in Conservation Easements in NE Ark to make up for the wetland loses. This was a great video of the little known history of the area. Thank you for such a well detailed and fair documentation. You have my respect.

[@aztecmomma]

I currently live in Stoddard county.

[@budwillis898]

@@aztecmomma Born in Bell City, haven't been back since 1999

[@meatballs2849]

Sooo, can I get some Basmati, please?

[@benbohannon]

@@budwillis898Bell City, suburb of Vanduser.

[@richardmitchem9695]

Thanks for this episode!! As someone who grew up literally 20-feet from the banks of the Little River, and spent my formative years fishing and frogging, as well as avoiding cottonmouths along it’s banks, I found your covering of the history of the work done in swamp east MO well done! I was also someone who knew about of the history and how “the army corps” as if was often explained, dug all those straight channels, seemingly every mile on the mile, just to drain the bootheel for farming. As only a recent subscriber to your channel - I continue to find your content enjoyable and informative, very Paul Harveyesque. Again - thank you.

[@neverlearnitall]

I find your channel fascinating! I love history and I love the fact that you pick subjects that, "need to be remembered!" I'm so glad I came across your channel!

[@sigmonfury02]

I was born in Kennett. My great-great grandfather, Chester Moses Burcham was a county judge for Dunklin County and had a hand in this drainage project. You should do a story on the Marked Tree siphons - which are associated with it too.

[@dirtcop11]

When I was a kid it was a rare sight to see a flock of geese in Northeast MO. Now there are huge flocks on their migratory routes. There are still swamps along the river from Iowa to Arkansas. I spent the first 9 years of my life living less than a mile from the River. In the area where I grew up, the Mississippi River was always called "The River."

[@Hongobogologomo]

Yes, i heard them honking in the sky at night

[@otpyrcralphpierre1742]

There are also less Hunters harvesting the geese. Their recovery has been so strong and so fast that there are fears of diseases wiping out the now thick flocks, and hunting regulations are being relaxed. Wild goose is one of the best meals a hunter ever cooked.

[@goodun2974]

@@otpyrcralphpierre1742 Are you talking about Canada geese? From what I've heard nobody likes to eat those things. Supposedly quite gamey and fatty.

[@goodun2974]

Here in New England, Canada Geese are too abundant and considered pests, fouling waterways and digging up lawns and crops. On the other hand, Passenger Pigeons were once common here until people ate them into extinction. One of the local land trusts where I sometimes go hiking with my dogs is called Pigeon Swamp for the millions of Passenger Pigeons that once roosted there. We could use a few million pigeons there nowadays, to eat the millions of baby ticks that come out in the fall. I saw hardly any ticks anywhere all year until just two weeks ago, when I was finding dozens of them crawling on each one of us as we walked through that particular area. Uggh!

[@otpyrcralphpierre1742]

@@goodun2974 It's all in the prep and the cooking.

[@jhoward8780]

It is also important to note how unique the bootheel's soil is to the rest of the state of Missouri. Our soil here is largely rocky, owing to the Missouri Shale that predominates the majority of the land and is only a few feet down from the top soil surface in places. Going back to the founding of the state, our cash crops have traditionally been feed corn, hemp for rope making, and tobacco; in recent years the latter two crops haven been replaced with soybeans and wheat. These were the only crops that could handle the rocky soil. The Missouri and Mississippi river valleys were able to add a little crop variety with the German settlers of central Missouri planting vineyards (as noted in your video on Hermann, MO). But only in the bootheel was the soil there rich enough to sustain major cash crops of cotton and rice.

[@zackeudy6236]

Still to this day, in the rural areas of the bootheel, we still refer to the ditch # as to where we live.

[@aztecmomma]

I grew up between Ditch 1 and A ditch between Clarkton and Gideon.

[@stephanieworrell7615]

Number 9 born and raised

[@Ammo08]

This is where I live. thank you for this story...We also have the New Madrid Fault, and Crowley Ridge..very interesting area to live in. One of the big ditches runs right by my farm.

[@chas5131]

Thank you. Was raised in the Bootheel.

[@nicholasrui1611]

I love history my friend, but you make it so enjoyable I can't get enough. Never stop my friend.

[@BonesyTucson]

No idea it moved more earth than the Panama Canal, that is astounding. Thank you for putting this video together.

[@tonicross5586]

I also grew up in Southeast Missouri. I once took a a jar of soil from my father's farmland back to a college class about soils. The instructor said it resembled the agricultural land by the Nile River. Dad also had a well-drilling service with my uncle and he told me that if they didn't hit water in 20 minutes, tops, they just didn't charge anything for their services!! That's how close the groundwater is. "Sure, part of the problem is that we humans tend to ignore clues about things that cost money until it is far too obvious." I love this comment by one of the other responders. We certainly cannot judge prior generations by what we would choose to do today, but we should very much judge ourselves if we don't pay attention to thoroughly vetted scientific studies.

[@billknoderer8202]

Thank you so much for this presentation of our local history. I think at some point in the past, as I can remember I requested you to dig into this subject. As a fifth generation landowner and farmer here in Stoddard Co., I can tell you that on behalf of my peers that we would give up a pint of blood before we’d give up one square inch of land in this paradise. The old saying goes,”If you can’t make a crop here in the Little River basin, you couldn’t make a crop anywhere else on Earth”… As far as lost wetlands are concerned, we’re all involved in the challenge of mitigating that issue here in our area of the world and still maintaining our productivity as an agricultural powerhouse. Again, thanks for your well balanced presentation.

[@renaissongsmann8889]

This Bootheel Boy hasn't forgotten! You drive over them any time you go west to east or vice versa.... Heck of a buncha of long ditches. And, there was a time when things weren't quite so bad economically...

[@garywhitmerwhitmer6786]

Grew up in Campbell Mo top of the bootheel and it’s nice to hear about history on something so close to home

[@michaelwerner1836]

Great way to start a Monday - learn something completely new!

[@darrellscholl1651]

I found this it interesting. Thanks for the old theme music.

[@happyshamrock73]

Thank you! A ton of folks, including my family, relocated from Wayne County, TN to Cottonwood Point, MO after 1890. We never could figure out the WHY!

[@shawnmorton6409]

Raised in SEMO at Kennett. My family has farmed the area since mid 1800's. The "Flood Ways" were an essential part of my upbringing. Thanks for sharing it's history.

[@happyfarmer979]

I grew up in the boot heel - thanks for the history. I’ve never heard it before.

[@arnepianocanada]

Very good for this 🇨🇦 Canadian to learn more about US history. Thank you for your fine programs.

[@davidcox3076]

Thank you!!! I've always been interested in the Little River Drainage District but there isn't a lot available about it. I grew up in Scott County, in the former swamps. We never had a basement because the water table was just barely below the surface. Most of the area has no natural drainage so is cut with drainage ditches and larger ditches called bayous. They drain to the Mississippi. Pumping stations then throw the water over the frontline levee into the river. If the river is too high, the pumping stations are shut down. So, if there is a flood two or three days after the water drains away, it comes back. I also lived near a crossroads in Mississippi County referred to as "Sawdust Corner". It was then farmland but around the turn of the 20th century housed sawmills to cut the timber cleared as the swamps were drained. One irony is that the area has extensive rice fields. So the drained swamp gets re-flooded for rice cultivation.

[@nomnomsammieboy]

very fun exploring google maps in another tab as i let this episode play. the drainage ditches are insane. you can follow some of them almost up to st. louis.

[@peterwinstonaldredge6927]

Great idea! Yeah, those are impressive.

[@945hilo]

They catch all the field overflow and overflow from the Mississippi near Cape Giradeau

[@cvkline]

I did the same thing!!

[@945hilo]

When we get a lot of rain for several days the floodways will rise 20 feet and merge into each other flowing under the bridges. They all empty into Big Lake in Arkansas just to the south of me.

[@FlyinRaptorJesus]

Haha i did that too! Crazy to think all that was a swamp... I live in southern Wisconsin and most of our capital city, Madison was a swamp as well.

[@frankgulla2335]

Fascinating video on something I knew nothing about.

[@PaulKettlebones]

I’ve lived in Sikeston for the last 15 years now and it’s great to learn more of the local history. Thanks!

[@nancybode6159]

Thirty years ago I worked for the State of Iowa Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation division. In 1993 the Iowa River flooded several counties above the Coralville Reservoir, and I was tasked with starting the Wetlands Reserve Project for Iowa County. This is the bottomlands equivalent to the Conservation Reserve Project which pays farmers to take steep ground out of agricultural production. At that time all of the chatter was about the loss of native wetlands to farming and how we needed to restore lost swamps and bottomlands for flood prevention and improved water quality. This segment of THG makes me wonder how much less destructive flooding in Iowa would have been if the Bootheel of Missouri had been left as swampland. Gotta love The History Guy, I learn so much from him that I can connect to events I've witnessed. Thank you, sir!! P.S. The Flood of 1993 changed the channel of the Iowa River in some areas by moving vast quantities of sand. I'd never seen such large sand bars and hills in my life!!

[@williamjones3462]

I heard about this in a comment by someone on TV several decades ago. Now I know the details. Thank you. I grew up near the river close to Helena Ark. I have seen it in raging floods and so low the barges could not pass. I Love the river.

[@casparcoaster1936]

I will never doubt the pleasure of watching a History Guy Video again.!!!

[@toddbowles8201]

I was born there. Cool to see a story about it. We moved away then back. I graduated high school there.

[@lawrencenelson5581]

Some Great History Brought Back ..

[@goldgeologist5320]

When government and business actually functioned for the good of the people through strategic vision. My we have fallen so far! Today is another great day as The History Guy just gave me an education in something I never knew about. Great respect and love sent your way.

[@pulaski1]

I guess you missed the bit about the boot heel still being an area blighted by low income and poverty. 🤔

[@JohnDoe-jq5wy]

TOPTIER EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION AND HISTORY... 5 STAR...VERY WELL DONE.... THANK YOU SIR

[@AdamCDennis]

I grew up in Steele, MO. This was a great history of the area. Thank you for sharing. I’ve driven over those drainage ditches my entire life. Fascinating!

[@AdventuresBeginHere409]

A good bit of history explained of the Bootheel and the draining of it.

[@graceamerican3558]

You're right - I have NEVER heard of this project!

[@philipcornett6955]

@thehistoryguy. Thank you for bringing back memories of Bob Priddies Across Our Wide Missouri. Good and interesting don’t always go together but you make sure they do.

[@rogerodle8750]

I never cease to be amazed by THG.

[@lannyfaulkner6697]

I lived for two years in Paragould, Arkansas (just west of the Bootheel) and the flooded rice fields breed mosqiutos by the billions. Thanks for these videos!

[@atenachos6282]

My Grandmother is from Paragould, AK. We used to go down there growing up. I still sport a Goober Town t-shirt! 👍

[@gus473]

Lots of 🦆🦆🦆 ducks there!

[@atenachos6282]

@@gus473 Lots of livestock!

[@MS46Z]

NOW that's a story that holds water! I live in Missouri near St. Louis and had never heard of this feat. AM-AZ-ing! Thank you

[@DanDfam1]

Great video, I'm in NW MO and farm river bottom land that my grandpa finished draining and cleaning up after a drainage district straightened the small rivers through here. I would love to see you do some history about Saint Joseph, MO.

[@jimmyhawk3270]

Historically referred to as "Little Dixie". People from Kentucky and Tennessee (and points further south and east), crossed the Mississippi, migrating up the Missouri River to the border with Iowa, growing traditionally southern plantation crops, like tobacco, hemp and cotton.

[@Silverado138]

Ever time I go through St Joseph, I always break down 🤦🏻‍♂️ but it gives me time to explore the city and I'm very impressed with it.

[@alexreifschneider4332]

Love that part of MO, there last week end!

[@punditgi]

One of your best videos yet, History Guy! You are the Ken Burns of forgotten history.

[@scottjohnson9225]

I really liked this vid. I never heard of the 1811-1812 Missouri earth quakes. I went and researched the event and was highly impressed by the occurrence. I wish we were taught about this in school.

[@themanthemyththebanger]

Tennessee kids learn about the New Madrid fault and the earthquake that "created Reelfoot Lake and made the Mississippi run backward." A great future topic for The History Guy, if he hasn't touched on it already.

[@YSLRD]

Southern MO kids learn about it, too. They are taught the New Madrid fault might blow again.

[@safetymikeengland]

I always enjoy The History Guy

[@shawnr771]

A project I had never heard of in a place I never really thought about or even why the map was drawn that way.

[@bepbep7418]

Go watch "How the States got their shapes" it explains a lot about why our states are shaped the way they are.

[@wandatennant5580]

I love history! Especially the little known stories. Thanks THG.

[@terryturman8495]

My grandfather worked for the railroad and built a home in Arkansas out of the cypress of that project the home still stands .

[@1bmaxw]

Have ridden across the boot heel many times just to ride Tte Dorena-Hickman Ferry, which is the best way to cross the Mississippi IMHO. Always loved the area beautiful farms and nice people. Now I have to go back and explore it more.

[@terrytrostel5919]

I always wanted to use the ferry. I'm from Doniphan. I love going to the flatlands to explore

[@guychevalier2040]

Your content is always excellent. Thanks for keeping history alive and in the forefront. I've heard say that if we don't pay attention to history, that we'll end up repeating it's mistakes. Hats off, sir.

[@unappreciatedtreehouse821]

Due to the loss of wetlands in this area of Missouri the Swamp rabbit is a species some residents have heard of but most have never seen. My father has said that hunters would occasionally kill a swamp rabbit in the 1950s while pursuing cottontail rabbit. The swamp rabbit is also a larger rabbit than the cottontail.

[@-jeff-]

There was one great windfall for my Southern Illinois from the project in Missouri. When they drained the boot heel a great deal of the migratory birds that started to move there routes in our direction.

[@samhianblackmoon]

As always excellent work man

[@videodudeX]

Thank you for fixing your framing and lighting!

[@clifftrader]

Congratulations 🎉 1 million subs!

[@markcrites7060]

Great story. My family is from this area, and I had not heard of it.

[@julianamichie4241]

My Grandfather, Carl Bloker, moved to Caruthersville, Mo., largest city in the Bootheel, in l902. He was President of the St. Francis Levee District for years. I lived in Caruthersville all of my childhood, and often heard we had the best farm land in the world other than the Nile delta.

[@bobs4454]

Thank you for a refreshing view of draining the wetlands

[@Tom-vc1rj]

Thank you History Guy. Great job.

[@msdirectionhead8739]

My family is from Stoddard County and I heard stories about my grandfather helping drain the swamp, although he died before I was ever born. I heard them refer to the area as the swamp east, but that term seems unknown outside of there. I appreciate how you pronounce St Francois like a local. I know you are from the general region and your pronunciation shows it.

[@drgwhatsthetruth3783]

Thank you. I was born and live within 65 miles south of Cape Girardeau...and yes, I do watch KFVS 12.

[@kylesmatthews]

I've lived in Missouri my whole life and I never learned about this big project until today

[@jamesireland6606]

Another good story thanks history guy

[@michgavor6667]

Malden Missouri. Fished for catfish in these ditches near my grandpa's farm and cleared beaver dams out of culverts.

[@stanhathcoat920]

Yep! I lived in Malden awhile, played many a music gig there, & fishing the river was always fun. Had a band that was called Hustutler, actually named after Hustutler Ditch just outside Bernie. Mosquitoes galore!

[@tonicross5586]

@@stanhathcoat920 Oh yes! The mosquitoes can be awful. I trapped crawdads on the edges of my grandparents' ditches.

[@tdsilverado7470]

Great video. Such a large project that we didn't know about, But we do now.

[@hmmmiseeisee]

Thanks!

[@TintelFruit]

Another amazing episode

[@mikehartman5326]

Congrats on hitting 1 million subs.

[@glgreetham]

Fascinating history. Thanks.

[@stephenmoerlein8470]

Thanks for sharing this very interesting history.

[@bigsarge2085]

Fascinating!

[@GregTheRushFan]

I used to navigate my motorcycle trips using the "Gazetteer", a giant book map with every little road & river represented. When I looked at the Missouri map I was awed by the grid of water & roads in the boot heel. So off I went to tour this land of strange blue & black grid lines. Boy was I disappointed when I arrived! Just miles & miles of flat farm lands & canals. So cool to see how that all came about!

[@jonminer9891]

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing! Stay healthy!

[@davefellhoelter1343]

A MEGGA Project that IS Forgotten History! I never knew.

[@christopherbrewer9368]

I grew up in East Arkansas in a county that borders the Bootheel. I know those "five parallel" drainage ditches well, having crossed them countless times. Thank you for a history lesson from an area I grew up in! The County in Arkansas that I grew up in..Greene.. had its own major drainage projects with the digging of several ditches and the "digging out" of the Cache River in its western half.

[@gillgetter3004]

Never heard of it, bigger than Panama wow!

[@dennistucker7804]

Thanks for another great video! My mother was raised in the bootheel in the 1940s and I've always been curious on the history of the "ditches" as they are referred to, but there seems to be very little information about them online. I forwarded the link to my mother, I'm sure you will gain one new fan today! Thanks again for the free education.

[@voidgeometry794]

Very good. I am discovering the history of the canals and the swamps of America lately. A bit of history I never knew. Thank you and keep up the good work!

[@jefferysnelling9084]

I’m from this area. Thanks for the lesson

[@945hilo]

I live in Kennett Mo and grew up with stories of my grandparents and great grandparents cutting trees and pulling or blowing up cypress stumps from the fields in order to plant cotton.

[@rabbi120348]

That's where Sheryl Crow is from.

[@945hilo]

@@rabbi120348 yes she is.

[@JohnsJohnson-ns5xm]

Back in the 70s I grew up in Cape Girardeau got into a bit of trouble with the local sheriff and had to pull Cypress stumps out of the swamps for two weeks. A very unpleasant, but valuable lesson.

[@richardschaefer3889]

Kennet Missouri is simply, the worst place on the planet. Hands down, no question. To any and all who reads this comment, heed my warning.

[@BrilliantDesignOnline]

Your telling of history brings me to tears: SO love to hear of this history I never learned or have heard of and your clear love of sharing it. Thank you,

[@MagereHein]

Hi, a Dutchman here. I approve of this video. :-D

[@strickenchicken3387]

Born and raised in the bootheel. Swamp water runs through my veins. My entire life revolves around the lowland swamps of the bootheel

[@scottfabel7492]

As a Civil Engineer and a history buff, this is the first time I've heard of this. That you THG!

[@GringoLoco1]

Quality content to start my week. Thanks!

[@guypierson5754]

Thanks History Guy, I always learn something, no matter how knowledgable on a subject or event I think I am, you always bring something new. 👍

[@georgehartshorn9018]

Another something I never knew about. Thanks for the good video.