My 2 cents worth: Missouri was possessed and controlled by France and Spain from 1682 until 1803, when it became property of the United States by the "The Louisiana Purchase". It was part of Louisiana Territory until 1812, when it became Missouri Territory. Indians had been pushed East and occupied most of that Territory until 1815, when "a peace treaty" made it safer for white settlers. When Missouri bacame a State in 1821, it already had 56,000 white settlers. I found this information in my George B. Everton's Handy Book for Genealogists, but we all know it was in "The Louisiana Purchase". My own family moved immediately into lands taken from Indians, in all directions west and south, and made claim to large tracts; thereby migrating a younger generation every 20/30 years. Even tho my line did not go into MO until 1835 when Indians had been tamed in the area that became Arkansas, other Andersons in the family settled in the Northern Missouri Territory.. Mary Alice ________________________________________ PeoplePC Online A better way to Internet http://www.peoplepc.com