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William White Chapter
History
The William White Chapter serves the
two extreme northwestern counties of Missouri -- Atchison
and Holt.
This part of our nation was acquired
in the Louisiana Purchase. Missouri became a state
in 1821, except the six counties in the extreme northwest,
which were held out for the Iowa, Sac, Fox, and other
Indian tribes. With the Platte Purchase of 1837 these
counties also became a part of the State of Missouri.
Due to the
rich fertile land for farming, plus the attraction
of the Nodaway and Platte Rivers feeding into the Missouri
River for transportation, the area was quickly
settled.
"Indian legends referred to the
area as 'the beginning of the road to Paradise.' (The
Heritage of Missouri by Duane Meyer, pg. 180)"
To
travel I-29 from the north edge of Atchison County,
which borders the state of Iowa, to the south edge
of Holt County, you have motored 62 miles. This is
all rural farm area. You are traveling through the "bottom
lands" of the Missouri River to the west of you.
On the western horizon through Atchison County you
are seeing the state of Nebraska. Soon after entering
Holt County your western horizon is the state of Kansas.
Across this fertile river farm land you see continual
fields of corn, soybeans and other row crops.
As you make this journey, on the east side of this
section of I-29 are the rolling Loess
Hills. Cornelia F. Mutel in her History of the
Loess Hills refers to them as "Fragile Giants." The
Native Americans refer to this chain of Loess Hills
as "Sacred Hills." There are only five chains
of Loess Hills in the world. A person must study and
walk these hills to appreciate their formation and
beauty. Mutel in "Fragile Giants" includes
auto tours which you might consider including in your
travels of the Lewis and Clark
trail.
While
traveling you might want to view the wildlife at the Squaw
Creek National Wildlife Refuge. Take time camping
and boating at Big Lake State
Park.
Within the two counties intermingled
with the row crops you will find livestock
farmers. Residents of these two counties are proud
to be Americans living in the heart of this great nation
and to be the food producers for people of this country
as well as people around the world.
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