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Little Prairie
Pemiscot County,
Missouri 
was formed in 1851
from New Madrid County;
the county seat is
Caruthersville. |
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Towns and wide places in the road
Little Prairie in Pemiscot County
Mo
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Little Prairie
- Little Prairie: The settlement at La Petite Prairie (Little Prairie)
was begun in 1794, by Francis Lesieur, at a point a short distance below the
present town of Caruthersville.
A town covering some 200 arpents of land was laid out, and divided into lots
of an arpent each. A fort, called Fort St. Fernando, was constructed on the bank
of the river.
Among the residents of the town and vicinity, besides its founder, were Jean
Baptiste Barsaloux, George and John Ruddell, Joseph Payne, Louis St. Albin,
Charles Guibeault, Charles Loignon, Francois Langlois and Peter Noblesse.
In 1797 the population numbered 78, and in 1803 it had increased to 103.
The village continued to prosper until the earthquakes of 1811-12, which
almost entirely destroyed it.
Its site was long since carried away by the waters of the Mississippi.
Other settlements were made in what is now Pemiscot Co., one in the
vicinity of Gayoso, one north of Big Lake, another on Little River,
and a fourth on Portage Bay.
The earthquakes drove most of the inhabitants away, and it was not until thirty
years later that any considerable number of immigrants came in.
One conspicuous figure remained in this section after the others
had fled.
Col. John H. Walker, familiarly known as Hardeman Walker, located on Little
Prairie about 1810, and continued to reside until his death.
He was sheriff of New Madrid County in 1821-22.
(Hist. of Southeast Mo., Goodspeed, pp. 300, 301; Encyclopedia of the Hist. of Mo., 1901, Conrad, Vol. 4, p. 83.)
Note: An arpent is a french unit of land measure still used
in certain French sections of Canada and the U. S., equal to about 0.8.5 acre.
(Webster's Third International Dictionary.)
Towns and wide places in the road in
Pemiscot County Mo
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