Jonathan Hutchins wrote:
> New Madrid is in the "boot heel" of Missouri, that little hangy-down 
> part in the South-East corner that looks to some like the heel of a boot.

I heard an interesting story abut the "boot heel" around 10 years ago.  
When Missouri was first carved out as a territory from the Louisiana Purchase, 
Washington sent out a team to survey the boundaries.  They began at St. Louis, 
and traveled north to what is now the Iowa border, and then traveled west to 
a point north of the Kansas and Missouri River.  They then traveled south 
through that confluence, and to what is now the Arkansas border.  As they
traveled east towards the Mississippi the camped overnight on the 
St. Francis river they were dragged downstream overnight as they slept 
unawares.  I have no idea if this is true or not, but it's an amusing story
none-the-less.

--
Hal