Caruthersville, Missouri/Gayoso, Missouri/Little Cypress Bend

Caruthersville, Missouri/Gayoso, Missouri/Little Cypress Bend. Mississippi River Walk. , A) Caruthersville, Missouri , Mile 846.0 AHP, A fur trading post called Le Petite Prairie was established on this site in 1794 by Francois Le Sieur. The small community which grew here was totally destroyed by the New Madrid earthquakes in 1811-1812, and became known as "Lost Village". In 1854 the present town was laid out and named for Congressman Col. Sam Caruthers. With its year-round landing, it emerged as the civic, social, and business center of the area, becoming county seat of Pemiscot County in 1908; Caruthersville is now an active river port, with barge lines, barge works, and grain elevators which serve the agricultural area to its west., B) Gayoso, Missouri , Mile 850.5 AHP, Established as a Spanish military post, Gayoso became a French trading post, and in 1851 was made the first county seat of Pemiscot County. In the late 1890s, the Mississippi began to erode the town's riverfront. As the town slipped into the river, the county seat was moved to the south to Caruthersville. , C) Little Cypress Bend , Mile 864.5 AHP, This sharp bend was named for the cypress trees which lined its banks. Cypress wood was once so abundant, that fence post and railroad ties were made from it. It is one of the most durable woods, resisting decay and insects. In the early steamboat days, Cypress Bend marked the beginning of a particularly treacherous stretch of the Mississippi. The New Madrid earthquake had convulsed this area, and the river was choked with dangerous snags and sandbars for miles downstream. Trees had fallen into the river when banks caved in, and their remnants could easily puncture wood steamboat hulls. Trunks that became embedded in the river bottom were called "planters". Trees that bobbed with the current were called "sawyers". Snag removal became a major priority in the mid-1800s, and special snagboats were developed to clear the river.