Scotland County

The scout the plaque names grew up on a hard farm in this county's northeast. Tom Horn was the fifth of twelve children on his family's 600 acres, split by the South Wyaconda River between Granger and Etna. His father beat him, and his only childhood companion, a dog named Shedrick, was shot by two boys who had beaten Tom in a fight. At sixteen he headed for the Southwest, where the cavalry hired him as a civilian scout, packer and interpreter under Al Sieber. He was hanged at Cheyenne, Wyoming, in November 1903.

What the plaque says

Scotland County Named by pioneer S.W.B. Carnegy for his native land, Scotland County was organized in 1841. Two years later it was reduced in size by formation of Knox County which was made a separate unit, 1845. Its north boundary was not determined until 1851 when U.S. Supreme Court set Mo.-Iowa boundary. Memphis, second town to serve as county seat, was laid out by J. F. Forman, 1843, on land donated by Samuel Cecil and is said to be named for the ancient Egyptian city. Sand Hill, settled in 1835, first county seat, lost out to the centrally located Memphis when the county was reduced in size. The Keokuk & Western Railroad (now C. B. & Q.) reached Memphis in 1871. In the war years, 1861-65, Scotland County was touched by skirmishes and guerrilla action. In the fall of 1861, forces of Union Col. David Moore, stationed in Memphis, skirmished with the enemy. July 18, 1862, a sharp skirmish of some 3 hours occurred at Vassar Hill near Bible Grove south of Memphis. Confederates led by Col. Joseph Porter withdrew before Union Major J. Y. Clopper's forces. Casualties were heavy. (See other side) Erected by State Historical Society of Missouri and State Highway Commission, 1959 Scotland County (Continued from other side) In the Glacial Plains Region of northeast Missouri, Scotland County's rolling prairies are dissected by the alluvial river valleys of the North and South Wyaconda, North and South Fabius, and their tributaries all flowing diagonally in the county. Livestock and grain farms characterize the area. First settlers came in the 1830's mainly from Ky., Tenn., and other counties in Mo. Scotland County is in territory ceded by Iowa, Sac, and Fox tribes, 1824. Sac and Fox, friendly with the pioneers, roamed in the area into the 1840's. Two Indian trails ran north through the county. More than 50 prehistoric mounds remain in the vicinity. Mastodon bones were found near Memphis. Tom Horn (1860-1903), Indian scout and interpreter for the U.S. Government, was born near Memphis. James Proctor Knott (1830-1911), Mo. Att'y Gen., 1856-61, later Gov. of Ky., lived in Memphis in the 1850's, and his wife, Mollie Foreman Knott, is buried in the Memphis Cemetery. Points of interest include the Jacob Maggard House, used as hospital after "Battle of Vassar Hill," and Christian Church in Bible Grove, built 1855. Erected by State Historical Society of Missouri and State Highway Commission, 1959

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Battle of Athens State Historic Site — 18 mi
  A Des Moines River port where neighbours fought the northernmost Civil War battle in Missouri in August 1861, and a cannonball house left standing in the town it emptied.
• Iliniwek Village State Historic Site — 24 mi
  The only Illinois village found in Missouri, a town of perhaps 8,000 Peoria and Moingwena people that Marquette and Jolliet visited on the Des Moines River in 1673.

More markers nearby

• Clark County — 15 mi
• Edina — 22 mi