LAND SALE SHOWS STRONG VALUE

When the recent bidding ended, some 15,000 acres of prime Bootheel farmland had been sold at auction by E.G. Gee Jr., who resides in Blthyeville, Ark.

The Gee family, well-known in this particular corner of Missouri, has owned land in the area since the 1930s. Now Gee's children say they are interested in other pursuits, so several buyers got the opportunity to bid on some of the most valuable property around.

Sometimes large landowners consider themselves land poor, because property assets aren't very liquid when it comes to paying the bills. In this case, however, the Gee family turned land into several million dollars in short order.

Just think of the treasure that is represented by all that land in the reclaimed swamps of Southeast Missouri. Colorado had its gold rush. Texas had its oil heyday. Southeast Missouri still has land that will fetch millions of dollars.