Pride of place

In a recent news story in the Southeast Missourian, a woman was described as a "Bootheel author." As it turns out, she is from Bloomfield, Mo.

Bootheel?

As it turns out, folks in Southeast Missouri are just as particular about their geographic designations as Missourians statewide are about the pronunciation of MissourEE. Or is it MissourUH?

One Speak Out commentator says the boundaries of Missouri's Bootheel, that part of the state that hangs off into the northeastern corner of Arkansas, are precise. Drive south to Clarkton, Gideon, Portageville or Conran, and you have slipped across the northern border of the Bootheel. Campbell, it appears from looking at an Official Highway Map of Missouri, is smack-dab on the border.

And what about "Southeast Missouri"? Where does it start and stop?

Some residents of southern Missouri (another questionable designation) consider everything east of U.S. 63 and south of Interstate 44 to be in Southeast Missouri. Others are more or less generous.

When it comes to geographic designations, there never seems to be total agreement. Where is the Midwest? What about the Ozarks? And can you define the limits of the Bible Belt? What about the Heartland?

And does Swampeast Missouri still exist, now that drainage ditches and canals have dried up the vast area of Southeast Missouri and turned it into some of the richest farmland in the country?

Some people think arguing about such things is petty bickering. Maybe there's a healthy dash of pride involved too.