An assist to learning why things are the way they are

When first working in a county where I have never surveyed I am prone to look up the Wikipedia information for that county.  The range of information can be astounding in some cases.  The link is for Bollinger County, Missouri.  In my case I was researching the ancestry of a local family with one line being Bollingers, originally from Bollinger County, Missouri, I discovered.

From the link below you will learn why it is named what it is, what lie to a corrupt govenment agent was critical and how 20 families from North Carolina drove across the Mississippi River to reach their destination in 1799.  The county seat is the only "city" in the county with three towns and a huge number of named unincorporated places.  It is also home to the Missouri dinosaur.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollinger_County,_Missouri

The next link shows the county in the center of the view, being longer north to south and containing the county sear, Marble Hill.  You can see the PLSS townships involved plus the areas that already existed as Spanish or possibly French land grants to the settlers prior to 1803.

https://www.randymajors.org/township-range-on-google-maps?fips=29017&labels=show