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April 9, 2019 |  By: Kramer Sansone

The Honey War was a historic dispute between Missouri & Iowa

One of the historic disputes between Missouri and Iowa in the rich history of the two states is the Honey War.  The Honey War was a bloodless territorial dispute over the Iowa-Missouri border in 1839.  Missouri Historian Ross Malone says the Honey War began over a 9 and a half mile wide area of the entire Iowa-Missouri boundary caused by a misunderstandings of the Louisiana Purchase and a misreading of the Native American treaties.

"One of the reference points was the falls on the Des Moines River.  Well, there are no falls on the Des Moines River.  A few miles east there are some rapids on the Mississippi.  That's probably what they had in mind.  Anyway, for whatever reason, the north border of Missouri wasn't well defined.  When they carved up the Wisconsin Territory and created Iowa, then we actually had another governmental entity there that we're having to deal with and that meant taxes and the sheriff's work trying to collect taxes in their counties."

A Missouri Sheriff was even jailed collecting taxes in Iowa and three trees containing beehives were cut down.  A complete interview with Missouri historian Ross Malone can be heard this morning at 9:06 on All Things Northwest with Northwest Missouri State University President Dr. John Jasinski.