MARION, a county in the E. N. E. part of Missouri, bordering on the Mississippi river, which separates it from Illinois, has an area of 432 square miles. It is traversed by the North and South Fabius rivers, and by the North Two river, and also drained by South Two river. The surface is somewhat diversified, and consists of undulating prairies, and forests which are distributed along the larger streams. The prairies have a deep, rich soil, free from stones, and covered with a profusion of flowers.

In 1817 Giles Thompson built the first cabin north of Salt River. . . The earliest settlers came from Kentucky, Virginia, and North Carolina. . . Marion County was named for General Francis Marion, and was organized as dependency of Ralls county, under act of Dec. 14, 1822. One trader named Smith had a store at the first hollow above the mouth of the bay. Marauding, drunken Indians killed him, and the tradition was that he left a buried keg of money. Robert Masterson, who came here in 1818, gave the pointer for excavating, and much digging was done in the surrounding neighborhood in search of the treasure.