Nishnabotna Township, Atchison County, Missouri

Township in the US state of Missouri

Township in Missouri

40°29′31″N 095°37′26″W / 40.49194°N 95.62389°W / 40.49194; -95.62389Country

United StatesState

MissouriCountyAtchisonArea

• Total74.62 km² (28.81 sq mi) • Land73.09 km² (28.22 sq mi) • Water1.52 km² (0.59 sq mi) 2.05%Elevation

^[1]

274 m (899 ft)Population

(2010)

• Total155 • Density2.1/km² (5/sq mi)FIPS code29-52598^[2]GNIS feature ID0766237

Nishnabotna Township is one of eleven townships in Atchison County, Missouri, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 155.^[3]

History

Nishnabotna Township was organized in 1845, taking its name from the Nishnabotna River which flows through it.^[4] Historically, Nishnabotna was thought to be a Native American name meaning "a river where boats were built".^[5] However, more recent research indicates that the name, which was adopted from the Osage language, means "spouting wellspring."^[6]

Geography

Nishnabotna Township covers an area of 28.8 square miles (74.6 km²) and contains one incorporated settlement, Watson. It contains two cemeteries: Addington and Sonora. The Nishnabotna River enters the Missouri River in the northwest corner of the township. There is little physical relief, as the township lies almost entirely on the floodplains of the two rivers. The stream of High Creek runs through this township. Agriculture is the dominant land use.

Transportation

Nishnabotna Township contains one airport, Garst Airport.

In the media

Nishnabotna Township is probably best known outside the immediate region for a reference by the New Yorker cartoonist George Booth, a native of Missouri. In a single-panel cartoon, one threadbare and addled character says to another as they cross a crowded street in New York City: "Mother always says that. Mother always says you have to be a little bit crazy to live in New York. Mother is a little bit crazy, but she doesn't live in New York. Mother lives in Nishnabotna, Missouri."

References

^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. October 25, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
^ "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Nishnabotna township, Atchison County, Missouri". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
^ "Atchison County Place Names, 1928-1945 (archived)". The State Historical Society of Missouri. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ Eaton, David Wolfe (1916). How Missouri Counties, Towns and Streams Were Named. The State Historical Society of Missouri. pp. 203.
^ Bright, William (2004). Native American Placenames of the United States. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 329.