The Irish Wilderness is a

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

in the U.S. State of

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. The U.S. Congress designated it a wilderness in 1984. The Irish Wilderness is located within the Eleven Point Ranger District of the

Mark Twain National Forest Mark Twain National Forest (MTNF) is a U.S. United States National Forest, National Forest located in the southern half of Missouri. MTNF was established on September 11, 1939. It is named for author Mark Twain, a Missouri native. The MTNF cover ...

, northeast of

Alton, Missouri Alton is a city and the county seat of Oregon County, Missouri, United States. The population was 707 at the 2020 census. History Alton was platted in 1859. The city was named after Alton, Illinois. A post office has been in operation in Alton ...

. The Irish Wilderness is one of eight wilderness areas protected and preserved in Missouri. Hiking and horseback riding are popular on the White's Creek Trail, an 18.6 miles trail throughout the wilderness. Attractions include White's Creek Cave (temporarily gated to protect endangered bats), Fiddler and Bliss Springs, traces of old tramway railroads, and overlooks of the

Eleven Point River The Eleven Point River is a river in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas, United States. It originates near Willow Springs, Missouri. It more than doubles in flow when Greer Spring Branch runs into it, adding over of water per day to the ri ...

. The

karst topography Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

of the area creates very scenic views along this trail. Wildlife present include black bear, mountain lion, whitetail deer, timber rattlesnakes, turkey, and bald eagles.

History

The Irish Wilderness was historically a settlement of Irish immigrants in Oregon and Ripley Counties founded in 1858 by an

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the British ...

Priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

John Joseph Hogan Bishop John Joseph Hogan (May 10, 1829 – February 21, 1913) was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first Bishop of the Diocese of Saint Joseph in Missouri (1868 to 1880) and the first bishop of the Diocese o ...

. The settlement was wiped out during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

and has remained a wilderness ever since.

The Settlers

The settlers of the Irish Wilderness came from St. Louis, which had a high influx of Irish immigrants in the 1840s. The Irish immigrants in St. Louis were discriminated against, and were largely employed by the railroad and mining industries. Bishop John Joseph Hogan saw the potential for the immigrants to have their own land, to farm and settle in families. Some land in Oregon and Ripley Counties was bought and donated by a Reverend James Fox. In 1859, there were around forty families who began to settle in the wilderness, and more were on their way. The settlement's western border was the Eleven Point River in Oregon County, from there extending east past the Current River in Ripley County, as far east as

Doniphan, Missouri Doniphan is a city in Ripley County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,781 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Ripley County. History The first settlement at Doniphan was made in the 1840s. The community was named for Alexa ...

.Mike Crawford, ''Father Hogan’s 1859 Irish Wilderness Settlement'' (Doniphan, Missouri: ''The Prospect-News'').

Destruction of the Settlement

The settlement was in existence only from about 1859 through 1863. During the Civil War, the roads that crossed straight through the heart of the settlement, including the Old Bellevue (or Bellview) Road, made the settlers vulnerable to Union and Confederate troops, murderers and criminals. By the end of 1863, the settlement had been destroyed, and all settlers had fled or died. Union Major James Wilson was a factor in the destruction of the settlement. Jerry Ponder (1937-2005) is responsible for much of the research about the Civil War in the area of southern Missouri, especially Ripley County.

References

External links

History of Irish Creek Wilderness PDF

Wilderness.net

TopoQuest map
Protected areas of Oregon County, Missouri Wilderness areas of Missouri Mark Twain National Forest Protected areas established in 1984 {{Missouri-protected-area-stub

History

The Settlers

Destruction of the Settlement

See also

References

External links