Completely contained within the Mark Twain National Forest. the area is called the Irish Wilderness not because of our desire to have it so preserved. but because the areas own history has led to that name. A young Irish priest. Father John Hogan. settled the area in 1858. Deeply affected by the suffering and poverty he saw among his fellow immigrants in the railroad camps around St. Louis. he led a group of about 40 families to the wilderness of southern Missouri. where they bought Government land for 121/2 cents an acre. The settlers were wiped out by marauders during the Civil War. but the name remained.
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