The Road Through Little Dixie by Dorothy Canote

A thought-provoking historical journey through Missouri's Missouri River corridor, beautifully illustrated with original watercolor paintings.

Apart from clean and direct watercolor paintings, often of historic architecture and artifacts we have enjoyed in her other books, we find Dorothy Canote’s fourth book a departure in subject from her previous writings that came largely from her own direct experience. This book was borne of a curiosity of the background of Missouri’s settlement and the remaining effects its people and their actions—good and bad—had on today’s social structure and culture. Primarily centered on the state’s Missouri River corridor that came to be known as “Little Dixie,” the past Dorothy presents in this book is told with her usual reflective and sometimes humorous twists. Prepare yourself for a thought-provoking tale of our past that makes learning history a pleasure.

Cover Painting: Existing Remnant of the Boone’s Lick Road

About the Author

After spending twenty-two years as a high school science teacher, sixteen years of scientific research in agronomy and environmental science, and thirteen years as a market gardener, Dorothy turned to a final career/pastime as an artist and writer. Her first three books of watercolor paintings and essays cover a wide range of topics.

In her first book, Paintings and Musings from the Heartland, the author relates personal stories of growing up in her home town, Avalon, in north Missouri, plus other assorted topics including an entire chapter devoted to bridges and their structure. The second book, Reflections from a Restless Mind, returns to Avalon and then to travels and adventures—caving, camping, and canoeing—with fellow outdoor enthusiasts, and exploring in the southwest and Mexico. In book three, The Road from Oz, Dorothy explores introspective observations on nature as well as some samples of her poetry.

This, her fourth book, The Road through Little Dixie, is the author’s first excursion into historical writing and is devoted to an earlier period of Missouri history—from its territorial period prior to 1800, through statehood, the Civil War, and the final years of the nineteenth century.

Product Specifications

Published by Compass Flower Press (Columbia, Missouri), 2026. Hardcover, 163 pages.