Editing Douglas County, Missouri (section)

==History==
[[File:Hunter Creek bluff.JPG|thumb|upright|left|The bluff above [[Hunter Creek (Bryant Creek)|Hunter Creek]] at [[Vera Cruz, Missouri|Vera Cruz]]]]
Previously, the county seat was located at [[Arno, Missouri|Arno]], west of Ava. Prior to that, [[Vera Cruz, Missouri|Vera Cruz]] (formerly called Red Bud) was the county seat. Vera Cruz is located on Bryant Creek, which flows through the middle of the county. The Civil War [[Battle of Clark's Mill]] took place near Vera Cruz on November 7, 1862, and resulted in a Confederate victory.<ref>[http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/abpp/battles/mo017.htm U.S. National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924080159/http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/abpp/battles/mo017.htm |date=September 24, 2008 }}</ref> After the [[American Civil War]], during a period of general chaos, a group from the western part of the county broke into the Arno courthouse and removed the records back to Vera Cruz. Later in 1871, a new town site was selected, present-day Ava, near the location of the former U.S. Civil War military Post Office, Militia Spring. The location of this new town seemed to satisfy most of the residents of Douglas County to be their point of county government.