Why does Oklahoma have a panhandle?

The Missouri Compromise banned slavery north of 36°30′ latitude. When Texas, a slave state, gave up its land north of that line in the Compromise of 1850, a strip was left belonging to no state or territory. Known as No Man's Land, it was added to Oklahoma Territory in 1890.

Why does Missouri have a bootheel?

According to the usual account, a wealthy landowner and planter, John Hardeman Walker, lobbied to have his land included in Missouri rather than Arkansas Territory, and Missouri's border was drawn with the extra piece when it became a state in 1821.

Why does Michigan own the Upper Peninsula?

Michigan received most of the Upper Peninsula in 1836 as compensation for giving up the Toledo Strip to Ohio, as a condition of becoming a state.

The strangest state borders.

Most American state lines are straight and dull. Then there are the panhandles, heels and peninsulas that stick out at odd angles. Each one has a story, and one of them is about a single landowner.

A Timeless Tales story · 4 minute read

The short version, from my channel. Watch it on YouTube.

Oklahoma's panhandle: No Man's Land

The 1820 Missouri Compromise banned slavery in the western territories north of the line of 36°30′. Texas, which joined the Union in 1845 as a slave state, claimed land stretching north of that line. In the Compromise of 1850 it gave up that northern land.

That left a thin strip, about 170 miles long and 34 miles wide, between Texas and Kansas that belonged to no state and no territory. It had no government and no courts, and people called it No Man's Land. Only in 1890 was it attached to the new Oklahoma Territory. That is the panhandle.

Missouri's Bootheel: one man's farm

Draw Missouri's southern border straight along 36°30′ and a corner of land between the Mississippi and St. Francis rivers would fall into Arkansas. It does not, and the usual explanation is John Hardeman Walker, a wealthy landowner in the area. When Missouri was being organised as a state, he lobbied to have his land included in Missouri rather than the Arkansas Territory.

Missouri became a state in 1821 with the extra piece, and the Bootheel has been sticking down into Arkansas ever since.

Michigan's Upper Peninsula: the consolation prize

Michigan's Upper Peninsula is joined by land to Wisconsin, not to the rest of Michigan. Michigan got it in 1836 as compensation for losing the Toledo Strip to Ohio, the price Congress set for Michigan becoming a state. The full story is in borders nobody agreed to.

1820 Missouri Compromise draws the 36°30′ line
1821 Missouri becomes a state, Bootheel included
1836 Michigan accepts the Upper Peninsula for Toledo
1850 Texas gives up its land north of 36°30′
1890 No Man's Land joins Oklahoma Territory

Sources

No Man's Land, Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society
Oklahoma Panhandle, Wikipedia
Missouri Bootheel, Wikipedia
Missouri Compromise, Wikipedia