[4] The Spanish encouraged Shawnee and Delaware immigration, and granted them two large tracts of land in the Apple creek watershed, with the intention of the Shawnee and Delaware acting as a buffer against the Osage Indians, who were not on friendly terms with the Spanish authorities.

[5][6] In the early 1800s, American settlers began encroaching on the Shawnee and Delaware lands around Apple Creek.

By 1816, the encroachment by white settlers left the US Federal Government no choice but to relocate the Shawnee and Delaware to lands further west.

[7][8] The headwaters of Apple Creek arise just east of Missouri Route 51 approximately five miles southwest of Perryville.

[9] Apple Creek has a number of tributaries:[10] Apple Creek rises in the southern part of Perry County and flows east to form the boundary line between Perry and Cape Girardeau counties.