History of
Missouri
History of
Missouri
Father Jacques
Marquette and Louis Joliet, who descended the Mississippi from the north
in 1673, supplied the first written accounts of exploration in Missouri.
The early Indians in Missouri were the Osages, Sacs, Foxes, Otos, Iowas,
Missouris, Miamis, Kickapoos, Delawares, Shawnees and Kansas. Although
named for an Indian tribe, today there are no organized tribes left in
Missouri. As part of the Louisiana Purchase territory, Missouri has belonged
to three nations: France, Spain and the United States. First claimed for
France by LaSalle in 1682, Missouri was ceded to Spain in 1762. Although
Spain held the country for 40 years, its influence was slight.
The early development
of Missouri was closely associated with lead mining. Galena, a lead ore,
was first discovered in 1701 near Potosi and began to be mined in earnest
in 1720 upon the discovery of significant deposits at Mine La Motte. Mining,
the earliest commercial activity in Missouri, lured early French settlers
and continues to be a major enterprise today.
It was the French
who were responsible for the first permanent settlement of Ste. Genevieve
in the mid 1730s. This settlement survived alone in the huge Upper Louisiana
Territory until the establishment of St. Louis as a fur trading post in
1764. Because of its excellent location where the Missouri River flows
into the Mississippi, St. Louis became the largest settlement in the state
and today is one of the nation's larger cities.
By secret treaty
in 1802, Spain ceded the Louisiana Territory back to France. Napoleon Bonaparte,
anxious to rid himself of the vast and troublesome frontier, sold it to
the United States in 1803 for a total of $15,000,000. About this time President
Jefferson organized the Lewis and Clark Expedition which was the first
extensive exploration of the northwestern part of the new territory. The
expedition left St. Louis in 1804.
Missouri was
organized as a territory in 1812 and was admitted to the Union as the 24th
state on August 10, 1821. Missouri was the second state (after Louisiana)
of the Louisiana Purchase to be admitted to the Union.
In 1820, the
Missouri Compromise was passed whereby Missouri was to be admitted as a
slave state and Maine as a free state. Although admitted as a slave state,
Missouri nevertheless remained with the Union throughout the Civil War.
At the beginning of the Civil War, most Missourians wanted only to preserve
the peace. However, the state governor, Claiborne Fox Jackson, was strongly
pro southern and attempted to align Missouri with the Confederacy. He and
most of the legislature were forced to flee to southern Missouri where
they actually passed an ordinance of secession. However, this government
was no longer recognized by most Missourians.
The most important
and bloodiest battle fought in Missouri was the Battle of Wilson's Creek
near Springfield. Other important battles in Missouri were fought at Carthage,
Lexington, Westport and Boonville - the first engagement within the state.
Missouri contributed 109,000 men to the northern cause while sending at
least 30,000 men into the Confederate ranks.
During World
War I, Missouri provided 140,257 soldiers, one third being volunteers.
Missouri contributed such notable leaders as Gen. John J. Pershing of Laclede,
commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe, and Provost Marshall
Enoch H. Crowder of Grundy County who drew up the Selective Service Act.
During World
War II, Missouri contributed a total of over 450,000 men and women to the
various armed forces. Eighty nine top officers were from Missouri including
Gen. Omar N. Bradley of Clark and Moberly and Lt. Gen. James H. Doolittle
of St. Louis.
The nation's
leader during the last year of the war was Lamar born Harry S. Truman,
first Missourian to become President of the United States. After assuming
office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945, President Truman
was re elected to a full four year term. His was the fateful decision to
use the atom bomb and hasten the Japanese surrender consummated on the
deck of the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
Missourians later
served in the Korean and Vietnam wars and Dr. Thomas A. Dooley and Gen.
Maxwell D. Taylor emerged as noted figures. Like the rest of the country,
Missouri has moved toward the 21st century with modernized technology,
nuclear energy, transportation, education; progress in civil rights and
women's rights; and shifts in the economy and business outlook.
Source: Missouri State Page
New
Links
33 Links - 10/18/98
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History of Missouri and Brief Timeline |
Missouri's
Newspapers
Missouri Newspapers Date Back to 1808 |
The
Missouri River Heritage Corridor |
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The
Honey War of Missouri
Missouri and Iowa Border dispute |
Katy
Railroad
Historical Home Page |
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Missouri
1824-1827 |
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History of Mormons while in Missouri |
Underground
Railroad |
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The History of the Lewis and Clark Expedition |
Important
Dates in Missouri History |
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History
of Missouri Winemaking |
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A Brief History Of Germans In Missouri |
The
Dred Scott Decision |
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Reconstruction |
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Cherokee
Nation - Old Lousiana Territory |
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Orphans
Trains to Missouri |
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Bootheel
of Missouri
How Did The Boundary of Missouri Come To Include The "Bootheel"? |
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Bend
of the River: The Mormon strife |
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History
of the Missouri Pacific Railroad |
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