Missouri gets its name from a tribe of Sioux Indians of the state called the Missouris. The word “Missouri” often has been construed to mean “muddy water” but the Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology has stated it means “town of the large canoes” and authorities have said the Indian syllables from which the word comes mean “wooden canoe people” or “he of the big canoe.”
Missouri has been nicknamed several times, but the “Show Me State” probably is the one used most. The saying gained favor in the 1890s although its origin is unknown.
Whatever its origin, much of the credit for popularizing the expression goes to Congressman Willard D. Vandiver of Cape Girardeau County.
During an 1899speech in Philadelphia, the noted orator used the phrase, “I’m from Missouri; you’ve got to show me.”
The expression soon caught the public fancy, portraying Missourians as tough-minded demanders of proof.
The first Europeans to visit Missouri were French explorers from Canada. Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet, who descended the Mississippi from the north in 1673, supplied the first written accounts of exploration in Missouri.
In 1682, the area was claimed for France by Robert Cavalier La Salle.
As part of the Louisiana Purchase Territory, Missouri has belonged to three nations.
France ceded the area to Spain in 1762.
Although Spain held it for forty years, its influence was slight. The early culture of the region was determined mostly by the French.
It was the French who were responsible for the first permanent settlement of St. Genevieve in the mid-1730s. St. Genevieve stood alone in the huge upper Louisiana Territory until the establishment of St. Louis as a fur trading post in 1764.
In the mid-1760s, Pierre LaClede established his fur-trading post just below the joining of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.
LaClede and his stepson, Rene Auguste Chouteau, named the post after King Louis IX who had been made a saint.
With such a favorable location, St. Louis soon became the most prosperous outpost in the western region.
By secret treaty in 1802, Spain returned the LouisianaTerritory to the control of 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 $15million.
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 explorers left the St. Louis/St. Charles area 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 Governor Alexander McNair was at the Capitol (which still stands) in St. Charles, when he heard that the territory had become a state.
Missouri became the second state (after Louisiana) of the Louisiana Purchase to be admitted to the Union.
Becoming a state wasn’t easy. When the Missouri Territory first applied for statehood, a debate ensued over the government’s right to restrict slavery.
In 1819, the Democratic-Republican Party (an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison) had a monopoly over American politics as the Federalist Party (the opposing party founded by Alexander Hamilton) ceased to exist following the War of 1812.
However, factions existed within the Democratic-Republican Party which proved to be a real problem during Missouri’s bid for statehood.
Representative James Tallmadge proposed as a condition of Missouri’s statehood that no further slaves could be imported into the state and all children born after Missouri’s admission to the Union shall be born free.
This condition, known as the Tallmadge amendment, set out a plan for gradual emancipation in Missouri. Many northerners supported this amendment.
Northerners mainly supported this amendment, not because of slavery, but because they wanted to limit the political influence of southerners.
On the floor of the House, Representative Thomas W. Cobb of Georgia looked Tallmadge dead in the eye and told him: “you have kindled a fire which all the waters in the ocean cannot put out, which seas of blood can only extinguish.” So basically, the request for Missouri to become a state brought about the first rumblings of a civil war.
The House vote on the Tallmadge amendment was divided along sectional lines with northern representatives voting 80 to 14 in favor and southern representatives voting 64 to 2, against the amendment. The amendment narrowly passed the House.
However, in the Senate southerners maintained greater influence and were able to block the passage of the amendment. The Tallmadge amendment failed which led to a deadlock in Congress.
When Congress took their annual recess, the statehood bill lapsed, and we were denied statehood.
When the 16th Congress convened in December 1819 Congressmen reignited debates over Missouri statehood.
However, President James Monroe, Speaker of the House Henry Clay and key Senate members worked behind the scenes on a compromise to solve this crisis.
The Senate linked the admission of Maine to the Union to Missouri’s admission, essentially holding Maine statehood hostage.
The Senate would only let Maine’s statehood bill go through if Congress admitted Missouri into the Union without the Tallmadge amendment.
However, most northern Congressmen held out until Senator Jesse Thomas of Illinois (who owned slaves) proposed that slavery be allowed in Missouri but prohibited in the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36°30’ parallel, Missouri’s southern boundary.
Enough northern Congressmen came around in support of this Thomas amendment to pass the Missouri Compromise in March 1820.
Passed as a package, the Missouri Compromise included the Thomas Amendment and stipulated that Maine (a free state) and Missouri (a slave state) would be admitted into the Union at the same time.
This set a precedent that states would be admitted in pairs to maintain sectional balance in the Senate and the Electoral College.
So, after being denied admission in 1819, Missouri was now admitted as a state in 1821.
Although admitted as a slave state, Missouri nevertheless remained with the Union throughout the Civil War. However, in 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise by replacing the Thomas amendment with popular sovereignty, which led to Bleeding Kansas.
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.
At the beginning of the war, Union forces occupied the state and General John Freemont declared martial law from his headquarters in Jefferson City.
Needless to say, this did not sit well with the citizens of our state.
The Governor and most of the legislature were forced to flee to southern Missouri where they actually passed an ordinance of secession.
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.
Following the Civil War, Missouri became known as the “Gateway to the West.” (also “The Outlaw State”)
Many settlers would start out here on their way to California, Oregon, and other areas out west.
This was one of the last places where wagon trains could stop for supplies before beginning their long trip. Both the Santa Fe Trail and the Oregon Trail began in Missouri.
As the state developed, we had a huge impact on our young nation.
In 1873, Susan Elizabeth Blow opened the first public kindergarten in the United States in St. Louis after having become interested in the kindergarten methods of philosopher Friedrich Froebel while traveling in Germany a few years earlier. Blow later established a training school for kindergarten teachers.
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, Missouri, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe, and Provost Marshall Enoch H. Crowder of Grundy County, Missouri, 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, Missouri, and Lt. Gen. James H. Doolittle of St. Louis.
The nation’s leader during the last year of the war was Lamar, Missouri-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 force the Japanese surrender signed on the deck of the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
Now it would be wrong to not include two other key events that shaped Missouri history.
December 16, 1811 brought the first of four large earthquakes that would go down in Missouri history as the most powerful to ever hit the eastern part of the United States. The epicenter of the quake was near what is now New Madrid, Missouri in the southern “boot heel” of the state.
The tremors from these quakes caused waterfalls on the Mississippi River and were felt as far as Quebec, Canada.
Another key event, the 1904 World’s Fair, also known as The 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition opened in St. Louis to showcase art, industry and science at the advent of the 20th century.
It also marked the 100th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. The fair grounds were constructed by over 10,000 workers in a 1,200 acre park. It told the story of American progress since the Louisiana Purchase and gave the opportunity for many foreign nations to display their national history and technology.
The fair was also host to the 1904 summer Olympic games. This was the first time the games were hosted in the United States.
Now we must also include a list of famous Missourians in our talk today.
Daniel Boone (adventurer) (Born 1734; died 1820) – Boone was a pioneer, scout, Indian fighter and, in later years, a Missourian. He came to Missouri from Kentucky in 1799 and served as a local judge. From his home at Defiance, which he built with his son, Nathan, he explored much of the state. He died in his Defiance home.
Omar N. Bradley (military leader) (Born 1893; died 1981) – General Bradley was born in Clark, Missouri. He commanded the largest American force ever united under one man’s leadership during World War II. Bradley became the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (in charge of all military), after the war. He served as a five star general; he served in the military longer than any other soldier in U.S. history, 69 years.
Christopher (Kit) Carson (adventurer) (Born 1809; died 1868) – Born in Kentucky, Kit Carson moved to the Boonslick district of Missouri in 1811, an area he called home for nearly half his life. He led an adventurous life as a Santa Fe Trail teamster, trapper, scout, and Indian fighter. Carson served as a guide for Lt. John Charles Fremont’s western expeditions and helped in the California conquest in 1846 during the Mexican War.
State Historical Society of Missouri
William Clark (explorer) (Born 1770; died 1838) – As part of the famous duo, Lewis and Clark, Clark is best known for his part in the exciting expedition he and Meriwether Lewis led westward to the Pacific. Clark returned with information about the western region of the United States. In 1806, Clark began a long and successful Missouri career when he was appointed the principal U.S. Indian agent for tribes in the territory. From 1813 to 1820, he served as governor of Missouri. In 1822, he moved to St. Louis as U.S. Superintendent of Indian Affairs, a post he held until his death.
Samuel Clemens (author) (Born 1835; died 1910) – Growing up in Hannibal, Clemens watched riverboats on the Mississippi. From riverboat language he took a name- Mark Twain (two fathoms/12 feet)- that would become famous worldwide for his books involving characters like Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. One of America’s greatest writers, Mark Twain is remembered today at his boyhood home in Hannibal and at his nearby birthplace in Florida, Missouri.
Walt Disney (cartoonist) (Born 1901; died 1966) – Disney grew up in Marceline and Kansas City. Disney created the first animated cartoon with sound, “Steamboat Willie,” which introduced the world to Mickey Mouse. Disney’s first animated feature film was “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”
Phoebe Apperson Hearst (volunteer, children’s activist) (Born 1842; died 1919) – Born in Franklin County and married in Steelville, she moved to San Francisco with her husband George Hearst, also a Missourian, who amassed a fortune in the mining fields of Nevada. Although Mrs. Hearst supported the arts, she is best remembered for her early support of kindergartens and as a co-founder of the National Congress of Mothers, know today as the PTA. She is the mother of publisher William Randolph Hearst.
Courtesy of California Institute of Technology
Edwin Powell Hubble (astronomer) (Born 1889; died 1953) – Hubble was born in Marshfield and became one of the world’s leading astronomers. In
James Cash (J.C.) Penney (businessman) (Born 1875; died 1971) – Penney founded the J.C. Penney Company. Penney was born in Caldwell County. Penny started as a dry goods clerk and bought stock in a store that he named the Golden Rule Store, from his employer. He bought more stores in 1904, which led to a nationwide chain of stores. In 1912 Penney named the stores J.C. Penney Stores.
John J. Pershing (military leader) (Born 1860; died 1948) – Pershing, a six star general, born near Laclede, is the only American to be named General of the Armies. His career included service in the Spanish American War and in the fight against Mexican bandit Pancho Villa. In World War I, he commanded the American Expeditionary Force in Europe.
Joseph Pulitzer (newspaperman) (Born 1847; died 1911) – Pulitzer made his way from his birthplace in Mako, Hungary to St. Louis in 1865, a city he called home for almost 20 years. In 1869 he was elected to the Missouri Legislature. In 1878 Pulitzer bought the newspaper the St. Louis Dispatch and merged it with the St. Louis Post and created St. Louis’s leading newspaper known today as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He covered shocking stories to sell newspapers this approach was nicknamed “yellow journalism.” He also bought the New York World and became know as a publisher around the world. The Pulitzer Prize Award is named after him. This award is an important award for journalists.