Nicknames: Show Me State

Capitol: Jefferson City

Motto: Salus populi suprema lex esto; The welfare of the people shall be the supreme law

Song: Missouri Waltz words by: J. R. Shannon, music by: John V. Eppel

Flower: Hawthorn Crataegus

Tree: Flowering Dogwood Cornus florida

Bird: Bluebird

Gained Statehood: August 10, 1821

Name Origin: Named after Missouri Indian tribe whose name means "town of the large canoes"

Missouri is truly the heartland of the USA, with a blend of the wild West, gracious South, sophisticated East and industrial North. The Missouri Valley saw many pioneers as they passed through St. Louis known as "The Gateway to the West". Missouri's riverboat culture and history was brought to life by Mark Twain in Life on the Mississippi and in his tales of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
St Louis is one of the US's largest inland ports and was once the location for fur traders and explorers traveling west.

The first account of Missouri historically comes from Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet, who traveled down the Mississippi from the North in 1673. The early Indians in Missouri were the Osages, Sacs, Foxes, Otos, Iowas, Missouris, Miamis, Kickapoos, Delawares, Shawnees and Kansas. Today there are no remaining tribes in Missouri. Three flags have flown over the land of Missouri. France claimed the area in 1682 due to LaSalle. Later Spain claimed the area in 1762 and then the United States gained Missouri in the Louisiana Purchase territory. The discovery of lead ore called Galena near Potosi began the first development of Missouri with mining. Large lead deposits found in the La Motte Mine launched Missouri's economy and attracted many French settlers. The French settled the first colony Ste. Genevieve around 1735. Ste. Genevieve was the only settlement until St. Louis established itself as a fur trading post in 1764. Because the Missouri River and the Mississippi River both flowed into the St. Louis location, this area grew into Missouri's largest cities and one the nation's larger cities. In 1802 Spain ceded the Louisiana Territory back to France. Napoleon Bonaparte wanted no part of the wild and troublesome frontier and he sold it to the US in 1803 for fifteen million dollars. The Lewis and Clark expedition did surveys of the area and the northwest part of the new territory. On August 10, 1821 Missouri became the 24th state in 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. During the Civil War, Claiborne Fox Jackson the governor of Missouri tried to align the state with the southern Confederacy. His views were not welcomed by most Missourians as they wanted to preserve peace. He was later forced to flee the area. Important Civil War battles in Missouri include the Battle of Wilson's Creek, and battles at Carthage, Lexington, Westport and Boonville. The first Missourian to become President of the United States was Harry S. Truman.
Today Missouri's economy is highly diversified. Service industries provide more income and jobs than any other area. Missouri is a leading producer of transportation equipment (including automobile manufacturing and auto parts), beer and beverages, and defense and aerospace technology. Food processing is now the state's fastest-growing industry. Missouri mines produce 90% of the nation's principal lead supply. Other natural resources include iron ore, zinc, barite, limestone, and timber. Missouri's agricultural products include grain, sorghum, hay, corn, soybeans, and rice. Missouri also supplies cattle and calves, hogs, and turkeys and broilers.

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