Missouri Timeline
1673: Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet (both French) are probably the first whites to see the mouth of the Missouri River.
1682: Another Frenchman, Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, travels down the Mississippi River, claiming the Mississippi Valley for France. He names the region "Louisiana" in honor of King Louis XIV.
1682-1700: The lure of furs, Indian converts, and gold and silver attract other Frenchmen. Jesuit missionaries establish the first white settlement in Missouri in 1700. The Mission of St. Francis Xavier is built near the site where St. Louis will later grow up.
1703: The Mission of St. Francis Xavier is abandoned because of unhealthful swamps nearby.
1719: Marc Antoine de La Loere Des Ursins, employed by the Company of the Indies, with a crew of workmen, begins digging for lead and silver in the Mine La Motte area. He decides that soldiers and Frenchmen are unfit for the work and soon puts black slaves to work in the mines.
1735: Saint Genevieve is founded by settlers from what is now Illinois. Link
1762: France gives up all its territory west of the Mississippi River to Spain in a secret treaty. The Spaniards encourage settlement of the region.
1764: Pierre Laclede Liguest and Rene August Chouteau found St. Louis.
1774: J.B. Tribeau starts the first school in the area that will become Missouri, at St. Louis-it operates about 40 years.
1796: Daniel Morgan Boone, who had hunted in Missouri, is looking for a less-settled area than Kentucky. He builds a cabin near the mouth of Femme Osage Creek in St. Charles County. He will later persuade his father to come to Missouri.
1799: The Boone families begin preparing to come to Missouri in the spring. With cousins, friends, and the Boone's 2 daughters, 15 families make the journey. They make it to St. Louis in a month of travel. The territory is under the government of Spain-the Spanish organize a welcoming parade with flags and drums. They offer the families land around Femme Osage Creek. The Spanish grant Boone about 850 acres of land and make him a "syndic"-the top officer in the district.
1800: Napoleon Bonaparte forces Spain to return to France the territory west of the Mississippi. Much of Missouri has been explored and many communities have been established by this time.
1803: The U.S. buys the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon, who needs the money to finance his wars in Europe. Link
1804: Lewis and Clark begin their journey to the Pacific Northwest from near St. Louis. Link
1808: The first Missouri newspaper, the Missouri Gazette, begins publication in St. Louis. The Territorial Legislature of Louisiana authorizes a board of trustees to collect donations and endow a private academy at Ste. Genevieve. Fort Osage is built overlooking the Missouri River under the direction of William Clark as part of the vast federally controlled fur trade system. Its mission is the maintenance of the political stability in the region through trade and military alliances with the native tribes, in particular the Osage nation.
1811: The most violent earthquake ever recorded in North America shakes up Missouri's bootheel area near the town of New Madrid. 2 others strike in early 1812. As the region is sparsely populated, property damage and the death toll are small compared to the violence of the earthquakes. Link
1812: The Missouri Territory is organized by Congress. It begins with a population of more than 20,000. Farming and mining industries have been well established. Schools and churches have been built. The loss of ancient hunting grounds arouse the Indians who lead frequent, bloody raids on frontier settlements. The Indians are encouraged in their attacks by the British who are fighting the War of 1812 with the U.S. A peace treaty is signed after the war's end at Portage des Sioux.
1813: Rebecca Boone dies.
1818: Missouri asks to be admitted into the Union. This application causes a nationwide dispute between slavery and antislavery sympathizers which is not settled until 1820 with the Missouri Compromise. There are 10,000 slaves in Missouri.
1820: The first state officials are elected in August. They elect Alexander McNair the first governor, 43 representatives and 14 state senators. The population of the Missouri Territory is around 67,000. Evolving from a territory to a state, Missouri needs a meeting place spacious enough to hold a legislative body. Article Ten of the Missouri Constitution declares that the state capital should be located in the middle of the state within 40 miles of the mouth of the Osage River as it flows into the Missouri River. No other state constitution proclaims the location of its capital-St. Louis citizens are outraged. The citizens of St. Charles offer to pay the rent if their city could serve as the temporary site while a permanent state capitol building could be built in central Missouri. Missouri accepts and Governor Alexander McNair signs a bill making St. Charles the capital on November 25th. Missouri levies a $1 tax on bachelors from ages 21 to 50. Daniel Boone dies at 85.
August 10, 1821: Missouri admitted to the Union
Adapted from the work of Don E Wright, Missouri State Coordinator (copyright prohibits commercial use of this work: Link
1673: Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet (both French) are probably the first whites to see the mouth of the Missouri River.
1682: Another Frenchman, Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, travels down the Mississippi River, claiming the Mississippi Valley for France. He names the region "Louisiana" in honor of King Louis XIV.
1682-1700: The lure of furs, Indian converts, and gold and silver attract other Frenchmen. Jesuit missionaries establish the first white settlement in Missouri in 1700. The Mission of St. Francis Xavier is built near the site where St. Louis will later grow up.
1703: The Mission of St. Francis Xavier is abandoned because of unhealthful swamps nearby.
1719: Marc Antoine de La Loere Des Ursins, employed by the Company of the Indies, with a crew of workmen, begins digging for lead and silver in the Mine La Motte area. He decides that soldiers and Frenchmen are unfit for the work and soon puts black slaves to work in the mines.
1735: Saint Genevieve is founded by settlers from what is now Illinois. Link
1762: France gives up all its territory west of the Mississippi River to Spain in a secret treaty. The Spaniards encourage settlement of the region.
1764: Pierre Laclede Liguest and Rene August Chouteau found St. Louis.
1774: J.B. Tribeau starts the first school in the area that will become Missouri, at St. Louis-it operates about 40 years.
1796: Daniel Morgan Boone, who had hunted in Missouri, is looking for a less-settled area than Kentucky. He builds a cabin near the mouth of Femme Osage Creek in St. Charles County. He will later persuade his father to come to Missouri.
1799: The Boone families begin preparing to come to Missouri in the spring. With cousins, friends, and the Boone's 2 daughters, 15 families make the journey. They make it to St. Louis in a month of travel. The territory is under the government of Spain-the Spanish organize a welcoming parade with flags and drums. They offer the families land around Femme Osage Creek. The Spanish grant Boone about 850 acres of land and make him a "syndic"-the top officer in the district.
1800: Napoleon Bonaparte forces Spain to return to France the territory west of the Mississippi. Much of Missouri has been explored and many communities have been established by this time.
1803: The U.S. buys the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon, who needs the money to finance his wars in Europe. Link
1804: Lewis and Clark begin their journey to the Pacific Northwest from near St. Louis. Link
1808: The first Missouri newspaper, the Missouri Gazette, begins publication in St. Louis. The Territorial Legislature of Louisiana authorizes a board of trustees to collect donations and endow a private academy at Ste. Genevieve. Fort Osage is built overlooking the Missouri River under the direction of William Clark as part of the vast federally controlled fur trade system. Its mission is the maintenance of the political stability in the region through trade and military alliances with the native tribes, in particular the Osage nation.
1811: The most violent earthquake ever recorded in North America shakes up Missouri's bootheel area near the town of New Madrid. 2 others strike in early 1812. As the region is sparsely populated, property damage and the death toll are small compared to the violence of the earthquakes. Link
1812: The Missouri Territory is organized by Congress. It begins with a population of more than 20,000. Farming and mining industries have been well established. Schools and churches have been built. The loss of ancient hunting grounds arouse the Indians who lead frequent, bloody raids on frontier settlements. The Indians are encouraged in their attacks by the British who are fighting the War of 1812 with the U.S. A peace treaty is signed after the war's end at Portage des Sioux.
1813: Rebecca Boone dies.
1818: Missouri asks to be admitted into the Union. This application causes a nationwide dispute between slavery and antislavery sympathizers which is not settled until 1820 with the Missouri Compromise. There are 10,000 slaves in Missouri.
1820: The first state officials are elected in August. They elect Alexander McNair the first governor, 43 representatives and 14 state senators. The population of the Missouri Territory is around 67,000. Evolving from a territory to a state, Missouri needs a meeting place spacious enough to hold a legislative body. Article Ten of the Missouri Constitution declares that the state capital should be located in the middle of the state within 40 miles of the mouth of the Osage River as it flows into the Missouri River. No other state constitution proclaims the location of its capital-St. Louis citizens are outraged. The citizens of St. Charles offer to pay the rent if their city could serve as the temporary site while a permanent state capitol building could be built in central Missouri. Missouri accepts and Governor Alexander McNair signs a bill making St. Charles the capital on November 25th. Missouri levies a $1 tax on bachelors from ages 21 to 50. Daniel Boone dies at 85.
August 10, 1821: Missouri admitted to the Union
Adapted from the work of Don E Wright, Missouri State Coordinator (copyright prohibits commercial use of this work: Link