Missouri - The 24th State (The Beginning)

In 1673, Louis Jolliet, a French-Canadian explorer, and Father Jacques Marquette, a French Jesuit missionary, made the first recorded European exploration in Missouri while traveling down the Mississippi River.  Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, claimed the region for France in 1682, and the first French settlement was made around 1735 at Ste. Genevieve.

France ceded its land west of the Mississippi, including Missouri, to Spain in 1762, but regained it as part of a treaty agreement in 1800.  In 1803, Missouri was sold by France to the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase.

The Missouri Territory was organized in 1812, and by 1820, there were about 67,000 settlers.  Missouri had applied for statehood in 1818, but the issue of slavery set off a fierce debate.  Many residents had settled in Missouri with their slaves, and Congress was concerned that if Missouri became a slave state, it would upset the balance between slave and free states.

The Missouri Compromise allowed Maine to be admitted as a free state in 1820 and Missouri to become a slave state in 1821, thereby maintaining the balance.  St. Charles was the first capital, but Jefferson City became the capital in 1826.

The state’s economy prospered from fur trading.  Most settlers heading west passed through Independence on the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails.  Thousands more traveled through the state to take part in the 1849 California gold rush.