Missouri history: A timeline

Missouri's documented history precedes the founding of the United States of America by hundreds of years, with archeological evidence dating as far back as 1250 C.E.

Below is a timeline highlighting some major points in Missouri history. To see a more extensive timeline, view the Missouri State Historical Society interactive on which this article was based.

1250 C.E.

The earliest discovered archeological site in Missouri dates to circa 1250 C.E. Researchers have named the people the Oneota, who originated from the Great Lakes area. They established villages and camps along the Mississippi River and its tributaries.

1716

Officials in French Louisiana explore part of Madison County, leading to the first enslaved African people in Missouri and the establishment of Mine La Motte near Fredericktown. The mines fell into the public domain in 1742.

1740-1749

The French settle Ste. Genevieve in eastern Missouri, creating Missouri's first permanent settlement.

1762

France cedes the Province of Louisiana, which includes present-day Missouri, to Spain in return for military assistance against England.

1799

Daniel Boone arrives with his family to settle the Louisiana Territory with a Spanish commission. He settled near St. Charles. Boone also traced the Boonslick trail from St. Charles to Howard County around 1800, helping open up Mid-Missouri for settlement.

1803

The Louisiana Purchase Treaty is completed in Paris, making present-day Missouri part of United States' territory. Napoleon needed money for a war in Europe and sold the land to the United States for $11.25 million, along with forgiving $3.75 million in debt.

1820

Statehood for Missouri hung in the balance over the slavery question. Missouri wanted to enter the union as a slave state, given its large-scale agricultural economy, but abolitionists opposed that. The Missouri Compromise was struck, allowing Missouri to be formed as a slave state along with the admission of free-state Maine to the Union.

1839

The University of Missouri becomes the first land-grant state university west of the Mississippi River. The University of Missouri system and its four campuses were formally established in 1963.

1861

Missouri saw its first Civil War battles in 1861 -- the Battle of Wilson's Creek near Springfield in August followed by the Battle of Lexington in western Missouri a few weeks later. Wilson's Creek gave control to the Confederates under the Missouri State Guard. The Guard scored another win at Lexington against an outnumbered Union force.

1863

William Quantrill and his band of guerrilla fighters from Missouri targeted Lawrence, Kansas, burning the town and killing about 150 men and boys.

1864

A gang of pro-Confederate bushwhackers led by William "Bloody Bill" Anderson massacred 25 unarmed Union troops on furlough as they departed a passenger train in Centralia. The gang killed all the soldiers but one, a sergeant who stepped forward when Anderson asked if any officers were present.

The year also saw the Battle of Pilot Knob about 100 miles south of St. Louis. About 1,000 Confederate troops were killed or wounded in the 20-minute battle, compared to about 100 for the Union.

1865

The Missouri Constitution includes an amendment that abolishes slavery in the state. This comes three weeks before Congress proposed the 13th Amendment. The Constitution included an oath of loyalty to the Union that the U.S. Supreme Court later struck down.

1866

Black Union veterans raise money to create a school in Jefferson City to train Black teachers. The soldiers raised $6,400, and the Lincoln Institute (later Lincoln University) was established in 1890 as a land-grant university specializing in agriculture, mechanics and teaching.

1882

The infamous outlaw Jesse James is shot dead in his home by Robert Ford after Gov. Thomas Crittenden issued a proclamation for his arrest. Ford shot James in his St. Joseph home on April 3, 1882, then turned himself in. He was tried and set to be hanged until the governor pardoned him.

1884

Mark Twain publishes his masterpiece, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." The book features anti-racism satire, but was banned from many schools and libraries when it was published.

1889

The Missouri General Assembly approves a law creating separate schools for Black students. Schools remain segregated until the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision.

1892

The first osteopathic medical school in the United States opens in Kirksville, founded by Andrew T. Still. Still took a whole-body approach to medicine, developing the concept of wellness and identifying the musculoskeletal system as crucial to overall health. He opened a two-room school that now operates as A.T. Still University.

1899

Ragtime composer Scott Joplin publishes the "Maple Leaf Rag" in Sedalia. The song goes on to become one of the most well-known of all time.

1901

The first Missouri State Fair is held in Sedalia. The event was created to promote the state's agriculture industry after lobbying from producers. It was first scheduled for mid-September, a downtime between harvesting and getting ready for winter.

1904

St. Louis hosts the World's Fair to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. The event is officially named the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Nearly 20 million people attended.

1913

Marie Watkins Oliver's design becomes the official flag of the State of the Missouri, featuring the iconic seal with bears surrounded by stars.

Also in 1913, ground is broken on the third iteration of the Missouri Capitol, which still stands.

1919

Missouri ratifies the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving women the right to vote. Missouri was the 11th state to ratify the amendment.

1920

Prohibition begins, hitting German-owned beer companies in Missouri hard.

The Kansas City Monarchs begin play in the Negro National League.

1927

The Great Mississppi Flood of 1927 devastates parts of the Missouri Bootheel, covering 27,000 square miles in Dunklin, New Madrid, Mississppi and Pemiscot counties. More floods followed in the decade to come, with the detonation of the Birds Point levee in Mississippi County in 1937 to relieve pressure on the flood-control system.

Charles Lindbergh flies nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. He arrives in Paris on May 21.

1929

Union Electric begins work on Bagnell Dam, which will form the Lake of the Ozarks. The lake was completed in 1931 and has more than 1,150 miles of shoreline.

1932

"Little House in the Big Woods," the first book in Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" series, is published by the 65-year-old author from Mansfield. The novels sold more than 60 million copies.

1933

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps establishes camps in Missouri to build roads, plant trees, remove debris, and builds buildings and shelters.

1935

The state commissions Thomas Hart Benton to paint "A Social History of Missouri" in the House Lounge of the State Capitol.

1940

Construction begins on a U.S. Army installation in Pulaski County that would go on to become Fort Leonard Wood. The fort's presence led to the growth of towns like Waynesville and St. Roberts.

1945

Missourian Harry Truman is sworn in as the 33rd president after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Truman made one of history's most monumental decisions when he decided to drop the first atomic bombs on Japan.

Missouri's name enjoyed a firm place in world history that same year, when the treaty that ended hostilities in the Pacific was signed on board the U.S.S. Missouri.

The state also ratifies its current competition.

1955

The "Father of Rock 'n' Roll," St. Louisan Chuck Berry, has his first big hit with "Maybellene." He'd go down in history as one of the creators of the genre.

1956

Trans World Airlines builds its corporate headquarters in Kansas City. The company established its biggest hub at Lambert St. Louis International Airport in 1982.

1965

Construction of the Gateway Arch, formerly known as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, is completed. Hundreds of artists competed to design the iconic arch,

1968

Deadly rioting takes place in Kansas City after local school boards refuse to close schools on the day of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral.

1972

Phyllis Schlafly, a conservative political activist born in St. Louis, leads the opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment. Her Eagle Forum publication was based in St. Louis.

1980

Missouri voters approve the Hancock Amendment, which establishes tax, revenue and spending limits on the Missouri General Assembly.

1983

The city of Times Beach, established on the Meramec River floodplain as a resort community, is evacuated on government orders after soil tests showed high levels of the toxin dioxin in waste oil that was used to control road dust. The story became nationwide news.

1987

Whiteman Air Force Base in western Missouri becomes the home of the military's latest technology -- the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. They've been part of every major bombing campaign since.

1990

The first section of the 240-mile Katy Trail opens at Rocheport, in Boone County. The trail was built on the former corridor of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad.

1992

Missouri voters approve term limits on the November 1992 ballot, capping service at eight years apiece in the House and Senate.

1993

The Great Flood of 1993 causes major damage along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, even inundating the capital of Jefferson City.

2000

Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan died in a plane crash with his son and his top political aide with just three weeks before the end of his Senate campaign. Missourians elected Carnahan, anyway, and his wife was appointed to the seat until the special election.

2001

Missouri Task Force 1, an urban search and rescue team based in Columbia, sees its first mission when it is called to New York City after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The 63-member team was on site for 14 days.