October 5, 1882
Frank James surrendered on the steps of the state capitol. He made a short speech and turned his gun over to the Governor. Read more about this in Tales From Missouri and the Heartland.
October 4, 1814
Birthday of Alexander Majors of Westport, MO. He was a co-founder of a huge freighting firm, the Overland Stage Co., and the Pony Express. Read more about him in Tales From Missouri and the Heartland.
October 3, 1853
The very first state fair opened in Boonville. State fairs were held in Boonville until 1901.
October 2, 1865
The first regularly scheduled train service between St. Louis and Kansas City began on this day. It was an 18-hour trip.
October 1, 1804
The pillory and whipping post were established on this date as official forms of punishment in Missouri. The whipping post held a person in place while being lashed with a leather bull whip. The pillory held a personís head and wrists while they endured humiliation or physical pain.
September 30, 1926
With engine failure in his mail plane, Lucky Lindy (Charles Lindbergh) glided in for a safe landing in a farm field. Two weeks earlier his plane ran out of gas near Chicago and he was forced to bail out.
September 29, 1953
The Post-Dispatch reported that General Motors was planning to build a new plastic car in St. Louis. Sure enough, every Corvette in America was built there from 1953 to 1981.
September 28, 1902
Eleven automobiles were running a 25-mile endurance race to Manchester Mills when a boy ran out and poked a stick through the spokes of one of the wheels. The boy was injured and his father said, "It's a purty thing for city folks to come out to the country and run down innocent children." Yes, that kind of parent was around way back then too.
September 25, 1912
O’Fallon was incorporated as a city. At the time, there were 107 householders. It now has tens of thousands of residents and the 2010 census showed it to be Missouri’s fastest growing city.
September 24, 1794
Antoine Robidoux was born into the prosperous St. Louis family of that name. His brother was the founder of St. Joseph but Antoine went further west and trapped, explored, and led pioneers into the new territories.