Missouri History Today

Jolly old Jesse James dressed as Santa Claus for his two children, Jesse Jr., age 6, and Mary, age 2. It was to be Jesse's last Christmas.

The first train ran on the first railroad west of the Mississippi River, the Pacific Railroad of Missouri from St. Louis to Cheltenham, a distance of five miles.  (Cheltenham is now known as the Dogtown Neighborhood and is right across from the zoo.) 

George Olds, editor of Springfield’s weekly news journal, Bias, commented on an unexpected impact of manufactured artificial Christmas trees. He claimed that back in the “primitive days,” when you told someone you had bought a Christmas tree, no one asked, “What color was it?"

This date in Missouri history: Nostradamus, the Mayan calendar, and others predicted that on this day, 12-21-12, the world would end.  (Congratulations if you are reading this!) 

Birthday of actress, singer, and pin-up girl, Betty Grable from St. Louis.  Lloyds of London insured her legs for $1 million.

C.C. McCallon’s clothing store in West Plains was robbed by Ma Barker’s gang.  It was noted that they took over $2,000 worth of clothing and only the latest fashions.

This date in Missouri history: The steamboat Alice Gray exploded her boiler and sank at Rocheport.

The mayor of St. Louis approved plans to appoint 5,000 auxiliary police officers to help in the event of nuclear attack.  Their jobs would be to patrol devastated areas.

The Taum Sauk Reservoir collapsed sending a fifteen-foot-tall wall of water and mud into the valley below and destroying the Johnson Shut-Ins State Park.

This is the birthday of Joseph Rutherford Walker, one of the greatest of all the westward explorers and a Missourian from Independence.