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Sacagawea

Sacagawea died at Fort Manuel in South Dakota. As promised, Explorer/Governor William Clark took custody of her son, Jean Baptiste and her infant daughter Lisette and raised them in St. Louis.

Daniel Boone Femme Osage

Daniel Boone died at his home on the Femme Osage near Defiance.

Hernando de Soto

Hernando DeSoto’s party of exploration entered Missouri at what is now Ste. Genevieve.  They made camp that night near present day Farmington.  

Missouri Flag

Missouri was organized as a U.S. Territory. The name was changed from “Territory of Louisiana” to “Territory of Missouri.”

Map of the Louisiana Purchase or Louisiana Territory

The treaty that authorized the Louisiana Purchase was signed on this date in Paris.

Jim Bridger

Mountain man Jim Bridger was born on this date.

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark Expedition Stamp

The hero of the Corps of Discovery arrived to take up his position as governor on this date in 1808, almost a full year after he’d been appointed to the role.

James Wilkinson Portrait

Missouri’s first territorial governor, James Wilkinson, (presiding over all of what was then Louisiana Territory) was removed from office on this date in 1807. Wilkinson had a checkered career to put it mildly, engaging in conspiracies and treason on multiple occasions throughout his lifetime. He had schemed to have Kentucky and Tennessee secede from the …

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Lewis And Clark Map Shsmo

President Thomas Jefferson asked William Clark and Meriwether Lewis to find a route to the Pacific coast. On this day in 1804 they left from St. Charles to explore new lands from that Missouri city to the Pacific Ocean. During their journey, Lewis and Clark braved wild animals and harsh conditions. They encountered many different …

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Spanish Flag Max Harlynking Helvpgjam3u Unsplash

Seven years after Great Britain officially conceded Spanish ownership of the territory to the Spanish, France acquired the territory by the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso. Then in 1803, the The Louisiana Purchase land deal, between the United States and France, doubled the size of the U.S. and made the future state of Missouri part …

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Nov. 13

On November 13, 1762, Spain gained the Louisiana Territory from France in the Treaty of Fontainebleau. 

Kansas City Missouri

On this date the “Mother of Kansas City” was born. Bernice Therese Menard Chouteau and her husband Francois Chouteau came from St. Louis to establish a trading post in 1821. They were the first white settlers in what is now Kansas City.

Lewis And Clark 1

Lewis and Clark spent this day walking the prairies of central Missouri. They wrote of being impressed with the combination of good soil, grass, and an abundance of wild fruit near present day New Cambridge.  

Lewis And Clark 2

The Lewis and Clark Expedition (the Voyage of Discovery) left St. Louis to explore the unknown west.  

Robert De La Salle Louisiana Territory

Robert de La Salle took possession of this Louisiana Territory, which included modern day Missouri, for France and named the area for King Louis XIV.

De Le Salle

The French explorer Robert de La Salle, who expeditioned in Missouri and the Mississippi Valley, was murdered on this date by mutineers.

Meriwether Lewis

Congress set aside money on this date for a small military unit to explore the valleys of the Missouri and Columbia Rivers. Thomas Jefferson chose a childhood friend, Meriwether Lewis, to head the expedition.

William Clark

Governor William Clark authorized a territorial lottery. It was to use profits to purchase fire equipment for the territory’s capital city, which was St. Louis.

Zebulon Pike Missouri History

Birthday of soldier and explorer, Zebulon Pike who was stationed in St. Louis and is the namesake of Pike County.

Father Sebastian Meurin

Father Sebastian Meurin was born on this date. He started the first church in St. Louis and performed Missouri’s first marriage in Ste. Genevieve.

Ste Genevieve Missouri

Lewis and Clark visited the oldest permanent settlement in Missouri, Ste. Genevieve.

Daniel Boone's Grave Site

This is believed by some to be the birthday of a true legend, Daniel Boone. Boone and the people he brought may have done as much as any other people to give Missouri its unique and distinct character.

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William Clark wrote of the “great velocity” of their trip as they grew ever more eager to get home. They made 65 miles this day and found themselves near present day Washington and Marthasville. One of the men shouted when he saw a cow and they knew they were back on the edge of settled country.

Hernando de Soto

Hernando DeSoto’s party of exploration entered Missouri at what is now Ste. Genevieve.  They made camp that night near present day Farmington.  

St. Charles Missouri

This is the day that “Le Chasseur,” the hunter, Louis Blanchette died. He had earlier established a trading post that he called Les Petite Cotes, or Village of Little Hills. Under the Spanish, the name was changed to San Carlos but the Americans call it St. Charles.

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Maxent, Laclede and Company of New Orleans was granted the exclusive rights to trade with American Indians in the Mississippi Valley on this day. Hence, Laclede and his stepson came upriver and established a trading post which they named St. Louis.

Lc Woodriver Finial Study

The Corps of Discovery was having a terrible time in western Missouri near present day Miami. The current of the river was so strong that they were running out of ways to get the boats upstream.

St. Charles Flag Raising

In St. Charles and St. Louis flag raising ceremonies were conducted recognizing the new American sovereignty.

Daniel Boone Femme Osage

Daniel Boone died at his home on the Femme Osage near Defiance.