Treaty of Fontainebleau
On November 13, 1762, Spain gained the Louisiana Territory from France in the Treaty of Fontainebleau.
August 13, 1801
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.
June 10, 1804
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.
May 14, 1804
The Lewis and Clark Expedition (the Voyage of Discovery) left St. Louis to explore the unknown west.
April 9, 1682
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.
March 19, 1687
The French explorer Robert de La Salle, who expeditioned in Missouri and the Mississippi Valley, was murdered on this date by mutineers.
February 28, 1803
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.
January 28, 1817
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.
January 5, 1779
Birthday of soldier and explorer, Zebulon Pike who was stationed in St. Louis and is the namesake of Pike County.