Good Monday afternoon friend, today we are going to learn true and weird facts about the great state of
Unofficially nicknamed the โShow Me Stateโ but also known as โThe Cave State,โ โMother of the West,โ โThe Ozark State,โ and โThe Lead State,โ Missouri was the 24th state to join the United States of America on August 10, 1821.
1). It has a population of 6,137,428 people (as of 2019), making it the 18th most populous state. Missouri is bordered by Kansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Illinois, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. With 69,715 square miles of land and water, it is the 21st largest state. The capital of Missouri is Jefferson City, situated in the center of the state.
2). For a long time, people have claimed that Missouri roughly means โmuddy water,โ but itโs completely wrong. Instead, the state of Missouri was named after a Siouan Native American tribe called Missouri.
3). The state has many nicknames, but none have been made official. The closest Missouri has is the most popular unofficial nickname, โShow Me State,โ which has even made it onto the stateโs license plates.
4). America was settled by the Paleo Indians, beginning around 12,000 BC. The Paleo Indians first came to Alaska, North America, from the far east of modern-day Russia via the Bering Strait, which was a land bridge between the two continents due to lower sea levels. Archaeological evidence of Paleo-Indian presence dating back to 12,000 BC can be found throughout the USA. The first evidence of anyone settling down for extended periods in the state goes back to 7000 BC. However, even these early people would have been primarily hunter-gatherers. By around 1000 BC, complex cultures such as the Mississippi Culture had arisen that had several cities with more than a thousand residents. This civilization had more or less collapsed by the time Europeans arrived in 1673.
5). Missouriโs land changed many times before it became a US state. Shortly after France founded St. Genevieve, the French and Indian War broke out, which France ultimately lost to Britain in 1763. Near the end of the war, France gave control of the La Louisiane to Spain, who developed the region more with the aid of French immigrants fleeing British rule. Spain controlled and developed the region through to 1800, at which time they aided America during the American Revolution. Napoleon Bonaparte retook control of Missouri for France in 1800 but soon ended up selling it to the USA as a part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Missouri was made a part of the District of Louisiana in 1804, which then became Louisiana Territory in 1805. Louisiana Territory was then split in 1812, with the northern parts becoming Missouri Territory. It wasnโt until August 10, 1821, that Missouri joined the Union as the 24th state.
6). The original survey, which defined Missouriโs northern border with Wisconsin Territory, was quite vague, and as such, Missouri attempted to redefine it to its advantage in 1837. In 1838 Iowa formed out of Wisconsin Territory, at the same time that Missouri was conducting the new survey, which claimed a 9.5 mile (15.3km) wide strip of Iowa that ran the length of the whole northern border. Later that year, when tax agents from Missouri tried to collect tax from this region, they were chased away with pitchforks. According to local legends, the tax agents cut down three honey bee trees and collected their honey instead of payment. This started the Missouri-Iowa โHoney War,โ with both sides sending a militia to claim the region. The dispute ended up being settled by Congress much later in 1849, declaring the region to be a part of Iowa after all.
7). When several southern US states began to secede from the Union in 1861, Missouri put together a group of people responsible for deciding the fate of the state, whether to stay in the Union or join the Confederate states. The vote was decidedly in favor of staying in the Union, but Claiborne F. Jackson, the Governor of Missouri, disagreed. Instead, he appointed the president of the secession convention, Sterling Price as the leader of the stateโs militia and prepared to fight for the cause. After fleeing Jefferson City, the pair and their followers joined forces with Confederate troops from Arkansas and Texas and fought against the Union army.
8). He was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens on November 30, 1835, and only took up the name of Mark Twain for his writing career later in life. Twain was born in the town of Florida, Missouri, but grew up in a town nearby called Hannibal. In his early career years, Twain worked for some small news agencies before leaving everything to become a riverboat pilot for 18 months on the Mississippi River. It wasnโt until much later in his life after the Civil War that he would write his masterpieces, largely drawing on his own experiences during his time on the Mississippi River.
9). At the end of the 19th Century, there was a surplus of flour in St. Joseph, Missouri. Two entrepreneurial young folks from St Josephโs had a brainwave that would forever change the breakfast food game. They combined several simple, inexpensive ingredients such as flour, baking powder, cornflour, and salt. Then, they sold it as a self-rising pancake mix, the first known commercially available pancake mix in the world. The mix was named Aunt Jemimaโs Pancake Mix, and it hit shelves in 1889. (My personal favorite as well).
10). Missouri is pretty much smack-bang in the heart of Tornado Alley, a section of central US that runs from north to south which experiences more than its fair share of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes throughout the year. With that in mind, itโs pretty unsurprising that Missouri bore witness to the deadliest tornado ever seen in the United States. Known as the Tri-State Tornado, this destructive force gained power near Ellington, MO, on March 18, 1925. It tore through Missouri, Indiana, and Illinois, cutting the lives of 695 people short and injuring over 2000 more. Itโs estimated that more than 15,000 homes were completely flattened, with many small towns simply never recovering.
11). Two of the most famous Wild West outlaws came from Missouri. Jesse Woodson James and Alexander Franklin โFrankโ James were born in Kearney, Missouri, in the mid 19th Century. They were raised with Southern values, and as such, they both fought during the American Civil War for the Confederates. Following the Confederateโs defeat, the brothers became outlaws to fight against the new Union way of life. They actively robbed banks, stagecoaches, and trains for 15 years and were followed for much of this by the famed Pinkerton Detective Agency. Many people during this time followed the story of Jesse and Frank closely, either viewing them as murderous ex-Confederate scum or as heroes fighting for a lost cause. Either way, wherever they went, there was always a trail of bodies left behind.
12). The first Olympic Games held in the US was in St. Louis, Missouri. Held in 1904, it was the first time the Olympics had been held anywhere other than Europe! The games were initially meant to be held in Chicago, but St. Louis kicked up such a fuss that the Olympic committee eventually changed the location. 1904 was a difficult time for international events, especially due to the Russo-Japanese war unfolding at the time and because the transatlantic flight hadnโt been invented yet. What resulted was a very North American Olympic Games, with just 65 of the 651 participants hailing from outside of North America.
13). A few odd laws that are found in Missouri. The first odd law is known as the โbrothel law,โ which states that no more than four unrelated women can live in the same residence. Although it was never revoked, we can see how this rule came about. What we donโt understand is why worrying squirrels is apparently against the law. Are squirrels not allowed to worry, or are we not allowed to worry about them? On top of this, itโs illegal to intoxicate elephants, frighten babies, and honk another personโs horn in Missouri. (Source comes from 15 Marvelous Facts About Missouri - The Fact Site).
Have a blessed day. Take care and GOD bless.
