From the Great Plains to the Ozark Mountains, there's so much to discover about Missouri! Missouri's people are about as different as the landscape — jazz-and-blues legends from Kansas City to old-time country fiddlers in the hollers. Missouri is rich in history and culture. American Indian warriors, such as the Osage and Missouri, and famous pioneers, such as Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, were drawn to the vast waterways of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and the abundant land and wildlife. The thriving city life found in Kansas City and St. Louis as well as the quiet beauty of limestone bluffs and winding rivers, make Missouri a great place to explore even today.

Hernando De Soto visited the Missouri area in 1541. France's claim to the entire region was based on sieur de la Salle's travels in 1682. French fur traders established Ste. Genevieve in 1735 and St. Louis was first settled in 1764. The U.S. gained Missouri from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, and the territory was admitted as a state following the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Throughout the pre–Civil War period and during the war, Missourians were sharply divided in their opinions about slavery and in their allegiances, supplying both Union and Confederate forces with troops. However, the state itself remained in the Union. Historically, Missouri played a leading role as a gateway to the West, St. Joseph being the eastern starting point of thePony Express, while the much-traveled Santa Fe and Oregon trails began in Independence.

Are you Interested in finding out more about Missouri history? Perhaps you're interested in Missouri sports or you would like to travel here. Maybe you're looking for employment in Missouri. Show-Me Missouri is the place to be, to find the answers to all your Missouri questions!