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Missouri
Missouri is named after the Missouri Native Americans who inhabited the lush landscapes and rivers before the colonial French and Spanish invaders arrived. The flood of European immigrants who came to settle here drove out the original Missouri people, founding the two fur trading centres of St Louis and Kansas City. The state’s central location on the Mississippi River’s north-south trade route and the east-west railroad made it an important crossroads. Kansas City, and St Louis in particular, established themselves as major gateways to the western frontier.
Literary connections from Mark Twain and his tales about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn and the infamous outlaw Jesse James are associated with the state of Missouri, much as the western pioneers of Lewis and Clark, and the 33rd president of the United States, Harry Truman are. The brown waters of the great Mississippi River and its small river towns, paddle steamers, the stockyards of Kansas City and the jazz and blues clubs of St Louis are other images representative of the state. The dominant city of St Louis is recognisable for its Gateway Arch and is the ‘Home of the Blues’, while the only other significant city, Kansas City is famous for its steaks and barbecues as well as its hearty jazz. In contrast, the south features the beautiful hillsides and lakes of the Ozark Mountains that are great recreational areas, and the conservative country-and-western tourist town of Branson.
Literary connections from Mark Twain and his tales about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn and the infamous outlaw Jesse James are associated with the state of Missouri, much as the western pioneers of Lewis and Clark, and the 33rd president of the United States, Harry Truman are. The brown waters of the great Mississippi River and its small river towns, paddle steamers, the stockyards of Kansas City and the jazz and blues clubs of St Louis are other images representative of the state. The dominant city of St Louis is recognisable for its Gateway Arch and is the ‘Home of the Blues’, while the only other significant city, Kansas City is famous for its steaks and barbecues as well as its hearty jazz. In contrast, the south features the beautiful hillsides and lakes of the Ozark Mountains that are great recreational areas, and the conservative country-and-western tourist town of Branson.
