Missouri History
Named after the Missouri Native Americans that inhabited the fertile lands around the tributaries of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, the state of Missouri became part of the US after a long colonial tussle between France and Spain. Today the state is associated with historical figures from the nation’s past, such as Mark Twain (who immortalized the state’s riverboat culture in his memoirs, Life on the Mississippi and in his famous tales Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn), the gun-slinging outlaw Jesse James, western pioneers like Lewis and Clark, and the 33rd President of the United States, Harry Truman.