I got to know Missouri fairly well early on in my life by visiting one of its major cities, St. Louis, a few times as a child. My Dad would often go there for business trips. When I got older, my family planned a vacation whereby we visited St. Louis along with some other locations in central and southern Illinois.
So at an early age, I had the chance to visit the top of the Gateway Arch, which was a pretty big deal for me as a child. I also remember visiting the Old Courthouse nearby, and I'm pretty certain we went to get sweet treats at Ted Drewes, before I was aware how much of a landmark it is. It was also fun going to the St. Louis Science Center where you could go to an overlook and watch the cars on I-64.
I've passed through St. Louis on other trips, too, like coming back north from Kaskaskia. It's interesting that access to Illinois's first capital city involves crossing the Mississippi River into Missouri, and then reentering Illinois onto a piece of land declared to be part of Illinois per a court case.
I've also passed through St. Louis on my way to Texas onboard the Amtrak Texas Eagle route, which travels from St. Louis through southeastern Missouri.
I've traveled through the northern part of Missouri onboard the Southwest Chief, and also while on the 2011 storm chase trip. Earlier in that storm chase trip, we traveled through southern Missouri. Back in late December 2003, my family went on a road trip to Branson.
And on my way from West Branch, IA, to Quincy, IL, I passed through northeast Missouri, right along the Mississippi River corridor. That was back 2 years ago, on August 10, 2019, Missouri's Birthday. I was in Missouri 1 year ago today, after traveling Route 66 through Illinois to the Chain of Rocks Bridge. It's an amazing experience to walk over the Mississippi River from Illinois to Missouri.
And here I am today, in Missouri once again, to celebrate its bicentennial, having traveled through the state on a road trip for the past couple of days. I'll share more in a later post.
Missouri is notable as the first state west of the Mississippi River, and the Gateway Arch is an iconic landmark that underscores that city's role as a significant launch point for the growth of the US, not to mention the whole state. The Lewis and Clark Expedition started by sailing into the mouth of the Missouri River. Thousands more followed westward in coming years along the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails, which both started in Missouri.
The state is filled with wide-open farm fields like is found throughout the Midwest/Great Plains Region, yet there's a sense of how those fields give way to the wide open Plains that lie to the west. There are also rolling hills of the Ozark Region.
While Missouri became a slave state upon its entry as part of the Missouri Compromise, two people fled from enslaved life to distinguish themselves in the story of the USA. Father Tolton became the first African-American ordained a priest in the US. George Washington Carver contributed significantly to the field of agricultural science, creating, among other food items, peanut butter.
So just as Missouri played a significant role in opening the way to the western United States, so have its people blazed new trails.
Indeed, the Show Me State has shown us a lot through its contributions to the USA.
So Happy Birthday, Missouri, and congratulations on your Bicentennial.
The Missouri River near Treloar, MO
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