​

This website is based loosely on the Timeline history of the development of Cooper County from Prehistoric times until the mid-20th century.  It is quite amazing to see the tremendous progress that has been made in 200 years.

​

​

Early Historical Missouri Timeline and Tidbits

(Adapted from Mogenweb)

 

• 1673 – Louis Joliet and Father Jacques Marquette traveled down the Mississippi River and were the first Europeans known to set foot on what would later become Missouri. (June 25)

• 1682 – Explorer Robert Cavalier - called Sieur de La Salle, claimed all the land that drained into the Mississippi River for France, naming it Louisiana Territory in honor of King Louis XIV. (April 9)

• 1724 – Fort Orleans was built on the north bank of the Missouri River by Etienne de Bourgmont in today’s Carroll County; the first European outpost west of the Mississippi (November 14). Abandoned in 1728.

• 1740–1750 – approximate date of the founding of St. Genevieve, the first permanent white settlement in what was to become Missouri.

• 1762 – Spain acquires the Louisiana Territory in the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau (November 13).

• 1764 – The Treaty of Fontainebleau is made public. Saint Louis is founded as a fur trading post by Pierre Laclede Liguest and his stepson Auguste Chouteau.  Saint-Ange et de Bellerive becomes the first governor of the fledgling community and recruits farmers, artisans and craftsmen from Illinois to settle at the post. 

• 1769 – Spanish officials arrive to administer the government of Louisiana Territory. The region of Missouri becomes known as “Spanish Illinois.”

• 1780 – British and Indian forces attack St. Louis and nearby settlements because of Spanish support for the American Revolution. (May 26)

• 1789 – Colonel George Morgan, Revolutionary War veteran, establishes the town of New Madrid in the spring.

• 1790–1794 – The Osage Nation and Spain are at war. The Chouteau brothers negotiate peace in return for exclusive trade rights with the Osage.

• 1798 – Lieutenant Governor Zenon Trudeau in St. Louis offered Daniel Boone 1,000 arpents (845 acres) of land to settle in Missouri then known as “Spanish Illinois.”

• 1799 – Kentucky Frontiersman Daniel Boone comes to Howard County.

• 1800 – Spain agrees to return the Louisiana Territory to France (October 1)

• 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase was signed transferring possession to the United States (April 30).

• 1804 – The Lewis and Clark Expedition embarks from Camp Dubois east of St. Louis. (May 14)

• 1805 – The Territory of Louisiana was established; the seat of government was St. Louis (July 4)

• 1805 – First Governor of Louisiana Territory J. Wilkerson

• 1808 – The Osage cede most of their land in Missouri, opening the way for future white settlement. (September 14).

• 1809 – The Missouri Fur Company was organized in St. Louis. The abundance of animal pelts in the Missouri and Mississippi Valley region played a key role in the economic development of the Upper Louisiana Territory. 

• 1810 – Earliest settlers arrive in Cooper County in the spring.

• 1811 – The first shocks of the New Madrid earthquakes, the worst in U.S. History (Dec.16)

• 1812 – A portion of the Territory of Louisiana becomes the Territory of Missouri (June 12).

• 1812 – The first general Assembly of the Territory of Missouri met (October 1); the five original counties were organized: Cape Girardeau, New Madrid, St. Charles, St. Louis, and St. Genevieve.

• 1812 – The War of 1812, begins June 18. The Sac & Fox, Ioway and Kickapoo, and Pottawatomie allied with Great Britain conduct raids in the Missouri Territory.

• 1815 – Peace treaties signed with 14 Indian nations at Portage des Sioux end the war in Missouri. (July 18 – September 16).

• 1816 – Howard County established (January 23).

• 1816 – Mid-Missouri’s first circuit court opened at Cole's Fort (July 8).

• 1818 – The speaker of the US House of Representative presented the first petition to Congress for Missouri requesting statehood (January 8).

• 1818 – Cooper County is established out of Howard County (December 17)

• 1820 – Missouri statehood became a national controversy over the issue of slavery. The “Missouri Compromise” allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state. Territories north of the 36 parallel are designated to be slave-free territory.

• 1820 – Missouri’s first Constitution was adopted (July 19) The first state officials are elected in August. They elect Alexander McNair the first governor, 43 representatives and 14 state senators. The population of the Missouri Territory is around 67,000.

• 1820 – Daniel Boone dies at age 85.

• 1820 – Missouri’s first Constitution was adopted (July 19)

• 1820 – Saline County is established out of Cooper County (November 25)

• 1820 – Missouri Packet, steamboat sinks in the Missouri River, 11 miles west of Boonville on May 5, 1820 on a supply voyage to the fort at Council Bluffs. Little was salvaged from this 2 Century old vessel in December 1987, which was one of the first steamboats to ply the Missouri River. You may view these artifacts at the Boonville, River, Rails and Trails Museum at the Katy Depot District here in Boonville.

• 1821 – Missouri admitted as the 24th state (August 8)

• 1821 – The first commercially successful trade venture to Santa Fe from Franklin. (September 1). The route becomes the Santa Fe Trail, linking Missouri and New Mexico. Many Cooper County merchants become engaged in the trade and some wagon caravans are outfitted in Boonville in the 1820s.

• 1828 – Major flood of the Missouri River, washed away the town of Franklin, plus Cooper’s Fort and cemetery. “New” Franklin built on higher ground.

• 1830 – Indian Removal Act

• 1835 – 6 Months of Public School became a new state law

• 1838 – Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs issues extermination order against the Mormons in the state.

• 1839 – Boonville was incorporated

• 1839 – Mormon War

• 1844 – Fredrick T. Kemper built the family school, later military school

• 1844 – (Jun 21) 4th worst flood of Mo River – Crest at 32.70 feet

• 1845 – George Bingham

• 1846 – Mexican War

• 1848 – Thomas Benton argued against expanding slavery

• 1849 – People left Boonville via the Santa Fe Trail in their quest for gold

• 1851 – A plank road was built from Boonville to Warsaw

• 1853 –  First official Missouri State Fair was held in Boonville

• 1857 – Thespian Hall was built in Boonville

• 1861–1864 – Cooper County involved in Civil War Battles

• 1865 – Slavery was abolished in MO making it the first slave state to emancipate its slaves before the adoption of the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution.

• 1870 – Ground was broken for the Tebo and Neosho Railroad. (MKT)

• 1870 – Mules in Missouri

• 1875 – Missouri Constitution Ratified ##

• 1898 – Main street in Boonville was paved with bricks

• 1889 – Nation-wide law Separate Schools for Black Students in US (Segregation)

• 1917 – Cooper County Citizens served in World War I

• 1919 – Missouri ratifies the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote ##

• 1920 – Highway 40 built across Missouri River, went down Main Street

• 1920 – Prohibition to 1933

• 1921 – Centennial Road Law 

• 1924 – Highway bridge opened across the Missouri River

• 1937 – Constitutional Amendment - Conservation  

• 1929 – Stock Market Crash

• 1930–1939 – Great Depression

• 1937–1940 – Civilian Conservation Corps trained young men in Pilot Grove

• 1941 – Pearl Harbor attack

• 1941–1945 – Cooper County citizens served in World War II

• 1945 – 4th Missouri Constitution signed  ##

• 1945 – WWII over, surrender signed on USS Missouri  

• 1950 – Korean War

• 1960 – Interstate 70 was constructed through the County

• 1961 – Defense missiles were installed underground in the County ##

• 1965 – Vietnam War

• 1970 – Cooper County Hospital was built

• 1980 – Farm Crisis in the Midwest

• 1984 – Sales tax for Soil & Water Conversation 

• 1987 – Missouri Packet steamboat salvaged in Cooper County, 11 miles west of Boonville in December of 1987. Some of the 2 Century old artifacts are on display at the Boonville, River, Rails and Trails Museum.

• 1990 – Cooper County Historical Society was formed

• 1990 – The first section of the KATY Trail was started at Rocheport

• 1991 – War in Iraq

• 1993 – July 29 – Worst flood of Missouri river – Crest at 37.10”

• 1995 – New Highway 40 Boonslick Bridge was built across the MO River near Boonville

• 2019 – Second worst Flood in Missouri History - Crest 33.73 feet

​

## Indicates topic is not covered on this website but information is available at: Missouri Bicentennial Timeline

​