201 years ago, Missouri became the 24th state admitted to the Union on Aug. 10, 1821.
According to archeological excavations, humans have inhabited the Missouri area since about 9000 BCE. There were many different civilizations of native peoples including the Missouri, Quapaw, and Osage. The French began to settle in present-day Missouri around 1735.
The United States acquired the land that makes up present-day Missouri from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The Missouri Territory originally included parts of what are now Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming.
