Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet, who descended the Mississippi from the North in 1673, supplied the first written accounts of exploration in Missouri. The early Indians in Missouri were the Osages, Sacs, Foxes, Otos, Iowas, Missouris, Miamis, Kickapoos, Delawares, Shawnees and Kansas. Although named for an Indian tribe, today there are no organized tribes left in Missouri.
As part of the Louisiana Purchase territory, Missouri has belonged to three nations: France, Spain and the United States. First claimed for France by LaSalle in 1682, Missouri was ceded to Spain in 1762. Although Spain held the country for 40 years, its in influence was slight.
The early development of Missouri was closely associated with lead mining. Galena, a lead ore, was first discovered in 1701 near Potosi and began to be mined in earnest in 1720 upon the discovery of significant deposits at Mine La Motte. Mining, the earliest commercial activity in Missouri, lured early French settlers and continues to be a major enterprise today.
Missourians served in the Korean and Vietnam wars in mid 1900s and Dr. Thomas A. Dooley and Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor emerged as noted figures. Like the rest of the country, Missouri has moved toward the 21st century with modernized technology, nuclear energy, transportation, education; progress in civil rights and women's rights; and shifts in the economy and business outlook.

1884-1972: 33rd President of the U.S. and one of Missouri's most famous native sons. Born in Lamar in 1884, Truman was a Jackson County judge, U.S. Senator and Vice-President before serving as President, 1945-1953. Truman is best remembered as "the man from Independence." his boyhood homes, the summer White House, his first courtroom, the Truman Library and Museum, and his gravesite all can be seen in the Independence area.

1734–1820: Truly a legend in his own time. He was a pioneer, scout, Indian fighter and, in later years, a Missourian. Boone came to Missouri in 1799 as governor of the Spanish-ruled Missouri territory. From the home in Defiance which he built with his son Nathan, Daniel served as a judge. He explored much of the state and is remembered at places such as Boonville, Boone Cave and Boone's Lick. The stone home at Defiance where Boone died in 1820 has been restored and is open today.