the State Historical Society of Missouri
![The traditional illustration of David Barton. Some historians question the image’s authenticity. [Howard L. Conard, ed., Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri, vol. 1 (St. Louis: Southern History Co., 1901)]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2022-07/1.%20David%20Barton.jpg?h=f781cce3&itok=1vsKYmtb "The traditional illustration of David Barton. Some historians question the image’s authenticity. [Howard L. Conard, ed., Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri, vol. 1 (St. Louis: Southern History Co., 1901)]")
David Barton was born near Greenville, North Carolina, now in eastern Tennessee, on December 14, 1783. He was…
![Henry Marvin Belden. [University of Missouri Archives, Collection C:1/141/6]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2023-03/1.%20Henry%20Marvin%20Belden_0.jpg?h=53c868f4&itok=KpZx02e_ "Henry Marvin Belden. [University of Missouri Archives, Collection C:1/141/6]")
Henry Marvin Belden, a pioneer in the study of Missouri balladry and song, was born October…
![French artist Louis-Leopold Boilly’s rendering of members of an Osage traveling party in Europe, including Big Soldier (at right). [Smithsonian Institution, National Portrait Gallery, object # S/NPG.2011.5]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2020-07/Big-Soldier.jpg?h=86a29125&itok=SubP6M24 "French artist Louis-Leopold Boilly’s rendering of members of an Osage traveling party in Europe, including Big Soldier (at right). [Smithsonian Institution, National Portrait Gallery, object # S/NPG.2011.5]")
Big Soldier, a Little Osage war leader, was probably born in 1773 in a village near the Missouri River, in…
![Morris Birkbeck. [Morris Birkbeck and George Flower, History of the English Settlement in Edwards County, Illinois (Chicago: Fergus Printing Co., 1882)]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2020-07/Morris-Birkbeck.jpg?h=c9fefaae&itok=Lsvu56gN "Morris Birkbeck. [Morris Birkbeck and George Flower, History of the English Settlement in Edwards County, Illinois (Chicago: Fergus Printing Co., 1882)]")
An early pioneer-farming expert and author, Morris Birkbeck exerted an enormous influence…
![Karl Bodmer circa 1877. [Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-50540]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/2-Karl_Bodmer.jpg?h=22fbc3ba&itok=0JA3FzpE "Karl Bodmer circa 1877. [Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-50540]")
Among the early artists to explore the trans-Mississippi River frontier, Karl Bodmer’s stay…
![Lilburn Boggs. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, N11644]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2020-06/Lilburn-Boggs-Portrait.jpg?h=9196c627&itok=RNkG0lH8 "Lilburn Boggs. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, N11644]")
Born in Lexington, Kentucky, on December 14, 1792, Lilburn W. Boggs became one of the most…
![Lewis Bogy. [Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Brady-Handy Photograph Collection, LC-DIG-cwpbh-00128]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-03/1-Lewis-Bogy.jpg?h=f831b2b7&itok=e7fp7aLh "Lewis Bogy. [Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Brady-Handy Photograph Collection, LC-DIG-cwpbh-00128]")
Born in Ste. Genevieve on April 9, 1818, as a descendant of early French…
![Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, N38643]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2022-07/1.%20Benjamin%20Louis%20Eulalie%20de%20Bonneville.jpg?h=ddb83cf7&itok=c3bPaqAY "Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, N38643]")
Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville was born in Paris, France, in 1796. His father, a…
![Daniel Boone. Boone sat for artist Chester Harding shortly before his death in 1820. It is the only known portrait of Boone painted from life. [National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, NPG.2015.102]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2022-12/1.%20Daniel%20Boone.jpg?h=edafc073&itok=DQIaObCl "Daniel Boone. Boone sat for artist Chester Harding shortly before his death in 1820. It is the only known portrait of Boone painted from life. [National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, NPG.2015.102]")
Daniel Boone is most commonly known as a hunter, trapper, and frontier settler, but he also…
![This lunette in the Missouri State Capitol, painted by Victor Higgins, depicts the sons of Daniel Boone manufacturing salt at Boone’s Lick in central Missouri. [Missouri State Archives, Ken Raveill Collection, MS386, 004-030]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2023-01/1.%20Daniel%20Morgan%20Boone.jpg?h=92b7ab8c&itok=BifpiXWB "This lunette in the Missouri State Capitol, painted by Victor Higgins, depicts the sons of Daniel Boone manufacturing salt at Boone’s Lick in central Missouri. [Missouri State Archives, Ken Raveill Collection, MS386, 004-030]")
Daniel Morgan Boone was born on December 23, 1769, the seventh child of …