the State Historical Society of Missouri
On April 14, 1876, the eleventh anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, a handsome bronze statue…
Thomas Allen was among the most prominent and powerful individuals who led St. Louis in its transition from…
![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…
![James Beckwourth. [Public domain; photographer unknown]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-Beckwourth.jpg?h=518889fc&itok=01MEzfQk "James Beckwourth. [Public domain; photographer unknown]")
James Pierson Beckwith, better known as Jim Beckwourth following the publication of…
![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…
![Frederic L. Billon. [Billon, Annals of St. Louis in Its Territorial Days from 1804 to 1821 (St. Louis: Nixon-Jones Printing Co., 1888), frontispiece]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2020-07/Frederic-Billon.jpg?h=1128d52b&itok=O2ASotLW "Frederic L. Billon. [Billon, Annals of St. Louis in Its Territorial Days from 1804 to 1821 (St. Louis: Nixon-Jones Printing Co., 1888), frontispiece]")
Frederic L. Billon’s amateur antiquarian pursuits in the mid-nineteenth century resulted 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…
![Henry Boernstein circa 1873. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, N20961]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-03/1-Henry-Boernstein.jpg?h=d6ce1970&itok=1LiDP9uT "Henry Boernstein circa 1873. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, N20961]")
Henry Boernstein, a journalist and dramatist, was born Georg Christian Heinrich Börnstein…
![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…