the State Historical Society of Missouri
![Nathaniel Lyon. Engraving by John A. O’Neill. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Art Collection, 15613]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-Nathaniel_Lyon.jpg?h=c90d5ca1&itok=40YCdnKd "Nathaniel Lyon. Engraving by John A. O’Neill. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Art Collection, 15613]")
Nathaniel Lyon, a US Army officer from 1841 to 1861, was born in rural Ashford (later…
![Susan Shelby Magoffin. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, N12846]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-Susan_Shelby_Magoffin.jpg?h=c1a32540&itok=-gk7HbjM "Susan Shelby Magoffin. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, N12846]")
Susan Shelby Magoffin was born on July 30, 1827, at Arcasia, her father’s estate near…
![Alexander Majors. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Kansas City Research Center]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2022-04/1.%20Alexander%20Majors.jpg?h=b25d747c&itok=h8kInbfu "Alexander Majors. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Kansas City Research Center]")
Those familiar with the Pony Express recognize Russell, Majors, and Waddell as the…
![Isaac McCoy. [Oklahoma Historical Society, Muriel Wright Collection, 15075]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2022-04/1.%20Isaac%20McCoy.jpg?h=f693cbf2&itok=M-IXdp5f "Isaac McCoy. [Oklahoma Historical Society, Muriel Wright Collection, 15075]")
Isaac McCoy was born on June 13, 1784, in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. At the age of six,…
![William McKendree. [O. P. Fitzgerald, Centenary Cameos: 1784–1884]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2023-01/1.%20William%20McKendree.jpg?h=46e02049&itok=ZG_kszlb "William McKendree. [O. P. Fitzgerald, Centenary Cameos: 1784–1884]")
William McKendree was the first American-born bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church and…
![Alexander McNair. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Art Collection Records, P1042-13377,]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-Alexander_McNair.jpg?h=a61b2d4a&itok=PUNvRjo2 "Alexander McNair. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Art Collection Records, P1042-13377,]")
Alexander McNair, the first governor of the state of Missouri, was born in what was then…
![John Berry Meachum. [State Historical Society of Missouri, UMSL Black History Project Photograph Collection (S0336), photo no. 336.638]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2022-03/1.%20John%20Berry%20Meachum.jpg?h=a2b2f115&itok=knUAlIJQ "John Berry Meachum. [State Historical Society of Missouri, UMSL Black History Project Photograph Collection (S0336), photo no. 336.638]")
John Berry Meachum, best known for his important roles as a spiritual leader, educator, and…
![George Caleb Bingham’s depiction of the violence and tragedy of the Missouri-Kansas border war in his iconic painting Order No. 11. [State Historical Society of Missouri Art Collection, 1945.0003]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2020-06/Bingham-Order-11.jpg?h=b1c532a8&itok=jk1r6Mou "George Caleb Bingham’s depiction of the violence and tragedy of the Missouri-Kansas border war in his iconic painting Order No. 11. [State Historical Society of Missouri Art Collection, 1945.0003]")
Civil war raged along the Kansas-Missouri border for nearly a decade in the mid-…
![<em>Missouri Indian, Oto Indian, Chief of the Puncas</em>, portraits made by Karl Bodmer during an exploration of the Missouri River and its environs led by Prince Maximilian of Wied in 1833–1834. The Missouria man portrayed is Mahinkacha (Maker of Knives). [State Historical Society of Missouri Art Collection, <a href=https://digital.shsmo.org/digital/collection/art/id/477/> 1958.0007c1</a>]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2024-03/1.-missouria.jpg?itok=Qzyu2w6o "<em>Missouri Indian, Oto Indian, Chief of the Puncas</em>, portraits made by Karl Bodmer during an exploration of the Missouri River and its environs led by Prince Maximilian of Wied in 1833–1834. The Missouria man portrayed is Mahinkacha (Maker of Knives). [State Historical Society of Missouri Art Collection, <a href=https://digital.shsmo.org/digital/collection/art/id/477/ >1958.0007c1</a>]")
When French explorer Robert La Salle passed by the mouth of the Missouri River in 1682, he wrote that on its banks…
![Friedrich Muench. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Warren County Photograph Collection (P1141), 014066]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-03/1-Friedrich-Muench.jpg?h=edea59cd&itok=6vvFtQ7G "Friedrich Muench. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Warren County Photograph Collection (P1141), 014066]")
Friedrich Muench was born on June 25, 1799, the son of a Lutheran pastor in Niedergemuenden…