In 1803 the French dependency of Louisiana was purchased by the United States for
about $ 15 million. While the southern part was organized as a territory - later
becoming the US State of Louisiana - the northern part (formally encompassing the
future states of Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota
and parts of the future states of Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and
Wyoming) was organized as the district of Louisiana in 1804, becoming the Territory
of Louisiana in 1805 and the Territory of Missouri in 1812.(1)
In 1821, after the separation of Arkansas (in 1819) and of the unorganized parts (in
1821) (2) the remaining became the US State of Missouri. (3).
(For the situation during the war of 1861 - 1865 see below)
(1) This new US Territory consisted of two parts :
- an organized part - divided firstly into five and later, since 1816, into
nine counties - covering the south eastern part of present Missouri and
Arkansas.
- an unorganized part covering all other regions.
(Of these regions only the south east of present Missouri was inhabited by
an important group of white settlers in 1812)
(2) A large part of these would later become Indian Territory.
(3) At the same time the boundaries of the State were extended to the West and
in 1836 Missouri reached its present extension.
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STATE OFFICERS
Governors
1844 - 1848 John Cummins Edwards 1804 - 1888
1848 - 1853 Austin Augustus King 1802 - 1870
1853 - 1857 Sterling Price 1809 - 1867
1857 Trusten Polk 1811 - 1876
1857 Hancock Lee Jackson* 1796 - 1876
1857 1861 Robert Marcellus Stewart 1815 - 1871
1861 Claiborne Fox Jackson, deposed
by a pro-Union Convention after
he sided with the Confederate
States (see here) 1806 - 1862
1861 - 1864 Hamilton Rowan Gamble*, elected
by the pro-Union Convention 1798 - 1864
1864 - 1865 Willard Preble Hall* 1820 - 1882
1865 - 1869 Thomas Clement Fletcher 1827 - 1899
1869 - 1871 Joseph Washington McClurg 1818 - 1900
1871 - 1873 Benjamin Gratz Brown 1826 - 1885
1873 - 1875 Silas Woodson 1819 - 1896
1875 - 1877 Charles Henry Hardin 1820 - 1892
1877 - 1881 John Smith Phelps 1814 - 1886
1881 - 1885 Thomas Theodore Crittenden 1832 - 1909
1885 - 1887 John Sappington Marmaduke 1833 - 1887
1887 - 1889 Albert Pickett Morehouse* 1835 - 1891
1889 - 1893 David Rowland Francis 1850 - 1927
1893 - 1897 William Joel Stone 1848 - 1918
1897 - 1901 Lawrence Vest "Lon" Stephens 1858 - 1923
1901 - 1905 Alexander Monroe Dockery 1845 - 1926
1905 - 1909 Joseph Wingate Folk 1869 - 1923
1909 - 1913 Herbert Spencer Hadley 1872 - 1927
1913 - 1917 Elliot Woolfolk Major 1864 - 1949
1917 - 1921 Frederick Dozier Gardner 1869 - 1933
1921 - 1925 Arthur Mastick Hyde 1877 - 1947
1925 - 1929 Samuel "Sam" Aaron Baker 1874 - 1933
1929 - 1933 Henry Stewart Caulfield 1873 - 1966
1933 - 1937 Guy Brasfield Park 1872 - 1946
1937 - 1941 Lloyd Crow Stark 1886 - 1972
1941 - 1945 Forrest C. Donnell 1884 - 1980
EVENTS IN MISSOURI DURING THE CIVIL WAR 1861 - 1865
1861
Apr 17 : Governor Jackson refused to place the Missouri militia under the orders of
the federal government.
May 10 : First clashes between federal troops and partisans of Jackson. They were
soon followed by a full scale war between the two parties (since May 16).
Jun 17 : Defeat of the state forces at Boonville. The pro-Confederate leadership
was forced to retreat to Southwest Missouri, where Enosho became the new
seat of their government.
Jul 31 : Jackson was deposed by a pro-Union convention, being replaced by Hamilton
Rowan Gamble. For some months Missouri now had two rival administrations.
Aug 30 : As war continued the Union military proclaimed martial law and placed the
state under direct Union control.
Nov 02 : The pro-Confederate government of Enosho proclaimed secession.
Nov 28 : The pro-Confederate government of Enosho proclaimed Missouri a member of
the Confederate States of America.
1862
Mar 08 : Defeat of the pro-Confederate Missourians and of a Confederate Army at the
Battle of Pea Ridge (Arkansas). The Jackson administration was forced into
exile in Arkansas.
Dec 07 : Death of Governor Jackson.
His successor as head of the Confederate Missouri government in exile was
Thomas Caute Reynolds (1821 - 1887), who fled to Mexico after the defeat
in 1865.
1864
Sep 19 : Last major attempt of the Confederates to occupy Missouri [Comm. of the
Army of Missouri : MajGen Sterling Price (s.a.)] ending with their defeat
on Oct 28.
1865
Mar 07 : Missouri was declared free from enemy forces and martial law and military
rule ended.
COMMANDERS OF THE UNION FORCES IN MISSOURI
(During the period of martial law - at times also in charge of Union troops in other
areas : Arkansas, Kansas, ...)
Commanders of the Union Western Department
1861 MajGen. John Charles Fremont 1813 - 1890
1861 MajGen. David Hunter 1803 - 1888
Commander of the Union Department of the Missouri
1861 - 1862 MajGen. Henry Wager Halleck 1816 - 1872
In 1862 the Union Department of the Missouri was briefly merged with a short-living
Union Department of the Mississippi.
Commander of the Army and Union Department of the Mississippi
[also in charge of the operations in Alabama (Apr - Aug 1862) and in Mississippi
(May - Sep 1862)]
1862 MajGen. Henry Wager Halleck s.a.
Commander of the District of the Missouri
1862 BrigGen. John McAllister
Schofield 1831 - 1906
Commanders of the Union Department of the Missouri
1862 - 1863 MajGen. Samuel Ryan Curtis 1807 - 1866
1863 - 1864 MajGen. John McAllister Schofield s.a.
1864 MajGen. William Starke Rosecrans
"Old Rosy" 1819 - 1898
1864 - 1865 MajGen. Grenville Mellen Dodge 1831 - 1916
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