Along Missouri's southern border, the state's charming small towns seem more like the state's southern neighbor, Arkansas, with flat terrain, a rural landscape and miles/kilometers of rivers and springs. As you travel north along the Mississippi River, the flatlands morph into the hillier terrain found in St. Louis and Hannibal.

Springfield, located in the southwestern part of the state, offers outdoor adventures and serves as the gateway to the Ozarks and Branson. The western part of the state seems as if it should be annexed by next-door neighbor Kansas, as Kansas City's decidedly western ambience features a cosmopolitan attitude. To the north, historic sights detail the adventures of outlaw Jesse James and the Pony Express headquarters in St. Joseph.

And with its sites related to several beloved and/or infamous figures from the nation's past—Mark Twain, Walt Disney, Scott Joplin, Harry S Truman and Jesse James—Missouri has a knack for making a vacation into a heartland pilgrimage.

Geography

History

The state is named for the Missouri tribe, which inhabited the wooded valleys and tributaries of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. The Missouri and Osage people were farmers, but they were strongly influenced by nomadic bison hunters of the Great Plains—much of their culture centered on the seasonal bison hunts. In addition, Caddoan farmers and hunters inhabited southern Missouri.

The first European to visit the area was Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, who arrived in 1541 while exploring the Mississippi River. The first Anglo settlement, St. Genevieve, wasn't founded until almost 200 years later. After being ceded back and forth between France and Spain, Missouri became a part of the U.S. with the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. Throughout the first half of the 1800s, Missouri was increasingly important to the still-young U.S. The Santa Fe, Oregon and California Trails all threaded through Kansas City and Independence. Though it was admitted to the Union in 1821 as a slave-holding state (part of the Missouri Compromise that also accepted Maine as a free state), Missouri eventually sided with the Union in the Civil War—but only after bitter political struggles, armed conflict and guerrilla-style raids throughout the state.

In the midst of westward expansion following the war, Missouri's central location on the north-south Mississippi trade route and the east-west rail lines made it an important crossroads. Today, Missouri is a leading manufacturing, agriculture and food-processing state. Tourism, the service industries and some mining round out the state's economy, along with automobile and aircraft manufacturing. Missouri is also home to a number of companies that are leading the way in the exploration of the biotech industry.

Snapshot

Missouri's main draws include the Gateway Arch, live-music shows, the St. Louis Zoo, the Ozarks, Branson, lakes, caves (5,000 of them), history, the Mississippi River, Kansas City, riverboat gambling and attractions associated with two of America's greatest straight talkers—author Mark Twain and former U.S. President Harry S Truman.

Travelers interested in history, architecture, museums, theme parks and pleasant scenery will enjoy Missouri. Those who seek dramatically rugged mountains or who prefer a coastal beach to a recreational lake may find the state less to their liking.

Potpourri

Walt Disney grew up in Marceline in north-central Missouri and modeled Disneyland's Mainstreet USA after his hometown. In the town's Walt Disney Elementary School, you'll find his old desk and some life-sized characters created by Disney artists.

Folks who live in California keep waiting for the Big One. Well, it's already happened—in Missouri. Back in 1811, New Madrid was the epicenter of the biggest earthquake in U.S. history. It ravaged the landscape for miles/kilometers around, was felt as far away as Canada and even briefly reversed the course of the Mississippi River. Although seismologists anticipate another major rumble along the fault line, warnings of a major quake in the past few years have proved groundless.

The Cathedral Church of the Prince of Peace in Highlandville lays claim to being the world's smallest cathedral—it holds only 15 worshippers.

The George Washington Carver National Monument in Diamond pays tribute to the former slave who became one of this country's most important agronomists and is attributed with creating peanut butter.

Missouri has produced and shaped a plethora of music legends and entertainers, including jazz masters Charlie "Bird" Parker and Miles Davis; actress and dancer Josephine Baker; singer Michael McDonald; hip-hop's Nelly; Scott Joplin, known as the king of ragtime; and Chuck Berry, often credited as the father of rock 'n' roll. More modern-era celebrities include Brad Pitt from Springfield and Sheryl Crow from Kennett. Both attended the University of Missouri at Columbia.

The "S" in Harry S Truman is not an abbreviation of a name—his middle name was simply S—which has made the period after the letter controversial. Sometimes it is used, sometimes not. When he was once asked about his preference, he said it made no difference to him. Truman is the only U.S. president ever elected from the Show Me State, and the university in Kirksville (northeast Missouri) was renamed in 1996 to honor him.

Retired CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite, once considered the most trusted man in America, was born in St. Joseph and later worked at KCMO radio in Kansas City.

The house in which Daniel Boone lived his last years is in Defiance. The town of Boonville, about 125 mi/200 km upriver is also named for Boone, although the spelling became convoluted over the years.

The Church of St. Mary Aldermanbury—which dates to the 1100s, was rebuilt by Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of 1666 and partially destroyed during the Blitz of London during World War II—was disassembled in London, shipped to the U.S. and put back together in Fulton as a commemorative study center to the life and work of Winston Churchill. Churchill's famous "Iron Curtain" speech was delivered in Fulton in 1946 at Westminster College. The center was dedicated in 1969 by the Board of Trustees of Westminster College.