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185-586: Kansas City, Missouri ( KC or KCMO ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by population and area. Most of the city lies within Jackson County , and other portions spill into Clay , Platte , and Cass counties. It is the central city of the Kansas City metropolitan area , which straddles the Missouri – Kansas state line and has a population of 2,392,035. As of the 2020 census ,
370-491: A massive EF-5 tornado killed 158 people and destroyed roughly one-third of the city of Joplin . The tornado caused an estimated $ 1–3 billion in damages, killed 159 people and injured more than a thousand. It was the first EF5 to hit the state since 1957 and the deadliest in the U.S. since 1947, making it the seventh deadliest tornado in American history and 27th deadliest in the world. St. Louis and its suburbs also have
555-628: A "wilderness" policy for the Forest Service. Their efforts bore fruit with the Wilderness Act of 1964 , which designated wilderness areas "where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by men, where man himself is a visitor and does not remain." This included second growth public forests like the Mark Twain National Forest . The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Missouri
740-659: A 2018 report by the Missouri Attorney General 's office, for the past 18 years, "African Americans, Hispanics and other people of color are disproportionately affected by stops, searches and arrests." The same report found that the biggest discrepancy was in 2017, when "black motorists were 85% more likely to be pulled over in traffic stops". In 2018 the USDA announced its plans to relocate Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Institute of Food & Agriculture (NIFA) to Kansas City. They have since decided on
925-557: A Cherokee ancestor on the Dawes Rolls, although all Cherokee Freedmen and their descendants had been members since 1866. As of 2004, various Native Americans are wary of attempts by others to gain control of their reservation lands for natural resources, such as coal and uranium in the West. The State of Maine is the only State House Legislature that allows Representatives from Indian Tribes. The three nonvoting members represent
1110-542: A Colony in 1713 and The Route to Be Taken to Ascend the Missouri River in 1714. In the documents, he describes the junction of the "Grande Riv[ière] des Cansez" and Missouri River, as the first adoption of those names. French cartographer Guillaume Delisle used the descriptions to make the area's first reasonably accurate map. The Spanish took over the region in the Treaty of Paris in 1763, but were not to play
1295-521: A Confederate triumph. Once again their victory proved hollow, as Price was decisively defeated in the pivotal Battle of Westport the next day, effectively ending Confederate efforts to regain Missouri. General Thomas Ewing , in response to a successful raid on nearby Lawrence, Kansas , led by William Quantrill , issued General Order No. 11 , forcing the eviction of residents in four western Missouri counties – including Jackson – except those living in
1480-465: A body of law, Jim Crow institutionalized economic, educational, and social disadvantages for Native Americans, and other people of color living in the south. Native American identity was especially targeted by a system that only wanted to recognize white or colored, and the government began to question the legitimacy of some tribes because they had intermarried with African Americans. Native Americans were also discriminated and discouraged from voting in
1665-547: A broader set of groups, e.g. Native Hawaiians , which it tabulates separately. The European colonization of the Americas from 1492 resulted in a precipitous decline in the size of the Native American population because of newly introduced diseases , including weaponized diseases and biological warfare by colonizers, wars , ethnic cleansing , and enslavement . Numerous scholars have classified elements of
1850-439: A federal Indian trust relationship are based. Cultural activism since the late 1960s has increased the participation of Indigenous peoples in American politics. It has also led to expanded efforts to teach and preserve Indigenous languages for younger generations, and to establish a more robust cultural infrastructure: Native Americans have founded independent newspapers and online media outlets, including First Nations Experience ,
2035-610: A figure equaled only by its neighbor, Tennessee. Missouri is bounded by Iowa on the north; by Illinois , Kentucky , and Tennessee across the Mississippi River on the east; on the south by Arkansas ; and by Oklahoma , Kansas , and Nebraska (the last across the Missouri River) on the west. Whereas the northern and southern boundaries are straight lines, the Missouri Bootheel extends south between
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#17327872982802220-577: A glut of unskilled labor, driving wages down. Most Missouri farmers practiced subsistence farming before the American Civil War . The majority of those who held slaves had fewer than five each. Planters , defined by some historians as those holding 20 slaves or more, were concentrated in the counties known as " Little Dixie ", in the central part of the state along the Missouri River . The tensions over slavery chiefly had to do with
2405-579: A historically Italian American neighborhood , the UMKC area and in River Market, in northern Kansas City. The Historic Kansas City boundary is roughly 58 square miles (150 km) and has a population density of about 5,000 inhabitants per square mile (1,900/km). It runs from the Missouri River to the north, 79th Street to the south, the Blue River to the east, and State Line Road to the west. During
2590-416: A history of experiencing particularly severe tornadoes, the most recent one of note being an EF4 that damaged Lambert-St. Louis International Airport on April 22, 2011. One of the worst tornadoes in American history struck St. Louis on May 27, 1896, killing at least 255 people and causing $ 10 million in damage (equivalent to $ 3.9 billion in 2009 or $ 5.54 billion in today's dollars). Missouri
2775-624: A landing point for West Port, with Lykins as the first postmaster. He found it more convenient to have his goods offloaded at the Prudhomme landing next to Chouteau's landing than in Independence. Several years after Gabriel Prudhomme's death, a group of fourteen investors purchased his land at auction on November 14, 1838. By 1839, the investors divided the property and the first lots were sold in 1846 after legal complications were settled. The remaining lots were sold by February 1850. In 1850,
2960-470: A large degree of tribal sovereignty . For this reason, many Native American reservations are still independent of state law and the actions of tribal citizens on these reservations are subject only to tribal courts and federal law. The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 granted US citizenship to all Native Americans born in the US who had not yet obtained it. This emptied the "Indians not taxed" category established by
3145-415: A legal discovery of living outside city boundaries, he was soon succeeded by Johnston Lykins as the second (but first legally elected) mayor. The city had an area of 0.70 square miles (1.8 km) and a population of 2,500. The boundary lines extended from the middle of the Missouri River south to what is now Ninth Street, and from Bluff Street on the west to a point between Holmes Road and Charlotte Street on
3330-622: A long-term commuter rail plan. For the time being, the line is being converted to a trail while county officials negotiate with railroads for access to tracks in Downtown Kansas City. On November 7, 2017, Kansas City voters overwhelmingly approved a new single terminal at Kansas City International Airport by a 75% to 25% margin. The new single terminal replaced the three existing "Clover Leafs" at KCI Airport on February 28, 2023. The city has an area of 319.03 square miles (826.28 km), of which, 314.95 square miles (815.72 km)
3515-455: A major meatpacking center, as large cattle drives from Texas brought herds of cattle to Dodge City and other Kansas towns. There, the cattle were loaded onto trains destined for Kansas City, where they were butchered and distributed to the eastern markets. The first half of the 20th century was the height of Kansas City's prominence, and its downtown became a showcase for stylish Art Deco skyscrapers as construction boomed. In 1930, there
3700-479: A major role other than taxing and licensing Missouri River ship traffic. The French continued their fur trade under Spanish license. The Chouteau family operated under Spanish license at St. Louis , in the lower Missouri Valley as early as 1765 and in 1821 the Chouteaus reached Kansas City, where François Chouteau established Chouteau's Landing. After the 1803 Louisiana Purchase , Lewis and Clark visited
3885-587: A marked uptick in late spring and summer. Kansas City is located in Tornado Alley , a broad region where cold air from Canada collides with warm air from the Gulf of Mexico, leading to the formation of powerful storms, especially during the spring. The Kansas City metropolitan area has experienced several significant outbreaks of tornadoes in the past, including the Ruskin Heights tornado in 1957 and
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#17327872982804070-724: A more collective basis than the culture which Europeans were familiar with. Most Indigenous American tribes treated their hunting grounds and agricultural lands as land that could be used by their entire tribe. Europeans had developed concepts of individual property rights with respect to land that were extremely different. The differences in cultures, as well as the shifting alliances among different nations during periods of warfare, caused extensive political tension, ethnic violence, and social disruption. Native Americans suffered high fatality rates from contact with European diseases that were new to them, and to which they had not acquired immunity . Smallpox epidemics are thought to have caused
4255-511: A name change to Kansas City in 1889, and the city limits to be extended south and east. Westport became part of Kansas City on December 2, 1897. In 1900, Kansas City was the 22nd largest city in the country, with a population of 163,752 residents. Landscape architect George Kessler shaped Kansas City into a leading example of the City Beautiful movement, with a network of boulevards and parks. New neighborhoods like Southmoreland and
4440-402: A residential corridor nicknamed Millionaire Row. It is now widely seen as one of the city's most prominent racial and economic dividing lines due to urban decay, which was caused by white flight . During the civil rights era the city blocked people of color from moving to homes west of Troost Avenue, causing the areas east of Troost to have one of the worst murder rates in the country. This led to
4625-475: A resolution recommending that the federal and legislative branches of the U.S. government terminate tribal governments. In 2007, a group of Democratic Party congressmen and congresswomen introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to terminate Federal recognition of the Cherokee Nation . This was related to their voting to exclude Cherokee Freedmen as members of the tribe unless they had
4810-403: A single speech, to appeal to a greater number of listeners. In informal contexts respellings of the state's name, such as "Missour- ee " or "Missour- uh ", are occasionally used to distinguish pronunciations phonetically. There is no official state nickname. However, Missouri's unofficial nickname is the "Show Me State", which appears on its license plates . This phrase has several origins. One
4995-599: A specific location in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. With the addition of the KC Streetcar project and construction of the Sprint Center Arena, the downtown area in KC has attracted investment in new offices, hotels, and residential complexes. Both Kansas City and St. Louis are undergoing a rebirth in their downtown areas with the addition of the new Power & Light (KC) and Ballpark Village (STL) districts and
5180-654: A temporary state capital in St. Charles. In 1826, the capital was shifted to its permanent location of Jefferson City , also on the Missouri River. Originally the state's western border was a straight line, defined as the meridian passing through the Kawsmouth, the point where the Kansas River enters the Missouri River. The river has moved since this designation. This line is known as the Osage Boundary. In 1836
5365-476: A transfer of power to France on November 30, 1803, just three weeks before the cession to the United States. Part of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase by the United States, Missouri earned the nickname Gateway to the West because it served as a significant departure point for expeditions and settlers heading to the West during the 19th century. St. Charles , just west of St. Louis, was the starting point and
5550-400: A variety of diseases, but in many cases this happened long after Europeans first arrived. When severe epidemics did hit, it was often less because Native bodies lack immunity than because European colonialism disrupted Native Communities and damaged their resources, making them more vulnerable to pathogens." After the thirteen British colonies revolted against Great Britain and established
5735-545: A variety of goods to traders for sale and trade with their Native American clients. The fur trade and associated businesses made St. Louis an early financial center and provided the wealth for some to build fine houses and import luxury items. Its location near the confluence of the Illinois River meant it also handled produce from the agricultural areas. River traffic and trade along the Mississippi were integral to
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5920-497: A whole, is called the Camp Jackson Affair . These events sharpened the divisions within the state. Governor Jackson appointed Sterling Price , president of the convention on secession, as head of the new Missouri State Guard . In the face of Union General Lyon's rapid advance through the state, Jackson and Price were forced to flee the capital of Jefferson City on June 14, 1861. In Neosho, Missouri , Jackson called
6105-467: Is / m ɪ ˈ z ʊər i / , with / m ɪ ˈ s ʊər i / being a possible alternative. Donald M. Lance, a professor of English at the University of Missouri , stated that no pronunciation could be declared correct, nor could any be clearly defined as native or outsider, rural or urban, southern or northern, educated or otherwise. Politicians often employ multiple pronunciations, even during
6290-442: Is alternately influenced by air from the cold Arctic and the hot and humid Gulf of Mexico. Missouri's highest recorded temperature is 118 °F (48 °C) at Warsaw and Union on July 14, 1954, while the lowest recorded temperature is −40 °F (−40 °C) also at Warsaw on February 13, 1905. Located in Tornado Alley , Missouri also receives extreme weather in the form of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. On May 22, 2011,
6475-723: Is composed of several neighborhoods , including the River Market District , 18th and Vine District , and the Country Club Plaza . Celebrated cultural traditions include Kansas City jazz ; theater, as a historical center of the Vaudevillian Orpheum circuit in the 1920s; the nickname City of Fountains ; the Chiefs and Royals sports franchises; and cuisine such as Kansas City–style barbecue and strip steak . The town of Kansas, Missouri ,
6660-537: Is condescending for such lands to be considered "held in trust" and regulated in any fashion by any entity other than their own tribes. Some tribal groups have been unable to document the cultural continuity required for federal recognition. To achieve federal recognition and its benefits, tribes must prove continuous existence since 1900. The federal government has maintained this requirement, in part because through participation on councils and committees, federally recognized tribes have been adamant about groups' satisfying
6845-586: Is home to diverse flora and fauna , including several endemic species. There is a large amount of fresh water present due to the Mississippi River , Missouri River , Table Rock Lake and Lake of the Ozarks , with numerous smaller tributary rivers, streams, and lakes. North of the Missouri River, the state is primarily rolling hills of the Great Plains , whereas south of the Missouri River,
7030-552: Is known as the " Kelp Highway ". The early inhabitants by land were classified as Paleo-Indians , who spread throughout the Americas, diversifying into numerous culturally distinct nations. Major Paleo-Indian cultures included the Clovis and Folsom traditions , identified through unique spear points and large-game hunting methods, especially during the Lithic stage . Around 8000 BCE, as the climate stabilized, new cultural periods like
7215-554: Is land and 4.08 square miles (10.57 km) is water. Bluffs overlook the rivers and river bottom areas. Kansas City proper is bowl-shaped and is surrounded to the north and south by glacier -carved limestone and bedrock cliffs. Kansas City is at the confluence between the Dakota and Minnesota ice lobes during the maximum late Independence glaciation of the Pleistocene epoch . The Kansas and Missouri rivers cut wide valleys into
7400-438: Is popularly ascribed to a speech by Congressman Willard Vandiver in 1899, who declared that "I come from a state that raises corn and cotton, cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I'm from Missouri, and you have got to show me." This is in keeping with the saying "I'm from Missouri", which means "I'm skeptical of the matter and not easily convinced." However, according to researchers,
7585-570: Is the headquarters of Hallmark Cards and a major downtown shopping and entertainment complex. It is connected to Union Station by a series of covered walkways. The Country Club Plaza , or "the Plaza", is an upscale, outdoor shopping, and entertainment district. It is the first suburban shopping district in the United States, designed to accommodate shoppers arriving by automobile, and is surrounded by apartments and condominiums, including several high rise buildings. The associated Country Club District to
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7770-733: Is the largest tribe if only full-blood individuals are counted; the Navajo are the tribe with the highest proportion of full-blood individuals, 86.3%. The Cherokee have a different history; it is the largest tribe, with 819,000 individuals, and it has 284,000 full-blood individuals. As of 2012, 70% of Native Americans live in urban areas, up from 45% in 1970 and 8% in 1940. Urban areas with significant Native American populations include Minneapolis, Denver, Phoenix, Tucson, Chicago, Oklahoma City, Houston, New York City, and Los Angeles. Many live in poverty. Racism, unemployment, drugs and gangs are common problems which Indian social service organizations such as
7955-479: The 1904 election . He promoted what he called "the Missouri Idea", the concept of Missouri as a leader in public morality through popular control of law and strict enforcement. He successfully conducted antitrust prosecutions, ended free railroad passes for state officials, extended bribery statutes, improved election laws, required formal registration for lobbyists, made racetrack gambling illegal and enforced
8140-564: The American Indian Movement (AIM) drawing attention to Indigenous rights. Landmark legislation like the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 recognized tribal autonomy, leading to the establishment of Native-run schools and economic initiatives. Tribal sovereignty has continued to evolve, with legal victories and federal acknowledgments supporting cultural revitalization. By
8325-543: The Archaic stage arose, during which hunter-gatherer communities developed complex societies across North America. The Mound Builders created large earthworks, such as at Watson Brake and Poverty Point , which date to 3500 BCE and 2200 BCE, respectively, indicating early social and organizational complexity. By 1000 BCE, Native societies in the Woodland period developed advanced social structures and trade networks, with
8510-518: The Census Bureau until 1930: American Indians and Alaska Natives as percentage of the total population between 1880 and 2020: Absolute numbers of American Indians and Alaska Natives between 1880 and 2020 (since 1890 according to the Census Bureau ): 78% of Native Americans live outside a reservation. Full-blood individuals are more likely to live on a reservation than mixed-blood individuals. The Navajo , with 286,000 full-blood individuals,
8695-664: The Dawes Act , which undermined communal landholding. A justification for the policy of conquest and subjugation of the Indigenous people emanated from the stereotyped perceptions of Native Americans as "merciless Indian savages" (as described in the United States Declaration of Independence ). Sam Wolfson in The Guardian writes, "The declaration's passage has often been cited as an encapsulation of
8880-791: The Hopewell tradition connecting the Eastern Woodlands to the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico . This period led to the Mississippian culture , with large urban centers like Cahokia —a city with complex mounds and a population exceeding 20,000 by 1250 CE. From the 15th century onward, European contact drastically reshaped the Americas. Explorers and settlers introduced diseases, causing massive Indigenous population declines, and engaged in violent conflicts with Native groups. By
9065-637: The Illinois Country. They came from colonial villages on the east side of the Mississippi River, where soils were becoming exhausted and there was insufficient river bottom land for the growing population. The early Missouri settlements included many enslaved Africans and Native Americans, and slave labor was central to both commercial agriculture and the fur trade. Sainte-Geneviève became a thriving agricultural center, producing enough surplus wheat, corn and tobacco to ship tons of grain annually downriver to Lower Louisiana for trade. Grain production in
9250-816: The Indigenous peoples of Canada are generally known as First Nations , Inuit and Métis ( FNIM ). The history of Native Americans in the United States began before the founding of the U.S., tens of thousands of years ago with the settlement of the Americas by the Paleo-Indians . The Eurasian migration to the Americas occurred over millennia via Beringia , a land bridge between Siberia and Alaska , as early humans spread southward and eastward, forming distinct cultures and societies. Archaeological evidence suggests these migrations began 60,000 years ago and continued until around 12,000 years ago. Some may have arrived even before this time fishing in kayaks along what
9435-704: The Kansas City City Hall and the Jackson County Courthouse. During this time, he aided one of his nephew's friends, Harry S. Truman , in a political career. Truman eventually became a senator, then vice president, then president . The machine fell in 1939 when Pendergast, riddled with health problems, pleaded guilty to tax evasion after long federal investigations. His biographers have summed up his uniqueness: Pendergast may bear comparison to various big-city bosses, but his open alliance with hardened criminals, his cynical subversion of
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#17327872982809620-527: The May 2003 tornado outbreak sequence . The region can also experience ice storms during the winter, such as the 2002 ice storm duringin which hundreds of thousands of residents lost power for days or weeks. Kansas City and its outlying areas are also subject to flooding, including the Great Floods of 1844 , 1951 , and 1993 . Kansas City has the second largest Somali and Sudanese populations in
9805-558: The Mississippi River , in order to accommodate continued European American expansion. This resulted in what amounted to the ethnic cleansing or genocide of many tribes, who were subjected to brutal forced marches . The most infamous of these came to be known as the Trail of Tears . Contemporary Native Americans have a unique relationship with the United States because they may be members of nations, tribes, or bands that have sovereignty and treaty rights upon which federal Indian law and
9990-450: The Mississippi River , which makes up the eastern border. With over six million residents, it is the 18th-most populous state of the country. The largest urban areas are St. Louis , Kansas City , Springfield , and Columbia . The capital is Jefferson City . Humans have inhabited present-day Missouri for at least 12,000 years. The Mississippian culture , which emerged in the ninth century, built cities and mounds before declining in
10175-584: The Platte Purchase was added to the northwest corner of the state after purchase of the land from the native tribes, making the Missouri River the border north of the Kansas River. This addition increased the land area of what was already the largest state in the Union at the time (about 66,500 square miles (172,000 km ) to Virginia's 65,000 square miles, which then included West Virginia). In
10360-620: The Senate Indian Affairs Committee endorsed a bill that would grant federal recognition to tribes in Virginia. As of 2000 , the largest groups in the United States by population were Navajo , Cherokee , Choctaw , Sioux , Chippewa , Apache , Blackfeet , Iroquois , and Pueblo . In 2000, eight of ten Americans with Native American ancestry were of mixed ancestry. It is estimated that by 2100 that figure will rise to nine out of ten. The civil rights movement
10545-595: The St. Francis and the Mississippi rivers. The two largest rivers are the Mississippi (which defines the eastern boundary of the state) and the Missouri River (which flows from west to east through the state), essentially connecting the two largest metros of Kansas City and St. Louis. Although today it is usually considered part of the Midwest , Missouri was historically seen by many as a border state , chiefly because of
10730-543: The St. Louis Arsenal . Alarmed at this action, and discovering the Confederate aid, General Nathaniel Lyon struck first, encircling the camp and forcing the state troops to surrender. Lyon directed his soldiers, largely non-English-speaking German immigrants , to march the prisoners through the streets, and this led to riot by pro-secession citizens. While it is disputed how it started, this riot led to violence and Union soldiers killed by St. Louis civilians. The event as
10915-734: The United States Constitution , allowed Natives to vote in elections, and extended the Fourteenth Amendment protections granted to people "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States. However, some states continued to deny Native Americans voting rights for decades. Titles II through VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 comprise the Indian Civil Rights Act, which applies to Native American tribes and makes many but not all of
11100-565: The first written accounts of the contact were provided by Europeans . Ethnographers classify the Indigenous peoples of North America into ten geographical regions which are inhabited by groups of people who share certain cultural traits, called cultural areas. The ten cultural areas are: At the time of the first contact, the Indigenous cultures were different from those of the proto-industrial and mostly Christian immigrants. Some Northeastern and Southwestern cultures, in particular, were matrilineal and they were organized and operated on
11285-484: The protests and riots that followed the shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer of Ferguson , which led Governor Jay Nixon to call out the Missouri National Guard . A grand jury declined to indict the officer, and the U.S. Department of Justice concluded, after careful investigation, that the police officer legitimately feared for his safety. However, in a separate investigation,
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#173278729828011470-543: The 14th century. The Indigenous Osage and Missouria nations inhabited the area when European people arrived in the 17th century. The French incorporated the territory into Louisiana , founding Ste. Genevieve in 1735 and St. Louis in 1764. After a brief period of Spanish rule , the United States acquired Missouri as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Americans from the Upland South rushed into
11655-426: The 1960s and 1970s, Kansas City annexed large amounts of land, which are largely undeveloped. Between the 2000 and 2010 census counts, the urban core of Kansas City continued to drop significantly in population. The areas of Greater Downtown in the center city, and sections near I-435 and I-470 in the south, and Highway 152 in the north are the only areas of Kansas City, Missouri, to have an increase in population, with
11840-537: The 19th century, westward U.S. expansion, rationalized by Manifest destiny , pressured tribes into forced relocations like the Trail of Tears , which decimated communities and redefined Native territories. Despite resistance in events like the Sioux Uprising and Battle of Little Bighorn , Native American lands continued to be reduced through policies like the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and later
12025-513: The 21st century, Native Americans had achieved increased control over tribal lands and resources, although many communities continue to grapple with the legacy of displacement and economic challenges. Urban migration has also grown, with over 70% of Native Americans residing in cities by 2012, navigating issues of cultural preservation and discrimination. Continuing legal and social efforts address these concerns, building on centuries of resilience and adaptation that characterize Indigenous history across
12210-455: The 48 states and Alaska. Native American population rebounded sharply from 1950, when they numbered 377,273; it reached 551,669 in 1960, 827,268 in 1970, with an annual growth rate of 5%, four times the national average. Total spending on Native Americans averaged $ 38 million a year in the late 1920s, dropping to a low of $ 23 million in 1933, and returning to $ 38 million in 1940. The Office of Indian Affairs counted more American Indians than
12395-430: The American Midwest, linking growers and small businesses to the community. More than 30 full-time merchants operate year-round and offer specialty foods, fresh meats and seafood, restaurants and cafes, floral, and home accessories. The City Market has the Arabia Steamboat Museum , which houses artifacts from a steamboat that sank near Kansas City in 1856. Downtown Kansas City is 2.9 square miles (7.5 km) bounded by
12580-597: The Americas , including Mesoamerican peoples such as the Maya , as well as Canadian and South American natives . In 2022, 634,503 Indigenous people in the United States identified with Central American Indigenous groups, 875,183 identified with the Indigenous people of Mexico , and 47,518 identified with Canadian First Nations . Of the 3.2 million Americans who identified as American Indian or Alaska Native alone in 2022, around 45% are of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, with this number growing as increasing numbers of Indigenous people from Latin American countries immigrate to
12765-399: The Americas. According to the 2020 census, the U.S. population was 331.4 million. Of this, 3.7 million people, or 1.1 percent, reported American Indian or Alaska Native ancestry alone. In addition, 5.9 million people (1.8 percent), reported American Indian or Alaska Native in combination with one or more other races. The definition of American Indian or Alaska Native used in the 2010 census
12950-420: The Black Marble H&R Block fountain in front of Union Station, which features synchronized water jets; the Nichols Bronze Horses at the corner of Main and J.C. Nichols Parkway at the entrance to the Plaza Shopping District; and the fountain at Hallmark Cards World Headquarters in Crown Center . Since its inception in 1857, City Market has been one of the largest and most enduring public farmers' markets in
13135-418: The Central Business District. The Power & Light District , a new, nine-block entertainment district comprising numerous restaurants, bars, and retail shops, was developed by the Cordish Company of Baltimore, Maryland . Its first tenant opened on November 9, 2007. It is anchored by the T-Mobile Center , a 19,000-seat sports and entertainment complex. Kansas City is in the Midwestern United States , near
13320-609: The Civil War and the end of World War II, Missouri transitioned from a rural economy to a hybrid industrial-service-agricultural economy as the Midwest rapidly industrialized. The expansion of railroads to the West transformed Kansas City into a major transportation hub within the nation. The growth of the Texas cattle industry along with this increased rail infrastructure and the invention of the refrigerated boxcar also made Kansas City
13505-483: The Commerce Bank Tower into residential and hotel space has helped to fulfill the demand. New apartment complexes like One, Two, and Three Lights, River Market West, and 503 Main have begun to reshape Kansas City's skyline. Strong demand has led to occupancy rates in the upper 90%. The residential population of downtown has boomed, and the office population has dropped significantly from the early 2000s to
13690-768: The Department of Justice also found that the Ferguson Police Department and the City of Ferguson relied on unconstitutional practices in order to balance the city's budget through racially motivated excessive fines and punishments, that the Ferguson police "had used excessive and dangerous force and had disproportionately targeted blacks," and that the municipal court "emphasized revenue over public safety, leading to routine breaches of citizens' constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection under
13875-552: The Ghost Dance properly, the European American colonists would vanish, the bison would return, and the living and the dead would be reunited in an Eden ic world. On December 29 at Wounded Knee, gunfire erupted, and U.S. soldiers killed up to 300 Indians, mostly old men, women, and children. Days after the massacre, the author L. Frank Baum wrote: The Pioneer has before declared that our only safety depends upon
14060-478: The Illinois Country was critical to the survival of Lower Louisiana and especially the city of New Orleans. St. Louis was founded on February 14, 1764, by French fur traders Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent , Pierre Laclède , and Auguste Chouteau . From 1764 to 1803, European control of the area west of the Mississippi to the northernmost part of the Missouri River basin, called Louisiana, was assumed by
14245-579: The Indians were destined to vanish under the pressure of white civilization, stating in an 1886 lecture: I don't go so far as to think that the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of ten are, and I shouldn't like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth. One of the last and most notable events during the Indian wars was the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. In
14430-746: The Little Earth housing complex in Minneapolis attempt to address. Below are numbers for U.S. citizens self-identifying to selected tribal groupings, according to the 2010 U.S. census. There are 573 federally recognized tribal governments and 326 Indian reservations in the United States. These tribes possess the right to form their own governments, to enforce laws (both civil and criminal) within their lands, to tax, to establish requirements for membership, to license and regulate activities, to zone, and to exclude persons from tribal territories. Limitations on tribal powers of self-government include
14615-718: The Mississippi River were part of the French province of Louisiana . To distinguish the settlements in the Middle Mississippi Valley from French settlements in the lower Mississippi Valley around New Orleans, French officials and inhabitants referred to the Middle Mississippi Valley as La Haute Louisiane, "The High Louisiana", or "Upper Louisiana". The first European settlers were mostly ethnic French Canadians , who created their first settlement in Missouri at present-day Ste. Genevieve , about 45 miles (72 km) south of St. Louis. They had migrated in about 1750 from
14800-704: The Missouri Partisan Rangers, such insurgencies also arose in portions of the Confederacy occupied by the Union during the Civil War. Historians have portrayed stories of the James brothers' outlaw years as an American "Robin Hood" myth. The vigilante activities of the Bald Knobbers of the Ozarks in the 1880s were an unofficial continuation of insurgent mentality long after the official end of
14985-774: The Missouri River lie the Northern Plains that stretch into Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas. Here, rolling hills remain from the glaciation that once extended from the Canadian Shield to the Missouri River. Missouri has many large river bluffs along the Mississippi, Missouri, and Meramec Rivers . Southern Missouri rises to the Ozark Mountains , a dissected plateau surrounding the Precambrian igneous St. Francois Mountains . This region also hosts karst topography characterized by high limestone content with
15170-412: The Missouri River to the north, 31st Street to the south, Troost Avenue to the east, and State Line Road to the west. Areas near Downtown Kansas City include the 39th Street District , which is known as Restaurant Row, and features one of Kansas City's largest selections of independently owned restaurants and boutique shops. It is a center of literary and visual arts, and bohemian culture . Crown Center
15355-471: The Missouri River. He established a home for his wife, Josephine, and six children. He operated a ferry on the river. In 1833, John McCoy , son of Baptist missionary Isaac McCoy and brother-in-law of Johnston Lykins , established West Port along the Santa Fe Trail , 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) south of the river. In 1834, McCoy established Westport Landing on a bend in the Missouri to serve as
15540-542: The Mormons from Missouri and confiscated their lands. Conflicts over slavery exacerbated border tensions among the states and territories. From 1838 to 1839, a border dispute with Iowa over the so-called Honey Lands resulted in both states' calling-up of militias along the border. With increasing migration, from the 1830s to the 1860s, Missouri's population almost doubled with every decade. Most newcomers were American-born, but many Irish and German immigrants arrived in
15725-589: The Northland population growing the most. Even so, the population of Kansas City as a whole from 2000 to 2010 increased by 4.1%. In February 2022, the city had an estimated 3,000 homeless people. Missouri Missouri ( / m ɪ ˈ z ʊər i / mih- ZOOR -ee ) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States . Ranking 21st in land area , it borders Iowa to
15910-492: The Penobscot Nation, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, and Passamaquoddy Tribe . These representatives can sponsor any legislation regarding American Indian affairs or co-sponsor any pending State of Maine legislation. Maine is unique regarding Indigenous leadership representation. In the state of Virginia , Native Americans face a unique problem. Until 2017 Virginia previously had no federally recognized tribes but
16095-583: The River Market, Downtown, Union Station, Crown Center and the Country Club Plaza. The KCATA continues to expand MAX with additional routes on Prospect Avenue, Troost Avenue, and Independence Avenue. In 2013, construction began on a two-mile streetcar line in downtown Kansas City (funded by a $ 102 million ballot initiative that was passed in 2012) that runs between the River Market and Union Station, it began operation in May 2016. In 2017, voters approved
16280-677: The Rockhill District were conceived to accommodate the city's largest residencies of palatial proportions. The obsolescence of Union Depot in West Bottoms in favor of the new Union Station in 1914, and the opening of the Liberty Memorial in 1923, provided two of the city's most identifiable landmarks. Robert A. Long , president of the Liberty Memorial Association, was a driving force in
16465-691: The Safdie-designed Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts opened in 2011. The Power and Light Building is influenced by the Art Deco style and sports a glowing sky beacon. The new world headquarters of H&R Block is a 20-story all-glass oval bathed in a soft green light. The four industrial artworks atop the support towers of the Kansas City Convention Center ( Bartle Hall ) were once
16650-511: The Secretary of State, rather than the Bureau of Indian Affairs . The Bureau of Indian Affairs reports on its website that its "responsibility is the administration and management of 55,700,000 acres (225,000 km ) of land held in trust by the United States for American Indians, Indian tribes, and Alaska Natives ". Many Native Americans and advocates of Native American rights believe that it
16835-707: The Spanish as part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain , due to Treaty of Fontainebleau (in order to have Spain join with France in the war against England). The arrival of the Spanish in St. Louis was in September 1767. St. Louis became the center of a regional fur trade with Native American tribes that extended up the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, dominating the regional economy for decades. Trading partners of major firms shipped their furs from St. Louis by river down to New Orleans for export to Europe. They provided
17020-481: The Sunday-closing law. He helped enact Progressive legislation, including an initiative and referendum provision, regulation of elections, education, employment and child labor, railroads, food, business, and public utilities. Several efficiency-oriented examiner boards and commissions were established during Folk's administration, including many agricultural boards and the Missouri library commission. Between
17205-478: The U.S. federal government's claim to recognize the "sovereignty" of Native American peoples falls short, given that the United States wishes to govern Native American peoples and treat them as subject to U.S. law. Such advocates contend that full respect for Native American sovereignty would require the U.S. government to deal with Native American peoples in the same manner as any other sovereign nation, handling matters related to relations with Native Americans through
17390-405: The US and more Latinos self-identify with indigenous heritage. Of groups Indigenous to the United States, the largest self-reported tribes are Cherokee (1,449,888), Navajo (434,910), Choctaw (295,373), Blackfeet (288,255), Sioux (220,739), and Apache (191,823). 205,954 respondents specified an Alaska Native identity. Native Hawaiians are counted separately from Native Americans by
17575-514: The United States Congress. Kansas City is home to significant national and international architecture firms including ACI Boland, BNIM , 360 Architecture , HNTB , Populous . Frank Lloyd Wright designed two private residences and Community Christian Church there. Kansas City hosts more than 200 working fountains, especially on the Country Club Plaza. Designs range from French-inspired traditional to modern. Highlights include
17760-600: The United States was established, Native American tribes were considered semi-independent nations, because they generally lived in communities which were separate from communities of white settlers . The federal government signed treaties at a government-to-government level until the Indian Appropriations Act of 1871 ended recognition of independent Native nations, and started treating them as "domestic dependent nations" subject to applicable federal laws. This law did preserve rights and privileges, including
17945-458: The United States, President George Washington and Secretary of War Henry Knox conceived the idea of " civilizing " Native Americans in preparation for their assimilation as U.S. citizens. Assimilation, whether it was voluntary, as it was with the Choctaw , or forced , was consistently maintained as a matter of policy by consecutive American administrations. During the 19th century,
18130-403: The United States, involving the realization of the medial consonant as either / z / or / s / ; the vowel in the second syllable as either / ɜːr / or / ʊər / ; and the third syllable as / i / or / ə / . Any combination of these phonetic realizations may be observed coming from speakers of American English . In British received pronunciation , the preferred variant
18315-532: The United States. The Latino/Hispanic population of Kansas City, which is heavily Mexican and Central American , is spread throughout the metropolitan area, with some concentration in the northeast part of the city and southwest of downtown. The Asian population, mostly Southeast Asian, is partly concentrated within the northeast side to the Columbus Park neighborhood in the Greater Downtown area,
18500-591: The West", "The Iron Mountain State", and "Pennsylvania of the West". It is also known as the "Cave State" because there are more than 7,300 recorded caves in the state (second to Tennessee ). Perry County is the county with the most caves and the single longest cave. The official state motto is "Salus Populi Suprema Lex Esto", Latin for "Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law." Archaeological excavations along river valleys have shown continuous habitation since about 9000 BCE. Beginning before 1000 CE ,
18685-509: The area's tribal inhabitants include the Hopewell tradition , Mississippian culture , Kansa , Osage , Otoe , and Missouri . The first documented European visitor to the eventual site of Kansas City was Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont , who was also the first European to explore the lower Missouri River. Criticized for his response to the Native American attack on Fort Détroit , he had deserted his post as fort commander and
18870-599: The areas east of Troost. The Hyatt Regency walkway collapse was a major disaster that occurred on July 17, 1981, killing 114 people and injuring more than 200 others during a tea dance in the 45-story Hyatt Regency hotel in Crown Center . It is the deadliest structural collapse in US history other than the September 11 attacks . In 2015 a memorial called the Skywalk Memorial Plaza was built for
19055-407: The census, being classified as Pacific Islanders . According to 2022 estimates, 714,847 Americans reported Native Hawaiian ancestry. The 2010 census permitted respondents to self-identify as being of one or more races. Self-identification dates from the census of 1960; prior to that the race of the respondent was determined by the opinion of the census taker. The option to select more than one race
19240-411: The center of North America, far removed from a significant body of water, there is significant potential for extreme hot and cold swings throughout the year. The warmest month is July, with a 24-hour average temperature of 81.0 °F (27.2 °C). The summer months are hot and humid, with moist air riding up from the Gulf of Mexico , and high temperatures surpass 100 °F (38 °C) on 5.6 days of
19425-472: The city and nearby communities and those whose allegiance to the Union was certified by Ewing. After the Civil War, Kansas City grew rapidly. The selection of the city over Leavenworth, Kansas , for the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad bridge over the Missouri River brought significant growth. The population exploding after 1869, when Hannibal Bridge, designed by Octave Chanute , opened. The boom prompted
19610-464: The city and was one of the largest systems in the country. In 1903 the 8th Street Tunnel was built as an underground streetcar system through the city. The last run of the streetcar was on June 23, 1957, but the tunnel still exists. At the start of the 20th century, political machines gained clout in the city, with the one led by Tom Pendergast dominating the city by 1925. Several important buildings and structures were built during this time, including
19795-515: The city covered approximately 316 square miles (820 km), more than five times its size in 1940. Aggressively annexing the surrounding suburbs and undeveloped land spared Kansas City from the severe population loss suffered by cities like St. Louis and Detroit, similar cities which both lost over 50% of their population in the postwar era. In the most neglected neighborhoods, however, the same pattern of abandonment occurred and left behind massive numbers of vacant lots and abandoned homes, especially in
19980-418: The city for newer housing developed in the suburbs, often former farmland where land was available at lower prices. These major cities have gone through decades of readjustment to develop different economies and adjust to demographic changes. Suburban areas have developed separate job markets, both in knowledge industries and services, such as major retail malls. In 2014, Missouri received national attention for
20165-487: The city had a population of 508,090, making it the 37th most-populous city in the United States , as well as the sixth-most populous city in the Midwest . Kansas City was founded in the 1830s as a port on the Missouri River at its confluence with the Kansas River from the west. On June 1, 1850, the town of Kansas was incorporated; shortly after came the establishment of the Kansas Territory . Confusion between
20350-447: The colonization process as comprising genocide against Native Americans. As part of a policy of white settler colonialism , European settlers continued to wage war and perpetrated massacres against Native American peoples, removed them from their ancestral lands , and subjected them to one-sided government treaties and discriminatory government policies. Into the 20th century, these policies focused on forced assimilation . When
20535-480: The confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers, noting it was a good place to build a fort. In 1831, a group of Mormons from New York state led by Joseph Smith settled in the area. They built the first school within what became Kansas City, but were forced out by mob violence in 1833. In 1831, Gabriel Prudhomme Sr., a Canadian trapper and partner of François Chouteau , purchased 257 acres (104 ha) fronting
20720-522: The dehumanizing attitude toward Indigenous Americans that the US was founded on." Native American nations on the plains in the west continued armed conflicts with the U.S. throughout the 19th century, through what were called generally Indian Wars . Notable conflicts in this period include the Dakota War , Great Sioux War , Snake War , Colorado War , and Texas-Indian Wars . Expressing the frontier anti-Indian sentiment, Theodore Roosevelt believed
20905-440: The democratic process, his monarchistic style of living, his increasingly insatiable gambling habit, his grasping for a business empire, and his promotion of Kansas City as a wide-open town with every kind of vice imaginable, combined with his professed compassion for the poor and very real role as city builder, made him bigger than life, difficult to characterize. Troost Avenue was once the eastern edge of Kansas City, Missouri and
21090-454: The dominating economic success of neighboring Johnson County . In 1950, African Americans represented 12.2% of Kansas City's population. The city's most populous ethnic group, non-Hispanic whites, declined from 89.5% in 1930 to 54.9% in 2010. In 1940, the city had about 400,000 residents; by 2000, it had about 440,000. From 1940 to 1960, the city more than doubled its physical size, while increasing its population by only about 75,000. By 1970,
21275-519: The early 1830s, Mormon migrants from northern states and Canada began settling near Independence and areas just north of there. Conflicts over religion and slavery arose between the 'old settlers' (mainly from the South) and the Mormons (mainly from the North). The Mormon War erupted in 1838. By 1839, with the help of an "Extermination Order" by Governor Lilburn Boggs , the old settlers forcibly expelled
21460-458: The east bank of the Mississippi River and identified their settlements as being in le pays des Illinois, "the country of the Illinois". When settlers of French Canadian descent began crossing the Mississippi River to establish settlements such as Ste. Genevieve, they continued to identify their settlements as being in the Illinois Country. At the same time, the French settlements on both sides of
21645-780: The east. During the Civil War , the city and its immediate surroundings were the focus of intense military activity. Although the First Battle of Independence in August 1862 resulted in a Confederate States Army victory, the Confederates were unable to leverage their win in any significant fashion, as Kansas City was occupied by Union troops and proved too heavily fortified to assault. The Second Battle of Independence , which occurred on October 21–22, 1864, as part of Sterling Price 's Missouri expedition of 1864 , also resulted in
21830-429: The election of a special convention on secession. This convention voted against secession, but also qualified their support of the Union. In the aftermath of Battle of Fort Sumter Pro-Southern Governor Claiborne F. Jackson ordered the mobilization of several hundred members of the state militia who had gathered in a camp in St. Louis for training. In secret, he also requested Confederate arms and artillery to help take
22015-538: The face of a largely reinforced Union Army. Though regular Confederate troops staged some large-scale raids into Missouri, the fighting in the state for the next three years consisted chiefly of guerrilla warfare . "Citizen soldiers" or insurgents such as Captain William Quantrill , Frank and Jesse James , the Younger brothers , and William T. Anderson made use of quick, small-unit tactics. Pioneered by
22200-473: The families of the victims of the disaster, across the street from the hotel which is now a Sheraton. In the 21st century, the Kansas City area has undergone extensive redevelopment, with more than $ 6 billion in improvements to the downtown area on the Missouri side. One of the main goals is to attract convention and tourist dollars, office workers, and residents to downtown KCMO. Among the projects include
22385-977: The first Native American television channel; established Native American studies programs, tribal schools universities , museums, and language programs. Literature is at the growing forefront of American Indian studies in many genres, with the notable exception of fiction—some traditional American Indians experience fictional narratives as insulting when they conflict with traditional oral tribal narratives. The terms used to refer to Native Americans have at times been controversial . The ways Native Americans refer to themselves vary by region and generation, with many older Native Americans self-identifying as "Indians" or "American Indians", while younger Native Americans often identify as "Indigenous" or "Aboriginal". The term "Native American" has not traditionally included Native Hawaiians or certain Alaskan Natives , such as Aleut , Yup'ik , or Inuit peoples. By comparison,
22570-514: The formation of a TDD to expand the streetcar line south 3.5 miles from Union Station to UMKC's Volker Campus. Additionally in 2017, the KC Port Authority began engineering studies for a Port Authority funded streetcar expansion north to Berkley Riverfront Park. Citywide, voter support for rail projects continues to grow with numerous light rail projects in the works. In 2016, Jackson County, Missouri, acquired unused rail lines as part of
22755-510: The formation of sinkholes and caves. The southeastern part of the state is known as the Missouri Bootheel region, which is part of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain or Mississippi embayment . This region is the lowest, flattest, warmest, and wettest part of the state. It is also among the poorest, as the economy there is mostly agricultural. It is also the most fertile, with cotton and rice crops predominant. The Bootheel
22940-650: The funding for construction. Long was a longtime resident and wealthy businessman. He built the R.A. Long Building for the Long-Bell Lumber Company , his home, Corinthian Hall (now the Kansas City Museum ) and Longview Farm . Further spurring Kansas City's growth was the opening of the innovative Country Club Plaza development by J.C. Nichols in 1925, as part of his Country Club District plan. The Kansas City streetcar system once had hundreds of miles of streetcars running through
23125-421: The future of the state and nation. In 1860, enslaved African Americans made up less than 10% of the state's population of 1,182,012. In order to control the flooding of farmland and low-lying villages along the Mississippi, the state had completed construction of 140 miles (230 km) of levees along the river by 1860. After the secession of Southern states began in 1861, the Missouri legislature called for
23310-409: The geographic center of the country, at the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas rivers. The city lies in either the humid continental zone when using the 0 °C (32 °F) isotherm, or in the humid subtropical zone when using the −3 °C (27 °F) isotherm. The city experiences roughly 104 air frosts on average per annum. The city is part of USDA plant hardiness zones 5b and 6a. In
23495-525: The greatest loss of life for Indigenous populations. "The decline of native American populations was rapid and severe, probably the greatest demographic disaster ever. Old World diseases were the primary killer. In many regions, particularly the tropical lowlands, populations fell by 90 percent or more in the first century after the contact." Estimates of pre-Columbian population of the United States vary from 4 to 18 million. Jeffrey Ostler writes: "Most Indigenous communities were eventually afflicted by
23680-402: The guarantees of the U.S. Bill of Rights applicable within the tribes. Since the 1960s, Native American self-determination movements have resulted in positive changes to the lives of many Native Americans, though there are still many contemporary issues faced by them . Today, there are over five million Native Americans in the US, about 80% of whom live outside reservations. The states with
23865-561: The highest percentage of Native Americans are Alaska , Oklahoma , New Mexico , South Dakota , Montana , and North Dakota . Beginning toward the end of the 15th century, the migration of Europeans to the Americas led to centuries of population, cultural, and agricultural transfer and adjustment between Old and New World societies, a process known as the Columbian exchange . Because most Native American groups had preserved their histories by means of oral traditions and artwork,
24050-541: The ideology known as manifest destiny became integral to the American nationalist movement. Westward expansion of European American populations after the American Revolution resulted in increasing pressure on Native Americans and their lands, warfare, and rising tensions. In 1830, the U.S. Congress passed the Indian Removal Act , authorizing the federal government to relocate Native Americans from their homelands within established states to lands west of
24235-425: The indigenous peoples of North or South America. The United States Census Bureau publishes data about "American Indians and Alaska Natives ", whom it defines as anyone "having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America ... and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment". The census does not, however, enumerate "Native Americans" as such, noting that the latter term can encompass
24420-499: The institution of slavery . They settled predominantly in 17 counties along the Missouri River , in an area of flatlands that enabled plantation agriculture and became known as " Little Dixie ". The state was rocked by the 1811–12 New Madrid earthquakes . Casualties were few due to the sparse population. In 1821, the former Missouri Territory was admitted as a slave state , under the Missouri Compromise , and with
24605-519: The landing area was incorporated as the town of Kansas, Missouri . By that time, the towns of Kansas, Westport, and nearby Independence , had become critical points in the westward expansion of the United States. Three major trails – the Santa Fe , California , and Oregon – all passed through Jackson County. On February 22, 1853, Kansas was reincorporated and renamed the City of Kansas with its first elected mayor, William Samuel Gregory . Due to
24790-412: The largest companies based in the state include Cerner , Express Scripts , Monsanto , Emerson Electric , Edward Jones , H&R Block , Wells Fargo Advisors , Centene Corporation , and O'Reilly Auto Parts . Well-known universities in Missouri include the University of Missouri , Saint Louis University , and Washington University in St. Louis . The state is named for the Missouri River , which
24975-549: The late 1840s and 1850s. As a majority were Catholic , they set up their own religious institutions in the state, which had been mostly Protestant . Many settled in cities, creating a regional and then state network of Catholic churches and schools. 19th-century German immigrants created the wine industry along the Missouri River and the beer industry in St. Louis. While many German immigrants were strongly anti-slavery, many Irish immigrants living in cities were pro-slavery, fearing that liberating African-American slaves would create
25160-571: The law." A series of student protests at the University of Missouri against what the protesters viewed as poor response by the administration to racist incidents on campus began in September 2015. On June 7, 2017, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People issued a warning to prospective African-American travelers to Missouri. This is the first NAACP warning ever covering an entire state. According to
25345-529: The mid-2010s. Top employers like AMC moved their operations to modern office buildings in the suburbs. High office vacancy plagued downtown, leading to the neglect of many office buildings. By the mid-2010s, many office buildings were converted to residential uses and the Class A vacancy rate plunged to 12% in 2017. Swiss Re, Virgin Mobile, AutoAlert, and others have begun to move operations to downtown Kansas City from
25530-439: The middle Mississippi and Ohio river valleys, extending into the southeast and the upper river. The land that became the state of Missouri was part of numerous different territories, possessed changing and often indeterminate borders, and had many different Native American and European names between the 1600s and statehood. For much of the first half of the 1700s, the west bank of the Mississippi River that would become Missouri
25715-489: The new Missouri Territory ; Missouri played a central role in the westward expansion of the United States. Missouri was admitted as a slave state as part of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 . As a border state , Missouri's role in the American Civil War was complex, and it was subject to rival governments, raids, and guerilla warfare. After the war, both Greater St. Louis and the Kansas City metropolitan area became large centers of industrialization and business. Today
25900-466: The north, Illinois , Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas to the south and Oklahoma , Kansas , and Nebraska to the west. In the south are the Ozarks , a forested highland, providing timber, minerals, and recreation. At 1.5 billion years old, the St. Francois Mountains are among the oldest in the world. The Missouri River , after which the state is named, flows through the center and into
26085-505: The official record lowest is −23 °F (−31 °C), set on December 22 and 23, 1989. Normal seasonal snowfall is 13.4 inches (34 cm) at Downtown Airport and 18.8 in (48 cm) at Kansas City International Airport. The average window for freezing temperatures is October 31 to April 4, while for measurable (0.1 in or 0.25 cm) snowfall, it is November 27 to March 16 as measured at Kansas City International Airport. Precipitation, both in frequency and total accumulation, shows
26270-533: The operator. From 2007 to 2017, downtown residential population in Kansas City quadrupled and continues to grow. The area has grown from almost 4,000 residents in the early 2000s to nearly 30,000 as of 2017. Kansas City's downtown ranks as the sixth-fastest-growing downtown in America with the population expected to grow by more than 40% by 2022. Conversions of office buildings such as the Power & Light Building and
26455-436: The people of the Mississippian culture created regional political centers at present-day St. Louis and across the Mississippi River at Cahokia , near present-day Collinsville, Illinois . Their large cities included thousands of individual residences. Still, they are known for their surviving massive earthwork mounds , built for religious, political and social reasons, in platform , ridgetop and conical shapes. Cahokia
26640-399: The phrase "show me" was already in use before the 1890s. Another one states that it is a reference to Missouri miners who were taken to Leadville, Colorado to replace striking workers. Since the new miners were unfamiliar with the mining methods, they required frequent instruction. Other nicknames for Missouri include "The Lead State", "The Bullion State", "The Ozark State", "The Mother of
26825-410: The problems of Virginia Indians in establishing documented continuity of identity, due to the work of Walter Ashby Plecker (1912–1946). As registrar of the state's Bureau of Vital Statistics, he applied his own interpretation of the one-drop rule , enacted in law in 1924 as the state's Racial Integrity Act. It recognized only two races: "white" and "colored". Plecker, a segregationist , believed that
27010-573: The redevelopment of the Power & Light District into a retail and entertainment district; and the Sprint Center, an 18,500-seat arena that opened in 2007, funded by a 2004 ballot initiative involving a tax on car rentals and hotels, designed to meet the stadium specifications for a possible future NBA or NHL franchise, and was renamed T-Mobile Center in 2020; Kemper Arena, which was functionally superseded by Sprint Center, fell into disrepair and
27195-575: The renovation of existing historical buildings in each downtown area. The 2019 announcement of an MLS expansion team in St. Louis is driving even more development in the downtown west area of St. Louis. Kansas City has experienced a boom in population, with new developments such as Three Light apartments being centered in Downtown Kansas City , as well as suburban development in the Northland . Missouri borders eight different states,
27380-614: The return destination of the Lewis and Clark Expedition , which ascended the Missouri River in 1804, to explore the western lands to the Pacific Ocean. For decades, St. Louis was a major supply point for parties of settlers heading west. As many of the early settlers in western Missouri migrated from the Upper South , they brought enslaved African Americans as agricultural laborers, and they desired to continue their culture and
27565-511: The right to label arts and crafts as Native American and permission to apply for grants that are specifically reserved for Native Americans. But gaining federal recognition as a tribe is extremely difficult; to be established as a tribal group, members have to submit extensive genealogical proof of tribal descent and continuity of the tribe as a culture. In July 2000, the Washington State Republican Party adopted
27750-471: The same limitations applicable to states; for example, neither tribes nor states have the power to make war, engage in foreign relations, or coin money (this includes paper currency). In addition, there are a number of tribes that are recognized by individual states , but not by the federal government. The rights and benefits associated with state recognition vary from state to state. Many Native Americans and advocates of Native American rights point out that
27935-521: The same requirements as they did. The Muwekma Ohlone of the San Francisco Bay Area are pursuing litigation in the federal court system to establish recognition. Many of the smaller eastern tribes, long considered remnants of extinct peoples, have been trying to gain official recognition of their tribal status. Several tribes in Virginia and North Carolina have gained state recognition. Federal recognition confers some benefits, including
28120-641: The settlement of migrants from the South and its status as a slave state before the Civil War, balanced by the influence of St. Louis. The counties that made up " Little Dixie " were those along the Missouri River in the center of the state, settled by Southern migrants who held the greatest concentration of slaves. In 2005, Missouri received 16,695,000 visitors to its national parks and other recreational areas totaling 101,000 acres (410 km ), giving it $ 7.41 million in annual revenues, 26.6% of its operating expenditures. North of, and in some cases just south of,
28305-660: The south in the late 1950s after they reached out to him. At that time the remaining Creek in Alabama were trying to completely desegregate schools in their area. In this case, light-complexioned Native children were allowed to ride school buses to previously all white schools, while dark-skinned Native children from the same band were barred from riding the same buses. Tribal leaders, upon hearing of King's desegregation campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, contacted him for assistance. He promptly responded and, through his intervention,
28490-573: The south includes the Sunset Hill and Brookside neighborhoods, and is traversed by Ward Parkway , a landscaped boulevard known for its statuary, fountains, and large, historic homes. Union Station is home to Science City , restaurants, shopping, theaters, and the city's Amtrak facility. After years of neglect and seas of parking lots, Downtown Kansas City is undergoing a period of change with over $ 6 billion in development since 2000. Many residential properties recently have been or are under redevelopment in three surrounding warehouse loft districts and
28675-446: The southern and western states. In the south segregation was a major problem for Native Americans seeking education, but the NAACP's legal strategy would later change this. Movements such as Brown v. Board of Education was a major victory for the Civil Rights Movement headed by the NAACP , and inspired Native Americans to start participating in the Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King Jr. began assisting Native Americans in
28860-405: The state and beyond. Missouri is a major center of beer brewing and has some of the most permissive alcohol laws in the U.S. It is home to Anheuser-Busch , the world's largest beer producer, and produces Missouri wine , especially in the Missouri Rhineland . Outside the state's major cities, popular tourist destinations include the Lake of the Ozarks , Table Rock Lake and Branson . Some of
29045-438: The state and volunteer regiments for the Union Army. Fighting ensued between Union forces and a combined army of General Price's Missouri State Guard and Confederate troops from Arkansas and Texas under General Ben McCulloch . After winning victories at the battle of Wilson's Creek and the siege of Lexington, Missouri and suffering losses elsewhere, the Confederate forces retreated to Arkansas and later Marshall, Texas , in
29230-535: The state as "colored" and gave them lists of family surnames to examine for reclassification based on his interpretation of data and the law. This led to the state's destruction of accurate records related to families and communities who identified as Native American (as in church records and daily life). By his actions, sometimes different members of the same family were split by being classified as "white" or "colored". He did not allow people to enter their primary identification as Native American in state records. In 2009,
29415-434: The state convention was reassembled with most of its members present, save twenty who fled south with Jackson's forces. The convention declared all offices vacant and installed Hamilton Gamble as the new governor of Missouri. President Lincoln's administration immediately recognized Gamble's government as the legal Missouri government. The federal government's decision enabled raising pro-Union militia forces for service within
29600-435: The state had recognized eight. This is related historically to the greater impact of disease and warfare on the Virginia Indian populations, as well as their intermarriage with Europeans and Africans. Some people confused ancestry with culture, but groups of Virginia Indians maintained their cultural continuity. Most of their early reservations were ended under the pressure of early European settlement. Some historians also note
29785-462: The state is divided into 114 counties and the independent city of St. Louis. Missouri has been called the "Mother of the West", the "Cave State", and the "Show Me State". Its culture blends elements of the Midwestern and Southern United States . It is the birthplace of the musical genres ragtime , Kansas City jazz and St. Louis blues . The well-known Kansas City-style barbecue , and the lesser-known St. Louis-style barbecue , can be found across
29970-405: The state is dominated by the Oak-Hickory Central U.S. hardwood forest . Recreational and commercial uses of public forests, including grazing, logging, and mining, increased after World War II. Fishermen, hikers, campers, and others started lobbying to protect forest areas with a "wilderness character". During the 1930s and 1940s, Aldo Leopold , Arthur Carhart and Bob Marshall developed
30155-426: The state legislature into session to call for secession. However, the elected legislative body was split between pro-Union and pro-Confederate. As such, few of the pro-unionist attended the session called in Neosho, and the ordinance of secession was quickly adopted. The Confederacy recognized Missouri secession on October 30, 1861. With the elected governor absent from the capital and the legislators largely dispersed,
30340-529: The state's Native Americans had been "mongrelized" by intermarriage with African Americans; to him, ancestry determined identity, rather than culture. He thought that some people of partial black ancestry were trying to " pass " as Native Americans. Plecker thought that anyone with any African heritage had to be classified as colored, regardless of appearance, amount of European or Native American ancestry, and cultural/community identification. Plecker pressured local governments into reclassifying all Native Americans in
30525-403: The state's economy. As the area's first major city, St. Louis expanded greatly after the invention of the steamboat and the increased river trade. Napoleon Bonaparte had gained Louisiana for French ownership from Spain in 1800 under the Treaty of San Ildefonso after it had been a Spanish colony since 1762, but the treaty was kept secret. Louisiana remained nominally under Spanish control until
30710-430: The subject of ridicule, but now define the night skyline near the T-Mobile Center along with One Kansas City Place (Missouri's tallest office tower), the KCTV-Tower (Missouri's tallest freestanding structure) and the Liberty Memorial , a World War I memorial and museum that flaunts simulated flames and smoke billowing into the night skyline. It was designated as the National World War I Museum and Memorial in 2004 by
30895-411: The suburbs and expensive coastal cities. The area has seen additional development through various transportation projects, including improvements to the Grandview Triangle , which intersects Interstates 435 and 470, and U.S. Route 71 . In July 2005, the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) launched Kansas City's first bus rapid transit line, the Metro Area Express (MAX), which links
31080-494: The terrain when the glaciers melted and drained. A partially filled spillway valley crosses the central city. This valley is an eastward continuation of the Turkey Creek Valley. It is the closest major city to the geographic center of the contiguous United States, or "Lower 48". Kansas City comprises more than 240 neighborhoods, some with histories as independent cities or as the sites of major events. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art opened its Euro-Style Bloch addition in 2007, and
31265-474: The total extermination of the Indians. Having wronged them for centuries, we had better, in order to protect our civilization, follow it up by one more wrong and wipe these untamed and untamable creatures from the face of the earth. In the 20th century, Native Americans served in significant numbers during World War II, marking a turning point for Indigenous visibility and involvement in broader American society. Post-war, Native activism grew, with movements such as
31450-654: The two ensued, and the name Kansas City was assigned to distinguish them soon after. Sitting on Missouri's western boundary with Kansas , with Downtown near the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers, the city encompasses about 319.03 square miles (826.3 km), making it the 25th largest city by total area in the United States. It is one of Jackson County's two seats along with the major satellite city of Independence ; and its other major Missouri suburbs include Blue Springs , Lee's Summit , Raytown , and Liberty . Its major Kansas suburbs include Overland Park , Olathe , Lenexa , and Kansas City, Kansas . The city
31635-418: The war, and they are a favorite theme in Branson's self-image . The Progressive Era (1890s to 1920s) saw numerous prominent leaders from Missouri trying to end corruption and modernize politics, government, and society. Joseph "Holy Joe" Folk was a key leader who made a strong appeal to the middle class and rural evangelical Protestants. Folk was elected governor as a progressive reformer and Democrat in
31820-430: The year, and 90 °F (32 °C) on 47 days. The coldest month of the year is January, with an average temperature of 31.0 °F (−0.6 °C). Winters are cold, with 22 days where the high temperature is at or below 32 °F (0 °C) and 2.5 nights with a low at or below 0 °F (−18 °C). The official record highest temperature is 113 °F (45 °C), set on August 14, 1936, at Downtown Airport, while
32005-480: The years leading up to it the U.S. government had continued to seize Lakota lands. A Ghost Dance ritual on the Northern Lakota reservation at Wounded Knee, South Dakota , led to the U.S. Army's attempt to subdue the Lakota. The dance was part of a religious movement founded by the Northern Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka that told of the return of the Messiah to relieve the suffering of Native Americans and promised that if they would live righteous lives and perform
32190-406: Was 6,137,428 on July 1, 2019, a 2.48% increase since the 2010 United States census . Native Americans in the United States Native Americans (also called American Indians , First Americans , or Indigenous Americans ) are the Indigenous peoples of the United States , particularly of the lower 48 states and Alaska . They may also include any Americans whose origins lie in any of
32375-519: Was a diphtheria epidemic in the area around Springfield, which killed approximately 100 people. Serum was rushed to the area, and medical personnel stopped the epidemic. During the mid-1950s and 1960s, St. Louis and Kansas City suffered deindustrialization and loss of jobs in railroads and manufacturing, as did other Midwestern industrial cities. St. Charles claims to be the site of the first interstate highway project in 1956. Such highway construction made it easy for middle-class residents to leave
32560-415: Was a very significant moment for the rights of Native Americans and other people of color. Native Americans faced racism and prejudice for hundreds of years, and this increased after the American Civil War . Native Americans, like African Americans, were subjected to the Jim Crow Laws and segregation in the Deep South especially after they were made citizens through the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. As
32745-452: Was as follows: According to Office of Management and Budget, "American Indian or Alaska Native" refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment. Despite generally referring to groups indigenous to the continental US and Alaska, this demographic as defined by the US Census Bureau includes all Indigenous people of
32930-410: Was avoiding French authorities. Bourgmont lived with a Native American wife in a village about 90 miles (140 km) east near Brunswick, Missouri , where he illegally traded furs . To clear his name, he wrote Exact Description of Louisiana, of Its Harbors, Lands and Rivers, and Names of the Indian Tribes That Occupy It, and the Commerce and Advantages to Be Derived Therefrom for the Establishment of
33115-441: Was incorporated on June 1, 1850, reincorporated and renamed City of Kansas on March 28, 1853, and renamed Kansas City in 1889. The area straddles the border between Missouri and Kansas at the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers , and was considered a good place to settle. The Antioch Christian Church , Dr. James Compton House , and Woodneath are listed on the National Register of Historic Places . In past centuries,
33300-470: Was introduced in 2000. If American Indian or Alaska Native was selected, the form requested the individual provide the name of the "enrolled or principal tribe". Censuses counted around 346,000 Native Americans in 1880 (including 33,000 in Alaska and 82,000 in Oklahoma, back then known as Indian Territory ), around 274,000 in 1890 (including 25,500 in Alaska and 64,500 in Oklahoma), 362,500 in 1930 and 366,500 in 1940, including those on and off reservations in
33485-437: Was mostly uninhabited, something of a no man's land that kept peace between the Illinois on the east bank of the Mississippi River and to the North, and the Osage and Missouri Indians of the lower Missouri Valley. In the early 1700s, French traders and missionaries explored the whole of the Mississippi Valley, and named the region "Louisiana". Around the same time, a different group of French Canadians established five villages on
33670-529: Was named after the indigenous Missouria , a Siouan-language tribe. French colonists adapted a form of the Illinois language -name for the people: Wimihsoorita . Their name means "One who has dugout canoes". The name Missouri has several different pronunciations even among its present-day inhabitants, the two most common being / m ɪ ˈ z ɜːr i / mih- ZUR -ee and / m ɪ ˈ z ɜːr ə / mih- ZUR -ə . Further pronunciations also exist in Missouri or elsewhere in
33855-428: Was sold to private developers. By 2018, the arena was being converted to a sports complex under the name Hy-Vee Arena . The Kauffman Performing Arts Center opened in 2011 providing a new, modern home to the KC Orchestra and Ballet. In 2015, an 800-room Hyatt Convention Center Hotel was announced for a site next to the Performance Arts Center & Bartle Hall. Construction was scheduled to start in early 2018 with Loews as
34040-423: Was the center of a regional trading network that reached from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico . The civilization declined by 1400 CE, and most descendants left the area long before the arrival of Europeans. St. Louis was at one time known as Mound City by the European Americans because of the numerous surviving prehistoric mounds since lost to urban development. The Mississippian culture left mounds throughout
34225-468: Was the epicenter of the four New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 . Missouri generally has a humid continental climate with cool, sometimes cold, winters and hot, humid, and wet summers. In the southern part of the state, particularly in the Bootheel , the climate becomes humid subtropical . Located in the interior United States, Missouri often experiences extreme temperatures. Without high mountains or oceans nearby to moderate temperature, its climate
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