ABSTRACT
Missouri is unique among the states of the Union. The territory of Missouri was originally part of the French province of Louisiana, but prior to the cession of the western bank of the Mississippi to Spain in 1762, most of the area was unexplored and unoccupied by Europeans. There were three phases in the settlement of Missouri. The first phase, from the early 1700s to 1860s, was the development of pioneer-frontier settlement, which spread from the Mississippi and Missouri rivers to the lead mines in the eastern Ozarks, then along the major tributaries, and finally over the whole state including the upland prairies. The second settlement phase was part of the post-Civil War national development referred to as the Reconstruction or New South. The third stage of occupancy, which may be called the resettlement phase, began with the events surrounding World War I and has proceeded to the present.
