History
In pre-Columbian times, this region was home of an ancient people known only as the Mound Builders. By the time European settlers began arriving, the Mound Builders had vanished into history. The contemporary indigenous peoples were called the Osage Indians. When the Missouri Territory was organized in 1812, St. Louis was the seat of government. St. Charles next served as the capital.
In the middle of the state, Jefferson City was chosen as the new capital in 1821 while Thomas Jefferson was actually still alive. The village was first called Lohman's Landing. When the legislature decided to relocate there, they proposed the name "Missouriopolis" but later settled on Jefferson City. For years, the village was little more than a trading post located in the wilderness about midway between St. Louis and Kansas City. In 1826, the Missouri legislature first met here and in 1839 the settlement was incorporated as a city.
Jefferson City was selected as the site for a state prison and, in 1836, the Missouri State Penitentiary was opened. The prison was home to a number of infamous Americans, including: former heavyweight champion Sonny Liston, assassin James Earl Ray, and bank robber Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd. During the American Civil War, Jefferson City was occupied by Union troops. Many of the people in the state supported the Union, although Missouri's Little Dixie section along the Mississippi River in southeastern counties was strongly pro-Confederate.
German immigrants created vineyards in small towns on either side of the Missouri River, especially on the north from Jefferson City east to Marthasville, outside St. Louis. Known as the Missouri Rhineland for its vineyards, first established by German immigrants in the mid-19th century, this area has become a part of the agricultural and tourist economy.
Read more about this topic: Jefferson City, Missouri
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