As Cole County, home of our state capitol, and the state of Missouri approach their 200th year, the Jefferson City News Tribune (April 21) has posted an interesting article about the origins of our state capitol and Cole County.
Steel engraving of Missouri’s second capitol from an 1852 Meyers’ Universum, published in Germany. (and page 292, Damming the Osage)
As part of the congressional legislation to establish Missouri as a state, a commission was created to find a suitable site for the State Capital. Jesse Boone of Montgomery County, John White of Pike County, Robert Watson of New Madrid, and John Thornton of Howard County were appointed commissioners to locate this site. With the Missouri River running across the center of the state, this was the most logical choice, and the commission was directed to choose a site within 40 miles of the mouth of the Osage River. Since rivers were the maritime highways to get across Missouri, this made the most sense.
In Damming the Osage, we delved briefly into the role that river played in the establishment of the newly carved out state of Missouri and the creation of its capitol. See our earlier blog post on the subject as well.