The New York herald., 1921-08-08
Missouri 100 Years a State.


Missouri became a State 100 years
ago this month, being the second west
of the Mississippi to enter the Union,
Louisiana, the first, having been ad-
mitted nine years before. The CEN
tennial celebration of Missouri's
Statehood will begin at Sedalia to-
day, the anniversary of the day when
the long fight over the famous
Missouri Compromise, its ramifica-
tions and complexities reached the
stage which assured the passage of
the bill for the States admission, and
it will be at its height Wednesday,
August 10, the anniversary of the day
in 1921 when Missouri was admitted
into the Union. The honor of hold
ing this celebration did not go to the
larger cities, st. Louis and Kansas
City, but to Sedalia--the name seems
peculiarly to belong to Missouri
town near the centre OF the State in
the fertile Missouri Valley, the seat
Of a county with an old Missouri
name and surrounded by other coun-
ties bearing names with which
Missourians conjure, Boone, Morgan,
Henry, Johnson and Benton.
The historic pageant which is to
be presented as one of the features
of the celebration has an interesting
past upon which to draw, for the an
nails OF Missouri are rich in varied
material. The State was held by the
French and Spanish before it became
American. The st. Louis merchant
MANUEL LISA, the father OF naviga-
ton on the Missouri, belonged to the
Spanish era; Ste. Genevieve, Cape Gil
rardeau, st. Francois and st. Louis
along the Mississippi, and Cote sans
Dessein near Jefferson City are all
landmarks Of French occupation.
The Jesuit MARQUETTE and JOLIET
and the adventurers LA SALE and
DE FRoSTENAo were some of the
earlier explorers.
The men and women who followed
them and became the States first set
tiers were referred to as sturdy and
vigorous. Their descendants, the
exclusive, aristocratic Cabannes and
Chouteaus and other old families OF
Lindell Boulevard and Vandeventer
place and the suburban hilltops of
st. Louis, have well sustained their
pioneer spirit. The descendants
and successors of the men who laid
out Westport landing on the Mis-
souri, at the mouth of the Kansas
climbed long ago over the yellow
river bluffs and built the present Kan
sas City with the fine homes In the
HYDE Park district where New Eng
land culture reigns and on Linwood
Boulevard or Independence avenue,
where the languid ease and grace OF
the old South still survive. The re-
mote Ozarks have given up razor
back hogs for peaches and straw
berries and Springfield had more
Browning clubs than any other town
of twice its size.
There is bit of tragedy which
may not submit to stage presen-
tation in the remarkable earthquake
of 1912, the most destructive up to
that time this country had known,
which devastated the region about
New Madrid, took a heavy toll in
lives and property, opened enormous
assures in the ground and formed
great lakes along the Mississippi.
One of these lakes, the Reelfoot,
which is twenty miles long and seven
miles wide. is an enduring evidence
OF this catastrophe and an un-
deniable proof Of just what had hap
pened to that first doubling Mis-
sourian who when told Of 1t ex-
claimed You've got to show mc!'
Neither will the period OF the Nor.
mon immigration lend itself grace
fully to pageant use; there seem to
have been mistakes made by both
Mormons and Missourians. But the
Indians, OF whom there is promise
Of large gathering, will fit well into
the picture. Missouri had her full
share OF red men and red perils in
her early days.
What character for the stage was
the imperious old Bourbon states
man BENTON, who even in his politi-