Springfield History, Missouri

Springfield, MO, US - History - Leaving a rowdy mark!

After passing through several ugly incidents, Missouri finally became a state in 1821. Following this occasion, the homesteader from Tennessee, John Polk Campbell, founded the city of Springfield in 1829.

Events kept rolling from then onwards in Springfield, as the 3 Fulbright brothers came over to stay in the place with their families. This gradually brought in several other followers, who found it easy to adapt, and stayed on there. The Greene County was established in 1833 to commemorate the revolutionary war general, Nathanael Greene, and was thus named after him.

However, no one knew the existence of the town back then, even after the establishment of the Greene County. Instead, it took till 1838 for people to get recognition as inhabitants of Springfield when the town was officially incorporated on February 18. Even after these events, people did not have much idea of the place.

It was when the Butterfield Overland Mail was connected in 1858 that the town got national attention. From then onwards the line between Tipton, in Missouri to that of San Francisco, became very popular among the people. Then tragedy struck, when the place was about to be divided between its own people through the battle of Wilson’s Creek taking place within 12 miles radius in 1861.

Following this massacre, the control for the town shifted fro one hand to another, until in 1863 General John S. Marmaduke, engaged in a battle for the Confederates, against the Unions. This battle took place in Springfield itself and was named as the Battle of Springfield. Though the Confederates showed aggression, they were forced behind by the Unions and the place remained in their hands. Never again did any serious battles shatter the town of Springfield, as the state came under Governor Rule, which was hard to defy. John Smith Phelps served as the states Governor in between the years 1879 to 1881.

Springfield also has a unique history of setting the term of “Wild West”, which came from the encounter between ‘Wild Bill’ Hickok and David Tutt. In the incident, both the individuals showed excellent caliber of marksmanship, over a distance of 76 meters. While the shot from Tutt’s gun barely missed “Wild Bill’s” forehead, Bill took a shot straight across his opponent’s heart; this caused great uproar over the nation and gave the west its wild attribute.

Today, Springfield has changed greatly. Now, it has also entertained the first train of the Atlantic Pacific Railway.

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