History of St Joseph, Missouri, USA

St. Joseph, a flourishing town, capital of Buchanan co., Missouri, is situated on the left (E.) bank of the Missouri river, 340 miles above Jefferson City, and 496 miles by water from St. Louis. It is the most commercial and populous town of Western Missouri, and one of the points of departure in the emigration to Oregon, California, &c. St. Joseph is surrounded by on extremely fertile region, in which wheat, tobacco, and hemp are cultivated. A company has been formed to con struct a railroad about 200 miles long from this town to Hannibal, on the Mississippi. The town was laid out in 1843, and became the county seat in 1845. It contains 7 churches, several steam flouring and saw mills, and manufactories of bagging, &c. ; 2 or 8 news papers are published here. Population in 1853, about 5000.

April 3, 1860: The first rider was to leave St. Joseph at 5:00 pm. However, the mail had been slowed up in Chicago for transfer to Hannibal, Missouri. A train was stripped down with no passenger cars at Hannibal. Once the mail arrived there, the train rolled across the state at a record speed to St. Joseph. It finally arrived around 7:00 pm and the mail was rushed to the stables where the first rider, Johnny Fry awaited. The mail was placed into the specially made mochilla saddle and at 7:15 pm a cannon was fired alerting everyone Fry was on his way to the river. Cheering crowds waived at Fry as he made his way through streets of St. Joseph. Once at the river, Fry boarded a ferry which took him and his horse Sylph across the river to Kansas where he rode at breakneck speeds for 90 miles before another rider took over. In Sacramento, at noon, the first rider, Harry Roff, took off with the eastbound mail.
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The PONY EXPRESS AND HOW IT WAS FIRST STARTED


St. Joe in 1860 ...

Hudson, Mo., Sept. 6.
ABE HAGER, P. M. on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, furnishes to the St. Louis Democrat the following account of a diabolical outrage on that road, on the 4th inst.

The passenger express train, bound west, was thrown into Platte River - the timbers of the east end of the bridge over the stream having been burned nearly through. The entire train went down, the engine turning over and the baggage, freight, mail and two passenger coaches piled on top.

The passenger coaches were completely smashed, and I was nearly the only one on the train that escaped unhurt. After getting out of the baggage car, I commenced taking out the passengers that were not killed in the wreck.

The following additional particulars of the terrible disaster are furnished to the St. Louis Republican:

The catastrophe occurred at Little Platte River bridge, 9 miles east of St. Joseph. The bridge was a substantial work of 160 foot span, and about 35 feet above the river. The...

when he was caught by the log, thrown against the saws and instantly killed. His body was cut completely in two, the pieces falling on different sides of the saws.

EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
The French element of the class of pioneers settled Canada and the northwestern part of the United States, as well as the country about the mouth of the Mississippi River. They came into the upper Mississippi and Missouri Valleys in 1764, under the lead of Pierre Laclede Liqueste (always called Laclede), who had a charter from the French government giving him the exclusive right to trade with the Indians in all the country as far north as St. Peter's River. Laclede brought part of his colony from France, and received large accessions to it in New Orleans, mainly of hunters and trappers, who had had experience with the Indians. In the year 1764 this colony founded the present city of St. Louis. From this point they immediately began their trading and trapping incursions into the then unbroken wilderness in their front. Their method of proceeding seems to have been to penetrate into the interior and establish small local posts for trading with the Indians, whence the ...

One of America's most famous criminals, Jesse James, is shot to death by fellow gang member Bob Ford, who betrayed James for reward money. For 16 years, Jesse and his brother, Frank, committed robberies and murders throughout the Midwest. Detective magazines and pulp novels glamorized the James gang, turning them into mythical Robin Hoods who were driven to crime by unethical landowners and bankers. In reality, Jesse James was a ruthless killer who stole only for himself. history.com

JESSE JAMES.
At St. Joseph, Mo., the great outlaw, Jesse James, was shot and killed by Robert Ford, of Richmond, Ray county. Ford found Jesse off his guard in a room ant Thirteenth and Lafayette streets, and deliberately shot him though the head, killing him instantly.

The Belleville Telescope
Belleville, Kansas
April 13, 1882

JESSE JAMES.
Additional Particulars of the Tragedy.
With a Sketch of the Life of the Dreaded Banditti.

Kansas City, Mo., April 3. - The death of Jesse James the...