Historic People of Missouri

Rural people near Caruthersville, Missouri by Russell Lee, 1938.

Rural people near Caruthersville, Missouri by Russell Lee, 1938.

Manuel Alvarez – Mountain Man

Louis Ambroise – French Trapper

William Ashley and the Rocky Mountain Fur Company

William "Bloody Bill" Anderson

William “Bloody Bill” Anderson

William “Bloody Bill” Anderson

Francois Xavier Aubry – Skimmer of the Plains

Charles Autobees – Trapper, Trader, and Mountain Man

Fierce Missouri Bald Knobbers

Arthur R. “Doc” Barker – Killed at Alcatraz

Bennie “Blanche” Barrow – Member of the Barrow Gang

James Barton – Los Angeles Sheriff Killed in the Line of Duty

Bonnie & Clyde – Stars of the Public Enemy Era

William Becknell – Father of the Santa Fe Trail

Johnny Harris Behan – First Sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona

Bartholomew Berthold – Merchant and Trader

James Pierson Beckwourth – Explorer and Mountain Man

James Berry – A Little Known Outlaw From Missouri

Benjamin Bonneville – Exploring & Defending the American West

Albert G. Boone – Santa Fe Trail Trader

Daniel Boone – The Kentucky Pioneer

Etienne Veniard de Bourgmont

James "Jim" Bowie

James “Jim” Bowie

James Bowie – Dying at the Alamo

Chief Bowl – Cherokee Leader in Texas

Francis Branch – Trader & Pioneer

Jim Bridger – Quintessential Guide of the Rocky Mountains

Henry Newton Brown – Outlaw Marshal of Kansas

Jean Pierre Cabanne – Merchant and Indian Trader

Calamity Jane – Rowdy Woman of the West

Robert Campbell – Frontiersman to Business Man

Rufus Cannon – Important African-American U.S. Deputy Marshal

Kit Carson – Legend of the Southwest

George Washington Carver – Scientist, Educator, Inventor

Francois Auguste Chardon – Soldier and Fur Trader

William M. Chick – Kansas City Founder & Pioneer

The Chouteaus – Early Traders

Pierre Chouteau, Jr. – Merchant and Fur Trader

William Clark – Co-Leader of the Corps of Discovery

Archie Clement – Confederate Guerilla and Outlaw

Colonel Kersey Coates – Developing Kansas City

Buffalo Bill Cody, Scout by the Forbes Company, 1872.

Buffalo Bill Cody, Scout by the Forbes Company, 1872.

Buffalo Bill Cody – American Frontiersman

Phoebe Couzins – Lady Law

Alexander Culbertson – Fur Trader and Diplomat

The Dalton Brothers – Lawmen & Outlaws

John Day – Frontiersman

Benny and Stella Dickson – Bank Robbers

Billy Dixon – Texas Plains Pioneer

Russel Farnham – Explorer and Fur Trader

The Treachery of Mike Fink

Andrew Henry – Fur Trader

Wild Bill Hickok & The Dead Man’s Hand

Captain James Hobbs – Roaming the Southwest

Camillus Sidney Fly – Arizona Photographer and Lawman

Robert Ford – Jesse James’ Killer

John Charles Fremont

John Charles Fremont

John C. Fremont – The Pathfinder

Robert Gillham – Cable Railway Pioneer

Ulysses S. Grant – Civil War Hero & 18th President

Josiah Gregg – Trader, Explorer & Writer

Alexander Harvey – Desperado of the Fur Trade

Jack Helm – Texas Lawman

Andrew Henry – Fur Trader

Valentine “Rube” Herring – Trapper to County Officer

Tom Horn – Wyoming Killer for Hire

David Jackson – Explorer & Trader

Frank – The Other James Boy 

Jesse James

Jesse James

Jesse James – Hero or Cold Killer

James-Younger Gang

John “Turkey Creek Jack” Johnson – Riding With the Earps

Charles Keemle – Journalist & Fur Trader

Mathew Kinkead – Colorado Trader to Wealthy Californian

James Kipp – Long Time Fur Trader

William Laidlaw – Most Able Trapper

Daniel Lamont – Fur Trader

Charles Larpenteur – French Fur Trader

John C. McCoy – Founder of Westport

The Mysterious Death of Meriwether Lewis

Joaquin Antoine Leroux – Noted Mountain Man

Manuel Lisa – Expert on the Missouri River

“Cock-Eyed” Frank Loving – Dueling Gunfighter

Daniel Boone May – Protecting the Deadwood Stage

Susan Shelby Magoffin, first woman on the Santa Fe Trail

Susan Shelby Magoffin, the first woman on the Santa Fe Trail

Susan Magoffin – Recording the Santa Fe Trail

Kenneth McKenzie – King of the Upper Missouri

Missouri Bushwhackers – Attacks Upon Kansas

David Dawson Mitchell – Fur Trader & Soldier

Jim Moore – Notable Pony Express Rider & Rancher

Burton C. Mossman – Captain of the Arizona Rangers

Edna Murray – The Kissing Bandit

John Baker “Texas Jack” Omohundro – Cowboy Performer

Judge Isaac Parker – Hanging Judge of Indian Territory

James F. Pendergast – Kansas City Boss

Thomas J.  Pendergast – Kansas City Boss

Joshua Pilcher – Trader and Indian Agent

John William Poe – Hunting Billy the Kid

Sterling “Old Pap” Price – Missouri Politician & Confederate Officer

William Quantrill

William Quantrill

William Quantrill – Renegade Leader of the Missouri Border War

Quantrill – The Man, the Myth, the Soldier

Jean “John” Baptiste Richard – Trader and Entrepreneur

Joseph Robidoux IV – Fur Trader of Missouri

Porter Rockwell – Destroying Angel of Mormondom

Hiram Scott and the Tragedy at Scotts Bluff, Nebraska

General “Jo” Shelby and His Great Raid through Missouri

Charles A. Shibell – Arizona Lawman

George C. Sibley – Surveyor of the Santa Fe Trail

George S. Simpson – Colorado Trader

Jedediah Smith – Blazing the Rockies

William Sublette – Explorer, Trapper, & Mountain Man

Ceran St. Vrain – Successful Trader & Businessman

Belle Starr, the Bandit Queen

Belle Starr, the Bandit Queen

Belle Starr – The Bandit Queen

Tom Tate Tobin – Exploring & Scouting in New Mexico & Colorado

Pierre Louis Vasquez – Trader & Mountain Man

“Texas Jack” Vermillion – Old West Gunfighter

“Old Bill” Williams – Mountain Man and Explorer

Cathay Williams – Female Buffalo Soldier

Ezekiel “Zeke” Williams – Trapper, Trader & Frontiersman

“Uncle Dick” Wootton – American Frontiersman

Jacob “Blake Jake” Yoes – U.S. Marshal

The Infamous Younger Brothers

© Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated July 2023.

Also See:

Historic People of America

Outlaws on the Frontier

Missouri Photo Galleries

Missouri – The Show Me State