In 1833, most of the
southern part of Missouri was designated as a single county. It was
named for Revolutionary War General Nathanael Greene. Springfield was
incorporated in 1838. The Trail of Tears traveled through
the Springfield area over what is known today as the Old
Wire Road.
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It served until the
mid-1840s as a connection between Springfield and the Fort
Smith, Arkansas, garrison.
In 1861,
Wilson's Creek became the site of the first major Civil War battle
west of the Mississippi River. In January 1863, Confederate forces
under General John S. Marmaduke seized the town in the Battle of
Springfield. In July of 1865, the Springfield town square became the
site of the nation's first recorded shootout between "Wild Bill"
Hickok and Dave Tutt. In 1870 the St. Louis-San Francisco line came
through town bringing commercial and industrial diversification.
In 1926 Springfield
became the birthplace of famed Route 66, the "mother road" that
stretched from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Coast.
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