The state of Missouri was organized in 1821, and Joseph Robidoux established the Blacksnake Hills trading post with the Indians in 1826. Robidoux's trading post soon became a fur-trading empire stretching to the southern Rocky Mountains. The Platte Purchase joined his land to the state of Missouri in 1837. Robidoux conveyed his property for public use in 1843, and the city of St. Joseph was incorporated in 1845. The town remained relatively small until the discovery of gold in California in 1848, which significantly altered and accelerated westward migration.
St. Joseph became the headwater for the journey west as hundreds of thousands of settlers arrived by steamboat, and hundreds of wagon trains lined the streets waiting to be ferried across the Missouri River. The covered wagons, oxen, and supplies purchased by the emigrants established the economic foundation of the city.
Additional growth commenced in 1859 when the railroad reached St. Joseph assuring its role as a supply and distribution point to the entire western half of the country. St. Joseph's proximity to the Missouri River and accessibility by way of river, rail, and land was to be the impetus for phenomenal growth throughout the nineteenth century.
The political tension leading up to the Civil War led to the establishment of the Pony Express in 1860 and 1861, with St. Joseph becoming the eastern terminus. The war years were challenging, with divided loyalties and violence, but after 1865, recovery was rapid.
The City of St. Joseph is the county seat of Buchanan County and the sixth largest city in Missouri with approximately 77,176 residents as of 2012. St. Joseph is the central service provider for a seven-county area of northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas with a combined population of over 155,000 who are continuing to grow and construct increasingly robust infrastructure.