Editing Sedalia, Missouri (section)

==History==
[[File:George Rappeen Smith (1804–1879).png|thumb|right|150px|George Rappeen Smith]]

[[Indigenous peoples]] lived along the Missouri River and its tributaries for thousands of years before European contact. [[Historians]] believe the entire area around Sedalia was long occupied by the [[Osage Nation|Osage]] (among historical [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian]] tribes). When the land was first settled by European Americans, bands of [[Shawnee]], who had migrated from east of the Mississippi River, lived in the vicinity of Sedalia.<ref>Ihrig, et al., 1960, p.5.</ref>

Until the city was incorporated in 1860 as Sedalia, it had existed only "on paper" from November 30, 1857, to October 16, 1860. According to local lore, the town council changed the name from Sedville to Sedalia in part because "towns that end in -ville don't amount to anything." (Lawrence Ditton Sr.).  Here is another account:
{{blockquote|In 1856 General Smith bought the land upon which Sedalia now stands, and founded the city.  He named it after his daughter Sarah, familiarly known as "Sed". Smith remarked that he had previously named a flatboat for her elder sister Martha.  He first chose the name Sedville but changed it to Sedalia,<ref>Also christening the city "The Queen of the Prairies" (Ihrig, et al., 1960, p.9).</ref> following the suggestion of a friend, Josiah Dent, of St. Louis. Dent suggested the change for the sake of ''euphony.''<ref>[http://www.rootsweb.com/~mopettis/bio/SmithGR.html "GEORGE R. SMITH"], Rootsweb, accessed 10 February 2008.  Website states content was "excerpted" from Conard, H.L. (ed), ''Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri (in Six Volumes)'', The Southern History Company, (New York), 1901; the volume and page numbers were not cited.</ref>}}

The area that became the European-American city of Sedalia was founded by General [[George Rappeen Smith]] (1804–1879), who also founded nearby [[Smithton, Missouri]]. He filed plans for the official record on November 30, 1857, and gave the area the name '''Sedville'''.<ref>Ihrig, et al., 1960, p.8.</ref>  The original plat included the land from today's [[Missouri Pacific Railroad]] south to Third Street.

The version jointly filed by General Smith and [[David W. Bouldin]] on October 16, 1860, displayed the city extending from Clay Street to the north and to Smith Street (today's Third Street) in the south, and from Missouri Street in the west to Washington Street in the east; and, although Smith and Bouldin predicted that the city would grow to the north, it grew in a southern direction.<ref>Ihrig, et al., 1960, pp.2, 8.</ref>

===Railhead===
Following a victory for those proposing the "ridge route" for the railway over those advocating the "river route", the railway reached Sedalia in January 1861.<ref>Ihrig, et al., 1960, p.7.</ref> Sedalia's early prosperity was directly related to the railroad industry. Many jobs were associated with men maintaining tracks and operating large and varied machine shops run by both the [[Missouri Pacific]] and the [[Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad]] lines. The Missouri-Kansas & Texas Railroad was widely known as the "KATY", from its "K-T" stock exchange code.

Sedalia was an important [[wikt:railhead|railhead]] for the massive [[Cattle drives in the United States#Texas roots|Texas cattle drive of 1866]]. It maintained stockyards to receive cattle from drives and shipping through much of the 19th century.

{{blockquote|[[Chicago]] [[slaughterhouse]]s were willing to pay almost any price [for beef]—[[Texas longhorn (cattle)|longhorns]] were worth three to four dollars each on the ''[[Llano Estacado]]'' while in [[Chicago]] a steer was worth ten times that amount.  It cost about a dollar per head to drive a herd northward to a railroad, and thus with these simple economics, the long drive and the cattle bonanza got its start.<br />
During the spring and summer of 1866, some 260,000 head followed the trail to Sedalia, Missouri, the terminus of the [[Missouri Pacific Railroad]]." (McComb, 1989, p.84).}}

For nearly a century, Sedalia's economy was tied to the railroads. By the end of the 19th century, the MK&T had numerous buildings and a wide variety of workers in the city: the MK&T shops, [[Feedlot|stockyards]], [[Railway roundhouse|roundhouse]], and the [[hospital]] for employees working in the Sedalia Division were among the Katy's properties in Sedalia.

After the KATY reduced its operations in the 20th century, its railroad right-of-way through much of Missouri was converted to a 240-mile multi-use trail. The [[Katy Trail State Park|KATY Trail]] is used by bikers, walkers and horseback riders. This has been the largest new trail developed in the nation among the late 20th-century federal and state "[[Rails to Trails]]" projects.

===Civil War===
{{further|Capture of Sedalia}}
During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] had a small [[garrison]] in the area, adding to its boomtown atmosphere of accelerated development as merchants and traders attracted to the military business came to the area. In the [[Reconstruction era|postbellum]] period, two railroads were constructed connecting it to other locations, and Sedalia grew at a rapid pace, with the rough energy of travelers and cowboys. From 1866 to 1874, it was a railhead terminus for [[cattle drives]], and stockyards occupied a large area. At the same time, the town established schools (racially segregated for white and black children), churches, and other civic amenities.<ref name="sed">{{cite book |title= Ladies of the Evening: Prostitution and Class in a 19th-century Railroad Town |first1= LeeAnn |last1= Whites |first2= Mary |last2= Neth |first3= Gary R. |last3= Kremer |work= Women in Missouri History: In Search of Power and Influence |location= Columbia, Missouri |publisher= University of Missouri |date= June 14, 2004 |page= [https://archive.org/details/womeninmissourih00unse/page/152 152] |isbn= 0-8262-1526-2 |url= https://archive.org/details/womeninmissourih00unse/page/152 }}</ref>

{{blockquote|Sedalia was made a military post early in the war and remained such until its close in 1865. For this reason it was an active theater of operations for military supplies and an objective point for capture by "the boys in gray." [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] raids into [[Pettis County, Missouri|Pettis County]], and the offensive and defensive activities of [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] troops against them, kept the inhabitants of Sedalia in [a] high state of excitement. The progress of the city was retarded [during that time]. Sentiment in the county was about evenly divided.<ref>Ihrig, et al., 1960, p.10.</ref>}}

On October 15, 1864, [[Shelby's Iron Brigade|Shelby's Confederate cavalry brigade]] surrounded the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] [[Outpost (military)|post]] of Sedalia. The post commander, Colonel John D. Crawford, fled. Captain Oscar B. Queen of Company M, 7th Cavalry, [[Missouri State Militia (Union)|Missouri State Militia]], surrendered the post shortly thereafter.<ref>[http://history-sites.com/mb/cw/arcwmb/index.cgi?noframes;read=11798 "From Sedalia: It's Late Defence and Capture" (''Missouri Democrat,'' October ?, 1864)] {{webarchive|url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20130521102157/http://history-sites.com/mb/cw/arcwmb/index.cgi?noframes;read=11798 |date=2013-05-21 }}, History Sites</ref> [[Missouri State Guard]] Brigadier-General [[M. Jeff Thompson]] subsequently [[parole]]d the [[Prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] and moved on, leaving Sedalia to itself.<ref>Mueller, (2007), pp.85–86</ref>

===Late 19th century===
[[File:Sedalia Ruger Map 1869.jpg|right|thumb|Sedalia in 1869]]
While the Civil War delayed development of the town in some respects, Sedalia was the terminus of the railroad for three years. Once the war was over, many of the thousands of Union soldiers who had been stationed more or less permanently at Sedalia and recognized its potential, made the choice to migrate there from their former homes in other areas. The population grew rapidly.<ref>Ihrig, et al., 1960, p.13.</ref>

In the late 19th century, Sedalia was well known as a center of vice, especially prostitution, which accompanied its large floating class of railroad workers and commercial travelers. In 1877 the ''[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]'' called Sedalia the "[[Sodom and Gomorrah]] of the nineteenth century."{{citation needed|date=July 2019}} Middle-class businessmen made money off illegal prostitution as building owners and lessees; others did business with people in the industry, who banked, used lawyers, etc., in town. Residents were reluctant to raise taxes and services were provided from the [[fine (penalty)|fine]]s charged to prostitutes.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}

In the 1870s brothels were distributed throughout the city, but in the 1890s, they became more concentrated above businesses on West Main Street, as the middle class tried to isolate less desirable elements in town.<ref>Whites (2004), "Ladies of the Evening," pp. 155-157</ref> These establishments also employed musicians, particularly piano players, contributing to a thriving musical culture. It fostered the development of many artists, including the renowned ragtime composer [[Scott Joplin]].

===20th and 21st centuries===
While the city attracted many commercial travelers and railroad workers, its population of married couples and families also grew. By 1900 its population of more than 15,000 made it the sixth-largest city in the state. The [[entrepreneur]]ial [[middle class]] created more formal separations between its residential areas and those of [[working class]] whites and [[African Americans]].<ref name="sed" />

During [[World War II]], the military built Sedalia Glider Base in [[Johnson County, Missouri|Johnson County]] to the west. After the war, this facility was transferred to the [[Strategic Air Command]]. It was converted to a bomber base, the [[Whiteman Air Force Base]], named after 2nd Lt. George A. Whiteman, an Army Air Corps pilot who was killed during the 1941 [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor]]. After a massive construction program, the base became the center of 150 [[ICBM]] silos and administrative offices. These were decommissioned in the 1990s.

Sedalia is home to the nation's first [[sheltered workshop]], which opened in 1965.

The expansion of the railroad and cattle drives in the late 19th century brought many male laborers to the rough town on the frontier. It sparked the related rise of a notorious "[[red light district]]", with numerous [[prostitute]]s who did business with the men in saloons and brothels, which also featured musical entertainments.

As more families settled in the area, they made the culture more stable, creating institutions such as schools and churches. In the late 20th century, structural changes in the railroads meant the loss of many industrial jobs, but the city has held on to a population close to its 1960 peak while developing new bases for the economy. The city is informally known as the "Trailer Capital of the Midwest", due to the high number of trailer manufacturers and dealers in the area.

Residents have emphasized the colorful history of the town for heritage tourism, and identified many significant historic structures for state and national recognition.

According to ''The History of the Boy Scouts of America'' (William D. Murray, 1937), the first Boy Scout Troop in Missouri (and one of the first in the nation) was formed in Sedalia in 1909, a year before the national organization was officially chartered on February 8, 1910.

===Tornadoes===
On October 24, 2021, a [[Enhanced Fujita scale|EF0]] tornado touched down east of Sedalia.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Staff|first=KMBC 9 News|date=2021-10-25|title=National Weather Service says several tornadoes touched down Sunday in Missouri|url=https://www.kmbc.com/article/national-weather-service-ef-0-tornadoes-hit-near-sedalia-1635193453/38057743|access-date=2021-10-26|website=KMBC|language=en-US}}</ref> It is the most recent tornado to strike Sedalia.