Saint Joseph

The founder the plaque names chose his town plan for profit. In 1843 Joseph Robidoux had two plats drawn, by Simeon Kemper and Frederick W. Smith, and took Smith's because its narrower streets left more ground to sell as lots. The plans were filed in St. Louis on July 26, and corner lots went for $150, inside lots for $100. Downtown streets carry the names of his children and of his wife, Angélique, and his trading offices, Robidoux Row, are on the National Register. Gambling losses left him far from rich when he died on May 27, 1868.

What the plaque says

Saint Joseph Renowned city of the Pony Express, St. Joseph was first settled as a trading post for the American Fur Co. by Joseph Robidoux, 1826. Later he acquired the site and laid out a town named for his patron saint, 1843. St. Joseph became an outfitting point for settlers in northwest Missouri and travelers on the Oregon-California trail. It was also a supply base for army posts and western gold mining camps. Here was the terminus of the first railroad to cross Missouri, the Hannibal and St. Joseph, 1859. The railway postal car, developed by W. A. Davis of St. Joseph, was first used on this line, 1862. April 3, 1860, the Pony Express was put in operation between here and Sacramento, Calif., by the freighting firm of Russell, Majors, and Waddell. Operated as a relay, it met the need for speedy mail service to the West and popularized the central over- land route. About 1,982 miles were covered regularly in 10 days, and 190 relay stations, 420 horses, and 80 riders were used. The record run was 7 days, 17 hours. The Pony Express was discontinued in October 1861. The telegraph then reached the coast. (See other side) Erected by State Historical Society of Missouri and State Highway Commission, 1953 Saint Joseph (Continued from other side) St. Joseph, industrial center of northwest Missouri, lies in the glacial plains region of the Missouri Valley, in a richly fertile area of grain, fruit, and livestock farming. Early impressed with the beauty of the site were geographer Maximilian, Prince of Wied, 1833; missionary priest Father De Smet, 1838; and ornithologist Audubon, 1843. The city is now noted for its food processing plants, grain and livestock markets, transportation facilities, and varied factories. Two bridges cross the Missouri River here. The city lies on land acquired from the Iowa, Sauk, and Fox Indians by the Platte Purchase, 1836. Since 1846 it has been the seat of Buchanan Co., one of 6 formed out of the Purchase, organized 1838, named for James Buchanan, U.S. President, 1857-61. Among points of interest are St. Joseph Museum; Patee House; Pony Express Stables; house where Jesse James was killed; locale of Eugene Field's courtship poem "Lover's Lane, St. Jo"; Beauvais House; Krug Park; and, 20 miles southwest, Lewis and Clark State Park. Here lived Mo. Govs. R. M. Stewart, 1857-61; W. P. Hall, 1864-65; Silas Woodson, 1873-75. Erected by State Historical Society of Missouri and State Highway Commission, 1953

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Pony Express National Museum — steps away
  The St. Joseph stables where the Pony Express began on April 3, 1860, now a museum that also tells how the venture was paid for and why it lasted eighteen months.
• Patee House Museum and Jesse James Home — 0.2 mi
  An 1858 St. Joseph hotel that held the Pony Express office, a Union provost marshal and two women's colleges, with the house where Jesse James was killed moved onto its lot.
• Glore Psychiatric Museum — 2.6 mi
  The history of State Lunatic Asylum No. 2 and of mental health treatment, told in the old hospital's surgery building beside a prison, with the Black Archives Museum under the same roof.
• Iowa and Sac & Fox Mission Museum — 22 mi
  The surviving part of an 1846 Presbyterian mission school near Highland, built largely with the tribes' own annuity money and returned to the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska in 2021. Closed during remodeling.

More markers nearby

• Elwood — 1.2 mi
• Troy — 11 mi
• Andrew County — 13 mi
• Platte County — 20 mi