Statehood The 15th state Aug. 10, 1821 Captial Jefferson City State Motto The welfare of the people shall be the supreme law. Origin of State Name The name is taken from the Missouri River and is an Algonquian name for a group that lived near the mouth of the river. State Nickname The Show Me State In 1899 Congressman Willard D. Vandiver said: "I come from a country that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I'm from Missouri. You've got to show me." Interesting Facts Missouri suffered the most from the devasting flood of 1993, when flood crests set record heights along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Missouri is first in the nation in production of lead. Lead deposits led the French to found Sainte Genevieve, the first permanent European settlement in Missouri, about 1750. Among the early immigrants to St. Louis were Adolphus Busch and Eberhard Anheuser, who helped make brewing a national industry.