Springfield, Missouri

==History==
[[File:1a. Springfield Missouri.png|thumb]]
[[File:Flag of Springfield, Missouri (1938–2022).gif|thumb|This flag of Springfield, Missouri, was used from 1938 to 2022.]]
The origin of the city's name is unclear, but the most common view is that it was named by migrants from [[Springfield, Massachusetts|Springfield]], [[Massachusetts]]. One account is that James Wilson, who lived in the new settlement, offered free [[whiskey]] to anyone who would vote for the name Springfield, after his hometown in Massachusetts.<ref>Dark, Phyllis & Harris. ''Springfield of the Ozarks: An Illustrated History.'' Windsor Publications, 1981. {{ISBN|0-89781-028-7}}.</ref>

''Springfield Express'' editor J. G. Newbill said in the November 11, 1881, issue: "It has been stated that this city got its name from the fact of a spring and field being near by just west of town. But such is not a correct version. When the authorized persons met and adopted the title of the 'Future Great' of the Southwest, several of the earliest settlers had handed in their favorite names, among whom was Kindred Rose, who presented the winning name in honor of his hometown, [[Springfield, Tennessee|Springfield]], [[Tennessee]]."<ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/history/holcombe/grch29pt1.html |title=History of Greene County, Missouri |website=Thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org |access-date=April 28, 2017 |archive-date=May 19, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090519191618/http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/history/holcombe/grch29pt1.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1883, historian R. I. Holcombe wrote: "The town took its name from the circumstance of there being a spring under the hill, on the creek, while on top of the hill, where the principal portion of the town lay, there was a field."<ref name=":0"/>

===Early settlement===
Native American peoples had long lived in this area. In the 1830s, the native [[Osage Nation]], the [[Kickapoo people]] from Indiana, and the [[Lenape]] (Delaware) from the mid-Atlantic coast had settled in this general area trying to evade encroachment by European Americans on their lands. The Osage had been the dominant tribe for more than one century in the larger region.<ref name=":1" />

On the southeastern side of the town in 1812, about 500 [[Kickapoo people|Kickapoo]] built a small village of about 100 [[wigwams]]. They abandoned the site in 1828.

Ten miles south of the site of Springfield, the Lenape had built a substantial community of houses that borrowed elements of Anglo colonial style from the mid-Atlantic, where some of their people had migrated from.<ref name=":0" />

The first European-American settlers to the area were John Polk Campbell and his brother, who reached this area in 1829 from Tennessee. Campbell chose the area because of the presence of a natural well that flowed into a small stream. He staked his claim by carving his initials in a tree.<ref name=":1" /> Campbell was joined by settlers Thomas Finney, Samuel Weaver, and Joseph Miller. They cleared the land of trees to develop it for farms. A small general store was soon opened.<ref name=":0" />

In 1833, the southern part of the state was named Greene County after Revolutionary War hero [[Nathanael Greene|General Nathanael Greene]].<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gcmohs/2nd_level/brief_history.html|title=A brief history of Greene County, Missouri|website=www.rootsweb.ancestry.com|access-date=September 6, 2017}}</ref> Campbell Township was one of the seven original townships organized on March 11, 1833, when Greene County was much larger.

An 1876 map shows its boundaries include all the sections in T29N and R21 and 22W. It was bounded by Center Township on the west, Robberson, and Franklin Townships on the north, Taylor Township on the east, and Wilson and Clay Townships on the south.<ref>[https://greenecountymo.gov/archives/ha1876/table.php County of Greene Historical Archives: 1876 Illustrated Historical Atlas Of Greene County, Missouri.] Accessed August 20, 2021.</ref> (Later, Campbell was split into Campbell No. 1 Township and Campbell No. 2 Township, then into North Campbell No. 1 Township, North Campbell No. 2 Township, and North Campbell No. 3 Township.){{Citation needed|reason=Source needed for the split of Campbell Township|date=October 2023}}

The county seat of Springfield is located in Campbell Township due to the efforts of John Polk Campbell. The township is named after John Polk Campbell, who donated the land for Springfield's public square and platted the town site.<ref>[http://sites.rootsweb.com/~gcmohs/3rd_level/township_03.htm Greene County Historical Society: Campbell Township], accessed August 20, 2021.</ref> In 1835 he deeded 50 acres of land to the legislature for the creation of a county seat. Campbell laid out city streets and lots.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thelibrary.org/lochist/history/holcombe/toc.html|title=History of Greene County, Missouri|website=thelibrary.org|access-date=September 6, 2017}}</ref> The town was incorporated in 1838.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thelibrary.org/lochist/history/holcombe/toc.html|title=History of Greene County, Missouri|website=thelibrary.org|access-date=September 7, 2017}}</ref> In 1878, the town got its nickname as the "Queen City of the Ozarks".<ref name=":1" />

The United States government enforced [[Indian Removal]] during the 1830s, forcing land cessions in the Southeast and other areas, and relocating tribes from east of the Mississippi River to [[Indian Territory]]. This later developed as the state of Oklahoma in 1908.

During the 1838 relocation of most of the [[Cherokee]], the [[Trail of Tears]] passed through Springfield to the west, along the [[Old Wire Road]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ozarkgreenways.org/explore/greenway-trails/trail-of-tears/|title=Greenway Trails {{!}} Ozark Greenways|last=Creative|first=Demi|website=ozarkgreenways.org|access-date=September 6, 2017}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite web|url=https://www.springfieldmo.org/springfield-history|title=Springfield History - Springfield Missouri Travel & Tourism - Ozarks/Midwest Vacations|website=www.springfieldmo.org|access-date=September 6, 2017}}</ref>

===Civil War===
By 1861, Springfield's population had grown to approximately 2,000, and it had become an important commercial hub. In the late 1850s, telegraph lines, previously connected only as far as St. Louis, reached Springfield. News from points further west was brought to Springfield overland. It was sent by telegraph to what was then called the New York Associated Press.

At the start of the [[American Civil War]], Springfield was divided in its loyalty. It had been settled by people from both the North and South, including slaveholders. It also attracted many [[German Americans in the American Civil War|German immigrants]] in the mid-19th century, who tended to support the Union.

The Union and Confederate armies both recognized the city's strategic importance and sought to control it. They fought the [[Battle of Wilson's Creek]] on August 10, 1861, a few miles southwest of town.<ref name=":0" /> The battle was a Confederate victory, and [[Nathaniel Lyon]] was killed here, the first Union General to die in the Civil War. Union troops retreated to the nearby town of [[Lebanon, Missouri|Lebanon]] to regroup. When they returned, they found that most of the Confederate army had withdrawn.<ref name=":2" />

On October 25, 1861, Union Major [[Charles Zagonyi]] led an attack against the remaining Confederates in the area, in a battle known as the [[Battle of Springfield I|First Battle of Springfield]], or Zagonyi's Charge. Zagonyi's men removed the Confederate flag from Springfield's public square and returned to camp. It was the only Union victory in southwestern Missouri in 1861.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thelibrary.org/lochist/historicalsites/17.cfm|title=Zagonyi's Charge|website=thelibrary.org|access-date=September 6, 2017}}</ref> The increased military activity in the area set the stage for the [[Battle of Pea Ridge]] in northern Arkansas in March 1862.<ref name=":2" />

On January 8, 1863, Confederate forces under General [[John S. Marmaduke]] advanced to take control of Springfield and an urban fight ensued. But that evening, the Confederates withdrew. This became known as the [[Battle of Springfield II|Second Battle of Springfield]]. Marmaduke sent a message to the Union forces asking that Confederate casualties have a proper burial. The city remained under Union control for the remainder of the war.<ref name=":2" /> The US army used Springfield as a supply base and central point of operation for military activities in the area.<ref name=":0" />

Promptly after the Civil War ended on July 21, 1865, [[Wild Bill Hickok]] shot and killed [[Davis Tutt]] in a [[Wild Bill Hickok – Davis Tutt shootout|shootout]] over a disagreement about a debt Tutt claimed Hickok owed him. During a poker game at the former Lyon House Hotel, in response to the disagreement over the amount, Tutt had taken Hickok's watch, which Hickok immediately demanded be returned. Hickok warned that Tutt had better not be seen wearing that watch, then spotted him wearing it in Park Central Square, prompting the gunfight.

On January 25, 1866, Hickok was still in Springfield when he witnessed a Springfield police officer, John Orr, shoot and kill James Coleman after Coleman interfered with the arrest of Coleman's friend Bingham, who was drunk and disorderly. Hickok provided testimony in the case. Orr was arrested, released on bail, and immediately fled the country. He was never brought to trial or heard from again.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thelibrary.org/lochist/history/holcombe/grch30pt1.html|title = History of Greene County, Missouri}}</ref>

===Race relations===
====Lynchings====
From the period after [[Reconstruction era|Reconstruction]] into the early 20th century, lynchings of [[freedmen]] and their descendants occurred in some cities and counties in Missouri, particularly in former slaveholding areas.

On April 14, 1906, a white mob broke into the Springfield county jail, and [[Lynching in the United States|lynched]] two black men, Horace Duncan and Fred Coker, for allegedly sexually assaulting Mina Edwards, a white woman. Later they returned to the jail, where other African-American prisoners were being held, and pulled out Will Allen, who had been accused of murdering a white man. All three suspects were hanged from the Gottfried Tower, which held a replica of the [[Statue of Liberty]]

Their bodies were burned in the courthouse square by a mob of more than 2,000 white residents. Judge Azariah W. Lincoln called for a grand jury, but no one was prosecuted. The proceedings were covered by national newspapers, including the ''[[New York Times]]'' and ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''.<ref name="aamuseum"/>

Duncan's and Coker's employer testified that they were at his business at the time of the crime against Edwards, and other evidence suggested that they and Allen were all innocent.<ref name="aamuseum"/><ref name="harper">[https://books.google.com/books?id=QRR-xMoF0BIC&q=William+Allen,+Springfield,+April+15,+1906 Kimberly Harper, ''White Man's Heaven: The Lynching and Expulsion of Blacks in the Southern Ozarks, 1894-1909''], University of Arkansas Press, 2012, pp. 144-145</ref> These three are the only recorded lynchings in Greene County.<ref name="lynching">[https://eji.org/sites/default/files/lynching-in-america-third-edition-summary.pdf ''Lynching in America''/ ''Supplement: Lynchings by County, 3rd edition''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023063004/https://eji.org/sites/default/files/lynching-in-america-third-edition-summary.pdf |date=October 23, 2017 }}, Montgomery, Alabama: Equal Justice Initiative, 2015, p. 7</ref>

But the extrajudicial murders were part of a pattern of discrimination, repeated violence and intimidation of African Americans in this city and southwest Missouri from 1894 to 1909, in an attempt to expel them from the region.<ref name="harper1"/> Whites in the bordering [[Lawrence County, Missouri|Lawrence County]] also lynched three African-American men in this period.<ref name="lynching"/> After the mass lynching in Springfield, many African Americans left the region.<ref name="harper1">Harper (2012), ''White Man's Heaven''</ref>

A historic plaque on the southeast corner of the Springfield courthouse square commemorates Duncan, Coker, and Allen, the three victims of mob violence.<ref name="aamuseum">{{cite web|url=http://oaahm.omeka.net/exhibits/show/exodus/ozarksraceriots/springfield|title=Ozarks Afro-American History Museum Online {{!}} Springfield: April 14, 1906 · Lynchings and Exodus|website=oaahm.omeka.net|access-date=October 31, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historicjoplin.org/?p=434|title=Historic Joplin » Blog Archive » 105th Anniversary of Springfield's 'Easter Offering'|website=www.historicjoplin.org|access-date=October 31, 2016}}</ref>

===Country music===
Four nationally broadcast [[television series]] originated from the city between 1955 and 1961: ''[[Ozark Jubilee]]'' and its spin-off, ''[[Five Star Jubilee]]''; ''[[Talent Varieties]]''; and ''[[The Eddy Arnold Show]]''. All were carried live by [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] except for ''Five Star Jubilee'' on [[NBC]]. They were produced by Springfield's Crossroads TV Productions, owned by [[Ralph D. Foster]].

Many of the biggest names in [[country music]] frequently visited or lived in Springfield at the time. City officials estimated the programs meant about 2,000 weekly visitors and "over $1,000,000 in fresh income."<ref>Dessauer, Phil "Springfield, Mo.-Radio City of Country Music" (April 1957), ''[[Coronet (magazine)|Coronet]]'', p. 152</ref>

Staged at the Jewell Theatre (demolished in 1961), ''Ozark Jubilee'' is the first national country music TV show to feature top stars and attract a significant viewership. ''Five Star Jubilee'', produced from the [[Landers Theatre]], was the first network [[color television]] series to originate outside of New York City or Hollywood.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.springfieldlittletheatre.org/about/the-landers-theatre/five-star-jubilee/|title=Five Star Jubilee|website=Springfield Little Theatre}}</ref> Springfield's NBC affiliate, [[KYTV-TV]] (which helped produce the program), was not equipped to broadcast in color and aired the show in [[black-and-white]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

The [[Citadel Media#ABC Radio|ABC]], [[NBC Red Network|NBC]] and [[Mutual Broadcasting System|Mutual]] [[radio network]]s all carried country music shows nationally from Springfield during the decade, including KWTO'S ''Korn's-A-Krackin{{'}}'' (Mutual).

===The Ozark Hillbilly Medallion===
The Springfield Chamber of Commerce once presented visiting dignitaries with an "Ozark [[Hillbilly]] Medallion" and a certificate proclaiming the honoree a "hillbilly of the Ozarks". On June 7, 1953, U.S. President [[Harry Truman]] [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/publicpapers/index.php?pid=2414&st=&st1= received the medallion after a breakfast speech] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607121957/http://www.trumanlibrary.org/publicpapers/index.php?pid=2414&st=&st1= |date=June 7, 2011 }}) at the Shrine Mosque for a reunion of the [[35th Infantry Division (United States)|35th Division]]. Other recipients included [[US Army]] generals [[Omar Bradley]] and [[Matthew Ridgway]], [[Dewey Jackson Short|US Representative Dewey Short]], [[James Cash Penney|J. C. Penney]], [[Johnny Olson]], [[Ralph Story]] and disc jockey [[Nelson King]].<ref>Dessauer, Phil "Springfield, Mo.-Radio City of Country Music" (April 1957), ''[[Coronet (magazine)|Coronet]]'', p. 151</ref><ref>"First C&W Deejay Conclave" (June 23, 1956), ''[[Billboard (magazine)|The Billboard]]'', p. 40</ref>