Just a few decades after the American Revolution, the United States again fought the British in a demand for neutral rights.

The War of 1812 was a serious threat to settlements along the Missouri River corridor. Indian attacks, primarily the work of the Sac and Fox tribes that were instigated by the British, encouraged Missourians to take up arms in the war. The British outposts supplied Indian tribes with guns and ammunition, causing trouble on the Missouri frontier. The attacks were in response to western land hunger. The constant pressure on the federal government to open new lands for American settlers repeatedly forced or persuaded Native American tribes to sign treaties giving over more of their land each year.

Missouri territorial officials organized and raised several companies of rangers. There were no major battles in the territory. Fighting was characterized by a series of Indian raids, skirmishes, and atrocities. Almost all of these took place in the areas north of the Missouri River, either in the Boon's Lick region or along the Missouri and upper Mississippi rivers. During this period, there were two federal forts in Missouri Territory: Fort Bellefontaine and Fort Osage.

The Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812, was signed on Christmas Day in 1814. By 1816, significant Indian resistance to white settlers in Missouri was at an end.

Source: Soldiers Database: War of 1812 - World War I

Source: Ray County Chapters, Articles from the "Richmond Missourian", volume 2 -1931, p 84.