St Joseph,

St Joseph, a city of Missouri, capital of Buchanan county, is on the left bank of the Missouri River, 110 miles (68 by rail) above Kansas City. Eight lines of railway centre here, and the river is crossed by an iron railway and foot bridge (1873), which has five spans, one a pivot-draw span of 365 feet, and cost 1,500,000. Here are the state asylum for the insane and St Joseph College and other Roman Catholic institutions; the city was formerly a bishop's see. St Joseph has large pork-packing establishments and manufactories of stoves, ornamental and other ironwork, guns, carriages and wagons, clothing, furniture, brooms, beer, syrups, &c. Its wholesale trade considerably exceeds 100,000,000 annually. The first settler, an Indian trader, laid out the town in 1843, and by 1851, when incorporated as a city, it was famous as the starting-point for the long journey in wagons across the plains. Pop. (1870) 19,565; (1880) 32,431; (1890) 52,324. It suffered from a great fire in September 1893.