Prior to the 1800s , the first people to live in the Steelville area were groups likely tied to the Osage . These peoples were driven west into what modern-day Oklahoma . In the 1830s , the Trail of Tears , a government-sponsored forced march of the largest groups of the southeastern United States , passed through Steelville , with people primarily from the Choctaw and Cherokee tribes . They came mostly from Georgia , Alabama , Kentucky , and Tennessee and were forced to relocate to Oklahoma and the West . It is believed that they stopped in Steelville around the spring to rest , bury their dead , and get supplies
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
Steelville, Missouri