Traveling Tolins 2

  St Louis, September 24, 2022 St. Louis  is the second-largest city in  Missouri .  It sits near the  confluence  of the  Mississippi  and  Missouri Rivers .  In 2020, the  city proper  had a population of 301,578,  while the  bi-state metropolitan area , which extends into Illinois, had an estimated population of over 2.8 million, making it the largest metropolitan area in Missouri, the second-largest in Illinois, and the  20th-largest in the United States . Before  European settlement , the area was a regional center of  Native American   Mississippian culture .  St. Louis was founded on February 14, 1764, by  French fur traders   Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent ,   Pierre Laclède  and  Auguste Chouteau , who named it for  Louis IX of France .  In 1764, following France's defeat in the  Seven Years' War , the area was ceded to  Spain .  In 1800, it was  retroceded  to France, which sold it three years later to the United States as part of the  Louisiana Purchase ;  the cit

                     Hannibal, MO Home of Samuel Clemens  (Tom Sayers) Hannibal  is a city along the  Mississippi River  in  Marion  and  Ralls  counties in the  U.S. state  of  Missouri .  According to the  2020 U.S. Census , the population was 17,312,  making it the largest city in Marion County.  The bulk of the city is in Marion County, with a tiny sliver in the south extending into Ralls County. Developed for river traffic, today the city is tied to vehicle traffic, intersected by  Interstate 72  and  U.S. Routes 24 ,  36 , and  61 .  It is across the river from  East Hannibal, Illinois .  Hannibal is approximately 100 miles (160 km) northwest of  St. Louis  (also bordering the Mississippi), 210 miles (340 km) east-northeast of  Kansas City  and 194 miles (312 km) miles east of  Saint Joseph  (both cities on the Missouri River), and approximately 100 miles (160 km) west of  Springfield, Illinois . Hannibal is not the county seat, but it has one of two county courthouses.  There is