But strong divisions and prejudices remained. Newly freed African Americans found that racial bigotries of even some of the most ardent Unionists would mean their fight for the rights of freedom was far from over. The interests of St. Louis and the rural areas of the state remained disparate as the city industrialized, becoming the nation's fourth-largest urban center by the 1890s. In addition, the divisions between ex-Confederates and Unionists in the postwar period created strife as former guerrillas continued to terrorize the countryside, and Radical Republicans implemented repressive rules against former secessionists.

Over time some of these wounds healed, and, whether Union or Confederate, people went about preserving the memory of their fallen friends, family, and heroes. In other cases divisions endured, and those divisions would help to define how the state and the nation moved forward into the 20th century.