Mexico

Mexico, city, seat (1837) of Audrain county, central Missouri, U.S. It is situated on the South Fork Salt River, 28 miles (45 km) northwest of Columbia. Founded (1836) by the Reverend Robert C. Mansfield and James H. Smith, it was named for a tavern sign reading “Mexico that-a-way.” Its commercial development was stimulated by the arrival (1858) of the railroad. Ulysses S. Grant was appointed a brigadier general of the Union Army while stationed there...