He never intended to be a pioneer, David McPherson recalled this week while visiting the Missouri Highway Patrol's General Headquarters.
"I thought I was coming to make a contribution," he said. "I'd served my country ... and I knew I wanted a law enforcement career."
But he knew he was going to be a pioneer as soon as he asked for an application, and the trooper working the desk in the Patrol's Kirkwood office told him: "Don't you know that we don't have any Negroes on the Highway Patrol in the state of Missouri?"