As Gateway Arch Turns 50, Its Message Gets Reframed

For all the wonder and appreciation St. Louis' Gateway Arch monument inspires, some see the message and history of the Arch as divisive.

For instance, the Arch was built to honor St. Louis' role in westward expansion, a time when Manifest Destiny was used to push Native Americans and Mexicans out of their lands. The museum under the Arch is being redesigned to include that perspective. National Park Service historian Bob Moore says the original museum left a lot of people out of the story.

"Why did they feel that they could go out and just take these lands?" Moore says. "Basically they believed it was their God-given right."