PART II.EARLY DAYS IN MISSOURI

ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO THE territory west of the Mississippi river was as unknown to the civilized races of mankind as the wilds of Central Africa are today. Eighty-one years ago there

was not an American settlement west of Kentucky, and the Indians of Illinois, part of Ohio, and all that vast territory lying to the north, west and south-west, were undisturbed in their hunting grounds. There were doubtless tribes in the remote West who had never heard of white men, or of the coming of a superior race that was to drive them, finally, into the Pacific Ocean. Now this immense continent is dotted with large cities, thriving villages, and neat farm houses; in every valley is heard the puffing of the iron horse; and there is hardly a foot of ground that has not been trod, time and again, by the feet of white men. School houses and workshops have pushed the smoky wigwams aside, and leviathan steamboats plow and churn the waters over which the stealthy canoe once glided. There are places which we call old, and view with reverence as the abode of our ancestors, that have not yet seen a century! We talk of antiquities, and proudly point out to strangers our “old landmarks,” and yet there are men and women still living who remember when Daniel Boone came to—Upper Louisiana, or New Spain. St. Louis was then an

insignificant French village—now it is the third city of the United States and the metropolis of the Mississippi Valley! The Mississippi Valley! A continent within itself, that numbers its population by millions! St, Charles was an Indian trading post, and the country twenty miles west of it had been visited by only a few bold hunters. When Daniel Boone came, he went away out into the wilderness, among the Indians and wild animals—twenty miles west of St. Charles! and there he settled. When the grandfather of the writer arrived in St. Louis, seventy-six years

ago, the Spanish commandant would not give him a permit to settle near the present town of Cap-au-Gris, in Lincoln county, because it was too far out on the frontier, and exposed to attacks

from the Indians!

No one can view the astonishing growth of this great country without amazement. It has sprung up as if by the conjuration of some mighty magician, and one who lives in this good year of 1876 can hardly realize what Missouri and the West were eighty one years ago.

In 1764 a company of French merchants settled where the great city of St. Louis now stands. They had received from the Director-General of Louisiana an exclusive license to trade with the Indian nations on the Missouri, and they called their settlement, or encampment, St. Louis, in honor of their sovereign, the king of France. In the autumn of the previous year (1763) a French settlement had been established at Ste. Genevieve; and as early as 1720 Fort Chartres, in Illinois, had been built by the French. In 1762 the territory west of the Mississippi was ceded to Spain, but the little band of merchants at St. Louis did not hear of the treaty until three years after. Communication between the old and the new world was not so rapid then as now.

In 1705 a party of French traders and explorers ascended the Missouri to the Kansas river, on the now extreme western boundary of the State of Missouri. They found the Indians friendly, and glad of the opportunity to trade with them. The French have always been very fortunate in their intercourse with the red men.

For many years after its discovery, America was supposed to abound in gold and silver, and most of the early expeditions were undertaken for the purpose of seeking those precious metals. In 1711, the Sieur de Lochon was sent out from France, by the Company of the West, to seek for precious metals within the present limits of Missouri. He commenced digging on the

Meramec, and drew up a large (quantity of ore, from which he obtained, according to his account, two drachms of silver ; but his statement was generally disbelieved. He subsequently obtained a small amount of lead, and then returned to France. Other expeditions were sent out at different times, but their success was not gratifying. In 1719 Sieur Renault, one of the directors of a private company, left France with two hundred artificers and miners, provided with tools, and whatever else was necessary for carrying the object of the company into effect. In his passage he touched at the island of St. Domingo, and purchased five hundred slaves to work in the mines. Entering the Mississippi, he pursued his voyage up that river to New Orleans, which he reached sometime in 1720, and soon afterward proceeded on his way to Kaskaskia, in Illinois. Establishing himself near that place, he sent out mining and exploring expeditions into different parts of Illinois and Louisiana. These parties were headed cither by himself or M, La Motte, an agent, who was well versed in the knowledge of minerals, and whom he had brought with him from France. In one of these expeditions, La Motte discovered the lead mines in St. Francois, which still bear his name; and Renault discovered the extensive mines north of Potosi, which are still called after the discoverer. Numerous other mines were discovered and extensively worked, and the remains of their antique works, overgrown with brush and trees, are still to be found. The lead was conveyed from the interior on pack-horses, and sent to New Orleans, from whence it was shipped to France:

The war between France and Spain, which commenced in 1719, extended to the territory of Louisiana, and agents of the rival governments were constantly at work among the Indians, each endeavoring to stir up their animosity against the other. Sometime between 1720 and 1724, the French sent an expedition up the Missouri river, which landed on an island a considerable distance above the mouth of the Osage. Here a fort was built, which they called Fort Orleans. On the arrival of this force, the different tribes of Indians in the vicinity were engaged in a bloody war, which greatly diminished the trade and rendered intercourse with them extremely hazardous. The French, therefore, desired to bring about a general peace, and commenced negotiations for that purpose. Their efforts ‘were crowned with the desired success in 1724. Soon after this event, however, Fort Orleans was attacked and totally destroyed, and all the garrison massacred. It was never known by whom this bloody work was done.

The French now began to experience trouble with the Indians, and for sixteen years a desultory warfare was kept up. Renault, however, remained in the colony, and continued to work the lead mines until 1742, when he returned to France.

Four years after the treaty of 1762, Spain made an attempt to take possession of her newly acquired territory, but there was so much opposition on the part of the inhabitants, that the Spanish Governor and his troops were compelled to abandon their design and return to Havana. The government continued to be administered in the name of the French King until 1769, when it was peaceably transferred to the Spanish government, the people having become reconciled to the change, from a conviction that it was inevitable. Louisiana was re-ceded to France in 1800, and three years afterward it was ceded by France to the United States. Its substantial growth may be dated from that period. The beneficent laws and institutions of our republic, united with an unsurpassed climate, a soil exhaustless in its fertility, and a people distinguished for their intelligence and enterprise, could not fail to produce a great and prosperous country. Its progress, however, has been more rapid than the wildest enthusiast could have imagined, and, though less than a century old, our institutions rank with those of the oldest and most progressive nations of the world. Having accomplished so much in two-thirds of the first century of our existence, what may we not hope and expect of the century which is to follow?

FIRST AMERICAN SETTLEMENTS

The first American settlements within the present limits of the State of Missouri, were made in 1795, on Femme Osage creek, in what is now St. Charles county. From that time they rapidly extended in all directions, except during a period of three years, while the Indian war lasted, when everything remained at a stand-still. The first American settlements in the present counties of Warren, Montgomery, and Callaway were made from 1800 to 1815.

When Daniel Boone came to Missouri (which was then called Upper Louisiana or New Spain), in 1795, there was a French village and Indian trading post at St. Charles, at that time the most remote settlement of white people on the continent of North America. The place was then called Les Petite Cotes (little hills), which was afterward changed to Village des Cotes (the village of the hills), which names were applied to it on account of its beautiful, elevated location. When the Americans began to settle there and in the vicinity, they found the name hard to pronounce and understand, and it was changed to St. Charles, but by whom or when is not positively known.

He was one of those who encountered perils and endured, privations, not from necessity, but from choice; for he had been born to affluence, and had every indulgence consistent with wealth and station, but from a boy had spurned, with Spartan prejudice, every effeminate trait, and had accomplished himself in every hardy and manly exercise. When he had attained his majority, he sailed for America, then the El Dorado of all the visionary, roving and restless spirits of the age. He loved the Indian and the wilderness, and after a sojourn in the wilds for some months, the attractions of La Belle France...