Central High School - Red and Black Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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, MW 4qAN L Q 9.3 . ,,...........-,.,.....-. ..-M . e 1 EQKTYW -.., ,. -, -.-, ,.,-..-..mN ,,,,Q 2 .. ,veg . ww-T115 ai Aww ea. f' determined to live on his native soil. But where was he to go? Why couldn't he build his settlement on the west side of the river? Was not that French soil? But was it? Unknown to Laclede, that land had been given to Spain. lt did not take him long to decide that Fort Chartres was inadequate and poorly situated for his purpose. Leaving his family, Laclede, together with Auguste Chouteau, and a few other followers, set out to explore the western bank of the river. They traveled many miles through the cold, unknown region. Laclede Iinally became interested in a spot later named Mill Creek Valley. Climbing to the top of a small hill, later named the Hill of St. Louis, he surveyed the land below. lt was a picturesque spot. Sloping down toward the river were two heavily wooded plateaus. These, he reasoned, would provide splendid ground on which to build a settlement, the trees furnishing adequate timber. Behind him, in the near distance, were the fertile plains. They would furnish the common fields. Descending from the hill, he studied the movement of the river. The current ran strong in shore, disappearing rapidly just off the strip of wet sand. Here was an excellent harbor for any settlement. Two gullies afforded access from the Hrst plateau to the river bank some twenty feet below. While the low, rocky cliff would afford protection from a swollen river, the gullies would make good boat landings. While the northern gully became the foot of Washington Avenue, the southern gully later became the foot of Walnut Street. Laclede marked the spot, so that he would know it when he returned, by blazing some trees. It is interesting to know that this spot later became the present site of the Old Court House. Since it was too cold to remain or even to think of starting a settlement, Laclede and his party went back to Fort Chartres, where he announced, I have found a situation where I intend to establish a settlement, which in the future shall become one of the most beautiful cities in America. When early spring arrived, Laclede sent Auguste Chouteau, then but a lad of thirteen years, at the head of a party of thirty men to build the first crude cabins of the new settlement, Laclede remaining at Fort Chartres to persuade as many of the French settlers as he could to move to the new village across the river. ln early March Laclede arrived, bringing with him a plan for his settlement. Let us see what it was to contain. There were to be three streets called Rue de L'Eglise, Rue des Ciranges, and Grand Rue. Of course there was a town square, called Place d' Armes, which faced the river, extending from our present Market Street to Walnut Street. A common Held was divided into forty strips, each of one hundred and ninety feet, and a settler was given one of these to cultivate for his own use. Of course every settlement must have a name. Laclede's had several names in its early history. At one time it was known as l,aclede's Village, after its III-11,711 er?

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7 5 Q X . . I 'I' X,hv . THE CITY By the Eerg kilns and the noisy marls. By city and town I race, The smiles and tears of u million hcarls Are mirrored in my face: The hiss and Ihr' Curse, the sob und the song. The cry of the weak ami the shout of Ihr szrongi I gather them all as I hurry along, And srutler' them all apuce. From The Great River ffFrederick Oakes Sylvester N the banks of the mighty Mississippi there stands a glorious city as a monument to a young man and his stepson who gave of their money, of their thoughts, and of their very lives to conceive a settlement which was to have all the advantages one could desire, which might become a very considerable hereafter. Today the same settlement that was born under the eyes of those two adventurers has grown and prospered beyond human con- ception, until now it is the foundation of a great metropolitan city, many of whose buildings of granite and marble brush the very clouds of heaven with their towering pinnacles, many of whose industries rival-surpass sometimes- those of its country and even of the world, and whose bridges of iron and steel form a golden gateway to a golden west. Surely it would be of the greatest interest to all to look back and see in the eyes of our minds the romance and tragedy, the joys and sorrows, the obstacles that have risen and fallen in the ages past that have made a great city out of a tiny settlement, that have made it more than a mass of stone, steel, and glass, have given to it a heart and soul to understand. Let us now turn back the pages of time and note how this great city of ours reached its present height. A man and two treaties made St. Louis. In November of 1762 Louis XV of France gave to the King of Spain, in a written form, the Louisiana territory. The undelivered gift was kept an international secret. Three months later Louis purchased peace with England by giving her what had been French possessions east of the Mississippi. These were the treaties that afforded Pierre Laclede, a French fur-trader, the opportunity to found his city. When, in 1762, Laclede received a grant from the French government at New Orleans conferring on him the privilege of exclusive trade with the savages of the Missouri for a term of eight years, a company, consisting of mechanics, trappers, hunters, and farmers, was hastily organized. In August of the following year Laclede's company, including little Auguste Chouteau, Laclede's stepson, left New Orleans. In those days there were no steamboats and the trip up the river proved to be a long, rough journey. And when in three months, they reached Fort Chartres, a settlement across the river and ten miles above St. Genevieve, Laclede found, much to his disappointment, that he was on English soil. Now what was to be done? Being a true Frenchman, Laclede was Seventeen

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Q- 3 H . it itll ., j .,A. , founder. It is frequently called The Mound City because of the large number of Indian mounds found here. But the name by which the world now knows it, was given by Laclede, himself, in honor of Louis IX, the patron saint of the then ruling Louis XV. When Laclede returned to the east side of the river, many of the French people asked that they be permitted to live in his new settlement. Laclede was eager to have them, for he realized that it would take people to put a new settlement on its feet. 0 A ik' 9 I' ima-Ffa: 3:51.--:Q ' ui--555 femme - .,--'U'---J --J -- -- -- ll 11 J --I . - DE mol n,ll,,Gl.l, ll lfl it tml for uma UUELMJDVWQI an :gr tu toss :ml CD53 l 11111111 'El lil lil Ill-.ll lQ9g TTTT-Eiiig -'-iii?-i, E - ,-f-!'7l2?E-T sig., Ti-' THE ssrvhrgiiuibrsr Lows - ' 1764 s FROM FUR-TRADING VILLAGE TO CITY fffourtesif of Miss Dena Langej E I MTBF Yours Population Years Population Years Population Years Population 1764 120 1820 4,928 1840 16,469 1870 310,963 1780 687 1828 5,000 1844 34,140 1890 575,238 1785 897 1830 5,852 1850 74,439 1910 687,029 1788 1,197 1833 6,397 1852 94,000 1920 772,897 1799 925 1835 8,316 1856 125,200 1930 821,960 1811 1,400 1837 12,040 1860 160,773 The permanence of St. Louis was established between 1764 and 1800. The settlement had not grown extensively as to the number of inhabitants, but it had progressed. It had rooted deeply and boldly. Every year saw the radius of the St. Louis sphere of influence lengthen. Up the Missouri crept a line of Out-pOSIS, tributary to St. Louis, each far more important to our city than hundreds of added inhabitants. The traders established and cultivated friendly relations with the Indians. The fur trade proved all it was expected to be, yielding as high as 200025 profit. As yet no hard money had been introduced. Land, food, clothing, in fact almost everything was bought with furs. However, fur trading had its problems. The city had too many fur-traders and not enough farmers. St. Louis became known, from New Orleans to Montreal, for its shortage of bread. Other settlements sent out fur-trading expeditions into the Missouri Nineteen