USA > Missouri > Scotland County > History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records > Part 1
USA > Missouri > Lewis County > History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records > Part 1
USA > Missouri > Clark County > History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records > Part 1
USA > Missouri > Knox County > History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records > Part 1
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M. L
Gc 977.8 H629 1142789
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
2
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01053 4490
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018
https://archive.org/details/historyoflewiscl00good
GEO: M. SOMERVIER
CIHLLICOTHE
CJE
HISTORY
OF
LEWIS, CLARK, KNOX AND SCOTLAND COUNTIES,
MISSOURI.
FROM THE EARLIEST TIME TO THE PRESENT; TOGETHER WITH SUNDRY PERSONAL, BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL SKETCHES AND NU- MEROUS FAMILY RECORDS; BESIDES A VALUABLE FUND OF NOTES, ORIGINAL OBSERVATIONS, ETC., ETC.
ILLUSTRATED.
ST. LOUIS AND CHICAGO: THE GOODSPEED PUBLISHING CO. 1887.
CHICAGO. JOHN MORRIS COMPANY, PRINTERS. 1887.
1142789
PREFACE.
This volume has been prepared in response to the prevailing and popular demand for the preservation of local history and biography. The method of preparation followed is the most successful and the most satisfactory yet devised-the most successful in the enormous number of volumes circulated, and the most satisfactory in the general preservation of personal biography and family record conjointly with local history. The number of volumes now being distributed seems fab- ulous. Careful estimates place the number circulated in Ohio at 50,- 000 volumes; Pennsylvania, 60,000; New York, 75,000; Indiana, 40,000; Illinois, 40,000; Iowa, 35,000; Missouri, 25,000; Minnesota, 15,000; Nebraska, 15,000, and all the other States at the same propor- tionate rate. The southern half of Missouri has as yet scarcely been touched by the historian, but is now being rapidly written.
The design of the present extensive historical and biographical re- search is more to gather and preserve in attractive form, while fresh with the evidence of truth, the enormous fund of perishing occurrence, than to abstract from insufficient contemporaneous data remote, doubt- ful or incorrect conclusions. The true perspective of the landscape of life can only be seen from the distance that lends enchantment to the view. It is asserted that no person is competent to write a philosoph- ical history of his own time; that, owing to imperfect and convicting circumstantial evidence, that yet conceals instead of reveals the truth, he can not take that correct, unprejudiced, logical, luminous and comprehensive view of passing events that will enable him to draw accurate and enduring conclusions. The duty, then, of a histo- rian of his own time is to collect, classify and preserve the material for the final historian of the future. The present historian deals in fact; the future historian in conclusion. The work of the former is sta- tistical; of the latter, philosophical.
To him who has not attempted the collection of historical data, the obstacles to be surmounted are unknown. Doubtful traditions, conflicting statements, imperfect records, inaccurate public and private correspondence, the bias or untruthfulness of informers, and the general obscurity which, more or less, 'envelops all passing events, combine to bewilder and mislead. The publishers of this volume, fully aware of their inability to furnish a perfect history, an accom- plishment vouchsafed to the imagination only of the dreamer or the theorist, make no pretension of having prepared a work devoid of blemish. They feel assured that all thoughtful people, at present and in future, will recognize and appreciate the importance of their under- taking, and the great public benefit that has been accomplished.
10 M Gender 37.50
IV
PREFACE.
In the preparation of this volume the publishers have met with nothing but courtesy and assistance from the public. It will be ob- served that the space devoted to the history of Lewis County exceeds that given to the other counties. This is due to the fact that, al- though Porter's raid extended more or less over the other counties, it was thought best to treat the subject as an entirety rather than divide it among the four counties, and thus destroy its completeness and harmony. This is also true of several other topics. No subject prom- ised is omitted, and many not promised are given. The number of pages given exceeds the number promised by over 400-a volume alone. The duplicate folios at the close of the historical, and the be- ginning of the biographical department, are due to the necessity of printing the biographies before the history of Knox County was ready, the latter having been unavoidably delayed. The publishers, thank- ful to the citizens for the success of their difficult enterprise, feel that they have fully complied with the promise of their prospectus, and, therefore, with much satisfaction, tender this fine volume to their patrons.
DECEMBER, 1887.
THE PUBLISHERS.
CONTENTS.
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
PAGE.
Abolition Liberators. 62
Monticello Bridge Skirmish.
87
Masonic Lodges. 193
Miscellaneous Organizations. 201
Methodism.
187
Monticello Seminary
182
Municipal Townships, The. 148
Mound Builders, The. 10
Monticello
216
Maywood
223
Miscellaneous Items 47
Marriages, Early
52
Notes, Sundry
53-57
Nativity of Settlers, etc.
57
Organization of the County 37
210
Oneida.
226
Odd Fellow Lodges. 195
Preparation for War 74
Porter Campaign, The 90
Presbyterians, The
191
Patrons of Husbandry 198
Politics, Early ..
33
Pike's Expedition
20
Principal Bridges
202
Quincy, Missouri & Pacific Railroad 173
Raid on Canton, The. 92
Elections from 1840 to 1861. 67 Roster of Twenty-first Regiment 108-111
Ezekiel Pratt, Death of 96
Elections, The first.
42
Elections, Later. 44-47
Era of Settlement ... 15
Elections Since the War 207-209 Fourth of July, 1861 .. 76 French Explorers, Other 12
Grassy Creek Skirmish .. 95
Grand Army of the Republic. 197
Home Guards, The
75
Hennepin's Expedition 10
Tolona
224
Towns of Lewis County 213-231
Indian Treaties.
16
Jerusalem ..
224
Kennonsville.
226
Tully.
224
La Grange and other Meetings
70
United Ancient Order of Druids.
198
Volunteers of Early Wars
61
Land Entries, The First.
30-33
Valuation of Taxable Property
203-206
Williamstown.
219
La Grange College 181
La Belle
220
Lewiston
222
La Grange ..
226
Military Preparations, Active.
78-83
PAGE.
Augusta ...
226
Attorneys, Roll of .. 41
Ancient Order of United Workmen 197
Baptist Churches. 182
Banking Institutions
198
Bozarths, Settlement of the
26
Congregationalists
192
Catholics.
193
County Institutions. 202
Civil War, First year of 68
Clapp's Ford Skirmish 83
Campaign Against Porter.
114-143
Commerce and Navigation.
174
Christian University ..
176
County Court, The Early
38 40
Canton
213
Dunkards 192
Drainage.
59
Durham 223
Defunct Towns 224
Emancipation ... 98
Enlistments, Federal and Confederate. 100
Events Subsequent to 1850 65
Roster of Sixty-ninth Regiment 112-114
Reconstruction Period, The. 143-148
Railroads
170
Sixty-ninth Enrolled Missouri Militia. 111
Settlements, The first
25
Settlements, Later
29
Slavery
50
Spanish Occupation, The ..
14
Whites on the Upper Mississippi.
9
War Incidents from 1862 to 1868.
89
William Gallup Executed
99
Western Academy
181
HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
Athens. 349
Board of Justices, First. 268
Anti-Horse-Thief Association. 347 Bench and Bar. 334 Ashton. 362
Black Hawk War, The. 245 Alexandria ...... 336
Banqueting the Indians ..
248
Agriculture
262
Clark County Agricultural and Mechanical
Association
264
Battle of Athens.
378
Baird Case, The.
312
County Organization
266
Officials, Prominent
Circuit Court, The Early
County Officials, List of
211-213
Troops for the Mexican War 65 Twenty-first Missouri Infantry 102
VI
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
County Seat, The.
269
Other Important Cases. 319
Civil Townships ...
273
Old Settler's Reunion ... 255
County Officers. 289
Public Highways 275
Circuit Court, The.
308
Public Lands 260
County Court, The
305
Permanent Settlement 241
Pike's Discoveries. 240
Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
402
Clark City
362
Coroner's Inquest.
332
Peakeville 351
Early Schools 391
Presbyterian Church
401
Explorations of Marquette and Joliet.
237
Early Acts of the County Board.
278
Removal of the County Seat ... 279
297
Finances, Bonds, etc.
292
Gregory's Landing
339
393 Scholastic Population St. Patrick. 362
Gigantic Scheme, A.
357
Shipments 354
Going to Mill
256
Honey War, The
369
State of Missouri vs. William Young .. 324
High Water.
281
Slavery 304
Iowa War, The
363
Settlement, Continued 250
Kahoka College
394
Kahoka
351
Territory Attached 274
Taxation. 299
Lancaster. 335
233
Land Entries, The First.
253
Union 351
Mexican War ... 377
Vernon Township Bonds. 298
Murder of the Spencer Family. 321
Wayland. 361
Mound Builders. 236
New Townships. 278
Waterloo. 342
New Civil Townships 288
Wild Animals
357
Other Atrocities
389
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND COUNTY.
Anecdotes of the Indians' 423
Agricultural and Mechanical Association 432
Agriculture 434
Methodist Episcopal Church South 549
Battle of Vassar Hill 519
Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska Bonds. 415
Battle of Lone Jack 525
Mounds 409
Baptists .... 544
405
Bench and Bar.
Other Engagements
526
County Seat ... 441
Poor, The 450
447
Cumberland Presbyterians. 551
Population ..
453
Probate Court.
472
County Court. 466
451
Publie Lands
422
Educational 536
Railroads and Railroad Bonds 453
481
Election, The first. 416
Seventh Regiment of Cavalry.
523
Early Justices 466
Elections 452
479
Scraps of History 411
413
Good White Man, A
414
Slavery
431
Settlements and Incidents.
409
Soil
408
Townships 438
Township Organization Defeated 469
Indian Incident, An. 413
Towns of the County 488
Later Settlers. 416 War of 1812: 516
Litigation .. 470
War of the Rebellion 517
Live Stock
436
Local Incidents. 521
Methodist Episcopal Church ... 546
Other Settlers 420
Old Settlers' Association 428
485 Christians. 548
Organization of the County 437
Civil Townships 443
Public Buildings
Circuit Court 473
Press, The 508
County Officers
Early Churches.
543
Runaway Slaves.
Second Regiment of Cavalry. Societies. 503
529
Episode, A Funny.
Finances 462
Geology 407
Highways .. 446
Hardships, Disadvantages, etc. 426
Important Trials. 477
403
Congregational Church.
Poor Asylum, The 298
Population 302
Pioneer Religious Denominations 396
Elections 301
Press, The
360
Fairmont 350
Recapitulation of County Indebtedness Railroads
303
German Evangelical Church 403 234
Geology.
Societies 355
St. Francisville 339
Sales of Town Lots 281
Luray 345
Tragic Finale. 330
Location and Topography
Temperance 363
Boundary and Topography
Winchester 345
Settlement Continued
Wild Animals, Wild Honey, etc. 425
PAGE.
VII
CONTENTS.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
PAGE.
Agriculture
582
Bridges 665
Killing of J. A. Merriwether. 625
Baptist Churches. 599
Killing of Jesse H. Hymers 627
Banks 730
County Organization ..
555
Locust Hill 738
Colony ... 740
County Courts, First. 556
Circuit Courts, First 560
County Seat, Location of 560
Christian Churches 601
Catholic Settlement .. 602
Capture of Col. Frisby Mccullough 699 Criminal Record. 620
County Courts .. 659
County Courts under District System 660
661
County Investigation of 1887
748
County Board of Supervisors, 1872.
660
Novelty 739
Newspapers. 745
Oakland College 662
Elections after 1850
Public Buildings 663
Election, August, 1854.
633
Election, Presidential, 1856
635
Election, August, 1858
637
Pioneers-What They Were. 583
Pioneer Preachers. 584
Pioneer Schools. 584
Pioneer Weddings. 586
Pioneer Housekeeping Incidents. 589
Pioneer Hunting Experiences 590
600
Election of 1880
655
Political Campaign of 1856.
633
Election of 1882
656
Political Campaign of 1860 ...
638
Election of 1884 ..
657
Political Canvass in Knox County, 1860
641
Election, General, 1856
658
Political Canvass and Election of 1870.
646
Edina .... 733
Railroad Bonds.
711
Enlistment in the Federal Service.
Representatives
Raids and Robberies in 1864.
707
Greensburg 736 Six Men Chase Sixty
701
Goodland 740
Skirmish at Cunningham's
701
Hurdland 738 Secret Orders.
617
Hedge City
740
Slavery Days 628
Industries. 730 State Senate. 654
Jeddo
740
Schools, Public and Private 667
Knox Collegiate Institute 661
"Tadpole Campaign," The .. 651
731
BIOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT.
Clark County
859
Lewis County 701
Scotland County ............... .1145
PORTRAITS, MAPS AND VIEWS.
Billups, J. E. between 440-441
Cottey, Hon. L. F ...
424-425
McKee, Mrs. Amanda M ...... 312-313
Fore, H. H.
328-329
Residence of Hon. J. W. For-
Gifford, F. M.
488-489
man ..
200-201
Lapsley, Jolın A
66 392-393
Pike's Map 29
727
Engagement at Newark 692 708
Railroads
659
Fiftieth Regiment Enrolled Mo. Militia. 710 Forest Springs 739 Settlements, First.
567
Election, Presidential, 1868
645 650
Election, Presidential, 1872
Election, Special, 1875
Election, Presidential, 1876.
Election of 1878. 653
637
Election, Presidential, 1864
643
Military History. 673
Methodist Episcopal Church South 592
County Officers ...
Methodist Episcopal Church .. 597
Newark 730
Dead Hero, The ... 698
Elections, First. 564 633
Poor and Poor Farm 665
Pioneers and Pioneer Life 580
Murder of James O'Donnell. 627
Miscellaneous Public Buildings. 557
Miscellaneous Incidents. 703
Millport. 737
Land Entries by Actual Settlers, First 572
Municipal Townships of Knox County. 740
Murder of Henry, a Slave .. 621
Murder of Dr. John L. Taylor. 626
Knox City 737
PAGE.
Killing of Louis Buhl. 623
McKee, Robert A .. between 296-297
Knox County. ....... 989
Killing of Larkin Bentley 622 Towns
652 652 Pioneer Life, Concluded 591
Presbyterian Church.
Election of 1859.
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
THE FIRST WHITES ON THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI.
T THE first white men who looked upon the soil now included within the boundaries of Lewis County, Mo., were Father Jacques ( James) Marquette and M. Joliet and their five com- panions, who descended the Mississippi from the mouth of the Wisconsin to the mouth of the Arkansas, in the month of June, 1673. Father Marquette was a French Jesuit priest, sent out by his superior from Canada, and M. Joliet was the agent of the governor of Canada. On the 17th of May the seven French- men left the straits, now called Mackinaw, connecting Lakes Huron and Michigan, in two bark canoes, in search of the great "River of the West," then called Mechisipi or Missepi, and of which many accounts had been heard. -
Marquette and Joliet passed down Green Bay and into Fox River. Here they procured two Indian guides or interpreters. Ascending Fox River some distance, they made a portage across to the Wisconsin, carrying their canoes and provisions, the latter consisting entirely of Indian corn and dried meat. Down the Wisconsin they glided, and entered the Mississippi June 17. On the 25th they landed on the west bank, a short distance above the mouth of the Des Moines, near whose banks, and about six miles from the Mississippi, they came upon two large Indian towns, the abodes of the Peouarea and Moingoena-two tribes of the great Illinois Nation. After a stay of twenty-four hours with the Indians, by whom they were gladly received and most kindly treated, the explorers continued their vovage, passing Lewis County probably on the 27th. They reached the mouth of the Arkansas about the 15th of July, and on the 17th started on the return trip to Canada, which they finally reached in safety, ascend-
10
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
ing the Illinois River en route. Father Marquette named the Mississippi the " River de la Concepcion," that is, the River of the (Immaculate) Conception.
HENNEPIN'S EXPEDITION.
The next Europeans to look upon the shores of Lewis County were Father Louis Hennepin, a French Catholic priest of the order of St. Francis, and his two French companions or boat- men, Michael Ako and Anthony Auguelle, the latter called the Picard du Gay. Father Hennepin had accompanied the Cheva- lier Robert de la Salle, to America in 1678-79. By the instruc- tions of La Salle, and in pursuance of a general plan of voyages of discovery and exploration authorized by the French Govern- ment, Father Hennepin left Fort Creve Cœur (" broken heart "), near the present site of Peoria, on the Illinois River, on the 29th of February, 1680, for a voyage to the headwaters of the Mis- sissippi.
The Mississippi was full of floating ice, and raging and tur- bid when Hennepin and his companions first saw it, and they were unable to leave the mouth of the Illinois until the 12th of March. Perhaps they passed Lewis County in the latter part of the month. Proceeding on their journey they ascended the Mis- sissippi to St. Anthony's Falls, which Father Hennepin named in honor of his patron, St. Anthony of Padua. Near the falls, on the 11th of April, they were made prisoners by a large party of Sioux or Dakotas, and held in captivity several weeks, but were finally rescued by the Sieur DeLuth, and Hennepin re- turned to Canada through Wisconsin. From Canada he sailed immediately for France, where, in 1684, he published an account of his travels and adventures .*
THE MOUND-BUILDERS.
According to Marquette's map, the country north of the Mis- souri to the Des Moines was occupied in 1673 by the Missouri
*Within the limits of this work nothing like a complete or even an extended account can be given of the voyages and explorations of Marquette, Hennepin, and La Salle, or even of the early history of the Upper Mississippi Valley. The reader who desires further and full information on these most valuable and interesting subjects of American history is referred to Shea's " Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi," Parkman's " La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West." Sparks' " Life of La Salle," Monette's "History of the Mississippi Valley," French's " Historical Col- lections of Louisiana," and the works therein cited.
11
STATE OF MISSOURI.
("We-Messouret ") tribe of Indians, whose country it was called until about 1804, when the northern portion, or that part north of the mouth of the Fabius, was considered to belong to the Sacs. But of course the Missouri Indians were not the first inhabitants. Ages ago, so far in the dim shadowy past that they nor their history cannot be traced, those mysterious beings, called the Mound-Builders, were here, and occupied the country for a season, leaving behind them their sepulchral mounds, their frag- ments of pottery, their stone axes, and their flint arrow-points and lance heads. It is out of place to discuss here the mooted question whether or not the Mound-Builders were a distinct race; it is enough to say that their mounds and their relics are here.
Indeed the archæology of the county is interesting. In the eastern portion, and especially in the southeastern quarter, there are numerous mounds which are generally of the sepulchral class, hav- ing been constructed and used, evidently, for burial purposes. In about 1843, while his father was making an excavation for a cooper's shop, in a mound two and a half miles below Canton, the present sheriff, J. E. Cooksey, then a lad of twelve years, found a human skeleton, eight feet in length, at a depth of six feet from the surface. The bones crumbled on exposure, but the skull was preserved for some years.
In the same neighborhood, on the Jennings farm, is a large mound, originally fifty feet in length and ten feet high. In the vicinity smaller mounds have been opened and found to contain fragments of human bones, pottery, beads, and other evidences of their character.
Elsewhere in the county, chiefly in the bottom lands, are numerous mounds or tumuli which have never been examined. Flint arrow-points and lance heads and pieces of pottery have been picked up in many places. Across the river, opposite Can- ton, is a locality famous for the mounds it contains. A body of water is named Indian Grave Lake, from the presence of so many aboriginal sepulchres.
On the Wyaconda, in the northeastern part of the county, graves or burial places of the modern red Indians have been opened and found to contain numerous skeletons. It was con- jectured that an Indian battle had come off here in the long ago,
12
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
and that these were the bones of the slain warriors, but the prob- ability is that near by was for many years the site of an en- campment, some of whose members died from time to time and were buried in common ground. It is the generally accepted belief among archeologists that the Mound-Builders were here before the red or modern Indians, and built the mounds; that the red Indians never made flint arrow and lance points or pot- tery, and did not build mounds, but that they picked up and employed the arrow-points, and often buried their dead in the mounds which they found ready built when they came into the country. It is certain that two kinds of bones often found in the mounds-one kind presumably those of Mound-Builders, buried hundreds of years ago, nearly decayed, the other, per- haps those of modern Indians, buried more recently-are usu- ally well preserved.
Who were before the Mound-Builders is not known, but after them came the red Indians, who, for years and perhaps centuries, danced and hunted over the surface of this county, fished in its streams, drank from its clear, sweet springs, and wooed their dusky sweethearts in its bosky dells. By and by came the white man, stealthily and timidly at first, and pro- fuse in sweet words and fair promises to the original tenants, and after a while with more boldness, assumption and aggression.
OTHER FRENCH EXPLORERS.
In 1712 King Louis XIV., of France, conveyed the territory of Louisiana by letters-patent to Francisco Cruzat, a man of great wealth and influence. He sent out colonies that were planted along the Mississippi, below the mouth of the Missouri. He also appointed a governor, one M. de la Motte, who arrived and assumed authority in 1713, and at once set about searching for gold and silver. An experience of five years as proprietor of an empire satisfied M. Cruzat, and not finding the precious metals in his domain as he expected to, in 1717 he returned his letters-patent to the King.
Then the Territory of Louisiana was conveyed to the bold, speculative Scotchman, John Law, and his "Company of the West." His financial operations soon involved him (and many
13
STATE OF MISSOURI.
others ) in ruin, and he surrendered his charter in 1731. How- ever, many who had come over with the Law colonies concluded to remain, and made settlements on both sides of the Mississippi River, in Illinois and Missouri.
The Louisiana Territory was ceded by France to Spain in 1762, though the fact was not made known to the French colo- nists until 1764. The Territory was retroceded to France in 1801, and by France to the United States in 1803.
In 1763 Pierre Laclede Liguest obtained from M. D'Abadie, the French commandant of Louisiana (the country having not yet been surrendered to the Spanish) a right "to all the fur trade with the Indians of Missouri, and those west of the Mis- sissippi above the Missouri, as far north as the river St. Peter." Pierre Laclede, as he is commonly known, with a company of trappers, hunters and mechanics, set out from New Orleans in August, 1763, for his new field of action, and in November fol- lowing, landed at Ste. Genevieve. The English had by this time acquired by treaty the country east of the Mississippi, and that river was the boundary between their possessions and those of the French. It was not until 1765, however, that the French commander, M. St. Ange de Belle Rive, abandoned Fort Chartres, on the Illinois side, fifteen miles above Ste. Genevieve, to Capt. Sterling, the British officer sent to take possession.
Laclede, in February, 1764, founded the city of St. Louis, which he at first intended merely as a trading post. From here he sent out his men in every direction, to the west and north, in quest of furs and skins. His lieutenant or agent was his step- son, Auguste Chouteau, who, at the tender age of fourteen, superintended the building of the first house in the town. Doubtless some of Laclede's trappers visited this county, and caught many an otter, beaver, muskrat and other fur-bearing ani- mal in and along the waters of the Wyaconda, Fabius, the Two- Rivers (North and South ) and the Bay Charles. It is certain that they went as far north as to the river Des Moines, and that they went up the Auhaha or Salt River, as far as the forks, or where Florida now stands.
14
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
THE SPANISH OCCUPATION.
The first Spanish governor of Upper Louisiana, whose recog- nized capital was St. Louis, was Don. Pedro Piernas, to whom St. Ange delivered possession of the country. He was a mild ruler, and when, after five years, he returned to New Orleans, he . was followed by the tears and benedictions of the people. Pier- nas was succeeded in 1775 by Francisco Cruzat, before men- tioned, another amiable governor, to whom the people were much attached. He reigned three years, and was succeeded in 1778 by Don Ferdinando Leyba, against whom certain grave charges have been made by certain historians, but recent inves- tigations have shown that the gravest of these charges have been absolutely without foundation or justification. He was removed in 1780, and it is alleged that he committed suicide. His successor was his progenitor, Cruzat. The latter was gov- ernor until 1788, when he was relieved by Manuel Perez, a very worthy young man, who conciliated and treated with the Indians and built up the colonies until St. Louis and adjoining settle- ments had a population of 1,200 and Ste. Genevieve of 800. In 1793 Perez was succeeded by Zenon Trudeau, a captain in the army of Spain, and under his administration . the first white settlement was made in the territory now called Marion County. It was the policy of Gov. Trudeau to build up the interests of the Spanish Government in this quarter. He encouraged immigra- tion, gave to trade (which was then chiefly a traffic in furs ) a new impetus, and rewarded all projectors of new enterprises accord- ing to their own efforts and the merits of their schemes. The fur traders pushed far out into hitherto unexplored regions, and adventurers were frequently setting forth to accomplish enter- prises of value and moment. The days of the Spanish posses- sion were the golden ones in the history of the Upper Missis- sippi. There was little else but peace and plenty "and health and quiet and loving words." The rulers (except Leyba, who did not last long) were easy, good natured and well disposed. Their subjects were loyal, obedient, industrious and well behaved. French, English, Americans and Spanish though they were by birth, they were each and all Spaniards in their devo- tion to Spain and the banner of Castile. Not a man among
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