USA > Missouri > A history of Missouri from the earliest explorations and settlements until the admission of the state into the union, Volume II > Part 3
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II
"VILLAGE SAUVAGE"
contentment in their new homes, and exhibiting their willingness to engage in all the liberties and enjoyments the place afforded.24 In a peaceful way Laclede endeavored to rid himself of his unwelcome guests. In the hope that aversion to steady work would induce them to leave, he employed them to dig the cellar of a house he was then building, and the squaws worked in carrying away the dirt in wooden platters and baskets, but the warriors would not work, and, appropri- ating everything that they could lay their hands on, although it could hardly be called stealing, the patience of Laclede finally became exhausted, and he peremptorily ordered them away, threatening to call in the troops from Fort de Chartres, and then reluctantly his unwel- come guests withdrew.25 Subsequently, in 1766, a band of Peoria Indians were allowed to build a village at the lower end of the town, and this locality about a mile below where the United States arsenal now stands was called "Prairie de Village Sauvage. " 26
After the settlement was begun, ten additional settlers, anxious to escape British rule, came to the new village,27 so that at the end of the first year forty families were congregated at the future metropolis, and which Laclede named "St. Louis," in honor of the sainted king of France. Popularly, however, the place was at first known as "La- clede's Village,"' and then as "Paincourt. "28 In the year following
24 "Having remained here fifteen days, in the course of which I had the cellar of the house which we were to build, dug by the women and children, I gave them in payment vermillion, awls, verdigris. They dug the largest part of it, and carried the earth in wooden platters and baskets, which they bore on their heads," says Auguste Chouteau in his Journal. "The Illinois Indians claimed the land where St. Louis now stands," says Chouteau. (Hunt's Minutes, Book I, p. 127, copy in Mo. Hist. Society Archives.)
25 Shepard's History of St. Louis, p. 13.
26 Drake's Life of Blackhawk, p. 124 quoting MSS. of Major Thomas Forsyth, dated 1820 as follows: "Some 40 or 50 years ago the Sauks and Foxes attacked a small village of Peorias about a mile below St. Louis and were defeated."
27 These were Gabriel Descary, an Indian interpreter from Fort de Char- tres ; Michel Rolette (Rollet), dit Laderoute, a former French soldier from Fort de Chartres, his wife, Margaret Lagrain; Louis Tesson, dit Honore (or Honore dit Tesson), a trader from Kaskaskia, was the father of François, Baptiste, Michael and Noel, all living at St. Ferdinand and elsewhere, a native of Canada, his wife was Magdalena Patterson, and evidently of English descent. Had a grant at Cul de Sac, and in 1796 received a grant of 1,600 arpents at Village á Robert, also had property at Portage des Sioux and River Jeffron in St. Charles district, died in St. Louis in 1812; Jean B. Cardinal, a farmer from St. Philippe ; Louis Deshetres, an Indian interpreter from Cahokia, in St. Ferdinand in 1794; Alexander Langlois, dit Rondeau, trader from Cahokia; Jean B. Provenchère, a wheel-wright, from Cahokia, was the father of Jean Louis Provenchère; Rene Buet, trader from Cahokia.
28 It has been suggested that some of the early settlers in grateful recogni- tion of Laclede's services proposed to call the town "Laclede." (1 Scharf's History of St. Louis, p. 69.) This sounds like a pious fiction. The first settlers
.
I2
HISTORY OF MISSOURI
additional immigration from Fort de Chartres, Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and, it is said, from Ste. Genevieve arrived,29 and finally in October, 1765, when the British Highlanders, under Captain Stirling30 reached Fort de Chartres, Captain St: Ange de Bellerive,31 who was left in command when De Villiers departed for New Orleans. withdrew his force to this place on the west side of the river, probably acting on his own initiative in selecting his new headquarters. With St. Ange
of St. Louis, according to Pittman (Mississippi Settlements, p. 95) secured their flour from Ste. Genevieve, and hence probably the nick-name "Paincourt" -meaning without, or short of, bread. (See also Reynolds' Pioneer History of Illinois, p. 62.)
"" Among them, Charles Routier, mason; his daughter Genevieve mar- ried Louis Bissonette, who was here also in 1765; François Bissonette; Jean Baptiste Durand, married Marie Marcheteau; Michael Lami or Lamy (Du Chouquette) ; Hyacinthe St. Cyr (St. Cir), born near Quebec, a leading man in early St. Louis, died in 1826, the father of fifteen children, in 1,86 had grant between the Mississippi and Maramec, and in 1798 at St. Charles where he had a horse-mill on his lot; Colonel Howard says St. Cyr had met with losses in the service of the Government, his sons Hyacinth, Junior, born 1786, and Leon N., born in 1791, received grants in 1800 in consideration of his services; (François) Cottin, the first constable in St. Louis, conducted the first sale in 1768 at the church door; Joseph Boure, a rope maker, and François Jourdan. To these names should also be added: Paul Sigel, a tanner by trade, who died August 1769 at St. Louis. This Sigel, Billon says, was a native of Malta, but the name is indubitably German. Other early settlers who died shortly after their arrival and settlement were: François Eloy, who died in New Orleans in 1767; Jean A. D'Aunis, dit St. Vincent, died in 1769; Nicolas Marechal, a native of France, died 1770; Joseph De Tailly, an Indian interpreter, died October, 1771. (I Billon's Annals of St. Louis, vol. I, p. 80.) Jean DeLage, a native of Pierre d' Olien, Angoumois, France, was a resident and died in 1772; his estate brought 836 livres "in silver," and of this amount Alexander Langlois received 530 for board and Martin Duralde 127 for legal fees, the curate of the church, Father Valentine 67 and Dr. Conde and Dr. Connand 80, for medical services, Rene Kiercereau 8, for the grave and Louis Dubreuil and Lachance, the balance as creditors. Foubert La Grammont, of Granville, France, set- tled in 1772.
30 Captain Stirling was the accredited commissioner of his Britannic Ma- jesty, and as such, formal possession of the Illinois country east of the Mississ- ippi river was delivered to him, October 10, 1765. Auguste Chouteau says, that St. Ange and his troops reached St. Louis July 17, 1765, but probably did not remember the date particularly. (See Hunt's Minutes, Book I, p. 126, Missouri Historical Society Archives.)
31 Louis St. Ange de Bellerive (original name Groston) a Canadian, a son of Robert Groston dit St. Ange, was about sixty years old when Fort de Chartres was transferred. He had served in the army of France and Canada, and in the Illinois country, for about forty years; was with de Bourgmont in his expedition against the Padoucas in 1,24, as cadet with his father, who was a vet- eran officer of the French troops, having served from 1685. He was never mar- ried and died in St. Louis at the house of Madame Chouteau, December 27, 1774, as already stated, aged about seventy years. He left property to the chil- dren of de Villiers. His half sister married François Coulon de Villiers, a brother of Jumonville, and to the children of this marriage he left his property. It is said that Governor Piernas conferred upon St. Ange the rank of Captain of Infantry in the Spanish service. (I Scharff's History of St. Louis, p. 203.) But this, like a good many other things passing current as
13
FEAR OF ENGLISH RULE
came Captain François de Volsay32 and other officers and soldiers to the number of about twenty men. How anxious the French settlers were to escape English rule is shown by the fact that Renault's town, St. Philippe, was completely abandoned by the eight or ten families living there, one family leaving a mill and other property. The cap- tain of the militia alone remained.33 This, no doubt, led Lieutenant Frazier to write that " the greatest part of those who inhabited our side of the river abandoned it on our getting possession of the country. " 34
It is apparent that the rapid growth of Laclede's trading post in the first few years of its existence must be attributed to the cession of
St. Louis history, is to be doubted. It is not thought that Piernas had the power to confer this rank, but in a Spanish official paper it is stated that he is Captain of Infantry in the service. In connection with this a certificate made by Piernas is not without interest. In about 1772 the Notary of Vincennes, and who as such had possession of the grants made by St. Ange when in command there, ran away and it became a matter of interest to ascertain to whom grants had been made while he was in command. Accordingly the following certificate was issued by Piernas: "Nous Don Pedro Piernas, Capitaine d' Infanterie, Lieutenant- Governeur des Establissments des Illinois et leur Dependans appartenans à sa Majeste Catholique, certifions à tous qu'il appariendra que Mons. St. Ange est Capitaine reforme et employee au service de sa Majeste Catholique" (2 Indi- ana Hist. Society Publications p. 29). Whether this means that St. Ange was in the military service is uncertain, because the " Capitaine reformé," refers to the French military force stationed in the Illinois country. I do not think that at any time the Spaniards had any so-called " reformed " troops in the country. This however is clear that St. Ange at the time when Piernas made the certifi- cate was in some sort of Spanish service. It is said that he was popular with the Indians, that the Great Pontiac was his personal friend and that he brought the body of Pontiac over from Cahokia and had his remains interred near where the Southern Hotel now stands. This statement, although it would reflect credit upon St. Ange, is doubtful. It is also said that when Captain Stir- ling, the first English commander at Fort de Chartres, died in January, 1776, that on the request of the inhabitants there, he came over from the Spanish possessions to take charge of the post of Fort de Chartres until the arrival of Captain Stirling's successor, Major Frazer, from Pittsburgh. This romantic incident in the life of St. Ange no doubt is a fiction. It is not at all likely that the other English officers would give way to St. Ange, although the incident is cited in Monnett's "History of the Mississippi Valley," p. 411; and in Reynolds' "My own Times," p. 50. Mason also repeats this story (Mason's Chapters from Illinois History, p. 238), but no authority is given by these writers.
32 Afterward it is recorded in the domestic annals of "Paincourt" that Rene Kiercereau, dit Renaud, fled to the other side (that is to say, the Illinois country east of the Mississippi river), with De Volsay's wife, a niece of St. Ange, who did not enjoy the best reputation among the early habitans, taking away all the movable property, while De Volsay was away in France on business. In 1781, Cruzat sent her to New Orleans "against her will, because of the occasion of one Malvo," and is advised by the Governor that "we shall do our best to settle this matter, which appears a trifle difficult." Gen. Archives of Indies, Seville .- Letter of Feb. 15, 1781. One Gaston Leopold de Volsay died in Ste. Genevieve in 1760, 38 years of age, may be a relative.
$3 Pittman's Mississippi Settlements, p. 91,-but in Hutchins' Topographical Description, p. 38, it is said two or three families remained.
34 Letter of Lieutenant Frazier, 2 Ind. Historical Publication, p. 411.
I4
HISTORY OF MISSOURI
the country east of the Mississippi to England, and consequent immi- gration of the old French settlers across the river, because after the first excitement of the transfer died away the growth of the new village was very slow.
The first building of the new trading post was erected by Laclede and located on the block of ground now bounded by First and Second and Walnut and Market streets, and according to Pittman this was a "large house." The other settlers established themselves along the river above and below this place. A narrow belt of timber
LACLEDE HOUSE, WITH VILLAGE PRISON (CALABOZO) ATTACHED ON SIDE
then extended along the river, as far back as what is now Fifth street or Broadway. Beyond, stretching far westward, was an open prairie, long known as "La Grande Prairie."35 Various sections of this prairie received different names. Thus the open land near the town was called "St. Louis Prairie." The section southwest was called "Prairie des Noyers." The space between "St. Louis Prairie" and "Prairie des Noyers"' was called the -"Cul de Sac.'' 36 The open land south of the town was called "Little Prairie." "White Ox Prairie" was several miles north. The creek running through "Cul de Sac," along wooded and grassy banks, was known as "La Petite Rivière." In order to 35 " An extensive prairie, which affords plenty of hay, as also pasture for the cattle and horses of the inhabitants." Stoddard's Louisiana, p. 219.
36 Williams calls it " Cul de Sac of the Grand Prairie."
15
LACLEDE ASSIGNS LAND
secure water-power for a mill, this creek, which afterward became known as "Mill Creek," was dammed up, and the pond thus formed was long known as "Chouteau's Mill Pond." The great St. Louis railroad yards now mark this vicinity.
It has been asserted, without any evidence whatever, that the grant to Maxent, Laclede & Company to trade with the Indians on the upper Missouri also vested in this firm, or Laclede as its represent- ative, discretionary powers of government, and hence the authority to
CHOTEAU'S POND AND DAM
grant allotments of land. But it is certain that the claim that Laclede could grant land or make allotments of land, or was clothed with even the semblance of authority as governor or commandant in the new village, is erroneous. No doubt Laclede assigned to settlers who came with him, or settled at his post, pieces of ground, and may be these assignments were accepted by the settlers and his authority thus recognized, but this rather by reason of his own no doubt forceful and dominant character than by reason of any legal warrant of the power he thus exercised. The firm Maxent, Laclede & Company received no grant of land in upper Louisiana from the French government, nor was Laclede authorized to lay out a town or village.37 Whatever
37 Says Governor Miro to Colonel Morgan who laid out New Madrid, in a letter dated May 23, 1789, "I also infinitely regret that * * * you have
91
HISTORY OF MISSOURI
steps he took in that direction were forced upon him by circumstances The change of government in the territory east of the river, the conse- quent influx of immigrants from that side to his trading post, necessi- tated action. That under such circumstances he did act clearly dem- onstrates that he was a man of no ordinary enterprise and ability. But no title to any land whatever in St. Louis was ever based on any right or grant made by Laclede. The right even to the land claimed by Maxent, Laclede & Company, in the new village was founded on a concession made by St. Ange, the last French officer holding legal authority in the country west of the Mississippi.
In order to magnify the importance of this early period in the his- tory of Laclede's trading post, it has been deemed necessary to say that when Captain St. Ange arrived with his officers and soldiers he was induced to assume governmental functions, so as to maintain order and to make grants of land; that St. Ange was apparently unwilling to assume the whole responsibility of granting land, and hence associated with himself Joseph Lefebvre; that he was placed in authority by the "sound judgment of the people," and that "necessity" at once assigned him to the place, and that "by their unanimous desire, he was vested with the authority of Commandant-General, with full authority to grant lands, and to do all other acts consistent with that office as though he held it by royal authority." By a stretch of the imagina- tion, it has even been said that "the people unanimously vested in St. Ange the powers of the civil government until the arrival of his legally appointed successor." 38 But all this is strangely out of accord with the habits and practices of "the people" living in the French and Spanish colonies, and the ideas that had been implanted among the population. The spirit manifested in such proceedings as detailed belongs to another age and another people.
As a matter of fact, St. Ange was in authority all the time and in legal control of affairs, because before he arrived at the village, and drawn the plan of a city and given it a name (which is the exercise of a power appertaining to the sovereign alone) and what is worse, that you have called it 'Our City.' " (2 Gayarre's History of Louisiana, p. 265.)
38 And how far fetched the conclusion stated in Scharff: "It is a singular incident in the history of St. Louis that its first government, though instituted in a period of imperialism, was distinctively republican in character. The authority under which de Bellerive ruled was conferred by popular action. In its methods of creation this self-constituted government was purely democratic." (I Scharff's History of St. Louis, p. 75, et seq.) Also see Shepard's History of St. Louis, p. 14, where we find a similar poetic account of how authority was conferred on St. Ange by the people of St. Louis, with the approbation of Aubry, because St. Ange was "too honorable an officer to administer an authority without the approbation of his superiors."
I7
ST. ANGE IN AUTHORITY
while commandant at Fort de Chartres, he held jurisdiction not only over the territory on the east, but also on the west bank of the Missis- sippi, practically as far as the dominions of France extended-to the Rocky mountains and the Pacific. That Laclede fully understood this is shown by the fact that he threatened his unwelcome visitors, the Indians, to call in the troops from the fort to induce them to de- part; also, that he called on these officers to seize goods belonging to Datchurut and Viviat.39 So that when St. Ange surrendered to Cap- tain Stirling, Fort de Chartres and the territory ceded to England, he retired with his troop of soldiers and officers,40 and military stores to territory still under his jurisdiction, although ceded to Spain, and in which he was the only embodiment of legal authority until the ar- rival of the authorities of the new sovereign.41 His authority on the
39 Merchants in Ste. Genevieve before the founding of St. Louis. (28 Dra- per's Collection, [Clark MSS] p. 90.)
40 The names of his officers and men were : Pierre Francois de Volsay, first lieutenant and brevet captain already named, and Picote de Belestre, lieu- tenant, died in St. Louis in 1780, married Joachi de Villiers, grand-daughter of Madame St. Ange. In 1666, a Picote de Belestre, together with Charles LeMoyne were at the head of the Montreal militia, and this Picote undoubt- edly was the ancestor of our lieutenant de Belestre; François de Bergueville, lieutenant; Joseph Brunot Lefebvre Des Bruisseau, a cadet lieutenant, son of Joseph Lefebvre d' Inglebert Des Bruisseau, afterwards store-keeper at the Fort "El Principe de Asturias" and an absconding defaulter; Pierre Montardy and Phillibert Gagnon, sergeants in 1766; Nicholas Antoine Vincent, sergeant in 1767. A Pierre Vincent in 1671 settled at Port Royal in Arcadia, and a Jean Vincent was one of the One Hundred Associates of New France; Jean de Lage, corporal in 1767. The little squad of soldiers were D'Amours de Lou- vieres, likely a descendant of Mathieu D' Amours Sieur de Choufours et de la Morandiere et de Louvieres, a distinguished name in the annals of Canada, (7 Sulte Canadiens Francais, p. 42) and a numerous family; Nicholas Royer, dit Sansquartier; a Guillaume Agnet was also nicknamed Sansquartier in Detroit in 1709; Michel Rollette, dit Laderoute; Claude Tinon ; Jean Comparios, dit La- Pierre; Lambert Bonvarlet; Blondin Pion; Ayot; St. Marie; Beauvais; Des Jardins; Lamotte; Langlois and Marechal, as near as Mr. Billon has been able to ascertain, and all became prominent residents of the little village. (Billon's Annals of St. Louis, p. 69.) Some of these names are evidently nicknames, i. e., Bonvarlet, Blondin, Pion and Ayot.
41 In the case of Wright's Admr. v. Thomas, 4 Mo. 345, Judge McGirk also seems to think that the French at St. Louis, at this time, had no legal govern- ment at all, overlooking the fact that certainly before the actual surrender of Fort de Chartres the country remained under the French Government, and was governed by the commandant of that fort, as it always had been before the treaty of 1762. The simple fact that afterward the fort and the country east of the Mississippi was surrendered to the English did not divest the commandant of his authority in the remaining territory, although this too had been ceded to Spain. By removing to the part of the territory not ceded to England, lie re- mained in authority there until Spain assumed jurisdiction. The learned judge seemed to think that St. Ange could not bring any authority to St. Louis with him, but as a matter of fact he was in authority all the time on both banks of the river, until actually superseded by the new government. It is laid down in Kent that the national character of a ceded country continues as it is until the country
18
HISTORY OF MISSOURI
west side of the river remained in full force and did not require action on the part of "the people," as has been imagined. He was not elected "unanimously," and his popularity or unpopularity in the village did not affect his authority. It is to be presumed that St. Ange understood this. In all his official proceedings, after removing the seat of his government to the new town, he substantially followed the procedure followed at Fort de Chartres, having associated with himself a council, probably the same council he had at Fort de Chartres, a body sometimes called "superior council of the province of Illinois," and which originally embraced within its jurisdictional lim- its the territory on both sides of the Mississippi. Accordingly, we find that Joseph Lefebvre Des Bruisseau, who had exercised the functions of a civil judge at Fort de Chartres, continued to exercise these functions when he came to St. Louis, until he died in 1767.42 He was succeeded after his death by Joseph Labusciere, 43 who
is actually transferred, and that full sovereignty cannot be held to pass until actual delivery of the country. (I Kent's Commentaries, p. 177.) Until actual delivery of the country to Spain therefore St. Ange was not only de facto but also de jure in authority.
42 Full name Joseph Lefebvre d'Inglebert Des Bruisseau, a native of France, came to New Orleans in 1743, and to Fort de Chartres in 1744, having obtained from M. de Vaudreuil, Governor General of Louisiana, the grant of an exclu- sive right to trade with the Indians on the Missouri. After his trade privilege was given to others he served as judge of civil cases at Fort de Chartres for a number of years, and came to St. Louis with St. Ange. Married in France Marie Ursule Diacre. Pierre François des Bruisseau, became lieutenant in the French service, married Margaret de Laferne, daughter of Pierre Ignace Bardet de La- ferne, surgeon-major in the King's service at Fort de Chartres, and who married Marie Ann Barrois. Pierre François des Bruisseau died in New Orleans in 1770, leaving no children, his widow married Joseph Segond, mer- chant, and died in 1844, leaving a numerous posterity. (I Scharff's History of St. Louis, p. 73, note.) Her elder sister, Marie Anna, married Dr. Auguste Conde, a surgeon, and who removed to St. Louis in 1766. The marriage contract between Pierre and Margaret was filed in St. Louis in 1768. When the elder Des Bruisseau died, in 1767, an inventory was taken, from which it appears that among his assets were fourteen grenadier's guns, sixteen half axes, twenty-seven tomahawks, a block of copper to press paper, one thous- and pounds of bar lead, six hundred and sixteen dog-head knives, thirteen and one half dozen butcher-knives, seventy-four blankets, one hundred and twenty- seven small bells, fifteen hundred gun flints, eleven cannon-balls, four hun- dred and thirty-seven gun screws, five hundred and ninety-seven fire steels, three hundred and twenty-two large springs, three hundred and forty-nine gun-pan covers, two hundred and fifty-nine gun-cocks, three hundred and nine gun-nuts, etc. (1 Billon's Annals, p. 49.) Des Bruisseau it should be remembered from 1744 to 1749 under French government, had the exclusive trade on the Missouri, and was under contract to build a fort on that river. This may account for much of these military stores.
43 Joseph Labusciere was a notary and the King's procureur, or attorney, an important personage always, under the French law, and of course most im- portant in the eyes of the early French settlers of the Mississippi valley. His wife was a lady of some education. Left three sons, Joseph, Junior,
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