USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 29
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According to this account we find that set- tlements had been made before the admission of the state, in all the counties in Southeast Missouri, except Stoddard and Dunklin. Stoddard county was settled in 1823, but no settlement was made in Dunklin county until about 1835. Owing to its location this latter connty was very difficult of access. It was. therefore, not settled as soon as the other counties in the section. Of course it will be remembered that not all of these counties were in existence when the state was admitted. Most of them were organized after that time. The territory formed a part of some one or other of the existing counties.
The principal industry in this period, as in the one preceding it, was agriculture. A large part of the population was engaged in farm- ing. It is quite evident that the methods used were very primitive and the crops corre-
spondingly small. The timber that grew upon the land selected was cut down, burned or otherwise disposed of in the easiest way pos- sible, and the land thus cleared was farmed in a rude, inefficient way. In spite of these handicaps, however, the crops obtained were better than we might expect, owing to the fact the the land was exceedingly rich. Corn, wheat, oats, formed perhaps the principal grain crops that were grown. Nearly all farm- ers were also stock raisers on a limited scale. They were induced to grow cattle and horses partly on account of the necessity of their use and partly because it was possible to raise stock at comparatively little expense. It was easy to raise both cattle and hogs and prepare them in a way for market, with but very little food other than they obtained in the woods. The vast forests offered the very best range for stock, and it was not unusual for cattle to stay out through the entire year. Some of them became almost wild. Such a circum- stance, of course, made it easy for persons so disposed to kill stock which did not belong to them. So great was this abuse that the terri- torial assembly passed a law providing that any person who should kill any domestic ani- mal in the woods should report the matter to the justice of the peace within three days, and should bring to the justice the head of the animal slain. This was done in order to identify the animal by any marks which might be upon the head.
The produce of the soil was very largely used by those who grew it. Some part of it was available for export and the towns in the territory derived their food supplies from the surrounding country, but the greater part of all that was grown was used on the farms where it was produced. A number of small mills were erected and operated at convenient
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places, and to these the farmers earried their grain and received from the mill the flour or meal ground from their own grain.
If farming was the most important of the industries in Southeast Missouri during this period of its history, mining was second in importance. Large numbers of families de- pended in whole or in part upon mining for support. Austin, who was given a great traet
famous. They were worked by the French and were one of the prime motives for French exploration and settlement.
The region to which the early French seek- ers after mineral wealth gave most attention lies between the head waters of the St. Fran- cois and the Missississippi and between the Maramec on the north and Apple creek. So full of mineral wealth was this district that it was early ealled the mineral district of Louis-
HAPPY MISSOURI CORN GROWER
of land by the Spanish for the ereetion of the first reverbatory furnace, says that it was the custom for the poor to resort to the mines after harvest, and to spend several months engaged in labor in these mines. The rich families sent their slaves about the same time. so that the greater part of the mining was done from August to December. This offered to those who farmed an opportunity, which they were not slow to use, to spend the months not needed upon the farms in labor at the mines.
The mines of the southeast had long been
iana. Within its 3,000 square miles are found many minerals. Lead, iron and zine are those of most importance, but besides these are cop- per, manganese, salt, antimony, cobalt, plum- bago and some others. All the early French explorers mention the richness of the lead mines. These deposits of lead were known and worked even by the Indians. The French began to take out lead in this district proba- bly before the year 1700.
It is impossible to fix, with certainty, either the date when lead was first mined or the men who opened this first mine. Sehooleraft,
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copied by Rozier, is of the opinion that Mine LaMotte was the earliest mine and was dis- covered by one LaMotte, a gentleman in the company of Renault. This was probably in the year 1720 or 21. Houck, however, believes that this mine was probably opened much earlier than this and that it was named for Cadillac De La Mothe, governor of Louisiana, who seems to have visited the mine in 1714. We may be sure of this, that early in the eighteenth century-perhaps before its begin- ning - the French overran this country in search for gold and silver. They failed to find the precious metals in any large quantities, but did find great quantities of lead in all the region about the Maramec and the St. Fran- cois. The first mining in the district was probably done on the Maramec under the direction of Governor Lochan; and Mine La Motte near the present site of Fredericktown, if not the first was one of the first and most importaut of these mines.
In 1719, Philip Francois Renault left France with a well organized expedition for the mineral district of Louisiana. He brought with him supplies and material and 200 skilled miners. The expedition stopped on the way at San Domingo, where 500 slaves were pur- chased for work in the mines. These slaves were the first brought to Missouri. Renault came with his expedition to Kaskaskia and in 1720 built a village called St. Phillip, near Fort Chartres in Illinois. He proceeded with his search for mines, and discovered and opened a lead mine near Potosi in Washington county. This mine was called, after him, Mine a Renault.
Renault had been commissioned by the Royal Company of the Indies, which at this time held control of Louisiana. In 1723 the authorities at Kaskaskia granted him a terri- tory six leagues by one and one-half leagues
on the Maramec river, and two leagues at Mine LaMotte. From this time until his re- turn to France in 1742 Renault was actively engaged in working these mines. The lead from them was carried first to Fort Chartres and later to Ste. Genevieve and then shipped by boat to New Orleans and to France. Large quantities of ore were taken out of all these mines during this period. They were very profitable. A road was constructed from the river to the mines and it was in connection with the carrying of this lead and trade with miners that the town of Ste. Genevieve was founded. It was located at the river end of this road. This was the first road opened, not only in Southeast Missouri, but in the entire state, and is still in use.
When Renault returned to France in 1742 he seems to have abandoned his interest in the mines to others, and if his family or heirs ever received any part of his interests in the two great tracts of valuable mining property which were granted him, the fact is not of record. A great many lawyers have investi- gated the question of the ownership of the Renault claims, but the claims have never been successfully prosecuted by any member of Renault's family.
In 1773 Francois Azar or Breton, while engaged in hunting, found lead ore lying on the ground near Potosi. He opened a mine at this place, which was called after him Mine a Breton. It became a celebrated mining field and attracted miners from all parts of the state. Breton, who was a native of France, had been a soldier in his youth and had served under Marshal Saxe. He was present, also, with the Indians who defeated Braddock in Virginia. He came to Louisiana as a miner and hunter and discovered this mine quite by accident. He lived to be 111 years old and for many years before his death resided two
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miles above Ste. Genevieve. He died in 1821. At the time of his discovery he received a grant of four arpens. This was a very small recompense for the service he had rendered in the discovery of the mine.
In 1779 Moses Austin, an American miner, agreed to erect a smelter near this mine of Breton, and on consideration of doing so he was granted a tract to contain 7,000 arpens, including one-third of the original mine. In performance of his agreement he erected here the first reverberatory furnace west of the river. This furnace, on account of its superior qualities, soon superseded all others. In 1797, when it was erected, there were twenty French furnaces in the district. In 1802 the Austin furnace was the only one in operation. In 1804 Austin made to the United States government the first report of the lead min- ing industry in Missouri.
It seems certain, then, that Mine LaMotte, Mine a Renault and Mine a Breton were the great centers of the lead industry in early days, but there were other mines also in oper- ation ; many small ones were opened; settle- ments sprung up around them. Some of these mines are still in successful operation. Some of the settlements have become flourishing towns, others have entirely disappeared. The whole lead region of southeast Missouri has Inany traces of the activity of the early French miners.
Some of the famous lead mines which were operated during this period in addition to those already described are here mentioned :
Mine a Platte or Doggett mine was discov- ered in 1799, and was granted to DeLassus at one time. It was on Plattin creek in what is now St. Francois county. Mine a Gerboree, situated on the St. Francois river near De Lassus, is said to have been operated by
Renault in 1745. The Hazel Run lead dis- trict was discovered about 1810; this district is in the northern part of St. Francois county. The mines now owned and operated by the St. Joe Lead company of Bonne Terre were also worked during this period. They seem to have been granted in 1800, together with 800 arpens of land, to John B. Pratte. This land was surveyed in the same year by Antoine Soulard, the surveyor general of Upper Louisiana.
These lead mines, together with some others, were all in operation in the period which we are now considering. Their output was con- siderable, when we remember the conditions under which they were worked. It was all surface mining and the greater part of the labor was performed by hand. While the output was small, measured by the standards of the present, it still meant a great deal to the people of Missouri. While the greatest mining activity was, of course, in the lead regions, there began to be iron smeltered be- fore the year 1820. Some time prior to this date Paul De Guire and his partner, Asha- branner, built a furnace on the Frederick- town road near the Shut-In, in Iron county. On the creek near this smelter they set up a forge, and being thus equipped they pro- ceeded to work the iron ore. This ore was taken from mines in the vicinity, there being considerable deposit of iron in this county, and it was treated at this smelter. Their method of reducing the ore was first to roast it; it was then beaten by hammers into a powder, which was then heated in the forge. This forge, situated as it was on the bank of the creek, had a blower attached, which was worked by water power. When the powdered ore had been fused in the forge, the mass was then placed under a heavy hammer, also
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operated by water power, and worked. This treatment secured iron of a fair grade in small quantities.
The great handicap to mining, both lead and iron, was the absence of sufficient capital to provide proper equipment. It is quite cer- tain that even vast sums of capital could not have provided equipment such as in use today in mines, but it could have made a very great improvement in the methods of those days. It was, however, impossible to secure capital sufficient for the purpose. It was a new coun- try and like all new countries, suffered from a scarcity of money. It was only by the slow process of growth and development that capi- tal could be produced in sufficient quantities to operate the mines in any adequate or effi- cient way. We are inclined to smile at the modest efforts and poor facilities of the early miners, but we should not forget that their limited product was contributing to the for- mation of that store of wealth which makes possible the improved methods and splendid machinery of today.
The early French mining was even more wasteful and less carefully organized than that of which we have spoken. There were a great many shallow diggings in many parts of the mineral district in which ore was taken out, but the only furnace used in the early times was an "Ash" furnace, that could not have saved more than sixty per cent of the lead, the rest being lost in the slack.
When Louisiana was ceded to the United States, in 1803, the government reserved to it- self all mines and salt springs in the entire territory. This was in accordance with the usual policy in such cases. It was the pur- pose to lease these mines and springs and to collect a rental charge upon them. It was dis- covered, however, that the cost of clearing the
land was greater than the revenue obtained, and the fact that the rental was not carefully collected explains the non-existence of accu- rate statistics concerning the reduction. It is said that in the year 1811 five million pounds of ore were delivered at Shiboleth, but in 1819 it was reported that only one million pounds were yielded. Mine a Breton at one time yielded three million pounds a year, but in 1819 the yield was not more than five hun- dred thousand pounds, and there were not more than thirty miners at work throughout the year.
It was in 1819 that the government of the United States sent Schoolcraft to the mineral region to study and make a report on the condition of these mines. He found M. Bre- ton, the discoverer of the mine which bears his name, still living near Ste. Genevieve. He was at that time one hundred and nine years old. This report which Schoolcraft prepared and submitted to the government is the most accurate and authentic source of information concerning the mining industry which there is in existence.
Its author, Henry R. Schoolcraft, who was born in Albany, New York, in 1793, and re- ceived rudimentary education, moved in 1817 to Pittsburg. From his earliest years he was very much interested in mining and geology. At his own expense he traveled over portions of the country west of the Mississippi and the South, then came to St. Louis. He was ap- pointed an agent of the government and made his headquarters for a time at Potosi. Here he studied the conditions of the mines in all the districts, especially in Washington county, and drew up a formal and elaborate report concerning the entire mining region.
Most of the shafts were from ten to thirty feet deep and were sunk in stiff, red clay into the lead here found imbedded. This ore was
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also mixed with fragments-quartz, flint and other minerals. The shaft which had been sunk by Moses Austin was eighty feet deep and one other, that of John Rice Jones, with that of Austin, were the only ones in the neighborhood of Potosi extending into the rock itself. In both cases it was found that there were large quantities of ore in the cavi- ties of the rock, and from appearances School- craft concluded that the lower strata perhaps also contained lead.
The average yield of all the mines in that district about Potosi, from 1803 to 1819, was about three million pounds a year. It was estimated that its value was equal to one- fourth of the cost of all of the Louisiana ter- ritory. His list of mines, together with the number of persons employed and the pounds of ore raised during the year 1819, is as fol- lows: "Mine a Breton, 1,500,000 pounds, 160 miners; Shiboleth, 2,700,000 pounds, 240 miners; LaMotte, 2,400,000 pounds, 210 miners; Richwoods, 1,300,000 pounds, 140 miners ; Bryan and Daggat's, 910,000 pounds. 80 miners; Rock diggings, Citadel, Lamberts, Austin's and Jones' mines, 1,160,000 pounds, 180 miners; all others, 550,000 pounds, 90 miners."
At that time there was only one regular hearth furnace and that not of the best char- acter. There were but four or five regular shafts in the more than forty diggings then worked and there was not an engine of any kind in use for pumping from the mines.
It was suggested by Schoolcraft that in all probability, judging from the European ex- perience, that beneath the lead ores, copper ores would be found. This prediction has been, in part, verified. He advised the govern- ment to sell the mineral lands, or at least to extend the leases upon them for a number of years.
At the time that Schoolcraft observed these mines the principal minerals taken out, be- sides lead, were zine, tiff, spar, pyrites, quartz, cobalt, sulphur, and clay. Schoolcraft gives a very interesting account of how the ore was mined and smelted in this carly day. The only tools and implements used at that time were the pick ax, shovel, drill, rammer and priming rod; after having determined on the site for the mine the miners were accustomed to lay off a square of eight feet and then throw out the dirt by the use of a hand shovel to a depth of from 8 to 15 feet; after that depth the windlass and bucket became necessary for further digging. When ore was struck it was broken up by the use of pick and sometimes by blasting, black powder being used for the purpose ; this ore as taken to the top by means of the windlass and bucket. It was then cleaned and broken up into small particles and heated in a wood fire for from 24 to 36 hours; about 50 per cent of the Icad was extracted by this first method of smelting.
A considerable part of the lead was lost in the ashes of the fire. It was the custom after considerable quantities of ashes had accumu- lated to wash them very carefully after they had been run through a sieve and then the ashes were mixed with sand, flinted gravel and lime. and the whole mass put into a fur- nace; first a layer of ashes and then of the sand, gravel and lime and fired for about eight hours. This resulted in the saving of about 15 per cent more of the lead.
In 1819 lead sold at $4.00 per cwt. at the mines; it was worth $4.50 per cwt. at St. Louis or Herculaneum on the river. At the same time the market price of lead at New Orleans was $5.50 per ewt. and at Phila- delphia. $6.00.
He estimated there were received at Her- culaneum during the year 1817 somewhat
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more than three million pounds of ore, which was probably about one-half of the entire product of the region during the year. At this time there were about 1,100 men engaged in mining, this being a considerably smaller number than had formerly worked in the mines. Schoolcraft's explanation of this de- crease in the number of miners is that more men than formerly were engaged in manu- facturing and in farming.
Besides farming and mining, perhaps the industries most important were trading and transportation. The stores of this period, while still small, with limited stock, were a great improvement over those of the earlier day, which we have described. There were to be found at Ste. Genevieve, Frederick- town, Cape Girardeau, Jackson, and New Madrid stores having considerable quantities of varied merchandise. A number of men were engaged in the business of buying and selling, and they were necessary to the growth of the country. They still continued to buy their goods in the east. We have noted the experience of the Jackson merchant who sent a team and wagon from Jackson to Baltimore, requiring three months to make the trip. These merchants acted as distributers of goods for other communities. Their profits were not large in the aggregate, because their total volume of sales was small. They usually realized a sufficient profit on each particular sale as it was made.
The conditions of trade in the territory are shown, in part, by the following advertise- ment, which appeared in the Missouri Gazette in 1811: "Cheap Goods. The subscriber has just opened a quantity of bleached coun- try linen, cotton cloth, cotton and wool cards, German steel, smoothing irons, ladies' silk bonnets, artificial flowers, linen check mus-
lins, white thread, wool and cotton, a hand- some new gig with plated harness, cable and cordelle ropes, with a number of articles which suit the country, and which he will sell on very low terms.
"He will take in pay, furs, hides, whiskey, country made sugar and bees wax.
(Signed) John Arthur.
"P. S. A negro girl, eighteen years of age is also for sale. She is a good house servant."
In 1806, the following prices were obtained for articles in Cape Girardeau: Calico, $1.00 a yard, linen 75 cents a yard, pins 311/4 cents a paper, sugar 25 cents a pound, note paper 50 cents a quire, and other articles proportionately high.
In 1818, when John M. Peck moved to St. Louis he found high prices still prevailing there. The houses, shops and stores were all small, most of them only one story and con- sisting of two or three rooms. For a single room, occupied by the family, he paid $12.00 a month. The school room, which was four- teen by sixteen feet, cost them $14.00 a month. It was at that time very difficult to procure food at all. Butter sold from 37 to 50 cents a pound, sugar from 30 to 40 cents, coffee from 62 to 75 cents, flour, of an in- ferior grade, cost about $12.00 a barrel, corn in the ear was from $1.00 to $1.25 a bushel, pork raised on the range was regarded as cheap at $6.00 or $8.00 a hundred pounds. There was a ready market for chickens at 37 cents each, and eggs from 37 to 50 cents a dozen. These high prices were, in part, due to the system of currency. The currency in use was what was afterward denominated "shin plaster." These bills were issued by banks which had heen instituted without any adequate capital. The fact that the bills were not secure made people reluctant to take them
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and helped to produce the prevailing high prices .*
Nuttall in speaking of the country about Point Pleasant says the land "is of a supe- rior quality but flat and no high grades have made their appearance since we passed the Iron banks; no rock is anywhere to be seen. The Banks are deep and friable, islands and sand bars, at this stage of the river, con- nected with the land are almost innumerable. In the midst of so much plenty provided by nature the Canadian squatters are here, as elsewhere, in miserable circumstances ; they raise no wheat and scarcely enough maize for their support; superfine flour sold here at $11.00 per barrel. The dresses of the men consist of blanket capeaus, buckskin pan- taloons and moccasins."t
Besides these occupations, some men still made their living by hunting and trapping. As more and more the forests disappeared and lands were cleared and settled, hunting became less and less profitable. There were always some men left to engage hunting as a business. They did not contribute greatly to the wealth of the state, but they, undoubtedly, added something to it.
The day of the Indian was practically closed by the time of the admission of the state into the Union. During part of the period, how- ever, there was still money to be made by trading and trapping with the Indians. Furs were still brought and offered to the trader at very low prices, and so there were few men who were engaged very largely in this busi- ness of trading with the Indians.
A number of men were engaged in the very important and necessary business of transpor- tation. It required great labor and expense to move the products of the country to market.
* Life of Peck, p. 84.
t Nuttall Journal, p. 78.
This was especially true of the lead and iron produced at the mines. It was truc also of the goods sold by the merchant. These usually had to be transported for long dis- tances before reaching him. The river con- tinued to be the favorite route over which goods were carried when it was possible to use the river at all. This period of history saw the beginning of steamboat navigation. Its principal dependence was upon the keel- boat, but the keel-boat was destined to dis- appear before a better method of transpor- tation.
In a former chapter we have examined the use of the river for transporting goods. Traf- fic on the river increased very rapidly after the cession to the United States. The Amer- ican settlers very soon added largely to the exports. These exports, consisting of the various products of the country were sent usually by river to New Orleans and some- times to Pittsburgh on the Ohio river. The river was covered with fleets of keel-boats and travel was brisk; however, the long time re- quired for a trip from Ste. Genevieve to New Orleans and return was a very great handi- cap to trade. It is one of the remarkable things in history that at this time, when there arose a very great necessity for improved methods of transportation, there should have come into use the steamboat, which changed so greatly the traffic on the river. In 1807 Fulton had put in operation the first steam- boat the world had ever seen, the Clermont.
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