USA > Missouri > Johnson County > The history of Johnson County, Missouri : including a reliable history of the townships, cities, and towns, together with a map of the county; a condensed history of Missouri; the state constitution; an abstract of the most important laws etc > Part 4
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But there was another leader in this wild domain who also hated with
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all his life-blood this English foe. His fame touched the shore of either ocean. Once, in the east, hid in ambush, he had shot the deadly arrow straight to the heart of the British soldier, and had been one of the lead- ing spirits in the magnificent surprise by which the forces of the boasting Braddock were broken and routed. His prowess was wonderful! He held within him the combined power of all the tribes of the west. He had organized a mighty force of dusky warriors to resist the relentless invasions of his vast hunting-grounds. The French were his allies, St. Auge was his friend. It was Pontiac.
So well known were his splendid abilities that the curiosity of the French colonists of St. Louis was aroused to behold the great chieftain. In 1769, at the invitation of St. Auge, Pontiac visited St. Louis. He was received with marked respect. Prominent men of the settlement paid him the homage due to his station.
But here a change came over the monarch's dream of power and of life. The great scheme of repelling the terrible foe failed. His Indian allies deserted him, and warmest friends among the French advised him to smoke the calumet of peace and seek repose for his on coming age. Perhaps he saw that French authority at that time in America was no more. Perhaps with prophetic vision he saw the dark destiny of his race! no one knows. But the soul of the chief grew sullen. Bitter disappoint- ment gnawed the warrior's heart, and plunging into mad debauch and drunken revel his glory departed forever. Dressed in richest robes, plumed with the feathers of the eagle, bedecked with glittering shells and gaudy paint, he was assassinated while on a pleasure excursion to a neigh- boring village, by a murderer hired by the English. St. Auge buried him with pomp in a spot in the village of St. Louis, where now stands some of the proudest buildings of the renowned city.
The fate of Pontiac seems now, in the light of a century of progress such as the world has never known before, to have been the precursor of that of his people.
Soon after the death of Pontiac, the authority which the people had delegated to St. Auge, departed from him. Spanish supremacy having been established in New Orleans by an armed force of three thousand men, Lieutenant-Governor Pedro Piernas was sent to St. Louis in 1770. He was mild and conciliatory in his ruling, and with him St. Auge enjoyed the most intimate friendship. In 1774, St. Auge died. The occasion caused universal regret. After a rule of five years, Piernas departed for New Orleans, and in 1775 Francisco Cruzat took his place. His administration was tempered and mild. In 1778 he was succeeded by Ferdinando Leyba.
About this time we find the character of the people in St. Louis thus described: "They were almost all natives of the province of Louisiana, or of Canada, and had been inured to privation from childhood. Their
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wants were simple, and they had no motive for great exertion. But though inclined to be indolent, and deficient even in such education as the times afforded, they were not vicious in their tastes, and their enjoyments were of the most simple character."
As evidence of good feeling existing among the colonists, an authority cites these facts: "For more than a year after its settlement, St. Louis had no prison nor any statutes. A fraternal bond united the whole com- munity, and the few strong spirits among them were looked up to as patriarchs, and usually any little differences were submitted to and settled by them."
At the time Leyba took command, there was ill-feeling existing between Spain and England. Spain was stung at having to cede away her beau- tiful flower-land-the Floridas. Here was the most happy spot on the new soil, for her chivalry to bud and blossom. Hence when the war for Independence was in progress, her sympathy was with the colonies. So high did the spirit run, that the French colonists of St. Louis apprehended an attack from the English and Indians. Though a wall of brush and clay was made to surround the town by the alarmed inmates, no immediate attack was made. Stili preparations went on in secret. On May 26th, 1780, one thousand Indians landed above the city and surprising a number of the inhabitants, who having grown careless were at that time, without the walls, forty were killed. Marching on the fortifications surrounding the town, they met a brave and determined resistance, and retreating irregularly they gave up the fight. During the engagement, Leyba, it is stated by one authority, did not make his appearance. Another states that appearing in a state of debauch he ordered the firing to cease, and when one party at a distant gateway, not hearing the command, con- tinued, he ordered the cannon turned on them, and they had barely time to save their lives by throwing themselves upon the earth. His treacherous conduct was exposed and a timely dismissal followed. Universally execrated he died by poison administered by his own hand.
After the removal of Leyba, Cruzat became the commandant. He pro- ceeded at once to fortify the place in a substantial manner, and at no time afterwards was St. Louis subjected to molestation.
In 1785 the Mississippi overflowed its banks. So great was the flood, and so disastrous its consequences, that one writer exclaims: "The whole American bottom was an inland sea!" The danger of being entirely swept away was imminent to the towns of Cahokia and Kaskaskia. Hap- pily, the waters subsided and this was averted, as was also the case in St. Louis, where the inhabitants were on the point of vacating their houses.
Cruzat was succeeded, in 1788, by Manuel Perez, who for five years directed the governmental affairs of the people with marked toleration and wisdom.
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MISSOURI.
On July 21, 1792, Zenon Trudeau became commandant. His adminis- tration was also very popular. An era of hitherto unknown prosperity dawned upon St. Louis. Measures having been instituted to encourage immigration-the population was largely increased; cottages take the place of huts; a spirit of enterprise and speculation is born; trade was enlarged; long expeditions into the interior were undertaken; thrift is everywhere apparent.
In 1799 Trudeau was succeeded by Delassus de Delusiere. A census of Upper Louisiana, taken at this time, shows St. Louis to have had a population of 827. Delassus, in order to encourage settlement, granted large tracts of land upon the slightest pretences. He was beloved for his mildness, temperance, and conscientious regard for the rights of the colonists.
CHAPTER VI.
French Possesssion of Louisiana-Purchase by the United States-Description of Early Settlers-" District " of Louisiana created by Congress-Successive Governors-Aaron Burr-Captain Meriwether Lewis-St. Louis to 1812-" Missouri Gazette."
In the year 1800 there lived in Europe a ruler, whose dark and mysteri- ous genius, while it made him the weird magician of national destinies, also made him the terrible Moloch of destruction. "Crowns crumbled at his touch;" and under the shadow of his stern, titanic power, numerous princes of the continent lay cowering. His ambitious eye wandered from north to south, from east to west, and as his fearless soul did not quail before the death-heights of the Alps, so his unrestrained ambition leaped across an ocean, and made him covet the beautiful valley which the imbe- cility of his predecessors had caused to be forsaken. The fierce figure, who reveled in the slaughter of a continent, was Napoleon Bonaparte.
By the power of his terrifying name and the wily diplomacy of his won- derful intellect, Napoleon wrested from the King of Spain the territory of Louisiana west of the Mississippi. The treaty, by which the retrocession was made, was concluded October 1, 1800, and is known in history as the treaty of Ildefonso. This change of possession excited the jealousy of England, who, having power on the high seas, prevented any actual pos- session by allowing no passage of troops to the valley. Napoleon, seeing that it was practically impossible to hold Louisiana, conceived the idea of selling it to the American ambassadors then at his court with full power from the infant republic to "effectually secure our rights and interests in the Mississippi river, and in the territories eastward thereof." Though the mat- ter of the purchase of the vast tract known as Louisiana was beyond the stipulated duties of the American ministers, a contract was signed by which
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Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States for the sum of $15,000,000.
Watching with bitterness the growing power of England, upon the con- clusion of the treaty, he uttered with fierce sarcasm, the prophetic words: "This accession of territory forever strengthens the power of the United States; and I have given England a maratime rival that will sooner or later humble her pride."
The consummation of the foregoing sale was not reached until Decem- ber, 1803, when, after the purchase having been ratified by President Jefferson and the national Congress, M. Laussal, who had just received the territory from the Spanish authorities, transferred Louisiana to Com- missioners Claiborne and Wilkinson, at New Orleans.
Speaking of the feeling occasioned in St. Louis by this momentous act, Elihu B. Washburne, with an extensive acquaintance with the French and French history, says in a recent address: "It was on the 10th of March, 1804, that the transfer of sovereignty was made. It was with feelings of sadness and regret that the great mass of French residents of St. Louis found their allegiance severed from France. This transfer of the sover- eignty sank deep in their hearts. On the 10th of March, 1804, tenderly and reverently the proud ensign of France was lowered in the presence of a great multitude, and amidst tears and sighs, and then was flung to the breeze of heaven the starry banner of our own republic on the balcony of the residence of Charles Gratiot, who saluted with respect and affection this emblem of his adopted country. Adapting themselves with wonder- ful facility to the new order of things, the population soon became recon- ciled to the change. A new impetus was given to trade and business, and immigration began to flow in. An era of prosperity was opened up to them, of which they had little dreamed, and soon realizing how beneficial was the change of sovereignty to every interest, they became loyal, true and devoted American citizens."
And no wonder that there were sighs and tears! The young Acadian colony must stand or fall with the eastern Republic, of which they knew so little. The flag of their native land was furled to float no more.
At the time when Delassus made the transfer to Amos Stoddard, the population of Upper Louisiana was estimated at about 9000 whites. It was nominated in the agreement by which the purchase was effected that the United States should protect the inhabitants in their landed possessions and in their religion.
The following description of the early settlers of Missouri and their sur- roundings, is pertinent at this point-the date when immigration began slowly to come in from the United States. We take it from the "Pioneer Families of Missouri," a book full of curious interest and graphic portrayal:
" In those days there were no railroads or steamboats, nor even stage coaches, to convey passengers from place to place, and the early settlers
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MISSOURI.
had to depend on their own resources. Some built flat-boats and keel- boats, into which they loaded their goods and families, and floated down the Ohio and its tributaries, to the Mississippi, and then toiled up that stream to the Missouri, and up the latter to their destination, dragging their clumsy boats by tow-lines, or forcing them along with oars and poles. Others packed their goods, and wives and children on horses, and came through the wilderness, supplying themselves with meat from the wild game which they killed with their rifles as they came along. And still others, too poor either to own horses or build boats, shouldered what few articles of worldly goods they possessed, and came on foot.
" They all located in the woods, near the water courses, and built their houses adjoining some nice, cool, bubbling spring. The idea of settling on the rich prairies never occurred to them. They imagined that the prairies never could be cultivated, because there was no water on them, and no timber to fence them. They did not know, then, that water could be had by digging ponds and cisterns, or that fences could be made by fencing and ditching, or by hauling rails from the adjoining timber.
"Their houses were built of rough logs, with puncheon floors, clap-board roofs, and great, broad, flaring chimneys, composed of sticks and mud. Sometimes they had no floors in their houses, except the ground, beaten smooth and hard, and swept clean every day. Iron nails were not to be had, and the boards of their roofs were fastened with wooden pins, or weighted with poles and stones."
So lax had been the manner of granting lands under the old French and Spanish authorities, as to cause much trouble upon the accession of the country to the United States. In order to keep faith with the earliest inhabitants, and prevent the influx of population from the east from taking their lands, congress, in 1812, passed an act "confirming in fee simple, absolute on that day," to the inhabitants of the several towns and villages, all lots and tracts of lands, " inhabited, cultivated or possessed prior to the 20th day of December, 1803." This forever settled the question.
On the 10th day of March, as previously stated, Amos Stoddard removed to St. Louis and began his duties as governor, on March 26, 1804. Congress, by an act, divided the territory so lately acquired into two parts, viz: the " Territory of Orleans," (comprising what is now the State of Louisiana) and the "District of Louisiana," (comprising an immense tract, including the land now occupied by the states of Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, together with undefined portions to the west and north).
By the act of division as above described, the executive power of the territory of Indiana, just east of the river, was made to rule over the " Dis- trict of Louisiana;" Gen. W. H. Harrison became therefore the governor. In 1805 the " District " became by a further law of congress a " Territory."
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MISSOURI.
James Wilkinson was immediately appointed governor by President Jef- ferson. For his office he took possession of an old government building in St. Louis, which point still continued the center of trade and power.
While discharging his duties in St. Louis Gov. Wilkinson was visited by the celebrated Aaron Burr.
About the discovery of this western land of fruits and flowers, of forests grand and old, and prairies that roll for countless miles like the slow, surg- ing billows of the restless ocean, clings the weird traditions of the wildest romance, and how could it be otherwise? For three thousand years Europe and Asia had constituted the world. And now, was opened up a country, bounded upon one side by a matchless stream of water, upon the other by mountains that shamed the Alps, while all within was rich in vegetable and mineral products. Was it not a country where the Empire of the World might stand forever?
Aaron Burr possessed a princely intellect, but political life for him was full of bitter defeats and dire disappointments. Left behind in the race for presidential honors, his hands stained with the blood of Hamilton, with malice in his heart toward the government, he turned away from the scenes which had given him his fame, adown the windings of the beauti- ful Ohio he wandered, stealing like a serpent into the home of Blenner- hasset, then on to the Mississippi. And as he slowly wound his way upward to the city of St. Louis, and the shadows of evening closed about the slow moving boat, but an atom in the heart of the continent, and the unbroken stillness of night settled down, Aaron Burr conceived one of the most daring projects of history.
On reaching St. Louis his well-known plan was indirectly made known to Gov. Wilkinson, who, becoming alarmed at its vague though gigantic proportions, immediately informed the administration at Washington. Jef- ferson at once procured the capture of Burr. Had the conspiracy suc- ceeded, the prediction of Napoleon would not have been realized, and the American Republic never could have attained the strength occasioned by having the Mississippi within her borders.
In 1806 there came to St. Louis another historic character, though of a far different mold, Captain Meriwether Lewis.
Lewis had won distinction early in life as a volunteer in suppressing the . whisky rebellion in Virginia. After discharging the duties of private secretary to Thomas Jefferson from 1801 to 1803, he was commissioned by Congress to explore the western wilds of the " Territory of Louisiana," and seek out the source of the Missouri. Captain William Clark was ap- pointed his assistant. After undergoing many trials and hardships, and accomplishing by unwavering fortitude his mission, he visited St. Louis, upon his return journey to the national capital. Here he was warmly welcomed by the inhabitants. When the results of his almost solitary
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MISSOURI.
march through the canons of the Yellowstone were made known to Con- gress, he was awarded special honors. In 1807 he succeeded Wilkinson as Governor of the " Territory of Louisiana." His rule was of short dura- tion. In 1809 while passing through Tennessee on a business journey to the National Capital, under an aberration of mind he committed suicide.
Benjamin Howard was the next Governor and was succeeded in 1810 by William Clark, before mentioned as the assistant of Lewis. He remained in office until the admission of Missouri into the Union.
From Switzler's excellent history of the State we take the following in regard to local government:
The settled portions of Missouri, for the purposes of local government, were divided in 1804 into four districts, as follows:
1. The district of Cape Girardeau, including all the territory between Tywappity Bottom and Apple Creek. In 1804 its population was 1470 whites. and a few slaves.
2. The district of Ste. Genevieve, including all the territory from Apple Creek to the Meramec river. Population, 2350 whites and 520 slaves.
3. The district of St. Louis, including all the territory between the Meramec and Missouri rivers. Population, 2280 whites and 500 slaves.
4. The district of St. Charles, including all the inhabited territory between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Population, 1400 whites and 150 slaves.
By reverting to a previous chapter of this sketch, an outline of the set- tlements previous to 1800 apart from St. Louis will show by natura. enlargement the course of the settlements named above.
In 1804 a post-office was established in St. Louis and Rufus Easton made postmaster. But in 1808 the most remarkable event occurs in its history .. Joseph Charless establishes the Missouri Gazette. To-day this small sheet of octavo size is the Missouri Republican.
When we consider the size of these two papers, the territory over which they have each circulated, their contents, we are astounded at the progress. made within the nineteenth century. Then, this newspaper contained let- ters from Washington transmitted through weary journeys by land and water and months of danger. Now, under the magic transformation of this short period of time, it contains, daily and even hourly, news from the remote parts of the civilized world.
On November 9th, 1809, St. Louis was incorporated as a town. Among the names of the first body of trustees is that of Edward Hempstead, of whom more will be said hereafter.
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The regulations of the trustees upon the citizens of the town were very light. One of the most important was that they must band themselves. together to form a fire company, and must keep their chimnies swept once- a month, under a fine of ten dollars.
We find the following summary made of the town, for 1811:
" In 1811, the town is described as containing 1,400 inhabitants, one
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MISSOURI.
printing office, twelve stores, two schools-one French and one English- and the merchandise and imports of the town were valued at about $250,- 000. Peltries, lead, and whisky made a large portion of the currency. During the spring of 1811, the first market was built on Center square (La Place d' Armes), which was between Market and Walnut, Main and the river."
The streets of St. Louis, at this time, must have presented a wild and strangely grotesque appearance. Here commingled, were the French settler, still displaying his nationality by fashionable dress and bright colors; the trapper and hunter and voyageur, in costume half civilized, half savage, boisterous, bold, and happy; the English resident, grave and sedate; the red Indian and the negro slave. The center of life gave little promise of the "Future Great."
CHAPTER VII.
Settlement of St. Charles County-Villages to the Westward-" Boone's Lick" -- Daniel - Boone-Indian Border Warfare-Rangers and Forts-New Madrid Earthquakes-Act of Congress for the Relief of Sufferers.
The city of St. Charles, west of St. Louis, though settled as early as 1769, contained, in 1791, only about fourteen houses. Blanchette, its founder, was commandant until his death, in 1793. This small post afterward gave a name to the "District of St. Charles," which comprised, at one time, all the lands between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, extending to the Pacific ocean. The "district" was in reality the county, which has been reduced to its present size by repeated losses of territory, occasioned in creating other counties.
. When the purchase of Louisiana was completed, in 1804, and immigra- tion to the "Far West" began, settlements were pushed up the Missouri river. These early settlers suffered much from the repeated depredations of the Indians. St. Charles county was the seat of this Indian warfare- culminating, as it did, in the terrible massacres of 1812. Up to this period, the Indians, though tempted by large presents from the British, main- tained a comparatively peaceful attitude.
In 1807 a settlement was made by a few American colonists, upon Loutre Island, in the Missouri river, just below the present town of Her- mann. In 1808 a settlement war effected in Callaway county, by the French, called Cote Saus Dessein. At this point were fought some of the hardest battles of the Indian war. It was a thriving settlement, and situ- ated equidistant from St. Charles and the Boone's Lick country.
Boone's Lick country (now Howard county), was discovered and set- tled in the following manner.
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MISSOURI.
While sugar was almost unknown to the hardy pioneers of this primi- tive time, salt was a necessity. It was shipped from Kentucky and New Orleans to St. Louis by river, and from that point was sold over the coun- try by traveling traders. The enormous profits charged, made the price of the article very high.
Early in the present century, Colonel Boone, (the celebrated Boone of history), while on a hunting expedition from his home near St. Charles; discovered the salt springs of the region afterward known as "Boone's Lick " in Howard county. In 1807 two of his sons came thither and man- ufactured salt, which they floated down to the settlements in " hollow syc- amore logs, daubed at the ends with clay." The many expeditions to this point in quest of the valuable article of food, and the great increase of the traffic created a settlement and caused the first highroad to be opened in the west, called Boone's Lick road. This afterward became greatly traveled by emigrants.
Having been brought now to notice Daniel Boone, it will not be a digression to give here, the main points of his life, and to relate especially his connection with Missouri.
Daniel Boone was born in Pennsylvania, in 1734. At an early age he exhibited great skill in hunting, was daring and brave, and soon won local celebrity. When eighteen years of age his father removed to North Car- olina. While residing here, Daniel married Rebecca Bryan. After extended explorations in the region of the Kentucky river, Boone with his brother and their families, removed from the Yadkin river in North Carolina to Kentucky. From this time, until the admission of Kentucky into the Union as a State, the history of Daniel Boone is indissolubly knit with that of Kentucky. The brave hunter's lad developed into a shrewd, sagacious, hardy and resolute, dauntless man. After perils and adven- tures and misfortunes, such as no other western pioneer experienced, Boone, in 1790 moved to Virginia, thence in 1795 to Missouri, then Upper Louisiana. Zenon Trudeau offered to him as an inducement to this change of residence, a large tract of land. After his removal he received this grant according to promise, and by a contract to bring to St. Charles '" district." one hundred American families, he afterward received ten thousand arpents of land in the same region. In 1800, he was appointed commandant of the Femme Osage or St. Charles " district. " The author- ities requiring much of his time to be devoted to his office, Boone neglected to have the proper entries for his land made. This afterwards was the source of much trouble. His title being declared invalid, he petitioned to Congress for his lands, and only succeeded in obtaining them after long deliberation by the committees of that body. The petition is a curious piece of writing, and thoroughly shows the slight monetary value placed upon western acres.
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