Johnson County, Missouri - Chapter 3, 1881

Chapter 3

Another great exploration belonging to this epoch of discovery remains to be delineated. Then we shall be able to trace rapidly and in a general manner the progress of settlement to the time when St. Louis from its commercial importance becomes the chief center of historic interest.

Robert La Salle was born in Rouen, in France, in the year 1635. Early in life he renounced his inheritance and entered a school of the Jesuits. In 1667 he embarked for Canada, with the purpose of acquiring fortune by traffic in furs with the Indians, and fame by the new territories he might make known in the infinite lands of the west.

His energy, his firmness, and his intelligence, early acquired, of Indian languages, stamped his every effort a success. He soon became wealthy, and returning to France was granted a title of nobility and given the exclusive right of all trade with the five nations, and the ownership of a large tract of land about Fort Frontenac. Thus complimented he returned to America to resume his labors.

At this time the news of the wonderful exploit of Marquette and Joliet reached his ears. Immediately he formed the resolution of completing the voyage of the Mississippi to its mouth, and also of establishing settlements and trading posts in the southwest. He lost no time in communicating his project to the governor of Canada, and was advised by him to make known his plans to the crown, and ask assistance. For this purpose he again sought France; was successful, and in 1678 left La Rochelle, France, with Tonti, a veteran commander, as lieutenant, and thirty men, and arrived at Quebec safely in September.

Here he was joined by Louis Hennepin, a man desirous of distinguish¬ ing himself by bold discover}", but who eventually proved to be a graceless imposter. Great preparations were made; a bark of sixty tons was launched on the Niagara river, and by a circuitous route of the lakes reached Green Bay. Finally the party reached the banks of the Illinois, when news came to La Salle that his estates had been sold in his absence, and financial ruin was imminent. Amid these forebodings of trouble a fort was erected, the site of which is known to-day, called Creve Couer, the Broken Heart. Tonti was placed in command of this. Hennepin was commissioned to ascend the Mississippi, and La Salle, with three fol¬ lowers, returned on foot to Fort Frontenac.

A year was spent in readjusting his affairs and collecting a force with which to complete his labor. But by February 6, 1682, he had descended the Illinois to its junction with the Mississippi, and begun the descent of the latter. His voyage downward has been thus described: "As he advanced, he noted the mouth of the Missouri, built a fort near that of the Ohio, and a cabin on the first Chickasaw bluff, raised the cross by the Arkansas, planted the arms of France near the gulf of Mexico, took possession in the name pf France of the whole valley, and, on April 9, entered the Gulf of Mexico, founded the fort of St. Louis, and gave to the adjacent lands the name of Louisiana."

This is the first authentic notice of the Missouri river, though Mar¬ quette had proceeded far below it, and the first complete passage from the lakes to the gulf.

La Salle returned to France. In August, 1684, set sail for the mouth of the Mississippi with a commission to colonize, went beyond the mouth and landed in Texas, became harassed and bewildered, and while attempting to gain the region of the Illinois, was shot by the treachery of one of his own men.

Formal possession had been taken of a vast tract yet undefined, but occupying both sides of the mighty river. In this territory was to arise a dispute between the English and French powers as to boundaries. The French were to be the first colonizers because of their power of assimi¬ lating with the Indians.

In 1699 D'Iberville founded the first colony, near the mouth of the Mis¬ sissippi, and gradually the French pushed their trading posts up the banks of the great river. The rich gold-fields were yet untouched, and many were the futile efforts to find them. This feverish search did much toward opening up the country.

In the year 1705 the French are said to have organized an expedition to explore the Missouri in quest of gold and silver. No valuable minerals were found, and history merely alludes to the projection of the plan.

/ France now became harassed by wars. Attention was drawn from the budding colonies in the new world. Men and money were thrown into the breach that had been created at home. But it was thought that the province in the west would eventually prove the bonanza of the king¬ dom. Neglect must not lose them the prize. It must be secured in case of the defeat of the mother country.

Historical Sketch Of Missouri

In order to fortify himself, Louis XIV conveyed the territory of Louis¬ iana, in 1712, by letters patent to Anthony Cruzat. The conditions were' that all the profits of all commerce were to be Cruzat's; that the laws and customs of France were to be the laws and usages of the province. The country included under the grant of the charter embraced that on both sides of the river now designated as Louisiana, Mississippi, Ten¬ nessee, Arkansas and Missouri, with much wider boundaries than at pres¬ ent. Cruzat now sent out as governor, M. de la Motte.

In spirit he was a true follower of Ponce de Leon and De Soto. He believed that the bosom of the earth but hid one vast mass of precious mineral, and that somewhere in his province lay the approach. His dreams of wealth were more faubulous than eastern tale or myth of the gods. Legitimate commerce was neglected in mad projects of prospect¬ ing and mining, and in a few years this would-be Croesus had involved Cruzat in financial ruin. M. de la Motte was deposed and successive gov¬ ernors appointed with no change for the better, and in 1717, Cruzat returned the grant to the crown.

The charter was then transferred to the Company of the West, at the head of which was the famous John Law, the master spirit of all money conjurers, who organized under this Company of the West one of the most gigantic money swindles which the world has ever seen, known in history as the " Mississippi Bubble." A bank was organized under the existent laws, whose vast capital stock lay in the lands of Louisiana. In this stock the financial world saw an immense speculation. Should the expectations of the province of gold be realized, untold dividends would be declared* The poor and the rich alike were caught by the glare, and it is stated that the stock rose to twenty times its value. When the " bubble " bursted there were no dividends - and the lands they had never seen. Wm. F. Switzler, in his History of Missouri, quotes this paragraph from Amos Stod¬ dard, as illustrative of the magnitude of the scheme:

" The Mississippi scheme was no less bold in its conception than disastrous in its consequences. It seized within its grasp, the bank, the mint, all the trading companies, and all the revenues of the kingdom. The object was to employ this vast capital in opening the rich mines of Louisiana, and in cultivating its fertile soil, in carrying on the whole commerce of the nation, and in managingits revenues. The company created three hundred thousand shares at five hundred livres each* all of which were sold in market, and before the completion of the sales they rose to an enormous height. The amount of stock thus created, without taking the rise into calculation, amounted to sixteen hundred and seventy-seven mill¬ ions, five hundred thousand livres, or three hundred and ten millions, six hundred and forty-eight thousand, one hundred and forty-eight dollars!"

The loss of wealth thus entailed (and it was upon all classes) is almost beyond conception, though in the matter of colonization, the wild extrav¬ aganza gave great impetus.

here and there were erecting posts for exploration - the earnest of future towns and cities. As yet the epoch belonged to the struggle for existence, and the brave colonists were everywhere beset with dangers. The marauding savage still stalked abroad upon errands of destruction, and the deadly miasma slept in the breezes of the soft summer night. But the patriotism of Marquette and La Salle no longer existed. Their devo¬ tion no longer inspired the heart, and it must be confessed that the shrine at which all worshipped was - gold.

The miraculous fountain of De Leon was the jeer of the age, yet these same souls that scoffed, beat out their lives in mad passion against the bars of circumstance.

And while all this was going on, the maintenance of life was a necessity; hence we find them cultivating fields of maize and wheat. After the dis¬ astrous outcome of the organization of the Company of the West, Louisi¬ ana was returned to the crown, which held it until it was ceded to Spain in 1762. This period was the real time of colonization, and in it many budding towns were founded along the Mississippi, which to-day are enter¬ prising and beautiful cities. Among these is the first settlement in Mis¬ souri, St. Genevieve.

Campbell in his Gazetter thus sums up its history, over which age has thrown much uncertainty, though there are substantial reasons for believing these dates to be correct:

"About 1720, Renault, son of a celebrated iron founder of France, established himself at Fort Chartres, on the opposite side of the Missis¬ sippi, about 10 miles above the present site of Ste. Genevieve, and sent out mining parties through what is now Missouri, in search of precious met¬ als. * * * * These mining operations were carried on for many years before any settlements were made on the west side of the river. Tradition places the first settlement of Ste. Genevieve, in 1735; a house was sold there in 1754, and new life was given it in 1763, when a number of French from Kaskaskia and St. Philip, settled there, and a few miles below at New Bourbon."

The importance of Ste. Genevieve at this time arises from the fact that when St. Louis was founded, it became the point where the latter city purchased all its stores. Some writers give 1755 as the date of its found¬ ing. This is perhaps 20 years too late. However this may be, certain it is, that it was the first " local habitation " in Missouri.

Two important changes in government and possession of the Missis¬ sippi valley now occur. By the treaty of Paris, February 10, 1763, France ceded to Great Britain all the territory of the valleys of the St. Lawrence and Ohio, and the southern portion of the Mississippi valley east of the river. On November 3, 1762, France ceded to Spain the prov-

St. Louis was the next settlement in Missouri. It was founded by Laclede Liguest, February 15, 1764. From the translation of a frag¬ ment from the journal of Aug. Choteau, one of the members of the expe¬ dition which resulted in selecting the site for the city, we take the follow¬ ing extracts as the most reliable data of the founding: "In the year 1762, M. D'Abadie, at that time director-general and commandant of Louisiana, granted to a company, called the 4 Louisiana Fur Company,' the exclusive trade with the savages of the Missouri, and all the nations residing west of the Mississippi, for the term of eight years. This com¬ pany was formed under the name of M. Laclede Liguest, Antoine Moxan & Company. * * * While waiting for the arrival of the goods which they had ordered in Europe, they formed a considerable armament, at the head of which was placed M. Laclede Liguest, known as a man of great merit, capable, from his experience of conducting with skill and prudence, the interests of the company. He left New Orleans the 3d of August, 1763, and arrived in Illinois the 3d of November following, ately all the supplies for the different nations. After all the business of the trade was done, he occupied himself with the means of forming an establishment suitable for his commerce, Ste. Genevieve not suiting him, because of its distance from the Missouri, and its insalubrious situation.

* * * In consequence, he set out from the Fort de Chartres in the month of December, took with him a young man in his confidence, and examined all the ground from the Fort de Chartres to the Missouri. He was delighted to see the situation ; he did not hesitate a moment to form there the establishment that he proposed. After having examined all thoroughly, he fixed upon the place where he wished to form his settle¬ ment, marked with his own hand some trees, and said to Choteau, 1 you will come here as soon as navigation opens, and will cause this place to be cleared, in order to form our settlement after the plan that I shall give you. ' "