Johnson County, Missouri - Chapter 5 (1 of 2 so headed), 1881

Chapter 5

Removal of tbe French from the East to the West bank of the Mississippi - St. Auge de Belle Rive - Pontiac - Successive Governors - Attack of Indians - Flood of 1785 - Census.

It is now the province of this narrative to give briefly the history of the city of St. Louis, from its founding in 1764 to the year 1800, when Napoleon by a secret treaty forced Spain to retrocede Louisiana to France. We have given in the preceding chapter the main incidents of early set¬ tlement within the territory now known as the state, but it must not be these pioneers amounted to reverence ; they could not brook English inso¬ lence and lordly overbearance. All who could, without sacrificing every¬ thing, removed to the western bank. St. Louis received a large influx of these emigrants.

Among these was St. Auge de Belle Rive, who had hitherto been com¬ mander of Fort Chartres. His many noble qualities soon won him dis¬ tinction among the people. So great was this, that he soon became, by common consent, the acting governor of the settlement. When it became known about this time that the royal domains west of the Mississippi had been ceded to Spain, power was given to St. Auge by Spanish authority to make land grants, and the deeply injured people looked solely to him for release from what to them was the most galling yoke.

" In a few months the news of the pusillanimous course pursued by their king reached St. Louis, and the same grief and rage were mani¬ fested by the people that had been evinced at New Orleans. Spain, seeing the spirit of resistance which was rife among the people, adopted a conciliatory policy, and, in fact, delayed three years before making any effort to take possession of the province. During this time the French government was beseigea by petitions from the colonists praying that they might be restored to the mother country, and the hope was strong among the people that in some way this would be accomplished. As this expectation died out, an obstinate determination not to submit to their new masters took its place."

But the time did come when the Castilian standard floated above the thatched roofs of the villagers and the "lilies of France" lay trailing in the dust.

St. Auge hated the English. The sunny blood of the Frenchman, his vivacious spirit and free manner rebelled against the haughty air and stubborn bearing of the English occupant of the eastern slope of the beautiful valley through which rolled his own dear " River of the Con¬ ception." Beyond the Atlantic the parent nationalities each held a dagger at the other's throat. St. Auge, wrapped about with the mantle of patri¬ otic love, doubting his neighbors, guided with honest purpose the young colony.

Historical Sketch Of Missouri

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 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. Still 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. - -

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.