"In 1764 St. Louis was founded by Pierre LaClede, Maxan & Co., as a trading post. In 1766 the village received an accession of inhabitants from the other side of the river, who preferred the Spanish to the English governmentÖ" An introductory chronology describes the discovery and descent of the Mississippi River, from Father Marquette's Journal, 1682. "The French Domination, 1764-1770" discusses LaClede's verbal grants of village lots in 1765, "the first manumission," in 1763, various villages, military matters, early French merchants, the first parish register and more. "The Spanish Domination, 1770-1804" began when Capt. Pierre Joseph Piernas, a Spaniard, assumed authority as lieutenant-governor and military commandant of the upper portion of the province. This section describes the establishment of the government and legal system, and contains several transcripts of early court cases. A variety of other material includes the flood of 1784, some biographical sketches, the Missouri Trading Co., the Mascou Indians, documents relating to the transfer of the Louisiana Territory, items in the archives of St. Louis, and some of the first Americans in St. Louis. The appendix contains "brief notices of some of the most prominent of the early families of St. Louis; particularly of those whose names have been continued, through male descendants, to the present time." The index includes subjects and names, followed by an alphabetical list of subscribers. Illustrations include portraits and old buildings.
Frederic L. Billon
(1886), 2008, 5½x8½, paper, index, 532 pp.
ISBN: 9780788406904
101-B0690
