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St. Charles history

Louis  BlanchetteCarlos de Hault de Lassus appointed him
commandant of the Femme Osage District, which
Louis Blanchette was a Frenchman whohe served until the United States government
travelled to the Americas, it is said, forassumed control in 1804. The name of the
adventure. According to Hopewell's Legends oftown, San Carlos, was anglicized to become
the  Missouri  and  Mississippi:St.  Charles.
In the year 1765, a Frenchman, calledLewis  and  Clark
Blanchette Chasseur, animated by that love of
adventure which characterizes all who haveWilliam Clark arrived in St. Charles on May
lived a roving and restless life, ascended16, 1804. With him were 40 men and three
the Missouri, with a few followers, for theboats; there they made final preparations, as
purpose of forming a settlement in the thenthey waited for Meriwether Lewis to arrive
remote  wilderness.from St. Louis. They attended dances,
dinners, and a church service during this
According to Hopewell's rather romantictime, and the excited town was very
account, Blanchette met another Frenchmanhospitable  to  the  explorers.
(Bernard Guillet) at the site of St. Charles
in 1765. Blanchette, determined to settle atLewis arrived via St. Charles Rock Road on
the site, asked if Guillet, who had becomeMay 20, and the expedition launched the next
the chief of a Dakota tribe, had chosen aday in a keelboat at 3:30 pm. St. Charles was
name  for  it.the last established American town they would
visit  for  more  than  two and a half years.
"I called the place 'Les Petites Cotes' "
replied Bernard, "from the sides of the hillsState  Capital
that  you  see."
When Missouri was granted statehood in 1821,
"By that name shall it be called," saida decision was made to build a "City of
Blanchette Chasseur, "for it is the echo ofJefferson" to serve as the state capital, in
nature — beautiful from itsthe center of the state, overlooking the
simplicity."Missouri River. Since this land was
undeveloped at the time, a temporary capital
Blanchette settled there in 1769 under thewas needed. St. Charles beat eight other
authority of the Spanish governor of Uppercities in a competition to house the
Louisiana, and served as its civil andtemporary capitol, offering free meeting
military leader until his death in 1793.space for the legislature in rooms located
During this time perhaps only a couple dozenabove a hardware store. This building still
buildings were built. Although the settlementstands today and may be toured. The Missouri
was under Spanish jurisdiction, the settlersgovernment continued to meet there until
themselves remained primarily FrenchJefferson  City  was  ready  in  1826.
nationals.
German  Immigration
San  Carlos
Gottfried Duden was a German who visited in
The first church, built in 1791, wasthe area in 1824. Travelling under the
dedicated to San Carlos Borromeo, and theguidance of Daniel M. Boone, he wrote
town became known as San Carlos del Misuri:extensive accounts of life in St. Charles
"St. Charles of the Missouri". This churchCounty during his year there. These he
was  destroyed  by  a  tornado  in  1916.published upon his return to Germany in 1829,
and his favorable impressions of the area led
Daniel  Booneto the immigration of a number of Germans in
1833. The first permanent German settler in
The first American-born Europeans to settlethe region was probably Louis Eversman, who
in the region were Daniel Boone and hisarrived with Duden but decided to stay.
family. The Spanish Lieutenant-Governor



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