Commandant\'s Headquarters Courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Louis Blanchette, a French Canadian fur trader and hunter, first came to this very spot, where the creek forms a small waterfall, in 1764. Nearby he found a salt spring. He was so delighted with the location and with the excellent hunting and fishing that when he returned to his home in St. Louis de Lauzon, a small town near the capitol city of Quebec, Canada, he gathered supplies and a few followers, who were also fur traders, and returned here in April 1769, to establish a settlement. He called the settlement "Les Petites Côtes" (The Little Hills). In the immediate vicinity of this creek and under Blanchette's leadership the settlers erected three log houses, a log church (the first Catholic Church in the St. Charles area) and a grist mill to provide for the souls and bodies of the settlers. The Spanish Governor of the Upper Louisiana gave Blanchette authority to establish a post here and appointed him to be the first Civil and Military Spanish Commandant. Blanchette operated a successful fur trading business ans served as Commandant until his death in 1793.

The first Catholic Church which had been built by Louis Blanchette in 1769 was replaced in 1791 and the new church was dedicated on Nov. 7, 1791 by Don Manuel DePerez, Lt Governor of Upper Louisiana Territory, under the invocation of San Carlos Borromeo, 16th Century Archbishop of Milan. On the same day the name of the settlement was changed from "Les Petites Côtes" to "San Carlos". A census taken in December, 1791 and signed by Manuel DePerez, shows the population was 225 persons.

Blanchette's successor as Commandant was Don Carlos Tayon, who remained in command until 1801. It was Don Carlos Tayon, in 1799, as Spanish Commandant for the area, who denied Daniel Boone the right to take possession of the Land Grant he had been carrying issued by the Governor of the Territory. Don Carlos Taylon was of the opinion, Daniel Boone was not physically able to farm and/or protect his property. Daniel Boone was 65 years old. All other grant holders brought here by Daniel Morgan Boone (Daniel's son) were granted leave to take possession of their grants. In 1801, James Mackay took office and served as Commandant until March 9, 1804.

In 1800 Napoleon forced and cajoled the King of Spain to give back the Louisiana Territory to France by secret treaty. However, since no formal transfer was made here, the French officials did not take charge and the Spanish officials remained. On April 10, 1803, James Monroe was sent to Paris as an "Envoy Extraordinary" in conjunction with Robert R. Livingston, the American Minister to France, with instructions to purchase the Louisiana Territory, or if not, to "insure ourselves a course of perpetual peace and friendship with all nations."

On April 30, 1803, a Treat of Cession was signed by representatives of the United States and France. This is the largest single real estate transaction ever made in the world, comprising the present states of Arkansas, Missouri, North and South Dakota, and the greater part of the states of Kansas, Colorado, Montana, Minnesota, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. The purchase price was $15,000,000. On March 9, 1804, the formal transfer of Upper Louisiana from France to the United States was made at St. Louis and at San Carlos. On that historic day the people living here were summoned to the Commandants Headquarters on what is now Main Street near Blanchette Creek. They were told that they were now living in the United States. The Spanish flag was lowered from the flag pole, the French flag was raised and lowered, then the Stars and Stripes were raised. This was followed by a celebration. Also in 1804, shortly after the Louisiana purchase, the name of the tiny settlement was changed from the Spanish "San Carlos" to its English equivalent, "Saint Charles".

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