Picture courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Picture courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Les Petites Côtes, River Gateway
St. Charles stands on the banks of the Missouri River as the gateway to the Missouri River valley. First known as Les Petites Côtes (Little Hills), it was founded by Louis Blanchette in 1769 as a French fur-trading outpost. Located on high ground upriver from the Missouri-Mississippi confluence, the settlement became known as San Carlos (St. Charles) when the Spanish built San Carlos Borromeo Church in honor of the patron saint of their king.

In 1800, Spain transferred Louisiana Territory back to France. Three years later, the French sold Louisiana to the United States for $15 million or around three cents per acre. The Louisiana Purchase immediately doubled the size of the country.
[top photo: The French style Chouteau House, now demolished, was similar to those of colonial St. Charles.
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs division, HABS MO, 95-BONFL 1-1.
Photo #2: An early home still stands today.
DNR File Photo.]

Springboard to the frontier
When the United States purchased Louisiana Territory, St. Charles became the edge of the U.S. frontier, Lewis and Clark used St. Charles in 1804 as their final departure point before heading west. After the War of 1812, settlers flooded into Missouri Territory, using St. Charles as the springboard to outfit and re-supply before reaching their new homes farther west.
[Third Photo: The Lewis and Clark Expedition departed St. Charles on May 21, 1804, in a keelboat and two pirogues.
Courtesy of the Gary R. Lucy Gallery.]

1821, First Missouri State Capitol
In 1819, the first steamboat on the Missouri River made its appearance in St. Charles, ushering in a prosperous era. Two years later, St. Charles began serving as the temporary state capital. Along with the First Capitol, several buildings from the period, including Stone Row, the Millington Buildings, and Eckert's Tavern, can still be seen today on Main Street. At Eckert's Tavern in 1827, three surveyors (including George Sibley) defined and approved the official route of the Santa Fe Trail from Fort Osage to Santa Fe, New Mexico. The same year, during a time of booming growth for St. Charles, George Sibley and his wife, Mary Easton Sibley, opened Lindenwood College as a women's academy.
[Bottom Photo: From 1821 to 1826, Peck Row served as the first Missouri State Capitol.
DNR File Photo.]

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