Several historical attractions prove that Mardi Gras isn’t St. Louis’ only French connection.
Story and Photos By Don Chamberlain

This February, large crowds will again pack into one of St. Louis’ oldest neighborhoods, Soulard, for the Midwest’s biggest Mardi Gras party. Once known as Frenchtown, this colorful neighborhood is named for surveyor Antoine Pierre Soulard. While enjoying Mardi Gras festivities in St. Louis, Mo., make time to revisit the city’s French history that’s rooted in the 18th-century fur trading business.

Above: The Gateway Arch and Old Cathedral in downtown St. Louis make a good starting point to discover St. Louis’ early history. The city’s 250th anniversary will be celebrated in 2014. Below: Robert Campbell, a successful businessman who got his start as a fur trapper, built this elegant home in 1851. Today, it is a museum filled with period furnishings and clothing.

It’s safe to say history is on the minds of many civic leaders as St. Louis begins to plan for its 250th anniversary, which will be in 2014. STL250 is the agency working on the party. According to Kathleen Ratcliffe, president of the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission, STL250 is in the early planning stages, but those interested in getting updates can visit www.stl250.org.

History Told Through Museums

In 1763, Pierre Laclede and his 14-year-old stepson, Auguste Choteau, ventured north from New Orleans to find a site for the new trading community. After 85 days of travel up the Mississippi River, they stored their supplies at Fort de Chartres and proceeded north seeking a site for the new settlement. They discovered a two-mile-long limestone ridge that was high enough to prevent flooding. The site was also 30 miles from the Illinois River to north and 150 miles from the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to the south. The location of this new site provided fur traders with access from Canada to New Orlean. It also provided access to centers in the East and yet to be explored lands to the West.

In February, 1764, Choteau and his work crew began building the new community. When Laclede visited the site in April, 1764, he named the settlement St. Louis for King Louis IX. Today, little of the original site remains. The site was cleared in 1939 as plans were made for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial project that includes the Gateway Arch.

Begin a historical quest near the origins of St. Louis at the Arch on the riverfront. A free museum beneath the Arch has exhibits about early fur trade history, including a beaver pelt stretched for drying and a “buffalo boat” made by stretching a bison hide over a lattice of willow branches.

Near the Arch, the Old Cathedral (The Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France) has a free museum with many artifacts, including a bell given by the governor of Louisiana in the early 1800s. The first Catholic church in St. Louis, a small log structure, was built on this site in 1770. Museum hours are 10 a.m.–2:30 p.m. weekdays. The cathedral is at 209 Walnut St.

Another downtown St. Louis attraction, the Campbell House Museum, was the elegant home of Irish immigrant Robert Campbell. Not being a first-born son with little chance to inherit family property, he immigrated to the United States. From Virginia, he moved to the St. Louis area in 1824. When he experienced respiratory problems, his doctor recommended that he go to the Rocky Mountains. He was hired as a fur trapper by Jedediah Smith in October, 1825. For the next 10 years, he lived and worked as a fur trapper in the West. In 1832, he and William Sublette formed their own company for trapping and trading furs. Campbell soon bought out his partner and in 1835 established his own mercantile company in St. Louis. In the 1840s, he began investing in and using steamboats. Campbell ultimately became a millionaire.

In 1851, he and his wife purchased a house in the elegant Lucas Place neighborhood in St. Louis. Today, this restored home is a wonderful example of the elegant lifestyle of St. Louis high society in the mid-1800s. It is filled with furniture, clothing, and paintings and even carriages of the era.

When touring the site, docents discuss the furnishings, the renovation project, and the lifestyles of that era. My favorite item in their collection is a buckskin suit worn by Campbell as a fur trader (though it is not always on display). The site also has an elegant garden and a carriage house.

The home (corner of 15th and Locust streets) is open by appointment in January and February; admission is $7.

Moving away from downtown, the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park has a standing exhibit, “Seeking St. Louis: Currents 1764-1904” that includes information and artifacts related to how early fur trading played a role in the city’s founding. Admission to the museum is free.

Across the Mississippi River, the Lewis and Clark State Historic Site in Hartford, Ill., contains a replica of a keelboat used by the Lewis and Clark Expedition on their journey west. On his journey, William Clark created maps helped open the West to increased fur trading activity and paved the way for more trappers.

In addition, many of the members of the Voyage of Discovery participated in the fur trade following their historic journey. John Colter was given permission to leave the expedition before they returned to St. Louis. While searching for fur-trapping sites, he “discovered” the Yellowstone area.

Two other expedition members, George Drouillard and John Potts, were killed by the Blackfeet while trapping beaver. Sacajawea’s infant son, Jean Baptiste Charboneau, who was raised in St. Louis by William Clark, spent the later years of his life trapping beaver in the West.

The site is open Wednesday–Sunday. Admission is free, but donations are accepted. Each year at this site, there are a number of re-enactment dates where one can experience period dress and activities typical of the time of fur trading.

While enjoying Mardi Gras, capture some of St. Louis’ French history.

Don Chamberlain is a contributor from Decatur, Ill.