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traditions handed down in St. Louis confirm the information which Mr. Papin obtained from family sources in France, that Laclede had in mind, from the time he left home, the founding of a colony of his own somewhere in the Mississippi Valley. By years of planning he prepared himself for the establishment of St. Louis.

      The transfer of sovereignty from France to Spain did not at all change Laclede's ambition. The founder had been reared at the foot of the Pyrenees almost on the border of Spain and had acquired a knowledge of the language of Spain, as well as of the laws and customs of the Spanish people.

      Pierre Laclede adopted an American, democratic style of writing his name when he became a resident of the Mississippi Valley. He dropped the "De Laclede." No signature of his which bears that form can be found. His favorite way of signing his name was "Laclede" or "Laclede Liguest."

      When he died in 1778, Laclede was fifty-four years of age. He had been in this country twenty-three years. He left France when he was about thirty-one years old.

      In the possession of this generation of the Laclede family in France is the silver plate used by the father and the brother of the founder of St. Louis. The pieces bear the family coat of arms. The reproduction, in black and white, does not do justice to the beautiful coloring of the heraldic design. The coat of arms of the Lacledes is described, technically, as. "blue with face of gold, accompanied in chief with three towers of silver; in the point, a woodcock in silver with two roses of same color. On the sides are two eagles with spreading wings supporting the crest. The escutcheon is surmounted with a crown in the impression of the full coat of arms upon the plate. Used as a seal the escutcheon was surmounted by a helmet." The Lacledes were authorized to use the crown or the helmet at will above the escutcheon.

      To Mr. Papin, whom he addressed as "my dear cousin," Dr. Madamet not long ago sent copies of the coat of arms taken from silver plate of the family. He also sent, as a souvenir, a book from the library in the chateau, concluding his letter, "The old home of the Lacledes is open cordially to you." Dr. Madamet is a surgeon of high rank in the French army. Madame Madamet was born Garneau. Her mother was born Laclede, the last to bear the name of the immediate family.

      Interesting, in connection with this recent discovery by a Laclede descendant, of the family coat-of-arms, was the statement which the venerable Cerre Chouteau made in his latter days. Cerre Chouteau was a grandson of Pierre Laclede. He described to younger members of the family a seal bearing this same design which had belonged to Laclede Liguest and which at one time had been in his possession but had been lost. The historian Margry, in correspondence with descendants of Laclede described the family coat-of-arms as presented.

      CHAPTER I. THE FOUNDING

      A man and two treaties made St. Louis.

      The man was the founder. The treaties were the opportunity. The man was Laclede. His judgment determined the site in December, 1763.

      In November, 1762, Louis XV. of France gave, on paper, Louisiana to the King of Spain. The undelivered gift was kept an international secret.

      In February, 1763, Louis purchased peace by giving England what had been French possessions east of the Mississippi.

      These were the two treaties. They afforded Laclede his opportunity to found a settlement instead of a trading post. They influenced the French villagers to leave the east side and to join Laclede at St. Louis.

      The fifteenth Louis was weak in war. He was crafty in diplomacy. Affection for his "dear cousin," the King of Spain, had nothing to do with the gift of territory. By that gift England was kept east of the Mississippi.

      While France, England, Spain and Portugal were changing the map of America, Pierre Laclede and Antoine Maxent and a few others who stood high with French authority at New Orleans were planning the enterprise out of which came the creation of St. Louis.

      Laclede was thirty-one years old when he arrived in New Orleans. His older brother was an official of importance in one of the southern provinces of France. The ancestral acres of the Laclede family were in the valley of the Aspe. Laclede was a well-educated man. He had learned agriculture and milling in his youth. He left France in 1755 to seek his fortune in the New World.

      Planting was tried. Hurricane and high water discouraged. With some capital brought from France, Laclede invested in business in New Orleans. The mercantile and shipping interests suffered severely from the war between England and France. Laclede volunteered for service in the inter-colonial war. He was assigned to duty on the staff of Colonel Antoine Maxent. Between the colonel and his staff officer developed esteem which led to life-long friendship and confidence. Maxent was much older. He had means and influence. Laclede's services strongly commended him to the colonial authorities.

      In 1762 Maxent and Laclede were in position to ask favor of the government. Laclede, ambitious and hopeful, hungered for an opportunity. Maxent, with an older man's admiration for the younger's enthusiasm, was ready to risk. The colonel and the staff officer went to the acting governor-general with their proposition. They were received favorably. A grant was issued to them conferring the privilege of "exclusive trade with the savages of the Missouri and with all of the nations residing west of the Mississippi for the term of eight years."

      A company was organized to operate the grant. The syndicate was called "Maxent. Laclede and Company." Occasional references in the archives mention "Antoine Maxent, Pierre Liguest Laclede and Company." Colonel Maxent was the financial manager. He raised most of the capital. Merchandise in quantities and suitable for the trade was ordered from abroad. The stock was such as the partners deemed "necessary to sustain on a large scale their commerce which they proposed to extend as much as possible." Upon Laclede devolved the practical work of organizing the expedition. By him the boats were secured and the force was recruited. The merchandise did not arrive as soon as expected. Winter and spring passed. When the boats were loaded the summer of 1763 had come. Laclede had hoped to start up the river in the spring. He got away from New Orleans the 3rd of August.

      By one who traveled with it, the flotilla of Laclede was called "a considerable armament." Eight miles a day was the limit of progress. The boats were low hulls. They resembled somewhat the more rudely constructed barges of the present day. There were no cabins. The boats were without accommodations for the crew. Bales and barrels of goods for the trade, materials and tools for the post filled the hulls. About the center of each boat was a stubby, strong mast, well braced. Tied to the mast was a rope several hundred feet long. This was the cordelle. The loose end of the rope was ashore, in the hands of the cordeliers. In single file the cordeliers moved at a slow walk dragging the boat after them. The bank was the tow path. The river was the canal. The fifteen to thirty men were the motive power. In shallows, poles were used. When the wind blew up-stream, sails were spread.

      Stops were frequent. In advance of the cordeliers were men with axes. The path must be cleared of fallen trees, of vines. The chasseurs de bois were part of Laclede's organization. They left the boats in the morning and hunted in the woods for game to supply the commissary. When one bank of the river was found to be utterly impassable for the cordeliers, the boats were tied to the bank until the ropes could be carried across to the other side. Thus the armament was shifted from side to side. When darkness came on, the boats were tied to the bank. A shelter tent was pitched for the family of Laclede. The men slept on the ground or on the cargoes. In later years, as commerce on the river increased, before the day of steamboats, the path of the cordeliers became beaten. When Laclede came up to the river, the cordeliers traveled a trail upon which were countless obstructions.

      Through August, September and October, the expedition toiled along the river banks. November came before Ste. Genevieve was sighted. Full three months the journey had required. While Laclede was laboriously making his eight miles a day, news having vital bearing on his plans had reached the Illinois country. Laclede heard it at Ste. Genevieve. He faced a situation before which one less resolute would have faltered. France had ceded to England the country east of the Mississippi. That was the news. The war was over. The cession was the price which bought peace.

      Laclede acted quickly. Ste. Genevieve

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