County of marker: St. Charles County
Location of Plaque: 2nd St. & Jefferson St., Borromeo Statue, courthouse lawn, St. Charles
Plaque Erected by; The City of St. Charles
Date Plaque Erected: September 25, 2003
Marker text:
SPANISH INFLUENCE
Spain laid claim to the area in 1764, calling the region Upper Louisiana. Spanish explorers searched for gold and silver in this area and their travels resulted in the establishment of trade routes later used by the French and Americans. The Spanish also saw themselves as missionaries, establishing churches throughout the territory. The Spanish government offered free land to settlers, enticing pioneers like Daniel Boone to move to the St. Charles area. Spain ceded the territory to France in 1800 in the Treaty of San Ildefonso.
"Louis Blanchettre, & 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 hoe in St. Louis de Lauzon, a small town near the capitol city of Quebec, Canada, he gathered supplies ad a few followers, who were also fur traders, and returned here in April, 1769, to establish a settlement. He called the settlement Les Petite Côtes (The Little Hills). In the immediate vicinity of this creek and under Blanchettes 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 Upper Louisiana gave Blanchette authority to establish a Post here and appointed him to be its first Civil and Military Commandant. Blanchette operated a successful fur trading business and 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 Perez, sows the population was 225 persons.
"Blanchettes successor as commandant was Don Carlos Tayon, who remained in command until 1802. At tht time 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 Treaty of Cession was signed by representatives of the United States and France. This is the largest single real estate transaction e=ver 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 St. near Blanchette Creek. They were told that they were nos living in the United States. The Spanish flag was lowered from the tall 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, St. Charles.
To tag a side note, which could now be understood. The Lewis and Clark Expedition, included the Corps of Discovery. The Corps was a military unit, and could not enter foreign soil without treaty. This is why they wintered in Woodriver Illinois, United Stats Territory, until the transaction was complete. Lewis was in St. Louis to see the event and receive the all clear to enter the Territory. After March 1804 finalization then, and only then, could the Corps of Discovery enter the Missouri River and former Spanish and French territory.