La Charrette Village

A Spoonful of History

2006-06-07T18:45:00.000-07:00

Can you identify this celebrated spoon (shown below) with historical significance to the Louisaina Purchase and La Charrette?

Your first clue may be found at this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Exposition

The second clue involves the author of La Charrette. Have you made all the linkages yet?

For the complete story proceed to the title link above. There you'll discover how historical spoons celebrate their 100th birthday!

La Charrette Available as e-book, too

2006-06-07T09:44:00.000-07:00

Both paperback and e-book alternatives are available for La Charrette: A History of the Village Gateway to the American Frontier Visited by Lewis and Clark * Daniel Boone * Zebulon Pike to customers. The title link takes you directly to the publishers bookstore. Other outlets also offer both options.

I wanted the La Charrette story to be available to as many potential readers as possible. Help yourself!

Lowell Schake's La Charrette Web Page

2006-06-07T09:21:00.000-07:00

Did you know there is a Web Page devoted exclusively La Charrette ? Recently one was established to keep everyone informed about Current Events, Press Room Releases, new La Charrette blog materials and the other books of mine. Click on the title link to discover more about this missing link in American Frontier History. See you there!

North Texas Book Festival April 22

2006-04-11T14:44:00.000-07:00

Remember the North Texas Book Festival, April 22 at Denton. This all day event features over 100 authors and La Charrette's Schake will be among them.

Details provided at the title link.

May 4, Warren County Historical Society Signing

2006-04-08T08:11:00.001-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information contact:
Sarah Wischhof, (402) 323-7800 x279
Sarah.wischhof@iuniverse.com

Warren County to Feature Missing Link in History

Warrenton, Mo. (April 13, 2006) — The almost forgotten village of La Charrette - the first settlement in present-day Warren County as the westernmost settlement of the Louisiana Purchase - returns to life in the works of retired professor Lowell M. Schake.

“My purpose in writing La Charrette: A History of the Village Gateway to the American Frontier, was to restore the village to its rightful role in national history. To bring ‘life’ back to what previously was only a footnote in history,” says the professor, who was born on Charrette Creek where his ancestors lived on old village farms.

This missing link in American history will be featured by the Warren County Historical Society on Thursday, May 4 at the Schowengerdt House, 308 East Booneslick Road, Warrenton, Missouri from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. “The Society will offer copies for sale and Dr. Schake will be available for comments and signings,” the Society’s President, Alouise Marschel, said. Schake will also be donating his reference materials acquired while researching village history to the Society archives.

“I searched at least a thousand documents seeking clues,” Schake said. “Jerome Holtmeyer of Washington, Mo., my collaborator, contributed invaluable data on maps aiding it pinpointing La Charrette’s exact location and where Lewis and Clark spent the night in 1804. Others, like Marthasville historian Ralph Gregory, also assisted me greatly.”

Schake’s book has been widely featured. Only a few weeks ago he shared village history with over a thousand Denton, Texas elementary school children explaining that “La Charrette children attended neither school nor church nor shopped in stores. Instead of tennis shoes with blinking lights, they wore moccasins, or went barefoot like their Native American mothers.” Their rich multicultural lives languished in obscurity until revealed by his book

La Charrette families and their guests represented a virtual ‘Who’s Who’ of the American West. Had it not been for the French in control of St. Louis at the time, Lewis and Clark would have trained there. While spending three days there, Zebulon Pike acquired the first map of the Santa Fe Trail. The town was also honored by the presence of heroes like Daniel Boone, America’s First Mountain Man John Colter, Charles ‘Indian’ Phillips and Flanders Callaway. La Charrette offers a compelling look at the daily lives of settlers residing on the absolute edge of America’s frontier – their hardships and their triumphs. When displaced from La Charrette, these same families formed Cote sans Dessein upriver, America’s next westernmost frontier settlement.

Schake’s current work is a biography about an amateur birder who becomes instrumental in saving three endangered species to include the Whooping Cranes. Lowell and wife Wendy live at Port Aransas, Texas. They have two children and four grandchildren.

Proceed to the title link to learn about the Schowengerdt House, where this signing will be held.

iUniverse, Inc. News Release - Denton, Texas Events

2006-03-30T15:53:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Publish as desired, and participate in these events of an iUniverse Star Performing book. Proceed to title link for more Star books).

THE MISSING LINK IN THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN FRONTIER

Denton, TX (March 27, 2006)—The works of a Missouri-born author and retired professor will be featured in three local events from April 22-26, 2006. His book, La Charrette: A History of The Village Gateway to the American Frontier, is central to two ongoing national bicentennial celebrations, that of Lewis and Clark and Zebulon Pike’s. Never before has the history of multi-cultural La Charrette Village, America’s first westernmost village of the Louisiana Purchase, been revealed. “Both expeditions departed from La Charrette in 1804 and 1806, respectively,” said the author, Dr. Lowell M. Schake. “This September 20, Lewis and Clark re-enactors will return to the location where the village once stood to again ‘Shout for Joy’!”

This missing link in American history will be among the 100 or books featured at The North Texas Book Festival on Saturday, April 22 at The Denton Civic Center, 321 East McKinney Street at Bell Avenue from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The Denton Public Library will host a reception and book signing for the Port Aransas, TX author on Sunday, April 23 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., at the Emily Fowler Library at 502 Oakland. Schake explained, “that only seven families lived at La Charrette Village, yet they represented a virtual ‘Who’s Who’ of the American West with unique ties to Texas. Lewis and Clark wanted to train there, but the French denied them entry into the territory.”

On April 24, 25 and 26, Schake has volunteered to tell Denton ISD 4th and 5th graders about life at this multi-lingual Missouri River village where the Native American-French families lived with nine orphan children. “There was no school, church or store, just a rugged fur trading outpost with a river landing” is how Schake described the lost village of his birth where his maternal grandparents once lived in the same cabin as Daniel Boone did years before.

As the last-known settlement west of the Missouri River, La Charrette played a pivotal role for travelers on their way to exploring the American frontier. It was there that they stopped to rest, to conduct their business, or to get maps and advice for their journey.

Schake’s book is important not only to American history, but also important to the study of diversity. As a settlement of French and German settlers, Black slaves and American Indians, La Charrette was an early experiment in multiculturalism. as a settlement of French and German settlers, Black slaves and American Indians. The rich multicultural history of this small Missouri town had languished in obscurity until this book was published. La Charrette offers a compelling look at the daily lives of frontier settlers—their hardships and their triumphs.

La Charrette Rendezvous 2006

2006-03-23T12:42:00.000-08:00

Two La Charrette related events were announced in the February 23, 2006 issue of the Marthasville Record. Mark your calendar to participate!

Lewis and Clark Return Rendezvous are scheduled for October 21 - 22. Plans are for this to become an annual event to coincide with Heritage Days. This years Rendezvous events will be similiar to those of 2004 demonstrating life as it was lived at La Charrette 200 years ago. Additionally, a monument will be dedicated in Marthasville City Park to honor the La Charrette site. Once again, La Charrette banners will be flying.

On March 1 and 2, 2006, historic interpreters will be available the Daniel Boone Home and Boonesfield Village from 10:00 a.m. til 4:00 p.m. This celebration of pioneer life in Missouri is to take place at 1868 Highway F in Defiance, Missouri. Call 636-798-2005 for more information. The Boone Home and Boonefields Village are owned and operated by Lindenwood University. Pam Jensen is Manager, supported by volunteers like Cathy Schoppenhorts, both lovers of La Charrette history.

The missing link in the history of the American Frontier

2006-03-14T03:11:00.000-08:00

Does the title of this blog interest you? Its really true. La Charrette is the missing link in the history of the American frontier AND the reason many have ignored its significance. Join the enlightened crowd by proceeding to the title link. Discover that Lewis and Clark returned to La Charrette Village on the north bank of the Missouri River, not St. Louis as some erroneously imply. Learn more by reading this first ever history of La Charrette Village. Its significance is recorded in history.

Legacy of the Expedition

2006-03-13T07:33:00.000-08:00

Plan on participating in these events as Lewis and Clark reenactors will soon "Shout for joy" as they 'pass-by' the original La Charrette Village site upon their return. A promotional item sent me follows below with my comments added in bold brackets. Enjoy the events.

INVITATION
On Saturday, March 25th and Sunday, March 26th, 2006 the Washington Lewis and Clark Committee of Washington, MO will present their final Symposium: Legacy of the Expedition. This two-day program in the beautiful C.J. Burger Theatre will explore the impact of the Lewis and Clark expedition on our history since its return in 1806. The symposium will re-introduce the Osage Indians, one of the largest tribes residing in Missouri in 1806, and examine the effects of Bicentennial on our knowledge of the original expedition, American Indians, the Missouri River and its environs.

Speakers will include Kathryn Red Corn, Director of the Osage Tribal Museum in Pawhuska, Oklahoma; Missouri State Historian James M. Denny, author of Atlas of Lewis and Clark in Missouri; Charles Red Corn, author of A Pipe for February; Dr. Carol Diaz-Granados: American Indian Pictographs in the Missouri River Valley, James Duncan, an archaeologist specializing in reconstructive archeology and former Director of the Missouri State Museum, and Bob Block, Talkingstick from Pawhuska, Oklahoma on artifacts of the Osage and Mike Venso, photographer: Across the Snowy Ranges. A Saturday luncheon is included which will showcase the Osage textile collection of Danette Daniels, which will be modeled during lunch. Authors will be available for book signings.

Two hundred years ago, the Corps of Discovery led by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark had been given up as lost or dead. But with their return to St. Louis [La Charrette Village on September 20, 1806, nor did they depart from St. Louis -sic] in September 1806 came a massive amount of information about the vast new Louisiana Territory and its inhabitants, the American Indians. Participants will explore how this knowledge affected history and how the Bicentennial itself has changed our views of the expedition.

Tickets are $50.00 if purchased in advance and include attendance at both days of the event, the Saturday luncheon & clothing show, and a tour of Fort Charrette in Washington, Missouri. [Please do not confuse this recreated version of La Charrette Village once on the north bank of the Missouri at the mouth of Charrette Creek with this modern day namesake on the south side of the Missouri River]. Tickets will be $60 if purchased that day and may not include a tour of Fort Charrette. Tickets may be purchased online at www.washingtonmo.us at the Missourian Publishing Office at 14 West Main, or Gary Lucy Galleries at 231 West Main, both in Washington, Missouri. For more information e-mail lewisclark@washingtonmo.us or to purchase tickets by credit card (Discover, Visa, Mastercard) call 636-390-8257.

Marthasville Cancells - Denton Next

2006-03-11T12:44:00.000-08:00

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Marthasville's September 20 celebration to honor the return of Lewis & Clark has been cancelled, but rescheduled for October 21 & 22, 2006 to coinside with Heritage Days and Deutsch Country Days in Marthasville. Mark your calendar to participate in all these events. More details forthcoming.

Meanwhile plans for three consecutive La Charrette events are unfolding for April 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26, 2006 in Denton, Texas . On April 22 La Charrette will be featured along with 100 or more other authors at the NORTH TEXAS BOOK FESTIVAL in the Denton Civic Center at 321 East McKinney Street at Bell Avenue from 8:30 a.m. til 5:00 p.m. Please direct questions to Lynn Sheffield Simmons at 940/464-3368 or Crystal Wood at 940/565-0804, cwood@tattersallpub.com or P.O. Box 308194, Denton, TX 76203-8194. Proceed to the NTBF webpage for more information at http://www.ntbf.org/

The announcement poster for the next two events is reproduced below providing details.
______________________________________________________________
Enjoy refreshments and meet Dr. Lowell M. Schake, author of

La Charrette:

A History of the Village Gateway to the American Frontier Visited By

Lewis and Clark * Daniel Boone * Zebulon Pike

Sunday, April 23, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.

At the Emily Fowler Library, 502 Oakland in Denton, Texas as featured at the title link.

PUBLIC INVITED

Select readings from La Charrette with comments about America’s first western village of the Louisiana Purchase offered by the retired professor. His is the first document ever published on this multi-ethnic Missouri River village today central to two national bicentennial celebrations with unique ties to Texas.

“A delicately crafted, absorbing account of an American past seldom encountered in conventional histories … Meticulously researched.”—Kirkus Discoveries of New York

- Endorsed by historians -

"Dr. Schake presents a highly detailed, but easy to read, characterization of La Charrette's long neglected significance. "—Harry Windland, Treasurer, Illinois Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission

“La Charrette adds much-needed pages to the history of the westering experience and the Missouri River.”—Clive G. Siegle, Southern Methodist University, Executive Director, Zebulon Pike Bicentennial Commission

“… it was the last outpost of European settlement on the Missouri River, everyone’s last stop on the way out and the first stop on the way back.”—Walter Kamphoefner, Director of Graduate Studies, Department of History, Texas A&M University

“…Schake’s book is part of an exciting new historical trend that gives proper due to the French and Spanish colonial efforts in North America…”- F. Todd Smith, Associate Professor of history, University of North Texas, Denton
________________________________

Dr. Schake will also be presenting programs to about a 1,000 5th graders on April 24, 25 and 26 and at the DISD Elementary Schools.

Whooping Crane Celebration with La Charrette

2006-02-26T14:15:00.000-08:00

The Whooping Crane Celebration at Port Aransas, Texas, February 23-26, 2006 was an apparent success. Wendy and Lowell had many compliments on the presentation about her father's role in helping saving three endangered species, the Whooping Crane among them. Larry Walkinshaw studied them both in Canada and at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in 1948-1950. Thanks go to Bernice Jackson of the Refuge for providing this picture of the display at the events Arts and Craft Show. To learn more about Lawrence H. Walkinshaw's amateur life as an ornithologist check-out the title link.

While there copies of La Charrette sold to event participants from New Jersey, Canada, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, California, Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas and of course Missouri, among states. Many others listened to my telling about life at the village now central to two national bicentennial celebrations.

iUniverse Author Newsletter: January 2006

2006-02-17T14:18:00.000-08:00

Introducing Our Newest Star Title, La Charrette by Lowell M. Schake

La Charrette provides the first-ever historical look at America's westernmost frontier settlement, which—over a mere thirty-year existence—managed to leave behind a rich, vibrant legacy that is firmly rooted in local, state, and national history.

A virtual Who's Who of the American frontier, La Charrette documents the life and times of the families who lived in this influential riverbank village in Warren County, Missouri. It also chronicles many legendary heroes who passed through, including Lewis and Clark, Daniel Boone, Captain Zebulon Pike, 'Indian' Phillips, John Colter, Flanders Callaway, Syndic Chartran, and others who helped shape history and forever change the face of our nation.

The author, Lowell M. Schake, was born on Charrette Creek and devoted many years of his life to researching the village where the creek empties into the mighty Missouri River. Before retiring, Schake was a professor at three major universities over the course of thirty years.
Schake said he's had a great iUniverse experience, especially since he became a Star author.
"I derive great pleasure from delving into topics—collect all the available details—to create a seamless, highly readable story to share with others," Schake said. "iUniverse staff have been instrumental in allowing me to achieve this goal. It's just been one favorable experience followed by another in this modern-day mode of publishing. I especially appreciate the 'control' an author maintains within the self-publishing concept."

"The real adventure of self-publishing began when I was asked to apply for the iUniverse Star Program last summer," Schake continued. "La Charrette had had its successes. Yet my selection required input from publishing industry professionals to elevate it to its full potential. Professional reviews and endorsements were needed as was an index, a newly designed cover, a forward plus professional editing."

"None of this would have been possible without a viable working partnership," Schake said. "iUniverse's staff have provided that opportunity to me. From the CEO of iUniverse and beyond, the staff has always worked with me to make correct decisions."

The experience with iUniverse has been exceptional. I recommend this self-publishing house to interested authors. Proceed to the title link to learn more about becoming a STAR author with them. The banner shown above was part of the National Bicentennial Lewis and Clark events at Marthasville, Missouri in 2004. Plan to join us in September 2006 when Corps members "Shout for Joy!" upon returning to La Charrette.

Whooping Cranes & La Charrette

2006-02-16T11:33:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tenth Annual Whooping Cranes Celebration Features New Speakers

Port Aransas, Tex. (February 15, 2006)—The Tenth Annual Celebration of Whooping Cranes and Other Birds is certain to be more spectacular this year than ever before in the presence of a record number of Whoopers appearing at nearby Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. The event will also feature birding tours by both land and sea, the International Crane Children’s Art Exhibit, a Nature-Theme Trade Show and lectures by birding experts for three days, February 24, 25 and 26, 2006.

A new feature at this year’s celebration will detail one of those responsible for saving Whooping Cranes. Family members of Larry Walkinshaw will tell of his exceptional experiences on February 25 at 9 a.m. at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute auditorium. Walkinshaw’s daughter, Wendy and her husband Lowell M. Schake, will share inspiring stories about how one man, as a self-financed amateur, has made a difference in the world of birding. The title of their presentation is “How to Help Save an Endangered Species in Your Spare Time.” He also played a preeminent role in saving the endangered Greater Sandhill Cranes and Kirtland’s Warblers.

Walkinshaw was a Michigan dentist for 40 years. As president of dental societies, the Battle Creek Lions Club, the Battle Creek Boy Scouts, and the Wilson Ornithological Society, as well as serving as secretary of the American Ornithologists’ Union with membership in 20 other bird societies, one might think Walkinshaw had little time to ‘go birding’ or publish his 350 articles and books.

The Schakes will provide a glimpse into how Walkinshaw accomplished what few professional ornithologists have, and how life somehow remained ‘normal’ in the unique family of Larry and Clara Walkinshaw. Wendy grew up with a baby Sandhill Crane in her playpen as her father studied the world’s cranes. His two most signal books are Cranes of the World (shown above) and The Sandhill Cranes.

Recognized as the “Father of International Crane Research,” the Walkinshaw Award exemplifies the highest honor among today’s professional crane researchers worldwide. So intense was his lifelong love of birds that Walkinshaw asked, “Clara, do you think you can love birds as much I do?” when he proposed to his wife in 1931.

The Schakes reside in Port Aransas. They are now writing Walkinshaw’s biography, due out within about a year, and Lowell himself has recently published a book, La Charrette: A History of the Village Gateway to the American Frontier. After retiring from 30 years of collegiate teaching and research, he began pursuing his passion, which was exploring and researching the American frontier, where he grew up as a child. Schake’s book will be available at the events Trade Show. He also volunteers at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, winter home of the Whooping Cranes.

Wendy frequently accompanied her father when studying cranes, including their visit to Aransas Refuge in 1950 when captive ‘Crip’ and ‘Jo’ were nesting there. She was not, however, with her father when he captured the first picture of a Whooping Crane nest in Wood Buffalo National Refuge, Northwest Territory, Canada or when arrested in Cuba as a suspected German spy during WW II. The Walkinshaws traveled extensively studying cranes.

The Whoopers promise to be spectacular, the food delicious and the speakers informative. To learn more about the event, please proceed to the title link

###

Questing La Charrette: Interlibrary Loans

2006-02-08T16:37:00.000-08:00

Interlibrary loan services were indispensable components in seeking documents from other libraries across the country. The Corpus Christi, Texas Public Library staff provided excellent support. Visit their libraries at the title link and use their services if needed.

Once or twice each week I would pick up a large stack of books or other documents that I had ordered, take them home and proceed to read. First I would comb over the index looking for names, events and of course the name La Charrette. Then I would read promising items and when appropriate make note of any additional reference cited and proceed to order them, reinitiating this entire process.

I always thought myself a bit odd when I would read the index of some promising document as if it were a novel! But that's where cups of 'La Charrette' coffee came to my rescue.

The coffee mug shown here was part of the May 2004 Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Celebrations held at Marthasville...in the shadow of old La Charrette Village.

New Marthasville Brochure

2006-01-28T08:22:00.000-08:00

CONGRATULATIONS!

To the Marthasville Area Chamber of Commerce upon issuing an attractive and enticing new brochure. The front page shown here says it all...

MARTHASVILLE: Our roots run deep

Plant your feet on the soil where Lewis and Clark once

stood and where Daniel Boones' family lived and

were buried.

Featured are all the elements of local history available to visitors and tourists. Contact the Chamber of Commerce at the title link to learn more about exploring the site of La Charrette Village, our nation's first most western settlement beyond the Mississippi.

Questing La Charrette: Historians

2006-01-15T14:40:00.000-08:00

Many professional historians assisted in my quest for information on La Charrette Village.
One of the first was John Mack Faragher of Yale whose credentials are posted at http://www.yale.edu/lamarcenter/faragher.html He not only offered his file on Indian Phillips and Daniel Boone, but challenged me to make the La Charrette story a seamless one after seeing an early manuscript draft. Likewise, Walter Kamphoefner of Texas A&M was ever helpful with the last generation of settlers to arrive there - the Germans. Meet Walter at http://www.tamu.edu/history/faculty/kamphoefner.htm Jim Denny, historian with the State of Missouri, offered commentary on early portions of the manuscript as well, just as he responded to this folksy interview posted at http://www.hearingvoices.com/trail/river/denny.html

Ken Kamper, a local nationally established historian on the Boone family was very helpful in his suggestion leading to the disclosure of La Charrette tax records. His favorite campsite is with the Boones at Boonesfield Village posted at http://www.slfp.com/ETC-PioneerDays.htm Another historian with local roots is Dr. F. Todd Smith, professor of history with University of North Texas. Todd presented a uniqe insight in his Preface to La Charrette when emphasizing how appropriate it was to publish on this tiny village history. His expertise on the borderlands of America are revealed at his webpage at http://www.hist.unt.edu/faculty/smith/smith.htm Mr. Ralph Gregory of Marthasville, who has chosen to avoid the Internet, aided me as much as anyone throughtout manuscript preperation. Even the historians at the Western Manuscript Collection of The Historical Society of Missouri at Columbia were helpful in locating remote documents. Their webpage is available at the title link. To these, and many others, I will be long grateful for their help. Thanks, one and all.

JUST PUBLISHED ! January 10, 2006

2006-01-11T16:50:00.000-08:00

La Charrette
A History of the Village Gateway to the American Frontier Visited by Lewis and Clark, Daniel Boone, Zebulon Pike

Lowell M. Schake, PhD

La Charrette provides a first-ever historical look at America’s westernmost frontier settlement, which—over a mere thirty-year existence—managed to leave behind a rich, vibrant legacy that is firmly rooted in local, state, and national history.

Located sixty miles beyond St. Louis on the banks of the Missouri River, La Charrette Village began as an eighteenth-century French fur-trading outpost. The citizens of La Charrette—one of America’s earliest melting-pot communities of Native Americans; African descendants; and French, Spanish, and German immigrants—played a vital role in shaping the American West. Its people were the first to be granted Indian trade rights and to map the Santa Fe Trail, and La Charrette was the last outpost of civilization along the monumental trek toward westward expansion.

A virtual Who’s Who of the American frontier, La Charrette documents the life and times of the families who lived in this influential riverbank village. It also chronicles many legendary heroes who passed through, including Lewis and Clark, Daniel Boone, Captain Pike, ‘Indian’ Phillips, John Colter, Flanders Callaway, Syndic Chartran, and others who helped to shape history and forever change the face of our nation.

"Schake's book documents the intimate life and history of a village that helped serve as a launching point into the territory and it role in American frontier life."—Brad Urban, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Suburban Journals

Buy It Now! Activate this button to proceed directly to the iUniverse Bookstore, the title link or call the publisher at 1.800.AUTHORS. $18.95.

This expanded reissued volume not only contains new information about La Charrette, but it comes with a 20-page Index, a Forward by American Frontier scholar F. Todd Smith, Ph.D. University of North Texas, a new title, eye-catching covers to include world renowned artist Billy’O rendition of Lewis and Clark departing La Charrette as shown above and the endorsements given below. Its a whole new look!

Continue visiting La Charrette at my blog at http://lacharrettevillage.blogspot.com/

Praise for La Charrette
(From inside the front cover)

“A delicately crafted, absorbing account of an American past seldom encountered in conventional histories … Meticulously researched.”—Kirkus Discoveries of New York

"Dr. Schake presents a highly detailed, but easy to read, characterization of La Charrette's long neglected significance. It is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in American History."—Harry Windland, Treasurer, Illinois Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission

“For both the scholar and the avocational historian, La Charrette adds much-needed pages to the history of the westering experience and the Missouri River.”—Clive G. Siegle, Southern Methodist University, Executive Director, Zebulon Pike Bicentennial Commission

“One might question whether a village of seven houses rates a book, but to do so would be to underestimate both Lowell Schake and La Charette. This was not just any village, but for nearly a half-century in the late 1700s and early 1800s, it was the last outpost of European settlement on the Missouri River, the natural highway to two thousand miles of Indian country, everyone’s last stop on the way out and the first stop on the way back. Lowell Schake has done a remarkable job of digging in French, Spanish, and territorial records to reconstruct the multi-racial, multi-lingual, and multi-ethnic society of his hometown, the intriguing frontier village of La Charette.”—Walter Kamphoefner, Director of Graduate Studies, Department of History, Texas A&M University

“Schake’s book documents the intimate life and history of a village that helped serve as a launching point into the territory and its role in American frontier life.”—Brad Urban, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Suburban Journals

“La Charrette is highly recommended not only as a result of the impeccable research by the author, but also his talent for bringing the village of La Charrette to life in print.”— Timothy Forrest Coulter, descendant of John Colter, Corps of Discovery member and America’s First Mountain Man of La Charrette

“If you are a history buff—or even if you’re not—La Charrette will make a valuable edition to your personal library.”—Stephen E. Smith, My Missourian

“At last … ‘Charrette Village’ is put in its universal, national, and territorial place. For the strong interest now in the Lewis and Clark Expedition this book should be useful matter.”—Ralph Gregory, President, Franklin County Historical Society, Washington Missourian

“This is an important book and recommended.”—Leo E. Oliva, Santa Fe Trail Quarterly

“If you have ancestors who moved to and settled in Missouri when it was still the edge of the American frontier, you will be interested in … La Charrette.… I think you will find it an interesting historical and genealogical source.”—Martha Jones, PhD, Victoria Advocate

“Boone descendants will be happy to see this new and original book pertaining to a part of Daniel Boone’s life, and the lives of his family members, that has not been written about before…. If you are interested in learning more about the earliest life of those who moved to and settled Missouri when it was still the edge of the American frontier, you will enjoy this book.”—Margy Miles, Boone family descendant

Questing La Charrette: Cartography

2006-01-07T09:27:00.000-08:00

Have you ever attempted to document a ghost? It is not an easy task to map a 'ghost' village. La Charrette collaborator Jerome Holtmeyer was the map person. For years he was committed to pinpointing the exact location of the village and the Corps of Discovery campsites there in 1804 and 1806. Maps, maps, maps describe how Jerry thinks.

His efforts resulted in my creating this overlay of the old village with present day Marthasville. Maps like this one, which appears as Figure 5 in La Charrette, and Figure 2 are not only expensive to have professionally produced, but required lots of detail study, searching and calaulating as well as both actual and electronic survey work. The title link gives La Charrette along with other Missouri 'Ghost' towns, not all of which have recieved as much attention as the one which today is central to two national bicentennial celebrations.

Other maps were critical to the complete questing of village history. It was the farm survey of Jean Baptiste Luzon which became pivitol in our pinpointing the Lewis and Clark campsites. His 1806 farm survey, shown as Figure 6 in the book, depicts the entry of Charrette Creek into the Missouri River at that time as indicated above. And there was no suitable map documenting La Charrette as the mostwestern settlement of the Louisiana Purchase. So it was developed and produced as Figure 2.

Questing La Charrette: Genealogy

2006-01-01T09:37:00.000-08:00

How La Charrette was 'returned' to life involved relentless questing in every resource available to me. Questing is to ask, seek, hunt, inquire, pursue, prowl after, try to find, look up, look for, search for... even to journey in search of adventure. In my case, "leaving no stone unturned" became part of the adventure. Most reviewers noted this in their comments. Timothy Forrest Coulter, a fourth generation grandson of La Charrette's John Colter, America's First Mountain Man" and one of the three "giants of western exploration", had this to say:

La Charrette is highly recommended not only as a result of the impeccable research by the author, but also his talent for bringing the village of La Charrette to life in print.

Genealogy was one of the tools that served well in this quest of village history. In one case it allowed me to dismiss the enticing but puzzling item written by Reverend Irion. In contrast, an embryonic village history began to emerge once the genealogies of its seven village families was initiated. This, combined with old military, tax, and legal records plus other historical documents added much needed detail to village life. The title link takes you to Heritage Quest should you desire to learn more of your family history and genealogy. Genealogies can be a powerful technique in compiling events of history, after all, nearly all histories relate to people in one manner or another.

The mock pedigree (above) could well be that of the Paul and Jean Marie Cardinal, Jr., as their mother married the slave of their deceased father. Both their mother and step-father were Native Americans. As with Tim Coulter and most other La Charrette families, I have been blessed to share Cardinal family history with descendants still residing near the old village. Researching genealogies can be very rewarding! I began studying three generation of pedigrees of registered Polled Hereford cattle that my famly owned at the age of eight. I can still recite them in detail.

How La Charrette, the book, came to life

2005-12-28T12:38:00.000-08:00

About the time this picture of me was captured in 1995, I had begun searching both the Southwest Collection and the general library at Texas Tech University (where I chaired the Animal & Food Science Department) for leads about La Charrette. But even then, my primary focus was on the genealogies and home communities of my German ancestors. It was about 1998 that I first realized that all of my ancestors came from within 25 mile radius of one another in Germany...and that all had disembarked at Marthasville Landing (a k a Charrette Landing) to eventually own much of its farmland. Only after publishing my family ethnohistory and genealogy in 1999 did La Charrette take center stage.

The title link provides a useful outline for how one self-publisher sees 'books coming to life.' My experiences include all of those items plus much, much more. Form my boyhood fascination with Daniel Boone, western exploration, Native Americans, and related topics, the interest gradually grew. By age 22 I acquired the La Charrette document of Dr. Irion's which held my interest for the next thirty years. Whenever I gained access to a new library anywhere in the world, I would search for 'La Charrette'. What I did NOT find convinced me that no one had ever published on this lost village of my birth. With a draft manuscript inhand by 2002, a contract was established with Pebble Publishing at http://www.pebblepublishing.com/index.htm but the status of the national economy scared the publisher off. Instead, he suggested iUniverse as a potential alternative. iUniiverse, Inc., another self-publisher at http://www.iuniverse.com/ , was what I needed to bring La Charrette Village to 'life'.

My plan for the next series of blogs in early 2006 is to highlight some of the events and techniques which aided in my bringing the 200-year old village history back to life. Not only had there never been a serious study on village history, but much of what was published lacked accuracy and detail on many 'facts'. Today, all this somehow seems apropriate. Not only did I just complete the preparation of my notes and references for the Warren County Historical Society Archives, but I approved the last proof copy of La Charrette a few minutes ago. Its due off the presses in January. I hope you enjoy its new content, and its new look.

Friends of La Charrette

2005-12-22T12:42:00.000-08:00

The process of creating a self published book has been an amazing experience. Perhaps the most rewarding aspect has been the many contacts and friends developed along the way. From searching in archives, to acquiring hundreds upon hundreds of items via interlibrary loan, to sharing draft copies seeking suggestions, to working with the publisher, the many book signing sponsors and surrogates standing in for me at various events...I can only express my most sincere thanks for all their help, and friendship.

The most prominant of these are of course noted in the Acknowledgements, either collectively or by name. But when Cathie Schoppenhorst of Marthasville offered to attend the November 2005 Holiday Fair in St. Louis in my absence, she set a new standard among friends. Always a lover of family, history and genealogy, Cathie contributes mightily to her home community with a happy smile as displayed above, and as captured in poetry at the title link. By marriage we claim common ancestry but other members of my immediate family were also very supportive over these past five years.

Thanks to the entire family of La Charrette friends for your help! As a result, the newly reissued volume, La Charrette: A History of the Village Gateway to the American West Visited by Lewis and Clark, Daniel Boone, Zebulon Pike will appear in January 2006. In addition to sporting a new title, its new cover has BillyO's (a Warren County native son and world renowned artist) rendition of Lewis and Clark departing La Charrette, a 20 page index, two pages of "Praise for La Charrette" offered by literary critics, professional as well as avocational historians plus a Forward by History Professor F. Todd Smith of the University of North Texas. There are even newly discovered details about La Charrette Village included.

Early Marthasville History

2005-12-15T16:08:00.000-08:00

In 1980, Ralph Gregory of Marthasville, a very active local historian, published a small booklet about the early history of the sister city to La Charrette Village. The Three Pines Publishing Company of South and Third Streets was the publisher of A History of Early Marthasville, Missouri shown here. Here is revealed how the oldest surviving town in Warren County joined with its famous but short lived neighbor. The title link offers opportunity to learn more about Marthasville.

Dr. John Young, a physician, founded Marthasville in 1817, but apparently it was Dr. John Jones who most actively practiced medicene there. Young opened the first general store and built water-powered mills on nearby Tuque Creek. Several churches dominated the landscape during its formative years.

Today it has little industry serving mostly as a bedroom community to larger communities in the area. A nice place to live and rear a family. It is recognized for agricultural pursuits, its local bed-n-breakfasts, wineries, the Katy Trail and its prominate German heritage as shown at http://deutschcountrydays.org/

Gregory, now 96-years young, was honored for his continuing contributions to local history by the the Washington Historical Society at their 2005 Christmas Party. The 'Museum Builder Award' is the highest honor the Society bestows. Ralph was among the first to publish a review on La Charrette, and was ever helpful in my researching its history. Congratulations, with thanks, to this exceptional gentleman.

The 1824 Will of Flanders Callaway

2005-12-14T09:28:00.000-08:00

The most pertinent aspects of Flanders Callway's will are recorded at http://www.rootsweb.com/~mowarren/wills/flanders.htm by James D. Murray while the title link offers information on his extended heritage. His will was processed by C. Willis, Clerk of Montgomery County, Missouri in Deed Book of May 1833 - 1837, pages 189-191. After explaining his desires regarding medical expenses, funeral arrangements, and burial, he outlines the procedure for disposal of his earthly possessions. Slaves were first addressed, then land and cash. His daughter Frances and son-in-law William T. Lamme, all of La Charrette, were to recieve $5.00 as was typical for other heirs.

It is the tombstone of Willam T. Lamme's that appears above. Its private cemetery is on the property of descendant Margy Miles of Marthasville, Missouri who provided me with the picture. Lamme died later at 63 years of age. By all accounts Flanders Callaway, and his family, continued to advance the Missouri frontier much as had his father-in-law, Daniel Boone.

The Flanders Callaway family bolg at http://www.callawayfamily.org/blog/2004/11/flanders-callaway-house-femme-osage.html provides many interesting details as does the Callaway County, Missouri Website at http://callaway.county.missouri.org/JamesCallaway.html .

Americanization at La Charrette

2005-12-13T07:43:00.000-08:00

The ethnic mixing at tiny La Charrette is as rich as any in our national 'melting pot'. The title link provides an insightful discussion of its fitful origin, and how the topic of miscegenation may be taught. In nearly all cases of mixed marriages on the earliest frontier, it appears as if necessity expressed itself as the mother of invention, i.e. ethnic mixing. Mostly male slaves were brought from Africa who bonded with Indian slave women. Likewise, most Europeans were males who also sought Native American women as partners. In reality, there was a shortage of women on the American frontier. This process is clearly reflected by the Creoles (Native American - Frenchmen) living at La Charrette when Lewis and Clark came by in 1804 as suggested in the commerative medallion (shown at left) commissioned by the Marthasville Lewis and Clark Celebration Committee in 2004.

Soon friends and families of Daniel and Rebecca Boone brought black slaves and then the Germans arrived. Boone's clan and the Germans tended to bring their women with them, yet they too soon intermarried outside of their cultural and ethnic circles. Americanization was now fully underway. Naomi Zack's book on Thinking About Race at http://www.wadsworth.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M2b&product_isbn_issn=053453564X&discipline_number=5 provides a contemporary philosophical view of these matters in todays society. Dr. Zack is a philosophy professor at the University of Oregon. Today the concept of Americanization goes far beyond ethnic mixing as discussed at http://www.msu.edu/~millettf/americanization.html and on many other such Webpages offering other points of view. Is Americanization somehow linked to the emergence of American Dream?

Trail of Tears

2005-12-12T11:36:00.000-08:00

Freedom for Native Americans was to be a long time in coming as they were pushed every farther westward. The title link offers an opportunity to learn about the greater Indian removal processes as presented by Joan Gilbert in her recent book, The Trail of Tears Across Missouri.

Those displaced by this process from La Charrette and Cote sans Dessein represented members of the Roy, Revard and Robedouix families, relatives of the Charles Tayon family of La Charrette. Louise Roy (1843 - 1893) was of 'mixed' heritage and as such assigned to the Nemaha Reservation located in present day Rulo Township, Richardson County, Kansas. Her presence there is verified at http://ioway.nativeweb.org/text/genealogy/nemaha1860.htm ,
a genealogical Webpage. The activities of Joseph Revard of Cote sans Dessein, who moved to the Kawsmouth community (Kansas City, Kansas) by 1821, resulted in his being scalped for his expressed beliefs about people of 'mixed' blood heritage residing there as explained in great detail at http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v008/v008p065.html
Proceed to page 66 of this posting for the details of this Osage vs. Cherokee conflict involving stolen horses.

The Great Westward Migration

2005-12-11T13:20:00.000-08:00

The title link provides an excellent opportunity to learn how the great western migration got underway. Steamboats were central in aiding families move down the Ohio, up the Mississippi and by 1817 they started up the Missouri, soon to dock at La Charrette Landing - about a decade later it would be called Marthasville Landing. The picture shown above captures the mood that held sway for the better part of the next century. The picture comes from Stanley Vestal's 1945 The Missouri, (University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln).

They came by the boat loads, all from the east. Germans represented the largest single group settling in the community recognized today as Missouri's German Belt. A typical, yet nostalgic story unfolds at http://www.sfbparish.org/history.htm for families seeking Marthasville Landing. There were also those at La Charrette who continued seeking adventure and better times. Jacob and Abraham Darst headed to Texas in 1831 to join with the DeWitt Colony. Arbraham was the son-in-law of Flanders and Jemima Callway, his brother Jacob died in 1839 in the Battle of the Alamo as doumented at http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/DD/fdazx.html Commerce and merchandise of every imaginable sort represented a vital aspect of these exciting times to include "missionary honeymooners" as related at http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=7204 to "wiskey trading fur traders" like Joseph Robidoux lll of Cote sans Dessein extraction as related at http://www.brokenclaw.com/genealogy/robidoux.html But it was risky work running a river boat on the Missouri as described in detail at http://members.tripod.com/~Write4801/docs/moboats-3.html One such Captain was a member of Daniel and Rebecca Boone's family, Arch S. Bryan who lived in Washington, across the river from where La Charrette once stood. He started into the business after departing the community to seek his fortune mining for gold in California.

Professionals and Royality

2005-12-10T13:28:00.000-08:00

Initially the frontier was essentially devoid of any professionals...no teachers, lawyers, scientists or doctors were present. But by 1803 La Charrette's first school teacher arrived, although Anthony C. Palmer did not teach school there until 1807. Next physicans arrived. The title link offers a review on the status of frontier medecine and how it advanced. My blog of September 30, 2005 "Lucky Life Events" chronicles a more local progression of the medical leaders in Charrette Township. But between the arrival of Palmer and medical doctors at nearby Marthasville, there were scientists and men of nobility starting to traveling through. John Bradbury was an exceptionally highly regarded botanist from England. His travels posted at http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/html/bradbury.html chronicle his stay at La Charrette visiting with Daniel Boone, and later with John Colter. Bradbury made significant contributions to both science and history as his travels took him up the Missouri in 1811. Both artists and a scientist traveled around the village as part of the 1819 -20 expedition led by Major Stephen Long. The artists were Titian Ramsey Peale and Samuel Seymour whose popular works are offered on the Internet, museums, galleries and commercial outlets. Thomas Say was a zoologist traveling overland to the immediate north of La Charrette with Peale as explained at http://faculty.evansville.edu/ck6/bstud/say.html Say was a founding member of the Philidelphia Academy of Natural Science and the acknowledged father of American descriptive entomology. Parakeets, turkeys, larks, sandpipers, partridges and heel flies were all recorded about La Charrette to advance yet another frontier... the scientific one. The turkey sketches shown above are those of Peale's but no doubt Say identified the bird and related details a few days after they had traveled around La Charrette. The print holds its present day origin to the American Philosophical Society Library. A bit later Prince Paul, Duke of Wurttemburg was one of the few scientist who also claimed rolality when visiting La Charrette. More of his status appears at http://www.bigcanoerecords.com/dukepaul.html Connecticut preachers arrived in 1816 and 1819. The first La Charrette congregation of twelve was formed with the aid of Reverend Welch in 1818 in the home of Flanders Callaway. Reverend Peck came in 1819 and records one of the last visits with Daniel Boone. Peck's biography appears at http://www.sbhla.org/bio_peck.htm

Codes, Laws and Taxes

2005-12-08T07:33:00.000-08:00

There were four legal systems evident during the life span of Village Charrette. Oral Native American codes were overlaid by Spanish, French and American laws and regulations administered under the appropriate jurisdiction...and to various degrees all were evident during the transition from Missouri Territory into Statehood. These factors are explained at the title link for the State of Louisiana which closely allied the diversity of legal conditions at La Charrette.

A 55-page booklet of new United State laws was published in 1804, and new U.S. taxes were collected by 1805. The sketch pictured here shows Mr. William B. Rice assessing taxes a few decades later. According to the 1876 book, Pioneer Families of Missouri (the source of the picture), Rice was a Revolutionary War veteran, a judge and tavern proprietor on Booneslick Road where one could get corn bread and "common fixins" for 25 cents. Rice was assessing taxes in Montgomery County, the home county of La Charrette Village.

A faint copy (the best available) of the 1814-15 tax assessor's records at La Charrette show Louis Tayon living on the "Charette Creek" watershed as the first entry on page 44. Details regarding the evolution of various slave codes is discussed by Missouri State historians at http://www.sos.state.mo.us./archives/education/aahi/earlyslavelaws/slavelaws.asp Another of their Webpages allows you to search the oldest of Missouri Supreme Court cases dating from 1780 at http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/judiciary/supremecourt/ An 1811 case apparently involved the 'shify' La Charrette neighbor Charles 'Indian' Phillips et al. vs. Silas Bent over $300 damages to two horses, one sorrel and one bay. By 1821 Jose Tebeau had arrested Phillips as a "stray" in St. Charles.

Slaves at La Charrette

2005-12-07T08:28:00.000-08:00

The abhorent practice of slavery on the earliest frontier of the Louisiana Purchase often goes under reported, or overlooked, by many historians. The informative article at the title link is typical. Aspects of slavery existed among the Native Americans for eons, frequently representing those captured in battle. Some were captured on the Lower Missouri before La Charrette was established there and sold into the slave trade in the old south. Later slaves (mostly blacks or those of mixed African-Native American heritage) were sold at public auction as documented in the sale bill pictured here.

La Charrette's first known squatter, Jean Marie Cardinal, Sr., held Nicholas Colas as his Native American slave. Soon after Cardinal's 1780 death, Colas married his Native American wife and became the father to their children who later resided at La Charrette, Cote sans Dessein and St. Louis. Black slaves arrived at La Charrette with the family of Daniel Boone in the later 1790s setting into motion the exceptional mixing of people so vividly protrayed at La Charrette. Thus it is apparent that the practice of slavery was well underway before the United States acquired the Louisiana Purchase, or when the great Western Expansion followed decades later. Americanization and social progress would follow along at a much slower pace.

A partial list of slaves associated with La Charrette include: Nicholas Colas who belonged to Cardinal; Derry was Boone's servant; York, William Clark's servant visited the village twice as a Corps of Discovery member; Joseph, a French-Indian (and four others) were owned by Don Carlos Tayon; Flanders Callaway sold his black slaves Venus, Daniel and Westly for $450 to his son James in 1815 but by 1837 still owned four female slaves named Kipley, Lucinda, Dorcas, and Livina plus Jeff, a 'boy'. Other Missouri slave holders also listed their slaves as chattel property as revealed at http://www.centerplace.org/history/misc/soc/soc14.htm and were taxed accordingly.

Slaves freely offered their support during the Civil War as explained at http://www.duboislc.org/MissouriBlacks/p03_CivilWar.html Pvt. George C. "Uncle Cal Wyatt" Martin (1831-1937) of southern Warren County was one of them, later to establish himself as the longest living Civil War veteran of the County. But at the time of his death full civil liberties were not yet available to minorities like "Uncle Cal." The evidence of social progress since the founding days of La Charrette represents milestones of the greatest order.

La Charrette Fur Trade Economy

2005-12-06T14:48:00.000-08:00

The title link pictures W. Crosby Brown in his home as a recreated version of La Charrette fur trading post east of Washington, Missouri. Looking very much the part of an 1800 La Charrette trapper, Crosby was helpful to me during a 2002 visit when conducting research on La Charrette. The picture shown here is my recreation of a trapper arriving at the village at the mouth of Charrette Creek.

The frontier fur trading industry held a longstanding tradition in North America since the 1600s as related at http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/teacher/highered/crafts/craft4.htm
These same events were active at La Charrette since the 1760s into the 1820s. Many fur trading expeditions went upriver and visited La Charrette as related in the journals of Dr. James at http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/html/thomas.html Native Americans were essential to success in this million dollar business. For their furs they were offered trinkets and beads, like those pictured at http://www.thefurtrapper.com/trade_beads.htm But other articles were also traded, including liquor.

Of all the motivations leading to western exploration, none were more important than the dreams of riches in the fur trade. Beaver were the preferred pelt for the manufacture of 'in vogue' hats for men in Europe driving this international trade boom.

Corps of Discovery Visits

2005-12-05T15:05:00.000-08:00

Corps of Discovery members first arrived at La Charrette in May 1804 when the poor villagers furnished them with a few provisions upon departing as shown in this Marthasville Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Committee commerative of the event. Here world renowned plein-air artist BillyO recreats their departure into the western wilderness. By September 1806 they returned to celebrate! Sing songs, sip whiskey, dance and tell stories. As the most western settlement of America's new Louisiana Purchase, this had become a rather common occurence. Private trade expeditions had been exploring upriver for over 30 years before Lewis and Clark to say nothing about those individuals wandering about on their own. History Professor Walter Kamphoefner, Director of Graduate Studies at Texas A&M University, expressed it this way. "This was not just any village, but for nearly a half-century in the late 1700s and early 1800s, it was the last outpost of European settlement on the Missouri River, everyone's last stop on the way out and the first stop on the way back." Later as a Brigadier General, William Clark returned at least once, probably more often, to visit La Charrette when Indian Agent of the Missouri Territory. The title link provides more details of Lewis and Clark at La Charrette while journal entries at http://www.uky.edu/AS/ModernStudies/HumSocSci/lc95/sec3/dates3/Date70.html offer yet another insight to their September 20, 1806 arrival. Many other Web pages are devoted to these exceptional moments in history.

Today, with predictable consistancy, we wish these conversations and events had been recorded in greater detail. Unfortunately, little remains of most of these events except for the 1795 expedition of Jean Baptiste Trudeau. President Jefferson read Trudeau's account at Chorette's Creek (soon to be La Charrette Village) which likely led to Lewis and Clark wishing to train at La Charrette as initially planned. I too wish their plans would have been fulfilled.

John Colter - America's first mountain man

2005-12-04T14:49:00.000-08:00

John Colter was a most exceptional person. One of the first to join with Lewis and Clark, he soon became recognized as their best hunter to aid in provisioning the expedition. He served the expedition with distinction, but, at his request, was relieved of his assignment at the Mandan Villages in 1806. He thought he would be "lonely" back in St. Louis. For four years he remained in the western wilderness, alone, and discovered Jackson's Hole Valley, the headwaters of the Snake and Colorado Rivers, the Valley of the Big Horn River, plus Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, and so much more. Today his recreated wax likeness is a museum display as posted at http://server1.westwaxmuseum.com/colter.html

The title link explains his adventures to include his capture and his ensuing miraculous escape to freedom from the Blackfeet Indians. Today we consider Colter one of the most important men of the American west. Much has been written about Colter, but what Professor Goetzmann wrote about him in his 1966 Pulitzer Prize-winning book exceeds all others. He discussed the leaders of western exploration, and ranked them ....Lewis and Clark, Zebulon Pike, John Colter...all allied with La Charrette Village history. Learn more of this La Charrette Village neighbor at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Colter and at http://www.olden-times.com/OldtimeNebraska/n-csnyder/nbstory/story9.html

Colter was a very private family person... a farmer, a fur trapper, hunter, explorer, leader of expeditions, naturalist, ranger and hero figure who also helped William Clark draft the earliest maps of the American west which he knew by heart. I might add, he is my La Charrette idol. Regretably, he died a young man in his late thirties on May 7, 1812 (one newspaper report says at La Charrette) while serving as a U.S. Volunteer Mounted Ranger with Nathan Boone's Company at La Charrette.

His memorial at New Haven, Missouri, across the Missouri River from La Charrette, stands as a lasting tribute to this exceptional man. My sister Dorothy Schake Meyer is standing too the left of the picture shown above.

Horses, Cattle, Dogs, Poultry and Swine

2005-11-14T08:28:00.000-08:00

Farm animals first came to the frontier at La Charrette with the settlers. The title link tells of how the family and friends of Daniel Boone drove their cows and hogs from Kentucky aided by horses and dogs. All were essential. Horses were used for riding and clearing and cultivating the land. Oxen were also used as draft animals. They were considered stronger than horses but much slower. Cattle also furnished milk and meat. Sometimes mares milk was even consumed. Geese and chickens provided eggs and meat while hogs offered more variety as pork. All were free-roaming...allowed to graze the countryside for their food. Dogs assisted the settlers when hunting and in rounding up the livestock. The picture of an oxen pulling a plow on the Missouri frontier is from an article by C. L. Goodwin in volume 14 of the 1920 issue Missouri Historical Review. La Charrette landowner Charles Tayon harnessed his oxen with raw hide strips tied about the horns; not a yoke like the one shown here.

The relationship between frontiersmen and their horses, oxen, milk cows and dogs was intimate. All were given names and thought of a valued companions. This same symbiotic relationship continues today, most prominently for horses and dogs. Most of these domestic animals would be considered as 'scrub' livestock by standards of today. Generally they were smaller, in poor health and much less productive. To contrast the conditions described above with those of today and learn about exciting careers in the modern world of animal science proceed to http://animalscience.tamu.edu/ansc/facilities/klebergcenter.html This Texas A&M University facility was my academic home for most of 22 years when serving as a professor of animal science there.

Women...often forgotten in history

2005-11-13T13:53:00.000-08:00

Women in early frontier settlements experienced lives far different than those of today. As rugged as life might have been for their men and children, the women not only toiled continuously with family and household chores, they maintained the homefront in the absence of the men. And, they occupied the bottom rung on the societal ladder. Even among the women stratification was evident. Blacks, either free or enslaved, ranked lowest followed by Native American women with whites at the top. These social conditions are discussed in some detail at the title link. The two women shown above are from Callaway County, home to Cote sans Dessein. Pictures taken before the 1876 publication of the History of the Pioneer Families of Missouri (its source) by Wm. S. Bryan, a Boone family descendant.

Of the women at La Charrette, few had anything recorded on their behalf except for Rebecca Boone and her family member Nancy Howell Callaway. None recorded anything about themselves during the early years at La Charrette, although Callaway did learn to write ten years following the 1815 death of her husband. At Cote sans Dessein, things were little different. There Julia Royer Roy was one of few recorded as a heroine for her exceptional skills in saving a fort under attack in 1815. Like La Charrette citizens, those at Cote sans Dessein were mostly, if not all, illiterate.

Frontier Food

2005-11-10T16:20:00.000-08:00

Consider for a moment how our world food culture has changed over the past 200 years. Today, we have ready access to an international array of wholesome foods in the local Wal*Mart Super Center while those living on the frontier only consumed whatever was locally available to them. At La Charrette the selection was limited. The role of protein, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals were either vaugely understood, not understood at all, or in most cases not yet discovered. As a result, those most vunerable - the children, the sick and elderly - suffered. These realities, combined with equally poor medical support, resulted in short spans of life on the frontier. Even the water supply was most often suspect. Today's concept of consuming 'natural' foods should not be considered as the equivalent of consuming diets like those offered at La Charrette. As unbelievable as it may seem, I clearly remember malnourished children and adults with primary vitaman and other nutrient defiencies as late as the 1940s in the nearby community of Marthasville, Missouri where I grew up.

All this aside, those on the frontier who obtained a wide enough variety of foods flourished just as well as we do today. To see what was served and how it was prepared on the Missouri frontier proceed to the title link. Contrast these alternatives with the so called 'fast foods', microwaveable dinners and other instant foods available today. And remember, you did not need to grow, harvest, prepare or hunt for these foods to be cooked over an open fire. Any wonder that today less than 6% of society represent the food chain while essentially 100% were devoted to that need on the frontier of 1880? But then self-inflicted obesity was not a major societal problem either.

The above family sketch comes from the History of the Pioneer Families of Missouri by Wm. S. Bryan, published 1876. Lucky for me, I acqiured this 569 page book for $5.00 in 1993 in a Lubbock, Texas City Library sale. Notice that the father is slaughtering a hog as pelts hang about the house. Here they explained 'how' they ate... hunting knives used as fork and knife "aided by the fingers" and water was drunk from a gourd. Anyone for the Golden Arches?

The Lives of Native Americans

2005-11-10T08:52:00.000-08:00

Native American life was equally sophisticated to that of frontier settlers as demonstrated in this picture. Here a large cottonwood log is being crafted into a canoe. Notice the array of tools required to accomplish the task. These and other skills were shared with settlers, just as the settlers shared skills unique to them with the Native Americans. Picture taken at the Lewis and Clark Rendezvous Celebration of May 2004 in Marthasville Park, Warren County, Missouri.

The title link directs you to Chapter 4, pages 27 - 37, of La Charrette. Here you may study an overview of daily Native American life on the Missouri River. From page 27, it will be possible to proceed two pages further in either direction. Next enter page '32' in the Google search engine provided and repeat the process to continue through this chapter five pages at a time.

To learn more of Native American cultural developments along the Missouri River proceed to http://coas.missouri.edu/mas/articles/articlemotimeperiods.html Here you may develop a greater appreciation for their archaeological past and how it influenced cultural advanced across time. Many other such webpages are available.

Living at La Charrette

2005-11-10T07:55:00.000-08:00

Living at La Charrette Village was unique compared to almost any standard of today. The title link takes you directly to Part Two, pages 43 - 163, of the 2003 issue of La Charrette: Village Gateway to the American West. This on-line copy is identical to the hard copy and will offer school children and scholars of history as well as casual readers the opportunity to delve into this aspect of frontier American life. By January of 2006 the reissued copy, La Charrette: A History of the Village Gateway to the American Frontier Visited by Lewis and Clark, Daniel Boone, Zebulon Pike..., will replace the the 2003 issue. An early review of this issue appears at http://www.kirkusreviews.com/kirkusreviews/discoveries/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001350947

The material presented offers the reader the most completely researched rendering of their daily lives. The villages of La Charrette and Cote sans Dessein represented the most western American settlements for a full decade following the Louisiana Purchase. No Americans lived in permanent settlements beyond these settlements. As such, these villages protray an unequalled opportunity to grasp frontier life, to learn what 'Americanization' was really all about, and how it all started on the very cusp of America's new frontier. At the same time we may participate in the celebration of two national bicentennial celebrations intimately linked with the families living there. The medallion shown above depicts yet another view of life at La Charrette with their little 'barefoot' wooden carts and a typical bousillage cabin in the background. The commerative medallion was a gift to me from the Marthasville Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Committee of 2004.

To navigate through La Charrette the book, follow the instructions as provided. For example, the title link will take you to page 43. You may access only three pages in either direction from there, i.e. back to page 40 or forward to page 46. To continue in either direction, enter the desired page number in the Google search engine provided. Its a bit awkward, but pretty easy to learn.

Life at a typical frontier French village on the Missouri frontier is presented at http://www.ecarter.k12.mo.us/dept/elementary/fourthgrade/ccrites/frenchvillageassignment.html This site, and the one offered below, is especially informative to youthful school children. The following site offers insights from Cahokia and Kaskaskia, Illinois where the Chartran, Cardinal and Tayon families lived before crossing the Mississippi River to St. Louis, then up the Missouri to St. Charles, and eventually to La Charrette. Learn more of their lives there at http://www.lib.niu.edu/ipo/2000/ihy001217.html

Fort Clatsop Fire

2005-10-29T09:46:00.000-07:00

Have you heard about the October 3, 2005 fire that essentially destroyed the Fort Clatsop replica? The title link provides details about the fort and the fire. Wendy and I visited there in September 2004 when repairs were underway. Apparently, Lewis and Clark Celebrations planned there will not be greatly disrupted.

Missouri Fall Signings

2005-10-29T09:14:00.000-07:00

As guest of the Fours Seasons Lodge on Lake Ozark, Missouri Life magazine recently hosted an art and book festival. 'La Charrette" was one of the four featured books at this "Weekend at the Lake" event of October 21-23, 2005. The programs and setting were exceptional. Too view Missouri's fall foliage at its best on Osage Beach go to the title link. We all - family and friends - shared a great time together as you can see.

Other fall signing in Missouri include the History Fair at East Central Missouri College campus in Union, Missouri on Novemver 6, 2005. Books, authors and artist will be featured in this celebration of Franklin County History. Call 636-629-5127 for more details. Friends Cathie Schoppenhorst and Ralph Gregory of Marthasville will be there representing "La Charrette" along with my sister Dorothy Meyer.

On the afternoon of November 20, 2005, Holiday Fair will feature "La Charrette" at the Missouri History Museum in MacDermott Grand Hall in St. Louis, Missouri. For the second time "La Charrette" has been selected as one of the 20 books at this Missouri Historical Society invitation only event. Cathie, Dorothy and Helen (another sister of mine) will be there with signed copies. For more details call 314-361-7293 or proceed to the Missouri Historical Society webpage at http://www.mohistory.org/content/HomePage/HomePage.aspx In Texas, Waldenbooks in Padre Staples Mall, Corpus Christi, is sponsoring another signing on December 17. Call 361-991-8034 for details. In my home village of Port Aransas two December signings are scheduled at local RV Parks for winter Texans. Most are here to avoid the winter months in the midwest.

La Charrette Orphans

2005-10-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

Nine orphans represented a portion of the cultural diversity at La Charrette Village. The most probable reason for so many orphans residing among only seven village families was the announcement of a Spanish decree a few years previous allowing for larger land grants assigned to larger families. Joseph Chartran and Jean Baptiste Luzon both had children of their own but chose to adopt these nine orphans as reflected in their deed claims. But never are their names or other aspects of their identity revealed. The records associated with nearby St. Charles Borromeo seem a worthy place to search, but I have never had success with that. One wonders of their fate, yet orphans remained as a reality of rural Warren County for centuries into the future.

By 1864 the Central Wesleyan Orphan Home was founded in Warrenton, Warren County, Missouri to help rear orphans associated with the Civil War. This orphanage continued until 1939. For several summers, a few years or so before it closed, my parents 'took-in' a teenage girl and boy from the orphanage. The orphanage was suffering fiscal problems related to the depression. To help defray cost while at the same time provide work skills to the orphans, Mom and Dad were to care for them in exchange for their working on the farm. Hopefully, this arrangement worked to the favor of the orphans.

Upon arrival of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad in Marthasville in 1892 additional options were provided poor orphan children. Orphan trains from St. Louis and elsewhere would 'drop off' a few children in Dutzow, Marthasville, Peers...all along the the route. Typically, the local town families would have first choice. The remaining children would ride with the rural mail carriers seeking homes in the country. One such lad reared on the Henry Schulte farm, which later became a portion of my family farm, prospered from his rural Charrette Creek experiences becoming a Bank of America president in California. I attempted to establish details of this story as told to me by my parents but the Bank of America never sent me the promised documentation. To discover more about this chapter on social services check out the title link where the book, Orphan Trains in Missouri by M. D. Patrick, is introduced.

Interview an Oak ?

2005-10-12T12:11:00.000-07:00

If I could interview a tree, my choice would have been this one were it still alive. To my knowlege, this old knarred tree trunk is one of the very few remaining physical entities associated with La Charrette history dating from its earliest times. This trunk of a Chinquapim (Chinkapin) oak, centuries old and shown above with Wendy Schake, was once on Widow St. Franceway's farm at La Charrette Village. Later my great-great grandfather Ahman owned the farm. I passed by its original setting thousands of times going from my home to points beyond, and returning. A picture of this majestic tree in its entirety appears on page 58 in the 1976 booklet, Historic Sites of Warren County, Missouri by Margaret C. Schowengerdt. (An article about La Charrette Village, filled with the usual mix of facts and fiction, appears on page 63.) How this centuries old tree found its way to the University of Missouri, College of Agriculture campus where this picture was taken in 1984 is interesting.

Missouri State Highway 94 was being brought into the modern world with a new bridge crossing Charrette Creek in the plans during the late 1960s. As you might predict, this wise lovely old tree stood the path of progress. The local community became enraged upon the prospect of its loss. Letters were written to editors, politicans and the highway department to spare this fate. Instead, the tree was declared a 'Champion' with its 185 inch girth and declared the largest oak of its kind in Missouri. Rather than completely destroy this 'Champion' tree, its trunk was moved to the University of Missouri - Columbia and displayed in a botanical garden. To learn how to properly identify Champion Missouri trees proceed to the title link. More recently, another 'Champion' Chinquapin oak from St. Charles County has been declared. Somehow, I think the original 'Champion' still reigns with its richly endowed history. And, the last time I passed by its location at Mizzou it was not to be seen... Wonder what that interview might have revealed?

Another major relic is the log home of Flanders and Jemima Callaway thought to have been constructed shortly before 1812. It has been razed and cataloged with the intent to reconstruct under private ownership. A picture appears on page 57 of La Charrette.

Cote sans Dessein

2005-10-04T08:48:00.000-07:00

Jean Baptiste Roy founded Cote sans Dessein upon recieving a 4,000 arpent (3,403 acres) grant in 1808 across the Missouri River from the mouth of the Osage River. This village, upriver from La Charrette, not only supplanted its role as the western most settlement of the Louisiana Purchase but also involved three La Charrette families...the Cardinals, Tayons and Tebeaus. The map shown to the left is from volume LXII, page 234 of the 1969 Missouri Historical Review's article on "French Settlements in Missouri". It establishes both villages (encircled) on the north bank of Missouri River farther westward than any contemporary villages.

More may be learned about the 'Cote' at the title link developed by the Manitoba Metis Foundation, Inc. of Canadin on "Metis Settlements and Communities". Scroll down about one-fourth page to study this excellent article. There were also two forts there, Roi's Fort and Fort Cote sans Dessein described at http://www.geocities.com/naforts/mo.html While at this Missouri webpage, click on Callaway's Fort located at La Charrette as well as Fort Charette, a recreated version of the village located on the south side of the Missouri River, owned and operated by Crosby Brown of Washington, MO. Fort Charette provides an exciting historical rendering of past times and relics but the claim regarding Fort San Juan del Misuri once being near Dutzow is questionable.

Much of Cote san Dessein's early 100-year village history similar to that of Village Charrette. They both represented adventuresome fur trappers on the cusp of the American Frontier. An obvious exception, however, was its rise to sufficient prominence to become second in contention for the new State capital. Jefferson City, immediately across the river from the Cote, served that role when moved from St. Charles.

Lucky Life Events

2005-09-30T07:06:00.000-07:00

Lucky to be born into a supportive family with a vision toward the future based largely upon hard work and education, I was confronted with a decision as a high school freshman. Local physician, Dr. H. H. Schmidt diagnosed the heart condition of coarctation in my aortic arch. None with the condition had survived beyond their late twenties. With a fifty-fifty chance of success, I elected to undergo surgery in Barnes Hospital in St. Louis on October13, 1952. Upon awaking, I pledged to myself to do all that I could with the remainder of my life. I was lucky too that Drs. Burford and Massey were one of the few teams in the world with the essential skills to correct the congenital defect. Likewise, serendipity presented itself as my sister Helen was in training at Barnes as a nursing student and helped me during those unusual days. Within a month of surgery, I was back in Washington High School - minus one rib - as part of the technology of the day. All these medical capabilities represented a long cry from those first years at La Charrette when bleeding and mid-wives passed as modern medecine. La Charrette's and Marthasville's first physicians, Drs. John Young and John Jones (a Boone family member by marriage), arrived in 1817.

From there forward I seemed to remain lucky, largely the result of obtaining insightful guidance from family, friends, teachers and professional associates in helping me make appropriate career choices and decisions. But the most lucky event of all was joining with Wendy Anne Walkinshaw in 1959, the arrival of children, Sheryl and Scott, our grandchildren, and sharing a rewarding and eventful life together.

Bousillage Cabins

2005-09-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

The verticle log cabins at La Charrette Village were common to both French and Native American communities constructed at the time of the Louisiana Purchase. Since Village Charrette was established by Frenchmen with Native American heritage who were also married to Native American wives, it was entirely natural that bousillage (vertical log with mud and straw to fill the cracks) construction was employed. But when the Marthasville Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Committe chose to construct a replica of one for the 2004 celebrations, the concept was all but forgotten. Fortunately, I was able to provide them illustrations to proceed with construction. Go to the title link to see how they proceeded. Another is soon to be constructed in Marthasville Park to support future celebrations of local history. Today, only a few of the original bousillage style cabins remain in Louisiana as explained at http://www.tourlouisiana.com/rural_life_museum.htm The one show above is taken from my model of La Charrette Village. These unique, and rather crude structures with dirt floors and open windows, only added to the disparaging remarks offered by those visiting the village.

Steamboats Coming to Charrette Landing

2005-09-05T11:42:00.000-07:00

The river Landing at La Charrette Village served as the very lifeline to its community from the earliest days of fur trading into the early 20th Century. Several years after the arrival of commercial steamboat traffic in the 1820s the landing changed names. Following the loss of La Charrette Village, it became Marthasville Landing named after its nearest local village. Throughout this interval, the landing served its local residents, their guest plus transporting a myriad of products and services.

Steamboats powered by fire-generated steam boilers represented the latest technology. They were generally faster than available alternatives, but dangerous. Steamboats sank, caught fire, ran aground and more, all around treacherous Charrette Bend immediately west of the village. Many would stop at Charrette Landing to off-load their cargo and purchase firewood before continuing the process as far up the Missouri River as possible.

The Western Engineer was one of the first to pass by La Charrette. It was part of the so-called “Scientific” portion of the 1819-20 expedition led by Major Stephen H. Long. On board were the first artists to travel west, Titan Ramsey Peale and Samuel Seymour. Shown here is Peal’s sketch of his modern river transport. Also accompanying the expedition was zoologist Thomas Say. Both Say and Peale walked about 30 miles around the north of La Charrette Village to study and report on nature.

But this was no ordinary river steamer. Its boilers constantly clogged causing it to travel little faster the hand-powered vessels of Lewis and Clark’s. Most extraordinary of all though was its secondary role of impressing, if not scaring, the Native Americans encountered along the route. As a military vessel its helmsman's house was bullet proof, the paddle wheel was hidden from view with a bow designed to creat the elusion of a big-river-swimming-dragon-monster belching smoke and soot. People watching it along the way, to include those at Charrette Landing, must have thought it looked pretty silly. Check in for more details about this expedition and the boat at the title link. Eventually, steamboats were designed with greater functionality and served a major role in western expansion. But before then, Long's expedition was abandoned when the U.S. Congress pulled its fundings after the press became highly critical of how poorly things were going.

A few years later, in 1845, a deligation of Kentucky Legislators disembarked at Marthasville Landing from Captain Joseph La Barge's steamboat named the Kansas. The mission was to exhume the remains of Daniel and Rebecca Boone and rebury them in a Frankfort Cemetery. To the present day this event is considered by many of Charrette Township as an unnecessary one, fueling the question if remains of others than the Boones were actually exhumed.

Three Charrettes?

2005-09-04T14:11:00.000-07:00

The research and validation work leading to the published history of La Charrette Village portrayed here required years of study. My goal was to reveal accurately its past since contradictory information existed to include oral history and fables. This sorting-out process, while interesting, necessarily forced decisions be made. Examples included dates and circumstances of its founding and demise as well as the presence of forts constructed there. One document that I was aware of since the early 1960s became very difficult to ‘set-aside’. Undated, it was authored by Professor Daniel Irion. My Uncle Frank Schoppenhorst translated it from German into English in 1962. I remember him corteling, "There's something just not right about it." Apparently his hunch was correct as I was never able to prove it worthy as a historical document. Uncle Frank was married to my Aunt Amanda nee Rocklage who was born in an old La Charrette Village cabin.

Daniel Irion was born February 21, 1855 at Marthasville, immediately north of old La Charrette Village. Eventually, Daniel attended Elmhurst Pro-Seminar (now Elmhurst College) from 1871-1877, and was ordained. He taught Greek and Latin at Elmhurst, served as a pastor to several Midwest parishes before becoming President of Elmhurst where he served as Professor of New Testament and published on the topic. In short, by all accounts, Daniel was a respected scholar and leader until his October 25, 1935 death as revealed at the title link.

Reverend Irion gave his unpublished seven-page (typed) document an enticing title - Early Settlers of La Charrette - a copy of which is held in the Western Historical Missouri Collection on the University of Missouri campus - Columbia. He states that twelve men rowed a boat to the village site where 30 or 40 people of “French, German, and Dutch” nationality initiated La Charrette Village in 1763. He avoids offering specific dates for most events described, except when Indians kidnapped some village girls in 1764. Charles “Indian” Phillips apparently aided in their recovery. But, the construction of a grist mill, building other structures, when more settlers joined the village, its first church service or when a flood of several weeks swept away La Charrette remain undated. Irion claimed that, “Indian Phillips with several other men stayed behind” as the others departed after the flood.

The most promising leads in the (apparently) flawed document were the names recorded. Only two were validated, Indian Phillips, who we know frequented the village, and a Professor of Theology at Leipsig, Germany, Christian F. Gellers. According to Irion, Gellers had instructed a certain Mr. Remier before he arrived at La Charrette. My purpose in providing these names cited by Irion is to enlist your help to associate them with La Charrette, if appropriate. They were, according to Reverend Irion:
Mr. Reimer of Halberstadt, Germany who fought in the military against Frederick II of Prussia. He eventually came to America via Philidelphia.

Miss Hertha Keller, who was invited to come to American from Germany (perhaps Halberstadt) by Reimer to marry. She arrives in Philadelphia where they marry in “the Lutheran Church” before heading to St. Louis, and La Charrette.

Raymond DuBois, called ‘Captain’, had been an officer in the French army and wounded at Roszbach in 1756. He apparently led those arriving in 1763 with at least one child, daughter Blanchette DuBois.

Mrs. Bessing, a widow, from the vicinity of Hamburg, Germany and her two children: Rudolph age 16 and Sophie of 15 years. Sophie and Blanchette DuBois were the two girls captured by Indians while picking wildflowers along the Charrette Creek riverbank “in the early spring of 1764.”

Philip Hauerdt, brother to Mrs. Bessing, came to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from Germany before his sister, was married without children, and therefore invited the Bessings to follow them to La Charrette. Philip was an engineer who previously worked in a Quaker colony in Pennsylvania.

I searched the usual genealogy resources, military records and census reports but nothing surfaced about them that fit within this story of Irion’s. Throughout, he seems most interested in the Germans, religious activities and the things Indian Phillips did to be helpful to the settlers. Most perplexing to me is why he might have written such a story if it contained little or no subtance.

Ideas, suggestions and assistance are welcomed. Please contact me with whatever you may have on these individuals.

And to bring the total to three - real or supposed - Charrette Villages in Warren County, Missouri is the one initiated in 1899 a few miles further up Charrette Creek. This one was spelled as ‘Charette’ as once common. But, by 1907 it too was disbanded.

Settlers Selecting Charrette Creek

2005-08-27T07:59:00.000-07:00

There must have been decisive reasons why early settlers on the Lower Missouri River chose one site over the many alternatives presented them. For successive generations the region near the mouth of Charrette Creek was favored. From its headwaters described at http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/areas/natareas/p144-1l.htm to its fertile flood plains downstream in Charrette Bottoms it offered unique attributes sought by Native Americans and a succession of others who followed. Fertile soil combined with environmental essentials supported luxurious growth of plants. The abundance of animal life residing there reflected these amineties.

Zoom 'in' and 'out' of the topographical map provided at the title link and explore the opportunies around Charrette Bend of the Missouri River where Charrette Creek empties from the northwest, just as those who settled there must had done. Joining the Native Americans came squatters like Jean Marie Cardinal, Sr. and Jose Tebeau, Sr. attracted to the region by the abundance of beaver in the 1760s. They also selected this site to allow them to trade with Native Americans while also offering ready access to the Missouri. When Jean Baptiste Trudeau traded furs at the mouth of Charrette Creek from 1769 until 1795 his boats would have required suitable landing opportunities too. These same needs were critical to the first seven French-Canadian families who settled La Charrette Village with its landing at the confluence of Charrette Creek and the Missouri River in 1801. Additionally, this fertile land was conducive to their desire to farm small plots of land. The Bryans, Callaways and Lammes of the family of Daniel and Rebecca Boone were more interested in farming than were these French-Canadians. But it was the last influx of settlers, starting in the 1830s, that farmed these lands with the greatest enthusiasm. These Germans even thought the environs of Charrette Creek reminded them of another fertile forest in their "Father Land", especially the regions allied with the Teutoburger Wald in Lippe and Westphalia in Northwest Germany. Here their national hero, Arminius, aka 'Herman the German', defeated the Romans in 9 A.D. as described at http://www.redrampant.com/roma/varus.html

Thus for four 'generations' Charrette Creek has been selected for the abundance it offered Native Americans, then French-Canadians, followed by members of the Boone famly and eventually the Germans who predominate to the present.

Daniel Boone on the Frontier

2005-08-12T08:40:00.000-07:00

Daniel Boone is recognized as one of the greatest of hunters, always seeking the leading edge of the American frontier. He is recorded as a frequent visitor to La Charrette Village from its founding days. He apparently loved this little village and its unique mix of frontier people. Following the 1813 death of his beloved Rebecca he spent increasingly extended intervals there in a cabin while visiting his daughter Jamima Callaway and family until his September 26, 1820 death. His funeral was held in Flanders Callaway's barn. While at La Charrette, Boston artist Chester Harding rendered Boone's famous painting. Boone hunted with hounds, walking or on horseback, as reenacted here by Lewis and Clark Bicentennial celebrants during the 2004 La Charrette Rendezvous Days.

Both Boones were buried immediately north of La Charrette Village reflective of their affection for this westernmost settlement of the Louisiana Purchase. The title link shows Bryan Cemetery with the Boone headstones and those of their Bryan family along with other early community citizens. But on July 17, 1845 Kentuckians took their remains downriver to Frankfort...so they thought. The Marthasville Record reports on May 12, 2005 that forensic anthropologists, after measuring 'his' skull, concluded that it was not Daniel's... this according to a 1983 National Geographic magazine article. Many local stories of oral history have supported this contention for years. Are they true? Will these posthumous adventures of the famous wilderness hunter, trapper and explorer from La Charrette continue by exploring the intricacies of his DNA? Regardless, 32 acres of historic farmland ajacent to Bryan Cemetery, once owned by Rebecca's Bryan family, was recently offered for sale for $1.2 million. Boone's legacy continues to facinate, even 200 years after he lived at La Charrette Village.

Back to School

2005-08-07T08:43:00.000-07:00

Its time for a quiz. The Missouri Department of State Parks provides answers to questions along La Charrette's stretch of the Missouri River at the title link. Stop by and enjoy the quiz at the time when the Corps of Discovery and the Pike Expedition stopped by.

Children at La Charrette did not attend school until February of 1807. Anthony C. Palmer taught the 15 students in their one room academic institution. They walked across neighboring farm land to get to school, just like I did for my first two grades. Undoubtedly, the first school teacher to visit La Charrette would have been Jean Baptiste Trudeau when one of his fur trading crew members, Joseph Chorette, drowned there in 1795. Soon the creek became known as Chorette's Creek. Trudeau was the first school teacher in St. Louis starting in 1774 and continuing until 1827. Chances are that Palmer was one of his students.

My neighbor Ethyl Hulsey taught only 14 students in 1943-44, spanning grades 1 through 8, that first-grade year of mine in our one room facility. I had one classmate. Ethyl would arrive earlier than usual on cold winter days to start a fire in a pot bellied stove. She also swept and cleaned the place but did not need to worry about at a radio, TV, the Internet - not even a telephone. It was a nostolgic moment when asked to sign her copy of La Charrette: Village Gateway to the American West at my May 25, 2004 book signing as part of La Charrette Rendezvous in Marthasville Park. Spry as always, Ethyl was then approaching 90 years of age. Today students may participate in E-School Teaching and learn about La Charrette at http://www.quicktopic.com/23/D/SCnY9iNkkdJ.html

Any other questions? Leave me a comment with your e-mail address and I'll try to respond, or perhaps post yet another blog.

Unique Book Signing Events

2005-08-03T07:25:00.000-07:00

When invited for a book signing by Eva Poole of the Denton Public Library, Denton, Texas in 2003, I had little idea what that might involve. It was to be the first public event staged in their new North Branch Library community room. I was to make a presesntation about La Charrette following dinner that evening. Soon others became involved with assistance from my sister Virginia Gallian.

Eva, Virginia, Wendy and Lowell Schake are shown (above) seated with the white table cloth, silverware and La Charrette decorations to enhance this evening event. Toni Thomas even created invitations with a colorful rendition of La Charrette Village on the front. But the meal with its dessert was planned by Martha Len Nelson and published in her local newspaper column as described at the title link. Seventy-five attended to learn more about this village now famous in anticipation of the National Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Celebrations just getting underway.

Another equally unique event was the signing staged under the front porch of the newly created La Charrette bousillage cabin in Marthasville Park in Warren County, Missouri. In contrast to Denton, this May 2004 event featured the wilderness as we attempted to recreate life of 200 years previous amid torrential downpours dispersing hundreds into nearby shelters. Even so, by noon the entire community supply of La Charrette books was sold out. These downpours were highly reminiscent of those recorded by almost every expedition coming to La Charrette, including The Corps of Discovery in May, 1804.

Behind the left side of the cabin smoke is faintly visible from camp fires and local reenactors are carving a canoe out of a cottonwood log on the other side. These "Rendezvous Days" of La Charrette were among the most authentic of celebrations along the entire Missouri. In total some 16 book signing events were held in Texas and Missouri...all were unique, and greatly enjoyed, and appreciated, by the author.

"...quaint and perky..."

2005-07-30T10:56:00.000-07:00

Where it not for Zebulon Pike's exhibition traveling with their dual companions 'serendipity' and 'fate' they never would have crossed Texas from the Rio Grand River, just below Eagle Pass, to the Sabine River to the east. Here they paid $4.00 ferriage on June 1, 1807 before entering the original French settlement of the Louisiana Purchase at 4:00 P.M. At that time Natchitoches and La Charrette, both of the Louisiana Purchase, represented its oldest and the most westerly settlements, respectively.

Ironically, Natchitoches, Louisiana remains as the oldest permanent settlement of the Louisiana Purchase according to its Chamber of Commerce webpages at the title link while La Charrette failed after about a 30-year span to become a Ghost Town of the Louisiana Purchase http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/la/labooks.html. It was founded as a trading post in 1714 to trade with the nearby Natchitoches Indians, a history almost identical to that of Village Charrette. Today, Natchitoches leaders proclaim their town as "quaint and perky", a description which might as aptly have applied to La Charrette Village. Certainly Pike and his crew understood these unique distinctions as they had traveled west from La Charrette to today's Pike's Peak of the Colorado Rockies, south to Santa Fe, New Mexico and on into Chihuahua, Mexico before turning north for Natchitoches.

Would it not be appropriate to celebrate this bicentennial connection of two unique French villages of the Louisiana Purchase - one successful, one failed - both "quaint and perky" on June 1, 2007? What do you think Lt. Zebulon Montgomery Pike would have said about the idea?

Why did you write a book?

2005-07-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

La Charrette: Village Gateway to the American, ISBN 0-595-27538-9, published by iUniverse, Inc. in 2003 did not start with a deliberate commitment to write anything. As a farm boy in Charrette Township of Warren County, Missouri, I was interested in all things western...cowboys, Indians, exploration, western expansion and adventure. Daniel Boone's legacy was prominant in my home community but I knew next to nothing about La Charrette Village. What little I knew was largely related as oral history, to include heated arguments among the local farmers about its location, date of demise, and the like.

Later, as a school boy, I learned that Lewis and Clark departed La Charrette on their epic expedition and would return there to conclude their adventures. As a young Charrette Township farmer with a B.S. degree in Animal Husbandry, now married, I learned from my mother that Uncle Frank Schoppenhorst was translating an unpublished La Charrette document from German into English. Shortly after I became an Assistant Professor of Animal Science at Texas A&M University in 1965 I acquired a copy of Uncle Frank's translation.

For the next 30 years I would frequently search the card file (later computer searches) seeking information in libraries around the world on this little village. I was perplexed upon finding next to nothing. Then upon retiring in 1995 I studied my family roots for about five years and discovered that all of my ancestors came come from within a 35-mile radius of Lippe and Westphalia in Germany...and they all had disembarked at Marthasville Landing (Charrette Landing) in the mid-1800's. The last five years have been devoted to learning more about this community of La Charrette my ancestors had joined, and eventually owned.

This slow to emerge interest was further sparked when I attempted to conduct genealogies on those La Charrette families mentioned in Uncle Frank's translated document. A considerable amount of information was gathered. Since I was accustomed to research, writing and publishing as a professor, I began to write - not a history, but a fanciful novel or perhaps a 'living' history of La Charrette. But to my chagrin it was soon obvious that those families were not the ones who had actually settled La Charrette Village!

Now I was hooked. Soon it was learned that by 2004 La Charrette Village would become central to a national Lewis and Clark bicentennial celebration. This was the incentive that motivated me to write its history. By now I was convinced that no one had ever before written one, nor could I locate anyone who contemplated doing so.

Certainly I would have been well advised to study publishing techniques like those outlined in the title link, but instead I came to this point via the slower route. Including the false attempts, interlibrary loans, technical and popular artricles plus Internet sources, well over a thousands documents were eventually studied in preparation to writing its history.

And the process never ends. While vacationing in Santa Fe, New Mexico in June 2005, I was astonished to find "Charette Lakes" in a Santa Fe Trail brochure map produced by the Raton/Colfax County Hispano Chamber of Commerce. Since brothers Jean Marie and Paul Cardinal, and Jose Tebeau are thought to have crossed from La Charrette to Santa Fe in about 1797, I was only too eager to add this to the second edition only days before the publisher's deadline.

My hope is that others will continue the search for certainly it is not yet complete.

"Indian" Phillips: A Shawnee at La Charrette

2005-07-24T07:53:00.000-07:00

Charles "Indian" Phillips was representative of the displaced Native Americans residing at La Charrette as explained by Professor John Mack Faragher at the title link. Faragher, history professor at Yale University, explains their plight, discusses how the family of Daniel Boone and others around La Charrette interacted with Native Americans in developing their conditional yet mutually supportive relationship.

Faragher's narrative book on the Life and Legend of an American Pioneer at http://www.holtzbrinckpublishers.com/academic/Book/BookDisplay.asp?BookKey=514195 about Daniel Boone extends his experiences with Indian Phillips at La Charrette.

Most considered Phillips "a dirty fellow - of no account & only fit for the woods as servant or campkeeper" no doubt explains why 85-year old Boone hired him in 1816 to assist on one of his last extended hunting ventures. They and Boone's Black slave, Derry, traveled in canoes like those shown above. Phillips worked occasionally for others too, married, owned property in St. Charles and lived nearby Village Charrette at Little Boeuf Creek for most of 40 years before taken as a "stray". Jose Tebeau, Jr., whose father was a likely squatter in Charrette Bottoms, did the arresting in St. Charles Township on May 2, 1821. Tebeau was also one of those at La Charrette who provided Zebulon Pike the essential details for the first draft of a map of the Santa Fe Trail in 1806.

Can you imagine the topics discussed when Charles "Indian" Phillips, Daniel Boone, his black slave Derry and America's First Mountain Man John Colter sat about a campfire telling tales? Chewing a plug of tobacco...spitting, now and again. Such was the mix of cultures fueling the intellect at La Charrette.

...199 Years Later

2005-07-23T14:42:00.000-07:00

As Zebulon Pike and his expedition crew were approaching La Charrette Village on July 20th, 1806, I was 'clogging' up Pike's Peak 199 years later. The title link tells more of Zebulon Pike and the cog railway that I rode to the summit he never attained...Where later "America the Beautiful" was inspired. Pike spent 3 eventful days at Village Charrette from July 21-23, 1806. More about the peak of Pike's Peak is offered at http://community.webshots.com/photo/177475462/177481048TDbbPd

In September 2004 I visited Fort Clatsop 199 years after the winter 0f 1805-06 when Lewis and Clark were there with other Corps of Discovery members. See today's rendition of their hastily constructed fort at http://www.oldoregon.com/Pages/fortclatsop.htm This time Wendy and I were enjoying a cruise down the west coast to our Astoria, Oregon port-of-call. We were part of a tour bus full of other Lewis & Clark enthusiasts as I explained about there departing La Charrette Village in May of 1804 and returning September 20, 1806 to first celebrate their accomplishments. Dancing, drinking, feasting and story-telling on the Missouri at Charrette Creek.

As Zebulon Pike was approaching La Charrette 199 years ago, Lewis and Clark were at Spring Creek in present-day Cass County, Nebraska. John Colter, Sacagawea, Chabonneau and "Little" Baptiste had already left the expedition by now. The others were happily headed downriver to celebrate at La Charrette Village.

Join in the celebrations... greet these two wonderous expeditions at La Charrette next summer to celebrate 200 years of adventures. September 20th is the 2006 date for celebrations at nearby Marthasville. Mark your calendar now... the details soon will be announced.

The Seven La Charrette Families

2005-07-15T17:02:00.000-07:00

When President Thomas Jefferson's administration acquired the the Louisiana Purchase for an astounding $27.27 million in 1803, they had little knowledge of its people living on America's new frontier. All that is except The President. Jefferson read all journals and other documents he could lay his hands on, even that of Jean Baptiste Trudeau who had traded with squatters and Indians for furs at Charrette Bottoms for many years. Jefferson had hoped the Corps of Discovery could train there during the winter of 1803-04. But who where these fur trapping families living at La Charrette Village?

When the Lewis and Clark disembarked La Charrette in May of 1804 the seven families residing there were mostly 'French-Canadians' who were themselves at least of half Native American or married to Native American women. By name they included Syndic, Joseph Chartran, his Osage wife and their son Joseph, Jr. They also had 5 orphans living with them. Chartran's immediate genealogy is at http://www.jenforum.net/chartran/ and at http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/surname/c/charette.html An exciting revelation about his extended heritage is recorded at http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-29,GGLD:en&q=http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/3914/&spell=1 to include several prominent Indian Chiefs, Native American women plus an aid to Christopher Columbus, all reflecting the unique multi-ethnic background of Village Charrette citizens.

Living on the next farm to the west of Chartran was widow St. Franceway whose husband Louis died a short time before since she had one child born in 1803. Further to the west in Charrette Bottoms resided Jean Baptiste Luzon with his wife, one child and 4 or 5 orphans. They were married in Montreal, Canada in 1773. Genealogical assistance for these French-Canadian families appears at http://www3.sympatico.ca/fcgss/

Jack Amos, of whom little is revealed, lived on the other side of Chartran next to Charles Tayon, Jr., son of Don Carlos and Cecilie Deschamps Tayon, who lived on the next farm to the east. Brother Louis lived nearby. Both their farms were owned by their father. Portions of their heritage is revealed at
http://www.familyhistory.com/surnames.asp?surname=Tayon&d=Tayon%20genealogy

All the village farms were large but their homes were all clustered on the riverbank at the mouth of Charrette Creek. Futher to the east of Tayon was Jean Marie Cardinal and his Native American wife Isabel Antayat-Peltier. Later they had 5 children. Uncle Paul lived with them when Tuque Creek still ran by their farm. Both Paul and Jean Marie were at least of half Native American heritage. This 'French-Canadian' fur trading family had lived on the frontier of North America since 1619 just like those presented at http://www.quintinpublications.com/fcw.html
Jean Marie soon sold his farm to William T. Lamme. By 1806 Lamme and his wife Frances Callaway, granddaughter of Daniel Boone, also purchased the ajacent village farm from Joseph Arnow. The Lamme's had 10 children. A great place to start studying these families is at the title link in the home county of La Charrette Village.

Does anyone have a clue or contact regarding those 9 village orphans? It's a shame to allow them to remain nameless. Please leave a message if you can share something. One of the great joys of studying this village history has been my opportunity to 'connect' with living descendants of almost all of these vibrant frontier families. You too may have connections to this village of exceptional ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversities endlessly repeated across America.

Following these original seven families came members of Daniel and Rebecca Boone's family who are addressed elsewhere within these blogs. They were largely of English extraction and owned the village farms until about 1850. To obtain birth, marriage and death certificates on their ancestors in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland contact James Frank at http://www.bmd-certificates.co.uk

From the 1850s forward those of German heritage predominated as owners of these old La Charrette Village farms, to include my ancestors. The story of their early La Charrette lives is presented at http://www.rootsweb.com/~mowarren/schake/intro.html Of course the Native Americans were the first land stewards at Charrette Creek. They too are presented as a seperate portion of these blogs.

Pike's Rendezvous at La Charrette

2005-07-11T16:49:00.000-07:00

Zebulon Pike led an expedition arriving at La Charrette Village July 21, 1806, just as Lewis and Clark began anticipating their arrival from the west. Pike's first order of business before proceeding toward the southwest was to safely return 51 Native Americans to their lodges further upriver. Previously, most of these Indians had been held ransom by the Pottawatomis. Some of their family members had been killed and those at La Charrette were not only mourning but sick with an unknown infection. The remaining Indians had just returned from Washington, D. C. as guest of President Jefferson's. These Indian Chiefs had also been exposed to disease and death as six of their original party had died on their trip to see the President. Each morning at sunrise they would collectively greive and mourn their losses.

Osage Chief White Hair (Pah-hu-Skah), shown above, was among them. His crayon rendered likeness was sketched while in Washington, D.C. as explained in J. J. Mathew's book, The Osages: Children of the Middle Waters (Norman, 1961).

An overview of events at http://www.kancoll.org/books/cutler/deschist/earlyexp-p4.html sets the scene for Pike's westward explorations. While at La Charrette for three days Pike sketches what has become the only surviving visual representation of La Charrette Village, the four little stylistic houses shown below on the north bank of the Missouri River. During his two-night stay at "Village De Choreete" Pike resides in the cabin of Syndic Joseph Chartran. The reason he spent three days was related to heavy rains soaking the expedition's gear which needed to dry, to acquire "...the Circumferenter and Bark left by Dr. Robinson" and to conduct other business. Additionally, some of Pike's men were ill and fearful of the warring Pottawatomis in the region.

Sometime during his stay at La Charrette General Pike records another milestone. Jose Tebeau, Jean Marie Cardinal, Jr. and his brother Paul told Pike how to get to Santa Fe. What these La Charrette citizens described was recorded by Pike. It was a small map showing the best places to cross the rivers along the route...the first map of what later would become known as the Santa Fe Trail! The map as shown here http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/lewisandclark/images/ree0103.jpg
includes the name of Tebeau and the Cardinals. Later it helps get Pike detained and led into Mexico by the Spanish military as related in his journals at http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/pikejour.htm. It is thought that the Cardinals and Tebeau had crossed the trail sometime around 1795 as they and their families represented the first squatters at Charrette Creek arriving around 1763. The Cardinals and Tebeau all had Native American mothers and wives whose families could easily have helped them learn the route before sharing it with Pike.

Help celebrate these historical events by participating in the National Bicentennial Celebrations of Pike's adventuresome accomplishments as presesnted at http://skyways.lib.ks.us/orgs/p2c/

Grandma's House

2005-07-11T08:39:00.000-07:00

Maria Lavina Ahmann was the eldest of thirteen children born in Charrette Township like all of my immediate ancestors. Their ancestors were all either from Lippe or Westphalia, Germany and arrived at Charrette Landing between 1833 and 1860. When eighteen she married Karl Heinrich Rocklage in 1887. By then the Ahmanns and Rocklages owned the western farms once part of La Charrette Village. Karl and Mary lived in Charrette Bottoms in the same cabin that Daniel Boone favored the last years of his life when visiting his daughter and son-in-law, Jamimia and Flanders Callaway. Previously, Syndic Joseph Chartran owned this property but it is not known with certainty whether or not Mary and Karl's cabin was the same one Chartran lived in. Regardless, their first two babies were born there, Amanda Elise in 1888 and Ida Marie in 1890. The title link of Margy Miles provides a virtual tour about the unusually picturesque environs of Charrette Creek were they lived.

As this young family anticipated better times, they moved further up the Missouri River to Ray County and bought cheaper farmland. They lived in the now extinct community of Sunshine. But 'sunshine' was soon diminished for Mary as on August 22, 1902 Karl had died, probably the victum of Typhoid Fever acquired from the impure drinking water. Mary then returns to Marthasville to her parents by a combination of horse drawn wagons and train. She was now a young widow with Amanda, Ida, Carl, Martha, Anna, Flora and Clara at her side. Otto and Elsie Ahmann, her parents, 'adopted' the family. Mary was totally dependant upon her parents for support except for her earnings from sewing for others and help from the community and the children. For about one-year they lived together in their home on the Missouri River Bluff immediately west of the Marthasville viaduct crossing the Katy Railroad. Otto then builds Mary a little house just east of his in Marthasville. Being a frugal German, he and family members dismantled an old home on one of his Charrette Bottom farms to aid in the construction of my Grandma's House. Which cabin of La Charrette Village or other structure was involved has never been resolved but Mary's lifelong connection to that nitch of history is indeed rich. Grandma died on November 15, 1955, the only grandparent I ever knew. Her grandsons served as pallbearers to include myself and Carl Rocklage shown in a rear-side view admiring our restored Grandma's Home.

Memories of the richest variety... going to Grandma's House.

Today, Linda Sutterer, a stained glass artist, has expanded the home to accomodate her studio. She offers handmade ornaments, fused glass and related art work while instructing students there.

Visiting La Charrette Today

2005-07-10T15:10:00.000-07:00

La Charrette Village faded from existance around 1830 but we may still return and experience its fasinating frontier adventures at historic Marthasville, Missouri, a rural village of about 800 souls, and still growing. Marthasville was established within a mile of and only 16 years after La Charrette was founded. Marthasville welcomes visitors at http://marthasvillemo.com/lewisandclark.html providing many opprtunities to their guests. Notice the bousillage (vertical log) construction project (above) to create a La Charrette village cabin to support Lewis and Clark, Zebulon Pike, and related celebrations with a bit of living history. Marthasville Chamber of Commerce Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Committe members Ralph Bakameyer and Clyde Sprick are show in Marthasville Park where the cabin may be seen today (Photo from the Marthasville Record.) Constructing the unusual cabin proved to be a challenge, but their results are impressive.

I suggest hiking or biking across old La Charrette farms on the Katy Trail at http://www.bikekatytrail.com/site.asp?sid=58 or visiting Daniel Boone's Monument http://www.mpcps.org/boone/cems/boone/bryan.shtml Be certain to spend the night at local bed and breakfast inns like Rita and Jerry Hoelscher's Little House at http://www.bbim.org/littlehouse.html or The Inn at Cinagro Farms at http://www.bbim.org/Cinagro.html and while in Dutzow enjoy a glass or two of La Charrette wine at Blumenhof Vineyards. And that's just a sample of what's available!

Conflict at La Charrette - War of 1812

2005-07-09T14:46:00.000-07:00

The War of 1812 was still raging at frontier La Charrette in 1815. The Ramsey family at the title link was perhaps the hardest hit of any at La Charrette (Scroll almost two-thirds down the page). By now Callaway's Fort had been established at La Charrette where Daniel Boone, now 80 years old, maintained a steady vigilance as other responded to the sounding of trumpets as a call for help. Daniel and Rebecca's son Nathan arrived just in time to console a confused and dying Ramsey child, "Daddy, the Indians did scalp me".

Lieutenant James Callaway, son of Flanders and Jamima Callaway of La Charrette, and grandson of Daniel and Rebecca Boone, led an unsuccessful nearby search for stolen horses as related at http://alvyray.com/Family/Stories/DanielBoone.htm (Scroll about one-third down the page to read about the conflict that took his life). During these tense times Nancy Howell Callaway, James' wife, was staying with the Callaways at La Charrette. Boones Rangers, previously led by Callaway, occasionally mustered at Callaway's Fort with his Rangers to include America's First 'Mountain Man' John Colter. Still others of Boone's family continued to serve on the Missouri frontier as told in the book about Nathan Boone, another of Rebecca and Daniel's children at http://www.umsystem.edu/upress/fall2000/hurt.htm Boone family members remained active as community leaders for generations to include several medical doctors and a steamship captian.

John Busby, who sold his La Charrette farm to William and Frances (daughter of Flanders and Jamima Callaway) Lamme before moving upriver, may also have been another statistic of the conflict that extended all along the Missouri River. Details aside in this time of heated passions and poorly recorded events, the same account of his death is also offered for Sarshall Cooper's at http://www.rootsweb.com/~mocooper/Biographical/Johnson_PP_0100_to_0149.htm

These horrible conflicts between the settlers and Native Americans always seemed to offer more than 'warfare' as we routinely think of it. Here at La Charrette settlers and Native Americans were one and the same through their extensive inter-marrying. These circumstances must have offered terrible internal family conflicts, yet I have found none reported in the local literature. Does anyone have leads to share on this question?

Native Americans at 'Wolf Creek'

2005-07-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

A few of many artifacts found by Lowell on the farm of his birth which adjoins La Charrette Village. Here, as a boy, I searched with friends for 'arrows' at an old Native American campsite and fantasized about how lucky Indian children were...they didn't have to go to school!

Before Bourgmound and other early Europeans came up the Missouri River, Native Americans had established an advanced culture at Wolf Creek, their supposed name of the creek at La Charrette Village. Study their arrival and culture at the title link. Further details of these regional tribes is discussed at http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/siouan/missourihist.htm with their modern-day genealogies presented at http://www.umsystem.edu/shs/nativeam.html to include extensive references and other helpful resources. An excellent discussion on the lives of the French living among Native Americans on the lower Missouri is complied at the skillfull hand of author Tanis C. Thorne http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/082621083X/104-2962684-2702363?v=glance This insightful book, The Many Hands of My Relations, is highly recommended.

By the time La Charrette Village emerged on the scene, the Native Americans residing there represented vastly different tribes than a few years previous. They represented something akin to a westward progression of displaced tribes from east of the Mississippi River. Unbeknown to them, many were on their way to reservations via the Trail of Tears. Several descendants of La Charrette Village families experienced this fate. Others had been captured and sold into the slave trade "downriver".

Charles 'Indian' Phillips was one of these displaced Native Americans associated with La Charrette Village. His life was something of an infamous existance. As a close friend of both Daniel Boone and his neighbor, America's First Mountain Man John Colter, others considered him "lazy" and "filthy". Yet he was respected, almost famous, for his skills as a hunter and frontier guide. Other Native Americans at La Charrette were family members, either of local or 'displaced' origins. Several of the so-called "French Canadians" there are known to have had Native American wives and/or mothers, likely even some grandmothers were represented. The Village of La Charrette would never have existed without these and other contributions of many Native American families.

Join us at "Author's Corner" October 21-23

2005-07-08T07:56:00.000-07:00

Missouri Life magazine is hosting prominent Missouri authors at their first ever "Author's Corner" event at the Four Seasons Lodge on the Lake of the Ozarks, October 21-23, 2005. As part of the Osage River system, Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks is rich in frontier history tied to La Charrette settlers and explorers.

Lowell and sisters Dorothy and Helen will be there with copies of "La Charrette" chatting with guest about their lives at old La Charrette Village. Lowell, dressed here as a fur trapper, invites everyone to his presentations about his favorite Charrette Township village and family home. We'll be in 'Period dress' just as we were at La Charrette Village celebrations and book signings in 2003 when Lewis and Clark reenactors 'spent the night'. Make your reservations now!

Saxony and Lowell on the Beach

2005-07-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

Saxony is my 'overgrown' Great Pyrenees puppy. Always friendly and playful, this 125 pound faithful companion celebrated his sixth birthday on July 4th. He is our families third Great Pyrenees. Saxony has been a part of the intensive La Charrette reserach, writing and publishing processes from the beginning. Though not a common occurrence within the breed, Saxony has been deaf since birth. We walk for miles on our Mustang Island beach and share many new friends each and every time. Learn more about this unique breed at the title link.

While many Great Pyrenees serve as guard dogs for flocks of sheep and goats on Texas ranches, none lived at La Charrette Village. There hounds were favored for their hunting and companionship skills like those pictured with La Charrette's Daniel Boone at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus/web03/features/see_it_now/MES02750.html
The expeditions of Lewis and Clark and Zebulon Pike also relied upon assistance from faithful canine companions, mostly Labrador types well adapted to swimming.

My first puppies were Collie x Shepard mix. I have loved puppies for a long time. The picture below was taken around the time of my ninth birthday.

Where was La Charrette?

2005-07-03T14:51:00.000-07:00

Life for La Charrette Village was short (1801~1830), thus it doesn't appear on today's maps. Only namesakes Charrette Creek and Charrette Township of southern Warren County, Missouri remain as landmarks. But its river landing continued to serve the Missouri Frontier into the 20th Century, then renamed Marthasville Landing. Nearby Marthasville, initiated in 1817, was an early contemporary of La Charrette Village. The precise coordinates, topography, a site map, even the local weather conditions for this historic multiethnic village are shown at
http://www.fallingrain.com/world/US/29/Charrette_historical.html If only the early explorers passing there had been so lucky!

The 2004 article, at the title link, published in the Illinois State Historical Society journal by Hasting states that La Charrette was 45 linear miles from St. Louis when Louis and Clark had hoped to camp, train and spend the winter of 1804 there...probably at the behest of President Jefferson as he had read about Chorette's Creek in the 1795 journals of part-time fur trader Jean Baptiste Trudeau. By September 20, 1806 Corps of Discovery members were returning La Charrette Village as recorded at http://lewisandclarktrail.com/section1/mocities/St.Charles/1806history1.htm

To investigate further take a virtual field trip with Lewis and Clark reenactors to La Charrette at http://ali.apple.com/ali_sites/ali/exhibits/1001381/Week_2.html or see Missouri Ghost Town Books http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/mo/mobooks.html to acquire a copy. Alternatively, browse La Charrette on-line at
http://books.iuniverse.com/viewbooks.asp?isbn=0595275389&page=fm1 or read the romantic novel "Avenging Angel"staged at La Charrette by Rosina LaFata at http://www.wings-press.com/excerpts/Avenging%20Angel.htm

What's in a name?

2005-07-03T09:40:00.000-07:00

The name Charrette is deeply rooted in the 1794-95 Missouri River expedition of Jean Baptiste Trudeau's. The title page of his journal documents, shown above, were edited and translated from the original French and published by the American Historical Society in 1913-14, Volume 19: 299-333. This document, like hundreds upon hundreds of others was acquired via interlibrary loans, this one from the University of Southern Colorado, Pueblo, to conduct the necessary research on La Charrette Village.

Joseph Chorett drowned while swimming nearby when serving on this fur trading expedition led by Jean Baptiste Trudeau, the first schoolmaster of St. Louis. (Tudeau's St. Louis home site is enshrined to honor his contributions to education as explained at the title link). The creek that took Chorett's life soon acquired his name. Chorette's Creek later became rendered as Charrette Creek. In French, la charette designates 'the cart' like the all wooden two-wheeled ones used at La Charrette Village. The exact progression from these two words to La Charrette is lost in obscurity, yet the name lives on in addition to several local landmarks. But over the past 200-years other imaginative spellings include Charette, Cherrette, Charet, Choritte, among others.
Today a conference room, as part of the Missouri State Capital Building complex in Jefferson City, is designated as La Charrette. And see the RailCruise America Charrette Creek party car at http://www.event-solutions.com/articles/2002-08-coverstory5.html A local winery even commissioned a 'highly recommended' Missouri Semi-Sweet Light wine as La Charrette in 2003. Order a case from Mark in Dutzow at http://www.blumenhof.com, and when you visit, tell him "Howdy" for me. Today the word 'Charrette' is most prominately used to represents the architectural concept of planned community development derived from shared ideas. Like tossing one's hat into the ring, in this case ideas are tossed into a cart for planning the development of a Charrette Community. "Miserable" "poverty stricken" La Charrette villagers probably participated in a similiar exercise as all of their homes were in a little cluster close to Charrette Landing. This, inspite of their large land grants averaging about 800 acres each, and whatever planning might have preceeded the village, it failed.

"the last settlement of whites on this river..."

2005-07-02T09:06:00.000-07:00

The title of this blog is the same as an article of mine appearing in Lewis and Clark's Journey Across Missouri (Fayette, 2003). Copies are available from Missouri Life magazine for $24.95 by calling 1-800-492-2593. Before the days of political correctness, Sgt. Charles Floyd recored this entry in his journal upon departing the village. My article, the title portion shown here, explains about the French x Indian squatters there years before village founding. This booklet's Corps of Discovery articles are all well illustrated with photos by Brett Dufur.

Learn about these early multi-ethnic families and events associated with La Charrette Village. Additional muti-ethnicity is revealed with Daniel Boone and his black slaves as shared at http://www.missouri-slave-data.org/slaveinfo.html , at
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mopoc/articles/otokos.htm and other early Missouri families at http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/topic/afro-amer/upperla/, all before Upper Louisiana became part of the Louisiana Purchase, and America. Many Native American genealogy resources are offered nearby La Charrette at Linnemann Library of St. Charles at
http://www.win.org/library/services/lhgen/natamerican.html representing those living there before all the others. Many of these data bases are works in-progress. The 1876 book by Bryan and Rose on the history of The Pioneer Families of Missouri is a classic. Another source for the earliest French-Canadian, Spanish and Native American families is the census offered at
http://www.umsystem.edu/whmc/invent/2965.html for the Cardinal, Tayon, Tabeau and others living around La Charrette Village. Early Missouri fur trading, so vital to La Charrette Village life, is skillfully protrayed at http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/teacher/highered/crafts/craft4.htm

In all reality, La Charrette was not just a "... settlement of whites..."!

Before La Charrette Village, Bourgmound records its creek in 1714

2005-07-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

Who was the first European to see the creek at La Charrette Village, before the squatters and settlers arrived? Learn more about this unusual French explorer whose name is often spelled ending with a 't' at http://www.leveillee.net/roots/suzanne6.htm

Lewis & Clark on the Information Superhighway

2005-06-24T11:47:00.000-07:00

Celebrate Two National Bicentennial events at La Charrette!

It was Friday, May 25, 1804 when Captain Clark recorded "To a small french Village called La Charatt of seven homes only, This is the last settlements of whites in the bend Starbord." Here Lewis & Clark spend the night, "bought corn and butter" and acquired information about conditions upriver. By September 20, 1806, after an absence of 848 days, Corps of Discovery members sight cows on the river bank which "caused a shout to be raised for joy" as they once again approached Charrette Landing, this time from the west. Little wonder why La Charrette may now be considered the equivalent of Cape Canaveral as our nations first launch pad into the vast unknown.

"Hi, I'm Joseph Chartran, syndic here at La Charrette Village... Actually, its my ghost of past days shared across some 200 years. I settled at La Charrette before Lewis and Clark came by. I trap furs here...big money for me, great future for 'Angelique', my Osage wife, our son Joseph, Jr. and our five orphan kids. Great life it is. Better than in big cities the likes of St. Charles or St. Louis where I was before. La Charrette is wonderful place to live, hunt, trap beaver and farm with my friends. I'll help Lowell Schake, a native of Marthasville, Missouri, tell you all about the other expeditions and famous people who came by La Charrette and all of our other adventures hereabout on the North bank of the Missouri River."

Joseph's "miserable" "poverty stricken" village of only seven families share nine orphans among them. As syndic, Joseph was in charge at La Charrette. Since Joseph spoke mostly French, Osage along with some other Indian dialects but only a little English, present-day author Lowell M. Schake, a Missouri farm boy born there before becoming a retired university professor, will serve as interpreter. A living history of La Charrette Village will emerge. Lowell will also offer present-day links to other interesting sites and events related to Joseph's facinating life. Much of the information will come from the first ever book about Joseph's unique home, farther into the American west than any other, on the vast and largely unexplored new American frontier of the Louisiana Purchase. Other references and documents will also be shared with casual readers, historians of all stripes, and school children across America, all in support our national celebrations of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and that of Zebulon Pike's. Did you know that Pike's Expedition had as much or more to do with initiating western expansion than The Corps of Discovery did?

"I helped Pike start his big expedition too. He stayed two nights in my bousillage cabin with us. I can tell you more. Listen-up...I remember much more...Daniel Boone, John Colter, Charles 'Indian' Phillips,Godfrey Duden, steamboating, The Duke from Wurttenburg, the first Santa Fe Trail map, the founding of Marthasville, and ... I have lots of stories to share with you all."

Professor Walter Kamphoefner, Director of Graduate Studies, Department of History at Texas A&M University says, "One might question whether a village of seven houses rates a book, but to do so would be to underestimate both Lowell Schake and La Charrette. This was not just any village, but for nearly a half-century in the late 1700s and early 1800s, it was the last outpost of European settlement on the Missouri River, the natural highway to 2000 miles of Indian country, everyone's laststop on the way out and the first stop on the way back. Lowell Schake has done a remarkable job of digging into French, Spanish, and territorial records to reconstruct the multi-racial, multi-lingual, and multi-ethnic society of his home town, the intriguing frontier village of La Charrette.”

LA CHARRETTE: VILLAGE GATEWAY TO THE AMERICAN WEST (ISBN 0-595-27538-9) iUniverse, Inc. 2003, is being reissued. This Reader's Choice, Editor's Choice and STAR Program volume has earned fabulous reviews. See its 'Five Star' on-line reviews at Barnes & Noble at http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=fq6f6Wj9Z6&isbn=0595275389&itm=3 and at Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0595275389/qid=1120695879/sr=1-10/ref=sr_1_10/104-2962684-2702363?v=glance&s=books or order from iUniverse, Inc. at http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-27538-9 for only $19.95. Kirkus Reviews of New York offered comments on this volume reissued in 2006 at http://www.kirkusdiscoveries.com/kirkusreviews/discoveries/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001350947

“Schake’s book documents the intimate life and history of a village that helped serve as a launching point into the territory…and its role in American frontier life” was how Brad Urban of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Suburban Journals framed his review. Likewise, Margy Miles, a Daniel Boone relative exhaults La Charrette as revealing new facts about her famous frontier family at http://www.mpcps.org/boone/lacharette/schake.shtml

The cast of characters living at La Charrette were colorful frontiersmen of the highest order. La Charrette was THE American frontier before the west was distorted by novels, TV and movies. The University of Texas Professor of History, W. H. Goetzmann, ranked the leading giants of western exploration in his 1966 Pulitzer Prize winning book, Exploration and Empire. His top three were “Lewis and Clark, Zebulon Pike, John Colter…” all intimately associated with La Charrette Village. It was as if all significant happenings related to westward exploration and expansion somehow involved this Village…until now lost to history.

La Charrette offers everyone a joyful adventure into American history: true, rugged, raw, unabashed and so quintessential American, then as now. Some even consider it a 'missing link' in American history. Follow along as Joseph and Lowell travel about at this crossroads of varied cultures, explorations and western expansion as our shared 'American Dream' unfolds, or browse the book that Lowell wrote, with collaborator Jerome Holtmeyer, about Joseph and his friends on-line at http://tinyurl.com/7nug5 Here is provided a search engine to Google your way throughout the book. Just enter the word or phrase you wish to locate and the page numbers with that information will appear. You will need to offer your e-mail address and establish a password to proceed.