The recent flooding in the metropolitan area over the Christmas break made me begin to wonder how the early French settlers of the region chose places to settle back in the early to mid-18th century. Obviously, trade routes and political questions factored into the placing of new towns in the Louisiana Territory, but were there other decisions at play as well? What about the land itself? I turned to topographical maps of the region, some dating back to the early 20th Century, in order to gain some insights into the role the earth played in the founding of the earliest French settlements. Due to the building of new levees, suburban development and reforestation, it is not always so easy to see with the human eye what lies just below our feet.
St. Louis
Perhaps the most obvious of the choices for a permanent settlement, downtown St. Louis (as well as much of the city) sits at the top of a clearly defined bluff. While the original street grid was largely eliminated by the Arch Grounds in the mid-20th Century, the gentle grade going towards the river is still evident even after the landscaping for the National Memorial. Such a location made the town safe from flooding, and while some of the lower streets of the city closest to the river were in danger of flooding, the gentle rise up the bluffs would allow for the easy evacuation of trade goods and other valuables. Just to the south, the Mill Creek Valley provided a perfect location for water-powered early industry—and that is just what happened when Chouteau’s Pond was created for a flour mill. Likewise, the then-unprotected American Bottoms (the modern Metro East) would have provided plenty of breathing room for flood waters. All in all, still an excellent place for a city.
St. Charles
The siting of Missouri’s former state capitol likewise becomes more obvious when looking at the city from a topographical standpoint. Jutting out from the hills to the west, St. Charles sits on what is basically the last tip of highlands before you hit the broad floodplains to the east, flanked by the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. The choice is obvious; the city sits perfectly to capture trade coming down those rivers and the Illinois River to the north, all without giving up safety by being situated on high ground—any further east and the city would have, and still be, in constant danger of flooding. There is an interesting side note: St. Charles does not sit all the way at the last possible point because the topography is steep and would have been difficult to settle at the time. Instead, just like in St. Louis, Louis Blanchette, the founder, chose highlands that gradually and propitiously rise up from the river, providing both an easy building site and protection from floods.
Florissant
In between those two cities, Florissant grew up as an agricultural community, and the location of the town and its common fields also becomes obvious when you subtract the the present-day suburban development. The town itself sits on high land above the Missouri River, on a broad swath of prairie, with Coldwater Creek flowing just to the northwest of the original street grid, providing at what at the time was a clean and fresh water source. To the northwest, still preserved in the modern street grid of the city, the gently sloping common fields stretched from Florissant down to the river bluffs, where the land then drops off precipitously. In other directions from the town, the land is more rugged, and less suitable for farming, so the direction of agriculture towards the river is logical. It is not surprising that the early settlers named the settlement Fleurissant, which means “flowering” in French.
Kaskaskia
There are obviously many different French settlements on the east side of the river in Illinois that could be discussed, but the story of Kaskaskia seems the most relevant. The original capital of Illinois is no more, having been washed away by the changing course of the Mississippi River in the late 19th Century. A topographical map from 1915, just a couple of decades after the river had annihilated the town, shows that even then, the modern course of the river had largely been established. As is often the case, the Mississippi now runs almost hard up against the Illinois bluffs, leaving a marshy channel where the main river once flowed. Perhaps the message is obvious; whether French or American, humans have succeeded when working with Mother Nature instead of against her.
Chris Naffziger writes about architecture at St. Louis Patina. Contact him via e-mail at [email protected].
