Historical interpretive essay by Ray Breun, November 1981. Original terminology, speculative historical explanations and figures are preserved as the author’s account and require independent verification before factual reuse.
It was the Spanish monarchy which sponsored the Italian seaman, Christopher Columbus, in his voyage of discovery of 1492. Less than 50 years later, in 1541, DeSoto was the first European to see the Mississippi.
A year later he was buried in it, and some contend the disease that caused his death probably brought an end to the Mississippian Mound Builders (their capital city was the Cahokia Mounds, east of St. Louis).
As we approach the 500 year anniversary of Columbus’ voyage, it is useful to reflect on the Spanish as the first to the New World.
The French and Indian War in North America was the colonial version of the Seven Years War in Europe. France lost to England but managed to give part of her colonial kingdom to Spain, thus keeping Louisiana out of the British orbit.
It was 13 November 1762 when the soon to be deposed French monarchy ceded Louisiana to Spain and by 1763, France was out of the New World.
The Spanish saw Louisiana as a buffer between their Mexican states and the growing English colonial empire along the Atlantic coast. St. Louis was founded 15 February 1764, but the Spanish did not formally take over that city as the capital of northern Louisiana until 20 May 1770. Thus for a period of six years the French had it their way, and when the Spanish Lieutenant Governor finally moved in, the city and its pattern of life was well established.
One part of St. Louis is named after the Spanish governor of Louisiana during much of the period before the Louisiana Purchase, Baron de Carondelet. Founded by Clement Delor de Treget. in 1771, the city of Carondelet was first called Delor’s Village since he had received the land in a grant from St. Ange de Bellerive.
However, when it became clear that the Spanish needed to be appeased, Delor adroitly named the city after Carondelet.
The Spanish Lieutenant Governors at St. Louis were as follows: Don Pedro Piernas, Francisco Cruzat, Fernando DeLeyba, Manuel Perez, Zenon Trudeau and Carlos Dehault DeLassus.
The French inhabitants of the area tolerated them, but leaders such as Chouteau and Laclede generally dealt directly with the governor at New Orleans.
After the city of Florissant was founded in 1787, many of the Spanish citizens moved there and St. Ferdinand Parish even today is known for its Spanish history.
After Napoleon took over the French government, he signed a treaty with Spain regaining Louisiana.
The Treaty of San Ildefonso was completed 1 October 1800. Thomas Jefferson first approached the Spanish to purchase New Orleans and West Florida in 1802, but only then found out that the French owned it once more. Naposold him New Orleans and the Louisiana Territory for 4 cents an acre in 1803- $25,000,000.00 including court costs.
This event’s centennial anniversary was the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904, most often referred to as the St. Louis World’s Fair. Part of Carondelet, running from 6900 to 7300 South Broadway and Minnesota Avenue, has been referred to as Spanish Town since 1915.
It was there that the Spanish Benevolent Society was formed in 1908. Among the younger set, this area is often called the Spanish Harlem of St. Louis. Atanasio Fernandez and Angel Garcia were among the first to settle there before 1907.
Some present day families still keep the celebration of the New Year in Spanish style, however few of those with Spanish surnames still speak the language. Like the Germans, Italians, Polish or French, the mother tongue has long since all but vanished except among the elders.
The descendants from the Spanish rulers of the eighteenth century are found mostly in Florissant.
The Spanish in Carondelet came late in the nineteenth or early twentieth centuries. Except for Manuel Lisa, no Spanish individuals are commonly known in St. Louis history.
However, they represent one very important part of the international diplomatic scene from the sixteenth to the end of the eighteenth century.
Many of the early French had dual citizenship with both the French and Spanish governments and St. Louis became a mercantile center with the opening of the Santa Fe Trail in 1821. That success was dependent upon the Spanish and Mexican officials just across the Sangre De Christ range of the Rocky Mountains south of the source of the Arkansas and Cimarron Rivers. Much of that land is now called the Sun Belt, and St. Louis was once its only source of merchandise and capital for development.
Until the great influx of the German-speaking peoples during the second third of the nineteenth century, the Spanish language was an economic necessity in this “French” city.
Originally published in The Paper, November 1981.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Archival transcription note: The source prints a $25,000,000 Louisiana Purchase figure including court costs and makes speculative claims about disease and Cahokia’s decline. These are preserved as the author’s 1981 account, not independently verified historical findings.; The printed sentence breaks after “Napo-” before “sold him”; the missing word fragment is explicitly marked in the transcription.
Original source: SD_Times1981_11.pdf, printed page(s) 6; PDF page(s) 6.
