founding of stl

People have lived in Mayberry for millennia. The confluence of two mighty rivers was a natural meeting and trading place for the native peoples.  Centuries before the Vikings visited North America, on the eastern shore of the Mississippi was an Indian city with a population greater than London. All that remains today is a burial mound.

In the late 1600's Mayberry and its environs were in the French controlled Illinois territory.  French forts and trading posts brought the first white settlers to our area. Life was good until the end of the French and Indian war in 1763.

France lost their war with the British and with it their North American territory east of the Mississippi River.  French Illinois overnight became British and the locals could either switch sides or switch sides of the river.  What the French government failed to mention was that in 1762, to keep the Louisiana Territory (territory west of the Mississippi) out of British hands, the French king gave Louisiana to his cousin the king of Spain.  The French who moved west to avoid becoming British became Spanish.  Luckily for them, Spain's only concern was New Orleans.

On February 14, 1764 a French trader and his 13 year old step son decided to build a trading post on the west side of the Mississippi, on high ground slightly south of the confluence of the Missouri River.  He named the site in honor of the patron saint of his king, St. Louis. Tomorrow is our 250th birthday.

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