What's in a Title?

I just finished reading Shirley Christian's very interesting book, "Before Lewis and Clark". Its subtitle is "the Story of the Chouteaus, the French dynasty that ruled America's frontier". It is the story of the founding and first 75 years or so of St. Louis.

It was published in 2004 which was the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase (which brought St. Louis to the U.S.) and the start of the Lewis and Clark voyage to the northwest. Clearly, Farrar, Straus and Giroux thought they could capitalize on all of the interest in that expedition, by chosing a name for the book that would make you think that it was about the years before 1804.

Au contraire, as they used to say in French St. Louis. The subtitle is much more in keeping with the text. The Lewis and Clark expedition is discussed in the first third of the book.

Putting this mistitle aside, and not using this blog entry to retell the story of the founding of St. Louis, the following facets of the book were most interesting. First, the degree in which fur trapping was THE reason for the location of St. Louis, and the mainstay of its early economy. Second, how fur trapping worked, through bargaining with individual groups of Native Americans, and through sole trappers who roamed parts unknown. Third, the difficulties in getting the furs to market, and particularly the problems with transportation and the dangers of long distance travel. Fourth, the degree to which St. Louis really was a French city, with the senior Chouteaus, including those who lived well into the 1800s, never learning English. Fourth, the complex relationships between the trappers, the settlers and the Indians, and the problems between one Indian tribe and another, and how all of this impacted on, among other things, the economy of St. Louis. Fifth, the ease with which some of the Chouteaus got along with many of the Indians, including learning the languages. Sixth, the attitudes towards Indians of while St. Louisans, and their attitudes towards blacks and slavery. Seventh, not only the sexual alliances between Indians and whites, but the length and depths of some of these relationships. Seventh, the numbers of children born to each family, and the numbers of children who died, as well as the prevelance generally of what would today be considered very early death. Finally, how difficult travel was and how long it took to get from one place to another.

On this last point, in the early years going from St. Louis to, say, Washington, meant a boat down the Mississippi to New Orleans, and boat from New Orleans to Baltimore, and a coach from Baltimore to Washington.

Even as late as the 1850s, when I would have thought that transportation had been much improved, such a journey could prove an adventure. Although not taking as long as the route I just described, the five day trip from St. Louis to Washington went like this:

"Leaving St. Louis, he traveled up the Mississippi to Galena, then spent the night in a stage coach to arrive at Rockford the next day at 2 p.m. He got a train to Chicago, arriving safely despite the fact that the car jumped the tracks while taking a curve too fast. He took the night train to Detroit, the " the fast steamer May Flower for Buffalo......next morning we were in Buffalo and it was my [Henry A. Chouteau, age 20] intention to stop a day and go to the Falls, but as it was raining I went straight for the cars for Albany. This train goes at the rate of thirty miles an hour....."

After an overnight stop at a hotel in Albay, he took a steamer down the Hudson, getting to New York City at 5 the next afternoon..