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rich domains of Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and of East 

 Louisiana, to the gulf of Mexico, passed under the dominion of Great 

 Britain. 



The Mississippi river thus became the natural Hmit between the French 

 and British possessions, with its navigation declared free to the two nations. 

 At this time, the French establishments were on the east side of the Missis- 

 sippi, particularly those mnde in Illinois. The small village of St. Gene- 

 vieve alone was on the right side, in which Mr. Laclede could scarcelj' find 

 a house of sufficient size to store a fourth part of his cargo. On the other 

 hand, the director general of Louisiana had received orders to deliver up 

 the territory on tlie left side of the river ; so that the British authorities 

 might be expected at any moment, presenting themselves to take possession 

 of it. In the midst of these difficulties, Mr. Laclede, greatly embarrassed 

 under the new aspect of thinsfs, found himself, however, relieved when the 

 commanding officer, Mr. Neyon de Villiers, allowed him the use of the 

 stores at Fort Chartres, until the final surrender of ihe place. Laclede 

 gladly accepted the offer, and lost no time in apportioning his squad and 

 distributing his flotilla along the rivers, so as to render them most effective 

 either for defence or for trade. 



Having accomplished that preliminary arrangement, it became necessary 

 to look out for the position of a central establishment. The lefi bank of the 

 river no longer presented any fit situation, since the whole territory of Illi- 

 nois had been passed over to the British government; the village of St. 

 Genevieve, on the right bank, being his only alternative, and this situated 

 at too great a distance from the mouth of the Missouri. Mr. Laclede, thtre- 

 fore, left Fort Chartres, on a voyage of exploration to the junction of this 

 river with the Mississippi, and was not long before he discovered that the 

 bluff upon which St. Louis now stands was the spot that would best answer 

 the purposes of the company. 



Deferring, for the present, a more particular account of the geological 

 situation of St. Louis, it may be remarked in this place that the hill upon 

 which the city is situated is composed of limestone rocks, covered by a deep 

 deposite of alluvial soil of great fertility. The limestone bluff rises to an 

 elevation of about 80 feet over the usual recession of the waters of the Mis- 

 sissippi, and is crowned by an upland, or plateau, extending to the north and 

 west, and presenting scarcely any limit to the foundation of a city entirely 

 secure from the invasions of the river. At the lime referred to, this plateau 

 presented the aspect of a beautiful prairie, but already giving the promise of 

 a renewed luxuriant vegetation, in consequence of the dispersion of the 

 larger animals of chase, and the annual fires being kept out of the country, 

 since the arrival of the whites on the Illinois side. At present, this new 

 growth is again doomed to destruction ; but the process is carried on with 

 more discernment, and for a more praiseworthy object; it is for the exten- 

 sion of the city, for the erection of manufactories, for clearing arable lands — 

 in short, for all the purposes of a progressive state of civilization. 



Still, to be more particular in the description of this location, the slope 

 of the hills on the river-side was covered by a growth of heavy timber, 

 overshadowing an almost evergreen sward, free from undergrowth, and 

 which terminated gently in a point on the very margin of the river, at a 

 place corresponding to the spot where the old market house now stands. 

 The Mississippi was very deep, but a great deal narrower than it is now, 



