THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE IN ST. LOUIS.* 
Mary J. Kiem. 
The history of science in St. Louis extends back nearly 
to the time of its founding as one of the first settlements 
of Upper Louisiana one hundred and fifty years ago. 
The Jesuit missionaries, the great pioneers of the north 
and west, were the first white persons to visit the Mis- 
sissippi Valley and the adjoining country, Father Mar- 
quette, the intrepid explorer, having been the first to 
pass the lonely forest that covered the site of the future 
city of St. Louis in the year 1675. 
Fortunately the early missionaries were men of learn- 
ing and observation. While they acquitted themselves 
faithfully of the duties of their calling, they recorded 
carefully the progress of events around them. The 
course of the Mississippi and the nature of the country 
were known to them and to the traders, who jointly 
with the missionaries carried on the discovery and ex- 
ploration of the west. By the expeditions of Marquette, 
Jolliet, La Salle, Hennepin, and others, the Mississippi 
had been discovered and explored, opening to France 
the richest and most fertile territory of the new world. 
André Michaux,? a distinguished French botanist, 
* Read before The Academy of Science of St. Louis, May 18, 1914. 
1 Hooker, W. J. On the botany of America. Amer. Jour. Sci. and 
Arts. I. 9: 266-269. 1825. 
Gray, Asa. Notes of a botanical excursion to the mountains of 
North Carolina. Amer. Jour. Sci. and Arts. I. 42: 2-9. 1842. 
Sargent, C. S. Portions of the journal of André Michaux, botanist, 
written during his travels in the United States and Canada, 1785 to 
1796. With an introduction and explanatory notes. Proc. Amer. 
Soc. 26: 1-145. 1889. 
Thwaites, R. G. André Michaux’s travels into Kentucky, 1793-96. 
Early Western Travels 1748-1846. 3. 1904. 
Spaulding, Perley. A biographical history of botany at St. Louis, 
Missouri. Pop. Sci. Month. 1908: 488-491. 
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