Opening the Ozarks: A Historical Geography of Missouri's Ste. Genevieve District, 1760-1830

Opening the Ozarks: A Historical Geography of Missouri's Ste. Genevieve District, 1760-1830
ISBN-10
0826263062
ISBN-13
9780826263063
Category
History
Pages
551
Language
English
Published
2002
Publisher
University of Missouri Press
Author
Walter A. Schroeder

Description

As the oldest European settlement in Missouri, Ste. Genevieve was the funnel through which the eastern Ozarks (the 5,000 square miles beyond Ste. Genevieve's location on the Mississippi) was established. A magisterial account of the settlement of this area from 1760 through 1830, Opening the Ozarks focuses on the acquisition and occupation of land, the transformation of the environment, the creation of cohesive settlements, and the building of neighborhoods and eventually organized counties. The study begins with the French Creole settlement at Old Ste. Genevieve in the middle of the eighteenth century. It describes the movement of the French into the Ozark hills during the rest of that century and continues with that of the American immigrants into Upper Louisiana after 1796, ending with the Americanization of the district after the Louisiana Purchase. Walter Schroeder examines the cultural transition from a French society, operating under a Spanish administration, to an American society in which French, Indians, and Africans formed minorities.

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