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Show 278 Early Western Travels [ Vol. 26 great thoroughfare to the vast region west of the Missouri, and must always continue so to be: a railroad from St. Louis in this direction must pass through the place, as well as the national road now in progress. These circumstances, together with its eligible site for commerce; the exhaustless fertility of the neighbouring region, and the quantities of coal and iron it is believed to contain, must render St. Charles, before many years have passed away, a place of considerable mercantile and manufacturing importance. It has an extensive steam flouring- mill in constant operation; and to such an extent is the cultivation of wheat carried on in the surrounding country, for which the soil is pre- eminently suited, that in this respect alone the place must become important. About six miles south of St. Charles, upon the Booneslick road, is situated a considerable settlement, composed chiefly of gentlemen from the city of Baltimore. 171 The country is exceedingly beautiful, healthy, and fertile; the farms are under high cultivation, and the tone of society is distinguished for its refinement and intelligence. The citizens of St. Charles are many of them Catholics; and a male and female seminary under their patronage are in successful operation, to say nothing of a nunnery, beneath the shade of which such institutions invariably repose. " St. Charles College," a Protestant institute of two or three years' standing, is well supported, having i n At the time Flagg wrote, St. Charles, like many other Western towns, entertained the hope that the Cumberland Road would eventually be extended thereto, thus placing them upon the great artery of Western travel. See Woods's English Prairie, in our volume x, p. 327, note 76. Also consult T. B. Searight, The Old Pike ( Uniontown, 1804), and A. B. Hulbert " Cumberland Road," in Historic Highways of America ( Cleveland, 1904). Boone's Lick Road, commencing at St. Charles, runs westward across Dar-denne Creek to Cottleville, thence to Dalhoff post- office and Pauldingville, on the western boundary of the county. Its total length is twenty- six miles.- ED. |
