OCR Text |
Show 1836- 1837] Flagg's Far West 269 The history of the tower, if tower it may be styled, is briefly this. 197 During the era of Spanish rule in this region, before its cession to France half a century since, this structure was erected as a watch- tower or magazine. Subsequently it was dismantled, and partially fell to ruins, when the novel project was started to plant a windmill upon the foundation. This was done; but either the wind was too high or too low, too frequent or too rare, or neither; or there was no corn to grind, or the projector despaired of success, or some other of the fifty untoward circumstances which suggest themselves came to pass; the windmill ere long fell to pieces, and left the old ruin to the tender mercies of time and tempest, a monument of chance and change. The evening of my arrival at St Charles I strolled off at about sunset, and, ascending the bluffs, approached the old ruin. The walls of rough limestone are massively deep, and the altitude cannot now be less than twenty feet. The view from the spot is noble, and peculiarly impressive at the sunset hour. Directly at your feet lies the village, from the midst of which come up the rural sounds of evening; the gladsome laugh of children at their sports; the whistle of the home- plodding labourer; the quiet hum of gossips around the open doors; [ n ] while upon the river's brink a huge steam- mill sends forth its ceaseless " boom, boom" upon the still air. Beneath the village ripples the Missouri, with a fine sweep both above and below the town not unlike the letter S; while beyond the stream extends its heavily- timbered bottom: one cluster of trees directly *" The first settlement was made at St Charles in 1769. La Chasseur Blan-chette located the site, and established here a militaiy post. The first mill in St Charles County is said to have been built by Jonathan Bryan on a small branch emptying into Femme Osage Creek ( 1801). Francis Duquette ( 1774- 1816), a French Canadian who came to St. Charles just before the dose of the century, erected a mill on the site of the old round fort.- ED. |