Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/110

 50 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI Louisiana. The country possessed many at- tractions for the French and especially for the French Canadians. The climate was milder than that of Canada, the rivers were open during the most of the .year, and the forests abounded with game. Buffalo, deer, and turkeys were the most important of these. The streams were full of fish and the whole country swarmed in season with almost incredible flocks of geese, ducks, swans, and wild pigeons. It was a hunter's paradise, and to it were attracted many men because of the abundance of wild game. But there were other more solid attractions for the settlers. The district of Ste. Genevieve was exceed- ingly rich in minerals; that of New Madrid in fine soil and timber. Within Upper Louisiana the French, at-

tracted by all of these opportunities for ac- quiring wealth, planted settlements. The earliest of these were grouped about the mines. They were transient in nature. The first permanent settlement was made at Ste. Genevieve. It is not possible to fix the exact date of the first settlement of Ste. Genevieve. Our

First Brick House Built West op the Mississippi (Used as a Court House in 1785) records are not sufficient for us to determine the precise year in which it was founded. But while this is impossible we are able to carry the history of the town back to a date previous to that of any other settlement in the state, so that it is evident that here was made the first settlement of white men within the limits of Missouri. Not only is this true, but it was, in fact, the first French settle- ment west of the river and one of the first in