Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/188

 128 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI told of the feats of strength performed by them. They gloried in their strength. They were usually content in their hrawls and quarrels with the weapons with which nature had provided them, and whatever dis- turbances took place among them, were usu- ally settled by an appeal to personal prowess. The American settlers were usually law- abiding people. They had something of a dread of the Spanish criminal law. There were stories told concerning the horrible suf- ferings endured by prisoners in Spanish dungeons and in Spanish mines where crimi- nals were frequently sent. This account of Spanish authority had, perhaps, its whole- some effect in keeping the population quiet; but the thing that more than anything else operated to produce quiet and orderly set- tlements among the Americans was the law- abiding and independent character of the people themselves. Experience had shown them that people could not expect to be free unless they exercised the virtues of self con- trol. Accordingly, we find the communities of American settlers were very largely self governing. They settled their disputes among themselves, where that was possible, without any appeal to the Spanish authorities or to Spanish law. Strange as it may seem, nearly all of the American settlers were well affected toward the authority of the Spanish government, and it does not appear that they greeted the change from the authority of Spain to that of the United States with any great rejoic- ing. Spain had dealt liberally with them in respect to grants of land, and, so far as those of the settlers who were engaged in agricul- ture were concerned, the Spanish regulations did not hamper them very greatly. Opposi- tion to Spain's control of the Mississippi did not come in any very large measure from west of the river. The opposition which made Spain's continued control of the river im- possible arose in the states bordering along the river to the east. We find even expres- sions of dissatisfaction when the flag of Spain was replaced by that of the United States. Beside the French and American settlers, of whom we have spoken, there were a few settlements of Germans in Upper Louisiana. We have mentioned some of them, especially those who came to the district of Cape Gir- ardeau. Major Bollinger and the company of men who with him settled on Whitewater were among the earliest of these German set- tlers. They, too, were hardy and industrious people. They were distinguished for their thrift, for their ability to wring a living from the soil, and to accumulate property. It is rather curious that in all the years from 1762 to 1802, while Spain was in con- trol of the Louisiana territory, there were very few Spanish people who came to the ter- ritory. It seems that the Spanish would have seized the opportunity to settle Louisiana while it was owned and controlled by Spain ; such, however, was not the case. There are to be found the names of only two or three families in all of Upper Louisiana who seem to have been of Spanish origin. There were a Jiumber of reasons why the Spanish did not settle here. The chief of these was the idea that the Spanish held that the new world was not a place so much for settlement and coloni- zation as it was a place for searching for the precious metals. Long before the acquisition of the territory by Spain, it had become ap- parent that Upper Louisiana, wliile rich in lead, contained very little 6f tlie precious metals. It was for this reason principally