Filmed on Saturday, July 6 2024, I drive around St. Charles, MO to see what's going on.

The first church, built in 1791, was Catholic and dedicated to the Italian saint Charles Borromeo, under the Spanish version of his name, San Carlos Borromeo. The town became known as San Carlos del Misuri (St. Charles of the Missouri). The name of the town, San Carlos, was anglicized to St. Charles.

St. Charles was settled primarily by Frenchspeaking colonists from Canada in its early days. In 1804 the Lewis and Clark Expedition considered this settlement the last "civilized" stop before they headed upriver to explore the western territory that the United States acquired from France in the Louisiana Purchase.

William Clark arrived in St. Charles on May 16, 1804. With him were 40 men and three boats; they made final preparations for their major crosscountry expedition, as they waited for Meriwether Lewis to arrive from St. Louis. Lewis arrived via St. Charles Rock Road on May 20. The expedition launched the next day in a keel boat at 3:30 pm. St. Charles was the last established EuropeanAmerican town that the expedition visited for more than two and a half years.

#drivingtour #missouri #stlouis