St. Louis: A Little History

From our trip this week: the view from the St. Louis Art Museum which stands atop “Art Hill.”
The Art Museum was built for the St Louis World’s fair: the only building intended to be preserved after the Fair closed.
The lagoon at the foot of the hill was one of many water features designed for the Fair.

Forest Park in St. Louis was originally developed as the site of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, also called the St.Louis World’s Fair, in 1904. The Fair celebrated the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase in April, 1803, a result of which St.Louis (and much more territory) became part of the United States. The Fair also commemorated the departure from St. Louis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which left St. Louis in May of 1804, and traveled up the Mississippi River for around 40 miles to reach the mouth of the Missouri River. From there, they explored westward until they reached the Pacific Ocean.

Maybe you can hum the tune of “Meet me in St. Louis, Louis, Meet me at the Fair,” a popular song from 1904 about this very famous event in St. Louis history. Visiting the Art Museum this week while I was in St. Louis has made me think about the history of St. Louis as I learned it in elementary school in a suburb of St. Louis where I was born. By the way — no one who comes from St. Louis pronounces it “Looie” the way the song does.

At the entrance to the World’s Fair stood a majestic statue of Saint Louis, for whom the early French settlers named the city when it was founded in 1764. Louis IX (1214-1270) is the only king of France that was also a saint of the Catholic Church. Louis became king at the age of 12, so his reign was long and he was fondly remembered — obviously so by the founders of St. Louis: two fur traders who were named Auguste Chouteau and Pierre Laclède.

A view of the statue “Apotheosis of St. Louis.”
(Don’t you love the little dog that was walking in the park?)

The statue “Apotheosis of St. Louis,” was designed by sculptor Charles Henry Niehaus in 1904 for the World’s Fair. Niehaus made the original of plaster along with other statues to decorate the elaborate temporary fairgrounds; it stood at the entrance to the Fair. After the Fair was over, the Exposition Committee that had been responsible for the Fair commissioned St. Louis sculptor W.R. Hodges to make a bronze cast of the statue as a permanent symbol of the city. In its current location it was dedicated in 1906. I remember seeing it there all my life! Niehaus’s interpretation of King Louis has several anachronisms, such as a sword that wouldn’t have been invented until several centuries after the life of the subject. 

The River

Any history of St. Louis must focus on the river beside which the city was built, and which was very important for commerce and trade from its start. As we left St. Louis, of course we had to cross the river, though we did so to the north of the city, not downtown where the famous Arch stands. Two years ago, we did drive past the arch, which has replaced the statue of Saint Louis as the most recognizable symbol of the city. Here’s the photo from then:

Going back to St. Louis always makes me think about what I learned in school! A few years ago, I read a book titled The Broken Heart of America: St. Louis and the Violent History of the United States by Walter Johnson (published in April, 2020). This book made me rethink what I learned in school. For example, in my review of this book — which I called “I am ashamed” — I wrote this:

“Even the famous Louisiana Purchase Exposition -- that is, the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair -- embodied the pervasive racist practices of the time in employment and other areas. The ‘anthropology’ of the fair involved bringing specimens of humanity to the fairgrounds where dark-skinned natives were kept in the largest human zoo in history. They served fair-goers as an example of the progress and civilization of the American way and of the supposed backwardness of the non-white races. I learned a lot by reading Johnson's account of this underlying reality -- and inhumanity -- of the fair.”

George Washington Carver

Life-size bronze of Carver by the late acclaimed African-American sculptor Tina Allen of California.

Here’s an example of the deficiencies of my education about famous people from the St. Louis area: I learned almost nothing about George Washington Carver, a leader in both agricultural science and in education. Carver was born in slavery near St. Louis. I learned a number of facts about him at the George Washington Carver Garden at the Missouri Botanical Gardens this week. The Carver Gardens opened in 2005.

Blog post ©2024 mae sander. Photos © 2022, 2024.

Charlottesville, Part 2

 Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello

Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson, is just a few miles from Charlottesville. You can see the buildings 
of the University of Virginia from the terrace. Jefferson was the founder of the university.
He designed Monticello as well as the university buildings, and he watched the construction of the university with his spyglass.

Our vivacious guide to the interior of the house. She did a good job of describing Jefferson’s
life and its contradictions. His statesmanship, his idea of freedom and human rights in
the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia law on religious freedom all contrast painfully
to his possession of over 600 enslaved people and his treatment of them.

Jefferson had eleven grandchildren who lived at Monticello along with his daughter, their mother.
These children played in the house — in contrast to his own enslaved children by Sally Hemings.

Jefferson’s possessions are on display, such as these boots.

As an ambassador to France, Jefferson learned to love French food and wine.

Many books are on display as Jefferson owned a large library.
He gave most of his own books to the founding of the Library of Congress.

On display in his entrance hall: artifacts from Indian tribes collected by Lewis and Clark.
As President, Jefferson arranged the Louisiana Purchase and the expedition to explore the newly purchased territories. (Artifacts are not original)

The image of Monticello is familiar to most Americans because it is reproduced on the nickel.

Photos © 2023 mae sander

October Kitchen Activities

Food of the season. Does red wine go with Oreos? Yes. Especially spooky Phantom wine and BOO Oreos. Happy Halloween!

Away from my kitchen: food exhibits that we saw while traveling.

In mid-October, we spent a week on the Lindblad-National Geographic Quest, going from Astoria, Oregon to Idaho on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. We visited several places where food or food preparation were represented. The salmon that swam in the rivers have been a key food source for centuries, first for the Native Americans who lived along the river, and more recently for fisheries and canneries. Unfortunately, the salmon runs have been in terrible decline, worse this year than ever. We also saw a variety of places visited by Lewis and Clark in 1805-1806, and a some interesting museums and historic re-creations.

The food storage and preparation area at Fort Clatsop, Oregon (reconstruction of original.)
Lewis and Clark and the people of their expedition spent the winter of 1805-1806 in this location.

Hood River, Oregon, The Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum.
Among the historic planes and jeeps, we saw this display of a portable kitchen from World War II.

Astoria, Oregon: Columbia River Maritime Museum.
Display of labels from canning of salmon and other seafood, once a major activity along the
Columbia River. The museum had many displays about the history of the fishing industry.

Salmon in a fish hatchery in Oregon.

  

Jam and syrups made from Oregon produce at a farm stand in
Mount Hood, Oregon.

In my kitchen in October.

Magnets from the trip: places in Oregon and Idaho. Also here.

A sample jar of Oregon marionberry jam.
We ate it all up.

What's been cooking in my kitchen?

Before a weekend visit from the family, my refrigerator was stuffed
with food for the family visit.

Red and green pasta, with garlic bread and feta cheese, for six people.
The green pasta had broccoli, pesto, and tubetti pasta.
The red pasta had classic home-cooked tomato and mushroom sauce.

Garnishes for a Mexican-type meal: tomatoes, salsa, sour cream,
lemon wedges, cilantro, avocado, and hot sauce.

Miriam's plate with a quesadilla, black beans, picadillo,
savory squash, and all the garnishes.

A meal for the two of us: smoked Michigan whitefish from 
the Ann Arbor Farmers Market.

Single-serving apple crumbles.

Candy for trick-or-treaters. I plan to wear a mask. Not the usual sort for Halloween.

Blog post and photos © 2021 mae sander.

Shared with In My Kitchen at http://sherryspickings.blogspot.com/

Indian Culture

My recent trip on the Lindblad/National Geographic Quest left me very curious about the Native Americans who once lived along the Columbia and Snake Rivers where we traveled, particularly about the many tribes who were encountered by Lewis and Clark during their expedition of 1804-1806. Traders, trappers, and other Europeans had already made contact with the numerous tribes of the region; Lewis and Clark also were responsible for trying to explain to the Indians that they were now part of the United States, to which they were encouraged to become loyal. The expedition also had a mandate to learn about Indian culture, as well as to explore and map the newly acquired Louisiana Territory from St. Louis to the Pacific coast in Oregon. Lewis and Clark in fact did all these things.

“Because Lewis could handle clothing and observe it with his keen naturalist’s eye, he filled his journal with words about moccasins, leggings, shirts, robes, and ornaments. Every piece of clothing, and often its method of construction, was described with his typical attention to detail. But no article in the Shoshoni wardrobe so captivated the explorer as the ermine tippet given to him by Cameahwait. Lewis described it as ‘the most eligant peice of Indian dress I ever saw.’”

Thus wrote James P. Ronda in Lewis & Clark among the Indians. Yesterday, I wrote about some of the food observations in this book, and now I would like to introduce some of the other examples of material culture that the author describes. First, some examples of ermine head coverings.

Our speaker, JR Spenser from the Nez Perce tribe, wore a traditional headdress
and beaded vest for his excellent talk to the guests onboard the Quest.

In the museum at the Nez Perce reservation, we saw a
similar hat.

Onboard the Sea Bird two years ago we enjoyed several lectures by the Cultural Specialist Owen B Walker. 
For his lecture on the First Nations and their fishing methods, he wore a traditional hat including ermine fur.
Lewis and Clark and the other members of the expedition were very enthusiastic about these woven hats,
made by the Puget Sound tribes and also made by the native people further south where we were.

More images from the museum in The Nez Perce National Historic Park near Lewiston, Idaho.

Beaded cradle board.

Not far from the museum: the site of an amusing legend about the trickster coyote and two other beasts:
an ant and a yellow-jacket, who fought at the site of the arch in the photo, and ended up turned to stone.

A mural in The Dalles, Oregon, a location important to the tribes visited by Lewis and Clark.

Who was Sacagawea?

Very little about Sacagawea was said in Ronda’s book. In a note at the end, he explains that while this very famous woman contributed to the success of the expedition, her role has been mythologized and greatly exaggerated. The story is irresistible: of how she was kidnapped from her tribe and became the property and wife of Charbonneau, a French trapper and interpreter, and how she then accompanied Lewis and Clark while her infant son Jean Baptiste rode on her back. Several fictionalized versions of her life also stated that she lived a very long time, while she actually died at about the age of 25, not long after the expedition. Ronda writes:

“Perhaps the most persistent Lewis and Clark myth is that Sacagawea ‘guided’ the party to the Pacific. In countless statues, poems, paintings, and books she is depicted as a westward-pointing pathfinder providing invaluable direction for bewildered explorers. In the interest of correction, there has been a tendency to underestimate Sacagawea’s genuine achievements as a member of the Corps of Discovery. Not as important as George Drouillard or John Ordway, the young woman did make significant contributions to the expedition’s success.”

One of many statues of Sacagawea.

Another statue, at Fort Clatsop historic park on
the site where Lewis and Clark spent the last winter of their expedition.

Beautiful Places

Blog post and photos © 2019, 2021 mae sander.