History of St. Louis (1763–1803) History of St. Louis (1763–1803) The history of St. Louis, Missouri from 1763 to 1803 was marked by the transfer of French Louisiana to Spanish control, the founding of the city of St. Louis, its slow growth and role in the American Revolution under the rule of the Spanish, the transfer of the area to American control in the Louisiana Purchase, and its steady growth and prominence since then. In mid-1763, French Governor Jean-Jacques Blaise d'Abbadie granted a trade monopoly over the west upper Mississippi region to Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent, a New Orleans merchant. Maxent quickly engaged the
French ship Intrépide (1800) squadron led by Captain Julien Cosmao of "Pluton", two days later. French ship Intrépide (1800) Intrépide was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the French navy. She was originally built at Ferrol, Spain in 1790 by José Romero y Fernández de Landa as the Spanish ship of the line "Intrepido", and later was sold to France in 1800. On 21 October 1805, "Intrépide" was one of the ships of Rear-Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley at the Battle of Trafalgar, under Captain Louis-Antoine Infernet. Dumanoir commanded the six ship vanguard of the French fleet, with "Scipion", "Duguay-Trouin", "Mont-Blanc", "Intrépide"