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
History of the French in Louisville History of the French in Louisville The influence of those of French ancestry on Louisville, Kentucky, USA and the surrounding area, especially New Albany, Indiana, is immense. Louisville was even named for a French king, Louis XVI. Before Louisville a French outpost existed called La Belle. Louisville was almost completely settled by French immigrants from the Rhine. Early French immigrants came in three phases; the first group of about 15,000 settled mostly on the coastal states. The first French settlers of Louisville were second- and third-generation American-born Huguenots. The first generation arrived in North America in 1685 after the Edict