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 people in Hungary of land became unproductive because it was not cultivated. Count Claude Florimond de Mercy field marshal trusted of reviving this region. He founded new villages and invited settlers from different Christian territories (e.g. Germany, Italy, France, Spain etc.). Most of the settlers were Banat Swabians. The first known French settled in the region was a postman named "Miklós Noël" in Lugos in 1724. The first wave of French immigrants came from Lorraine and settled in Neu-Beschenowa in the summer of 1748. At that time the danger of an Ottoman attack was possible, so Maria Theresa order them to complete a