St. Louis

===Mississippian culture and European exploration===
{{Main|History of St. Louis before 1762}}
{{Quote box |width=20em |align=left|bgcolor=#B0C4DE
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|fontsize=90% |quote={{flag|Kingdom of France}} 1690s–1763<br />{{flag|Kingdom of Spain|1785}}  1763–1800<br />{{flag|French First Republic}} 1800–1803<br />{{flag|United States|1804}} 1803–present
}}
The area that would become St. Louis was a center of the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] [[Mississippian culture]], which built numerous temple and residential [[Earthwork (archaeology)|earthwork]] [[Mound builder (people)|mounds]] on both sides of the Mississippi River. Their major regional center was at [[Cahokia Mounds]], active from 900 to 1500. Due to numerous major [[earthworks (engineering)|earthworks]] within St. Louis boundaries, the city was nicknamed as the "Mound City". These mounds were mostly demolished during the city's development. Historic Native American tribes in the area encountered by early Europeans included the [[Siouan]]-speaking [[Osage people]], whose territory extended west, and the [[Illiniwek]].

European exploration of the area was first recorded in 1673, when French explorers [[Louis Jolliet]] and [[Jacques Marquette]] traveled through the Mississippi River valley. Five years later, [[René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle|La Salle]] claimed the region for France as part of [[Louisiana (New France)|La Louisiane]], also known as [[Louisiana]].
[[File:Old_Chouteau_Mansion,_St._Louis._Mo_(cropped).jpg|left|thumb|The home of [[Auguste Chouteau]] in St. Louis. [[Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent]],<ref name="Cazorla et al"/> Chouteau and [[Pierre Laclède]] founded St. Louis in 1764.]]
The earliest European settlements in the [[Illinois Country]] (also known as Upper Louisiana) were built by the French during the 1690s and early 1700s at [[Cahokia, Illinois|Cahokia]], [[Kaskaskia, Illinois|Kaskaskia]], and [[Fort de Chartres]]. Migrants from the French villages on the east side of the [[Mississippi River]], such as Kaskaskia,  also founded [[Ste. Genevieve, Missouri|Ste. Genevieve]] in the 1730s.

In 1764, after France lost the [[Seven Years' War]], [[Pierre Laclède]] and his stepson [[Auguste Chouteau]] founded what was to become the city of St. Louis.<ref>Hoffhaus. (1984). ''Chez Les Canses: Three Centuries at Kawsmouth'', Kansas City: Lowell Press. {{ISBN|0-913504-91-2}}.</ref> (French lands east of the Mississippi had been ceded to [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and the lands west of the Mississippi to Spain; Catholic France and Spain were 18th-century allies. [[Louis XV of France]] and [[Charles III of Spain]] were cousins, both from the House of Bourbon.<ref>[[Pacte de Famille#The third Pacte de Famille]]</ref>{{Circular reference|date=August 2019}})  The French families built the city's economy on the [[fur trade]] with the Osage, as well as with more distant tribes along the [[Missouri River]]. The Chouteau brothers gained a monopoly from Spain on the fur trade with [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]]. French colonists used [[History of slavery in Missouri|African slaves]] as domestic servants and workers in the city.

During the negotiations for the 1763 [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]], French negotiators agreed to transfer France's colonial territories west of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers to [[New Spain]] to compensate for Spanish territorial losses during the war. These areas remained under Spanish control until 1803, when they were transferred to the [[French First Republic]]. During the [[American Revolutionary War]], St. Louis was unsuccessfully attacked by British-allied Native Americans in the 1780 [[Battle of St. Louis]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010223093542/http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/county/stlouis/attack.htm ''www.usgennet.org''.] Attack On St. Louis: May 26, 1780.</ref>