A guide to exploring Kansas City's French influences and history

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Three hundred years ago, the European explorers, missionaries, soldiers and traders wandering the forests and plains in the middle of North America were either French or Spanish. They arrived in the area from Mexico, up the Mississippi River, and down from the Great Lakes.

With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, what had been nearly exclusive opportunities for the French to trade and explore, opened up to the nascent United States.

Lewis and Clark’s journey is thoroughly recorded. But decades prior, Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont — who lived his life in and out of favor with the French authorities — documented this part of the country, describing the confluence of the rivers, the majestic bluffs and the people who lived here.

He established Fort Orleans along the Missouri River in 1723. Located about 100 miles east of present-day Kansas City, it was the first European settlement in Missouri. French forces also established Fort de Cavagnial, a military fort and trading post north of Leavenworth, Kansas, in operation from 1744 to 1764.

Françios and Bérénice Chouteau are widely acknowledged as the “Father” and “Mother” of what grew into Kansas City. After scouting a few different places along the Missouri River, the Chouteau family established the first permanent European settlement in the area in 1821 on a bend of the river. It became known as Chez les Canses for the Kanza people who already lived in the area, and later, Chouteau’s Town.

A francophone community formed from the few dozen families who settled along the river bluffs and in the French Bottoms. In 1838, 14 merchants (including "West Port" founder John McCoy) bought acreage from French farmer and blacksmith Gabriel Prudhomme in what is now the River Market.

Throughout the area, the Chouteau family and others set up trading posts, though only the building at 504 Westport Road remains. Originally built by Cyprian Chouteau and partners around 1850, it was later sold to (and currently named for) Jim Bridger and remains one of Kansas City’s oldest buildings.

Before she died in 1888, Chouteau matriarch Bérénice outlived her husband and children, survived the Civil War, administered to the sick during the cholera epidemic and saw railroads replace the riverboat that had brought her to the region. Through that time, she witnessed an explosive amount of growth as the small settlement reached a population of nearly 130,000, though no longer predominantly French."...