Spanish try to rule a town tempted by 'the world, the flesh and the devil': Revisiting St. Louis' history

By Tim O’Neil
May 18, 2026
1 hr ago
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French frolic — Residents of French heritage frolic in the Illinois country across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. Because of the cultural similarities, the drawing often is used to depict life in colonial St. Louis. The king of Spain controlled the vast Louisiana country for all but a few months of those 40 years, but the trading village remained largely French by language and culture. Image courtesy Missouri History Museum
**Missouri History Museum**

By Tim O’Neil

ST. LOUIS • The first and last local commanders under Spanish rule were French by heritage. The first permanent Catholic priest was German.

Two kings of Spain named Charles ruled St. Louis for nearly all of its 40 years as a Spanish colony, but their legacy can be easy to miss. Most townfolk remained French by blood and inclination. Spanish commanders, often frustrated by the carefree ways of the residents, generally had the sense to rule with a light touch.

Mainly, that was of necessity. For years, the local garrison consisted of two or three dozen soldiers. Historians say Spanish rule succeeded by being ineffective.

France gave the Louisiana territory, including what would become St. Louis, to Spain in a secret treaty signed in 1762. That news didn’t reach New Orleans until September 1764, seven months after Pierre Laclede founded St. Louis as a fur-trading post.

The first de facto Spanish official here was Capt. Louis St. Ange de Bellerive, a French-Canadian soldier who moved across the Mississippi River after the British claimed the Illinois country in 1765. St. Ange dutifully sent dispatches to the Spanish governor in New Orleans, but he and Laclede ran the village as they wished.

St. Ange lived in the limestone house Laclede shared with Madame Marie Chouteau, the town’s founding mother. Also there was St. Ange’s Indian mistress.

The first temporary Spanish commander didn’t show up until September 1767. His replacement, Don Pedro Piernas, grumbled that “everyone does as he pleases” in St. Louis.

A string of successors shared that view. Don Fernando de Leyba, who led the city’s defense against British attack in 1780, reported to New Orleans that St. Louisans were too easily tempted by “the world, the flesh and the devil.”

First church in St. Louis — A depiction of the original log church in St. Louis, built in 1770 where the Old Cathedral stands today.
Post-Dispatch archives

The Spanish promoted religiosity and built the town’s first log church in 1770. They appointed the Rev. Bernard de Limpach, a German, its first full-time pastor six years later. Even then, the fun-loving locals raced horses after Mass on Sundays.

Spain regarded the Louisiana colony largely as a bulwark against the British and Americans. St. Louisans didn’t much care who was king, but the Spanish sometimes worried about their loyalty.

In 1796, locals founded a chapter of the “Sans Culottes,” inspired by the radical commoners of the French Revolution. Its gatherings tended toward dances and banquets. But in New Orleans, Spanish governor Baron de Carondelet heard of the frolic and dispatched Irish-born Capt. Don Carlos Howard upriver with 110 soldiers on five large boats.

Howard found no zeal for insurrection. The locals regarded his arrival as a grand event.

Charles Dehault Delassus, a Frenchman by birth and the last Spanish commander here, was present when the Americans took over on March 9, 1804. The French, who had secretly taken back Louisiana and sold it to the United States, were represented that day by an American.

Skeptical of the transfer, Delassus wrote, “The devil may take all.”

Mayor Cervantes tries to promote Spanish legacy

The Spanish left a light imprint upon St. Louis. Two centuries later, a flamboyant mayor tried to change that. Luck wasn't with him.

Alfonso J. Cervantes, mayor from 1965 to 1973, was proud of his Spanish heritage. In his first term, he managed to bag two trophies from the New York World's Fair — the Spanish government's building and an 80-foot replica of the Santa Maria, the ship that Christopher Columbus sailed in 1492.

The Santa Maria began business on the riverfront on April 25, 1969. One month later, the Spanish Pavilion opened with a parade.

As tourist draws, they flopped. The stylish Pavilion, regarded as one of the best attractions at the New York fair, eventually survived as a hotel lobby and banquet hall. It now is part of the Hilton at the Ballpark.

But on June 28, 1969, a violent thunderstorm tore the Santa Maria and the Becky Thatcher restaurant boat from their moorings. The Santa Maria struck a dock and quickly sank.

The crippled sailing ship was sold for $1, patched and returned briefly to the levee. Sold in 1973 to a Florida promoter, it burned near Cape Canaveral one year later. Said Cervantes, "That is just an ill-fated ship."

3 places with Spanish traces

Spanish rule put some names on our map:

St. Charles: Founded shortly after St. Louis by fur-trader Louis Blanchette, namesake of the Interstate 70 bridges over the Missouri River. In 1791, the Spanish called its first church San Carlos, which doubled as the community name. (At the time, King Carlos III reigned in Madrid.) The name became St. Charles after the Americans took over in 1804.

Florissant: Settled by farmers of French heritage around 1770, the Spanish named the area and first parish San Fernando (St. Ferdinand). Locals called the area Fleurissant, meaning "flowering" or "blooming." The church remains St. Ferdinand, but the town was renamed Florissant in 1939. St. Ferdinand Township, a political district, is in far northeast St. Louis County.

Carondelet: Settled eight miles downriver shortly after St. Louis, it was DeLore's Village and Louisburg before being renamed in 1796 for Baron de Carondelet, the Spanish governor in New Orleans (who never visited). It also was known as Vide Poche, or "empty pockets." Among the explanations were the residents' poverty and their skill at cards. St. Louis annexed it in 1870.

Editor's note: As the nation celebrates 250 years of existence, we look back to the 250th anniversary of the founding of St. Louis. This series was originally published in 2014.