4 April: Early in the morning, a dreary, rainy sky. It had rained all night, and therefore it was very muddy. We went out again today to hunt up all the necessary supplies, particularly spirits, tobacco, tow, and the like, and this caused us no small effort. At seven thirty, 8 1/2°R [51.1°F, 10.6°C]. I exchanged money at the bank and later walked a half mile through deep mud to a rope maker and found a large supply of fine tow, of which I bought 33 pounds for 1 dollar 98 cents.

Then I went to the office of the American Fur Company, where I found Messrs. Chouteau and McKenzie, who told me that the steamboat would probably leave [Page 1:235]

on Monday, but they could say nothing definite about it. They were currently occupied with repacking all the goods received from New Orleans. These gentlemen told me that it was better to leave my money here since I would not be able to use it in the wilds.

At twelve o’ clock, 9°R [ 52. 3°F, 11.3°C]. Gloomy, hazy weather; densely overcast sky. That afternoon, too, purchases and searches were made. The carpenter arrived, and I ordered a packing case. In the three and a half bookstores of St. Louis, I looked for works relating to the natural history of this region and for writings about the Indians but found nothing of significance and everything about a dollar more expensive than in the East. I learned that a steamboat on the Missouri had run onto a snag and had sunk. Navigation on the lower part of this river is said to be especially difficult and dangerous.

The water that we obtained in our room this afternoon was completely yellow, dirty, and cloudy. This is often the case here after rainy weather. The admixed mud is said to settle, and the water then to become rather clear. But the local water, with its limestone, is never very healthful for strangers who are not used to it. The water of the Missouri is also cloudy, though always cold and healthful; people drink it only after the admixed soil has settled.

I had letters to several distinguished residents of the city, including General Clark and Chouteau pére, and though I delivered these letters in person, which Duke Bernhard of Weimar had given to me for them, no one returned my visit. General Clark, however, was obliging in other ways; from Mr. Chouteau, on the other hand, I heard not a word after the first visit. Discourtesy and rudeness seem to be the order of the day here, something that must be attributed to their isolation far from all good society, as well as to their commercial spirit and to their exclusive striving to make money. Moreover, in view of our many urgent activities, it was pleasing to me not to be annoyed by visits.

St. Louis is, by the way, a productive, lively place that extends along the Mississippi on a rather low-lying, gently sloping bank, on the declivity of which two parallel streets extend, one of which is filled with many quite imposing houses and where the bank also is located. These major streets have sidewalks and sometimes quite nice brick buildings. That of the younger Mr. Chouteau is one of the most beautiful; it is massive and made of limestone.

Between the sidewalks the streets are poorly paved with large stones and during rainy weather are very muddy. On Main Street are located the best inns, which, however, are only mediocre, and in which one dines badly with all kinds of persons, often poorly dressed. Blacks and mulattos are the only servants here. They are numerous, and almost all of them are slaves. The upper section of the city, on top of a ridge, is not yet united with the lower part. The streets are still under construction, yet one already sees very nice individual buildings as well as several nice churches, not large, of brick with small, low steeples, [as well as] the statehouse, the college, and other [structures]. There are various kinds of factories and workshops here, especially the ironworks where, among other things, steam engines are built. There are two market halls in the city. The one in use is on a square; the other one is above on the northern edge of the city, but it is not being used.[Page 1:236]

There are a large number of French in St. Louis, also many Germans. Very many persons speak French, even a large portion of the Negroes. There are several wealthy merchants here, especially the owners of the American Fur Company, who are extending their trade in a northern and western direction up the Missouri toward the English borders and into the interior of the country. In New York they have a large number of their members, especially Mr. Astor and his son; and they have many employees who all take long journeys into the interior every year. About this, see the reports in the second [manuscript] volume of this diary. One constantly meets numerous strangers in St. Louis. Merchants from the East, North, and South come here on business, to which the excellent communication on the Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri—these three colossal great rivers flowing through a vast stretch of the country—contributes very much. Steamship navigation is flourishing here, and such ships come and go daily; many of them often are docked together here. They go either to New Orleans or to Louisville, since the Ohio rapids near the latter city prevent them from navigating farther up -

stream to Cincinnati.

Among the most remarkable features near St. Louis are the old Indian fortifications, or ramparts and mounds, which are located above the town on the bank of the river.