|
|
 |
| 1700-1767 |
ON THE BANKS |
|
On October 6, 1700, a group of Kaskaskia Native Americans made camp at
the mouth of a river. They named the river La Riviere des Peres, or The River of
the Fathers, in honor of the two French priests who joined them.
|
|
French settlers and other Native Americans from just across the Mississippi
River, where Cahokia, Illinois now sits, joined the camp founders. Soon a
village came to life.
|
|
For three years the village grew. The settlers built a fort, a chapel, and
several five-family lodges.
|
|
In 1703, nearby Sioux Native Americans accused the villagers of
encroaching onto Sioux land. The village was forced to move down the
Mississippi River to what is now known as Kaskaskia, Illinois.
|
|
In 1767, three years after the founding of St. Louis, the original River des
Peres site was re-settled by French Canadians and Native Americans. The new
settlement was named Carondelet and later was incorporated into the City of St.
Louis.
|
|
|
|
|
| BEYOND THE BANKS |
|
Both of the early settlements valued the River des Peres as a worthy place to
begin a new life. Early St. Louisans visited the River des Peres settlement for
recreation and aesthetic pleasure. William Clark (of Lewis and Clark fame)
traded with various Native American tribes along the River des Peres. And, the
River des Peres watershed has been home to a United States president,
Ulysses S. Grant. |
|
Today the River des Peres is viewed very differently. Many St. Louisans don't
know the River des Peres is part of their neighborhood. How did this happen? |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| 1887-1998 |
CHANGING ITS COURSE |
|
Perhaps the first sewage the River des Peres received was from St. Louis'
Central West End chamberpots. In response to the volume of waste, the city
wrote an ordinance in 1887 "to prevent discharge of sewerage or offensive
matter of any kind into the River des Peres." If the city had funded the
ordinance, then a separate sewer system would have been built and the River des
Peres' history might have taken a different course. Instead, the government of
St. Louis began a trend that has plagued the river for more than a century: St.
Louis would support ideas to protect the River des Peres as a sewer more than
as a river.
|
|
As St. Louis grew westward, so did the expanses of pavement. With less open
ground to soak up the rains, the River swelled with runoff. The River des Peres
flooded in 1897, 1905, 1912, and 1913. The flood of 1915 killed 11 people and
forced 1025 families from their homes. Flooding - not sewage - prompted St.
Louisans to action. Mayor Henry W. Kiel called for a hydrologic study, which was
completed by W.W. Horner and presented to the St. Louis Board of Public Service
in 1916. St. Louis voters chose to implement Horner's recommendations, which
cost $11 million.
|
|
The project was called the River des Peres Sewerage and Drainage Works, and it
took nine years to complete (from 1924 to 1933). Workers re-graded and paved
the River's banks and straightened its bends. Elsewhere the River was directed
below ground to join with the sewer. The engineering innovations brought
national recognition for Horner (who was also the project engineer).
Scientific American and Engineering
News-Record featured the marvelous new River des Peres. In 1988, the
American Society of Civil Engineers recognized the project as a National
Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| TODAY |
THE DOWN(STREAM) SIDE |
 |
|
Unfortunately, channelizing and straightening the River channel has had
undesirable side effects. The River now travels much faster and the banks are
much steeper. What this means is greater erosion of the banks, which threatens
trees and structures and increases the sediment in the River. Repairing
riverbanks and structures along the River des Peres is challenging and
expensive. Many St. Louis area residents have a very negative perception of the
River des Peres, viewing it as nothing more than an open sewer. Some don't even
realize that it's a river. This unfavorable attitude toward the River allows
some to mistreat it, by dumping or allowing pollutants and debris into the
River.
|
|
There are some very important reasons to take better care of the River des
Peres. The open stretches of the River des Peres are still home to wildlife
such as fish, turtles, dragonflies, and birds. The microbes in the River
perform the valuable task of helping to purify the water. The River also
provides aesthetic value in areas like Ruth Park Woods in University City,
where it flows in a more natural state. And the River des Peres - and all the
pollutants and waste it carries - empties into the Mississippi River, which is
home to hundreds of species of aquatic life, including the federally endangered
pallid sturgeon.
|
|
|
|
|
|
