Gasconade County, MO
History
In 1682, Robert Cavelier, Sieur la Salle, arrived at the mouth of the Missouri River and claimed the region for France. Upper Louisiana was a territory administered by the French and shared by France with native Americans until it was ceded to the Spanish in 1762. Gasconade County (and the Gasconade River) were named for the Gascony region in southwestern France by French settlers who had come from that area. By 1758, writings indicate that French explorers, hunters and trappers had virtually explored every river and stream in the area.Once the French and Thomas Jefferson negotiated the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the flow of American settlers began and dominated the first half of the 19th century. These settlers came mainly from the southern states - Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Carolinas. Notes from an 1816 survey indicate a trail was blazed from Potosi to Boone’s lick by Moses Austin to facilitate the settlers moving from Kentucky to the western areas.
When Missouri was granted statehood in 1821, Gasconade was one of the original counties.
Source: Gasconade County Historical Society