User:PJsg1011/French people in Missouri

French people have had a presence in the U.S. state of Missouri since the 17th century, beginning with the voyage of Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet down the Mississippi River in 1673. The area was claimed for France nine years later, and in 1700 the first European settlement in what is now Missouri was established by French missionaries at the confluence of the Mississippi and the River Des Peres.

French explorers, traders, and pioneers were the first non-natives to colonize Missouri, and in the following decades they helped to solidify the influence of French culture on the state's history. The city of Saint Louis was founded in 1764, and quickly developed the largest population of ethnic French in the upper Louisiana Territory. Following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and statehood in 1821, French Americans continued to settle and thrive in Missouri; by the mid-19th century, French towns and business enterprises had been established in all parts of the state.

Today, French influence is evident in the numerous placenames of French origin retained since Missouri's colonial days; more than a dozen counties are named for French people or French words, and many cities, towns, waterways, and geographical features have French names as well.

Counties

 * Audrain County
 * Cape Girardeau County
 * Chariton County
 * Gasconade County (from gascon, which in this context means "braggart")
 * Laclede County (named for Pierre Laclede (1729–1778), founder of St. Louis, Missouri)
 * Lafayette County (named for Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette)
 * Macon County
 * Maries County (marais meaning "marsh")
 * Marion County
 * Moniteau County
 * Montgomery County
 * Oregon County (named for the Oregon Territory, which itself may have been a transliteration of French ouragon, meaning hurricane)
 * Ozark County ("Aux Arcs")
 * Platte County
 * St. Charles County
 * St. Clair County
 * St. Francois County
 * St. Louis County
 * Ste. Genevieve County

Settlements

 * Auxvasse
 * Bay de Charles
 * Bayouville
 * Belgique
 * Belle
 * Bellefontaine
 * Bevier
 * Bonne Terre (from La Bonne Terre, meaning "the good soil")
 * Bois D'Arc (French name for the Osage orange tree, meaning "bow wood")
 * Bourbon
 * Brazeau
 * Cap au Gris
 * Cape Girardeau (named for Jean Baptiste de Girardot)
 * Carondelet
 * Chamois
 * Chantilly (named for the commune in France)
 * Chouteau Springs
 * Courtois
 * Creve Coeur ("heartbreak")
 * DeBaliviere Place (neighborhood in St. Louis)
 * Des Arc ("the bend")
 * Desloge
 * Des Peres (named for the River des Peres, which drains the area)
 * Fayette
 * Femme Osage
 * Florissant (formerly Fleurissant)
 * Fourche a Renault
 * French Town
 * French Village
 * Frontenac
 * Gravois Mills
 * Labadie
 * La Belle
 * Laclede
 * La Forge
 * La Grange
 * Lake Lafayette
 * La Monte
 * LaMotte
 * Lyon
 * Lyon
 * Marais Croche ("crooked marsh")
 * Marais des Liards (French for "cottonwood marsh"; original name of Bridgeton)
 * Maupin
 * Metz (named for the city in France)
 * Mine La Motte
 * Moselle (named for the Moselle River in France)
 * Napoleon
 * Noel
 * Normandy
 * Papin
 * Paris
 * Pere Marquette Park
 * Piedmont
 * Portage des Sioux
 * Portageville
 * Prairie du Chien
 * River aux Vases (named for the River aux Vases)
 * Robidoux
 * Roubidoux
 * Rocheport
 * St. Aubert
 * St. Charles
 * St. Louis (named in honor of King Louis IX of France, later canonized as Saint Louis)
 * Ste. Genevieve (after the patron saint of Paris)
 * Terre du Lac
 * Theabeau Town
 * Versailles
 * Vichy

Geographic features

 * Bourbeuse River (bourbeuse meaning "muddy")
 * Castor River (castor meaning "beaver")
 * Courtois Creek
 * Cuivre River (cuivre meaning "copper")
 * Dardenne Prairie
 * River Des Peres ("River of the Fathers")
 * Fourche a Renault (literally "fork to Renault", referring to Philippe François Renault)
 * La Vieille Mine (alternate name of Old Mines)
 * Loutre River (loutre meaning "otter")
 * Marais des Cygnes River ("Marsh of the Swans")
 * Marais Temps Clair Nature Conservation Area (marais temps clair meaning "clear weather marsh")
 * Mine a Breton Creek
 * Moreau River
 * Petit Marais Rondeau Lake
 * Pomme de Terre Lake ("potato")
 * Pomme de Terre River
 * River aux Vases (from La Rivière Aux Vases, meaning "the muddy river")
 * Roubidoux Creek
 * St. Francois Mountains
 * Valles Mines (named for François Vallé)