From page coded as 4C 34.1 more is revealed on “Indian” Phillips, trusted friend of Daniel Boone and acquaintence of Anthony Palmer the Hatter.

“Indian Phillips (ilegible word, perhaps ‘purchased’) well, he was a tall spare made man; think he was a French man who had an Osage Squaw for a wife and lived in Charette village, that was a French and Indian village of some 10 or 12 families, don’t recolect any of their given names, there was Busby - Sharterow [Chartran], Lozie and they had Spanish grants acording to their families; they all sold out to Flanders Callaway or the Lammes, the son-in-law of Callaway, and Flanders Callaway was the father of Sgt. James Callaway. The village was at the mouth of Charette Creek in the Mo. Bottom. Phillips and all the rest went up the Mo. River - that was the last I known of them. Phillips once made an arrangement with my sister-in-law to go hunting by moonlight….???…sister told him “no” ” as the story was related to Draper. 

“Pierre Pallardie is probably the oldest nativeborn citizen of St. Charles county. He was born in 1800, and has lived continuously in the city and county ever since… In his boyhood days that locality (St. Charles County, eventual home to La Charrette Village) abounded in deer, wild turkeys, and other game, and a man could kill all he wanted, and more too, without exhausting the supply. After he began housekeeping he frequently had as many as two hundred smoked venison hams ahead of his immediate wants, and often fed them to hogs in order to get them out of the way. The howl of the wolf broke the stillness of the woods at night, and sheep-raising was a precarious business. They also had black-tailed elk and a few bear. Their plows in those day were made entirely of wood, and the only vehicle which approximated a wagon was the French charrette, a two-wheeled concern, with no tires on the wheels…”

This passage comes from page 181 of the 1876 book of Bryan and Rose, A History of the Pioneer Families of Missouri. called to my attention by Cathie Schoppenhorst of Marthasville, Missouri. On page 16 of La Charrette: A History of the Village Gateway to the American Frontier, I explain how the name origin of La Charrette Vilage likely came about involving both the two wheel French cart, described above, and Joseph Chorette. This highly descriptive passage not only characterized the Missouri frontier, but also illustrated how scattered fragments of La Charrette Village history were flung about over a wide range of literature. 

As early as Pierre Pallardie was born on this exciting frontier, it was still known as the District of St. Charles in 1800, not St. Charles County.

Anthony Palmer taught school at La Charrette. This first school on the Missouri Frontier of the Louisiana Purchase opened its doors in early 1807 when he was engaged as a ’subscription’ teacher. What follows gives more details from page 70 of the Draper files about another of those who would have known Charles ‘Indian’ Phillips… probably hunted together. The passage proceeds:

“He was a Virginian, of rather genteel appearence, a hatter by trade,was employed by Col. Boone, who had a shop for him, & for several years made up his furs into hats, & part of the time taught school, at Femme Osage, & also at Charette. Was there many years; from Mrs. Craig’s early recollection till she was nearly grown. Don’t know what became of him. He used somestimes to go out with Col. Boone on some of his short hunts. Discovering some slight dereliction in him, Boone chided him in this way: “Anthony, I said that I would kill the first honest hatter I ever came across; but you need not be afraid - you are not the man.” ”

By the way…the student teacher ratio at La Charrette school was 15 to 1!  Palmer also seved under Captain James Callaway, grandson of Boone and son of Flanders Callaway, as a ranger during War of 1812, later as sheriff of the St. Charles County. He married Hester Ayers, daughter of Ebenezer Ayers. 

Lee Kirk of OZARKs  Magazine has offered these words of praise for La Charrette.

After Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set out to explore the West, St. Charles wasn’t the last European settlement that they saw. A few miles up the Missouri River, they stopped off at La Charrette, a small village of French mountain men, Indians, Creoles, African-American slaves, and tough American pioneers, including the Boone family. 

Lowell Schake, who grew up in Charrette Township in Warren County, Missouri, spent years researching the long-gone settlement he had heard about in his childhood. The result is a fascinating story of a short-lived community that played an important role, however briefly, in America’s surge westward. Along with the story of the village, Schake’s text digresses to explain cultural and social habits of the people and the times, further enriching the volume for the reader. 

Equally as interesting as the story of La Charrette village is the story of Schake’s meticulous research. A retired university professor of animal science who has published hundreds of technical papers, he is careful to explain every step of the way where he gathered his data and why his research led him to the conclusions he drew. There is further information in extensive footnotes.

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