History Professor Walter Kamphoefner Director of graduate studies at Texas A&M University said, “One might question whether a village of seven houses rates a book, but to do so would be to underestimate both Lowell Schake and La Charrette. This was not just any village … Schake has done a remarkable job of digging into French, Spanish, and territorial records to reconstruct the multiracial, multilingual, and multiethnic society of his hometown, the intriguing frontier village of La Charrette.” Kamphoefner is a native of nearby New Melle, St. Charles County, Missouri.