Historian J. Frederick Fausz offers a fresh interpretation of St. Louis from 1764 to 1804, explaining how Pierre Laclede, the early Chouteaus, Saint Ange de Bellerive and the Osage Indians established a "gateway" to an enlightened, alternative frontier of peace and prosperity before Lewis and Clark were even born. Readers will appreciate the well-researched perspectives in this engaging story about a novel French West long ignored in American history.
