ST. CHARLES MISSOURI'S BLACK HISTORY OMISSIONS

There is no marker nor statue acknowledging black-Haitian, Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable in St. Charles, Missouri. DuSable founded that state's first capitol, St. Charles, after leaving Chicago, which he had earlier founded. DuSable died in St. Charles in 1818, before Missouri became a state in 1821. Similarly, St. Charles' statue of Lewis and Clark does not depict York, just a dog! York was regarded by the Indians as the leader of the expedition due to his power, prowess, and appearance; "Big Medicine" was the cognomen they assigned to him, not "servent," as Lewis usually noted him in the Journals of "Lewis & Clark."