Barq's Root Beer

Root beer is often associated with childhood, but it is very much a part of my adulthood as well. I’ve gone through phases where I tried to avoid caffeine and where I tried to avoid high fructose corn syrup. Root beer generally met both criteria. There is a wide variety of root beer brands, mainstream and craft brews, and you can even brew it yourself at home. It’s not just for kids. Lately, I tend to avoid the big brands: Mug, Dad’s, Hire’s. One exception, for me, is Coca Cola’s brand: Barq’s.

Although I was born and raised where it snows, my parents eventually moved to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. And I’m pretty sure that’s where I had my first taste of Barq’s. Like so many things, I cannot simply enjoy them – I must know their story. And if its history has something unexpected then I’m compelled to write about. Aren’t you lucky.

My expectation was that Mr. Barq started brewing root beer in his tub somewhere in the South, grew from local to regional and eventually got bought out by the big guy. All true. Well, maybe not the part about the tub, but they also had some controversy about the “other Barq’s”, and some Soviet slight-of-hand to give this story some bite.

French Quarter

Mr. Barq, Sr. is Edward Charles Edmond Barq and he was born in New Orleans in 1871. His mother moved him back to France at the age of two, when his father died. I believe he attended a university and learned the art of flavor chemistry from the masters in Paris and Bordeaux. But to avoid French military service, he returned with his brother, Gaston, and opened the Barq’s Brothers Bottling Company in the French Quarter of New Orleans (giving Louisiana claim to the original “Barq’s”). Gaston died but Edward carried on, buoyed by a popular orange flavored soda called Orangine which won the gold medal at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago.

By 1897 he had closed Barq’s Brothers, married Elodie Graugnard and moved to Biloxi, Mississippi. In the winter, he worked as a chemist on Louisiana sugar plantations, and in the summer, he would return to Biloxi to bottle artesian water and experiment with soda flavors. (Note: I was raised saying “pop”, but now I say “soda” and I don’t believe anyone should ever say “soda pop”.) In 1898, Barq opened Biloxi Artesian Bottling Works and within two years he was producing their first root beer (giving Mississippi claim to the original “Barq’s Root Beer”). Different than other root beers, Barq's had more "bite", partly from a higher level of carbonation and lower sugar content. It has less of the foamy head. I don’t know if it contained caffeine from the beginning but it probably did. Regardless, 1898 is thus considered the founding of Barq’s as we know it today.

Biloxi Blue

Early bottles were clear with blue lettering and had a diamond pattern on the shoulder. They were embossed with “Biloxi Artesian Bottling Works as well as "E. Barq, Prop." and "Biloxi, Miss." They dropped the word “Artesian” from their name and expanded with another plant in Gulfport in 1902. These bottles can be identified by the embossing of "Barq's Bottling Works, E. Barq, Gulfport, Miss."

Although he attended a university in France, Barq did not speak much English and could not write it, so what records there were, were in French. Through the years, he had partners in the family business. Mr. Court, perhaps sometime around 1900 and Mr. Hartner around 1907 – some bottles have Hartner’s name on them.

The clear glass and blue lettering is associated with Barq’s of Biloxi. I need to say that because there are were also red-lettered bottles from a different Barq’s in New Orleans. I’ll get back to that, later.

“It’s Barq’s son, just Barq’s”

Root beer is made from sassafras or sarsaparilla, usually, and first commercial credit goes to Charles Elmer Hires. He wanted to call it “root tea” but apparently opted for “root beer” to appeal to his local clientele from the Pennsylvania coal mines. When Barq’s root beer was introduced it was just called Barq’s to avoid the Hires trademark. That eventually went away and we had Barq’s Root Beer.

I’ll tell this story, but I don’t believe it. Supposedly, one of the franchisees – Richard Tuttle of Cincinnati, Ohio –added red dye to the amber-colored Barq’s Crème Soda, creating what became “red pop”. I’m from Michigan so I’ll continue to believe that Faygo Red Pop is the original red pop (I guess there is something called “Big Red” but I haven’t looked into this yet).

Now, you probably know that Barq’s root beer contains caffeine (diet Barq’s does not, by the way, and usually the fountain version of Barq’s won’t either – so they can make regular and diet from the same syrup). In 1938, the federal government banned caffeine in root beer. Barq simply changed the name of his drink to “Barq's Sr.” after the old man himself. Decades later, the government reversed its caffeine ban (1960). So they dropped “Barq's Sr.” and went back to the original name – which caused a bit of confusion. This is my favorite part of the whole story – the old man supposedly put an end to it by saying, “it’s Barq’s son, just Barq’s.” People still say this down on the Gulf Coast.

“Barq’s has Bite”

Barq’s has come up with interesting slogans and marketing ideas over the years. In the early years, soda was sold in six ounce bottles for a nickel. The story goes that his son, Edward Jr., came up with the idea of 12-ounce bottles and kept the price at a nickel – a first in the soda industry. He said it would give “a sense of satisfaction which comes with getting more of a good thing than the price seems to warrant.” Obviously, the 12-ounce bottle or can is still the most common size today – but not at a nickel anymore.

One of the earliest slogans was “Barq’s has Bite” – which I always thought referred to the caffeine. But apparently it was the higher level of carbonization. The popular slogan, “Drink Barq’s. It’s Good” appeared on restaurant boards and apparently on pencils and rulers handed out to schoolchildren – and it didn’t cause obesity back in my day. Somewhere along the way in the 1970s it picked up the banner, "Famous Olde Tyme Root Beer". But still everyone said “Barq’s is Barq’s”.

Ed Jr. died in 1970, leaving the company to his children, Ella and William. A few years later, they sold the company to John Koerner and John Oudt. They hired Rick Hill to be their VP-marketing. Despite graduating from Cornell University, with a Wharton MBA he euphemistically marketed Barq’s “like he was 200 bucks short of the rent money, and willing to gamble it all on the turn of the next card.” Never a follower, Hill endeared himself to the Baptist preachers of the Deep South by sponsoring MTV’s Head Banger’s Ball. But his craziest idea came in 1992.

Hill decided to buy an old Cadillac that was once owned by Elvis Presley, cut it up, and offer these pieces with proof of purchase. But the Presley estate insisted on over $1 million in licensing fees. The back-up plan was offering Soviet Union tchotchkes since the Cold War had just ended. He pitched the idea to Koerner, Barq’s president, “He just stared at me, and finally said, ‘Do you have anything else?’ When I told him no, he finally shrugged and said ‘Go with it.’” That year’s key summer season promo would be “The Soviet Union Going Out of Business Sale.” Crazy, perhaps, but even crazier because they didn’t have anything to give!

With an open airplane ticket, a lawyer and $70,000 in checks, Hill went to Russia where he negotiated with members of the “Soviet Mafia.” “After all,” he explained, “The country had just gone to hell, and the only people able to do any business were the criminals.” Ten days later he’d purchased “4,000 pounds of stuff, to be shipped FOB New York, for around $75-$80,000.”

“We filled a container with matryoshka dolls, Lenin Day pins, tank commander watches and military medals,” Hill reminisced, “we even had complete Soviet Army uniforms as bottler premiums. Of course we were offered MiGs and tanks, but we declined.”
Koerner became so successful with Barq’s that he was named “Executive of the Year” by Beverage Industry magazine in 1994. Hill later went on to work for Hewlett-Packard.

Battle of New Orleans

Supposedly, at some point in the early 1900s, Barq took in a local boy from a broken home and raised him like a son. His name was Jasper "Jesse" Louis Robinson. Barq’s biological son, Ed Jr, must have been about the same age and would eventually take over the company when Barq Sr. died in 1943. But what about Jesse?

As an adult, Jesse Robinson operated a Barq's production facility in New Orleans – I’m not sure if Barq initiated this or merely helped it happen. In 1934, Barq gave Robinson the right to use and even modify the Barq's formula and gave him the right to the Barq’s name to sell root beer in all of Louisiana, excluding Washington Parish, while Barq maintained the exclusive rights to operate in Mississippi. Barq’s of New Orleans became a separate company. Because of Robinson’s success, many New Orleanians think of Barq’s as their own hometown drink – thems fightin’ words! (Here I’m siding with the folks in Biloxi.) These bottles generally were green glass with red lettering.

Wikipedia says the marketing plans of Koerner and Oudt were complicated by the existence of the Louisiana-based Barq's which was owned by Robinson's heirs. The legal battle went all the way to the United States Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit which ruled in favor of the Robinson heirs. It’s surprisingly murky, but I believe the Biloxi company then purchased the New Orleans company in 1988. The headquarters was moved to New Orleans. Koerner and Oudt finally sold the New Orleans-based, former Biloxi company to Coca-Cola in 1995.

Almost Happily Ever After

In 2010, a lawsuit against Coca-Cola charged that they did not have the legal right to purchase certain portions of Barq’s that were passed down through the Robinson family. This case was dismissed. And then asked to be reviewed again, but denied. Unfortunately, one relative had some apparent mental instability and a violent reaction to the outcome. This happened a few months ago!

According to the police, the relative used his pickup truck to run over a man from the other side of the lawsuit – twice! The victim was knocked unconscious and suffered numerous broken bones, police said. Then the relative went to a local hospital and took an employee hostage at gunpoint. A negotiator persuaded him to surrender. The relative pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and was sentenced to five years' probation.

In accepting the plea, the Judge ordered him to serve two years in the court's intensive probation program, which includes a mental health evaluation, classes and random screens for illegal drug use. "I can't begin to stress, you need to undergo that evaluation and treatment," the judge said.

Yankee Perspective

Having grown up in the Midwest, it’s hard to believe most of this story. But having spent a lot of time on the Gulf Coast, I can see how people claim Barq’s as their own. It’s like family, even the weird relatives – and you’ll defend them against any outsider.

Through my research, I’ve found that there’s a book in the works. I will definitely buy it. And I’ll fix the details that I’ve got wrong. No two stories that I’ve found so far have corroborated more than a few details. So it will be nice to have something more authoritative. Meanwhile, I think I’ll get some vanilla ice cream and make myself a root beer float. Barq’s is Barq’s.


NOTES
http://www.beveragehistory.com/2007/06/history-of-barq.html
http://historyshortnotes.blogspot.com/2011/11/history-of-barqs-root-beer.html
“Digging for facts... A history of the Barq Bottling Works” Douglas Bremenkamp, http://www.bottlebooks.com/questions/September2001/digging_for_facts.htm
“Grandchildren of Barq's founder are challenging sale of root beer rights to Coca-Cola” Jaquetta White, The Times-Picayune, October 17, 2010 http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2010/10/grandchildren_of_barqs_founder.html
http://americanprofile.com/articles/edward-barq-sr-invented-barqs-root-beer/
Barq's, Since 1898 (cokegirl@sodatraderz.com) http://www.angelfire.com/tn/traderz/barq.html
Barq's Page Two, Kat Bergeron writes for The Sun Herald in Biloxi, Mississippi, http://www.angelfire.com/tn/traderz/barqs2.html “FROM RUSSIA WITH ROOT BEER”, June 1, 2003, Chief Marketer Staff, http://www.chiefmarketer.com/from-russia-with-root-beer/
http://andspeakingofwhich.blogspot.com/2012/05/barqs-root-beer.html
http://msbusiness.com/2014/10/granddaughter-barqs-root-beer-dies-90/ “Federal judge dismisses lawsuit filed against Coca-Cola by grandchildren of Barq's founder”, Jaquetta White, The Times-Picayune, January 07, 2011, updated January 07, 2011
“After losing legal battle over Barq's root beer, man goes on rampage, NOPD says”, Helen Freund, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune, March 13, 2014, updated March 14, 2014, http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2011/01/federal_judge_dismisses_lawsui.html “Barq’s founder’s relatives appeal suit’s dismissal”, The Associated Press, February 2, 2011, http://neworleanscitybusiness.com/blog/2011/02/02/barqs-founders-relatives-appeal-suits-dismissal/#ixzz3nvRKmdHR
“ROBINSON v. COCA-COLA COMPANY”, NO. 11-30130, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, Filed May 22, 2012, http://www.leagle.com/decision/In%20FCO%2020120522133/ROBINSON%20v.%20COCA-COLA%20COMPANY
“Losing plaintiff in Barq's lawsuit pleads guilty to assaulting Elmwood hospital worker with gun”, Paul Purpura, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune, July 21, 2014, updated July 21, 2014, http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2014/07/new_orleans_man_pleads_guilty_13.html

Women of Destiny

What was it about history class that sucked the life out of the life stories of amazing people? Reduced to dates and battles and policies, I cannot remember a history class that I ever enjoyed – I can barely remember them at all. The Louisiana Purchase, the American Revolution, Lewis and Clark – oh, spare me the agony! But as I read for my own enjoyment, I find that there are real stories behind the dates; real people behind the battles; and the policies are not all dribble from old pompous white men with starched collars.

New Orleans

Wikipedia: La Nouvelle-Orléans (New Orleans) was founded May 7, 1718, by the French Mississippi Company, under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, on land inhabited by the Chitimacha. It was named for the Duke of Orléans of France. His title came from the French city of Orléans.

All of the history books that I read in school were written by white men of European descent, like me. Like New Orleans, the founding of anyplace in America could have the postscript “on land inhabited by…” Until this day, I had no awareness of the Chitimacha. Through the magic of the internet, I now know that they were a matrilineal society – meaning that everything passed through maternal lines, everything from property to the actual acceptance of being Chitimacha (if your mother was Chitimacha, so were you …if your mother was not, you were not). Prior to the 1700s, European diseases decimated the population from perhaps 20,000 to several hundred. Between 1706 and 1718, nearly all of them were killed in a bitter war with the French, which lends a different tone to the founding of New Orleans “on land inhabited by the Chitimacha.” An interesting side note on the matriarchal aspect of the Chitimacha – as the last of their land was about to disappear to white ownership, the Chitimacha women sent out a plea that was answered by another woman, Sarah Avery McIlhenney. McIlhenney (of the Tobasco family) purchased 260 acres of their traditional land, helped petition the Bureau of Indian Affairs for federal recognition and ceded the land to them. But this is not basis for my “Women of Destiny” story.

Ignored by history books, amid New Orleans’ back and forth between French and Spanish rule is the family of Frenchman Nicolas Bourgeois and his Spanish wife, Marie Joseph Tarare. In 1733, they had a daughter named Marie-Thérèse and this is where our story begins. Shortly before she turned six, her father died. The following year, Marie-Thérèse’s mother married Nicholas Pierre Carco. History has obscured the reasons, but young Marie-Thérèse was sent away to the Ursuline Convent and then ushered into an arranged marriage at the age of 15. Today, that would generate at least some discussion but apparently not in 1748. Her new husband, René Chouteau, had recently arrived from France, was 10 years older and has alternately been described as an innkeeper, liquor dealer, and pastry chef. Let that image sit for a minute. They promptly had a child, René Auguste Chouteau, Jr. who we shall refer to as Auguste Chouteau.

René Chouteau purportedly abused Marie-Thérèse, then disserted her as he retreated to France, resulting in her return to the convent along with her son. The scandals continue. Marie-Thérèse remained Madame Chouteau, though she called herself Widow Chouteau. She did this not as a premonition, but because a widow had more legal rights than a married woman. As a widow, she could own property and have custody of her children. Madame Chouteau began living with Pierre de Laclède Liguest (we’ll call him Laclede) around 1755, so she was now 23 years old. She could not divorce or remarry due to the strict Roman Catholic doctrine, and society in New Orleans looked at them as sinners. In spite of this, the couple lived together as though they were married and bore four children together. Since Madame Chouteau could not divorce, all of the children had her last name rather than Laclede’s. I’ll choose to take this as a pseudo-matriarchal act of fate, or destiny.

Although too risqué for any history classroom, this story was not without precedence by any means. The wife of Ben Franklin, Deborah Read, was deserted by her first husband and therefore could only have a common law marriage with Ben. And like Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, other wives of founding fathers and wives of so many pioneers and explorers, these women managed the businesses of their husbands while they were apart from them – making history. And in the case of the Franklin marriage, they were apart for 18 of their 44 years. The power and intelligence of these women is not well documented in traditional history books but is nonetheless self-evident, in my opinion.

Saint Louis

Wikipedia: St. Louis was founded in 1764 by Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau and named after Louis IX of France. Claimed first by the French, the region in which the city stands was ceded to Spain following France's defeat in the Seven Years' War. The territory east of the Mississippi was ceded to Great Britain, the victor. The area of present-day Missouri was part of Spanish Louisiana from 1762 until 1803.

The area was “discovered” by Jolliet and Marquette in 1673 and later claimed for France by La Salle, as I was probably taught (I may have slept through that class). Of course it was well known for centuries by several native groups. A great metropolis, Cahokia, had once existed across the river. More than simply a confluence of great river systems, this area facilitated commerce as the primary crossroads of native peoples. Groups from the upper Mississippi, the Great Lakes, the Missouri, the Wabash, and Illinois rivers all frequented the area. A network of small-scale traders, French and Métis (Canadian, First Nations), already blanketed the region. The most significant were the powerful Osages living to the west of the new city and they would play a key role in the growing fur trade. Nonetheless, I don’t recall the phrase, “on land inhabited by…” but they buried their ancestors in great mounds on this land. Mounds that were mostly destroyed during the city’s development, but let’s get back to the story. Barely 10 years old, young Auguste would join Laclede’s business ventures in the fur trade up the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. As the story goes, in 1763 Laclede obtained the necessary license from the French territorial government to trade with the Native Americans living near the Missouri River. Chouteau, Laclede and some 30 other men traveled upriver from New Orleans to establish a trading post. According to his own journal, in the winter of 1764, Auguste directed the men to start clearing the area. Thus he and Laclede are given credit for founding the city of St. Louis.

When Laclede and her son left on their founding journey, Madame Chouteau was pregnant with a daughter, Victoire. Sometime soon after the baby's baptism, she left New Orleans to make the seven-hundred-mile journey upriver with her three young children and infant in tow. She reached St. Louis in September 1764. Arriving at Fort de Chartres, Madame Chouteau and the children then traveled to Cahokia in a bumpy, two-wheeled charrette and crossed the river in a pirogue. The family began their new life in the newly built stone headquarters of the trading post. Four years later, they moved to a new house down the street. She was the first white woman to live on the west bank of the Mississippi River. Laclede deeded this residence to Madame Chouteau, along with the lot, an additional piece of land in the common fields, three black slaves, and two Indian slaves, Manon and Thérèse, both in their teens. Remember that they were not legally married, so these were gifts Pierre gave to her. It’s noted that he did this in consideration of his clerk Auguste's "faithful service" and "the affection" he bore the other four children of "dame Marie Thérèse Bourgeois and of Sieur René Choutaud." Along with his step-children, she had three other children with Pierre. Despite the children to raise, she had an impressive amount of responsibility and independence. She ran a busy household, acquired property, owned cattle, kept bees, and conducted business transactions.

Surprisingly, or perhaps not given her increasing wealth and power, René Chouteau returned from France. He spent some time in jail in New Orleans in 1771 for slandering a rival baker. In 1774, he tried to make Madame Chouteau join him in New Orleans. She refused to leave St. Louis. René tried to bring legal actions against her because he wanted to claim her property as his own. Still Madame Chouteau would not leave St. Louis. René died in 1776, finally freeing her of the unwanted marriage. Imagine discussing this in history class.

Madame Chouteau did not, however, choose to marry Laclede. By this time, Laclede had fallen into debt. And she was a clever businesswoman. Though she loved him, she may have feared that she would lose her property and money to pay off his debts when he died, which happened fairly soon in 1778. Thereafter she fulfilled her destiny. After Laclede’s death, Madame Chouteau continued to manage the dynasty from their stone house. She was known to the community as the Mother of St. Louis. Her sons, Auguste and Pierre Jr., came to control the fur trade and were leaders in St. Louis business and politics for decades.

In this first generation, the growing Chouteau clan followed the time-honored patterns of mercantile families. Sons married daughters of established and mutually-beneficial families. Early transfers of property, large dowries, and a system of partible inheritance favored the entry of sons and sons-in-law into the parents’ businesses. In this remote frontier, women played a critical role in preparing their children for the complex world of international trade. It was Madame Chouteau who gave the family its sense of direction and purpose. She set the tone for the women that would follow.

Marie Thérèse Bourgeois Chouteau died at the age of 81 on August 14, 1814, leaving close to one hundred children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. [See sidebar on some of her interesting descendents.] A new generation of Chouteau women would create homes that served as gathering places and centers of socialization and education.

Lewis and Clark

Wikipedia: Napoleon sold Louisiana (New France) to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.

Wikipedia: The Lewis and Clark Expedition was commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson shortly after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, under the command of Captain Meriwether Lewis and his close friend Second Lieutenant William Clark. The primary objective was to explore and map the newly acquired territory, find a practical route across the Western half of the continent, and establish an American presence in this territory before Britain and other European powers tried to claim it. The campaign's secondary objectives were scientific and economic: to study the area's plants, animal life, and geography, and establish trade with local Indian tribes.

As you know by now, the Chouteau family controlled and influenced pretty much everything that went on in the early decades of St. Louis, the Gateway to the West. Many other prominent citizens in the area had made their fortunes off trading with various Indian tribes and thought the Americans might ruin their empires. Their previous agreements were with the French and Spanish governments. No doubt heeding the wisdom of Madame Chouteau, Auguste and Pierre were able to see that the expansion of the lands the Americans had gained in the Louisiana Purchase could bring even more riches. In the winter of 1803-04, Lewis and Clark soon became welcome guests in the Chouteau households, which were considered to be the unofficial home for the pair.

As the spring of 1804 broke, the Lewis and Clark Expedition left the Chouteau households to start their journey. Scandals continue “on land inhabited by…” Rumors persist and align with oral histories that Meriwether Lewis fathered a son with an Indian woman named Ikpsapewin during the expedition. None of this is proven, and certainly not in the history books. But oral history suggests Lewis as the father of Turkey Head (a.k.a. Long House; Zomi; Joseph Lewis DeSmet) as told by Samuel Charger, grandson of Turkey Head, in 1923. As a young adult, Turkey Head was given employment at Fort Pierre as a trader, perhaps as a business favor and lending some bit of confirmation to the rumor.

While this seems like a gratuitous departure from our story, let me tie it back together for you. Madame Chouteau’s daughter Marie Pelagie married Sylvestre Labbadie. Their daughter, Marie Pelagie Labbadie (confusing, I know) married Gregoire Sarpy. Their son, Thomas Lestang Sarpy, was therefore the great grandson of Madame Chouteau and Pierre Laclede. Skipping his scandalous youth, the earliest records found on Thomas after his less than history-text-worthy exit from St. Louis, show him as a company clerk at the Oglala post near the mouth of what is now called Rapid Creek in South Dakota. A marriage was arranged for him shortly after his arrival to Woman Ahead of the Clouds, daughter of Chief White Swan of the Minneconjou band of the Teton Sioux. They had a daughter, also named Pelagie; and shortly after her birth Woman Ahead of the Clouds died.

With a small baby to take care of, Thomas Sarpy soon remarried, this time to Her Good Ground a daughter of Rotten Body Stinking Ribs (English translation that was probably incorrect), a chief of the Sans Arc Band of Teton Sioux. Her Good Ground gave birth to Mary Sarpy (a.k.a. White Woman) in 1831. But within a year Her Good Ground would find herself a widow with two young girls to raise on her own. Following the tradition of her culture, Her Good Ground took her two daughters and returned to her family.

When word of Thomas Sarpy’s death reached the Chouteau family in St. Louis, the first rule of order was to make sure that his children would be cared for. Although the family did not formally acknowledge the half-Indian daughters Thomas had left behind, they apparently did feel responsible for them. Turkey Head and Her Good Ground found themselves in an arranged marriage very shortly after the death of Thomas Sarpy. Perhaps the extended Chouteau/Sarpy family believed that by having the children raised by a son of their former associate, Meriwether Lewis, they had fulfilled their responsibility to their mixed blood relatives Pelagie and Mary Sarpy.

By 1833 Turkey Head and Her Good Ground had Wowacinye (later known as Martin Charger, half brother to Mary Sarpy) the first of their four children together. But the union was to be fairly short; by 1850 Her Good Ground had left Turkey Head and married a man named John Split. “She was a fickle woman,” a niece once said of her, when asked about the numerous marriages. But fickle or not, Her Good Ground managed to raise her two daughters by Sarpy, and Martin Charger and the other children she had by Turkey Head, and instill them with strength and pride.

Martin Charger & Basil Claymore

By the time Mary “White Woman” Sarpy had become a young woman, she had learned from her mother the art of survival. From her father’s side, there was some monetary gain. Exactly how much or how it came to both her and Pelagie isn’t really known, but it did make her very attractive to a young man named Basil Clement (eventually translated by the American government to Claymore).

Basil was a mixed blood, part French and part Cree from Canada. His parents had come from Saskatchewan to St. Louis and then back up the Missouri River to what is now South Dakota. Although Mary Sarpy and her connections and money from ‘down the river’, may have been very appealing to Basil, it appears their common backgrounds brought them together. They were originally married by Indian tradition and the marriage was later ‘solemnized’, the union produced nine children.

Basil went on to become a legend as a trapper, interpreter and a mountain man. He was a guide of Jim Bridger’s expedition, worked as an interpreter and was well respected by both the Lakota people and the government as well. But while all this went on, it was Mary Sarpy Claymore that raised their children and saw to their needs as her husband roamed the west. As with many women of her day, she was relegated to the background as her husband made a name for himself on the pages of history.

Had it not been for Mary Sarpy Claymore, Basil and his children would never have had the strength and connections to succeed as they did. For although she was far from St. Louis, her connections to the Sarpy family as well as Basil’s background, brought the pride of both the French and Lakota ancestries to the family.

Mary "White Woman" Sarpy

When Mary Sarpy Claymore died in 1892, destiny passed to her children to carry on the strong matriarchal family she had inherited from Madame Chouteau and the ability to live in the white man’s world without giving up their rich Lakota culture.

And if you will indulge me further, I’ll follow one specific descendent path among the thousands to the current generation. Mary and Basil had 13 children, one of which was Julia Jollette Claymore. Julia married Julius Pearman and had 14 children. Their granddaughter, Catherine Muriel Pearman married Raymond Fogarty. And they had 15 children in rural North Dakota. One of which, married my brother. And to my two nieces, is a matriarchal destiny and heritage of strength and intelligence and independence almost beyond comprehension. You won’t find this in any of the traditional history books but is nonetheless self-evident, in my opinion.



SIDEBAR
Children of Marie Chouteau and Pierre Laclede:

• Victoire Chouteau: She married Charles Gratiot, Sr., financier of the Illinois campaign during the American Revolutionary War. Charles Chouteau Gratiot, Jr. was a West Point graduate and an engineer in the War of 1812 and had a fort named after him. Gratiot Avenue in Detroit is named for that fort.
• Jean Pierre Chouteau, known as Pierre: Fort Pierre is named after Pierre Chouteau, Jr., his son. The capital of South Dakota, Pierre, was founded in 1880 on the Missouri River opposite Fort Pierre. Junior is more famous for consolidating the family firm's dominant position in the fur trade, eventually superseding and even acquiring John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company. Another of his sons, Francois Chouteau, founded Kansas City. Francois’ widow, Bérénice Chouteau, was called the "Mother of Kansas City."
• Marie Pelagie Chouteau: In addition to her connection to my sister-in-law, was grandmother of Emilie Pratt, wife of Ramsay Crooks, General Manager and President of the American Fur Company and business partner of Jean Pierre Chouteau (above).

Look up any famous Chouteau in the west and they are likely descendents. Oklahoma’s prima ballerina of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Myra Yvonne Chouteau, is also descended from Pierre Chouteau. Her great grandmother was a Shawnee woman, Mary Silverheels.


NOTES

Wikipedia

http://www.nathpo.org/Many_Nations/mn_news16.html

http://columbia-mo.aauw.net/notablewomen/womenac/marie-chouteau/