In The Valley Where Time Stands Still
["1850's to Present" Collection Temporarily Housed in The Company Store]
14117 Valles Mines School Road 63087
Open by appointment. Please call first.
1850's to Present: Steve Frazier, 636-551-8705,
HistorianSteve@Gmail.com
Colonial Era to 1849: John@LostHistoryMuseum.com
Our Colonial Era
1749: The year Francois Valle's Trading Post and starter home were under construction, where you could sell him your galena ore or even your
smelted lead or trade for supplies. Within a year he most likely melted down galena on his own and poured it into molds for transport as was
the custom then and with the help of his ever growing crew. Although Sainte Genevieve was not greatly populated yet, it was a river port and
only 35 miles overland east from Valles Mines. And 35 miles away from the British on the other side of the river in Kaskaskia. Because he had already
established connections from formerly trading there on the east side of the Mississippi, he had a ready market despite Kaskaskia being occupied by the British.
1754: The French and Indian War broke out and after leaving the lead operations in able hands, he and his wife out of caution moved to Sainte Genevieve, a French
settlement and cultural center in its infancy but with a fort and palisade wall around it for its defenders.
1760: Marianne Valle gives birth in Sainte Genevieve to Jean Baptiste Valle I, their third child.
1776: The Declaration of Independence From King George and the British Empire is signed.
1780: Decades later with the enormous lead production and seemingly endless wealth from it by the standards of that time, JB the First builds a
generational (and enormous) house for his son Jean Baptiste Valle II and his family. While Francois Valle died soon after in 1783, his mining operations
back at Valles Mines were carried on and expanded by these two in the French tradition. To correct historical accounts
Lost History believes the Ste. Gen house should properly be called "The Jean Baptiste Valles Ste. Gen House". Evidence seems to suggest that they
first built a Valles Mines House [14122 Vm. Mn. Sch. Rd.] to keep an eye on operations. [Shown with 4 subsequent additions added later by 4
generations of Roziers. Arson took it in 1974].
The Big Discovery
#14115 BEFORE the Big Discovery
The 1749 Francois and Marianne Valle log settlement-house. A lost history, once a cultural focal point as a trading post inside a fort. A response to
to the history being made in the area.
#14115 AFTER the Big Discovery
Under the old cedar siding: This 1749 Log House, forgotten for 115 years, was discovered under that same cedar siding
put on by then-Superintendent Gus Frazier in 1910 after adding two rooms to the rear, that is, a kitchen Addition and an Annex.
Fortunately for us, he also covered the Log Settlement House with cedar siding generously, assuring its survival until the 21st century..
Restoration has begun to reveal Francois and Maryanne's starter house as it looked in 1749 inside his Trading Post
especially showing its martial features for defense,
namely
| - shutters with gun-ports, |
| - a single interior door on the first floor, and |
| - an exterior palisade wall with a restricted-access gate around both the log house
and the store. |
Photo credit: Patrick McCarthy
The Later Collection: 1850's to Present
1865: During the last days of the Civil War, Sam Hildebrand, Confederate Bushwhacker,
according to his published "Confessions", tried to rob the store but had a shootout there with "Federals". After a skirmish, he escaped.
1867: Jesse James and his gang blew the Valle Mining Company safe in the Paymaster's Office, 14116 Valles Mines School Road, across the street from the General
Store. They had been hiding out in a cave several miles north.
1911: A terrible tornado hit the area. The General Store's skin was torn off the timber frame "bents" and its inventory scattered for miles and 4 people killed but
the original wooden-pegged framing timber structure ("bents") underneath were still standing.
An very old store buiilding, a new name. The Valles Mines General Store was built yet again on the Trading Post timber frame bents (visible overhead in the General Store front
room), hand-hewn and pegged to survive being sucked up by tornados. The General Store now serves
as the temporary home of the Later Lost History Collection. Its walls are covered with photographs, mining tools, and house a pot belly stove and various historical items.