Gill, McCune. THE ST. LOUIS STORY: LIBRARY OF AMERICAN LIVES. 3 vols. St. Louis: Historical Record Publishers, 1952.
From Volume 1. Pp. 268-270.
APPLICATION FOR CONCESSION. "To Don Francisco de Cruzat, Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment established in Louisiana, and Lieutenant Governor of the Western part of Illinois, etc., etc., Sir---Charles Gratiot, a merchant of this village has the honor to inform you that he desires to establish a habitation on the River des Peres, to cultivate wheat, hemp, corn, tobacco, etc., etc. This he means to do, sir, if it pleases you to accord to him a tract of land of eighty-four arpents in width, running from east to west, the line crossing the river, and eighty-four arpents in length, passing from the south to the north, following the aforementioned river at the end of the concessions at the fence of Desnoyer (or Walnut) to enjoy by himself, or to dispose of to his heirs, with his other property now and forever, without interference from others in the matter of enjoying or disposing of the property. This done you will do right. "At St. Louis, the twelfth of February, seventeen hundred and eighty-five. CH. GRATIOT."
CONCESSION.
"Given at St. Louis in the Illinois on the fourteenth day of the month of February of the year 1785.
FRANCLSCO CRUZAT."
REPORT OF SURVEY. "We, the undersigned, captain of militia of his Catholic Majesty, surveyor commissioned by the Government for the said district of St. Louis and New Madrid, this day, in virtue of orders from Don Zenon Trudeau, Lieutenant Colonel, Captain of the regiment stationed in Louisiana and Governor of the Western part of the Illinois, have visited the land of Sieur Charles Gratiot, merchant and inhabitant of this village to make the necessary surveys of the land ceded to him (by Sieur Fois Cruzat, herebefore Lieutenant Governor of the Western part of Illinois of the date, February 14. 1785) consisting of eighty-four arpents in front by eighty in depth, or 6,720 of surface measurement, which measurement was made in the presence of the proprietor, with the base of the City of Paris, King's measurement, and always following the custom of this colony, which finds itself at the end of the tracts of forty arpents at the fence of the said Desnoyer, the distance from the city being a league and a half. The said land bears southwest one quarter of a degree from the said Fort St. Louis of this city, is bounded on the front by the lands of different individuals. It is marked by stone monuments a foot square and three feet high sunk into the ground at distances of twenty arpents, and all the trees on the property were blazed with the initials C. G., and that this may be made certain, we have delivered with this description a plan on which we have marked the monuments natural and artificial. St. Louis, May 17, 1796.
(ANTIONO SOULARD)."
"Approved: Zenon Trudeau."
GRANT. "Don Manuel Gayoso de Lemos, Brigadier of the Royal Armies, Governor General, Royal Vice Patron of the Province of Louisiana and Western Florida, In- spector of Troops, etc.
"After seeing the proceedings and acts of Private Surveyor Don Antonio Soulard on the possessions given to Don Carlos Gratiot, measuring 6,720 arpents of land situated in the country of the Illinois, back of tracts of forty arpents commencing at a fence of walnut, a mile and a half from the City of St. Louis, southwest one quarter of a degree from the fort and bounded on the other sides by vacant lands, as is shown by the attached plan, made in accordance with the survey, and without causing any trouble or interfering with anyone's claims, and exercising the power which the King has delegated to us, we grant, in his royal name, to the said Don Carlos Gratiot, the said 6,720 arpents. As his property he may dispose of the land, but must make use of it in accordance with this document and the conditions laid down in the regulations of such matters. We issue this document signed by our hand, sealed with the seal of our arms, examined and countersigned by the Secretary of his Majesty in his Government in New Orleans, April 2, 1798. MANUEL GAyoso DE LEMOS. "
"By order of the Secretary, Andreas Lopez Armesto." (Seal)
COMMISSIONERS' RECOGNITION OF GRANT. "Louisiana Territory, Commissioners' Room,
February 22,1808.
United States of America."
"This is ascertained by the board to be a grant made and completed. By order of the board. "
THOMAS F. RIDDICK, Clerk
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