The data relating to the maternal line are gleaned from Scharff’s “History of St. Louis.” [6] The following tradition concerning the Lafayette visit is taken from the obituary sketch of Captain La Barge in one of the St. Louis papers: “When General Lafayette visited the city in 1825 the populace turned out to greet him. He was a French nobleman and an American patriot--two distinctions that entitled him to the greatest courtesy. The children of the town had gathered to welcome his coming. When he was driven away hundreds paid homage by following the route of his carriage. To follow was not enough for Joe La Barge. He broke from the crowd and ran to the carriage in which Lafayette rode. Jumping upon the rear axle, he remained there a considerable time. The crowd was horrified, but Lafayette was too great a man to be thus wounded. Gently stroking the lad on the head, he asked his name. The boy responded: ‘La Barge.’ ‘Ah,’ said the General, ‘then we are both Frenchmen, and the only difference is in the ending of our names.’” [7] The term _engagé_ was applied to the common hands who did the ordinary work of the fur trade. The term _bourgeois_ was used to designate the person in charge of a trading post. [8] “Captain Pratt of the _Assiniboine_ reports that he met the _Yellowstone_ at the mouth of the Kansas River, having lost her best pilot from the cholera, and four or five men in the space of twenty-four hours. I fear that, in this situation, she will not be able to continue her voyage.”--_Pierre Chouteau, Jr., to John Jacob Astor, July 12, 1833._ [9] See account of American and Rocky Mountain Fur Companies, in “American Fur Trade of the Far West.” [10] This man had a long and honorable career in the West. As late as 1859–60 he was in the service of the government as interpreter on the expedition of Captain W. F. Reynolds, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A. [11] A curious illustration of the great changes which have taken place along the Missouri Valley occurred a few years ago. In 1896 a farmer was digging a well near the mouth of Grand River, Mo., several miles from the present channel of the Missouri. A Bible was found in the excavation, and on its cover was the name _Naomi_. The book was sent to Captain La Barge to see if he could suggest any explanation of its presence where it was found. The Captain recalled perfectly the fact that the steamer _Naomi_ was wrecked at that precise spot fifty-six years before. In those days the missionaries always left Bibles on board the various boats, attached by chains to the tables or other parts of the cabin, and lettered with the names of the boats to which they belonged.