Possession Of The French Posts

Menard & Valle House In Ste. Genevieve, Missouri

From The Mississippi Valley historical review:

Once in possession of the French posts of the northwest at the close of the French and Indian war, British authorities sought to extend their supremacy over the entire Mississippi valley.

To accomplish this, Spanish influence had to be overcome. The trade of the Missouri river centered at St. Louis. Notwithstanding the protests of English officials and the decrees of Spanish governors, traders from that post pushed their way up the Ohio, the Wabash, and the Illinois and trafficked with the Indians of the Wisconsin and the Fox rivers. French traders from the Illinois posts carried their packs of furs across the river to trade with their friends in St. Louis or transported them down the river, a trip of twelve days by flatboat, to the New Orleans market.