This Month in St. Louis History

Early daguerreotype photographer and more

Thomas M. Easterly was one of the most famous early photographers, using a technique called daguerreotype. He established his office in St. Louis in 1848.

Easterly is one of several people and activities that have links to October pasts.

Among others were Fairground Park in north St. Louis, establishment of the first Jewish congregation here and NBC commentator Bob Dotson. The Lewis & Clark expedition also discovered abandoned earthlodge villages in the Mandan and Hidatsu Indian areas.

(Each month, Young Saint Louis.com and the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park collaborate to highlight events and people that makes up the area's long history. The items explained always have an anniversary in the current month.

(If you'd like more about the area's history, visit www.mohistory.org.)

Early photographer Thomas Easterly

Thomas Easterly self portrait

Before photographic films and digital cameras, there was a photographic process called the daguerreotype. This produced amazingly beautiful pictures by using a sensitized metal plate.

And one of the major talents with daguerreotype was photographer Thomas M. Easterly. He established an office in St. Louis in 1848 after leaving a partnership with a studio in Iowa. He and his partner had operated a traveling photo business for several years throughout Iowa and Missouri.

Easterly did a lot of his work among Indian tribes in the central United States. Some experts credit Easterly with making the first photographic images of these Indians.

The Missouri Historical Society has a number of Easterly's images available for public view. In addition, the Society has published a book, "Likeness and Landscape," by Dolores Kilgo. The book features an amazing assortment of Easterly's best work.

(For more, contact the Missouri Historical Society offices at (314) 746-4599.)

Toward the end of his life, Easterly's dedication to the daguerreotype process turned out to be a business liability. He failed to move on to new processes such as ambrotype, tintype and paper photos.

In the end, he had to take up the sale of farm equipment to augment his photo business.

Fairground Park's illustrious past

Grand entrance of Fairground Park. Colored engraving by Wittenberg and Sorber, 1888. MHS Photographs and Prints.

The current Fairground Park in north St. Louis doesn't have many reminders of the park's glorious past. From 1856 to 1902, the park was operated by the St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Assn.

During the first fair in October, 1856, the fairgrounds included eight fountains, a mechanics building, a floral tent, a machine shop and livestock stalls.

There also was a huge amphitheater, which at that time was the largest in the United States. It featured two-tier seating for 12,000, with standing room for another 12,000.

Inside the amphitheater was a 3-story pagoda for dignitaries and judges.

From 1861 through 1865, the park was dedicated as Benton Barracks and to training of 20,000 soldiers for the U.S. Civil War.

The fairs resumed in 1866. During the years, the fair added such attractions at horse-racing. But, in 1908, the city purchased the land and everything but the bear pits and the amphitheater were taken down.

To read an interesting history, visit http://mhsvoices.org/2007SummerFeature1.php. It includes information from a 1926 essay by a student from nearby Beaumont High School.

St. Louis' first Jewish congregation

On Oct. 3, 1841, the United Hebrew Congregation became the first Jewish congregation formed in St. Louis.

The congregation was strictly Orthodox and became known as the Polish Congregation. Its first meeting space was rented at Broadway and Locust but they later moved into the Masonic Hall at First and Market.

(You can follow the development of Jews in St. Louis by visiting the timeline published on www.stlgs.org/jgs-StLouis/timelines.html. Also, you can read more on the Missouri Historical Society's website: www.historyhappenedhere.org/details.php?id=90. )

One of the former homes of the congregation is now the Missouri Historical Society's Library and Research Center at 225 S. Skinker. Kids and families are welcome to visit and arrange for research.

One of the unique parts of the building is the reading room. Because of the domed ceiling, the room's acoustics allow people on one side of the room to hear clearly even a quiet conversation across the room.

NBC commentator Bob Dotson

Bob Dotson

Bob Dotson has made a media reputation for himself with his continuing series, "American Story with Bob Dotson." Dotson was born in St. Louis on Oct. 3, 1946.

Dotson's stories feature ordinary people doing extra-ordinary things. One feature included a story about Will Steger who had traveled at least 40,000 miles on the world's ice continents.

You can read more stories on www.today.msnbc.com

Lewis & Clark discover earthlodge villages

The Lewis & Clark exploration of the northwest United States started in St. Louis in 1804. By October 24, they had moved into the Mandan and Hidatsa Indian territories in the Dakotas and discovered abandoned earthlodge villages.

The explorers chose that location to establish Fort Mandan, across the river from the abandoned villages.

For more on the villages, visit www.kstrom.net/isk/maps/houses/hidatsa.html. Also, you can follow a timelines for the journey on www.lewisclark.net/timeline/index.html.

Later it was discovered that the village abandonment was caused by an outbreak of small pox, one of the diseases brought by the white man for which Indians had no immunity.