The Gateway Arch, St. Louis

We rolled into Cahokia RV Parque in Cahokia, Illinois on time and without incident. In fact, we were an hour early…..okay, that might have had a little to do with the fact that we went from Eastern Time to Central. But who’s keeping track?!

We traded the doom and gloom of Kentucky’s weather with the doom and gloom of this campground. What can I say, we’re on the outskirts of St. Louis. As we drove closer to our new camp, it was clear we were trading fresh air for smog. We passed factories billowing out smoke.

You see, the choice was to either stay somewhere about forty-five minutes out or one five minutes from the city center. And since I know nothing of St. Louis, except for the infamous arch, I figured we’d want to explore it. I also wanted to drive a little further because my original stop (Carlyle) would make the drive to our next destination too long.

Would I do it again? Sure, if there was a better RV park. The closest state park, Horseshoe Lake, closes their campground on September 30th.  Don’t get me wrong, we have full hook-ups but that’s about all there is. Oh, except for the lovely green body of water at the end of our loop (or is it sludge run-off, who knows).

The staff here has been very cordial and the office/bathing facilities are well maintained. But there are a lot of permanent residents. And that’s fine, if it were a trailer park. But it’s an RV park so you would assume more of a transient existence.

I’ve seen this more and more with private RV parks. I don’t know if this is the only way they can survive financially or they simply don’t care how long people stay as long as they keep paying. Anyway, it is what it is and we’re making the best of it. However, we’ll be heading out next Monday, not Wednesday.

Okay, so down to the nitty gritty, what have we been up to? Why visiting the Gateway Arch of course. Okay, I have a confession to make. When St. Louis was on the radar as a stop, I thought to myself, “All St. Louis has is just an arch”. And basically, in my opinion, that about sums it up.

Okay, okay, they have Anheuser-Busch and the St. Louis Cardinals, Purina, oh, and a zoo. But the arch is the draw. And I will never again refer to it as “just an arch”! That thing is pretty darn amazing. I had no idea it was that big and how much work went into putting the huge thing together.

It took several years and a lot of advanced technology and precision to make sure it was erected properly. And that’s not even taking into account the fact that the workers had to work at unprecedented heights. Heights that none of us could ever fathom without the safety of an airplane or some structure surrounding us.

I also have to admit I had no idea what this thing stood for. I just knew that the symbol of St. Louis was an arch. For those who are as clueless as I was, the arch symbolizes westward expansion. Why? Because St. Louis is one of the places wagon trains would gather before heading west. This website will highlight more facts if you’re  interested. I’m learning so much right alongside my daughters.

At the museum, we also learned that the wagon canvases were not just white. They also had green, blue, yellow and various other colors. We were able to see what items were often brought along in a covered wagon along with real replicas on display. It was pretty neat. I’m currently reading, “If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon”, by Ellen Levine. The girls seem interested because it puts things in the perspective of a child. And also because they’re getting first hand knowledge. I think the girls are pretty grateful that they’re heading west in an RV now, haha!

I must have beaver to survive

Another thing of importance to the Westward Expansion was trading, particularly furs. We learned that the top hat was nearly out of fashion in England. This was due to over hunting the beaver for its fur. When the word was out beavers were plentiful in North America, the fashion lived on for another 200 years. Poor beavers!

The area around the Gateway Arch is currently under construction. This adds a lot of confusion to visiting and has screwed up parking. We just parked on the street and fed a meter. They’ve moved the ticket location and museum to the old courthouse. So we were able to go in and see that building while learning the history of the Arch.

Courthouse ceiling

I have to admit I don’t know how I feel about all this ‘Westward Expansion’. While the Arch is quite impressive, Westward Expansion meant clashing with the Native Americans. Native Americans who were simply trying to preserve their way of life.

The old courthouse

And the ideals behind the Manifest Destiny helped fuel and justify some of this expansion. The idea that Americans and American institutions are morally superior, therefore they needed to free the “less civilized”, a.k.a., Native Americans.

I had no idea the base was so big, use that man on the left as scale

Westward Expansion was also about greed. The Gold Rush and the Homestead Act of 1862 are examples.  By the end of the century, 480,000 homesteaders had been given over 80 million acres. Approximately ten percent of the U.S. was settled because of the Homestead Act.

But the mixed feelings come in as I realize many pioneers were heading west simply looking for a better life. They heard stories of how lush the land was and how the rivers were teeming with fish. It seemed like paradise.

What’s interesting is near the location of the arch, near where we are staying, is the location of one of the greatest Native American sites north of Mexico. It’s called the Cahokia Mounds and has been featured by National Geographic as one of Native American’s most amazing achievements. It consists of 4,000 acres and is the largest archaeological site in the United States.

So in my next post, we’ll go from Westward Expansion and head to Illinois to share our visit of the Cahokia Mounds with you. I think you’ll be pretty impressed with what this World Heritage Site has to offer. After that, if fate allows, we’ll be taking a trolley tour of the city and wrapping up with a visit to the St. Louis Zoo. Hope to see you there!

{HUGS} from the Crew!

The girls, holding up the arch

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