STL to ALN

As you approach the city of St. Louis from either Chicago or San Antonio, you can start to catch glimpses of the Gateway Arch as you look towards the St. Louis skyline. This iconic landmark dominates this historic city on the banks of the Mississippi River. The Arch symbolizes St. Louis' role in the westward expansion of the United States.

Be sure to look out your window in St. Louis as the train crosses America's greatest river, the storied Mississippi. You may be able to spot barges and casino boats on the banks of the river alongside this modern metropolitan area. Now try to picture a Native American village with canoes here long ago, or a settlement of French trappers in the 1600s. The mighty Mississippi has played key roles in human civilization for many centuries.

In kitchens across America, one can find granite-ware pans and dishes made with porcelain on steel using a technique which originated in Granite City, Illinois. This industrial city, neighboring St. Louis, has been home to a variety of factories and businesses over the past century, and is still home to many descendants of the immigrants who kept those factories humming.

Many believe that Native American settlement in the Unites States before European colonization consisted of only small groups of nomadic tribes, but archeological evidence tells a very different story. At the height of its existence in 1250 AD, the ancient city of Cahokia sustained as many as 40,000 inhabitants, roughly the size of London, England at the same time period.

Try to picture the land outside the train windows as it might have looked to Lewis and Clark in 1803. They were about to leave the rough, but relatively comfortable, forts and settlements near the Mississippi River and set off west into unknown territory.