On December 11, 1803, the future Lewis and Clark Expedition camped across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, the governing center of Spanish Upper Louisiana. After Captain Meriwether Lewis failed to gain permission from Spanish officials to winter on the Missouri River, he and William Clark decided to spend the winter on the American side of the Mississippi at the mouth of DuBois River, nearly opposite the mouth of the Missouri, and wait until spring for the Louisiana Territory to be officially transferred to the United States. Lewis remained at St. Louis to gather information about Indian tribes along the Missouri River, the population and government of Upper Louisiana, and the latest available maps of the Missouri River, intending to send this intelligence to President Thomas Jefferson. In the rain, the party crossed the Mississippi and left Lewis at St. Louis, and at 11 P.M. Clark proceeded upstream with the rest of the men. The keelboat and pirogues struggled against swift currents as they passed St. Louis, a town of a Catholic church, fur traders' warehouses, 180 French-style dwellings, and Fort San Carlos. Rain continued until 3 P.M. as they passed two small creeks and several sandbars, then camped beside Cabaret Island on the east side of the river after traveling 6.25 miles; the next day they would go the remaining 11.25 miles to the mouth of DuBois River.
