The War of 1812: A Local War Against the Native Americans

The St. Charles Veterans Commission honored the 200th anniversary of the declaration of the War of 1812 on Monday with a Military Tattoo, in which the Lewis and Clark fife and drum corps played. 

Commission member Tom Kuypers said he had an interest in seeing the war recognized.

"It's part of our heritage, and nobody was doing anything about it," he said. "So I decided, and the vets commission decided, let's somehow have a commemoration." 

The War of 1812 was fought against the British over trade embargoes and forced service in the British Navy. But locally, it was a war fought against Native Americans, whose tribes outnumbered the settlers. 

The British gave the different Native American tribes guns and ammunition, said Dorris Keeven-Franke, archivist at the . 

"They were promising them that if they would help them to win the war, they would each land and be able to have their own countries," she said.

The entire population of the St. Charles territory at the time was 3,500 people and the governor called up 370 to serve in the militia. The men were torn between serving their new country and protecting their homes, Keeven-Franke said. 

"It's fascinating to think about the country, as young as it was, here in St. Charles, we were just as involved with it as Boston and Virginia," she said. 

Although the organizers had originally planned to read off the names of those who served in the War who were from St. Charles, Keeven-Franke was able to find more people than they originally thought. 

With more than 200 people's names to read, organizers handed out a printed paper instead.