Gary Garth

Special for USA TODAY

ST. CHARLES, Mo. — This river town took root as an outpost on the western frontier, land claimed by France and eventually administrated by Spain. But by the time William Clark and his party arrived in the spring of 1804, ownership had been passed to the United States.

The American visitors were made welcome.

“We arrived at St. Charles at 12 oClock,” Clark recorded in a May 16, 1804, journal entry. “A number Spectators french & Indians flocked to the bank to See the party.”

Clark was co-commander of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, officially the Corps of Discovery. Lewis would arrive from St. Louis four days later.

The arrival of Clark and his men and their three boats laden with supplies and bound for the unknown undoubtedly sparked the village of about 450 with a shot of excitement.

More:Camp River Dubois: Lewis and Clark history starts here

Bill Brecht easily imagines the scene.

“They made a few adjustments and last-minute changes,” said Brecht, a retired earth sciences teacher and now director of the Lewis & Clark Boat House and Museum, a facility that overlooks the Missouri on the St. Charles riverfront. “For one thing, Clark purchased an additional 136 pounds of tobacco in St. Charles to add to what they had,” he said. “And they actually unloaded and reloaded the boat to better distribute the load. The Missouri (River) was much different then than it is today. It was about twice as wide as today and much shallower.”

The town is also much different than when the Corps made camp here, although Clark’s geographic description of the village, “Situated on the North Side of the Missourie at the foot of a hill,” remains accurate.

Today St. Charles covers the hill and beyond, blending into the metropolitan sprawl of St. Louis, although the town has cultivated a riverfront business and recreation hub that retains some flavor of its historic past.

Lewis and Clark remain a major presence. An oversize statute of the two commanders, (along with Lewis’ Newfoundland dog, Seaman), anchors the riverfront park. The Boat House and Museum is also a major landmark. Just up the hill from the river, the brick-and-cobblestone Main Street is lined with merchants and shops, many of which somehow seem tied or have tied themselves to Lewis and Clark. A few places, including the Farmer’s Tavern building (now the Farmer’s Home), date from the time of the explorers' visit.

The original Farmer’s Tavern was built in 1805, and included a basement that served as slave quarters, said Larry Muench, who, with his wife, Laura, owns and operates John Dengler Tobacconists, which now occupies the former tavern. The tobacconist business was started by Laura Muench’s grandfather in 1917 in St. Louis. It relocated to St. Charles in the 1970s, when the main street and historic district was undergoing a restoration and resurgence. And although tobacco use has generally become something of a social outcast, the stylish Dengler shop enjoys a steady, year-round business.

“When the store opened in 1917 everybody signed a deal with a handshake and a cigar,” said Muench, who, with his wife, bought the business in 2008. “Pipes and premium cigars were the gentleman’s thing — and still are.”

The building, while modernized in every practical sense, has been doubled in size but still retains some quirks from the early 1800s.

“We have ghosts,” Muench said matter-of-factly.

Fore more info: HistoricStCharles.com.

Gary Garth writes a monthly outdoors column for USA TODAY.