The second issue of The Confluence. A regional studies journal published by Lindenwood University Press.
America’s First Interstate: The National Road and its Reach Toward St. Clair County, Illinois
by Andrew Theising
The National Road was to span from Maryland to the Mississippi River, but never made it—in part due to a political battle over the location of the new Illinois state capital in the 1830s.
Cash for Clunkers: Did It Work or Not?
by Anthony Clark, Annette Najjar, and Ralph Wiedner
The Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act of 2009 (CARS) was supposed to stimulate the American economy with incentives to trade in old gas-guzzling cars for new, more efficient ones.Three economists examine the impact of this program that came to be called “Cash for Clunkers” on the St. Charles County, Missouri, economy.
The Journey of the Sisters of Charity to St. Louis, 1828
by Carole Prietto
In 1828, four Sisters of Charity left Maryland to establish a new mission in the frontier city of St. Louis. For the first time, herein is the diary of one of the travelers in this remarkable and dangerous journey.
How Natural is Nature? The Effect of Burning on Presettlement Vegetation in West-Central Illinois
by Paul Kilburn and Richard B. Brugam
When the first Euroamericans arrived in North America, they thought they were seeing a “wilderness,” unaltered by human hands. However, they were actually seeing highly managed environments. Kilburn and Brugam examine the impact of the burning of forests and prairies by Native Americans on the plant species in west-central Illinois.
St. Louis: Air Mail Pioneer
by David Straight
In the decades after the Wright Brothers launched their firstplane at Kitty Hawk, St. Louis was an aviation hub. Within a decade after that flight, the first airmail left Kinloch Fielin St. Louis, with people sending what they knew were historic letters.
