Of course, you can recall the midnight ride of Paul Revere, the Boston Tea Party, and the Shot Heard Round the World.

But what about our region? Did anything that mattered in the Revolutionary War happen here?

The answer is yes.

"Everybody knows the 13 colonies story, but few know the story of the war in the West," says historian Stephen L. Kling Jr., organizer of an international conference on the subject in St. Charles County later this month.

Kling says the War in the West weakened the British ability to battle the colonists in the East, and it set the stage for the Louisiana Purchase.

Everything west of the Mississippi-St. Louis, New Orleans, Arkansas-was under Spanish control during the American Revolutionary War. And when Spain joined the war in 1779, the other side of the Mississippi River was primarily British, so there were battles all the way up and down the Mississippi River.

"Spain tied down all these British troops at British garrisons that could have been sent to the 13 colonies. Instead, they were fighting the Spanish up and down the Mississippi river," Kling says.

One local battle with a St. Charles connection was in downtown St. Louis, in an area now known as Ballpark Village. When the British attacked Fort San Carlos on May 26, 1780, one of the militiamen defending it was Louis Blanchette.

The British lost that battle, Blanchette went on to be recognized as the founder of St. Charles, and now more than 50 million motorists a year cross the Blanchette Bridge bearing his name.

The conference, called "The American Revolutionary War in the West," features speakers from around the nation, and as far away as Spain.

Scheduled events include a party Friday night at the Heritage Museum in St. Charles, which features an exhibit on the uniforms worn by all sides during the Revolutionary War period. The conference features presentations on several topics:

• Weapons of the war
• Benjamin Franklin and Spain's strategy in the war
• How Spain tried to conquer all the British posts on the lower Mississippi
• Medals and badges given to Native Americans to curry their favor
• Revolutionary Blacks: Freeborn Men of Color join the fight

Another featured speaker highlights the power of women in the war, how they submitted thousands of petitions demanding payments, clemency, property rights and even divorces. Their rhetoric foreshadows the future women's movement as they wrestle for their rights.

There are also presentations fleshing out the personalities of the war. Among them, a French cavalry officer known as Mottin de la Balme, a man said to have "an aggressive ambition for adventure." A volunteer on the American side, de la Balme was personally recommended by Benjamin Franklin, and galloped into many battles before meeting his end in the attack on Fort Detroit.

Every element of the conference seeks to discover new ways to tell the story of the tumult that founded our nation.

Take for instance the lecture on the contents of a lieutenant governor's dressing table in the Spanish Upper Louisiana in 1778. The 14 bars of soap, two shaving bowls, beard cloths and wig powder suggest that St. Louis wasn't just frontier backwater-even here, they had some of the good things in life.

"We're proud to be a sponsor of this important event," says St. Charles County Historical Society President Joan Koechig. "I think it will educate us all about our important history."

The conference is set for Sept. 27-29 at the Sheraton Westport Plaza Hotel. The cost is $95, which includes all the speaking events and gatherings. To register, go to the St. Charles County Historical Society website or call 636-946-9828.

*Painting image courtesy of THTGC Publishing.

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