Editing Des Peres, Missouri (section)

==History==
The first inhabitants of Des Peres were the [[Cahokia]], the [[Kaskaskia]], the [[Mitchigamea]], the [[Moingona]], and the [[Otoe]] peoples. As well as the [[Missouria]], and [[Osage Nation|Osage]], and [[Tamaroa people|Tamaroa]] peoples.<ref>[http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/county/stlouis/native/1stcontact.htm Tribes of the Region at First Contact (1673)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930034607/http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/county/stlouis/native/1stcontact.htm |date=2007-09-30 }} accessed December 6, 2007.</ref>

The [[Osage Nation]] lived in the area around Des Peres. The Osage were members of the Dhegiha [[Sioux]] group of tribes. This group also included the [[Ponca]] tribe, [[Quapaw]] tribe, [[Kaw people|Kansas]] tribe, and [[Omaha people|Omaha]] tribe.

Des Peres is thought to be the oldest white settlement in Missouri, founded about December 3, 1700 by a group of Kaskaskia Native Americans and French who had left the camp of the confederated [[Illinois Confederation|Illinois tribe]]s on the [[Illinois River]]. The settlement was called Des Peres, French for "The Fathers," and meant to honor the French Jesuit missionaries who settled there. This settlement was at the mouth of [[River des Peres]] and it is thought the first settlers found this region unhealthful, so moved across the Mississippi River to a prairie about 25 miles from the mouth of the Kaskaskia River.<ref>State Historical Society of Missouri: St. Louis County Place Names, 1928-1945 {{cite web |url=http://shs.umsystem.edu/manuscripts/ramsay/ramsay_saint_louis.html |title=St. Louis, Missouri Place Names, 1928-1945 &#124; the State Historical Society of Missouri |access-date=2013-08-01 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625233120/http://shs.umsystem.edu/manuscripts/ramsay/ramsay_saint_louis.html |archive-date=2013-06-25 }}</ref>

People of European descent began settling in Des Peres in the 1800s. By 1850, there were 75,000 people living in [[St. Louis]]. Des Peres was mainly settled by German [[Immigration to the United States|immigrants]] and southerners from [[Virginia]] and [[the Carolinas]] who were drawn to the area by the farmland sold off by the [[Federal government of the United States|United States government]] in {{convert|80|to|160|acre|ha|adj=on}} tracts.<ref>Stolwyk, Carl F. (1976). ''History of Des Peres, Missouri.'' Binding Unknown.</ref>

Des Peres got its name from the [[River des Peres]] whose tributaries, Deer Creek and Two Mile Creek, ran through the town.  The name ''Des Pères'' is a [[French language|French]] term which means "of the Fathers".

In 1834 a small church, the Des Peres [[Presbyterian]] Church, 38°37′22″N 90°25′12″W
(Old Des Peres Church;Old Stone Church) is a historic church on Geyer Road in Frontenac, Missouri. The church was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1978.

Mark Becker has been mayor of the city since 2018.