Lion of the Valley: St. Louis, Missouri, 1764-1980

Western Urban History Series #3

by James Neal Primm

To begin the preface to the second edition of Lion of the Valley, James Neal Primm quotes the Reverend W. C. "A city is more than an assemblage of buildings with streets between them. It has a soul, and an atmosphere, and a social significance to which all material things should be made to minister." If a history book can help define that atmosphere and significance, Lion of the Valley has done so for St. Louis, telling the story of a vibrant and unusual American city in an engaging yet scholarly manner. Primm establishes a general historical narrative of St. Louis from Pierre Laclede's first step from the bow of a bateau to the prototypes of MetroLink. As in most comprehensive accounts, Lion of the Valley focuses on the central institutions and personalities that have shaped the city, as well as the events and circumstances that brought fame, or fear, to the citizens of St. Louis. The Great Fire of 1849; the 1904 World's Fair; the machinations of the "Big Cinch"; the construction of the Gateway Arch; these and many other episodes from the city's colorful past come to life in the pages of Primm's book. This newly designed fourth edition offers a new preface from the author and a revised and expanded index in order to make the book more reader friendly, while maintaining the integrity of the original text. It will be indispensable to students of St. Louis history as well as amateurs interested in the development of this great city.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

640 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

(1918-2009)

Reviews

[David Shelton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having recently moved back to St. Louis after more than 11 years away I have been excited to delve into the city’s history. I had seen many references to James Neal Primm’s book being the definitive historical work on St. Louis and it did not disappoint. It contains an incredible breadth of information from before the founding of the city in 1764 to the early 1990’s (an additional chapter was added, the title says 1980 which is not accurate). I had read a few books previously on some individual parts of St. Louis’s history but greatly enjoyed getting the full context. As any student of history knows this is critical to getting a better understanding of the subject.

I found the style of writing to be very engaging, though at times the text did get a little dense. For some readers it might be dull, but for those interested in the subject it’s certainly worth the effort.

Compared to other writers, Primm seems fairly pro-St. Louis. He certainly doesn’t shy away from the bad, but he does try to give an explanation for why something happened, any many times uses a more sensitive and understanding lens than is often given by other writers. For example, he debunks the common charge that St. Louis was passed by Chicago because it didn’t invest in railroads and shoes the effort that St. Louis leaders put into making the city the second biggest railroad hub in this country. He also explains some of the thought that went into building the urban highways. While this was obviously a bad decision in hind sight, it was understandable based on the knowledge available at the time.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was originally published two decades ago and has been subsequently updated and re-published twice. It is a history of the city of St. Louis and it is pretty dry (with the possible exception of the last couple of chapters). It is definitely written by a professional historian as a summary of the city for its Historical Society and not a "general public" read. Very thorough and interesting to someone from the city of St. Louis or (like myself) has a connection to the city through relatives - but not recommended for others as a general read. At times chapters seem like a list of prominent citizens' names and statistics on industry/commerce. St. Louis has its colorful tales and these are hit on in the book - but you have to wade through a lot of dry material to get to them.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this entire book and I'm still not sure who the audience is. It reads academic at times but without direct footnotes/end notes. It reads at other times like it wants to educate the locals about their history but then shows more interest in listing people and bills for bridge committees than actually exploring the legacy of political decisions. If it's not for someone local, then it's especially disappointing because it assumes you know every building's historic location and every person's family and political connections.

It's especially disappointing to read the recent chapters and know just how wrong the author was about urban renewal successes and political figures and it casts doubt on all the conclusions in the chapters preceding where the reader can't always fact check every decision made in the 1780s.

All that said, I did gain some understanding of pre-Civil War history and development because there's still so few books based on those eras. I would have liked more analysis on colonizers versus the historic people and how that influenced things but alas we barely even got much mention of the implications of the Lewis & Clark expedition so I'm hoping for too much. Even in the final pages of the book, I'm still not sure what the thesis of this was.

[Todd Davidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was commissioned for a purpose--to write a comprehensive history of St. Louis. It achieved that. Critiquing a book that achieved what it was supposed to do seems silly. Because its comprehensive it has a lot of dry lists of people and things. But if you skim past those names that you won't remember the history is pretty well written and kept me interested for 500+ pages. So if you are in the small group of people that wants to know a definitive history of St Louis, this is a book for you.

Highlights
• STL could have been the real heart of America with the incredible number of navigable rivers spreading out from STL. But the rivers couldn't reach Boston or NYC, so the damn north easterners built Chicago has their inland port.
• The city has a perpetual inferiority complex.
• 1876 City Charter limited the city's expansion and conflict with the county has ensued ever since. The author criticizes this limit a lot. Sure it was bad for St Louis City proper but perhaps the diversity of governments was good for the region as a whole. You had policy choices for people and businesses as opposed to 1 central city. EG would the financial industry of Clayton (STL suburb) have actually developed within a bigger St Louis city? IDK.

[Jimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid survey history of St. Louis, albeit one that hues too closely to the Great Men of History tradition. Class and racial conflict are acknowledged, but greatly, and unjustly, downplayed throughout.

The last chapter in particular, with nearly exuberant praise for Mayor Schoemehl, St. Louis Centre, Union Station and urban renewal more generally has aged very badly in the light of the last three decades.

Best read alongside more critical accounts of St. Louis History, especially Walter Johnson's Broken Heart of America (in many respects the two books serve as important correctives of each other).

[Adam Gutschenritter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives a through and comprehensive history of the city. I was pleasantly surprised that brewing was not mentioned more in the book, although that is what I had initially started the book to learn about. St. Louis, I have more respect for how the city is about things now that I have completed the book.

[Shannan Schoemaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing resource for St. Louis Historians, This is an excellently consolidated version of St. Louis History... But very very dry.....

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitive history of St. Louis.

[Ramona Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good non-fiction, chronological history of the city of St. Louis. It was a good resource for my genealogy research and writings.

[Jim Gallen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I prepared to teach a class on the history of St. Louis I heard that “Lion of the Valley” is the most thorough history of our city so I decided to give it a try. Good move! Lion begins with the founding of St. Louis in 1764 and continues to the writing of the book in 1980. It presents the themes that run through our history while enlivening the narrative with anecdotes that are interesting, humorous, or that just pique your memory. Author James Neal Primm introduces us to the characters who lived in and made our city and ties them in to national events when appropriate. He especially relates the stories of the businesses in which St. Louisans have worked, shopped and played. He also presents the roles played by the many ethnic groups who found new homes there.

Prof. Primm’s writing style is engaging and never monotonous. I learned a lot from the reading of this book. I now understand much better how St. Louis developed into the community it is today. I recommend it to any student of our Lion of the Valley.

[Clytee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I slogged through this book all summer. I am still in love with St. Louis and fascinated by it. All my father's German speaking ancestors landed in New Orleans in the 1840's-1850's and took paddle wheel steamers up the Mississippi to St. Louis, then headed to the next county west to settle. I research and research St. Louis and the next county over, Franklin County. I mostly enjoyed the book and the breadth of material he covered, but it was a bit disjointed and sometimes felt poorly organized. I got bogged down in election politics - I think he went on and on about that too much. But I finished, and I learned lots!

[Jw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Especially interesting was how St. Louis provided public education to African Americans immediately after the Civil War, despite Missouri being a Confederate state. Also fascinating was the evolution of the city from a few slave holding French families to a major metropolis, then its decline. Learned a lot about progressive thinkers in education that I did not know about. Was surprised that is one of the few books even written about St. Louis' history, which is still an important city in the United States.

[Ptothereb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting. At the time of reading I was a history major at UMSL.

[Kaseka]

Picked up because the class on St. Louis I wasn't able to take uses this as a textbook.