Ste. Genevieve, MO is a treasure trove of colonial history and historic architecture. Surprisingly, no true house guide book had ever been written about the town. That has all changed. Mark L. Evans' "The Commandant's Last Ride" includes photos and background on about 95 of the city's most historic buildings. Information is based on Historic American Buildings Survey findings and other sources accepted by the U.S. Department of Interior. The book also includes user-friendly neighborhood maps and a section on architectural gems lost during the past century.
Cementing the house descriptions is a fictitious narrative in which 89-year-old Jean Baptiste Valle, the last colonial era commandant of Ste. Genevieve, takes one final carriage ride around the rapidly-changing town shortly before his death in 1849. Valle, who took keelboats of furs to New Orleans, negotiated with Native American tribes and survived two monumental floods and the New Madrid Earthquakes, could reflect on more of the town's history than any other.
The book is a must for anyone contemplating visiting Ste. Genevieve and is ideal for anyone interested in the early history of the Louisiana Territory or in historic architecture. (Ste. Genevieve has more French Creole buildings now than any city in North America.) It also includes original artwork by two outstanding Missouri artists.
Mark L. Evans is a freelance writer living in Cape Girardeau, MO, where he is also pursuing his master’s degree in history at Southeast Missouri State University. A journalist for sixteen years, he has worked at newspapers in Dexter, Kennett, Farmington, Poplar Bluff, Cape Girardeau and Ste. Genevieve, MO. He has won ten Missouri Press Association “Better Newspaper Contest” awards and two Missouri Associated Press Managing Editors awards.
A Bonne Terre, MO native, he received a BA in history from Central Methodist College in Fayette, MO in 1985 and contributed to "Central Methodist College: 1961-1985," edited by Dr. Bartlett C. Jones in 1986. He also contributed chapters to "The Lure and Lore of Missouri Basketball," edited by George Sherman, in 1992. In 1999 he and Bill and Patti Naeger co-authored "Ste. Genevieve: A Leisurely Stroll Through History." He is also working on a book on the history of Old St. Vincent’s Church in Cape Girardeau and has written a vampire novel.
Evans is single and enjoys reading, watching movies, barefoot hiking, visiting historical sites and playing APBA baseball and on-line trivia.
