LETTERS: MORE INTEREST IN EARLY HISTORY IS WELCOME TREND

To the editor:

As a member of the Cape Girardeau Area Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission, I would like to express my appreciation for your editorial in support of the Red House project as well as your recent news article. Sam Blackwell's excellent understanding of his subject and attention to detail are a credit to your paper.

The plans for the Red House interpretive center are literally on the drawing board, and we look forward by late spring to being ready to approach the city with concrete proposals. As time passes, more and more of our historically conscious citizens are becoming involved, and we are planning funding and eagerly anticipating the time when construction may begin.

As you know, the Red House was the home and center of business and government of Louis Lorimier. The concept of the Red House being so named as a tongue-in-cheek play on the name of the Alhambra is solely conjecture on my part. From my studies of Lorimier and his secretary and assistant, Bartholomew Cousin, it just seems like something they would think of.

Your editorial mentioned Lorimier's Spanish courtesy title which was often misconstrued through the years as being a name. However, Lorimier's first name was Pierre, not Louis. This has caused problems for historians through the years as Lorimier was and still is referred to in Ohio, where he had a trading post prior to and during the American Revolution, as Peter Lorimier.

The fact that Lorimier's nephew, Peter, spent some time in this area prior to and after Louis' death has further complicated the maze of history.

Lorimier's full name was Pierre-Louis de Lorimier.

As a longtime student of the early history of this area, I find it gratifying to see a rebirth of interest in the earliest history of Cape Girardeau.

LINDA NASH

Jackson, Mo.