Louis Vieux Cemetery
 Photo courtesy of doner. |
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| Louis Vieux Historical Site US24 N on Oregon Trail Rd St. Marys, KS 66536 Map This! |
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| (785) 437-2356 |
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| Admission: None | |
| Hours: 24/7 | |
Vieux, his wife, and 7 children built a toll bridge that took covered wagons over the Vermillion River. A grave site stands atop the hill near the homestead. Just a few hundred feet farther west is the National Historic Oregon Trail Cholera Cemetery, where a number of people who died during the Oregon Trail days are buried.
Of Pottawatomie Indian and French ancestry, Louis Vieux was an early resident of this area. Probably born near Lake Michigan, Vieux, with a portion of the Pottawatomies, moved to Iowa and later Indianola, Kan., near Topeka. In 1847 or 1848, Vieux moved to this area of what became Pottawatomie County, located on the Oregon Trail near the Vermillion river crossing. The Vieux family, with its seven children, lived in a log cabin and Vieux built and operated a toll bridge over the river. He charged Oregon Trail travelers one dollar per outfit and it was estimated that he earned as much as $300 per day during the peak season of wagon travel. In 1861, Vieux was one of the signers of a treaty allowing the Pottawatomie to hold lands in common or establish individual claims of 80 acres per person or more, depending on their position in the tribe. Vieux served as a business agent and interpreter and occasionally represented the tribe in Washington, D.C. Near here is the Vieux cemetery where members of the Vieux family and other early settlers were buried.