Legend of the Four Sons
of Charlemagne  (continued)

"These men will first build their homes on the hills overlooking this river. Land will be cleared so they can plant their crops in the spring. They will bring livestock to furnish them food. Then they will build a millwheel on the river to grind their grain, then a bridge. Homes will be built on the western bank. Stores will open. Industry will come. Schools will be built, and soon church spires will rise up in the community. This is the pattern of settlement of the white man.

"Now, I am old, and it will be hard for me to adjust to these changes. I have tried to be a good father to you. I have taught you all the tricks and the cunning of our kind. You are now able to take care of yourselves, and you can adjust your lives to these white men. As for myself, I have only a few more years to live. Tonight I shall leave you and go west to be with my Indian friends. This is as it should be. Your needs for me are no more.

"I have never given you names, preferring that you be known only as the four sons of Charlemagne, so that there shall always be unity among you for the great tasks ahead.

This has been our happy home. It is important that the settlement which arises on the banks of this river will develop a character unique among other communities to be settled by the white man. I would like you, my four sons, to be the guardians of this growing community in which men can live, can work, can be educated, can worship and can play.

“You, my firstborn, are to be the guardian of the civic, the business, the industrial life of this community.

“Education will become important, and you, my second son, are to be the guardian of this educational and cultural expression.

“Soon, men will band together to worship, and you, my third son, are to be entrusted with the guardianship of this religious expression.

“Amid this beautiful setting, it is only natural that recreation will flourish, and you, my last born, shall be the guardian of this natural recreation expression of man living in these surroundings.”

Finishing his talk, Charlemagne bade farewell to his sons and walked into the night and westward.

These four sons of Charlemagne are now represented on the Main Street Bridge, monumental guardians of this community.

Today, St. Charles is a truly great community - The Pride of the Fox - located in the “Beauty Spot” of the Fox River Valley. It is a community where men can live, work, worship, play and be educated.



Written in 1970 by C.V. Amenoff, Mayor of St. Charles, 1969-1973