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Memoir of Hon. Henry A. Bullard, LL. D., president of the Louisiana Historical Society, and late judge of Supreme Court of Louisiana.Historical Journal of the Establishment of the French in Louisiana. By Bernard de La Harpe. Tr. from the French
HISTORICAL JOURNAL
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCPI
LOUISIANA.
BY
BEiNAKB DE LA HARPE.*
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH.
In order to depreciate our claim to Louisiana the Spaniards show that Ponce de Leon in 1512, Vasquez d'Ayllon in 1520, Pamfile de
* M. de la Harpe, a French officer of distinction, came to Louisiana in 1718, to settle a colony on Red River. He reached the point of his destination at the close of the same year, and in the month of January, 1719, he built a fort near the present town of Natchitoches, from whence he went to explore the province of Texas. At the village of Natsoos, in N. lat. 33° 30', he built a fort as a sign of the jurisdiction of Franco. After exploring the country to the Rio Grande, he returned to New Orleans in 1721, to report himself to Bienville. In the following August he was ordered to take possession of the country on the Colorado. The force he took with him was too feeble to effect a settlement there on account of the hostility of the Indians, and ho was obliged to return to New Orleans at the close of the year. In 1723 he went to France, and there wrote a Journal of the first establishment of the French in Louisiana. A copy of this valuable manuscript, from which this translation is made, is deposited in the library of the American Philosophical Society at Philadelphia, with this endorsement:
"Journal Historique concernant l'établissement des Français a la Louisiane tiré des memoirs de Messieurs d'Iberville et de Bienville, commandans pour le Roi au dit pays ¦ et sur les découvertes et recherches de M. Benard de la Harpe nommé au Commandement de la Baye St. Bernard.
"Par M Benard de la Harpe. Presented to the American Philosophical Society by William Darby."
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HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
Narvaez in 1525. and Hernando de Soto in 1539,* took possession of it in the name of his Catholic Majesty. It is no doubt true they paid it a hasty visit, but they neither established posts, planted colonies, nor acquired rights superior to the French, who were the first to make explorations, build forts, and plant colonies in all that part of Florida afterwards called Louisiana.
By the command of Charles the Ninth, Jean Ribaut built, in 1562, the fortress of Charlesfort, at the mouth of the river Cahouitas, or Saint Esprit, to the east of St. Joseph's Bay, and settled a colony there, llené Laudoniere afterwards built another in Pensacola Bay, which he called Fort Carolin, and took possession of the country in the name of his King. M. de La Salle arrived in Canada in 1678, and subsequently explored the Mississippi river to its mouth.t He afterwards returned to France and fitted out an expedition, by order of the King, to make further discoveries by the Gulf of Mexico, and plant a colony there. Ho embarked accordingly in 1684 for the Mississippi river, but by sailing too far to the west, he missed its mouth, and landed in a bay which he called St. Louis, where he built a fort and established a colony on the banks of the Guadaloupo river, in the month of February, 1685. From thence he went in search of the Mississippi river by land a second time, and while engaged in this undertaking, he was inhumanly murdered by one of his companions. The colony left by him were in part killed by the Indians, and the remainder carried off by a detachment of Spaniards from the new kingdom of Leon, under the command of Don Gregorio Salinas Baronas.
On the 24th September, 1698, two frigates. Le Badine, of thirty guns and two hundred men, commanded by M. d;lberville ;\ and Le Marin, of thirty guns, commanded by M. le Comte de Surgère, with two store-ships, were fitted out by order of the King, and sailed from llochefort to plant a colony on the Mississippi. On the 4th December, they arrived at Cape Francois, St. Domingo, where they found M. le Marquis do Chateaumorant, who commanded the frigate
* An account of this expedition, translated from the Portuguese, is published in the second volume of the Historical Collections of Louisiana.
f The first exploration of this river was made in 1G73 by Father Marquette and the Sieur Joliet. A translation of Father Marquette's interesting journal will be found printed in the second volume of the Historical Collections of Louisiana, published in Philadelphia, 1850.
if Sieur Lemoync d:ll)erville, a distinguished naval commander, was the first Royal Governor of Louisiana. He was the third of the eleven sons of Charles Lemoync, Baron Longueil, of Canada, all of whom held commissions in tho service of his majesty, viz. :
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
11
Le Français, of fifty guns, to whom M. d'lberville delivered instructions for him to join in the expedition to the Mississippi river. At this port they took on board M. de Grave, a famous bucaneëf
1. Sieur Charles Lemoyne, Baron de Longueil, served in Canada as Captain of Marine, and was wounded in the attack of the English on Quebec in 1690. He was created by letters patent, " Baron Longueil."
2. Sieur Jacques Lemoyne de Saint Hélène, a Captain- of Marine, was killed in an attack on the English in Carolina.
3. Sieur Lemoyne d'lberville, the most illustrious of the brothers, and Governor of Louisiana.
4. Sieur Paul Lemoyne de Maricour, Captain of Marine, who was killed in an expedition against the Iroquois.
5. Sieur Lemoyne de Serigny served under his brother d'lberville, at New Orleans, and died Governor of Rochester, 1734.
6. Sieur --------Lemoyne Bicnville, an officer of Marine, was killed by the
Iroquois, who surrounded and burnt the house in which he and others were stationed.
7. S ur Lemoyne de Chateaugué, was an officer of Marine, and died Governor of Cayenne.
8. Sieur Lemoyne D'Assigny, an officer in the Marine, and died in St. Domingo, where his brother d'lberville left him on account of sickness in 1701.
9. Antoine Lemoyne Sauvole, Governor of Louisiana, and died at Biloxi, 1700.
10. Sieur Lemoyne Bicnville, the^second Royal French Governor of Louisiana, served his country upwards of forty years, and died in Paris March 7,1767.
11. Sieur Jean Baptiste Lemoyne de Chateaugué, captain of a company of Infantry, and was killed in Louisiana.
There appears to have been two brothers who took the name of Bienville, and two of the name of Chateaugué. There were also two sisters, one of whom married the Sieur de Noyan. and the other the Sieur de la Chassagne, both distinguished officers, and rendered eminent services to their country in the settlement of Louisiana. The only known representative of this illustrious family, is the Baron Grant, of Longuiel, in Lower Canada, who through the female line inherited the barony.
From the time of La Salle's departure from France in 1684, with his colony for the Mississippi, the jealousy of England was awakened against the extension of the French dominion in North America. They commenced first to excite the Iroquois against the French settlements on the St. Lawrence, and then to make open demonstrations against them by sea in Hudson's Bay and Acadie.
In 1686. M. d'lberville was sent by M. Denonville, Governor of Canada, together with his brother, St. Helene. on an expedition to Hudson's Bay under the command of M. de Troyes. In 1687, he was appointed Governor of Hudson's Bay, and in the following year he captured some English ships. In 1694, he captured Fort Bourbon, where he lost his "brother Lemoyne Chateaugué, He afterwards distinguished himself in several naval engagements with the English, and in 1697 sailed for France. The King of France up to this period had done nothing to colonize Louisiana. His attention was now, however, turned to this subject, and he appointed M. d'lberville, who had been lately made a Knight of the Order of St. Louis for his gallant conduct in Hudson's Bay, to conduct a colony to Louisiana.
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HISTORICAL COLLECTONS OF LOUISIANA.
N
who had some y ears before surprised and pillaged the town of Vera Cruz. On the 22d they left the Cape to rendezvous at Leogane, where they arrived on the 25th. On the 1st of Jan., 1699, the fleet set sail again,
On the 24th September, 1798, he set sail from Rochelle, with two frigates and two hundred colonists, accompanied by his brothers Sauvolle and Bienville, to take possession of Louisiana and establish a colony on the banks of the Mississippi.
In the beginning of January, 1699, he reached the Chandeleur Isles, explored the channel between Ship aud Cat Islands, and on the 27th February, he set out from Shi)) Island where he had landed the colonists, to explore the mouth of the Mississippi river in two barges, the one commanded by himself, and the other by Bienville. Three days brought them to the Balize, which they entered on the second of March, 1G99. They proceeded up the river, and after some days spent in exploring the country and holding intercourse with the jndian tribes near the mouth of the Red River, d'lberville returned with his party through pass Manchac and lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain to Ship Island. He afterwards built a fort of four bastions upon the northeast shore of Biloxi, where he established a colony, and gave the command of it to his brother Sauvolle. During the following summer the colony suffered severely from the yellow fever, which carried off its commander, leaving the youthful Bienville sole commander and superintendent of the Province. Early in December d'lberville returned with a large fleet and additional settlers. The two brothers met in deep mourning, and after mutual embraces, the brave d'lberville sought the tomb of his brother Sauvolle, where he knelt for hours in silent grief. On the 17th January, 1700, he set out from the bay of St. Louis, to select a suitable site for a fort. After looking about for some time, he selected a spot on Poverty Point, about thirty-eight miles below the present City of New Orleans, where he built a fort and located a small colony.
In the month of February, the Veteran Chevalier de Tonty arrived on the lower Mississippi, with a party of Canadian French from the Illinois. He found d'lberville at his newly erected fort, making arrangements to settle colonies on the lower Mississippi. The appearance of do Tonty, his knowledge of the Indian languages and customs, and his acquaintance with the Indian tribes on the Mississippi, rendered him a valuable acquisition to the new colony. With bis aid, therefore, he ascended the river and explored the country as far up as the Natchez, and formed a friendly alliance witli this tribe. He selected the bluff on which the City of Natchez is now built, as the site of the future capital of the province, and ordered a fort (Rosalie) to be built, whose frowning bastions are still to be seen by the passing traveller, throwing their dim shadows over the father of waters at the hour of twilight.
D'lberviHe and de Tonty again returned to Biloxi, while Bienville set out with M. St. Denys and a few Canadians and Indians, and ascended Red River as far as the Yatasee villages, about thirty miles above the present town of Natchi-toches, from whence he afterwards returned to Biloxi, and found that d'lberville had sailed for France for additional supplies. In 1702 war was declared by England against France and Spain. The King of France ordered the headquarters of the Governor to be removed to Mobile. Dauphin Island was used as a convenient station for the fleet, and for many years it was an
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
13
and on the 25th arrived at the Island of St. Rosa. Here they found the Spaniards had established themselves for more than a month previously, and fearing a surprise from the French, the Spanish Commandant of this port, Don Andre de la Eiole, notified M. d'lberville that he could not permit him to enter the port, in consequence of which, he was compelled to continue his voyage to Dauphin Island, where he arrived on the 31st. M. de Bienville, then a lieutenant, found here a large quantity of bones of savages, who had been killed by their enemies, from which circumstance it took the name of Massacre Island.
/ On the 6th of February, M. d'lberville anchored off the pass, between Horn and Ship Island, which he named ; and finding it difficult to enter this channel, he sailed four leagues further to the west, where he discovered the Chandeleur Islands. He anchored
important port. The whole colony as yet did not number much above thirty families, besides soldiers. The climate had cut off many of the first emigrants, and famine and Indian hostility now threatened the remainder. But d'lborville was indefatigable in his exertions to protect and provide for the colony. He had by his detachments, partially explored the remotest regions ; the channels and passes of the Mississippi ; the outlets and bayous of the Atchafalaya Plaquemines, La Fourche, and Manchac. Aided by the Jesuits and the Canadian French, the great tributaries of the Mississippi had been explored, and missionary stations had been established among the Indian tribes of the valley of the Mississippi, while the Washita, Yazoo, and Arkansas rivers had been partly explored. Sickness, in the meantime, had been busy with the colonists, and Sauvolle, the brother of d'lberville, had fallen a victim to the yellow fever. The war which had broken out between England, France, and Spain, left for awhile the colony unprotected ; but Louisiana, weak as she was gave early proofs of that generous spirit which has ever since animated her> and the towns of Pensacola and St. Augustine, then in the hands of Spain, being threatened by the English, she sent both men and ammunition to their assistance.
The year 1703 rolled slowly away, and d'lberville was not permitted to return. He sent, however, his brother Chateaugué with supplies at the imminent risk of being captured by the English, who at that time occupied most of the avenues to the Gulf of Mexico. In 1704, he was about to sail for the fourth time to carry supplies to the colonists, when he was taken seriously ill at Roehelle, and was detained in France. Finally, in 1706, he sailed again for Louisiana with a large fleet, with which he meditated an attack on Charleston, in South Carolina. He reached St. Domingo in safety, and took on board a reinforcement of men from the garrison there. But as he was about to set sail for Charleston, he was attacked with the yellow fever, which put an end to his life on the 9th of July, 1706. Thus perished the bold and persevering founder of the province of Louisiana, a martyr to the glory of France, as Cavalier de la Salle had been a few years before. He left a widow, "Dame Bethune," and four children to mourn his loss.
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OP LOUISIANA.
abreast of them and Ship Island, and ordered the channel between Ship and Cat Islands to be sounded. M. de Chateaumorant only remained here a short time, and afterwards returned to Cape Francois with M. de Grave, without taking any further part in the expedition. On the 11th M. d'lberville sent a felucca to the mainland, north of Ship Island, where they discovered a bay and a party of Indians in canoes, who instantly fled. On the 12th they captured a woman, who, flattered by their kind treatment, persuaded her nation to approach them. They were the Biloxis, after whom the bay was called. On the 13th M. d'lberville took four on board his ship, and left his brother Bienville a hostage until their return. On the same day eighty Bayagoula Indians, who were going on an expedition to fight the Mobileans, arrived at the bay. They informed us that they lived on the banks, of a great river (the Mississippi) to the west.
On the 27th M. d'lberville and Bienvillo embarked in two feluccas, with Father Anatase and thirty men each, to explore the mouths of the Mississippi river. On the 2d of March they entered a large river, which Father Anastase, who had accompanied M. de la Salle, recognized as the Mississippi from the appearance of its turbid waters. On the 7th, having advanced forty leagues up the river, they perceived at some distance three canoes filled with Indians, who all fled except one man, to whom they gave some presents, and learned from him that they belonged to the Bayagoula nation. They met several canoes of Indians belonging to the Ouacha nation, living near the fork of the Mississippi, who told them that they did not live far from the Chitimachas nation. On the 14th they arrived at the Bayagoula and Mongoulacha nations, numbering about eight hundred warriors. They found here several cloth cloaks, which had been given them by M. de la Salle. These nations received them very kindly, and gave them some chickens to eat, which they said had come from a ship that had been wrecked upon the coast about four years before.' 31. d'lber" ville was still uncertain whether it was the Mississippi, having met with no Indians which had been described by M. de la Sallo until it was told him that the Tangipaos had been destroyed by the Quinipissas, and that they had taken the name of the Mon-goulachas. It was here, while looking for Father Anatase's breviary, they found several prayer books in an Indian basket, in which were written the names of several Canadians who had accompanied the late M. de la Salle down the river ; together with a letter addressed to him by Chevalier de Tonty, informing him " that having learned of his departure from France to form a settlement on this river, he had descended it as far as the sea with twenty Canadians and thirty
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
15
Chaounans," from the neighborhood of the Ouabache. This discovery now relieved them from all doubts of the river they were in, and they ascertained the mouth of the Mississippi to be in about twenty-nine degrees north latitude. A coat of mail was also found here, which the Indians said had once belonged to Ferdinand de Soto. M. d'lberville made these Indians some presents, and then took a guide to conduct him to the Iloumas,- On the 18th he passed Baton-Rouge, not far from a stream which marked the boundary of the hunting ground between the Iloumas and Bayagoulas. As he advanced up the river, he came to a point about twelve leagues round, where he ordered the trees to be felled, and crossed over to the other side with his perogue. The Mississippi afterwards made a passage through this place, and ever since it has gone by the name of Point Coupée. On the 28th he arrived at a bend of the river called "Detour a la Croix," where the Iloumas have a portage. The Houmas conducted him to their village, about two and a half leagues inland, where he was well received and smoked the calumet with them. This village numbered about three hundred and fifty warriors. On the 22d M. d'lberville took leave of the Iloumas, after inakin'g the chiefs some presents. On the 24th he arrived at a very narrow and shallow stream which led to the lakes. Here he ordered M, de Bienville to descend the river with the Biseayans to Ship Island, while ho passed through the lakes to the Gulf. On the 25th M. do Bienville repaired to the villages of the Bayagoulas and Mongoulachas to procure provisions, after which he proceeded on his voyage. On the 29th he left the river, and on the 31st he arrived at Ship Island, where he found M. d'lberville, who had passed through the lakes, to which ho gave the names of Maurepas and Pontchartrain. .i On the 12th April M. d'lberville set out to visit a bay about nine leagues from Ship Island, to which he gave the name of St. Louis. On finding the water very shallow there, he concluded to fix his settlement at Biloxi. Here he built a fort with four bastions, which he mounted with twelve cannons, and gave the command of it to his brothers Sauvolle and Bienville ; aud having manned it with a force of thirty-five men, ho set sail for France on the 4th May, On the 20th M. de Bienville embarked in a felucca with a Bayagoula chief and twelve Canadians, to visit the Colapissa nation, who lived on the right bank of lake Pontchartrain, about eight 1 eagties inland.
On the 22d he arrived at their landing ; and on the 23d he repaired to the Colapissa village, which he found to contain upwards of ^hree hundred warriors, all armed and waiting to attack him. He kept at a distance, and sent the Bayagoula chief to hold a parley with
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HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
them, and to ascertain their object. He learned from them that two days before, two Englishmen, with two hundred Chicachas, had surprised their village, and carried off a great number of their men, and they had supposed them to be of the same nation. The Baya-goula chief having undeceived them, advised them to form an alliance. They accordingly laid down their arms and received M. de Bienville peaceably ; after which he returned to Biloxi, where he arrived on the 29th. On the 9th June, M. de Bienville set out with a felucca and canoe to visit Pascagoula river, four leagues east of Biloxi. At its entrance he found a bar with six feet of water. At eight leagues up the river he discovered the villages of the Pascagoula, Biloxi, and Mocktoboys. From whence he went to Mobile, and by land to Pen-sacola ; and on the 27th he returned to Biloxi./
On the 1st of July, two bark canoes from the Illinois arrived at Biloxi, bringing MM. de Martigny and Davion, Missionaries, who had learned from the Houmas that there were some French settlements on the sea-shore. On the 11th these missionaries departed from Biloxi to take possession of the mission house of the Tonicas, on the Yazoo river. On the 8th August upwards of seven hundred Mobile and Toniea Indians arrived at the fort. On the 24th-M. de Bienville set out in two bark canoes and five men, with provisions for three weeks to make discoveries. Ho passed through lakes Maurepas and Pontohartrain, and on the 27th arrived at the portage of Manchac. On the 3d September he reached the Bayagoula nation. On the 8th he set out with a guide to conduct him to the Ouacha nation, on the La Fourche. On the 9th he arrived at their village, twelve leagues down the Li Fourche, and one quarter of a league inland. He found them ferocious and difficult of access, and he was obliged to retreat to his canoes, which prevented him from descending the La Fourche to the sea./ He accordingly returned to the Mississippi on the 12th. On the 16th he discovered in one of the bends of the Mississippi, twenty-eight leagues from the sea, an English ship of sixteen guns, commanded by Captain Barr, whose purpose was to examine the river and afterwards return to Carolina, to fit out an expedition to establish a settlement here.
On board of this vessel was M. Secon, a French engineer, who gave secretly to M. Bienville a petition addressed to the King, proposing to his majesty that if he would grant religious liberty to the colony, he would settle more than four hundred families on the Mississippi. This petition was forwarded to the minister M. de Pont-chartrain, who replied that the King would not suffer heretics to go
ESTABLISHMENT OP THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
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from his kingdom for the purpose of forming a republic. M. de Bienville informed Captain Ban- that this was not the Mississippi river, but a dependence of Canada, which he had taken possession of in the name of his King ; that it was farther to the west; whereupon the English captain set sail in search of it. After the departure of the English vessel, M. de Bienville descended to the mouth and found eleven feet of water on the bar. He then reascended it to the Bayagoula and Mongoulacha villages, where he arrived on the 1st October. On the 10th he left these villages, and arrived at the portage of the Tangipahos. and on the next day he crossed the lakes and returned to Fort Biloxi. On the 7th December, a salute was fired at the Fort, announcing the arrival of MM. d'lberville and La Surgere, in the ships Renommé of fifty, and the Gironde of forty-six guns, with many officers and passengers, among whom were MM. Dugué, Lasourdy, Hautmaison, Boisbriant, Saint Denis, and sixty Canadians. M. le Sueur also came passenger in the Gironde. He had acquired celebrity by his travels in Canada ; and was now sent on the part of M. L'Huilier, Farmer General, to make a settlement on the Mississippi, and to work some mines there which he had discovered some years before.
M. d'lberville was informed of the attempt of the English to find the Mississippi, and he resolved to make a settlement on its banks. He accordingly set sail in two shallops, with fifty men. and arrived in the river on the 15th January, 1700. He had previously sent M. de Bienville to the Bayagoulas to procure guides, and to select a place above inundation. They conducted him to a ridge of high land, at a distance of about eighteen leagues from the sea. Four days after, M. d'lberville arrived there and commenced building a fort. On the 16th February, M. de Tonty descended the Mississippi from Canada in a pirogue, to discover whether any settlements had been made. On the 19th MM. d'lberville and Bienville, with M. Dugué and ten marines, arrived at the village of the Bayagoulas. On the same day, M. le Sueur, who had set out on his journey to the Scioux nations, also arrived there. On the 26th MM. d'lberville and Bienville returned to the Bayagoulas, and on the 1st March they set out for the Houmas, for the purpose of restoring peace between these, two nations. On the 5th March they reached the Houmas, and concluded a peace. On the 8th they set out for the Natchez, and reached there on the 11th, where they found M. de St. Come, a missionary, who had lately arrived there from Canada.
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HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
The Great Chief, or Sun, marched before the French, and was followed by six hundred men. They found him polite, but possessing despotic power over his nation. When any of the Suns died, several of the natives gave themselves up to death, for the purpose of serving him in the other world. According to their account the nation numbered nineteen hundred Suns, and upwards of two hundred thousand people. They kept up a constant fire in their temple, which was attended by a priest, who offered in it the first fruits of the chase. After death they believed the souls of their warriors went to reside in the land of the buffalo, and those who had not taken any scalps, went to reside in the country of the lakes, where lived only alligators and fish. On the 12th MM. d'lberville and Bienville set out from the Natchez, and arrived at the village of the Tensas. This nation was composed of about two hundred and fifty men. Their belief and ceremonies were like those of the Natchez. On the lGth their temple was struck by lightning and consumed. During the conflagration, the women threw in their children to appease the Great Spirit, who they said was angry with them.
On the 22d M. de Bienville set out with M. de Saint Denys* and twenty Canadians and Indians, to visit the Yatase nation, on lied River, and watch the Spaniards, and on the same day, M. d'lberville set out for the fleet. On the 27th he was informed that Don Andre do la Riole, Governor of Pensacola, had entered the harbor of Ship Island, with a ship of twenty-four guns, one tender, and a shallop, with ,tho design of breaking up the French colony. He was met by some of the King's vessels and compelled to retreat ; not however without first making a protest, and sending it to M. de Surgere, declaring that Louisiana was a part of Mexico, and belonged to his Catholic Majesty.
On the 15th April, M, d'lberville reached his ship, and was informed that the Spanish Governor, on leaving Ship Island, lost his ship on one of the Chandeleur Islands, where a part of his crew saved themselves, and were taken to Pensacola. On the 18th M. de Bienville arrived at Biloxi. On the 28th he set out for the Ouachita village, situated on the river of that name which empties into lied
* This distinguished officer came to Louisiana in company with M. le Sueur, the geologist, who had been sent to examine some mines on the Mississippi and St. Peters's rivers, which had been described by Du gay and Hemiepin in 1080. In 1714 M. St. Denys was dispatched up Red River to explore the country, and observe the movements of the Spaniards. He found they bad crossed the Rio Grande, and established a fort called the Presidio of St. John the Baptist; and they now for the first time claimed jurisdiction oyer the country, from the
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
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River, several leagues from its mouth. Ho was informed by this nation, that six leagues to the north-east there was a Courois village, consisting of about one hundred men. On the 30th he crossed Red River, and continued his journey on foot. On the same day lie met with sis Natehitoches Indians, who were taking salt to the Courois. On the 7th May. he arrived at the Ouachita village, where he procured some provisions, and a guide to conduct him to the Yatasse nation. On the IStli he passed two small nations called the Nadassa and Naeassé; and on the 20th he arrived at the Yatasse nation, which. consisted of about two hundred men. Here ho obtained some information respecting the distance to the Nadaeo and Cadadoquiou villages. As the time given him by M. d'lberville had now expired, he embarked on the 23d in four pirogues and descended Red River. On the 2Gth he visited one of the villages of the Adayes. On the 28th he stopped at the villages of the Dulchanois, about three leagues from Natchitoches, where he purchased some corn. A few days after he entered the Mississippi, and arrived at the Bayagoula nation, where he learned that they had entirely destroyed their neighbors, the Mongoulachas. He then proceeded into the sea to meet his brother d'lberville, to whom ho gave an account of his expedition. On the 28th May, M. d'lberville set sail for France, and on the same day M. de Bienville took command of the fort on the Missis- . sippi. On the 29th he dispatched M. de Saint Denis to explore the country in the Red River, and to watch the Spaniards. On the 30th May, the Enflammée of twenty-six guns, commanded by M. de la Ronde, arrived at Ship Island. Among the passengers was M. Sagan, a traveller from Canada, who had presented a memoir to the minister, M. de Pontehartrain, assuring him that he had travelled all over the Mississippi, and had found mines of gold on its banks ; and that the Indians had worked them. The minister, putting faith in his statements, granted to M. Sagan some privileges,
Rio Grande to Red River. But the French, more effectually to hold the country, established a post on the Sabine, and another about thirty miles west of the present town of Nacogdoehes, which was kept up for many years. During the first thirty years after the settlement of Louisiana, the French Governors kept a watchful look upon the Spaniards, and sent several detachments to drive them out of Texas.
In 171-5 he was sent as an envoy to negotiate a commercial treaty with ."Mexico ; and again in 1718, as the agent of M. Crozat, with articles of merchandise to exchange with the Mexicans for such articles as would be useful in Louisiana. But the Viceroy being now dead, he was seized as a smuggler and spy, and sent in chains to Mexico, from whence he afterwards made his escape, and returned to Mobile in April, 1719.
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HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
and ordered M. de Sauvolle to supply him with twenty-four pirogues and one hundred Canadians, to accompany him to the Missouri.
On the 22d August, M. do Sauvolle died at Biloxi, and M. de Bienville was left sole commander of the colon}',*
On the 16th September, a party of Chactas arrived at Biloxi to demand of the French some troops to assist them to fight the Chicachas. The Chactas nation contained forty villages, and over five thousand warriors. On the 25th October, twenty Mobileans arrived at Fort Biloxi, This nation was situated about one hundred and forty leagues up that river, and contained about four hundred men. On the 18th December, a shallop arrived from Pensacola with the news-that MM. d'lberville and Serigny had arrived there with the King's ships, the Renommée of fifty guns, and the Palmier of forty-four guns. This news spread joy in the garrison, as it had then been living on corn for more than three months. It had lost by sickness up-
* M. de Bienville succeeded to the command of the colony at the ago of twenty. He was of one of the illustrious sons of Charles Leiuoyne Bienville, who settled in Canada in 1G-10 ; all of whom died in the service of their country. The early administration of M. de Bienville was marked by petty jealousies and oppositions, common to almost all new settlements. The miserable faction of La Salle, the Commissary of the Crown, and the Curate de la Vente, pushed their intrigues with so much success, that they finally caused him to be removed from oifice in 1707. M. de la Muys was appointed in his stead, but died of yellow fever before he reached Louisiana. M. de Bienville was now continued in office. He embraced every opportunity to conciliate the native tribes as he explored the bays and rivers upon the coast, and to attach them to the French interest. The Spanish Governor of Pensacola, failing to expel the French by force, continued to remonstrate against their settlements in Louisiana. The English expedition to Louisiana, commanded by Captain Barr, (sent out by Dr. Coxe, in virtue of a grant from the English government, of the province of Carolina,) having departed, left the country once more free from the apprehension of any annoyance except from the Spaniards.
It was believed in France that Louisiana presented a rich field for enterprise and speculation, and a grant, with exclusive privileges, was obtained by M. Crozat for fifteen years. He expected to derive great profit from mining operations and the fur trade, as well as from traffic with the Spanish settlements i n Mexico and the West Indies.
In 1712 he appointed M. la Mothe Cadillac, Governor; and M. de Bienville. Lieutenant Governor. In 1714 he sent M. de St. Denys to form a settlement at Natchitoches, to explore the country to the Rio Grande, and observe whether the Spaniards had advanced across that river into Louisiana. In the following yea r M. St. Uenys negotiated a commercial treaty with the Viceroy of Mexico, and established friendly relations between the French of Louisiana and the Spaaish settlements on the Rio Grande. M. la Mothe, the partner of M. Crozat, having died, M. de Bienville assumed once more the reins of government.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
21
wards of sixty men, leaving only one hundred and fifty persons in the colony.
M. de Bienville received orders by tho sliallop to evacuate Biloxi, and remove to Mobile river. On the 5th January, 1701, M. de
In 1716 he conducted an expedition against the Natchez Indians, and after bringing them to terms, lie finished the fort (¦' Rosalie,") which had been commenced by his brother d'lberville, sixteen years before. In 1717, three ships belonging to 31. Crozat arrived, with three companies of infantry and fifty colonists, and M. de l'Epinary, the new Governor. He brought M. de Bienville the decoration of the Cross of St. Louis,"and a royal patent, conceding to him by mean tenure in soccage, Horn Island, on the coast of Louisiana, which lie demanded of M. l'Epinary in vain, to be erected in liis favor into a noble fief. In the mean time, M. Crozat failing to realize the great profits ho-had relied upon in his trade with the Indians and the Spaniards, and the colony having brought him into debt upwards of 125.000 livres, he determined to abandon the whole scheme, and accordingly petitioned the King to revoke his charter, or to permit him to surrender it to the Crown. Tho King complied with his request, .and accepted the surrender of his charter in August, 3717.
No sooner had he surrendered his charter, however, than another company was formed under the name of the Western Company, connected with Law's Bank of France, and sharing its privileges. The charter conferred upon this company had much more extensive powers and privileges than were granted to M. Crozat. Tn 1718, three of the company's ships arrived in the port of Mobile, with three companies of infantry and sixty-nine colonists, bringing to M. de Bienville tho commission of Governor of the province. He now resolved to remove ihe head-quarters from the «terile regions of Biloxi, Mobile, and St. Louis bay, to the more fertile country of the .Mississippi river. In view of this object, he selected a site for a town, which is now occupied by the first municipality of the present city of New Orleans. In the mean time, the Spaniards had quietly advanced from Mexico to the east side of the Rio Grande. M. de Bienville watched with a jealous eye their encroachments ; but such was the feebleness of his force, that it was not until the winter of 1719-20 he was enabled to check their advance into the country by dispatching M. de la Harpe to build a fort at .Natchitoehes.
Daily experiments had shown to M. de Bienville that the fertile soi! of the Mississippi, as well as the climate, were well adapted to the cultivation of sugar, cotton, tobacco, and rice ; but it was soon discovered that European constitutions were not adapted to the burning suns of Louisiana, for they sickened and died. The first plantations of any extent were therefore commenced with negroes, imported into Louisiana from Guinea, and for several years the importation of negroes was one of the most profitable monopolies of the " Western Company."
In 1719, the province became involved in hostilities with the Spaniards, in consequence of the war between France and Spain. The settlement of Louisiana presented a continual scene of military display and hostile preparation. Gov.de Bienville twice reduced the town of Pensacola. and sent detachments to prevent the Spaniards from making inroads into upper Louisiana, and the
22
HISTOEICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
Bienvillc took up his march for Mobile river, leaving but twenty men under the command of M. de Boisbriant to man the fort. At Dauphin Island, M. do Bienville had an interview with MM. de
country bordering on the Rio Grande. Peace being restored at last, emigrants began to arrive in great numbers from Franco and Germany.
In 1722, M. de Bienville removed his head-quarters to New Orleans. About the same time a spirit of jealous dissatisfaction had appeared among the Indians east of the Mississippi, which soon ripened into hostilities against the colonists. and they were threatened with extermination. The forts of St. Peter, on the Yazoo. and Rosalie, on the Mississippi, were attacked, and so complete was the massacre, that but few of the colonists reached New Orleans to bear the melancholy news to the Governor.
In the autumn of 172G the Government of Louisiana passed out of the hands of M. Bienville. He was superseded by M. Perier, as Commandant-General of the Province, and M. Bienvillc retired to France to recruit his health. The preparation for prosecuting the Natchez war engaged a large share of M. Pericr's attention for several years, until this wily nation was entirely subdued. But it so involved the I: Western Company" in an enormous debt, and following so closely upon the failure of Law's financial schemes, that they petitioned the-King to surrender their charter to the Crown, which was accepted in 1732.
In 1734 the King rcappoiuted M. Bienville Governor and Commandant-General of Louisiana. Early in autumn he arrived at New Orleans, and entered upon the duties of his office. He still felt a thirst for military fame, and coveted the honor of humbling the Chickasaw Indians, who had alforded the Natchez an asylum from the vengeance of the French.
He immediately organized an army to march against the Chickasaw nation. In the spring of 1736 he arrived in their country and attacked their strong-holds. He was repulsed with considerable loss; and, finding himself surrounded by a brave and powerful people, and without any hopes of being able to subdue them, he returned to New Orleans on the olst of May. mortified with the result of his campaign. In the beginning of the year 1737 JÏ. Bienville proposed to lead another expedition against the Chickasaws. by way of the Chick-asaw Bluffs, which received the sanction of the French Minister. The spring of 1739 was fixed on for the contemplated invasion. All things being ready, the main party left New Orleans in a (leet of boats, and slowly moved up the strong current of the Mississippi until the last of June, when they readied Fort St. Francis.
He crossed over to Fort Assumption, which was built near the mouth of Wolf River, and remained there until the following Mardi, Mhen he marched into the Chickasaw country. The; Indians immediately sued for peace, and. taking advantage of their alarm, M. Bienville entered into a treaty with them. and returned to New Orleans. This campaign closed his military career in Louisiana. He returned to France, under a cloud of censure from bis Government, after having faithfully served his country for more than forty years, during which time the wealth and population of the province had continued to flourish and increase-under his paternal government. He died in Paris on the 7th March, 1767, ar.fl was buried with military honors in the cemetery of Montmartre.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
23
Serigny and Ohateaugué,* who had arrived there with a detachment of sailors and workmen, to build a magazine for the reception of the goods and provisions which had been brought from France. On the 16th M, de Bienville commenced a settlement on the Mobile river, about eighteen leagues from the sea. On the 10th M. le Sueur returned from his expedition to the Scioux, with two hundred thousand pounds weight of copper ore.
The following is an extract taken from Ms Journal :
"Having arrived in the colony in December, 1699, with thirty workmen, he set out for the Tamarois in June, 1700. Ho stopped at the mouth of the Missouri river, and from thence proceeded to the Illinois river, where he was joined by three Canadian travellers, who brought him a letter from Father Marest, a Jesuit from the mission house of ' L'Immaculée Conception de la Sainte Vierge aux Illinois.'
" At twenty-two leagues above the Illinois, he passed a small river, which he named the Buffalo : and on going nine leagues further he met a party of Canadians descending the Mississippi, returning to the Illinois. On the 30th July, he met seventeen Scioux in seven canoes, going to avenge the death of three Scioux by the Illinois, one of whom had been burnt, and the other two killed at Tamarois, a few days before his arrival at this village. Ho promised the Chief of the Illinois to pacify the Scioux if they should come to make war on him. He presented to the Chief of the party some merchandise to induce him to return to his nation. He told him that the King of Frauce did not wish them to make war, and if he would desist he should bo supplied with every thing necessary. The Chief accepted the presents, and promised to obey the King.
"From the 30th July to the 25th August, M. le Sueur travelled fifty-two leagues to a stream, which he called Mine River ; to the right of which, seven leagues inland, is a lead mine. This river is only navigable for boats from January to June. From the 25th to the 27th, he passed several small streams, and noticed several lead mines. From the 27th to the 30th, ho travelled eleven leagues, and met five Canadians, one of whom was dangerously wounded in the head. They were almost naked, and without any ammunition. They said that they came from the Scioux, and were going to Tamarois ; and at forty leagues above they were' met by a party of Puans, Saquis, Outagamis, and Poutaouatamis, who were going to make war
* The Brothers of MM. dc Bienville and d'lberville, who afterwards died in Louisiana.
Z4 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
on the Scioux, who had cruelly beat and robbed them. They afterwards resolved to join our party.
" On the 1st September, he passed the Ouisconsin river,* which is about half a league wide at its mouth. On ascending this river about forty-five leagues, he found a portage of more tk,an a mile in length, consisting in part of marshy ground, from which a little stream took its rise and flowed into the Puan bay, inhabited by a great number of Indian tribes, who trade in furs to Canada. From the 1st to the 5th September, he travelled fourteen leagues, and passed a river which came from the northeast, called the Quin-capous. after a tribe of Indians who had once lived on its banks. From the 5th to the 9th, he made ten leagues and a half, and passed the Cachée river. On the same day he observed some canoes filled with Indians descending the river. The five Canadians recognized them to be those who had robbed them. He placed sentinels in the woods to guard against a surprise, and when they got within speaking distance, he told them that if they advanced any farther he would fire upon them.
" A little while after four of the Chiefs advanced in a canoe, and asked if they had forgotten that they were brothers, and why they were alarmed.
" M. le Sueur replied that after what they had done to the five Frenchmen who were present, they had a right to distrust them. Nevertheless, for the sake of trade, he wished to be at peace with all nations, and would not punish them for the injuries they had done. That the King, his master, wished all his subjects to navigate the river without being insulted. They replied that they had been attacked by the Scioux and lost all their baggage ; and to take pity on them by giving them some powder, so that they might be able to return to their village.
<; M. de Sueur ordered some powder to be given them. On the same day he travelled three leagues, and passed a little river from the West and another from the East, which the Indians called Red River, and which is always navigable.
"From the 10th to the 14th, M. de Sueur travelled seventeen leagues and a half, passed the river Raisin, and also on the same
* It was by this river that M. le Sueur for the first time entered the Mississippi river in 1683, to visit the nations of the Scioux, among whom he resided for upwards of seven years. It was also by this river that Father Marquette and the Sieur Joliet entered the Mississippi (from the Bay of Puans) to explore it to its mouth, in 1073.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
25
day a great river coming from the North called the Bon-Secours, on account of the great number of buffalo, deer, bears and roebucks found there. Three leagues from the banks of this river is a lead mine, and at seven leagues above, on the same side, he passed another river, in the neighborhood of which he discovered a copper mine, from which he took sixty pounds of ore in a former voyage : but to make it of any value, a peace must first be made between the Scioux and the Outagamis. At a league and a-half further to the North-West is a lake, six leagues long and more than a league in width, called Lake Pepin. It is bounded on the West by a chain of mountains, on the East by a prairie, on the North-West by a second prairie, not far from which is a chain of mountains, two hundred feet high, and more than a half league in length, in which are several caves, where.the bears retire in winter. Some of them are forty feet deep and about four or five feet high, the entrance to which is very narrow, and filled with salt petre. It is dangerous, however, to enter them, on account of the rattle-snakes, whose bite is very poisonous.
" At the distance of seven and a-half leagues, M. le Sueur passed another river, called Hiambouxate-Onontaba, which signifies Roches-Plates River. On the 15th he passed a small river, and saw several canoes descending, filled with Indians. He heard them make a noise similar to that just before they are going to fall upon their enemy ; and, having placed his men behind some trees, he ordered them not to fire until the word of command was given. The chief of the party, after making some observations, advanced with the calumet, (which is a sign of peace among the Indians,) and said that, not having seen before any Frenchmen navigating the Mississippi in boats like theirs, they took them to be English, and raised the war-cry.
" M. le Sueur told them that the King of France, of whom they had heard so much in Canada, had sent him to settle in the country, and he wished all the nations who inhabited it, as well as those under his protection, to live in peace.
"On the 16th he passed a large river to the East, which was named St. Croix, after a Frenchman who was shipwrecked there. It comes from the North North-West. Ascending it four leagues he came to a small lake, at the entrance of which there is a large mass of copper, imbedded in sand.*
" From the 16th to the 19th he advanced thirteen and three quarters
* The mineral region of Lake Superior was faithfully explored and described by eminent French engineers more than a century and a-half ago.
2
26
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
of a league. Having now travelled from the Tamarois,* two hundred and seven leagues, he left the Mississippi to enter St. Peter's River, where he remained till the 1st October. He then entered Blue River, (Minnesota,) so called from some mines of blue earth which he found on its banks. At this place he met nine Seioux, who told him that this river came from the country of the Seioux of the West. He built a post here, but finding that his establishment did not please the Seioux of the East as well as the neighboring tribes he had to tell them that his intentions were only to trade in beaver skins, although his real purpose was to explore the mines in this country, which he had discovered some years before. -
" He then presented them with some powder, balls, knives and tobacco, and invited them to come to his fort, as soon as it was constructed, and he would tell them the intentions of the King his master. The Seioux of the West have, according to the accounts of those of the East, more than a thousand huts.
\ " They do not use canoes or cultivate the land, but wander in the prairies between the upper Mississippi and the Missouri, and live by hunting)'
; '" All the Scioux say they have three souls, and that after death the good one goes to a warm country, the bad one to a cold country, and the third watches the body:< They are very expert with their bows. Polygamy is very common among them. They are extremely jealous, and sometimes fight duels for their wives. '¦' They make their huts out of buifalo skins, sewed together, and carry them with them. Two or three families generally live togethor.v- 'They are great smokers. They swallow the smoke, but some time after they force it up from their stomach through their nose.
" On the 3d of October he received several Scioux at the fort, among whom was Ouacantapi, a chief of a village. Shortly after two Canadians arrived, who had been on a hunting expedition, and were robbed by the Scioux of the East of their guns.
" On the 14th, M. le Sueur finished the fort which he named Fort L'Huilier.
f " On the 22d, he sent two Canadians to invite the Ayavois and the Octotatas to settle near the fort, because they were good farmers, and he wished to employ them in cultivating the land and working the mines.
* The present town of Cahokia is built upon the site of this once important Indian village. The Cahokia and Tamarois villages joined each other; the Jesuits had a Missionary establishment there, and the French a Post.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
27
''¦ On the 24th, the two Canadians returned without being able to find the road which led to those tribes.
" On the 26th, M. le Sueur repaired to a mountain, and filled three canoes with green and blue earth, some of which he had sent to Paris in 1696 to be assayed. He also brought away with him some mineral specimens.
" On the 9th November, eight Mantantous Seioux, who had been sent by their Chiefs, came to the fort to inform him that the Men-douacantons had gone to the lake east of the Mississippi, and they wished to know what satisfaction he wished of them. M. le Sueur replied that he only desired to have a talk with them.
" On the 1st December, they invited M. le Sueur to a great feast which they had prepared for him. They made a speech, and presented him with a slave and a sack of oats.
" On the 12th, three Mendoucaton Chiefs, with a great many followers, arrived at the fort to render some satisfaction for the injuries they had committed on a party of French. They brought four hundred pounds of beaver skins, and promised to return next summer after they had harvested their oats, to come and establish themselves near the fort. On the same day they departed for their village to the east of the Mississippi. On the 15th, two Seioux Mantantous came expressly to warn M. le Sueur that all the Seioux of the East, and some from the West, had met for the purpose of coming to the fort, as they had been informed that the Christianaux and Assinopoils had determined to make war upon them. These two nations lived in a country more than eighty leagues to the east of the fort, on the upper Mississippi. The Assinopoils speak the language of the Seioux. and were originally a part of that nation ; but they had not for some years lived on terms of friendship with this nation. The Christianaux are accustomed to guns, with which they are furnished by the Hudson Bay Company, and they go to war with the Assinopoils, who are their near neighbors. On the 16th, the two Seioux returned and reported that the Ayavois and Octotatas had established themselves on the Missouri, in the neighborhood of the Mahas.
" On the 26th, the Mantantous and Oujalespious arrived at the fort, and pitched their huts under the trees."*
On the 18th March, 1702, M. d'lberville arrived at Dauphin Island, in the frigate " Palmier," which he brought into port without any difficulty, there being twenty-one feet or more of water at the
* The Intendant commissary of the colony, who was afterwards succeeded by Diron D'Artaguette.
28
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
pass. On the 19th, M. de la Salle* arrived with his family at For Mobile, which had just been finished, and the head-quarters of the colony about to be removed there from Dauphin (Massacre) Island.f On the 25th, M. de Tonty, who had been sent by M. d'Iberville on a mission to the Chactas and Chicachas, arrived at Mobile, bringing with him some of the principal Chiefs of those nations, to make a treaty of peace. By presents and entreaties M. d' Iberville made them agree to live in peace together. On the 27th, M. d' Iberville returned to Dauphin Island, and from thence he went to Pensacola. On the 13th April, M. Dugue arrived with a transport ladened with provisions. On the 31st, M. d' Iberville and de Serigny departed for France. On the 12th May, eight Alibamon Chiefs arrived at Mobile to consult with M. de Bienville whether they should continue to war with the Chicachas, Tomes, and Mobilians. He advised them to make a peace, and gave them some presents for this purpose. On the 24th June, a Spanish shallop arrived from Pensacola, on board of which was Don José de lloblas. Captain of Infantry, and a son of the nurse of Count de Montezuma, bringing a letter from Francisco Martin, Governor of Pensacola, asking to be supplied with some provisions, which M. de Bienville granted.
On the 10th August, M. de Bienville was informed that M. St. Denis and some Canadians had invaded the territory of our allies to capture slaves, which he ordered to be restored.
On the 1st October, M. Davion, missionary, and Father Limoge, a Jesuit, arrived from the Mississippi, to give notice that one of their brethren and three Frenchmen had been murdered on the Yasous river, by two young Courois. who had acted as their guides.
On the 11th November. Don Francisco Martin arrived from Pensacola, with the news that France and Spain were at war with England, and asked for a supply of arms and powder, which was given him.
On the 28th, two shallops, with two Spanish officers, arrived at the fort from St. Augustine, Florida, and brought a letter from Don Joseph de Souniga y Serda, Governor of that place, informing M. de Bienville that it was besieged by fourteen English vessels and two thousand Indians. He further requested that a small vessel might be sent to the Viceroy of Mexico, informing him of what had happened. M. de Bienville sent him one hundred muskets and five hundred pounds of powder.
* The journal of M. le Sueur ends here. He retnrned to France in April, 1702.
| The name of this island was changed in compliment to the eldest born o-the King of France, presumptive heir to the Crown.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
29
On the 27th December, M. de Becancourt sailed for Vera Cruz, with letters from the Governor of Florida to the Viceroy of Mexico.
On the 2d January, 1703, M. de Bienville learned by letters from Pensacola, that the Fort of St. Augustine sustained itself against the united efforts of the Indians and English.
On the 8th February, a pirogue arrived from the Ouabache, and '= brought the news that M. de Jucherau, Lieutenant General of Mont- ' Real, had arrived there with thirty-four Canadians to form a settlement at its mouth, and to collect buffalo skins.
On the 14th, an officer arrived from Pensacola, with a letter from the Governor, informing M. de Bienville that the fort of St. Augustine had received assistance from Havana ; and the English soon after raised the siege with the loss of one of their largest ships on the coast.
On the 22d, M. de Becancourt arrived from Vera Cruz with provisions. He reported that M. d'Albukerque, Viceroy of Mexico, had received orders from the King of Spain, to permit the French of Louisiana to enter his ports to buy provisions. On the 3d of March, the men who had been left at Fort L'Huillierby M. le Sueur, returned to Mobile on account of the bad treatment which they had received from the Indians. On the 3d of May, the English living among the Indians in Carolina, induced the Alibamons to declare war against the French, and to use a stratagem to get them in their power. They sent two Chiefs to Mobile to notify the French and the neighboring Indians of the Cahouitas tribe, that the English had left their villages, and they could obtain a quantity of corn for themselves and their garrison. M. Labrie and four Canadians were accordingly sent to purchase a supply.
On the 5th, a Spanish shallop arrived at the fort, with Don Hyacinthe Iloque Peres, an officer at Apalaches. He was sent by the Governor of Florida to ask succor for the province of the ApalacheSj who were attacked by three thousand Indians, composed of the' Cheraqui, Cahouita, Talapouche, Abicas, Alibamons, at the head of v'| which were five Englishmen and two negroeà1." :He reported that at the approach of these nations, the Apalaches had demanded of the Spaniards arms to defend themselves with, which they refused. This refusal had obliged more than two thousand of the Apalaches to join their enemies, and to settle in Carolina. Two villages of the Apa- ,
laches, who were Catholics, joined the Spaniards, and retired to the......J
fort, where they made advantageous sallies. He further added that those nations had made great devastation in the province. He requested a detachment of Canadians and some ammunition to be sent,, but only a few guns and some powder were granted him.
30
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
On the 21st, M. de Becaneourt sailed for Vera Cruz to procure provisions. On the 24th. Charles, the Canadian who was sent on the 3d of this month with M. Labri to purchase corn of the Alibamons, returned with his arm broken. He said that about two days' journey from the fort, twelve Indians had met them with the calumet of peace; and in the night assassinated his companions. He had barely
time to make his escape by throwing himself into the :
On the
25th, three Spaniards came from Pensacola with letters from Don André de la lliole, Governor of that place, who gave notice of the arrival of throe ships from Vera Cruz with provisions ; and that hearing the garrison at Mobile was in want of some, he offered to furnish it. This news gave great pleasure, as it had been obliged to seek their provisions from the Indians, or else to live off oysters and fish. M. de Boisbriant was dispatched to Pensaeola to purchase a supply. On the 23d July, 1703, M. de Becaneourt arrived from Vera Cruz, bringing a letter from M. le duc d'Albukerque, thanking M. de Bienville for the assistance he had given Fort St. Augustine, Florida.
In the month of August, the Chevalier de Perrot arrived at Mobile in the shallop " La Loire," commanded by M. Dugué, ladened with provisions and other articles for the garrison. He brought with him seventeen passengers, among whom was M. Paillou, sergeant of a company raised by M. de Chateaugué, brother of M. de Bienville, who was soon to arrive in this country by the first opportunity, with a commission of second lieutenant in the navy. M. de Paillou had formerly been an officer in France, and was once aid-major of the colony. On the same day four Chicachas brought the news that five Frenchmen had been killed by the Tongarois, anatioa living upon the river Casquinimbo, which empties into the Ouabache. On the 16th October, M. Dugué set sail from Dauphin Island for . the Havana, where he hoped to find freight for France. On the 22d December, M. de Bienville set out from Fort St. Louis, Mobile, with forty soldiers and Canadians in seven perogues, to punish the Alibamons, a nation of four hundred warriors, for the murder of the four Frenchmen.
On the 3d January, 1704, he discovered the fires of the enemy, and soon after ten perogues filled with men. He held a council with M. de Tonty and M. de St. Denis, who, (contrary to his opinion.) thought they should wait till night to attack them. The Alibamons were encamped on a bluff difficult of access. The night was very dark. They took a road almost impracticable to travel, and where >the enemy was posted. They fired and killed two Frenchmen, and
ESTABLISHMENT OP THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
31
i
wounded another, and afterwards retreated. M. de Bienville sunk their pirogues ladened with corn, and on the 11th of the same month returned to the fort at Mobile. On the 14th, a party of twenty Chicachas brought five scalps of the Alibamons, for each of which they received five pounds of balls, and as much powder agreeably to a treaty made with them. On the 6th April, M. José de Roble arrived from Pensacola, to get M. de Bienville to send a vessel to Vera Cruz to inform the King of the extreme suffering of the garrison, which was reduced to three hundred men.
On the 20th, letters were received from Pensacola, bringing an account of Don André de la Riolle from Havana, with provisions. M. de Boisbriant was sent to obtain some wheat from them. On the 22d, two Indians from Pensacola brought a letter from Don Guzman, informing M. de Bienville that the Indian allies of the English had returned to the Apalaches, and killed twenty-eight of his men, and begging that he would render him some assistance. On the 24th, M. Dueoudray-Guimont arrived at Dauphin Island with the " Pelican," of fifty guns, from France, bringing provisions and other articles for the colony.
He also brought sixty-five soldiers, being part of the two companies raised by MM. de Vaulguard and Chateaugue, the latter of whom arrived in company with M. de la Vente, a missionary, and four other priests, sent by the Archbishop of Quebec, under his orders. There also arrived, in the same ship, two grey nuns, twenty-three poor girls, and four families of artisans. The girls were married in the same month to different Canadians.
In the month of September (1704), a great deal of sickness prevailed in the colony. M. Ducoudrey Guimont lost the half of his crew, and was obliged to take twenty men from the Garrison to sail his vessel back to France. MM. de Tonty,* et le Vasseur, Father
* M. de Tonty, a distinguished and brave French officer, came to Canada with M. de Salle in 1678, and was his faithful and confidential friend throughout his glorious career. He accompanied him in his exploration of the Mississippi river in 1682. In 1683 M. de la Salle appointed him to the command of Fort St. Louis, on the Illinois river, where, in the following year, he was attacked by more than two hundred Iroquois, whom he repulsed, with great loss on their side. In 1686 he went with forty men in canoes, at his own ¦expense, to the Gulf of Mexico, to seek for M. de la Salle, who had previously sailed from Rochelle with an expedition to plant a colony on the Mississippi river, Unable to find him, he returned to Montreal and put himself under the command of M. Denonvillc, to engage in the war with the Iroquois. The campaign being over, he returned to Fort St. Louis, in 1689, to go in search of the remains of M. de la Salle's colony in Texas, which he was unable to reach, after
32
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
Dongy, a Jesuit, and thirty soldiers of the new troops who had just arrived at the fort died during this month.
'"' On the 20th October twenty Chieachas came to report that the English at Charleston, Carolina, had made them a present of twelve slaves, taken from the Taensas nation, to retain them in their in-
¦: terest.
On the 27th, three Spaniards brought the news that the fort at; Pensaeola was entirely destroyed by fire, together with the barracks, houses and goods, and begged that a vessel might be sent to Vera Cruz to report the disaster.
On the 11th December a French brig arrived from Havana, and reported that an armament of several vessels were fitting out at Carolina, to take possession of Mobile and the Mississippi. ¦ff*~ On the 21st, the chiefs of the Tonica nation came to the fort to solicit the return of M. Davion, the missionary, to their village, which he had abandoned since the death of M. Foucault, the priest who had been killed there by the Curois, instigated by the English, and in concert with the Yasous. M. de Bienville told them that he would not agree to it until the blood of the murdered Frenchmen were avenged. That if they wished to have him, they must strike a blow upon the Curois and Yasous, and bring him all the English
i.__that might be found among them. That to facilitate this enterprise
lie would send a detachment of his troops to assist them. The chiefs were delighted with the proposition, and promised to engage their allies in this undertaking. M. de Bienville agreed to send M. de Saint Denis, with twelve Canadians, to join M. de Lambert, Captain of the Canada Company, and brother of M. de Mandeville, officier bleu, who was descending the Mississippi river with forty Canadians from the Ouabache, where he had been commanding since the death of M. de Guchereau.
many months of privation and suffering, through the treachery and desertion of his men. He subsequently joined MM. de ïbervïlle and Bienville, on their arrival in the Gulf, and was employed by them in various active services up to the time of his death. All that is known of his personal history and adventures for he has not been so fortunate as to have had a biographer to write them is recorded in a report of his services to the French Government, and published in the first volume of the Historical collections of Louisiana. They reflect the highest honor upon him as a brave and generous officer. His achievements in the exploration of the Mississippi Valley must always rank him next to La Salle : and probably he contributed more to the successful extension of the French possessions in North America than any one man. Whatever doubt the failure of the first expedition of De la Salle to the Gulf of Mexico may have produced in France, was afterwards removed by the information which he obtained of this country in his courageous efforts to save his countrymen in Texas.
ESTABLISHMENT OP THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
33
The Tonica chiefs, after having received some presents, set out for the Mississippi, and agreed to meet M. Saint Denis at the Natchez. They built pirogues, and after every preparation had been made for the war, M. de Saint Denis changed his mind and refused to go.
On the 21st January, 1705, M. de Chateaugué set out for Vera Cruz with letters from the Government of Pensacola. On the 28th, M. de Lambert arrived at Mobile from the Ouabache with the Canadians he commanded, on account of the war among the Indians there, leaving behind thirteen thousand buffaloe skins belonging to M. de Guchereau. ' On the 1st February M. de Bienville was informed that the Chicachas had sold to the English many of the Chactas families who had come to visit them ; and that this treachery had caused a rupture between the two nations. There were at this time about seventy Chicachas at Mobile, and they were afraid to return to their nation. They begged M. de Bienville to send an escort with them, which he granted, and M. de Boisbriant was ordered, with twenty-five Canadians, to take command of this expedition. He set out on the 9th, and arrived at a village of the Chactas at the end of the month. The chiefs of this nation assured them that they would not oppose the return of the Chicachas, but it was right to reproach them for their treachery in presence of the French. The great chief of the Chactas stood in the middle of the place, with a feather and a calumet in his hand. He invited the Chicachas to sit around him and listen to his speech, which they did with their guns cooked in their hands. The Chactas chief then ordered more than three thousand of his warriors to sit in a circle behind the Chicachas. He then commenced reproaching them for their perfidy. He said the French could not know their treachery, and it was best for them to die. He then lowered the feather of his calumet, which he had been holding up till then, and which was his signal to strike. Several Chicachas were killed, and M. de Boisbriant was wounded by accident as he was retiring. He was carried by the Chactas on a litter to Mobile, where he arrived on the 10th March, accompanied by more than three hundred of this nation. On the 20th March M. de Chateaugué returned from Vera Cruz with provision for the colony.
On the 10th April, ten Chicachas arrived from the Tonicas by the Mississippi, to beg M. de Bienville to reconcile them to the Chactas. On the 16th August, M. de Bienville was informed a French corsair was en relâche at Pensacola. On the 6th September, he was advised by letter from Don Guzman, Governor of Pensacola,
34
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OP LOUISIANA.
that the Le Rosaire, of forty-six guns, commanded by M. Landeche, had been wrecked in port by a sudden gale of wind, which threw her over. Her equipage was afterwards sent in a vessel commanded by M. de Chateaugué, to Vera Cruz. On the 18th, M. de Chateaugué returned from Pensacola to Mobile Point, where he found a small brigantine from Martinique, a bucaneer, dismasted and unable to go to sea. He compelled her to anchor, and sent all the crew on shore, with the exception of a few persons who remained on board. This vessel had on bord $72,000, which M. de Chateaugué sent to Mobile Fort, under the charge of the captain. She was afterwards sunk in a gale of wind.
On the 11th October, M. de Chateaugué sailed for Pensacola, where he repaired his vessel ; and on the 16th returned with M. Landeche and some officers. On the 16th November, two eanoes with voijaguers, arrived from the Illinois. One of them was M. Lau-rain, who had been to the Missouri river. He gave an account of the nations who inhabited that country, as well as of some Spanish settlements on the frontier of Mexico. On the 9th December, 1705, six Chicachas Chiefs came to solicit M. de Bienville to make peace between them and the Chactas. He accordingly sent a deputation of three Canadians to the Chactas nation. On the 18th, M. de Bienville reconciled the Mobileans with the Thomes, who were on the point of delaring war. On the 29th, M. de Chateaugué arrived in a felucca, which had been sent on a voyage of discovery.
On the 7th January, 1706, M. Lambert brought the news that the Chactas had been attacked by four thousand Indians, led on by the English, who had carried off upwards of three hundred of their women and children. On the 16th, Father Gracio, a Jesuit, returned from the Illinois severely wounded. He had much trouble in making his escape, as that nation had declared war against the French. On the 21st, several Chactas Chiefs arrived, whom M. Lambert had left behind. They came at the request of M. de Bienville, to smoke the calumet of peace with the Chicachas Chiefs, who had previously arrived at the fort. On the 21st February, M. de*Boisbriant, who went on an expedition against the Alibamons, returned to the fort with several prisoners. On the 27th, a shallop arrived from Pensacola, with the Commissary Don Pedro Garcia, to adjust the accounts between the Spanish and the French commandants.
On the 5th March, two Chactas came to the fort to inform M. de Bienville, that notwithstanding the promise of peace, the Chicachas had carried off from one of their villages upwards of one hundred and fifty persons, and asked for assistance and some ammunition.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
35
On the 4th April, M. de Chateaugué sailed for Havana with the crew of the brigantine lost on the coast. On the 28th May, the Governor of Pensacola, sent the French garrison, which was reduced to the last extremity, forty quintals of corn. On the 13th Juno, M. de Chateaugué returned from Havana, in company with the Eagle, of thirty-six guns, commanded by M. de Noyan, brother-in-law of M. de Bienville. On the 14th August, the frigate Eagle, and a brigantine commanded by M. de Chateaugué, sailed for Havana. On the 25th August, M. de Bienville was informed that the Taensas were forced to abandon their villages by the Yasous and Chicachas, and to retire among the Bayagoulas ; and that not long afterwards the Taensas attacked the Bayagoulas, and had nearly exterminated them ; a punishment they deserved for having destroyed their allies, the Mongoulachas. The Taensas fearing the vengeance of the Cola-pissas, Houmas, and other nations, the allies and friends of the Bayagoulas, they did not dare to return to their ancient villages ; but invited the Chitimaches and Yaguénéchitons living on the lakes, to come and eat corn with them, by which they avoided a surprise. On the 1st October, M. de Bienville was informed that a party of Huron Indians, who had gone to make war on the Arkansas Indians, were surprised and burned alive.
On the 19th M. de Chateaugué arrived from Havana, and reported that M. de Iberville had fitted out a fleet to seize upon Jamaica, and had taken on board at Martinique about two thousand buccaneers, but hearing that the English had been informed of his intentions, and taken measures to prevent their negroes from revolting, he sailed for the islands of St. Christophers and Neuvitias. on which he laid a forced contribution. He then sailed for Havana, and took on board one thousand Spaniards to invade Carolina. The fever broke out among his troops, of which he died, and eight hundred men and several officers besides. On the 20th an English trader, who had been captured by the Tonicas, took revenge on them by assembling together the Chicachas and Alibamons, and declaring war. The Tonicas, not finding themselves strong enough to fight them, abandoned their villages and joined the Houmas ; and whilst there enjoying their confidence, the Tonicas rose upon them and killed more than one half of the tribe ; the remainder fled to the banks of the Bayou St. John, which empties into Lake Pontchartrain, at a short distance only from the spot where New Orleans has since been built, and established themselves.
On the 1st January, 1707, M. Berquier, grand vicar of Quebec, arrived from the Illinois, and reported that M. Saint Cosme, mis-
36
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OP LOUISIANA.
sionary at the Natchez, who was descending to the sea, had been killed by the Chitimaches. M. de Bienville sent presents to several of the Indian tribes, and requested that they should immediately declare war against them. In March the Pascagoulas declared war against the Ouachas ; and shortly after the Indian tribes assembled to make war upon the Chitimaches. They were composed of the Biloxis. Bayagoulas and Natchez. They nearly destroyed the Chitimaches, and levelled their cabins to the ground. On the 20th April letters were received from M. de Chateaugué that M. de Noyan,* commander of the frigate Eagle, died at Vera Cruz. On the 16th July M. de Chateaugué. brought from Pensacola a large quantity of bacon, presented to the colony by the Vice Eoy of Mexico. On the 25th August M. de Bienville received news that two hundred Indians, allies of the English, had invested Pensacola, burned the houses outside of the fort, killed ten Spaniards, and taken twelve slaves from the Apalache and Chactas nations.
On the 16th November some Ouachas arrived at the Mobile fort with,four scalps and a young slave, taken from the Abika nation. They informed M. de Bienville that the Alibamons and Abikas awaited the arrival of some English to go and attack Pensacola. On the 20th about two hundred Chaetas arrived with four slaves and thirty scalps taken from the Cahouitas and Altamaha nations. On the 24th M. de Bienville was informed that Pensacola was invested by the Indians and English, He took with him one hundred Canadians and arrived there on the 8th December, and found the siege raised and the Indians and English retreated. M. de Bienville returned to Mobile on the 19th.
On the 9th January, 1708, a French vessel arrived at Dauphin island, and brought letters from M. louche, of the island of Cuba, informing M. de Bienville that M. Ducasse had arrived at St. Domingo with a large fleet to convey several galleons to Spain. He also announced the birth of a prince of Asturias on the 27th August, 1707. On the 24th the Governor of Pensacola sent word that a vessel had arrived there, bringing news that she had met the Renommée, a French frigate, upon which M. le Comte de Choisoul, the new Governor of St. Domingo, with several families for the Isle à Yaches, had embarked ; and that the Renommée had brought stores for the colony. On the 10th February the Renommée, commanded by M. Chilez, arrived at Dauphin Island, with provisions for the colony. He brought the news of the death of M. de Muys, who had been appointed by the King Governor-General of Louisiana. In
* The brother-in-law of M. de Bienville.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FKENCH IN LOUISIANA.
37
this vessel came M. Diron d' Artaguette and one of his brothers, the former to fill the office of Intendent Commissary, and to report on the past conduct of all the officers of the colony : to examine the port, and decide on the propriety of keeping it there or removing it, according to the new plans approved of by the King. This vessel also brought thirty new recruits for the two companies of infantry serving in Louisiana, with order from the King to discharge all the Canadians who had faithfully served his majesty.
In April, 1708, the Renommée sailed for France. During the remainder of this year and the whole of the next nothing particular occurred except the arrival of some vessels bringing provisions from Kochelle and the Islands of St. Domingo and Martinique.
In the beginning of 1710 M. de la Salle, Intendant Commissary of the colony, died a short time after his second wife.
In the month of September of the same year, an English Corsair made a descent upon Dauphin Island, and destroyed fifty thousand livres of property. In March, 1711, the settlement of Mobile was inundated, and M. d'Artaguette proposed to M. de Bien ville to re-nione their quarters eight leagues above, at the entrance of the river, which was accordingly done. In the month of May, the Chicachas declared war against the Chactas. At the time there were thirty Chicachas at Mobile, who were afraid to return to their villages, and M. de Chateaugué, with thirty soldiers, was ordered to escort them. In September, the Renommée, of fifty-six guns, arrived at Dauphin Island, with provisions, on board of which was .M. de Saint Helene, midshipman, who come to serve as aid-de-camp to 'his uncle. In November, M. d' Artaguette returned to France in this vessel, carrying with him the regrets of the colony. He was an accomplished gentleman, and soon made himself acquainted with what was necessary to make the colony flourish.
In January, 1712, M. de Saint Helene was sent to Vera Cruz for provisions. His vessel foundered in the harbor, and the Duke de Linares, Viceroy, who had succeeded the Duke d'Albukerque, furnished him with another in which he returned to the colony. In March, a frigate of Saint Malo, commanded by M. de la Vigne-Voisin, arrived at Dauphin Island, after having attempted to trade at Tuspan: He had letters from M. Ducase to the Viceroy ; but he only agreed with the merchants as to prices they were to pay for goods at Dauphin Island. A Spanish vessel afterwards arrived with the money to pay for their goods ; but the frigate was not there, and the vessel returned to Vera Cruz. At the end of the month, M. de
38
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
Bienville reconciled the Alibamons, Abikas, and other nations of Carolina with his Indian allies.
In the month of May, 1713, the frigate Baron de la Fosse, of forty guns, commanded by M. de la Jonquiere, arrived with provisions from France, and brought the news of peace concluded at Rastadt. Among the passengers who came were M. de la Mothe Cadillac, the new Governor General of Louisiana ; M. Duclos, Intendant Commissary; M. de Richebourg ; MM. Le Bas, comptroller, and Dirigouin, La Laire des Ursins, agents and directors appointed by M. Crozat,* to whom the King had granted a charter of Louisiana, for ten years by letters patent, dated 14th September.!
* M. Crozat, Marquis du Cliatel, was one of those great financiers who flourished in the reign of Louis XlVth, when he obtained the Royal Charter granting him so many commercial privileges. The military force in Louisiana at that time, did not exceed two companies of infantry, of fifty men each, seventy-five Canadians, and about three hundred persons of every description which was scattered over a boundless territory. lie died on the 7th June, 1738.
fLETTERS PATENT GRANTED BY TUB KING OF FRANCE TO M. CROZAT.
Louis, by the Grace of God, King of France and Navarre : To all who shall see these present Letters, Greeting. The care we have always had to procure the welfare and advantage of our subjects having induced us. notwithstanding the almost continual wars which we have been obliged to support from the beginning of our reign, to seek for all possible opportunities of enlarging and extending the trade of our American Colonies, we did in the year 1G83 give our orders to undertake a discovery of the countries and lands which are situated in the Northern part of America, between New France and New Mexico : and the Sieur de la Sale, to whom we committed that enterprise, having had success enough to confirm a belief that a communication might be settled from New France to the Gulf of Mexico by means of large rivers ; this obliged us immediately after the peace of Ryswick to give orders for the establishing a Colony there, and maintaining a garrison which has kept and preserved the possession, we had taken in the very year 1683 of the Lands, Coasts and Islands which are situated in the Gulf of Mexico, between Carolina on the East, and Old and New Mexico on the West. But a new war having broke out in Europe shortly after, there was no possibility, till now, of reaping from that new Colony the advantages that might have been expected from thence, because the private men, who are concerned in the sea trade, were all under engagements with other Colonies, which they have been obliged to follow : and whereas upon information we have received concerning the disposition and situation of the said countries known at present by the name of the Province of Louisiana, we are of opinion that there may be established therein a considerable commerce, so much the more advantageous to our kingdom in that there has hitherto been a necessity of fetching from foreigners the greatest part of the commodities which may be brought from thence, and because in exchange thereof we need carry thither nothing but commodities of the growth and manufacture of our own kingdom ; we have resolved to grant the commerce of the country of Louisiana to the Sieur Anthony Crozat our Councellor, Secretary of the Household, Crown
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN" LOUISIANA.
39
At the time of the transfer there was in the colony four hundred persons, including twenty negroes and three hundred head of cattle. The object of M. Crozat was to open a trade with the Spaniards in
and Revenue, to whom we entrust the execution of this project. We are the more readily inclined hereunto, because his zeal and the singular knowledge he has acquired in maritime commerce, encourage us to hope for as good success as he has hitherto had in the divers and sundry enterprises he has gone upon, and which have procured to our kingdom great quantities of gold and silver in such conjunctures as have rendered them very acceptable to us.
For these reasons being desirous to show our favor to him, and to regulate the conditions upon which we mean to grant him the said commerce, after having deliberated this affair in our Council, of our certain knowledge, full power and royal authority, we by these presents, signed by our hand, have appointed and do appoint the said Sieur Crozat solely to carry on a trade in all the lands possessed by us, and bounded by New Mexico, and by the lands of the English of Carolina, all the establishment, ports, havens, rivers, and principally the port and haven of the Isle Dauphine, heretofore called Massacre ; the river of St. Lewis, heretofore called Mississippi, from the edge of the sea as far as the Illinois ; together with the River of St. Philip, heretofore called the Missouri, and of St. Jerome, heretofore called Ouabache, with all the countries, territories, lakes within land, and the rivers which fall directly or indirectly into that part of the river of St. Lewis.
The Articles.
I. Our pleasure is, that all the aforesaid Lands, Countries, Streams, Rivers and Islands be and remain under the Government of Louisiana, which shall be dependent upon the General Government of New France, to which it is subordinate ; and further, that all the lands which we possess from the Illinois be united, so far as occasion requires, to the General Government of New France, and become part thereof, reserving however to ourselves the liberty of enlarging, as we shall think fit, the extent of the government of the Country of Louisiana.
II. We grant to the said Sieur Crozat for fifteen successive years, to be reckoned from the day of enrolling these presents, a right and power to transport all sorts of goods and merchandise from Franco into the said Country of Louisiana, and to traffic thither as he shall think fit. We forbid all and every person and persons, company and companies, of what quality and condition soever, and under any pretence whatever, to trade thither, under penalty of confiscation of goods, ships, and other more severe punishments, as occasion shall require; and for this purpose we order our Governors and other officers commanding our troops in the said country forcibly to abet, aid and assist the directors and agents of the said Sieur Crozat..
III. We permit him to search for, open and dig all sorts of mines, veins and minerals throughout the whole extent of the said country of Louisiana, and to transport the profits thereof into any port of France during the fifteen years; and we grant in perpetuity to him, his heirs and others claiming under him or them, the property of, in and to the mines, veins and minerals which he shall bring to bear, paying us, in lieu of all claim, the fifth part of the gold and silver which the said Sieur Crozat shall cause to be transported to France at his own chargea into what port he pleases, (of which fifth we shall run the risks of the
40
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OP LOUISIANA.
Mexico, and to establish a commercial depot at the Dauphin Island, with brigantines to convey merchandise to Pensacola, Tampico, Vera Cruz, Tuspan, and the coast of Campeachy, in which he would have
sea and of war.) and the tenth part of what effects he shall draw from the other mines, veins and minerals, which tenth he shall transfer and convey to our magazines in the said country of Louisiana.
We likewise permit him to search for precious stones and pearls, paying us the fifth part in the same manner as is mentioned for the gold and silver.
We will that the said Sieur Crozat, his heirs, or those claiming under him the perpetual right, shall forfeit the propriety of the said mines, veins and minerals, if they discontinue the work during three years, and that in such case the said mines, veins and minerals shall be fully reunited to our domain, by virtue of this present article, without the formality of any process of law, but only an ordinance of re-union from the subdclegato of the intendant of New Franc, who shall be ine the said country, nor do we mean that the said penalty of forfeiture in default of not working for three years, bo reputed a comminatory penalty.
IV. The said Sieur Crozat may vend all such merchandise, goods, wares, commodities, arms and amunition as he shall have caused to be transported into the said country and Government of Louisiana, as well to the French, as savages who are or shall be there settled ; nor shall any person or persons under any pretence whatsoever be capable of doing the like without his leave expressed in writing.
V. He may purchase in the said country, all sorts of furs, skins, leather, wool, and other commodities and effects of the said country, and tronsport them to France during the said fifteen years : and as our intention is to favor, as much as we can, our inhabitants of New France, and to hinder the lessening of their trade, we forbid him trafficking for castor in the said country under any pretence whatsoever ; nor to convey any from thence into our kingdom or foreign countries.
VI. We grant to the Sieur Crozat, or those claiming under him or them, the property of, in and to all settlements which ho shall erect or set up in the said country for silk, indigo, wool, leather, mines, veins and minerals, as likewise the property of, in and to the lands which he shall cause to be cultivated, with the mansions, mills, and structures which ho shall cause to be built thereon, taking grants thereof from us, which grants he shall obtain upon the verbal process and opinion of our Governor and of the subdelcgate of the intendant of New France in the said country, to be by him reported unto us.
We will that the said Sieur Crozat, his heirs, or those claiming under him or them, shall keep in repair the said settlements, manufactories, lands and mills ; and in default thereof during the three years, he and they shall forfeit the same, and the said settlements, manufactories, lands and mills shall be reunited to our domain fully and amply, and in the same manner as is mentioned above in the third article concerning mines, veins and minerals.
VII. Our edicts, ordinances and customs, and the usages of the mayoralty and shreevalty of Paris, shall be observed for laws and customs in the said country of Louisiana.
VIII. I he said Sieur Crozat shall be obliged to send to the said country of
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA. 41
succeeded if the Spaniards had not refused since the peace to open their ports to the French, in order to gratify the English, with whom they had made a commercial treaty.
Louisiana two ships every year, which he shall cause to set out Jm the proper season, in each of which ships he shall cause to be embarked, wthout paying any freight, twenty-five tuns of victuals, effects and necessary ammunition, for the maintenance of the garrison and forts of the Louisiana ; and in case we should cause to be laden above the said twenty-five tuns in each ship, we consent to pay the freight to the said Sieur Crozat, at the common mercantile rates.
He shall be obliged to convey our officers of Louisiana in the ships which he shall send thither, and to furnish them with subsistence and a captain's table for thirty sols per day, which he will cause to be paid for each.
He shall likewise give passage in the said ships, to the soldiers, which we shall please to send to the said country ; and we will cause the necessary provisions for their subsistence to be furnished to him, or will pay him for them at the same price as is paid to the Purveyor-General of our Marine.
He shall be furthermore obliged to send on board each ship, which he shall cause to set out for the said country, ten young men or women, at his own election.
IX. We will cause to be delivered out of our magazines to the said Sieur Crozat, ten thousand weight of gunpowder every year, which he shall pay us for at the price that it shall cost us, and this for so long time as the present privilege shall last.
X. The wares and merchandise which the said Sieur Crozat shall consign to the said country of Louisiana shall be exempt from all duties of exportation, laid or to be laid, on condition that his directors, deputies or clerks shall engage to give, within the space of a year, to be reckoned from the date thereof, a certificate of their unlading in the said country of Louisiana ; under penalty, in case of contravention, to pay the quadrupule of the duties, reserving to ourselves the power of giving him a longer respite in such cases and occurrences as we shall think proper.
XL And as for the goods and merchandise which the Sieur Crozat shall cause to be brought from the said country of Louisiana, and upon his account, into the ports of our kingdom, and shall afterwards cause to be transported into foreign countries, they shall pay no duties either of importation or exportation, and shall be deposited in the custom house, warehouses of ports where they shall arrive, until they be taken away ; and when the deputies and clerks of the said Sieur Crozat shall be minded to cause them to be transported in foreign countries, either by sea or land, they shall be obliged to give security to bring, within a certain time, a certificate from the last office, containing what they exported there, and another certificate of their unlading in foreign countries.
XII. In case the said Sieur Crozat be obliged, for the furtherance of his commerce to fetch from foreign countries some goods and merchandise of foreign manufactures, in order to transport them into the said country of Louisiana. He shall make us acquainted therewith, and lay before us states thereof; upon which we, if we think fit, will grant him our particular permission with
s
m
42
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
The arrival of M. de la Mothe Cadillac could not but have produced a good effect in Louisiana, if he had only acted in concert with M. de Bienville ; but being jealous of the popularity of M. de Bienville, it gave rise to repeated altercations between them, out of which grew two parties in the colony, and which exist to this day.*
exemptions from duties of importation and exportation, provided the said goods and merchandise be deposited afterwards in our custom-house warehouses until they be laden in the ships of the said Sieur Crozat, who shall be obliged to bring in one year, to be reckoned from the day of the date hereof, a certificate of their unlading in the said country of Louisiana, under penalty, in case of contravention, to pay quadruple the duties ; reserving to ourselves, in like manner, the liberty of granting to the said Sieur Crozat. a longer respite, if it be necessary.
XIII. The feluccas, canoes, and other vessels belonging to us, and which are in the said country of Louisiana, shall serve for loading,runloading and transporting the effects of the said Sieur Crozat, who shall be bound to keep them in good condition, and after the expiration of the said fifteen years shall restore them, or a like number of equal bulk and goodness, to our Governor in the said country.
XIV. If for the cultures and plantations which the said Sieur Crozat is minded to make, he finds it proper to have blacks in the said country of the Louisiana, he may send a ship every year to trade for them directly upon the coast of Guinea, taking permission from the Guinea Company so to do; he may sell those blacks to the inhabitants of the colony of Louisiana, and we forbid all other companies and persons whatsoever, under any pretence whatsoever, to introduce blacks or traffic for them in the said country, nor shall the said Sieur Crozat carry any blacks elsewhere.
XV. He shall not send any ships into the said country of Louisiana but directly from France, and he shall cause the said ships to return thither again ; the whole under pain of confiscation and forfeiture of the present privilege.
XVI. The said Sieur Crozat shall be obliged, after the expiration of the first nine years of this grant, to pay the officers and the garrison which shall be in said country during the six last years of the continuance of this present privilege ; the said Sieur Crozat may in that time propose and nominate the officers, as vacancies shall fall, and such officer, shall be confirmed by us, if we approve of them.
Given at Fontainbleau, the fourteenth day of September, in the year of Grace, 1712, and of our reign the 70th. (Signed) LOUIS
By the King PHELIPEAUX, &c.
Registered at Paris in the Parliament, the 24th of September, 1712.
* On one side, says " Gayarré, the Historian of Louisiana," was the Governor, the Agamemnon of his party, backed by Marigny de Mandeville, Bagot, Blondel, Latour, Villiers, and Terrine, scions of noble houses, and all of them young and brilliant officers ; and the fanatic Curate de la Vente, who stimulated them to the contest. On the other side was de Bienville, the Hector of the opposition, Duclos, Boisbriant, Chateaugué, Richebourg, du Tisne, Serigny, and others of note and influence, who were at least fully a match for their antagonist.
ESTABLISHMENT OP THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
43
In the month of August, Baron de la Fosse sailed for France. In December, the frigate Louisiana, of twenty guns, commanded by M. Beranger, stopped at Dauphin Island. She belonged to M. Crozat, and was laden with provisions for the colony. On the 10th, a great number of Chiefs of the Chactas and neighboring tribes came to chaunt the calumet of peace before MM. de la Mothe Cadillac and D'Artaguette. The kind reception they received induced them to reject the offers of the English in Carolina. ¦ In the month of April, twelve Englishmen, at the head of two thousand Alibamons, Albikas, Talapoosas, and Chicachas Indians, came to the Chactas nation, and were well received by them.
On the 23d August, M. de Saint Denis set out with thirty Canadians, to make a reconnoisance of the Spanish missions, in the province of Lastikas, near Red River. At the end of the year 1714j M. Dutiné, ensigne de Companie, of Canada, arrived at Mobile to enter the service of M. Crozat. He brought two specimens of minerals from mines in the neighborhood of Cascaskias, which had been given to him by some Canadians. M. de la Mothe Cadillac discovered that they contained a great deal of silver, and concluded to visit them privately. He accordingly set out for the Illinois in the beginning of 1715. On his arrival there he inquired of the Canadians who had given them to M. Dutiné, where the mine was to be found. They told him that the specimens came from Mexico, and that it was in jest they had stated to M. Dutiné they came from Cascaskias. Soon after, M. de la Mothe Cadillac set out to explore-the lead mines fourteen leagues in the interior, to the west of the river. After the departure of M. de la Mothe Cadillac, M. de Bien-ville was informed that the English continued to keep up their establishments among the Chactas, Natehes, Yasous, and other tribes of the-Mississippi ; and believing that it was necessary to take prompt measures to prevent the trade of the colony from falling into their hands he sent for the Chiefs of the Chactas, who would only come to< him upon the assurance that M. de la Mothe was not at head-quarters.
M. de Bienville reproached them for deceiving him by telling him that they only purchased their goods of him, and were all the while buying them of the English. The Chiefs made him a promise that in future they would drive away the English, whom they afterwards pillaged of their goods, and brought three of them prisoners to Mobile. About this period M. Youx, an English officer, passed through all the Indian villages in which were any English, and went by land to Natchez. From thence he proceeded down the river to make an alliance with the Houmas, Bayagoulas, Ouachas,
44
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OP LOUISIANA.
and Colapissas, and to sound the mouths of the Mississippi. M. d la Loire des Ursins, Commissary of M. Crozat, immediately sen\ a pirogue and ten Canadians to capture him, they overtook him in the neighborhood of Manchac, and carried him to Mobile. From thence he was sent to Pensacola ; but wishing to return by land to Carolina, he was killed on the road by a Thome Indian, who was hunting.
In the month of July, 1715, a pirogue with Alibamons arrived at the fort with a Canadian and an Englishman ; they reported that several of the Indian tribes in Carolina had fallen upon the English in their towns and had massacred them, including those of Port Royal. This revolt cost the English about eight hundred lives. M. de Saint Helene was standing in a cabin t>f one of the Chicachas at the time, with several Englishmen, who witnessed the massacre. As one of the Chiefs was about to tell him to stand aside and not to be alarmed, two young Indians who had slipped into the cabin, saw him, and believing him to be an Englishman, shot him dead. He was greatly regretted by the colony. After this massacre M. de Bienville sent deputies to the Alibamons, Albikas, Talapoosas, and Cahouitas, to renew his alliance with them. Two villages of Con--' chaques, who had always been faithful to the French and resided near Mobile fort, had been driven out of their country, because they would not receive the English among them. M. de Bienville sent several Chiefs to inform the Chaetas that he would not receive or trade with them, unless they reincorporated these two villages, and :sent him the head of Ouatachitou, the brother of their principal ¦Chief, for having fomented a civil war. The Chiefs on their arrival delivered this message, which caused a great murmur among them. Nevertheless, they concluded to obey it, and sent the head of the ¦brother of their Chief to M. de Bienville, and likewise permitted the two villages to join them.
On the 15th August, the brig of war " La Dauphine," Captain Beranger, arrived at Mobile, with two companies of Infantry, commanded by MM. de Mandeville* and Bajot, which increased the expenses of the colony to 32,000 livres per annum. M. Rogeon, ¦came a passenger, to relieve M. Dirigouin, one of the directory of M. Crozat. At the same time a frigate from Rochelle, and a brigantine from Martinique, came to ask the privilege to traffic in goods, which was refused, as M. Crozat had the sole trade of the
* M. Marigny de Mandeville published a memoir on Louisiana at Paris, an 1765.
ESTABLISHMENT OP THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
45
country. In October, M. de la Mothe Cadillac returned from Illinois with his daughter to Mobile. He brought with him several mineral specimens of little value, and in the following month he sailed for France in the "Dauphine." In January, 1716, some'^ of the Cheraquis Indians who lived north-east of Mobile, killed MM. de Ramsay and de Longueil. Some time after, the father of the latter gentleman, the King's Lieutenant in Canada, engaged the Iroquois to suprise this tribe. They sacked two of their villages and obliged the rest to retreat towards New England. On the 10th February, M. de Chateauguê was despatched to Cape St. Français for provisions, at the same time M. de Boisbriant embarked for France. The flute, la Dauphine, brought M. de Bienville the appointment of King's Commandant. He was ordered to take two companies of Infantry, to place one at Natchez, and the other on the Ouabache, and to remove his head-quarters to Natchez.
But M. de la Mothe Cadillac would not give him but thirty-five men ; although he knew that M. de la Loire des Ursins had brought the news that five Frenchmen had been killed by the Natchez, and he had barely escaped by the advice of a chief, who had given him the means to save his life. M. de Bienville set out accordingly, and arrived at the fort on the Mississippi, where he found MM. de Paillou and de Richebourg with the pirogues which had been sent from Mobile, laden with provisions and utensils to form the settlements at Natchez and on the Ouabache. He ordered them to proceed and join him at the Tonicas, a post which had been established a short time before on the Mississippi, about two leagues above the mouth of the Red River, on the borders of a lake. He rejoined them on the 12th March, and was there informed that the Natchez, had since the departure of M. de la Loire, killed two Frenchmen and pillaged six Canadians, who were descending the river. He was also told that the Natchez had joined the Tonicas. M. de Bienville sent an interpreter to the Natchez to solicit some provisions and to bring the calumet of peace. The G-reat Chief sent him nineteen persons, five of whom were chiefs of the sun, and seven the chiefs of villages, to make a reconciliation.
He also sent him the six Canadians whom they had pillaged. On being presented to M. de Bienville they offered him the calumet of peace, which he refused to receive until satisfaction was rendered for the Frenchmen they had killed. They were confounded at this reply. The great chief of the Temple lowered his calumet, raised his eyes and arms towards the sun, and invoked the mercy of
46
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
1 1 . I
¦¦4
. I,'
M. de Bienville. He then presented his calumet, which was again refused.
M. de Bienville repeated to him that no reconciliation could take place until he delivered up the white chief and his accomplices who had committed the murder. At this proposition the chiefs said that he was, like themselves, a chief of the sun, a man of valor, and could not be given up. M. de Bienville now ordered them to be put in irons and imprisoned.
On the 17th the chiefs proposed to M. de Bienville to send two of their chiefs to the great chief at Natchez for the heads of the murderers, which was granted. They soon brought him the head of a chief, but, suspecting their fraud, he rejected it>. They also brought him another, and this he refused. Finally, to put an end to these conferences, M. de Bienville told his prisoners that they could not doubt that the brother of the great chief called " The Arrow" was one of the murderers. He had received the English into his village, and had been a great disturber of the public peace. The chiefs at last agreed to give up his head. The death of this chief restored peace ; and it was now stipulated that the Natchez should furnish posts and lumber to build a fort in this country for the safety of the French. This work was commenced in June, under the direction of M. de Paillou, who was appointed commandant.*
On the 12th June, the " La Paix," of 12 guns, commanded by M. Chapy, arrived at Dauphin Island with twenty passengers : and at the end of July she sailed for France. On the 25th August, M. de Saint Denis returned to Mobile from his voyage of discoveries. On the 15th November (1714) he had repaired to the Assinays, west of Natchitoches, and not finding any Spaniards there he returned to the Natchez, where he reinforced himself with five Canadians. He then re-ascended Red River to Natchitoches, and marched to the Assinays, where he took twenty Indians and some horses to conduct him to the missionary establishment of St. John the Baptist, two leagues west of the Rio Bravo. Captain Raimond, the commandant of this post, informed the Duke de Lignares, "Viceroy of Mexico, of the arrival of M. de Saint Denis, and of his approaching marriage with his niece. The Viceroy sent orders for M. de Saint Denis to repair immediately to Mexico, where he arrived on the 25th June, 1715. He agreed with M. de Saint Denis to accompany nine missionaries who were going to
* See the Mémoire de M. de Richehourg sur la première guerre des Natchez, the end of this volume, for the details of this war.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FEENCH IN LOUISIANA. 47
establish themselves among the Adays, Nachodoches, Youays, Assinays, Natchitoches and Nadaeos, in the province of Lastekas. On the 26th October, he left Mexico on this expedition, and visited Saint Louis de Potosi, Saint Louis de la Paz, Charcas, Saltillo, Boca de Leon, and Saint John the Baptist, on the Rio del Norte (Bravo), where he was marrried. On the 4th June, 1716, he returned to the Assinays, and on the 25th August, he arrived at Mobile.
In October, MM. de Saint Denis, Graveline, de le Roy, La Fre-niere, Beaulieu, Frères, Derbanne, (all Canadians,) formed a commercial co-partnership. They purchased from the stores of M. Crozat sixty thousand livres of merchandise, to sell to the Spaniards in the kingdom of New Leon; and on the 10th October they set out from Mobile to go to Mexico. In the month of January, 1717, M. de la Mothe Cadillac sent a sergeant and six soldiers to take possession of the post at Natchitoches, on Red River, which the Spaniards were about to seize. On the 9th March, two of the King's ships, Le Duclos and Le Paon, both of thirty guns, commanded by MM. de Godeville and Dusant-Sentille, anchored off Dauphin Island. They brought M. de L'Bpinay a commission to succeed M. de la Mothe Cadillac as Governor of the colony, and M. Hubert to succeed M. Duclos as Commissaire Ordonnateur, which every one regretted ; also three companies of Infantry, commanded by MM. Aruths de Bonil, de Loze and Gouris, and fifty other persons, among whom were MM. Artagnette, Dubreuil, Guenot, Trefontaine, and Mossy, all of whom came to establish colonies in Louisiana.
M. de L'Epinay brought M. de Bieville the cross of Saint Louis. It is very remarkable that the commander of the " Paon," who had lately entered the port of Dauphin Island by a channel of twenty-one feet of water, discovered in two days after that it had changed, and he was compelled to unload and go out by the Grand Gosier Channel, which had only a depth of ten feet But what was still more remarkable, that this channel, which had closed up so suddenly, had always maintained the same depth of water from its discovery by M. d'lberville in 1699 to the present time. In the month of June, the ships " Le Duclos," " Le Paon," and " Le Paix," sailed for France.
The arrival of M. de L'Bpinay created great dissatisfaction, as he caused some regulations to be enforced, contrary to the wishes of M. de Bienville. This dissension between the high officers of the colony was extremely prejudicial to its prosperity.
On the 25th, October MM. Graveline, Derbanne, La Freniere, and Beaulieu arrived from the Rio (Bravo) del Norte. They had set out with M. de Saint Denis in the month of October, 1716, with the
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OP LOUISIANA.
i
ill ;.*
1.1
ri,
intention of trading with the natives of New Leon. They arrived at Natchitoches on the 25th November, where they purchased some horses, and on the 25th December they reached one of the villages of the Adayes. From the 29th December to the 4th January, 1717, they travelled eighteen leagues through a country abounding in game. On the 6th, they crossed the river Adayes and slept in the village of the Ayiehes, where they found a Spanish mission-house established, consisting of two priests, three soldiers, and a female. The country was interspersed with beautiful prairies, and watered by several streams. From the 12th to the 13th, they travelled nineteen leagues and slept at the mission-station of Nachodoches. where they found four priests, two soldiers, and a Spanish woman. From the 18th to the 21st, they travelled nine leagues to the Assinays or Cenis, where they found two priests, one soldier, and a Spanish woman.
At Le Presidio, which was seventeen leagues farther on, they met a captain, ensign and twenty-five soldiers. On the 22d, they crossed two rivers, and at a distance of ten leagues farther, they passed the last mission-station of the Assinays or Cenis, which consisted of two priests and several soldiers, who furnished them with a relay of horses. From the 23d to the 24th, they travelled eighteen leagues to Trinity Hiver, where they rested. From the 26th to the 28th, they advanced twenty-four leagues to the rivière des ïrritjricns, where they saw a great herd of wild Buffaloes. On the next day they crossed the river, whieh has two branches, and slept at night in a village of the same name. From the 20th to the 8th April, they travelled thirty-six leagues, and crossed a desert to the river Colorado. Here they were attacked by sixty Indians on horseback, who were covered with Buffalo skins, and armed with bows and lances. The conflict was soon ended ; but in their retreat the Indians threw themselves upon their rear guard, and carried off twenty-three mules, one of which was loaded with all their wearing apparel.
On the 11th, they made nine leagues and forded the river Saint Marks. On the next day they crossed two branches of the river Guadaloupe. From the 13th to the 14th, they travelled thirteen leagues, and forded the rivers St. Anthony and Madeline. From the 15th to the 19th, they travelled twenty-seven leagues to the rivière aux Noix. From the 20th to the 21st, they travelled to the river Del-Norte (Rio Grande); and two leagues to the west of which they arrived at the Presidio, where they found a captain, lieutenant, and thirty Spanish soldiers. In this place was established the missions of Saint Bernard and Saint John the Baptist. Their houses were built around a square, which formed their fortress.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
49
These missionary stations are situated about two hundred and fourteen leagues from Natohitoches, in latitude 29° KK Here MM. G-raveline and Derbanne learned that the merchandise brought by M. de Saint Denis had been seized by M. Raimond, Commandant of the Post, and that he had gone to Mexico to have them restored to him.
This news compelled them to intrust the goods they had brought with them to the Franciscan fathers, who sold them by degrees to the merchants of Boca de Leon. On the 1st September, they heard of the imprisonment of M. de Saint Denis, which obliged them soon after to set out for Mobile, where they arrived on the 25th October, 1717. They visited on their route a Spanish mission on the Adayes, St. Michel-Archange de Lignarès, which was founded on the 29th January, 1717, by the Keverend Father Augustin, Patron de Guzman of the order of Franciscans.
In the month of Augnst, 1717, a company was formed in France under the title of the " Western Company."* At this period there
* LETTERS PATENT GRANTED TO THE WESTERN COMPANY.
Louis, by the grace of God, of France and Navarre King, to all to whom these our present letters shall come, Greeting :
From the time of our accession to the crown, we have been successfully engaged in establishing good order in our finances, and in reforming the abuses which long-protracted wars had caused in them ; nor have we paid less attention to the restoration of the trade of our subjects which contributes to their prosperity as much as the good administration of our finances. But having taken cognisance of the state of our colonies situated in the northern parts of America, we have remained satisfied that they were so much the more in need of our protection. M. Anthony Crozat, to whom the late King, our most honored lord and great grandfather, had, by letters patent of the month of September, 1712, granted the privilege of exclusive trade, in our government of Louisiana, having humbly prayed that we might allow him to resign it, which we did allow him by the order of our council of the 23d of the present month of August, and the contract made with Messrs. Aubert, Neret and Gayot, on the 10th of May, 1706, for the trade in beaver of Canada, expiring at the end of the present year ; We have thought fit, for the good of our service and the advantage of both colonies, to establish a company capable of upholding their trade and of undertaking the different species of husbandry and plantations that may be established there : Wherefore, and for other reasons us thereto inducing, by and with the advice of our dearly-beloved uncle, the Duke of Orleans Regent, Petit fils de France, of our dearly-beloved cousin the Duke of Bourbon, of our dearly-beloved cousin the Prince of Conty, princes of our blood, of our dearly-beloved uncle the Duke of Maine, of our dearly-beloved uncle the Count of Toulouse, legitimated princes, and other peers of France, grandees and notable persons of our kingdom, and by our certain knowledge and royal authority we have said, determined and ordained, do say, determine and ordain, it is our will and pleasure,
50
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
were in the colony seven hundred persons, and four hundred head of cattle. They had entirely neglected to cultivate the land. The garrison and inhabitants continued to trade with the Indians and
i ».:.!
I. That there be formed, by virtue of these present letters, a trading company by the style of Western Company, in which it shall be allowed to all our subjects, of whatever rank and quality they may be, as well as to all other companies formed or to be formed, and to all bodies and corporations, to take an interest for such sum or sums as they may think fit, and they shall not, on account of the said engagements, be considered as having degraded their titles, quality or nobility ; our intention being that they may enjoy the benefit expressed in our proclamations of the months of May and August, 1664, August, 1669, and December, 1701, which shall be executed according to their form and tenor.
II. We grant to the said company, for the space of twenty-five years, beginning from the day of the registration of these present letters, the exclusive right of trading in our province and government of Louisiana, and also the privilege of receiving, to the exclusion of all other persons, in our colony of Canada, from the 1st of January, 1718, until and including the last day of December, 1742, all the beaver, fat and dry, which the inhabitants of the said colony shall have traded for, whilst we shall regulate, according to the accounts which shall be sent over to us from the said country, the quantities of the different sorts of beaver, that the company shall be bound to receive each year from the said inhabitants of Canada, and the prices they shall be bound to pay for them.
III. We forbid all our other subjects any sort of trade, within the limits of the government of Louisiana, as long as the charter of the Western Company shall last, upon pain of forfeiture of goods and vessels ; not intending, however, by the present prohibition, to put any restraint upon their trading within the said colony, either among themselves or with the savages.
IV. We forbid likewise all our subjects to buy any beaver within the limits of the government of Canada, with a view to import in our kingdom, upon pain of forfeiture of the said beaver to the company, as also the vessels on board of which it shall be laden. The beaver trade shall nevertheless remain free in the interior of the colony between the merchants and the inhabitants, who may continue to sell and buy beaver as they have done heretofore.
V. With a view to give the said Western Company the means of forming a firm establishment, and enable her to execute all the speculations she may undertake, we have given, granted and conceded, do give, grant and concede to her, by these present letters and for ever, all the lands, coasts, ports, havens and islands, which compose our province of Louisiana, in the same way and extent as we have granted them to M. Crozat, by our letters patent of 14th September, 1712, to enjoy the same in full property, seigniory and jurisdiction, keeping to ourselves no other rights or duties than the fealty and liege homage the said company shall be bound to pay us and to the kings our successors at every new reign, with a golden crown of the weight of thirty marks.
VI. The said company shall be free, in the said granted lands, to negotiate and make alliance in our name, with all the nations of the land, except those which are dependent on the other powers of Europe : she may agree with them
ESTABLISHMENT OP THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
51
the Spaniards at Pensacola, which produeed a revenue of about $12,000 per annum. This trade being considered very prejudicial to the prosperity of the colony, it was proposed to form plantations
u
on such conditions as she may think fit, to settle among them, and trade freely with them, and in case they insult her, she may declare war against them, attack them or defend herself by means of arms, and negotiate with them for peace or for a truce.
VII. The property of all mines the said company may open during the time her charter lasts, shall belong to her by length of possession, and she shall not be bound to pay us during the said time, for the said mines, and right of sovereignty, whereof we have made and do make her a free gift, by these present letters.
VIII. The said company shall be free to sell and give away the lands granted to her for whatever quit or ground rent she may think fit, and even to grant them in freehold, without jurisdiction or seigniory ; she shall not, however, be at liberty to dispossess such of our subjects as are already settled in the lands granted to her, of such lands as have been granted to them, or which without special grant they may have begun to clear and cultivate. It is our will that such among them as have no grants or letters of us, be bound to take grants of the company, so as to insure to them the property of the land they enjoy, which grants shall be delivered to them free of all expenses.
IX. The said company shall be at liberty to construct all such forts, castles and strongholds as she may find necessary for the defence of the lands we have granted to her, garrison them and raise soldiers in our kingdom, after having taken our commission in the usual and accustomed form.
X. The said company shall be at liberty to establish such governors, officers, majors and others as they may think fit, to command the troops, and the said governors and major-officers shall be presented to us by the directors of the company, in order that we may deliver to them our commissions ; and the said company shall be at liberty to dismiss them as often as they shall think fit and put others in their place, to whom we shall likewise deliver our commissions without any difficulty ; and in the mean while, the said officers may command) for the space of six months or a year at most, under the commissions of the directors ; and the governors and major-officers shall be bound to take the oath of allegiance to us.
XI. We allow all our military officers who are at present in our government of Louisiana and who may wish to remain there, as also those who may wish to go there and serve as captains and subalterns, to serve under the company's commissions, without losing on that account the rank or degree they actually enjoy, either in our fleet or in our army, and it is our will that in consequence of the permission thereto that we shall deliver to them, they may be considered and accounted as still in our service, and we shall take into consideration their service under the said company as if it had been rendered to ourselves.
Xir. The said company shall likewise be free to fit out and arm for war as many ships as she may think fit, for the increase and security of her trade, and to place in them as many guns as she pleases, and to hoist the flag on the hind-castle and the bowsprit, but on no other mast ; she shall also be at liberty to cast cannons and mark them with our arms, under which she shall put those we shall grant her hereafter.
52
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
on the banks of the Mississippi to cultivate tobacco, rice, silk, and indigo, as well as to furnish masts, pitch, and tar to France and the West India Islands. The affairs of the colony were in this situation
i ''
XIII. The said company being lord of the manor in the lands granted to her, shall be at liberty to establish justices and officers wherever she may think fit, to depose and dismiss them as often as she pleases ; the said justices to take cognisance of all suits of police and trade, civil and criminal ; and also to establish wherever need may be sovereign councils, the members of which shall be named and presented to us by the directors general of the said company, and after the said nominations we shall deliver to them their commissions.
XIV. The judges of the admiralty which shall be established in the said province of Louisiana, shall perform the same functions, administer justice in the same form and take cognisance of the same suits as those who are established in our kingdom and other parts of our dominions, and they shall receive their commissions from us, after being named by the lord high Admiral of France.
XV. The judges established in all the said places shall be bound to administer justice according to the laws and statutes of the kingdom, and moro particularly according to the common law of the provosty and viscounty of Paris, which shall be followed in all the contracts the inhabitants shall pass, and no other law shall be allowed to he introduced, to avoid variety.
XVI. All law suits that may spring up in France between the company and the private people on account of transactions concerning her, shall be decided and determined by the judges of trade in Paris, the decrees of whom shall be executed without appeal for any sum not exceeding one hundred and fifty livres, and for higher sums they shall be executed provisionally with right of appeal to our court of parliament in Paris. And regarding criminal suits in which the company shall be a party, either as plaintiff or as defendant, they shall be determined by the ordinary judges, without allowing any encroachment of the criminal over the civil suit, which shall be determined as above.
XVII. We shall grant no letter or respite, supersedeas or certiorari, to any persons who shall buy goods of the company, and they shall be compelled to pay their debt by the means and in the way they have engaged to do it.
XVIII. "We promise to protect and defend the said company, and to employ the force of our arms, if it-be necessary, in order to maintain her in the full freedom of her trade and navigation ; as likewise to see that justice be done to her for all the injury or ill treatment she may suffer from any nation whatever.
XIX. In case any director, sea captain, officer, clerk or agent, while transacting business for the company, should bo taken prisoner by the subjects of the princes or states with whom we may be at war, we promise to get them released or exchanged.
XX. It shall not be allowed to the said company to make use, for her trade, of any other vessels but those belonging to her or to our subjects, fitted out in the ports of our kingdom, manned with French crews, and they shall be hound to return to our ports ; neither shall it be allowed her to send the said vessels direct from the lands granted her, to the coast of Guinea, upon pain of forfeiture of the present privilege, and confiscation of the vessels and the goods laden therein.
ESTABLISHMENT OP THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
53
on the 9th February, 1718, when three ships of the "Western Company," " Dauphine," " Vigilant," and " Neptune," commanded by MM. Dupuis, Arnaudin, and Beranger, arrived at Dauphin Island.
XXI. "We allow all vessels belonging to the said company, and those of our subjects, who shall have received permission of her or her directors, to chase . and capture the vessels of our subjects who shall presume to trade in the lands granted to her, contrary to the tenor of the present letters ; and the prizes shall be awarded according to the regulations we shall make in that respect.
XXII. All goods, merchandise, provisions and ammunition, laden on the company's vessels shall be considered as belonging to her, unless it appear by bills of lading, in due form, that they have been taken on board for freight, by the orders of the company, her directors or agents.
XXIII. It is our pleasure that such of our subjects as shall go over to the lands granted to the said company, enjoy the same liberties and immunities as if they had remained living in our kingdom, and that those who shall be born there of French inhabitants of the said lands, and even of foreign Europeans, professing the Roman Catholic religion, who may come to settle there, be considered and reputed as inhabitants of our kingdom, and as such capable of inheriting and receiving gifts, legacies and other advantages without being bound to take letters of free denization.
XXIV. And in order to favor such of our subjects as shall settle within the said lands, we have declared and declare them, as long as the charter of the company lasts, free of all duties, subsidies and taxes whatever, as well on their persons and those of their slaves as on their merchandise.
XXV. The goods and merchandise which the said company shall have shipped for the lands granted to her, and those of which she may stand in need for building, outfitting and victualling her vessels, shall he free of all duties, as well towards us as towards our towns, levied at present or that may be levied in the future, on importation or on exportation, and although they should go out of one of our farmed revenues to enter into another, or from one of our ports to be transferred to another where the outfitting takes place, provided, however, the clerks and agents of the company do sign an engagement to bring back, within eighteen months, a certificate of delivery in the country to which they were hound, upon pain, in case they fail so to do, of paying four times the duty, reserving to ourselves the right of allowing them a longer term in such cases and circumstances as we shall think fit.
XXVI. We declare likewise the said company free of the duties of toll, crossing, passage and other taxes levied to our profit on the rivers Seine and Loire, on empty casks, rafters and other wood, vessels and other goods, belonging to the said company, provided they send back by the wagoners and bargemen certi^ates signed by two directors.
XXVII. In case the said company should be obliged for the advantage of her trade to draw from foreign countries goods to be imported in the lands granted to her, the said goods shall be free of all importation or exportation duties, provided they be deposited in our custom-house, warehouses, or in those of the said company, of which the clerks of the general farmers of our revenues and those of the said company, of which the clerks of the general farmers of our revenues and those of the said company shall each have a key, until
54
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OP LOUISIANA.
;!.¦.¦!¦
- li
They brought over M. de Boisbrilliant, the King's Lieutenant of the province. M. de L'Epinay was recalled, and M. de Bienville was appointed Governor General, with a salary of 6,000 livres per annum.
such time as the said goods shall be laden in the company's vessels ; the said company being bound to sign an engagement to deliver within the space of eighteen months, from the date of the engagement, certificates of the unloading of the said goods in the lands granted to her; in default whereof she shall be bound to pay four times the value of the duty, reserving to ourselves the right, whenever the company shall bo in need of drawing from the said foreign countries, goods of which the importation might be prohibited, to grant her special leave of importation, if we think fit, for any such goods contained in the list to be submitted to our approbation.
XXVIII. The goods imported by the said company for her account, from the lands granted to her in the ports of our kingdom, shall pay, during the first ten years of her charter, the half only of the duty which such goods coming from the French islands and colonies in America, must pay, according to our regulation of the month of April last past ; and if the said company should import from the said lands granted to her, other sorts of goods than those that come from the French islands and colonies in America and are contained in our said regulations, they shall pay the half only of the duty that goods of the same sort and quality, coming from foreign countries must pay, whether the said duty belongs to us or has been by us made ovej to private persons ; and as for lead, copper and other metals, we have granted arïd do grant, to the said company, entire freedom of all duties laid or to be laid'Upon them. But if the said company takes goods upon freight in her vessels, she shall be bound to let the same be declared, by her captains, at the offices of our farms, in the usual form and the said goods shall pay the full duty. In regard to such goods as the company shall import in those ports of our kingdom, named in the 15th article of the regulations of the month of April last past, and likewise in those of Nantz, Brest, Morlais and St. Malo, for her account, as well from the lands granted to her as from the French islands in America, proceeding from the sale of goods, the produce of Louisiana, and intended for re-exportation to foreign countries, they shall be deposited in the custom house, warehouses of the ports at which they arrive, or in those of the company, in the form hereabove prescribed, until they be taken away ; and when the clerks of the said company shall wish to send them abroad, by sea or land, as transit goods, which can only take place through the offices named in our regulation of last month, they shall be bound to take a pass {acquit à caution) containing an engagement to bring back, within a certain time, a certificate of the last frontier office they pass, and another of their unlading in a foreign country.
XXIX. If the company construct vessels in the lands grante%to her, we consent to pay to her, as a bounty, out of our royal treasury, the first time the said vessels enter into the ports of our kingdom, a sum of six livres per tun, for all vessels not belotv two hundred tuns burthen, and of nine livres also, per tun, for those not below two hundred and fifty tuns, which shall be paid on delivery of certificates of the directors of the company in the said lands, showing that the said vessels have been built there.
XXX. We give the said company leave to deliver special licenses to vessels
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
55
M. Hubert, Director-General, with a salary of 5,000 livres per annum. Agreeably to the instructions of the Western Company, M. de Bienville sent a detachment of fifty soldiers, under the com-
of our snbjects to trade in the lands granted to her under such conditions as she may think fit ; and it is our pleasure that the said vessels, bearing licenses of the said company, enjoy the same rights, privileges and immunities, as those of the company, as well on the stores, merchandise and goods, that shall be laden in them, as on the merchandise and goods they shall bring back.
XXXI. We shall deliver to the said company, out of our magazines, every year during the time of her charter, forty thousand pounds of gunpowder, for which we shall charge her no more than the prime cost.
XXXII. Our intention being that the greatest number possible of our subjects participate in the trade of this company and in the advantages we grant her, and that all sorts of persons may take an interest according to their fortunes ; it is our pleasure that the stock of this company be divided in shares of five hundred livres each, the value of which shall be paid in exchequer bills, and the interest be due from the first of January of the present year ; and when the directors of the said company shall have declared that a sufficient number of shares have been delivered, we shall close the books of the company.
XXXIII. The certificates of the said shares shall be made payable to the bearer, signed by the treasurer of the company, and approved by one of the directors. Two sorts of certificates shall be delivered, viz : certificates of single shares and certificates of ten shares.
XXXIV. Persons who may wish to send the certificates of the said shares to the country or abroad, may for greater security endorse them, but the said endorsement shall not be considered as warranting the share.
XXXV. All foreigners may take as many shares as they may think fit, though they should not reside in our kingdom j and we have declared and do declare that the shares belonging to the said foreigners shall not be subject to the right of aubaine, nor to any confiscation for cause of war or otherwise, it being our pleasure that they enjoy the said shares as fully as our subjects.
XXXVI. And whereas the profits and losses in trading companies are uncertain, and the shares of the said company can be considered in no other light than as merchandise, we permit all our subjects and all foreigners, in company or for their private account, to buy, sell and trade in them as they shall think fit.
XXXVII. Every shareholder, bearer of fifty shares, shall have a vote in the court of proprietors, and if he is bearer of one hundred shares he shall have two votes, and so forth, augmenting the number of votes by one for every fifty shares.
XXXVIII. The exchequer bills received in payment for the shares shall be converted in a stock, bearing four per cent, interest, the said interest to begin from the first of January of the present year ; and as security for the payment of the said interest, we have pledged and assigned, do pledge and assign our revenues of the comptrol of notaries' deeds, of the small seal and of lay registration, in consequence whereof the commissioners of our council, that we shall name to that end, shall make in our name and in favor of the said company, bonds for a perpetual and inheritable annuity of forty thousand livres, each
à
h
56
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
mand of M. de Chateaugué, to take possession of St. Joseph's Bay, and to construct a fort, which he left in the command of M. de G-ousy, Captain of Infantry. Twenty-five of his men deserted soon after with a Spaniard to St. Augustine, Florida.
Tr
II I.
bond representing the interest of a capital of one million, at four per cent, against the finance receipts that shall be delivered by the treasurer of our royal treasury, in office this present year, who shall receive from the said company one million of exchequer bills at each payment, until the moneys deposited for shares in the said company shall be exhausted.
XXXIX. The interest of said annuities shall be paid, viz. the interest of the present year, in the four last months of the year, and the interest of the following years in four instalments, quarterly, by our farmer of the control of notaries' deeds, small seals and lay registrations, in the hands of the treasurer of the said company, who shall deliver receipts thereof, approved by three directors, and, for the first time only, a collated copy of these letters and of their nominations.
XL. The directors shall make use, for the trade of the company, of the interest of the present year on the bonds delivered in favor of the company ; but we very expressly forbid them to make use of any part of the interest of the following years, or mortgage them in any way whatever ; it being our pleasure that the proprietors do receive regularly the interest of their shares at the rate of four per cent, a year, beginning with the month of January next year, and the first payment of interest to take place, for six months, on the first of July following, and so forth every six months.
XLI. Whereas, it is necessary that immediately after the registration of these present letters, there be persons who take charge of all that may he required for the opening of the books and other particulars incident on the beginning of the said company, which will bear no delay, we shall name, for this time only, the directors we shall choose to that effect, who shall be empowered to regulate and administer the affairs of the said company, the proprietors o* which may, after two years have elapsed, in a general court, nominate three new directors, or continue them for three years, if they think fit, and so forth every three years, the said directors to be chosen only among Frenchmen and inhabitants of the kingdom.
XLII. Every year, at the end of the month of December, the directors shall close the general balance of the affairs of the company, after which they shall call, by bills publicly stuck up, a general court of proprietors of the said company, in which court the dividends accruing from the profits of the said company, shall be fixed and settled.
XLIII. Considering the great number of shares that will be delivered by the said company, we find necessary to establish, for the ease of our subjects, a regular order for the payment of the interest and dividend, so that every shareholder may know what day he may appear at the office to receive, without any delay, the sums due to him. In consequence, it is our pleasure that the interest of the said shares, as likewise the dividend accruing .to them out of the profits of the trade, be paid according to the number of the said shares, beginning by number one and so forth ; the company not being at liberty to make any alteration in the said order, and every week the directors shall cause bills
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
57
In February, 1718, M. de Bienville set out to select a place on the banks of the Mississippi for his head quarters, which now bears the name of New Orleans, about thirty leagues from the sea,
to be stuck up at the door of the office of the said company, and advertisements inserted in the public newspapers, containing the numbers that are to be paid in thr following week.
XLIV. Neither the shares of the company, nor her off cts, nor the salaries of the directors, officers or agents of the said company, shall be subject to distress by any person or under any pretence whatever, not even for our own moneys and affairs, excepting only that the creditors of the shareholders shall be at liberty to attach in the hands of the treasurer and book-keeper of the said company the moneys due to the said shareholders, according to the accounts closed by the company, to which the said creditors shall be bound to submit, without obliging the said directors to show them the state of the company's effects or render them any account, neither shall the said creditors establish any commissaries or séquestrées of the said effects, and all acts contrary to the present edict shall be void.
XLV. It is our pleasure that the exchequer bills, delivered in hands of the treasurer of our royal treasury for the said Western Company, he brought by him to the town hall of our good city of Paris, where, in the presence of M. Bignon, councillor of state in ordinary, late Prevot du marchands (mayor), M. Trudaine, councillor of state, present Prevot du marchands, Messrs. de Sorre, le Vertroys, Harlon and Boucot, who signed the exchequer bills with them, and of the municipal officers of the said town hall who shall or may wish to be there, the said exchequer bills be publicly burned, immediately after the delivery of each bond, and after the draft of a verbal process mentioning the registers, numbers and sums, the inscription and discharge thereof on the said registers, which verbal process shall be signed by the said Messrs. Prévôts du marchands and other persons named in the present article.
XLVI. The directors, or a majority of them; shall nominate all the agents of the company, captains and officers serving on her vessels, military and judicial officers, and all others employed in the lands granted to her, and they shall be at liberty to dismiss them whenever they think fit ; and the said nominations and dismissions shall be signed by no less than three directors.
XLVII. The said directors shall not be troubled or constrained in their persons or effects for the affairs of the company.
XLVIII. They shall settle the accounts of the clerks and agents, as well in France as in the grantedjands of the company, and those of the correspondents, and the said accounts must be signed by no less than three of the said directors.
XLIX. True and exact books shall be kept for the cash, invoices, sale accounts, expeditions and ledger, by double entry, as well at the general direction at Paris as by the clerks and commissioners of the company in the country and lands granted to her ; the said books shall be endorsed and signed by the direc. tors, and they may serve as evidence before our courts of justice.
L. We bestow in gift to the said company the forts, warehouses, houses, cannons, arms, gunpowder, brigantines, boats, canoes, and all other effects and
58
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
and which communicates with lake Pontchartrain, by the bayou Saint John. He left fifty persons there to clear the land and build some houses. In March, the ships Dauphine, Neptune, and Vigilant re-
..¦.,1
utensils we possess at present in Louisiana, all of which shall be delivered over to her on our orders, which shall be dispatched by our navy council.
LI. We bestow likewise in gift to the said company, the vessels, goods and effects which M. Crozat delivered over to us, as explained in the decree of our council of the 23d day of the present month, of whatever nature they may be, and whatever may be their amount, provided that in the course of her charter she carry over to the lands granted to her, no less than six thousand white persons, and three thousand negroes.
L1I. If, after the twenty-five years of the charter we grant hereby to the said company shall have expired, we should not think fit to grant her a prolongation thereof, all the islands and lands she shall have inhabited or peopled, as likewise the manorial rights, quit and other rents, due by the inhabitants, shall remain her property forever, with liberty to dispose of them as she shall think fit. and we will never seek to recover the said lands or islands for any cause, occasion or pretence whatever, having given them up from this present moment, on condition that the said company shall not sell the said lands to any other persons than our subjects ; and as to the forts, arms and ammunitions, they shall be delivered up to us by the said company, to whom we shall repay the value of the same according to an equitable valuation.
LIU. Whereas, in the settlement of the lands granted to the said company by these present letters, we have chiefly in view the glory of God, by procuring the salvation of the Indian savage and negro inhabitants whom we wish to be instructed in the true religion, the said company shall be bound to build churches at her expense in the places of her settlements, as likewise to maintain there as many approved clergymen as may be necessary, either as vicars, or under any other suitable title, to preach the holy gospel, celebrate Divine service, and administer the sacraments under the authority of the bishop of Quebec, the said colony remaining as heretofore in his diocese, the livings of the vicars and other clergymen, maintained by the company, being in his gift and advowson.
LIV. The said company shall be at liberty to take for her coat of arms an escutcheon vert, waved at the base argent, lying thereon a river god proper, leaning on a cornucopia or ; in chief azure service of fleur de lys or, bearing upon a closet or; supporters two savages ; crest a trefoiled crown; and we grant her the said arms that she may make use of them on her seals, and place them on her buildings, vessels, guns and wherever she may think fit.
LV. We give the said company leave to draw up and enact the necessary statutes and regulations for the government and direction of her affairs and trade, as well in Europe as in the lands granted to her, and the said statutes and regulations shall be confirmed by our letters patent, in order that the shareholders of the said company be bound to execute them according to their form and tenor.
LVI. Whereas it is not our intention that the special protection we grant to the said company be in any respect prejudicial to our other colonies whom we wish also to favor, we forbid the said company to take or receive under any
ESTABLISHMENT OP THE FKENCH IN LOUISIANA.
59
turned to France. On the 28th April, the ship La Paix arrived with sixty men for the concession of M. Paris Duverney, at the village of the Bayagoulas, which had been destroyed.* In May, the
pretence whatever, any inhabitant established in our colonies, and transfer them to Louisiana, unless they have obtained the necessary permission in writing of the governors general of our said colonies, authenticated by the Intendants or chiefs of the commissariat.
Wherefore, we do order our trusty and beloved councillors, holding our court of parliament, audit office, and court of aids in Paris, to let the present letters be read, published and registered, and their contents holden, obeyed and executed, according to their form and tenor, notwithstanding any proclamation, declaration, regulation, judgment or any thing else contrary to their contents, all of which we have made and do make void by these present letters, in the copies of which, authenticated by one of our trusty and beloved councillor secretaries, faith shall be had as in the original : For such is our pleasure. And in order that this may endure forever, we have attached our seal to these present letters. Given in Paris in the month of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventeen, and of our reign the second.
(Signed) LOUIS.
And lower, for the King, Le duc d'OiîLEANs, Regent, present. Phelypeaux vidit Dagueseau. Seen at the council Villeroy, and sealed with the great seal of green wax.
* The Indian tribes inhabiting the vast country explored by the French, were formerly much more numerous than they are at present. Many of these powerful tribes have either become extinct or so merged in other tribes as to have lost their names.
The Mobilians, a numerous tribe, who lived near the mouth of, the Mobile river, have long since become incorporated with the Creeks, and no4races of them left but their names. The Natchez, who occupied a large territory on the Mississippi, embracing the city which bears their name, who worshipped the sun, and were the most civilized of all the southern Indians, were nearly exterminated by the French, upwards of a century ago. The survivors fled tp the Chicachas for refuge, and subsequently to the Creeks, with whom they have been incorporated. The Bayagoulas and Mongoulachas, two very considerable nations, who lived on the west bank of the Mississippi, about two hundred miles above its mouth, are entirely extinct. The Houmas, a powerful and warlike tribe, who lived upon the banks of Red River, near its mouth, are reduced to a few huts only. The Coroas, situated a few miles above the Houmas, are entirely destroyed. The Taénsas, a powerful nation, situated a few mileB higher up the Mississippi, are reduced to a few cabins. The Tonicas, once a large tribe, but now reduced, live with the Avoyelles, on a stream that falls into Red River. The Pascagoulas, Tchachagoulas, Ouachas, Biloxis, Tangi-poas. Tchoupitoulas, Colapissas, Chitlimaches, and Quinnipissas, who once occupied a large district of country bordering on the lakes and bayous falling into the Gulf of Mexico, are either merged into other tribes or have become extinct. The Yasous, Chachoumas, Talusas, Carols, Tkioux and Sambou/cas, have all been destroyed, except, perhaps, a few huts of the Yasous, which are still to be seen upon the banks of the picturesque river which bears their name. The Natsoos,
&*¦"
r
60
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
fort at St. Joseph's Bay was abandoned, and soon after the Spaniards took possession of it, and established themselves there. On the 10th August, the ship la Paix sailed for France. On the 26th,
NateKitacks, and Naudacos, on the Arkansas, are all either destroyed or merged in what is called the Arkansas. The Caddoes, or Caddodoquious, Nassonis, and Taioux, (a nation that gave their name to Texas,) the Adayes and Yatassees, are reduced to a few huts, confined to the banks of Red River. The Chactoos live on Bayou Boeuf, and the Opelousas or Loupelousas, and the Attacapas, in the parishes of Louisiana which bear their names.
Jontel, in his Journal of La Salle's last expedition to the Gulf of Mexico, (a a translation of which is printed in the first volume of the Historical Collections of Louisiana,) gives the names of more than thirty tribes of Indians which he passed through (in what is now called Texas,) on his way to Canada, that have ¦become entirely extinct ; while the Apaches and Camanches, both powerful and warlike tribes, still rove sovereigns of the country, whitened by the bones of those they have destroyed. The Cappas, Tongingas, and Torimans. who lived, at the time of De Soto's visit to this country, on the banks and near the mouth of the Arkansas, have either been killed off or incorporated with other tribes. The Chactas and Chicachas, great and powerful nations, who anciently occupied all that territory from the Gulf of Mexico to the Cumberland river, bounded on the east by the Cheraquis, and Muskhogees or Creeks, and on the west by the Mississippi river ; although numbering, in the time of De Soto, more than twenty thousand warriors, are now more than half reduced, and have been transferred to the Indian territory west of the Arkansas.
The Cheraquis or Chelakees. the Albanians of the south, who occupied all the country lying north of the Creeks, on the Cheraquis or Tennessee and Hi-wasse rivers, and along the mountain gorges of the Apalachian chain, numbering more than thirty thousand warriors when the French first landed on the barren shores of Biloxi, became reduced to less than one half of that number before they were transferred to Arkansas. The Chauanons or Shawaneese, who occupied the basin of the Cumberland, and connected the south-eastern Algonquins with the western Indians, like most of the other great tribes, became by sanguinary wars sadly reduced previous to their removal to their present hunting grounds, west of the Arkansas. This tribe was known to the French missionaries as early as 1672, they were nearly allied to the Sauks and Foxes.
The Muskhogees or Creeks, including, of course, the Seminoles, Chatta-uaches and Apalaches, occupied an immense territory at the time De Soto passed through their country, bounded on the west by the Alibamons, south by the Gulf of Mexico, north by the Cherokees, and on the east by the Savannah river. They were, without doubt, the most warlike and powerful confederacy in all this country, and constantly at war with other tribes. Subsequently to their removal to the Indian territory west of the Arkansas, this nation could only muster about twenty-five thousand souls. The Creeks, Cherokees Choctaws have good schools and churches established among them, and live under a form of government of their own. The Alibamons and Coo-sadas, two small tribes that formerly lived on the banks of the Talapoosa and Coosa rivers, are either become extinct or incorporated with the Muskho-
ESTABLISHMENT OP THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
61
the ships la Duchesse, la Victoire, and la Marie, commanded by MM. de Roussel, de la Salle, et de Chapy, arrived at Dauphin Island. They brought MM. de Richebourg, a knight of Saint Louis;
gees. The Abikas and Conchas, speaking a dialect of the Chicachas, and who lived north of the Alibamons, are all destroyed.
The Miamics or Twighlees, a warlike nation, occupied the country from the Scioto and Wahash to the shores of lake Michigan ; and the Illinois, a kindred nation composed of the Tamarois, Peorias. Cahokias. Kaskaskias and Metchiga-mis, occupied all the country lying between the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and on both sides of the Illinois. The Metchigamias came from the west side of the Mississippi. They were reduced by wars with the Chicachas, Sauks and Foxes and the Five Nations, and begged to be incorporated with the Illinois. The Miamies were a numerous nation when first visited by the French in 1669, and continued for a long time in alliance with them. They have always taken an active part in all the wars against the United States, and were finally reduced to less than one thousand souls. The Peorias and Kaskaskias, the last remnant of the great Illinois nation, now reside on the Indian reservation west of the Mississippi. The Piankisaws occupied a portion of territory bordering on the Ohio river. They were nearly allied to the Miamies, and although a numerous tribe, they were greatly reduced by wars previous to their removal to the Indian territory. The Kickapoos occupied all the country between the Illinois rivers. The remnant of this powerful tribe now reside west of the Mississippi river.
The Eries, Erigas or Cat Nations, were seated on the southern shore of the lake which still bears their name. They were destroyed by the Iroquois in 1655. The Andastes, a more formidable nation, were seated below the Eries, and extending to the Ohio. After many years of disastrous wars they were finally destroyed in 1672.
The Wyandols or Yendols were well known to the French, who gave them the nickname of Hurons. The Jesuits who established posts among them as early as 1644. found them not only more warlike than the northern Algonquins, but more civilized. They occupied the peninsula between lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario. In 1649 the Iroquois invaded their countries, and massacred nearly all of the nation, except a part that fled to the Ottawas, and sought an asylum in Canada, where they were pursued by their implacable enemies, even under the walls of Quebec. The immediate dominion of the Iroquois, where the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas were first visited by the Jesuits, or the war parties of the French, stretched from the borders of lake Champlain to Ontario, along the head-waters of the Ohio, Susquehanna, and Delaware. In the beginning of the seventeenth century they amounted to forty thousand, and, from their geographical position, and their superior intelligence, it made them umpires in the contest of the French for dominion in the west. Their destruction has been almost exclusively the result of wars among themselves, or against other Indians nations.
The Winnebagocs, once a powerful and warlike people, held all the country from the mouth of Green Bay (Baye des Puants) to the head of Lake Superior, and are now a most miserable and impoverished nation, scarcely numbering four thousand souls. The Menomonies, Ottawas, and Poutaouatimies, like the
62
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OP LOUISIANA.
' I
G-randpré, major of Mobile ; de Noyan and de Meléque, lieutenants ; de L'Isle-Dumesnil and de la Patt'ie, ensigns ; and Dauril, major of New Orleans. M. le Gac, a sub-director ; seventy persons for the concession of M. de la Houssaye, and sixty persons for the concession of M. de la Harpe, besides twelve or fifteen men each for some smaller grants. The total number of persons brought over by these vessels at this time exceeded eight hundred persons.
Winnebagoes, are the remnants of powerful tribes, whose territory once extended around the northern, eastern and western shores of lake Michigan, and among whom the French missionaries labored for sixty years or more to convert them to Christianity.
Southwest of the Menomonies the restless Sauks and Foxes, ever dreaded by the French, held the passes from Green Bay and Fox river to the Mississippi. The largest portion of their territory lay on the west side of the Mississippi. They in part subjugated the Ioways, and admitted them into alliance with them. They were always particularly hostile to the French, and frequently attacked their posts. Sustained by the Chicachas and some of the Scioux tribes, they turned their arms against the Hlinois, intercepted the communication between Canada and Louisiana, and finally compelled the Illinois to abandon their villages on the river of that name.
The. Missouri!, a numerous nation, but now greatly reduced, occupied originally the country at the junction of the river of that name with the Mississippi. They were driven away by the Illinois in 1824, and have since joined the Ottoes. The Oltoes and Omakaws, after several changes, now occupy the country on the west side of the Missouri, above and below the river Platte.
The Panis or Pawnees consist of numerous villages on the river Platte, west of the Ottoes and Omahaws. They are a warlike people, and hunt southerly as far as the Arkansas. They were visited by French travellers as early as 1624, and now, although much reduced in numbers, they still occupy the same-country that they did then.
Northwest of the Sacs (Sauks) and Foxes (Renards), and west of the Chip-peways, lived the Scioux or Dahcotas on both sides of the Mississippi. The French discovered their wigwams in 1659, and gave them the name of Dahcota. The eastern Dahcotas are composed of four tribes, and the western of three, viz. : the Yanktons, Yanktoanans, and Tetons. These tribes still inhabit the country west of the Mississippi, between that and St. Peter's rivers. They carry on a constant predatory warfare against all the tribes living on the Missouri or its tributary streams, from the Mandans to the Osages ; while the eastern Scioux or Dahcotas are continually at war with the Chippeways.
The Minetarees consist of three tribes, who cultivât» the soil and live in villages situated on the Missouri. They are kept in a continual state of alarm by the predatory excursions of the Assiniboins and Ariearees. The southern Scioux. consisting of eight tribes, originally occupied a territory extending along the Mississippi to the mouth of the Arkansas. Three of their tribes, the Quap-pas or Arkansas, the Osages, and the Kansas, who inhabit the country south of the Missouri, were the first seen by the French in 1673, and always remained in alliance with them. It is probable that the Quappas are the Pacahas described by De Soto in his wanderings on that side of the Mississippi, and tho Kappas so often described by the first French explorers.
ESTABLISHMENT OP THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
63
In the beginning of October, M. de Boisbrilliant set out to take command in the Illinois; and at the same time M. de la Harpe embarked with fifty men for his concession at Cadodaquioa, on Red River, with orders to establish a post there, and to ascertain the number of Indian tribes in that country. On the 31st October, the ships, la Victoire, la Duchesse, and la Marie, sailed for France. On the 17th March, 1719, le Comte de Toulouse arrived with one hundred passengers, among whom was M. de Larchebault, director-general, with a salary of five thousand livres per annum.
On the 24th March. M. de Saint Denis arrived from Mexico. It has been previously related that he set out from the Presidio du Nord on the 15th April. 1717, for the purpose of recovering his goods which had been seized by Captain Raimond. He arrived in Mexico on the 3d May. The Marquis of Vallero, Viceroy of New Spain, who had succeeded the Duke de Lignarès, received him courteously, and promised they should be restored to him. Soon after, however, Don Martin d'Alacorne, Captain General of the province of d'Altekas, was informed at Saltillo that M. de Saint Denis had passed through the province without reporting himself, and he wrote to the Viceroy that he was a suspicious person, and the goods were not owned by him, upon which information the Viceroy had him arrested on the 25th October. He remained in prison until November, when a royal decree was granted to release him on condition that he should remain in the City of Mexico. He obtained a release of his goods by another decree, which he afterwards sold for a great price. But the friend with whom he had deposited the proceeds, squandered the whole of them. M. de Saint Denis was ordered to be arrested soon after for having spoken indiscreetly of the Spanish Government; but some of his wife's relations hearing of it assisted him to escape from the City of Mexico on the 25th September, 1718; and on the 24th March, 1719, he arrived at Dauphin Island.
,On the 19th April, the Maréchal de Vittars and le Phillippe, commanded by MM. Mechin, arrived at Dauphin Island with one hundred and thirty passengers, among whom were M. de Serigny, knight of Saint Louis, with a commission from the King to explore and sound the coast of Louisiana, in company with his brother M: de Bienville ; he was the bearer of the news of the war with Spain, which had been declared by Prance on the 9th January, 1719, on the refusal of his Catholic Majesty to sign the treaty of the triple alliance. His first care was to call a council of war, composed of M. de Bienville, Hubert, Larchebault, and le Gac. It was agreed that they should attack Pensacola. M. de Bienville repaired to Mobile,
M1-.
64
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
where he assembled four hundred Indians and some Canadians, with whom he marched by land to Pensacola, while M. de Serigny embarked on board the Maréchal de Villars, and with two other vessels he arrived before Pensacola on the 14th May. As soon as the Spaniards saw themselves invested the Governor surrendered the town without making any resistance, on the conditions that the garrison should be sent to Havana, and the fort be exempt from pillage, which was granted. The prisoners were embarked on board the Comte de Toulouse and le Maréchal de Villars, which sailed for Havana a few days after.
On the 6th June, le grand duc de Maine, and l1 Aurore, arrived from the coast of Guinea, with five hundred negroes. On the 28th, the ships le Saint Louis and la Dauphine, arrived at Pensacola with merchandise and about thirty new recruits. On the 5th August, a small Spanish fleet composed of the ships Comte de Toulouse and Maréchal de Villars, with several brigs, appeared before Pensacola, commanded by Don Alphonse, brother-in-law of Calderon, the Governor of Havana, who had seized the two French ships in which the Spanish troops had been sent to Havana. MM de Chateaugué, commander of the fort, had put it in a state of defence ; but most of the soldiers being deserters, they listened to the councils of some Spanish deserters who had been left in the fort, and together with the panic and insubordination among his troops, the commander was compelled to surrender the fort on the 6th, The ship la Dauphine, which was in the port, was burned ; MM. de Chateaugué, de Richebourg, de la Marque, and de Larchebault, were taken prisoners to Havana ; and Matamoro was re-instated Governor of Pensacola. As soon as M. de Serigny received the news of the Spaniards having invested Pensacola, he marched to its succor ; but being informed before he arrived of the surrender of the fort, he countermarched, believing that the enemy would not confine their operations to that place. He had no sooner reached Dauphin Island than the Spanish fleet was discovered to be approaching.
The commander of the fleet sent a boat on board the Phillippe, a ship belonging to the company, commanded by M. Diourse, with the following letter :
On board the Notre Dame de Vigogne,
13th August, 1719, 10 o'clock, A. M.
Sir:
I send you my boat with an officer to summon you to surrender. If you do any damage to your ship I will treat you as an incendiary, and neither give you nor M. de Chateaugué and his garrison, who are in my power, any quarter. It
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ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
65
is the order of my King, Phillip the Fifth, to treat all those with rigor who are found with arms in their hands, and with mercy those who surrender. With assurances of my respect, I am, Sir,
Yours, &c,
Antonie de Mandita.
M. Diourse sent the Spanish officer ashore to M. de Serigny, who was much offended at the contents of this letter, and who informed the officer that he disregarded his threats. At this moment more than two hundred men assembled around M. de Serigny, well armed, together with several Indian Chiefs in their war dress, who only waited the command of their officer to fight, In the meantime fifty men were sent on board to man the "Phillippe." After the departure of the Spanish officer M. de Serigny made preparations to resist the attack. Towards evening a vessel was seen to enter Mobile bay, and during the night she captured a shallop ladened with flour and bacon. She afterwards proceeded to plunder " Miragoëne," about two leagues from Dauphin Island, from which she took upwards of twenty thousand livres worth of goods, belonging to several individuals, who had sent them there for safe keeping. She then attempted to make a second descent upon the place, but M. de Bienville arrived in time with a small force to keep her off, in which nine were killed, seven drowned, and eighteen French deserters taken prisoners, seventeen of whom M. de Bienville ordered to be shot. As it was not in our power to prevent the enemy, they continued to hover about Mobile river. On the 16th, we discovered two ships coming from Pen-sacola, which we knew to be the Maréchal de Villars and the Santo Christo, which they took from us on the coast of Cuba. They took their station off Dauphin Island, and commenced to fire on the " Phillippe," which was returned by her and the batteries from the land, until they were compelled to haul off. On the 20th, the Spaniards made another attempt to land, and were beaten off by the troops under M. Serigny. On the same day sixty Indians arrived from Mobile, which increased their number to two hundred and five. There were besides on the island sixty Canadians, one hundred and fourteen soldiers, nine officers, and seventy sappers and miners. On the 24th, the enemy raised the siege and sailed for Pensacola.
On the 1st September, the King's squadron, commanded by M. de Champmeslin, consisting of l'Hercule, sixty guns ; le Mars, fifty-six guns ; le Triton, fifty-four guns ; and two of the company's ships. I' Union, forty-eight guns, with one hundred and ninety passengers ;
u.-.
66
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OP LOUISIANA.
and la Marie, a storeship, arrived at Dauphin Island. MM. de Villardo, director-general, with a salary of 5000 livres, came a passenger in the l'Union. On the 2d, MM. de Serigny, de Villardo, and le Gac. repaired on board the Admiral's ship, and after several conferences, it was agreed that they should immediately attack Pen-sacola before the arrival of a squadron from Vera Cruz. Consequently, the Admiral ordered that the ships /' Union and le Pldllippe should join him, with a reinforcement of two hundred troops. On the 15th, the squadron set sail for Pensacola, and on the same day M. de Bienville set out in a shallop for Perdido river, where four hundred Indians awaited his arrival. On the 16th, he arrived before Pensacola and invested the fort. M. de Champmeslin seeing his signal, entered the port. The small forts and ships kept up a constant fire for about two hours, and then surrendered. He gave them up to the pillage of the Indians. M. de Champmeslin gave the command of the largest fort to M. de L'Isle. The commander of the Spanish squadron presented his sword to M. de Champmeslin, who afterwards returned it to him; but the Spanish Governor, Matamora, was not so courteously treated. He was disarmed by a sailor, and M. de Champmeslin reproached him for his want of courage.
The French commander found about fifteen days' provisions in the place. He immediately dispatched a vessel to Havana with three hundred and sixty prisoners, so as to economize the provisions. On the 18th, a Spanish brigantine, ladened with provisions, entered the port from Havana, and was immediately seized. She brought the report that the whole of Louisiana was in the possession of the Spaniards.
On the 4th October, the company's ship La Duchesse de NoaiUes, commanded by M. de Malvan, entered Pensacola laden with provisions for the squadron. On the 14th a vessel arrived from St. Joseph's Bay, and reported that a Spanish frigate of 26 guns was lost in the bay of Apalache, but the crew was saved. On the 26th M. de Champmeslin ordered his squadron to get ready to sail the next day. On the same day a vessel arrived from Vera Cruz and reported that a Spanish fleet was daily expected. On the 21st the squadron, consisting of twelve ships, after having fired a salute, put to sea, and M. Terrise was left with a few troops to command the forts. On the 23d the fleet anchored off Dauphin Island, and on the 25th they set sail for France, followed by the Maréchal de Villars and Comte de Toulouse.
On the 29th December M. de Bienville received a letter from M. Dutisne, dated Kaskaskias, November 22, 1719, with an account of
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ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
67
his travels to the village of the Missouris by the river, and to the villages of the Osages and the Panis by land. He observed that the water of the Missouri had a strong current, was muddy and filled with floating timber. The country was beautiful and well wooded. That two rivers, from the west, the Osage, and Blue River, emptied into the Missouri. At a distance eighty leagues from the mouth of the Osage are situated the villages of that nation, in the neighbor- ' hood of which are a great number of lead mines. In travelling west he crossed very high mountains, and many streams falling into the Missouri and Mississippi. That from Kaskaskias to the Osages is one hundred and twenty leagues. This nation is not stationary like the Missouris, but spend the winter in hunting buffalo. They are stout and well-made, and great warriors. The chiefs are absolute in their villages. Lead mines are abundant in their country, but they are unacquainted with the uses of it From the Osages to the Panis villages is forty leagues in a northwest direction, and he passed over prairies and plains filled with buffalo. They are not civilized, but are accessible by making them a few presents. In fifteen days he reached the Padoucahs, who are a very brave and warlike nation. Here M. Dutisne erected the arms of the King, 27th. September, 1719.
By the arrival of Les deux Frères at Dauphin Island, M de Cha-teaugué received a commission of Lieutenant from the King, M. D'Ar-taguette, of Inspector-General, and M. Paillou, Major-General. They also received the news that the Eastern and Western Company was united in one by an edict dated 12th May, 1719. M. D'Artaguette was ordered by the administration of the colony, to remove the colony from Dauphin Island to Biloxi and the Mississippi, as it was impossible for the colonists to improve the sterile lands of the coast, and it was the wish of the King to have the lands on the river cultivated for the support of the colony. By this vessel the colonists received the ordinances fixing the price of all merchandise sold in Louisiana, viz. : five per cent, advance on the cost price at New Orleans; ten per cent, at Natchez; twenty-five per cent, at Natchitoches ; thirty per cent, at Yazoo ; and in Missouri and Illinois fifty per cent. Articles of merchandise not enumerated in the tariff to be sold at a profit of fifty per cent, on the cost.
M. Benard de la Harpe returned to Mobile from Red River on the 26th January, 1720, after having established a post at the village of the Cadodaquious. ' *
It has been previously stated that he arrived in Louisiana in the month of August, 1718, and set out for Red River with fifty men.
00 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OP LOUISIANA.
He returned to New Orleans in the following October, and on the 10th December he set out again for Red River with a detachment of troops, to establish a fort among the Cadodaquious. When he arrived at Natcbitoches (where a fort is built), he found M. Blondel in command, and father Manuel, at the mission of the Adayes, about nine leagues distant.
At Natchitoohes he was informed that Don Martin de Alarconne, commandant of the province of Lastekas, had arrived from the Rio (Bravo) del Norte, where he had established several missions, and a post at Espiritu Santo Bay, in the vicinity of the rivers Gaudaloupe and St. Matk. He then went to the country of the Assiuays to establish a post among the Cadodaquious. On the 6th February, 1719, M. de la Harpe proceeded to the Assinays to prevent the Spaniards from making an establishment there. After a circuitous and very difficult navigation, he arrived at the Nassonites on the 21st April, 1719, having travelled one hundred and fifty leagues in a northwest direction from Natchitoches. The Indians of this country, viz. : the Nassonites, Natsoos, Natchitoches, Yatassees and Cadodaquious, having been informed of his arrival, prepared a great feast for him and his officers, consisting of buffalo meat and smoked fish. During the feast, as is the custom of the Indians, they kept a profound silence, and after it was over M. de la Harpe informed the chiefs that the great French King heard of the wars of the Chicachas with them, and had sent him with warriors to live among them and to protect them from their enemies. Upon which a venerable old Cadodaquious chief rose and replied it was true that most of their nation had been killed or made slaves of; that they were now but few in number ; that their friends the Canouches (a name which they gave to the French.) had come to protect them, for which they returned their thanks to the Great Spirit. They knew the Nadouches and other wandering nations had been at peace with them since the arrival of M. de la Salle, which was many years ago. After he sat down, M. de la Harpe inquired of them the way to the nearest of the Spanish settlements. They told him that he could find them at a distance of fifty leagues off, among the nations of the Nadaco and Amediches, but that he could not go there on account of the low water. That at sixty leagues on the right of Red River, ascending, there were many nations at war with the Panis, where the Spaniards had established themselves ; and that at ninety leagues to the north of their villages there were powerful nations on the Rio Grande, of which they knew but little. On the 27th April M de la Harpe went to visit some land, ten leagues from the Nassonites, on the bor-
ESTABLISHMENT OP THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
69
ders of a river, where the Natsoos formerly lived. IJe found the situation beautiful, the land rich, the prairies fertile, and he would have built a fort there but for the desertion of the Indians who agreed to furnish him with provisions. The Cadodaquious lived, at this ; time, ten leagues above the Nassonites, and the Natsoos and Natchi-toches three leagues above them, on the right of the river. These tribes are scattered over the plains, and not living in villages, which has been the cause of their destruction. Ten years before they numbered about four hundred persons, which comprised some families of the Yatassee nation, who had come to live among them. The Yatassees formerly lived about fifty-six leagues above the Natchitoches, on Red River, but this nation has been almost destroyed by the Chicachas, excepting those who sought refuge among
the Natchitoches and Nassonites. ......'
The land of this country is generally flat, with some hills and extensive prairies. On the bank of the river it is fit for the cultivation of Indian corn, tobacco, indigo and cotton. They sow oats in March and harvest in June. Corn is sown in April and gathered in July. The common trees of the country are the cypress, pine, catalpa, ash, willow, red and white laurel, walnut, plum, mulberry and paean. The prairies are filled with strawberries, mushrooms, wild onions and purslain. Buffaloes, bears, stags, deer, roebucks, hares, rabbits, turkeys, geese, ducks, swans, partridges, lapwings, ring-doves, starlings, birds of prey and cardinals, the plumage of which is very gorgeous and much prized in Europe, are every where to be seen.
M. de la Harpe fixed his establishment upon the land of the Nassonites, in latitude 33° 55, distant eighteen leagues in a straight line from Natehitoches.
On the 16th December, 1718, he received a letter from M. de Bienville. New Orleans, for Don Martin D'Alareonne, which he sent to the Assinays village by Saint Francois, a corporal of the garrison, who spoke several Indian languages, and at the same time he addressed to Don Martin the following letter :
Monsieur,
I am charged with a letter from M. de Bienville, Commanding General of the Province of Louisiana, which I have the honor of sending you. In confiding to me the post of the Nassonites, he has requested me to render all the services in my power to the Spanish nation.
I can assure you, Sir, nothing can give me more pleasure than to execute his orders on every occasion in which they may be needed. I have the honor to be, Monsieur,
Yours, &c.,
De la Harpe.
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HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
M. de la Harpe having been instructed by the Western Company to open a trade with the Spaniards of these provinces, he deemed it advisable to address the following letter to Father Marcillo, superior of the missions of Lastikas :
Revkrend Father,
The information which has been given me of your reverence, and the profound respect I have for your position, induces me to write to you and offer my services in these districts, which I command by the orders of the King, my master. Our proximity increases my desire to have an interview with you, and it will depend upon you whether I go to the Assinays to see you, or open a correspondence which may be equally advantageous to both of us.
The conversion of the heathen should occupy the attention of all good Christians. I know that some aid is indispensable to the success of the gospel among them. Your zeal is very great, but you must at times need help. Touched by these considerations, I now offer you the means of obtaining it. Inform your friends of New Mexico and Boca de Leon, that they can procure at the Nassonites or Natchitoches, all the goods they may need at a moderate price, upon which I will allow you a commission of two or three per cent, on all sales that may be made, and thus you may have it in your power to establish your missions upon a solid basis.
Receive, Reverend Father, the offers of a heart truly devoted to you, in which charity has more a part than any other consideration.
I am. &c, &c.,
De la Harpe.
On the 12th May, 1719, a Nassonite Chief assured M. delà Harpe that metallic ores were to be found in the mountains, about forty leagues to the north, and that he would conduct him thither. As the road was then infested with hostile Indians, he took with him nine soldiers and set out for the mountains. For the first three days the guides behaved well, but on arriving in the prairies in sight of the mountains, they perceived a smoke, and nothing could persuade them to go any farther. They returned the same night, and if it had not been for the strict watch we kept, we should have been surprised by a party of Osages. On the 20th, M. de la Harpe sent a detachment to make salt from a spring about ten leagues in a north-east direction from camp. On the 4th June, he dispatched MM. Mustel and Durivage, with six soldiers and some Indians, with presents, to make discoveries, and with instructions how to behave if they saw any Spaniards. On the 6th June, the corporal which M. de la Harpe had sent to the Assinays, arrived with some Chiefs of the Nadaco nation, bringing with him a letter from Don Martin D'Allarconne, and one from Father Marcillo.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
71
Don Martin D'AUarconne to M. de la Harpe.
Trinity River, May 20, 1719. Monsieur,
I am very sensible of the politeness that M. de Bienville and yourself have had the goodness to show me. The orders I have received from the King, my master, are to maintain a good understanding with the French of Louisiana ; my own inclinations lead me equally to offer them all the services in my power ; but I am compelled to say that your arrival at the Nassonite village surprises me very much. Your Governor could not be ignorant that the post you now occupy belongs to my government, and that all the lands west of the Nassonites are dependencies of New Mexico.
I counsel you to give advice of this to M. de Bienville, or you will force me to oblige you to abandon lands that the French have no right to occupy.
I have the honor to be, &c,
D'Allarconne.
Father Marcitto to M. de la Harpe :
Assinays, May 24, 1719. Monsieur,
I am advised of your arrival among the Nassonites, and from the information I have received from our brothers at the Adayes, I desire to make your acquaintance.
The correspondence which you propose to open with me on the basis of charity and friendship, meets with my warm approbation, and I shall write to my friends of your wishes. But as it is not proper for a Priest to engage in commerce, I propose that our correspondence shall be kept secret, especially as I am on terms of friendship with Don Martin D'Allarconne, who will not, I believe, remain long in this province, as many complaints have been made against him for not executing the orders of the Viceroy.
Accept, Monsieur, the assurances of my respect and esteem,
Marcillo.
On the 8th July, the Chiefs of the Nadaco nation, after having sung the calumet of peace, returned to their village with the following letter from M. de la Harpe to Don Martin D'Allarconne :
M. de la Harpe to Bon Martin D AUarconne :
Nassonite, July 8, 1719. Monsieur,
The orders from his Catholic Majesty to maintain a good -understanding with the French of Louisiana, and the kind intentions you have yourself expressed towards them, accord but little with your proceedings. Permit me to inform you that M. de Bienville is perfectly informed of the limits of his government, and is very certain that the post of Nassonite is not a dependency of his Catholic Majesty. lie knows also, that the province of Lastikas, of which you say you are Governor, is a part of Louisiana. M. de la Salle took possession
72
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
it.
I .
of it in 1685, in the name of his most Christian Majesty ; and since the above epoch, possession has been renewed from time to time.
Respecting the post of Nassonite, I cannot comprehend by what right you pretend that it forms a part of New Mexico. I beg leave to represent to you that Don Antoine du Miroir, who discovered New Mexico in 1683, never penetrated east of that province or the Rio Bravo. It was the French who first made alliances with the savage tribes in this region; and it is natural to conclude that a river that flows into the Mississippi, and the lands it waters, belong to the King my master.
If you will do me the pleasure to come into this quarter, I will convince you that I hold a post I know how to defend.»
I have the honor to be, &c,
De la Harpe.
On the 13th July, the Chief of the Canicons arrived with six Indians. Their village is on the banks of the Arkansas. Th« Nassonites evinced much pleasure at this arrival. They sang the calumet and exchanged presents with M. de la Harpe.
On the 24th, a Dulchinois Indian came from Natchitoches to inform the Nassonites that the French were at war with the Spaniards, and that his Chief had sent him to persuade them to declare war against the French ; they replied, that they would not interfere in their matters. So the messenger returned.
On the 29th, MM. Mustel and Durivage returned from their discoveries with two Indians of the Quidehaio nation. They reported that at a distance of sixty leagues west-north-west from Red River they met with a party of Nahodiches, Quidahos, Huanches and Tancaros, who had just been on au expedition against the Kansas, and had destroyed eleven of their villages, near the sources of Red River, where the Spaniards had been working some mines. These tribes have no fixed abode, although they number about two thousand men dispersed through the country. They build their cabins of buffalo hides sewed together. The Tancaros are the most warlike and the most savage of these nations They eat one another, and in war they neither spare women nor children. They are continually at war with the Kansas.
The Spaniards trade with the Kansas and give them sabres for horses, but never any firearms." It would have been well if the English and French had followed this rule with other nations. On the 1st August, the corporal who had been sent to the Assinays returned with the chiefs of that nation to assure M. de la Harpe of their neutrality in the war with the Spaniards. They brought the news that M. Blondel, commander at Natchitoches, had driven away and pillaged the Franciscan fathers at the Adayes. The corporal remained at the Trinity until the Spaniards departed.
ESTABLISHMENT OP THE FRENCH IN 'LOUISIANA.
73
M. de la Harpe having now nothing to fear from the Spaniards, he/believed it to be the interest of the company to explore the country which had been pointed out to him in the northwest, and by this means to effect an entrance, by treating with the Indians, into New Mexico.
For this purpose he took with him an escort of two officers, three soldiers, two negroes, and several Indians who spoke the language of the country, and set out on the 11th August. On the 21st he travelled forty-nine leagues through a fine country, with sloping hills and' prairies abounding ia game. He met a party of Natsoo Indians who had been on a hunting expedition, and had killed forty-six buffaloes and cows. On the 22d he passed several prairies, and a little river which emptied into Red River. He then entered into an extensive prairie, surrounded by mountains. On the 26th he had gone eighteen leagues further, when he met with a party of Osage Indians, who seemed disposed to attack him, but yet suffered him to pass on. On the 27th he travelled six leagues further, over a beautiful prairie country filled with deer and buffalo, and entered the mountains, where he found a number of Indian huts. Travelling six leagues further he met with a party of Kansas, who.were encamped on the banks of the Ouachita with forty warriors, and going in pursuit of the Tancaros. On the 28th he passed a beautiful prairie, interspersed with hills, and a large herd of buffaloes followed by a pack of wolves as large as those of France. On the 29th he travelled three leagues further, to a branch of the Ouachita river, which had about two feet of water in it. On its banks he met a party of Nacodoches, who were occupied in smoking meat.
On the 31st he travelled six leagues further, to a river which is a branch of the Arkansas. On the 2d September he advanced fifteen leagues through prairies and over hills, when he came to several lead mines. Six leagues further on he met six chiefs of nations who had come to meet him near a village called Imaham, lat. 37° 45', and to assure him of their friendship.' M. de la Harpe told them that the great chief of his nation had sent him to assure them of his protection against their enemies, and his desire was that they should be at peace with each other. These chiefs had brought Indian bread and smoked beef, with which they regaled the party. The chiefs made M. de la Harpe dismount from his horse one hundred steps from the tent of the Tancaro chief, when two of the chiefs took him to a spot and seated him on a buffalo robe. The principal chiefs then surrounded him, and gave him their hands as a sign of their friendship. These chiefs belong- dto the Tsacaros, Adayes, Ouaohi-5
74
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
I1'1».
tas, Ositas, Asinays and Tayas. They number about four thousand people, who live in tents, and are the allies of the Panis, a nation living about forty leagues to the north. The Panis are at peace with the Osages, a nation who are continually at war with the Kansas, the Padoucas, the Aricaras, and other tribes. The old chiefs told M. de la Harpe that a white people (the Spaniards of New Mexico,) traded for metals with the Padoueas, fifteen days' journey off, in a west-northwest direction, where the mountains furnish rock-salt. On the 4th September more than five thousand Indians assembled to chant the calumet of peace. The old chiefs of the Arkansas and Tayas performed this ceremony and made speeches. Late at night M. de la Harpe retired to sleep, and in the morning the chiefs came to wake him up. They washed his head and feet, painted his face blue and red, and placed a cap of eagle's feathers upon his head. They also threw buffalo robes and other presents at his feet, and presented him with a Kansas slave, of about eight years of age, who had escaped out of seventeen prisoners, which they had eaten at a public feast, j1 M. de la Harpe thanked them for their favors, and regretted it had not been in his power to have saved these unfortunate victims of their vengeance.
M. do la Harpe concluded to leave three of his men in this country, until the Governor of Louisiana decided whether it was expedient or not to establish a post here. But he afterwards changed his mind, as he was informed that the Indians abandoned their villages in the autumn to hunt buffalo, and in the following spring they returned to sow Indian corn, beans, and other seed, to supply them with food during the summer. The soil of this country is black, light, and very fertile. It is adapted to the cultivation of wheat, rye, and all kinds of grain. Also tobacco, which the Indians put up in twists, and afterwards fla-tten between two large stones.
The rivers furnish a variety of fish, and the prairies an abundance of deer, buffalo, turkeys, ducks, and geese. The Indians build their huts dome-fashion out of clay and reeds, and paint their coats of arms on a hide of leather, which they throw over the door. The Tancaros are the most respected of all the tribes, and the chiefs have the privilege of choosing their wives out of any of the villages. In general they are more intelligent and much better formed than those on the Mississippi river, but the fertility of their country makes them idle and dissipated. The women have regular features, and devote themselves to pleasure. / During our stay among them, they brought us dishes of meat and corn every day, and even disputed among themselves which should give us the most.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
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On the 18thj M. de la Harpe
Canicons to feast ;
by the
! Tancaros,
invited > about two 1
when he met a great many chiefs, who professed a great deal of friendship for him. The Canicons consist of a few families who live in a very fertile country. They venerate the serpent, and worship the Great Spirit under different forms. On the 10th M. de la Harpe erected a cross there, and planted a post near it, on which he carved the arms of the King. On the 13th, he set out to return to the Nassonis; and on the 17th, he arrived at the Ouachita river, where he waited to procure guides to conduct him to the mountains. On the 1st October, he was surprised by a party of Kansas Indians, and had only time to make his escape, by leaving his baggage behind. His guide ran off, and he was obliged to make his way back, over mountains, without any compass, to the village of the Nadacos, where he arrived, after much suffering, on the 13th October. On the 27th, he set out to return to New Orleans by the river ; and on the 21st November he reached the portage of the Natchitoches, where he fell sick. He sent several Frenchmen from this place to the Adayes for provisions, as his had nearly given out, and remained here until the 4th December to recruit his health. The Indian doctors bled him freely, and in two days after he embarked in a pirogue to cross the lake ; and on the 10th he reached Natchitoches, where he recovered his health. On the 3d January, 1720, he departed for New Orleans, where he arrived on the 26th.
In the beginning of the year, the Chicachas massacred several Frenchmen, and (at the instigation of the English) declared war against the French. On the 28th February, the King's squadron, commanded by M. de Saujou, arrived at Dauphin Island. It consisted of the V Achille, sixty guns, commanded by M. de Saujon ; le Content, sixty guns, by M. le Rochambeau ; le Mercure, fifty-six guns, by M. de Gabaret, on which was embarked two hundred and eight passengers, among whom were a number of young women taken from the public hospitals of Paris. On the 29th, M. de Bienville received letters from M. de Boisbrianl, informing him that he had established a post on the Mississippi river, eight leagues below Kas-kaskias. On the 25th April, the Council removed from office MM. d'Avril, a major, and Val de Terre, a captain of infantry ; and on the same day appointed M. de Noyan, commander of the troops at New Orleans.
On the 4th May, the King's squadron, commanded by M. de Saujon, sailed for France, on board of which, M. de Villardo, one of the Directory, embarked to render an account of the condition of the
76
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
¦¦'I
colony ; and on the 4th June, MM. de Val de Terre and de Bour-mont embarked on board the Bue de Noailles, to return to France. On the 8th, the King's ships l'Amazone, forty guns, and la Victoire, thirty guns, commanded by the MM. de Villiers and la Iaille, arrived at Dauphin Island, with orders to cruise on the coast of Cuba. These ships brought the news of the treaty made with Spain. The Council of Louisiana requested the King's officers to furnish them with provisions for the colony, which they granted, and soon afterwards they set sail for France.
On the 1st July, the King's ships le Comte de Toulouse, sixty-four guns, commanded by M. de Vatel ; and le Saint Henri, seventy guns, commanded by M. Douce, arrived at Dauphin Island to aid the company. They brought with them from the Island of St. Domingo a contagious fever, which carried off a great number of persons every day. In the beginning of this month, the ship I'liereule, sixteen guns, arrived at Dauphin Island from Guinea, with a cargo of negroes for the colony ; and the Comte de Toulouse, twenty guns, sailed for France, with a part of the deserters from the regiment of La Motte. On the 16th, a brig arrived from Havana, on board of which was MM. le Blanc, Longueval, and de Chateaugué, with the troops that had been surrendered at Pensacola. She also brought the news of peace between France and Spain, and an account of the force of the Spanish squadron at Havana. One of the French officers informed M. de Bienville that the ship Maréchal d'Estres, thirty-six guns; commanded by M. de la Godelle, had sailed from France in 1718, with troops and convicts for the colony, and had never been heard of. It appears that the captain had mistaken the mouth of the Mississippi, and entered a large bay in N. lat. .29°, where she anchored, and an epidemic broke out among the convicts, which produced dreadful havoc. That MM. Billeisle, Legendre, Duclos, Allard, and Corbet, thought it would be less' dangerous for them to land, well provided with arms and eight days' provisions, than to remain on board in a contagious atmosphere. Their hope was to meet with some friendly Indians, who \rould take them to the French settlements, which they conjectured could not be far off. In the mean time the ship sailed away and was never more heard of.
On the 16th the ships le Suc d' Orleans and Le Rubis arrived at Ship Island with supplies for the colony. Towards the end of this month M. de Paillou set out to prevail upon the Natchez and the Yasous to declare war against the Chicachas. On the 3d August le Comte de Toulouse and le Henri set sail for France, after having distributed among the colonists a great number of supplies ; and
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FEENCH IN LOUISIANA.
77
likewise, on the same day, the I'Hercuh and la Driade departed for France, on board of which MM. la Harpe, d'Avril, and de Lon-gueval embarked.
Copy of a Certificate given by M. de Bienville to M. de la Harpe.
Biloxi, July 1, 1720.
" I, John Baptist de Bienville, Knight of the Military Order of St. Louis, and Commanding General in the Province of Louisiana,
" Certify, that the M. Benard de la Harpe, commander of the troops sent to the Cadadoquious, Natsoos, Natchitoches and Nassonites, Indian nations on Red River, and on the confines of the Province of Lastekas, has, during a residence of eighteen months among them, conducted himself with great prudence and wisdom. That he has discovered other tribes of Indians on the Red and Arkansas rivers, adjoining nations to the Spaniards in New Mexico, and made alliances with them in the name of the King. Ir faith of which I have signed this certificate, aad affixed the King's seal.
M. de Bienville to M. Law.
Biloxi, August 1,1720.
Sib:
Knowing the interest you have always taken in the welfare and prosperity of this colony, I have taken the liberty of commending to your notice the Sieur Benard de la Harpe, who is about to return to France for the benefit of his health, which has been very much impaired by exposure in this climate, while exploring the country, and performing the arduous duties imposed upon him.
He is a brave and excellent officer, intelligent, and competent to conduct any enterprise among the Spaniards that the company may desire. ¦ He «peaks their language, and is acquainted with most of the officers and merchants who reside in Mexico. I hope, Sir, that this recommendation will prompt you to honor him with some good appointment, so that this colony may reap the benefit of his services.
I have the honor to be, &c.
On the 20th,thefrigates le Tilleul and le Subtile, commanded by MM. Canot and Valedon, arrived at ShirMsland, on board of which were MM. Macarty and de la Maisonneuve, officers of infantry, who died a short time after from dissipation.
On the 24th August le Saint Andre, 24 guns, commanded by M. de Pradaillon, arrived with two hundred and sixty persons for the concession of St. Catherine, under the charge of M. Favion Du-manoir. By this ship the company repeated their orders to make the settlement at St. Bernard's Bay, which had been heretofore neglected because it did not suit the views of the Council of Louisiana
78
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA,
! i
to do so. M. Berranger was dispatched accordingly, on the 2^d August, to examine the bay, for the purpose of founding a settlement.
On the 16th September the ship le Profond, commanded by M. Guermer, with a transport, arrived at Ship Island with two hundred and forty passengers, under the charge of MM. Elias and Le Bouteaux, for M. Law's concession. These ships also brought over supplies for the concession of M. Diron d'Artaguette.*
On the 22d the ships le Portfaix, commanded by M. Bigot, VAd-veniurier, by M. Le Blanc, and VAlexandre, by M. de la Salle, arrived at Ship Island with M. de l'Orme, Direotor General, MM. Freboul and Marlet, and several other persons and employés for the colony.
On the 9th November la Marie, commanded by M. de Ponto, and la Loire, by M. de Ponteshant, arrivedj at Ship Island. On the 1st sixty persons embarked for the concession of de Guiche, and the company of Montmort, in all one hundred and eighty-six persons» including M. Levens, a director of M. Law's concession, MM. Montmort, Roubell and Thierry, officers of infantry.
On the la Loire was embarked a number of persons for the concession of Sainte Keine, under the direction of MM. Sicard and Tibain.
On the 20th, M. Beranger, who had been sent to examine the bay of St. Bernard, arrived at Ship Island. He reported that he had sailed about one hundred and thirty league* to the west of the Mississippi, and in lat. 25° 45' he found a bay, at the entrance of which there was a bar with nine feet of water on it at low tide. He also found in the neighborhood several Indian nations, who re-
* In order to encourage the emigration of industrious and useful citizens to Louisiana, for the purpose of establishing regular agricultural settlements upon the fertile lands of the Mississippi and its tributaries, the Government of France made large grants or concessions of land to influential and enterprising persons. Among these was one to John Law, the great French financier, of twelve miles square, about thirty miles above the mouth of the Arkansas, where he established a military post. One on the Yazoo, to M. Le Blanc and others; one at Natchez, to MM. de Colly and Hubert ; one on Red River, above the Natchitoches. to M. Benard de la Harpe ; one at Point Coupée, to M. de Meuse; one at the Tunicas, to M. de St. Reine ; one at Baton Rouge, to M. Diron d'Artaguette ; one at Bayou Manchac, on the west side of the river, at the Bayagoulas, to M. Paris Duvernay ; one at the Tchoupitoulas, to M. de Muys ; one at Cannes-brulé, to the Marquis d'Artagnac; one on B'ack River, to M. de Villemontî one on the Pascagoula River, to Madame de Cheaumont; one at the Bay of St-Louis and Old Biloxi, to Madame de Mézieres ; one on the Ouaehita, to M. de a Houssaye ; and one at the Houmas, to the Marquis d'Ancenis.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
79
ceived him kindly. As he believed this to be St. Bernard's Bay, he left there a man by the name of Silvestre, a sergeant, and three other persons, among a tribe of Indians, who, to all appearance, were Anthropophagi or cannibals.
On the 24th, the brig le Chameau, commanded by M. Fouquet, arrived at Ship Island, on which was embarked sixty laborers, M. de Pauger, Chevalier de Saint Louis, Engineer, who was to serve under the orders of M. de la Tour, who was daily expected.
On the 14th December, the ships VElephant and le Drome-daire, commanded by MM. Amelot and Saint Mare, arrived at Ship Island with two hundred and fifty passengers for the concession of M. Le Blanc, Minister of War, together with MM. Dillon, Fabry, Duplessis, Leviller, La Suze and La Combe, officers for the concession, and M. de la Tour, Chevalier de Saint Louis, and Chief Engineer of the colony, with a salary of 8000 livres, and MM. Boispinel and Chaville, Assistant Engineers, with salaries of 5000 livres each. M. de Bizard, Captain of Infantry, and M. Marchand, Secretary of the Board of Engineers.'
On the 20th, M. de Bienville held a council, at which all the directors and engineers assisted. They decided to abandon Old Biloxi, and to establish themselves at New Biloxi. This proved to be an unfortunate move, as it was the cause of the ruin of the concessions, which might have been avoided by removing the capital to the banks of the Mississippi, where the ships could find a secure harbor. It was the opinion of M. de Bienville, as well as of M. d'Artaguette, the director-general, who had always the welfare of the colony at heart, that it would be better to fix it somewhere on the river. Accordingly M. de Bienville proposed to send the Drornedaire there, which M. le G-ac opposed, because M. Berranger had given a certificate that this vessel could not enter it. M. de Bienville, however, took upon himself the responsibility of sending her there. On the 26th, M. Beranger departed for Havana with the remainder of the prisoners which had been taken at Pensacola. On the 3d January, 1721, the ships la Gironde and la Volage arrived at Biloxi with about three hundred persons for the concessions of MM. de Meziers and Cheaumont. On the 5th, la Baleine, commanded by M. de Keralo, arrived with eighty-one young women from the Salpétriére^ of Paris, under the care of Sisters Gertrude, Saint Louis, and Marie.*
* TRAITE FAIT AVEC RELIGIEUSES URSDL1NES PAR LA COMPAGNIE DES INDES.
La Compagnie ayant considéré que les fondemens les plus solides de la colonie de la LouisiaRne sent les établissement qui tendent a l'avancement de la gloire de
u ¦ i
80
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OP LOUISIANA.
M :
m
On the 7th, the Seine, commanded by M. le Blanc, arrived with sixty persons, under the care of M. de l'Epinas, for the concession of the Marquis d'Ancenis. at the Houmas. On the 26th, the Marie,
dieu et a l'édification des peuples tels que sont ceux qu'elle y a faite des R. P. Capucines et des R. P. Jésuites dont le zèle et la charité assurent les secours spirituelles aux habitants et donnent une grande espérance de la conversion des sauvages, et voulant encore par un nouvel établissement aussi pieux soulager les pauvres malades et pouvoir au même temps a l'éducation des Jeunes filles, elle a agrée et accepté tes offres qui lui ont été faites par les soeurs Marie Tranchepain, St. Augustin, et Marie le Boullanger Angélique des Urselines de-Rouen, Assistées de soeur Catherine de Bruscoly de St. Amand, premier© Supérieure des Urselines de France, de se charger du soin de l'hôpital de la Nouville Orleans, aux conditions suivantes:
I. La Compagnie entretiendra au dit hôpital six Religieuses y compris la supérieure et leur accordera a chacun© cinq cents livres de gratification un© sois payée pour leur faciliter les moyens de faire leur voyage. Elles auront leur passage gratuit et celui de quatre servantes sur les vaisseaux de la Compagnie.
II. Lorsquelles seront arrivées a la Louisianne elles seront miser en possession de l'hôpital en l'état qu'il est savoir : la Maison et ses dependences ; le tout paraissant consister en une salle qui peut contenir 60 a 80 malades en un corps de logie ou sont établir reconomîe, les infirmiers et les cuisines et un salle que 1' on projettait de construire pour les convalescens et qui doit être faite a présent et en un lieu séparé pour traiter les maladies, secretes.
III. Ces six Religieuses s'arrangèrent dans ce logement du mieux qu'il leur sera possible, en attendant que la Compagnie leur salle construire les batimens convenables a leur établissement cequi s'execatera peu a peu suivant que le-fonds de l'hôpital et ceux destinée auxfortifications et constructions de batimens de la colonie pourront le permettre.
IV. Il sera au dit hôpital un emplacement allez grand joignant la maison, tant pour y coastruke les nouveaux batimens dont en pourra avoir besoin que pour y faire une basse cour et an jardin pour les Religieuses.
V. Les nègres et négresses, bestiaux, meubler, lits linges et utensiles. destines pour l'usage du dit hôpital et tout ce dont it faudra le pouvoir encore pour le service des malades seront remis par Inventaire aux dites Religieuses qui seront tenues d'en compter a la Compagnie.
VI. La supérieure destinera une Religieuses pour économe, la quelle, en cette qualité, sera chargée de tous les effets, de l'hôpital et de tout ce qui y sera fournir pour la subsistance des malades. Elle destinera deux autres Religieuses pour être continueîlement occupié au service des malades ; une autre pour tenir l'école des jeunes filles, et la sixième servera d'aide a celles qui se trouveront trop surcharges dans leurs fonctions et sera toujours prête a remplacer celle de ses soeurs, qui par indisposition serait hors d'état d'agir.
VII. Les dites Religieuses ne pourront disposer d'aucune fonds ni effets, appartenant a l'hôpital sans le contentement des administrateurs porté par declaration prise en leur conseil qui si tiendra pour cet effet toutes fois et quand et sera jugé a propre et qui sera compose, savoir :
Du Commandant General de la Colonie.
Du Premier Conseilles du Conseil Supérieure, qui pourra se substituer un autre Conseilles.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA. 81
k Profond, VAlexandre, and l'Aventurier, sailed for France. On the 3d Feb., 1721, the frigate la Mutine, commanded by M. de Mar-tonne, arrived at Ship Island with one hundred and forty-seven
Du Procureur General du dit Conseil.
Du Curé de la Nouvelle Orleans.
Du Supérieure des Missions des Jésuites.
De deux notables habitans qui y seront élus par le Conseil Supérieure en appellant les administrateurs a l'Election et qui seront changer tous les deux ans ensorti qu'il en reste un des deux.
Et du Médecin entretenu par le Roi auquel, Conseil la Supérieure de l'hôpital aura entrée lorsquélle aura quelque chose a proposer, sans avoir pourtant voix deliberative.
VIII. H sera tenu par les soins des dits administrateurs un compte exacte des biens du dit hôpital et l'emploi en sera fait par leurs ordres, ainsi qui de tout ce qui pourra le revenir par lege, donation, et amendes, les quels ne pourront jamais être appliquer aux Religieuses.
. IX. La compagnie concédera, en propriété au dit hôpital un terrain, de huit de fronte sur la profondeur ordinaire, le long de fleuve, le plus près qu'il
se ponrra de la Nouvelle Orleans, a fin d y former un habitation qui puisse, pourvoir dans la suite â l'entretien des Urselines, a cause du dit hôpital.
X. Il serait accordé par le Compagnie trois cents livres par an ; a ce lui qui prendra soin a la dite habitation pendant les cinq premieres années seulement.
XI. Tant que la dite habitation ne sera point en état de pourvoir a l'entretien et a la subsistance des-dites Religieuses, la compagnie leur accordera a chacune six cents livres par an, pour toutes choses ; qui commenceront à courir du jour de leur arrivée au port de l'embarquement ; mais sitôt que la dite habitation produira suffisamment pour fournir a leurs dépenses, cette pension cessera de leur être payée et les dites, Religieuses disposeront de tous les revenus de l'habitation, comme de chose uniquement affectée a leur entretien et a leur subsistance.
XII. Il sera fourni par la compagnie pendant chacun des cinq premieres années de l'establissement de la dite habitation huit nègres pieces d'Inde, qui seront par les dites Ursuline payés dans les mêmes termes et aux mêmes con-ditiones règles pour les habitans au moyen de quoi la compagnie cessera di leur payer la Pension annuelle de 600 livres a chacune lors de l'expiration des dites cinq années qui commenceront a courir du jour de la livraison des huit premieres nègres.
XIII. Si par quel qu'événement les Ursulines cessaient de prendre soin de l'hôpital, elles seraient obligées de remettre a ceux au colles qui les remplaceraient, l'hôpital, l'habitation, et tout ce qu'elles auraient reçu par inventaire. Quant â ce qui est de leurs hardes des meubles, bestiaux, nègres, &c, qu'elles auraient acquis elles en disposeraient comme de chose à elle appartenant et seraient remboursées des batimens qu'elles auraient fait construire a leurs de pour, soit sur le terrain de l'hôpital soit sur l'habitation, pourvu que les dites constructions eussent été faites du contentement de Conseil Supérieure. Elles seraient aussi remboursée de la dépense des défriches faite sur le terrain de
i'
1; l .'i
. i
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HISTOBICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
Swiss, commanded by Sieur de Morveilleaux. By this vessel M. de Bienville received a letter from the "Western Company, dated 31st October, 1720, in which they wrote to him, that it was with pain
l'habitation ; le tout suivant l'estimatien qui en serait faite, ne pouvant les dites Religieuses, être obligées de remettre a leurs Successseurs que ce qu'elles auraient reçu de la Compagnie et de l'hôpital.
XIV. La Compagnie fera fournir aux dites Religieuses tous ce qui sera nécessaire pour la subsistance des malades de l'hôpital et l'économe s'en chargera en recette sur un registre paraphé par les Administrateurs, en ouvrant un compte à chaque nature de vivres ; dans le quel registre elle portera tontes les consommations, jour par jour ; pour être les dits comptes, arrêtés par les Administrateurs à la fin de chaque mois.
XV. Mais, comme il convient que les Religieuses ayant la liberté de vivre à leur manière, elles auront pour elles, en particulier, une dépositaire de l'hôpital et qui sera comptable à sa Supérieure, pour pourvoir aux besoins des soeurs sur leurs fonde comme pensions et revenue de l'habitation, et elles se gouyer-nerout pour l'Interior de la Maison, selon leurs règles et l'esprit de leur Institutes, sans que le service de l'hôpital en souffre le moins du monde.
XVI. La Supérieur fera tenir un Journal exacte des maladies qui entreront au dit hôpital et de ceux qui en sortiront par décès ou autrement.
XVII. Tous malades de maladies ordinaires et non incurables seront reçus à l'hôpital, sur un médicin et, en son absence, du chirurgien major et, s'ils sont pauvres ils feront traites gratis, en rapportant un certificate de leur cure, visé du Procureur-Général comme ils n'ont pas le moyen de payer.
XVIII. Les habitans qui ne se trouveront pas dans le même cas qui se feront porter à l'hôpital seront obliges de payer par la somme qui sera réglée par les Administrateur de l'hôpital et ces derniers seront remis à l'Economie pour en compter.
XIX. Tous gens au service de la Compagnies qui seront malades seront reçus par préférence à l'hôpital et les rations dont ils jouissent appartiendrait au dit hôpital auquel il en sera tenu compte par la Compagnie pour le temps qu'ls y auront ségourné.
XX. Il sera pareillement tenir compte audit hôpital du prêt des soldats malades pendant le séjour qu' ils y feront.
XXI. Les Administrators auront attention d'établir audit hôpital un lieu séparé et distingué ou les officiers et employés de la Compagnie qui seront malades puissent se faire porter pour y être traités et les Administrareurs régleront se qui sera retenu pour chaque journée sur les appointemens des dits officiers et employés au profit de l'hôpital.
XXII. Le Religiouses qui auront soin de malades permetront point qu'aucun d'eux, même des cour a le sceur, prennant d'autres aliments que ceux qui seront fournir de la maison.
XXIII. Pour donner audit hôpital les moyens de pourvoir à une partie de ses dépenses, il lui sera concédé par la Compagnie, le plus près qu'il se pourra de la maison du dit hôpital, un terrain de huit arpens de front sur sa profondeur ordinaire pour y former, une habitation sur laquelle il sera cultivé des vivres et élevé des Bestiaux pour la consommation de la maison, et les revenues de cette habitation en quelque chose qu'ls puissant consister, appartiendront audit
il
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA. 83
they were informed of the disagreement between him and the directors of the company, which had caused so much confusion in its affairs; that the effect it had produced throughout France was very unfavorable to its prosperity ; that his royal highness had been informed of these disorders, and believed him to be the author of them. But, notwithstanding these reports, they now create him a brigadier-general of the troops, and knight of the military order of Saint Louis. That it was in contemplation to appoint a director-general for the colony, in order to prevent any further difficulties from arising hereafter.
This letter made a deep impression upon M. de Bienville, notwithstanding the approbation of his prince, and the further honors
hôpital. Mais il sera ouvert un compte particulier à la dite habitation dans lequel elle sera débitée de tout ce qui lui sera fourni par la Compagnie, créditée de ses produits, afin que, quand le dit hôpital sera en état de se posser des charités de la Compagnie, il soit tenu de payer à la dite compagnie les sommes dont il lui sera redevable pour la dite habitation.
XXIV. Lorsque les Religieuses le pourront faire commodément, elles prendront, si elles le jugent à propes, des filles pensionaires, sur le pied que la Supérieure l'aura, réglé, et le payment dos pensions sera remis entre les mains de la Dépositaire des Religieuses, mais aucunes de celles qui seront détournées ni appliquées au soin et à l'éducation des pensionnaires.
XXV. Aussitôt que les revenu l'habitation seront assez forts pour l'entretien et la subsistance des dites sis religieuses, elles pourront augmenté leur nombre, Si elles le jugent à proper, à proportion des dits revenu et le passage seulement sera accordé gratis à celles qu' elles seront venir de France ; mais elles ne pourront point recevoir Religieuse aucune fille née dans le pays, sans la permission et l'agrément du Conseil.
XXVI. Si quelque Religieuse, ne pourant s'accomoder du pays, on pour quelqu'antre raison particulière, était obligée de repasser en France, elle aura son passage gratis pour elle et une servante et la pension cessara du jour de l'embarquement.
XXVII. Si quelque Religieuse devenait, par infirmeté, hors d'etat d'agir, elle ne fera plus partie du nombre des six qui doivent être entretenues et cependant elle sera également traitée pendant sa vie aux dépens de l'hôpital, au cas qne les religieuses ne fussent pas encorer en état de se passer de ce secours.
XXVIII. Le present Traité sera adressé au Conseil Supérieur, de la Louisi-anne pour y être enregistre et, en cas de contestation sur les articles qu'il contient, elles seront décidées par le dit Conseil au Jugement du quel les parties se sont soumises.
Fait à Paris, en l'hôtel do la Compagnie de Indes, le 19th Septembre, 1726. Signé, l'Abbé Raguet, J. Morin, Dartaguet Diron, Castanier, P. Saintard, Des-hayer, Fromaget et Langoois. S ur Catherine de Bruscoly de St. Armand, Premiere Supérieure des Ursulincs de France, S ur Marie Tranchepain, St. Augustin, Supérieure, et S ur Marie Anne de Boullenger, Angélique Dépositaire, des Ursulines de Rouen.
1
y. 1
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
conferred upon him. M. le Blanc, the minister of war, wrote him a letter at the same time, and couched in similar language, which so mortified him that he decided at once to write a letter to M. le duc d'Orléans, informing him that he was sensible of the honors conferred upon him, but that they could not make up for the loss of the displeasure of his prince. That the condition of the colony should not be attributed to any neglect of his, but to the want of the receipt of the necessary supplies, and to the extravagant powers granted to the board of directors.
The "Western Company recommended them to have a good understanding with M. de Vaudreuil, Governor of Canada, in regard to the wars with the Indians ; ordered that the post established by M. de Boisbriant, nine leagues above the village of the Kaskaskias, should be called Port Chartres ; that at Biloxi, Fort Louis ; that at Mobile, Fort Condé.* On the 21st, M. de Pauger set out from Biloxi, to
* Louisiana, in 1723, was divided into nine civil and military districts, as follows, viz : 1st, the district of the Alibamons ; 2d, of Mobile; 3d, of Biloxi; 4th, of Natchez ; 5th, of New Orleans ; 6th, of Yazoo ; 7th, of Illinois ; 8th, of Arkansas ; and 9th, of Natchitoches. Each was protected by a fort, and under the jurisdiction of a commandant and judge, who administered the military and civil concerns of each.
Fort Chartkes was the head-quarters of the commandant of Upper Louisiana, and was deemed one of the strongest French posts in North America. It was erected in the vicinity of Prairie du Rocher, (in 1720,) about one mile and a half from the river bank, about twenty-fires miles below Kaskaskias. Its form was quadrilateral, with four bastions, built of stone, and well cemented with lime. Each side was three hundred and forty feet in length, the walls were three feet thick and fifteen feet high. Within the walls were spacious stone barracks, a spacious magazine, well, &c. The cornices and casements, port-holes or loops, were of solid blocks of stone. In 1770, the river broke through its banks, and in two years afterwards, two of its bastions fell into the river. It was then suffered to fall into decay, and it is now one of the most beautiful and picturesque ruins in the valley of the Mississippi.
Fort Rosalie, at the Natchez, stood on the summit of a hill about six hundred and seventy yards from the shore of the river, and about one hundred and eighty feet above the surface of the water, overlooking a beautiful champaign country, and the river for many miles both up and down. It was an irregular pentagon, without bastions, and built of thick plank. The buildings within consisted of a stone house, magazine, houses for the officers and barracks for soldiers. The ditch surrounding it was partly natural and partly artificial, and in most places nineteen feet from the bottom to the top of the , rampart. M. de Bienville named it Rosalie in honor of Madame la duchessee de Pontchartrain. By the sliding and caving in of the banks of the river, its huge bastions became nearly all destroyed, still it is one of the most interesting and picturesque spots that the traveller can visit in the delta of the Mississippi. The fort at Point Coupée was a quadrangle with four bastions, built with stockades on the west bank of the Mississippi river.
fct ra
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FKENCH IN LOUISIANA.
make a plan of Mobile and a reconnaissance of Mobile river to the white bluffs, situated six leagues from the Chicachas river, and thirty from Mobile. These bluffs are similar to those of Saint Luke at
Fort Arkansas was erected in 1685, about three leagues from the mouth of that river, and about two hundred yards from the water side. It was built of stockades, and the interior sides of the polygon measured about one hundred and eighty feet long, mounted with cannon. The Arkansas or Quapas Indians lived about three leagues above it, where the celebrated John Law had his concession, which he settled with Germans. After the failure of his great financial schemes, the Germans deserted the settlement and located themselves on the Mississippi, about thirty miles above New Orleans, on small plantations, which has ever since bore the name of the German coast. '
Fort Creveccbur, afterwards called St. Louis, was built by De la Salle, in the country of the Illinois, on his first visit to that country. It was seated on the top of a steep bluff, about two hundred feet high, with a spacious esplanade, and the river washing its base. M. de la Salle likewise built a stockade fort at St. Bernard's Bay, Texas, in 1685, claiming possession and jurisdiction over all the country from the mouth of the Mississippi to the Rio Grande or Rio Bravo del Norte, of Mexico.
Fort St. Louis de Carlorette was built in 1719 by the orders of M. de Bienville, on the right bank of Red River, in N. lat. 33° 55', as a sign of the jurisdiction of France in that part of Louisiana, since called Texas. The first Old Fort Biloxi has been placed by Major Stoddard, in his work on Louisiana, on Perdido bay, the ancient boundary line of the French and Spaniards, about twelve miles west of Pensacola bay, where he says M. d'lberville erected a fort with four bastions, on which lie mounted twelve cannons, and where it is said some remains of it may still be seen. But be this true or not, M. d'lberville, before he sailed for France in 1699, built a fort upon the northeast shore of the bay of Biloxi, about fifteen miles north of Ship Island, of four bastions, and mounted with twelve cannons, (the remains of which are still to be seen,) which was the sign of the jurisdiction of France, from the Rio Perdido to the Rio Bravo del Norte, and appointed M. de Sauvolle its commander, who kept a journal or history of the colony up to the day of his death, and which is now printed for the first time in this work. The Balize fort, at the mouth of the Mississippi river, was built about the same time on an island, and mounted with cannon to protect the French ships that anchored there, and to drive off the Spaniards. Fort Louis de Mobile or Condi, was built upon the river Mobile, and below the town, and about fifteen or sixteen leagues from the fort on Dauphin Island. It was constructed of bricks with four bastions, mounted with cannons, after the manner of Vauban, with half-moons, deep ditches, covered ways and glacis ; with houses for the officers, and barracks for the soldiers. The foundations of this fort are still to be seen occupying a considerable space in the city of Mobile. Although this was the head-quarters of the French Governor for many years, they were afterwards removed to New Orleans, on the banks of the Mississippi, which the French, and afterwards the Spaniards, fortified, after the manner of Vauban. A ditch was extended round the city, of about eighteen feet in width, with ramparts of earth, and palisades nearly six feet high along the interior or inner side of them. Five large bas-
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HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OP LOUISIANA.
Paris. They are about two hundred feet high, and are the continuation of the chain of mountains which run through the country from northeast to southwest. On the 22d, M. de Bienville was informed of the death of M. Blondel, commander of a post at Natchitoches, The council dismissed M. de Saint Marc, captain of the Dromedaire, at the request of M. de la Tour, who made a complaint against the captain for having acted badly during the voyage of the vessel.
On the 1st March, the Deux Frères, commanded by M. Chenot, and le Foudroyant, by M. Fontaine, arrived with forty Germans for the concession of M. Law, on the Arkansas.
On the 14th, the frigates la Mutine and le Chameau, sailed for France, having on board M. le Gac, director of the company, whose departure was but little regretted.
On the 17th, the frigate. VAfricain arrived with one hundred and eighty negroes, being the remains of two hundred and eighty which had embarked on board in Africa. On the 23d, le Duc du Maine, thirty-six guns, arrived with three hundred and ninety-four negroes, being the remains of four hundred and fifty-three who had sailed from Africa about the same time.
On the 4th April, M. Berranger was sent to Cape Français to purchase corn for the negroes, who were dying with hunger at Biloxi (Fort Louis). On the 5th April, M. Semiars de Bellisle* arrived at Fort Louis. He was one of the five officers who had landed from the le Maréchal d'Estres, west of the Mississippi, and was left there. It was reported that she was lost on the coast. He related that they were left upon the shore, and after more than two months' wandering were reduced to the greatest extremity for food.
tions were erected at proper distances, and likewise five intervening redoubts. The bastions were regularly constructed, each of them was furnished with a banquette, rampart, parapet, ditch, covered way, and glacis. The curtains were wholly formed with palisades at a small distance from each other, and were musket proof ; they had a banquette within and ditch and glacis without. A small redoubt or ravelin was placed in the centre of each bastion, and all the latter were of sufficient size to admit of sixteen embrasures, four in each face, three in each flank, and two in the gorge facing the city. The whole of which was mounted with heavy cannon ; the southwest bastion with a countergard and traverses, and a small redoubt on the bank of the river. The two forts (St. Charles and Condé) at the angles facing the river, likewise mounted with heavy Spanish ordnance, constituted the defence of the city, when Louisiana was ceded to the United States.
* M. Semiars de Bellisle, knight of the military order of St. Louis, was one of the bravest and most accomplished officers that ever came to Louisiana. He served the colony in a military and civil capacity for upwards of forty-five years, and then retired to France, where he died in 1763.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
87
That his companions, MM. Corbet, Allard, Duclos and L'egendre died from hunger. He afterwards fell in with three Indians upon an island at the entrance of a bay, who stripped him and took him to their nation, with whom he lived eighteen months. They took from him his papers, which he kept in a tin box, and which afterwards fell into the hands of the Assinays, who sent them to M. de Saint Denis, the commandant at Natchitoches, who rescued him soon after.
On the 17th, M. de Pauger was ordered to proceed to the mouth of the Mississippi to sound the passes. He found a bar of soft mud nine hundred toises wide, formed by the meeting of the tide of the sea and the current of the river, which is here very sluggish. It appeared to him that some of the passes might be closed up by sinking some vessels, which would increase the velocity of the current, and deepen the bar, on which only about twelve feet water could be found. He proposed to establish a fort on the island at the Balize, where ships drawing sixteen to eighteen feet might anchor in safety.
On the 20th, the frigate la Nereide, commanded by M. de Chaboiseau, arrived with two hundred and ninety-four negroes, being the remains of three hundred and fifty which had been put on board. He reported that the frigate le Charles, with a cargo of negroes, had been burnt at sea within sixty miles of the coast. On the 24th, M. de Boisbriant wrote to M. de Bienville from the Illinois that three hundred Spaniards had left Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, for the purpose of conquering the colony ; but only seventy had put their threat in execution, who had arrived at the Kansas river, where they encountered the Octotata and Panis Indians, who massacred all except a priest, who made his escape on horseback.
On the 15th, I'Elephant, la Gironde, la Baleine, le Duc de Maine, les Deux Frères et VAfricain, ships of the company, sailed for France. On the 26th, the Dromedaire, drawing thirteen feet of water, arrived with supplies for the concessions of M. Law. On the 4th June, the ship le Portefaix, commanded by M. Dufour, arrived with three hundred and thirty German passengers, and M. Marigny de Mandeville ( Chevalier de Saint Louis), the commander of Fort Condé, Mobile, M. Daransbourg (captain), and thirty Swedish officers. She also brought the news of M. Law's departure from France.*
* John Law, a Scotchman by birth, was the comptroller-general of the finances of France when he fled from that country. He was a shrewd financier, and remarkable for his elegance of person and engaging convivial powers, which soon gained him admission into the first circles of fashion in Europe. He travelled extensively on the continent, and while there examined with an inquisitive eye the operations of the principal banking-houses, and especially, through
88 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OP LOUISIANA.
About this time M. de Pauger sent in his report on the mouth of the Mississippi to M. de Bienville, and begged him to use his influence for abandoning the fort at Biloxi, and fixing his head-quar-
the assistance of a friend, he became acquainted with the mode of doing busi-. ness in the great bank of Amsterdam. In 1705, on his return to England, he proposed to Parliament the establishment of a paper currrency, which was rejected on the ground that, if carried inlo effect, it would be prejudicial to the landed interests of the Kingdom. On the death of Louis XIV., he retired to France, where he was patronized by the Duke of Orleans, Regent, during the minority of Louis XV. By Law's advice, and under his direction, some improvements were made in the finances of the kingdom, and measures adopted for establish, ing upon a firmer basis the sinking credit of the country, In connection with his brother, he set up a private bank under the form of the " General Bank of Law & Co.," and it proved to be so productive to the proprietors, that, about the close of the year 1718, the Duke of Orleans resolved to patronize it. It was, perhaps, this circumstance that led to the speedy development of that stupendous scheme, which had long occupied the mind of Law, generally known as the Mississippi System. The object of the scheme was, to invest the whole of the national trade, with certain revenues arising from different sources, in the hands of one great company, who might thus be enabled to extend their commercial projects to an indefinite extent, and to extricate the French government from the enormous debt which Louis XIV. had bequeathed it. By the suggestion of Law, such a company was actually instituted, under the name of the " Western or Mississippi Company," and to this company was granted the whole province of Louisiana, of which he was appointed director-general. Nothing was for a while talked of but this company, in which every body desired to hold shares. Honors were heaped upon him, and he was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences. The system of Law continued for a while to gain credit and fame, because it gave a sudden rise to the value of property of every kind. Thinking men, however, soon perceived that the necessary consequences of such a state of things would he the destruction of all government, the stagnation of trade, and the dissolution of all morals. The Company speculated to a most enormous extent, and gave out their paper without any regard to its soundness ; hence the cool and reflecting portion of the country drew from the bank enormous sums of gold and silver, which finally left it without a dollar, and two thousand six hundred millions of paper dollars in the hands of individuals unredeemed. All credit, both public and private, was soon prostrated. Law was stigmatized and calumniated ; the people became infuriated, and he was obliged to leave the country. He passed through Brussels and Venice, and safely reached London, where he lived sumptuously until he heard of the confiscation of his property in France, when he became embarrassed, and, failing in the attempt to recover it, he bade adieu to England, and fixed his ïesidence at Venice, where he died in comparative indigence on the 21st March, 1729, in the 58th year of his age. The following epitaph appeared soon after : '
Ci git cet Ecossois célùbre, Ce calculateur sans égal, Qui, par les règles de l'algèbre, A mis la France à l'hôpital.
ESTABLISHMENT OP THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
89
ters and principal settlement at New Orleans. Consequently, he afterwards wrote to the company on this subject.
On the 10th, the frigate la Fortune, thirty-six guns, arrived from Africa with a cargo of three hundred and three negroes.* On the
The failure of Law's financial schemes fell heavily upou Louisiana. The rapid expansion of the circulating medium throughout the province during the first three years of his operations, and the consequent sudden prostration of all business, at the time, involved the interests of the company, and embarrassed their operations for advancing the population and prosperity of the province. But who would have believed that in less than one hundred and fifteen years from that time (1835), the Valley of the Mississippi would have been the theatre of delusions almost as great, under a new system of credit held out by banking institutions and chartered monopolies as rotten and as baseless as Law's Bank of France'!
* It was soon found by experiment that the European constitution could Dot stand the labors of the field, but sickened and died under the burning suns of Louisiana, and the chilling dews and fogs of night. The Western Company was therefore compelled to introduce African negroes to cultivate the plantations scattered on the bayous and rivers of the delta of the Mississippi, and for several years it furnished the agricultural interests of the colony with several hundred annually, which was the origin of African slavery in Louisiana. And as France and Spain, for the next half century, thus furnished their American colonies with negroes for their plantations Great Britain, true to herksystem of monopolies, encouraged by British legislation, and fostered by royal favor, supplied not only her own colonies with slave labor, but contended for the monopoly of supplying both France and Spain. In 1724, M. de Bienville drew up a code, containing all the legislation applicable to slaves in Louisiana, which remained in force until 1803. Its first and third articles seem to be strangely irrelevant to the matter of regulating slaves, yet its intolerant spirit seems still to govern the policy of one of the most enlightened nations (Great Britain) on the face of the globe, in regard to the exclusion of Jews and Catholics both from church and state.
BLACK CODE OF LOUISIANA.
I. Decrees the expulsion of Jews from the colony.
II. Makes it imperative on masters to impart religious instruction to their slaves.
III. Permits the exercise of the Roman Catholic creed only. Every other mode of worship is prohibited.
IV. Negroes placed under the direction or supervision of any other person than a Catholic, are liable to confiscation.
V. Sundays and holidays are to be strictly observed. All negroes found at work on these days are to be confiscated.
VI. We forbid our white subjects, of both sexes, to marry with the blacks, under the penalty of being fined and subjected to some other arbitrary punishment. We forbid all curates, priests, or missionaries of our secular or regular clergy, and even our chaplains in our navy to sanction such marriages. We also forbid all our white subjects, and even the manumitted or free-born blacks,
6
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HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OP LOUISIANA.
15th July, the frigate la Venus, commanded by M. Dumoulin, arrived at Ship Island with M. Duvergier, Director-General ; M. de la Harpe, Commander at St. Bernard's Bay ; M. de la Grave, Director
to live in a state of concubinage with blacks. Should there be any issue from this kind of intercourse, it is our will that the person so offending, and the master of the slave, should pay each a fine of three hundred livres. Should said issue be the result of the concubinage of the master with his slave, said master shall not only pay the fine, but be deprived of the slave and of the children, who shall be adjudged to the hospital of the locality, and said slaves shall be forever incapable of being set free. But should this illicit intercourse have existed between a free black and his slave, when said free black had no legitimate wife, and should said black marry said slave according to the forms prescribed by the church, said slave shall be thereby set free, and the children shall also become free and legitimate ; and in such a case, there shall be no application of the penalties mentioned in the present article.
VII. The ceremonies and forms prescribed by the ordinance of Blois, and by the edict of 1639, for marriages, shall be observed both with regard to free persons and to slaves. But the consent of the father and mother of the slave is not necessary ; that of the master shall be the only one required.
VIII. We forbid all curates to proceed to effect marriages between slaves without proof of the consent of their masters ; and we also forbid all masters to force their slaves into any marriage against their will.
IX. Children, issued from the marriage of slaves, shall follow the condition of their parents, and shall belong to the master of the wife and not of the husband, if the husband and wife have different masters.
X. If the husband be a slave, and the wife a free woman, it is our will that their children, of whatever sex they may be, shall share the condition of their mother, and be as free as she, notwithstanding the servitude of their father ; and if the father be free and the mother a slave, the children shall all be slaves.
XI. Masters shall have their Christian slaves buried in consecrated ground.
XII. We forbid slaves to carry offensive weapons or heavy sticks, under the penalty of being whipped, and of having said weapons confiscated for the benefit of the person seizing the same. An exception is made in favor of those slaves who are sent a hunting or a shooting by their masters, and who carry with them a written permission to that effect, or are designated by some known mark or badge.
XIII. We forbid slaves belonging to different masters to gather in crowds either by day or by night, under the pretext of a wedding, or for any other cause, either at the dwelling or on the grounds of one of their masters, or elsewhere, and much less on the highways or in secluded places, under the penalty of corporal punishment, which shall not be less than the whip. In case of frequent offences of the kind, the offenders shall be branded with the mark of the flower de luce, and should there be aggravating circumstances, capital punishment may be applied, at the discretion of our judges. We command all our subjects, be they officers or not, to seize all such offenders, to arrest and conduct them to prison, although there should be no judgment against them.
XIV. Masters who shall be convicted of having permitted or tolerated such
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
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of the Concessions of M. le Marquis de Mézieres, Demarche, and Dufréme. She brought the Cross of St. Denis for MM. de Ohau-teaugué and de Boisbriant, and to MM. Blondel, Dutisné, Barnaval,
gatherings as aforesaid, composed of other slaves than their own, shall be sentenced, individually, to indemnify their neighbors for the damages occasioned by said gatherings, and to pay, for the first time, a fine of thirty livres, and double that sum on the repetition of the offence.
XV. We forbid negroes to sell any commodities, provisions, or produce of any kind, without the written permission of their masters, or without wearing their known marks or badges, and any persons purchasing any thing from negroes in violence of this article, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of 1500 livres.
XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, provide at length for the clothing of slaves and for their subsistence.
XX. Slaves who shall not be properly fed, clad, and provided for by their masters, may give information thereof to the attorney-general of the Superior Council, or to all the other officers of justice of an inferior jurisdiction, and may put the written exposition of their wrongs into their hands ; upon which information, and even ex officio, should the information come from another quarter, the attorney-general shall prosecute said masters without charging any costs to the complainants. It is our will that this regulation be observed in all accusations for crimes or barbarous and inhuman treatment brought by slaves against their masters.
XXI. Slaves who are disabled from working, either by old age, disease, or otherwise, be the disease incurable or not, shall be fed and provided for by their masters ; and in case they should have been abandoned by said masters, said slaves shall be adjudged to the nearest hospital, to which said masters shall be obliged to pay eight cents a day for the food and maintenance of each one of these slaves ; and for the payment of this sum, said hospital shall have a lien on the plantations of the master.
XXII. We declare that slaves can have no right to any kind of property, and that all that they acquire, either by their own industry or by the liberality of others, or by any other means or title whatever, shall be the full property of their masters ; and the children of said slaves, their fathers and mothers, their kindred or other relations, either free or slaves, shall have no pretensions or claims thereto, either through testamentary dispositions or donations inter vi-vos ; which dispositions and donations we declare null and void, and also whatever promises they may have made, or whatever obligations they may have subscribed to, as having been entered into by persons incapable of disposing of any thing, and of participating to any contract.
XXIII. Masters shall be responsible for what their slaves have done by their command, and also for what transactions they have permitted their slaves to do in their shops, in the particular line of commerce with which they were in_ trusted ; and in case said slaves should have acted without the order or authori. zation of their masters, said masters shall be responsible only for so much as has turned to their profit; and if said masters have not profited by the doing or transaction of their slaves, the pcculium which the masters have permitted the slaves to own, shall be subjected to all claims against said slaves, after deduction made by the masters of what may be due to them ; and if said peculium should
u
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HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
and de Noyan, Captain's commissions. The arrival of M. Buvergier, caused some changes to be made in the appointment of officers, much against the wishes of M. de Bienville. M. de Chateaugué was not
consist, in whole or in part, of merchandises in which the slaves had permission to traffic, the masters shall only come in for their share in common with the other creditors.
XXIV. Slaves shall be incapable of all public functions, and of being constituted agents for any other person than their own masters, with powers to manage or conduct any kind of trade ; nor can they serve as arbitrators or experts; nor shall they be called to give their testimony either in civil or in criminal cases, except when it shall be a matter of necessity, and only in default of white people ; but in no case shall they be permitted to serve as witnesses either for or against their masters.
XXV. Slaves shall never be parties to civil suits, either as plaintiffs or defendants, nor shall they be allowed to appear as complainants in criminal cases, but their masters shall have the right to act for them in civil matters, and in criminal ones, to demand punishment and reparation for such outrages and excesses as their slaves may have suffered from.
XXVI. Slaves may be prosecuted criminally, without their masters being made parties to the trial, except they should be indicted as accomplices ; and said slaves shall be tried, at first, by the judges of ordinary jurisdiction, if there be any, and on appeal, by the Superior Council, with the same rules, formalities, and proceedings observed for free persons, save the exceptions mentioned hereafter.
XXVII. The slave who, having struck his master, his mistress, or the husband of his mistress, or their children, shall have produced a bruise, or the shedding of blood in the face, shall suffer capital punishment.
XXVIII. With regard to outrages or acts of violence committed by slaves against free persons, it is our will that they be punished with severity, and even with death, should the case require it.
XXIX. Thefts of importance, and even the stealing of horses, mares, mules, oxen, or cows, when executed by slaves or manumitted persons, shall make the offender liable to corporal, and even to capital punishment, according to the circumstances of the case.
XXX. The stealing of sheep, goats, hogs, poultry, grain, fodder, peas, beans, or other vegetables, produce, or provisions, when committed by slaves, shall be punished according to the circumstances of the case ; and the judges may sentence them, if necessary, to be whipped by the public executioner, and branded with the mark of the flower de luce.
XXXI. In cases of thefts committed or damages done by their slaves, masters, besides the corporal punishment inflicted on their slaves, shall be bound to make amends for the injuries resulting from the acts of said slaves, unless they prefer abandoning them to the sufferer. They shall be bound so to make their choice, in three days from the time of the conviction of the negroes ; if not, this privilege shall be forever forfeited.
XXXII. The runaway slave, who shall continue to be so for one month from the day of his being denounced to the officers of justice, shall have his ears cut off, and shall be branded with the flower de luce on the shoulder : and
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
93
the less disappointed, for he had hoped his services would have entitled him to the command of the marine, and M. de Lorme was mortified at not being promoted to a higher office. It was reported at this
on a second offence of the same nature, persisted in during one month from the day of his being denounced, he shall be hamstrung, and be marked with the flower de luce on the other shoulder. On the third offence, he shall suffer death.
XXXIII. Slaves, who shall have made themselves liable to the penalty of the whip, the flower de luce brand, and ear cutting, shall be tried, in the last resort, by the ordinary judges of the inferior courts, and shall undergo the sentence passed upon them without there being an appeal to the Superior Council, in confirmation or reversal of judgment, notwithstanding the article 26th of the present code, which shall be applicable only to those judgments in which the slave convicted is sentenced to be hamstrung or suffer death.
XXXIV. Freed or free-born negroes, who shall have afforded refuge in their houses to fugitive slaves, shall be sentenced to pay to the masters of said slaves, the sum of thirty livres a day for every day during which they shall have concealed said fugitives ; and all other free persons, guilty of the same offence, shall pay a fine of ten livres a day as aforesaid ; and should the freed or free-born negroes not be able to pay the fine herein specified, they shall be reduced to the condition of slaves, and be sold as such. Should the price of the sale exceed the sum mentioned in the judgment, the surplus shall be delivered to the hospital.
XXXV. We permit our subjects in this colony, who may have slaves concealed in any place whatever, to have them sought after by such persons and in such a way as they may deem proper, or to proceed themselves to such researches, as they may think best.
XXXVI. The slave who is sentenced to suffer death on the denunciation of his master, shall, when that master is not an accomplice to his crime, be appraised before his execution by two of the principal inhabitants of the locality, who shall be especially appointed by the judge, and the amount of said appraisement shall be paid to the master. To raise this sum, a proportional tax shall be laid on every slave, and shall be collected by the persons invested with that authority.
XXXVII. We forbid all the officers of the Superior Council, and all our other officers of justice in this colony, to take any fees or receive any perquisites in criminal suits against slaves, under the penalty, in so doing, of being dealt with as guilty of extortion.
XXXVIII. We also forbid all our subjects in this colony, whatever their condition or rank may be, to apply, on their own private authority, the rack to their slaves, under any pretence whatever, and to mutilate said slaves in any one of their limbs, or in any part of their bodies, under the penalty of the confiscation of said slaves ; and said masters, so offending, shall be liable to a criminal prosecution. We only permit masters, when they shall think that the case requires it, to put their slaves in irons, and to have them whipped with rods or ropes.
XXXIX. We command our officers of justice in this colony to institute criminal process against masters and overseers who shall have killed or mutilated
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y* HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
time that the ship Garonne, belonging to the Western Company, was captured by a pirate near the island of St. Domingo, with upwards of three hundred Germans on board, and military supplies
their slaves, when in their power and under their supervision, and to punish said murder according to the atrocityvof the circumstances ; and in case the offence shall be a pardonable one, we permit them to pardon said masters and overseers without its being necessary to obtain from us letters patent of pardon. XL. Slaves shall he held in law as movables, and as such, they shall be part of the community of acquests between husband and wife ; they shall not be liable to be seized under any mortgage whatever; and they shall be equally divided among the co-heirs without admitting from any one of said heirs any claim founded on preciput or right of primogeniture, or dowry.
XLI, XLII. Are entirely relative to judicial forms and proceedings. XLIII. Husbands and wives shall not be seized and sold separately when belonging to the same master : and their children, when under fourteen years of age, shall not be separated from their parents, and such seizures and sales shall be null and void. The present article shall apply to voluntary sales, and in case such sales should take place in violation of the law, the seller shall be deprived of the slave he has illegally retained, and said slave shall be adjudged to the purchaser without any additional price being required.
XLIV. Slaves, fourteen years old, annd from this age up to sixty, who are settled on lands and plantations, and are at present working on them, shall not be liable to seizure for debt, except for what may be due out of the purchase money agreed to be paid for them, unless said grounds or plantations should also be distressed, and any seizure and judicial sale of a rea,l estate, without including the slaves of the aforesaid age, who are part of said estate, shall be deemed null and void.
XLV, XLVI, XLVII, XLVIII, XLIX. Are relative to certain formalities to be observed in judicial proceedings.
L. Masters, when twenty-five years old, shall have the power to manumit their slaves, cither by testamentary dispositions, or by acts inter vivos. But, as there may be mercenary masters disposed to set a price on the liberation of their slaves ; and whereas slaves, with a view to acquire the necessary means to purchase their freedom, may be tempted to commit theft or deeds of plunder, no person, whatever may he his rank and condition, shall be permitted to set free his slaves, without obtaining from the Superior Council a decree of permission to that effect ; which permission shall be granted without costs, when the motives for the setting free of said slaves, as specified in the petition of the master, shall appear legitimate to the tribunal. All acts for the emancipation of slaves, which, for the future, shall be made without this permission, shall be null ; and the slaves, so freed, shall not be entitled to their freedom ; they shall, on the contrary, continue to be held as slaves; but they shall be taken away from their former masters, and confiscated for the benefit of the India Company. LI. However, should slaves be appointed by their masters tutors to their children, said slaves shall be held and regarded as being thereby set free to all intents and purposes.
LII. We declare that the acts for the enfranchisement of slaves, passed according to the forms above described, shall be equivalent to an act of natural-
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
95
and clothing destined for the colony. On the2fith, the ship le Portefaix returned to France ; and towards the end of the month M. de Bienville appointed M. de la Harpe to the command of the bay of St. Bernard ; and M. de Noyan to the command of a company of Infantry.
On the 15th October, the frigate le Maréchal d'Estrées, commanded by M. Prudhomme, arrived with one hundred and ninety-six negroes : and on the same day the le Mouche, l'Abeille, and l'Hirondelle, arrived with supplies for the colony.
The orders of the company having been re-issued for the inr mediate settlement of St. Bernard's Bay, the Council could not now, under any pretext whatever, refuse to execute them. M. de la Harpe accordingly demanded the means of carrying them into execution ; but all that he could obtain was a small vessel commanded by M. Beranger, with fifteen quarters of flour, fifteen of meat, and some French brandy, for the support of his detachment of twenty soldiers, and the crew.
Copy of the order of Instructions.
" It is hereby decreed that M. de la Harpe, commandant of the bay of St. Bernard, shall embark in the packet Subtile, commanded by M. Beranger, with
ization, when said slaves are not born in our colony of Louisiana, and they shall enjoy all the rights and privileges inherent to our subjects born in our kingdom or in any land or country under our dominion. We declare, therefore, that all manumitted slaves, and all free-born negroes, are incapable of receiving donations, either by testamentary dispositions, or by acts inter vivos from the whites. Said donations shall be null and void, and the objects so donated shall be applied to the benefit of the nearest hospital.
LIII. We command all manumitted slaves to show the pro foundest respect to their former masters, to their widows and children, and any inj ury or insult offered by said manumitted slaves to their former masters, their widows or children- shall be punished with more severity than if it had been offered to any other person. We, however, declare them exempt from the discharge Of all duties or services, and from the payment of all taxes or fees, or any thing else which their former masters might, in their quality of patrons, claim either in relation to their persons, or to their personal or real estate, either during the life or after the death of said manumitted slaves.
LIV. We grant to manumitted slaves the same rights, privileges, and immunities which are enjoyed by free-born persons. It is our pleasure that their merit in having acquired their freedom, shall produce in their favor, not only with regard to their persons, but also to their property, the same effects which our other subjects derive from the happy circumstance of their having been born free.
'In the name of the King,
Bienville, De la Chaise.
Fazende, Bruslé, Perry, March, 1724.
M
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»0 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OP LOUISIANA.
a detachment of twenty soldiers under the command of M. de Belle-Isle, and proceed forthwith to the bay of St. Bernard, in the province of Louisiana, and take possession of it in the name of the King and the "Western Company ; and shall plant there the arms of the King in the ground ; and build a fort upon whatever spot appears most advantageous to him for the defence of the place.
" If the Spaniards or any other nation has already taken possession of it, M. de la Harpe will inform them that they have no right to this country, as it was taken possession of by M. de la Salle in the name of the King of France. And in case they make any opposition M. de la Harpe will take possession of it by force in conformity with the orders of the King, dated 16th November, 1718.
" He shall notify all strangers to retire who may afterwards arrive, make alliances with the Indian nations, and distribute presents among them as he may deem necessary and indispensable keep separate accounts with each nation and a journal of all that takes place during his command.
" If from any unforeseen cause these orders can not be executed, he will then act as his best judgment and prudence may dictate."
Bienville.
Fort Saint Louis, Aug. 18, 1721.
On the 16th August, M. de la Harpe set out accordingly in the packet la Subtile, to form an establishment at St. Bernard's Bay, On the 9th September, M. de Bienville left Old Biloxi, to go to Fort Louis (New Biloxi), where the engineers had prepared accommodations for him in an old warehouse. On the 14th, the provisions having failed, the troops were sent to Pearl River, and to the Pascagou-las to live among the Indians. On the 19th, M. Paqué arrived from the Alibamons with some prisoners. He reported that the garrison there to the number of twenty-four soldiers, had deserted on account of the scarcity of provisions. On the 20th, the brig le Saint André, commanded by M. de Kuguenal, arrived at Ship Island with merchandise and provisions. He brought the news that his Royal Highness had placed the company of the Indies en regie, and had appointed MM. Dodun, Ferrand, Fagon, and Mâchant, commissioners. MM. Duvergier and de Lorine represented to M. de Bienville that this change in the administration would lessen their credit and authority» and they wished to resign their appointments, but he would not listen to them, as he could not understand the motives of the company for making this change. The commissioners returned thanks to M. Hubert for the services he had rendered the company, and requested him to appear before M. de Bienville and the Directors, to explain why he had not registered the rules and orders of the company. He became very much embarrassed at this charge, and threw the blame upon MM. Duvergier, Bienville and de Lorme.
On the 3d October, M. de la Harpe returned from his expedition to the bay of St. Bernard, and reported that he sailed along
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
97
the coast west of the Mississippi for one hundred leagues or more, and on the 27th August entered a fine bay which he believed to be St. Bernard's, situated in 29° 15' N. lat. At the entrance was a bar on which he found eleven and a half feet of water at half tide. Having passed the bar he discovered an island, and sailed to the west, where he found from fifteen to thirty feet of water.
On the 29th, he sent M. de Belle-Isle in a sloop to explore the country. He returned on the same day, after having met with some of the natives who wished to approach him in their pirogues, which he kept off for fear of being surprised. They continued to follow him, and he afterwards received them on board of the Subtile. After showing them the effects of the cannon and small arms, he landed them upon the island. On the next day M. de la Harpe sent word to them by M. de Belle-Isle, that his intention was to make an establishment in this bay, to live in peace with them, and to protect them against their enemies, to which they replied that they would consult their companions. On the 2d September, the Subtile sailed farther up the bay, and on the same day, M. de la Harpe embarked in a canoe with M. de Belle-Isle and a detachment of six soldiers, to examine the country, and to fix on a suitable place for an establishment. He coasted along the bay from island to island, until he came to a river which flowed through a prairie, the lands of which were very rich. At a distance of three leagues farther, he arrived opposite the huts of some Indians in the evening, where he remained all night. In the morning he landed with MM. de Belle-Isle and Devin, but the Indians received him coldly, and the women set up a howling, which they considered a bad omen. They asked him if he bad brought them any presents, to which M. de Belle-Isle replied they had not, as they only came to seek their friendship. The Indians looked disappointed, and said that when they came among strangers they should not come empty-handed. During this interview the ship's boat anchored within pistol shot of the shore, with orders to be upon their guard for fear of being surprised. M. de la Harpe again informed them of his desire to form an establishment on the bay, which they opposed under the pretext that they were afraid of the whites, and requested him to leave their country. The number of Indians of both sexes assembled at this place was about two hundred and fifty. After this interview was ended M. de la Harpe returned to the ship's boat, and crossed over to the south side of the bay. At the bottom of this bay the country is beautiful, and interspersed with forest trees and little hills and prairies as far as the eye can see. The river which flows into the bay here comes from a fine
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country, and is about fifteen toises wide at its mouth ; and still further to the west is another river, which appears to come from the north-west. On the other side of the bay is a large river, navigable for sloops, which flows through a high country, where quarries of stone are found, and prairies as far as the eye can see, filled with buffaloes and roebuck. M. de la Harpe was disappointed at not being able to make a reconnaissance of this country, which from appearances afforded every facility for establishing a post, and the cultivation of the soil, besides being favorable to the carrying on a trade with the Spaniards in Mexico.
On the 5th October, M. de la Harpe returned on board of his vessel, and shortly after he saw six pirogues filled with unarmed Indians, and as they approached him, he asked them the reason why they had opposed his making an establishment among them, and they replied that it was because it was quite impossible for them to live together in peace. M. de la Harpe seeing then that it was quite useless to attempt with his small force and without provisions, to establish a post among them, he concluded to return to Fort Louis de Mobile, being satisfied that the bay he had been in was no other than St. Bernard's. At the same time he resolved to capture some of the Indians, in hopes that by good treatment he might induce them to permit him to settle in their country, and to carry out his plans ; he therefore landed again and pretended that he wanted more water for hisvoy age, and seized a dozen or more who informed him that they had been some time at war with the Assinays and Bidayes, whose country was between them and the Assinays. They were the most ferocious and cruel of all the Indians, and frequently eat each other. They told M-de la Harpe that the Spaniards had sailed up this bay, but they had had no communications with them. On the 3d October, M. de la Harpe again set sail with the Indians he had captured, and after having suffered severely from bad weather and the want of provisions, he arrived at Mobile in about two weeks after. Among the Indians he brought to Mobile was the Chief of the nation, and eight young men, handsome, well made, and with agreeable features, which was something very rare to be seen among the people of this nation. M. de la Harpe reported to M. de Bienville that in times past the Spaniards had been at this bay, which was, without doubt, St. Bernard's bay. That notwithstanding his attempt to establish a post had failed, yet his discoveries might hereafter be made serviceable to the company. That the bay had at its entrance a depth of eight feet or more of water ; and the country was well watered, very fertile, and at some future day the Council of Louisiana might, with a proper force, take
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA. 99
possession of it and settle a colony there with advantage. The Indians which he had brought with him, and who had suffered so much from the want of provisions, set out some days after to go to their own country, which, although a very difficult undertaking, they were permitted to do.
On the 4th, the Durance, commanded by M. Gautier, arrived with supplies for the concessions of St. Catharine and St. Ilene. M. de Bienville received by this ship a letter from the company, informing him that his salary was raised to twelve thousand livres per annum ; and that MM. Duché, le Chevalier Bâillon, and Moreau, had received appointments from the company. On the 16th, M. de Bienville received a letter from M. Renard at Natchitoches, informing him that the Marquis Aguayo, Governor of the province of Las-tekas, had arrived at the Adayes on the 15th August, with four hundred horsemen and 30,000 dollars in gold, and materials to build a fort there.
On the 13th November, the ship la Doure, commanded by M. de Marsay, arrived, having on board M. Desfontaines (director of the concession of M. de Blane) and his wife. On the same day M. de Lorme left Old Biloxi to occupy Port Louis, which the Council of Louisiana had previously agreed upon.
The commissioners continued the establishment of M. Law, on the Arkansas, by appointing M. Dufresne director, with a salary of two thousand livres, and with orders to make arrangements with all persons who were desirous to cultivate the land. On the 23d, the commissioners ordered an hospital to be built of cypress boards, seventy long by twenty-one feet in width. On the 24th, the commissioners ordered an officer to be sent to the Arkansas river to find out whether it was navigable to the Indian nations which M. de la Harpe had dis. covered in 1719. M. de Bienville appointed M de la Harpe to take command of this expedition, and to establish a post there for the purpose of supplying the colony with cattle, as well as to protect all the new settlements of that country.
Orders and Instructions to M. de la Harpe.
We John Baptist de Bienville, Chevalier of the Order of St. Louis, and Commanding-General of the Province of Louisiana, give orders to M. de la Harpe, Commandant of the bay of St. Bernard, to set out with a detachment of sixteen soldiers to the Arkansas, and there remain a sufficient time to collect provisions ; and further to take with him M. de Franchome, to act as second in command. That the said M. de la Harpe will ascend the head-waters of the Arkansas, to examine the quality of the land, and ascertain what Indian tribes
100
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
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live there with whom he can make treaties of alliance, as well as to do all other things which he may judge necessary to be done : keep an exact journal of his route, mark the courses of the streams, their currents, and their islands, and ascertain what mines are in the country ; and if by chance the Spaniards wish to make any settlements there, to inform them that all the countries lying on these rivers are dependencies of France. That when the said Sieur de la Harpe shall have performed all of these duties in a manner that requires nothing further to be done, he will return to head-quarters, leaving M. de Franchome at his post.
In faith whereof we sign these orders and affix the seal of our arms, at the Fort Louis, this 10th December, 1721.
BlENVILLE.
On the 16th December, M. de la Harpe set out on his voyage of discovery. The directors furnished him with some merchandise, for the purpose of buying corn and beans of the Indians for his sustenance. On the 7th January, 1822, the ship Saint Andre sailed for France with forty passengers, among whom was M. de Richebourg, who had been appointed commandant of New Orleans, but who refused to serve under M. de Paillou, major-general of the province. On the 13th, MM. de la Tour and de Boispinel went to Ship Island to select a site for a fort. On the 31st, Father Charlevoix, a Jesuit, arrived from Canada by the river Mississippi, with orders from the King to examine the state of the colony. He was cordially received by every one. He stated that the council of Maine had desired him to discover the western sea by the lakes of Canada, which he attempted without success, and was compelled to take the route to New Orleans. Many persons believed that he wished to impose upon them, as he could, if he had wished, have found the sea to the west of Canada. During his stay at New Orleans he effected a reconciliation between MM. de Bienville and Hubert. On the 1st March, M. Duvergier returned to France in the ship la Soane. He took with him charges against MM. de Bienville, de la Tour, de Boisbriant, and Chateaugué, besides other officers who had not had the good fortune to please him. About the last of March, the ship PAdour sailed for France with Father Charlevoix, MM. Hubert, Fabrey, De-vens, Navarre, Chirurgier, le Comte, and many others, as passengers. On the 5th April, the ship le Profond arrived with provisions for the colony, of which they were in great need. On the 9th, the ship la Bettone, commanded by M. de Beauchamp, and the brig I'JEspi-deuil, Captain Bataille, arrived with M. Loubois, chevalier of the military order of St. Louis, who was appointed to the command of Fort Louis. M. de la Tour received by this ship the commission of
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
101
Lieutenant-G-eneral of the province, which so mortified MM. de Bienville and his brother de Chateaugué, that they felt themselves disgraced by his promotion, nor did M. de Boisbriant feel less so. The following rules and regulations, dated 20th September, 1721, were sent by the Commissioners for the government of the colony,
viz. :
I. Les nègres seront vendus aux habitans à six cent soixante livres d'Indie pièce, conformément à ce qui a été réglé par la compagnie, pour le paiement desquelles ils feront leurs billets payables dans trois ans. par parties égales du jour de la deliverance, en tabac ou en riz, suivant ce qui sera réglé par les directeurs par rapport à la qualité des terres des babitans.
Si après la seconde année échue l'habitant qui aura reçu des nègres se trouve débiteur de ses billets en entier, sans avoir fait le paiement la première année, les nègres seront vendus au profit de la compagnie, après un seul commandement de payer, et sera la vente des nègres affichée, indiquée et publiée dans toutes les habitations du quartier, un mois d'advance ; si le produit de la vente desdits nègres ne suffit pas pour le paiement de la compagnie, le débiteur sera contraint au paiement de surplus, et sera conduit en prison dans le chef-lieu ou la résidence du commandant du quartier, pour y demeurer jusqu'à parfait paiement.
II. Le tabac bon en feuilles ou manoques sera payé aux habitans à vingt-cinq livres le cent, poids de marc, et sera seulement pris deux pour cent de bon poids ; il sera libre aux habitans de le fournir en futailles ou en caisses suivant leur commodité.
Les habitans qui voudront le mettre en caisses s'assujétiront à les faire de la grandeur convenable pour contenir deux cents livres de tabac bien pressé, et afin qu'il n'y ait pas de difficulté sur la tare des caisses, il sera libre aux habitans d'en faire vider quartre caisses sur cent, le poids desquelles servira de régie pour la tare des autres.
III. Le tabac et le riz seront livrés par les habitans au comptoir du Nouveau-Biloxi de la Nouvelle-Orléans, de la Mobile et non ailleurs; le tabac sera reçu également dans trois comptoirs au prix de vingt-cinq livres le quintal.
IV. Le riz sera payé à douze livres le quintal poids de marc, deux pour cent de bon poids, et la même chose sera observée tant pour la tare des barils, que pour celle des casses de tabac ; il sera libre aux habitans de les livrer en balles de toile, auquel cas la tare d'une balle de deux cents livres sera de deux livres.
Si les habitans trouvent moyen de le livrer dans quelque espèce de jonc, ou autre de la fabrique du pays pour épargner la toile, la tare en sera vérifiée sur le poids que pèseront quatre de ces emballages sur cent.
V. Nous exhortons les habitans à ne point négliger la fabrique de la soie, et à replanter des mûriers sur leurs habitations, pour qu'ils se multiplient, en attendant qu'il y ait assez de monde pour travailler à la soie, qu'ils doivent regarder comme un objet considérable.
VI. Le surplus des autres marchandises du crû et culture de la colonie, et celle de la traite comme peaux de chevreuils, castors et autres seront vendus dans les trois comptoirs cidessus, au prix ordinaire porté par le tarif de la compagnie des Indes.
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HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
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VII. Les marchandises de France seront vendues aux habitans sur le pied ci-aprés ;
Savoir :
Au Biloxi, à la Mobile et à la Nouvelle-Orléans à cinq pour cent de bénéfice sur la facture de France ; aux Natchés et aux Yasons à soixante-dix pour cent de bénéfice ; aux Natchitoches et aux Arkansas à quartre-vingts pour cent; aux Illinois à cent pour cent : aux Alibamons à cinquante pour cent.
VIII. Le vin sera vendu cent vingt livres la bariquc, et le quart d'eau-de-vie à cent vingt livres, les demi-quarts et ancre à proportion.
Sur ce que nous avons été informés que les commis de la compagnie ont ci-devant détourné les marchandises les plus recherchées pour les survendre aux habitans à des prix bien plus forts et à leur profit, que ceux réglés par la compagnies, nous leur avons défendu de faire aucun commerce, même indirectement pendant le temps qu'ils seront employés au service de la compagnie ; etau cas que quelques-un d'entre euq contreviennent à nos défenses, nous ordonnons aux habitans de les dénoncer aux directeurs, qui leur adj ugeront la confiscation des marchandises, et de nous en donner avis en même temps.
IX. Afin que les habitans soient informés des marchandises que seront dans les magasins de la compagnie, nous avons donné nos ordres pour que tous les premiers jours de chaque mois il en soir affiché une liste à la porte de la compagnie du Nouveau-Biloxi, de la Nouvelle-Orléans et do la Mobile, et attendu qu'il pourrait y avoir au Nouveau-Biloxi des marchandises qui ne se trouveraient pas à la Nouvelle-Orléans ni à la Mobile, la liste de celles du Nouveau-Biloxi sera envoyée à la Mobile et à la Nouvelle-Orléans par les premières occasions qui se trouveront dans le commencement de chaque mois.
X. Il sera envoyé des espèces de cuivre pour payer la solde des troupes et les dépenses journalières de la compagnie, lesquelles auront un cours invariable, savoir celles de vingt au marc dix-huit- deniers, celles de quarante au marc neuf deniers, et celles de quatre-vingts au marc quatre deniers et demi.
Les habitans ne doivent faire aucune difficulté de recevoir lesdites espèces des troupes et autres en paiement des marchandises qu'ils leur vendront, parce que ces mêmes espèces seront reçues dans les comptoirs de la compagnie en paiement de toutes sortes de marchandises pour la même valeur sans aucune distinction d'espèces d'or et d'argent,
XI. Nous envoyons des ordres pour diviser la colonie en neuf quartiers, qui seront la Nouvelle-Orléans, le Biloxi, la Mobile, les Alibamons, les Natchès, les Yasous, les Natchitoches, les Alkansas, et les Illinois.
Les habitans seront informés par le conseil de la Louisiane de quels quartiers ils seront.
Il y aura dans le chef-lieu de chaque quartier un commandant et un juge, du jugement desquels les appellations seront portées au conseil supérieur établi au Biloxi.
Cet ordre est établi pour que les habitans soient a portée de demander au commandant de leur quartier la protection dont ils auront besoin, et ne soient point éloignés de leurs habitations pour faire juger les affaires qui pourraient naître entre eux, et nous les exhortons d'éviter les procédures, autant qu'il leur sera possible, de vivre tous en bonne union et concorde, et se secourir mutuellement.
XII. Nous les exhortons pareillement à être plus réguliers à remplir les devoirs de chrétiens qu'ils ne l'ont été jusqu'à présent. Pour les mettre en état
ESTABLISHMENT OP THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA. 103
d'y satisfaire, nous donnons l'ordre qu'il soit établi des chapelles et églises en nombre suffisant, afin que les habitans soient à portée d'aller au service divin et de recevoir les sacremens.
Fait à Paris, le 27 Septembre 1721.
Dodun, Ferrand et de Mahaut.
État das dépenses arrêtées par messieurs les commissaires du roi, pour la colonie de la Louisiane.
État-Major..
M. de Bienville, commandant-general, . M. de Boisbrillant, premier lieutenant de roi M. de Châteaugue, second lieutenant de roi M. de Paillon, major-general .... M. Diron, inspecteur-général ....
liv.
12,000 5,000 4,000 2,000 3,000
26,000
Commandans des Postes..
M. de Richebourg, commandant de la Nouvelle-Orléans, par gratification de la compagnie..........
M. de Mandeville, capitaine-commandant au fort Condé de la Mobile sans gratification
M. de la Harpe, commandant destiné pour la baie Saint-Bernard, à 1,300 livres sans compagnie, réformé à.......
M. de Loubois, commandant au Fort Louis, du Biloxi, par gratification, outre sa compagnie..........
M. de Saint-Denis, commandant de poste, sans compagnie, pour ses ap-pointemens ...........
M. de la Marque destiné pour l'île aux Vaisseaux, par gratification, outre sa compagnie..........
M. Marchand, commandant des Alibamons, pour ses appointemens
M. ce Bournion, commandant du Missouri......
liv. 720
1,080
720
1,080
720 1,080 1,800
7,200
Appointemens des Ingénieurs.
liv.
M. de la Tour, lieutenant-général de la Louisiane et ingénieur en chef 8,000 M. de Boispinel, chevalier de Saint Louis ...... 5,000
M. de Pauger, id...........5,000
M. de Franquet-Chaville.........2,500
Dessinateurs et piqueurs.........8,300
23,800
I
t
47,600
104
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
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Appointemens des Directeurs et Commis.
M. de Lorme, directeur-général . . . .
M. Guillet, directeur des comptes.....
M. Bion, sous-directeur des comptes ....
M. Bouges, secrétaire du colonel.....
M. Dalcourt, trésorier .......
M. Bonneau, garde-magasin général, nommé par le colonel M. des Ursins de la loire, commis principal aux Illinois Pour autres commis et employés, ci ....
Appointemens des Majors de Postes.
M. de Bancs, de la Nouvelle-Orléans ,
M. de Beauchamp, de la Mobile.....
Ile aux Vaisseaux, vacant......
M. de Terpuy, aide-major du Biloxi ....
Pour l'entretien et appointemens de la marine de la Louisiane, ci . Pour les aumôniers et chirurgiens à 800 livres chacun, ci ... Pour les gages, nourriture d'ouvriers et dépenses des travaux des forti-
cations............
Pour les présens des sauvages........
Pour seize comgagnies d'infanterie...... .
liv.
12,000 6,000 3,000 1,500 2,240 2,240 2,000
28,020
67,000
liv. 900 900 900 900
3,600
liv.
26,800 1,600
74,000
12.000
130,104
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II est bon de faire observer que toutes ces dépenses se montent a 375,204 livres prix de France, non compris la compagnie d'ouvriers suisses, qui, forte de deux cent dix hommes, doit coûter 52,000 livres, ni l'entretien des hôpitaux; des gens de force, les dépenses casuclles, et les frais des armemens de vaisseaux, pour apporter les fonds à la colonie, sur lesquels il y a les cinquante pour cent d'augmentation pour marchandises et vivres, prix qu'elles se vendent à la colo" nie, faisant la somme de 187,752 livres, qui peuvent en partie suppléer à l'augmentation des dépenses. On reçut aussi un règlement par lequel les capucins devaient avoir jurisdiction depuis l'entrée du Mississipi jusqu'au Ouabache ; les carmes déchaussés, depuis Rio Perdido le long de la côte jusqu'à l'entrée du fleuve, y compris la rivière de la Mobile et des Alibamons ; les jésuites et prêtres de la congrégation, de la mission, le Missouri, les Illinois et les nations du nord.
Messieurs les commissaires donnèrent ordre d'établir un conseil aux Illinois pour juger en dernier ressort, et cependant rendre compte au conseil supérieur, qu'on devait établir à la Nouvelle-Orléans, et d'y former le comptoir principal, enjoignant d'abandonner le fort Louis, et de n'y laisser qu'une simple garnison, et sur toutes choses de faire entrer à l'avenir les vaisseaux dans le Mississippi.
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The Commissioners announced the news of the establishment of the King's health, and his marriage with the Infanta of Spain, and that of the Prince of Asturias with Mademoiselle de Montpensier.
On the 12th April, a te deum was performed in the garrison, on account of the King's restoration to health. M. de Bienville ordered the troops to recognize M. de la Tour as lieutenant-general of the colony, and M. du Loubois commandant of Fort Louis. At night there was public rejoicing. At five o'clock the fleet which was anchored in the harbor fired a salute, and in the evening the troops a feu de joie. On the 18th, three Canadian pirogues arrived from the Illinois. They reported that twentydays before one of their pirogues had been attacked by the Chicachas, opposite Fort Prudhomme, who killed two of their men. On the same day M. de Montigny; the commander at Pensacola, arrested eighteen deserters, On the 18th May. M. Diron, inspector-general of the troops, arrived from Natchitoches, where it was reported he had been killed by an Indian. On the 19th_. M. Bienville was informed that M. de la Boulay, who commanded at the Arkansas, had retired with his troops to White river, a tributary of the Arkansas, to be more convenient to the concession of M. Law, from whence he could more easily receive succor, and that the Arkansas Indians had abandoned their villages on account of the war with the Chicachas.
On the 24th, the brig I'Adventmier, commanded by M. Fouquet, arrived with an emission of copper money to circulate in the French colonies of America, in conformity with an edict of the King, dated June 7,. 1721.
On the 25th, M. de la Harpe arrived from the Arkansas river f which he had reached on the 20th December, 1721. When he departed on this expedition M. de Pailloux, who commanded at New Orleans, furnished him with eighteen men, and forty-five days of provisions. At thirty leagues from New Orleans he reached the portage of Manchac, which leads to lake Maurepas, and when he advanced twenty-five leagues more, he came to Red river, which he passed to the left. Two leagues above on the right he passed the Tonicas, and from thence he went twenty leagues to Natchez, and arrived at Fort Rosalie on the 20th January, 1722. It was commanded by M. de Barnaval, and is built upon a high bluff which admits of ^no defence.
On the 25th he departed from Natchez, and at the distance of forty leagues he passed the Yasous river, on the right of the Mississippi, in lat 33° 5'. He there met with two pirogues of Canadians, who were descending to New Orleans with five thousand pounds of
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salt meat. On the 26th, lie entered the Yasous, and proceeded up the river three leagues, to the concession of M. le Blanc, commanded by M. de Grave. About thirty arpents of this concession is cultivated but the rest of the soil is so thin and sandy, that it can never be cul. tivated, besides the situation is unhealthy. The course of the Yasous from its mouth is northwest, and then it turns and runs north-northeast a half league to the stone bluifs, upon which is situated the establishment of M. le Blanc. /The cabins of the Yasous, Courois, Offogoula, and Ouspie, are dispersed over the country upon mounds of earth made with their own hands, from which it is inferred that these nations are very ancient, and were formerly very numerous, although at the present time they hardly number two hundred and fifty persons. From twenty-five to thirty leagues farther to the northeast the Ohoulas have a village, and at a short distance above them lies the village of the Chacchoumas.
M. de la Harpe met a party from the garrison of the Arkansas going down to New Orleans for their supplies, and he made them return with him to the Yasous, because he had brought them with him. On the 5th February, he set out from Yasous and travelled fifty-four leagues to the first branch of the Arkansas river, which he entered on the 27th February, although the current was running very rapidly. On the 28th, he continued to sail up this river until he came to White river, which comes from the northwest, from the country of the Osages, and discharges itself into the Arkansas or Sotouis, about four leagues from the Mississippi river, near the village of the Sotoûis, a part of which had been destroyed by the Chickasas.
On the 11th March, he proceeded to the village of the Sotouis, situated on the left side of the river, which the French named Arkansas, and the Indians Nigette, which signifies red on account of the color of the water. This village is situated in N. lat. 34° 45', and contains forty cabins and about three hundred and thirty Indians. The banks here are about thirty feet above low water, and when the river is high it is about eighty toises wide. M. de la Harpe found at this village M. de la Boulay, who had been here since the 27th of last September, with orders from M. de Bienville to protect the convoys ascending or descending the Mississippi river from the Illinois with provisions.
The first care of M. de la Harpe was to inform himself of the course of the river and the nations along its banks, but he was unable to draw any information from the Indians, who appeared to be dissatisfied with his coming among them. They told him that fire
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Frenchmen from M. Law's concession had ascended the river last August to the Indian nations, on the head waters of the river, to purchase horses, and they were killed on the route by the Osages.
On the 2d, he proceeded with MM. Dufresne and Boulay to the (concession) plantation of M. Law, situated north-northwest from the Sotouis or Arkansas villages, and on the right of the river, ascending about two leagues and a half by the river and one and a half by land. This establishment is about a quarter of a league inland, in a northerly direction, and you cross a bayou to get to it. In high water the land is overflowed to within a quarter of a league of the prairies, where it is located. He found at this concession forty-seven persons of both sexes, who had commenced to cultivate the land, which was partly sown in wheat. He took an inventory of the effects he found here, as the concession was nearly abandoned, and forwarded it to New Orleans.
On the 3d, M. de la Harpe sent one of his pirogues to the village of the Arkansas to purchase provisions and to fetch the Armorer, who had been sent there for some corn, as he was much needed to put the arms of his detachment in good order. M. Boulay ordered Saint Dominique, a soldier of the garrison who spoke several Indian languages, to accompany the expedition as interpreter. / The Arkansas nation live on the banks of the Mississippi, near an island, and is divided into three villages, viz. : the Ougapa or Kappa, Toriman, and Tonginga, about a league distant from each other, and containing together about four hundred persons. The principal Chief is an Ougapa, and the Sotoûis acknowledge him for theirs. They have all sprung from one nation and speak the same language. They render a kihd of worship to snakes, and invoke them in their sickness. They reverence no particular divinity, but worship those which they believe will favor them most in their war and hunting expeditions.
On the 9th, the men whom M. de la Harpe had sent to the Arkansas villages returned with an Indian pirogue. In this he placed some articles and seven men, with orders to proceed up the river, and wait for him at two days' journey on the road. On the 10th, after making some preparations for his journey, he left the settlement with his detachment, composed of twenty-two men and M. Defranchomme, ensign of the company at the post of Arkansas. As soon as the Indians discovered their pirogue was gone, they followed him by land with several warriors to recover it from him ; and M. de la Harpe, not wishing to have a rupture with them, returned it to them, and remained at a cypress swamp until he could build another ; afterwards
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he continued his journey, and made ninety leagues in a northwest direction to a large rock, which he called le Rodier Français, where he arrived on the 9th April. This rock is on the right of the river ascending, and forms three steep hills of one hundred and sixty feet in height, near to which are several fine slate quarries. He ascended the western hill, from which he discovered a fine country.17! At the foot of this rock is a water-fall, which forms an extensive and beautiful basin.
The water of this river for a distance of thirty leagues is of a reddish color, but afterwards it becomes clear and excellent to drink. The country is elevated, and the banks in some places are seventy feet high. The river was at this time low, and the sand-bars were uncovered. It is usually from eight to ten feet in depth, and in high water the width is from one hundred and fifty to two hundred toises. The eye in every direction can see herds of buffaloes, red deer, stags, bears, and turkeys.
M. de la Harpe continued his explorations to the 17th April, when he became short of provisions by the upsetting of one of his pirogues. To this accident was added the dysentery, which attacked several of his men, and prevented him from pushing his discoveries any farther. From the appearance of the river he concluded it was navigable in high water to the settlement of the Padoucas, and the Spaniards in New Mexico. The lands that border upon it are of the finest description, and would make magnificent settlements. The river is filled with a variety of fish and turtles; and the prairies with beautiful flowers.
M. de la Harpe having ascended the Arkansas by water, one hundred and fifteen leagues to this place, although it is not above fifty or sixty by land, he laid up his pirogues to visit the mountains to the west of the river. On the 15th, he commenced his march, each one carrying his sack of corn on his back. On the 19th, having advanced two leagues, he came to high mountains, between which are valleys and prairies, presenting beautiful views. Two leagues farther he came to the borders of a river two hundred toises wide. On the 21st, he embarked on board of his pirogue to return to the settlement of M. Law, which he found had been abandoned by his people, who had gone to New Orleans.
On the 4th, M. de la Harpe left the Sotoiiis (Arkansas) to. return to Biloxi, which he reached on the 25th May, barely escaping a surprise by a Chicachas war party. On the 26th, an English ship of twelve guns, commanded by Captain Marshall, entered the harbor with a cargo of merchandise for Tampico. He reported that the
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
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Sainte-Andre, which had sailed from Ship Island for France last January, was obliged to put into Havana. On the 28th, the ship le Profond sailed for France with M. de Noyan as a passenger. And on the same day the ship la Sainte Rêne, belonging to the concession of MM. de Kolys, also sailed for France. On the 31st, a Spanish vessel arrived from Vera Cruz, commanded by M. Espinola, with M. Alexander Wauchopp, who brought a letter from the Marquis of Valero, Viceroy of Mexico, to M. de Bienville, on the subject of the restitution of Pensacola, with all its artillery and munitions of war, taken at the time of its surrender to the French, and in conformity with the King's orders.
On the 4th June, M. de Montmort, was sent in pursuit of deserters, and returned without taking any. He landed at St. Joseph's Bay, where he found the officers and passengers and a part of the crew of the ship I'Adour, which he brought back with him in two shallops. Among the passengers were Father Charlevoix and MM. Fabry and Hubert, and the Curate le Vente. This vessel had left New Orleans about the last of March, and in the night of the 14th April, she was driven by the currents upon the island of Martyrs, at the entrance of the Bahama channel, without being able to get any relief. The crew and passengers took the long boat and arrived at an island, where they rested ten days, and afterwards a part went to the Havana, and the remainder sailed for St. Joseph's Bay. On the 10th, MM. Wauchopp and Espinola took leave of M. de Bienville, and embarked in a vessel for Vera Cruz. On the same day M. de la Tour embarked in the vessel l'Aventurier, to go to New Orleans by the Mississippi river. On the 11th, Kichard arrived at Fort Louis from the country of the Mentos, on the Arkansas, where he had been sent with a pirogue and six men the year before, by order of M. le Vens, director of the concession of M. Law, to purchase horses. He reported that he was plundered on the way by the Osages. He afterwards with difficulty reached the country discovered by M. de la Harpe in 1719, where he was well received at the Indian villages.
On the 16th. the ship la Bellone set sail for Cape Français with Father Charlevoix, MM. Fabry and Arcoite, and several other officers of the colony, who were going to France. On the 17th, the Council, at the solicitation of M. de Lome, appointed M. le Vens director of accounts, with a salary of six thousand livres per annum. An attempt was afterwards made to give him a voice in the Council, which was opposed by MM. de Bienville and de la Tour. On the 5th, information was received that the ship l'Aventurier had passed the bar at the mouth of the Mississippi. On the 6th, M. de Bienville
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received two letters from M. de Graves, commandant at Fort Saint Pierre des Yasous, informing him that the Chicachas had come to the village of the Yasous, and carried off a quantity of provisions, which had been sent there, and had attacked and wounded the sergeant in whose charge they had been placed. He was also advised that two Chachoumas had been sent by their chiefs to inform him that five parties of Chicachas had set out to make war upon the Yasous, Courois, and Offagoulas, and that these Indians had sent in their women and children to the fort. On the 12th, the Swiss Company, commanded by M. Brand, who had embarked on board the transport Elizabeth, rose against the captain and forced him to sail for Havana. M. de Bienville on hearing this news armed the transport Subtile, and ordered M. de la Harpe, Pradel, Montigny, de Belle-Isle, and Saint Estebcne, to go in pursuit of the deserters. On arriving at St. Joseph's Bay they found there the frigate la Hollandaise, twenty guns, commanded by Don Juan Alberto, who, with Don Joseph Primo de Ribera, the Governor, refused to let them come into port ; and, not having been able to discover any traces of the deserters, they returned to Fort Louis on the 30th.
On the 5th August, M. de Bienville set out for New Orleans; and on the 1 lth of the same month, M. Andriot, Major of Fort Louis, died. On the 14th, two convoys with provisions, one from Natchi-toches and the other from Illinois, arrived at New Orleans. On the 18th, M. Desfontaines, director of one of the concessions of M. le Blanc, embarked in a ship with M. le Blondel de la Tour, brother of the Lieutenant-General, to go to New Orleans, when twenty men, armed with guns, seized upon her and made their escape to Havana.
On the 24th, a chief of the Koanatinos, living west of the Mississippi, came to smoke the calumet of peace with M. de Bienville.
On the 27th, a pirogue arrived from the Illinois, in which was embarked M. de Noyan, Jr., a nephew of M. de Bienville and M. Dutisne, M. de Noyan brought letters from MM. de Boisbriant and Renaud, directors of the company of miners. These letters informed M. de Bienville that the Indians brought him daily pieces of very pure copper. M. Renaud wrote that he had been up the Illinois to search for a copper mine, and that he had discovered a hill from which he had obtained lead, copper and silver in small quantities, but, learning that the Indians were at war, he was compelled to return to fort Chartres. On the last of this month they burnt a negro alive at New Orleans, who had killed a Frenchman. From the 1st to the 4th September, the ships la Loire, les Deux Frères,
ESTABLISHMENT OP THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
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and l'Alexandre arrived, commanded by MM. Chenot, Butelaine and Amelot, laden with provisions and merchandise to the value of 900-000 livres. They also brought three Capuchins, MM. (Juillet, a director, and de Bourmont, who had received the cross of St. Louis. M. Law had procured him this honor to induce him to return to the colony, for the purpose of trading with the Indian nations on the Mississippi, and especially to make a treaty with the Padoucas, who are the allies of the Spaniards in New Mexico. The commissioners ordered that no one should go to France without their permission ; and announced that M. Duvergier was arrested, who had left the colony without their permission. They recommended harmony among the directors, and added that it was the intention of his royal highness to give to M. de Bienville full powers to preside in the council, and to execute its deliberations, so that he should not only be looked upon as the commanding general, but should be present at the meetings of the council, not only as commandant-general, but as first director, in order that he should share the blame or praise of the failure or prosperity of the colony. On the 9th, la Loire and les Deux Frères set sail for New Orleans, but afterwards returned to Ship Island on account of the weather. On the 11th, a violent hurricane commenced to blow in the morning from the southeast to the southwest, which damaged all the rice, corn and bean crops, and threw down a great number of houses, both at Fort Louis, Biloxi, and New Orleans. It sunk the ship I'JEpidule, three transports, and as many pirogues, and had likewise damaged the ships Neptune and Santo Christo.
On the 14th, M. de Bienville sent a pirogue with a letter to the ship l'Aventurier, which was about to return to France, on board of which were twenty-seven passengers, including M. Hubert, who wrote a letter to the companies informing them that the hurricane had destroyed more than one half of the crop of rice, and demanding of them further supplies. On the 20th, they arrested the two thieves who had pillaged the store-house at M. Law's concession. On the 23d, M. de Bienville was informed that the ship le Dromedaire had rode out the hurricane at the mouth of the Mississippi, as well as those at Ship Island, without receiving any damage. On the 24th, several of the directors of the concessions informed the council that they had successfully cultivated Indigo* on their plantations, and requested that a vessel might be dispatched to the Island of St. Do. mingo for a supply of seed, which they granted.
* Indigo was cultivated for many years in Louisiana until cotton and sugar took its place, but it was always an uncertain crop to make.
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On the 28th October, M. de Kelerion reported that a transport, laden with provisions and merchandise for the garrisons of Mobile and Alibamons, had been carried off by a part of the crew. On the 29th, M. Dutisne arrived from the Natchez, and related to M. de Bienville that a sergeant of the garrison there had an altercation with some Natchez Indians, and had killed a son of the chief. On the next day they attempted to capture a waggon of provisions, escorted by a strong guard, and were repulsed. Afterwards a party of eighty Indians attacked the French settlement, and were again repulsed, but not until they had killed and scalped several of its inhabitants. Two of the principal chiefs descended the river to New Orleans, to bring the news to M. de Bienville, who gave them some presents and sent them back with M. de Pailloux to Natchez. On the 3d November, MM. de Lorme and Guillet arrived at New Orleans. On the 12th, the Sieur Urit was dispatched to Cape Français with pine planks to purchase Indigo seed. On the 13th, the ship l'Alexandre sailed from Ship Island to New Orleans. She crossed the bar at the mouth of the Mississippi, drawing thirteen feet of water, and arrived on the 15th at New Orleans.
About the last of November, M. de Bienville fell dangerously sick, and for a long time his life was despaired of. His illness was attributed to the chagrin he felt on account of the neglect of those whom he had served for upwards of twenty-three years, for not promoting him to a higher rank. On the 12th December, M. de Bienville received letters from Pensacola informing him that M. de Wau-ehopp had arrived there in the frigate la Grande Hollandaise from Vera Cruz. On the next day he dispatched M. de la Harpe to Pen-saeola to restore to his Catholic majesty the garrison and effects at that place.* About the end of this month, M. Diron d'Artaguette
* Mémoire destiné à faire connaître l'importance de la colonie de la Louisiane, et la nécessité d'en continuer l'établissement par M. Benard de la Harpe.
Pour pouvoir juger de l'utilité de la colonie de la Louisiane il faut connaître sa situation ; la voici : ce qu'on appelle le pays do la Louisiane est celui de l'Amérique septentrionale qui est entre les Illinois au nord, et le golfe du Mexique au sud, ayant à l'est toutes les colonies anglaises qui tiennent la côte de cette partie de l'Amérique depuis l'Acadie jusqu'à la Carolina, peu éloigné du canal de Bahama. La partie de l'ouest de cette province conduit par terre au Nouveau-Mexique, à la province de Lastekas, et au royaume de Léon, où les Espagnols ont des mines considérables.
L'étendue de cette côte de l'ouest à l'est court dupuis le port découvert le 27 août 1721, par M. de la Harpe, à la latitude de 29" 12', à 282° do longitude jusqu'à Rio Perdido. situé entre Pensacole et la Mobile, à 29" de longitude, de qui donne environ cent soixante lieues marines de côte. Pour ce qui est du
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA. 113
get sail in a boat to return to the Illinois. He had twice made this voyage, and noted with accuracy the course of the Mississippi river. On the 9th January, 1723, M. de la Harpe returned to New
dedans des terres, la longitude de la Louisiane jusqu'à la hauteur de 39", s'étend depuis les limites du Nouveau-Mexique, c'est-à-dire, depuis 275° jusqu'aux frontières de la Nouvelle-Angleterre, aux environs do 307° de longitude ; mais cette étendue varie par-de-la les 38° de latitude, car au-dessus de cette hauteur du pôle, nous avons droit de nous étendre à l'ouest aussi loin que pourront aller nos découvertes.
La largeur de la Louisiane est plus assurée ; on peut la faire courir depuis le 29 de latitude qui est celle de l'entrée du fleuve, jusqu'aux 42° 30' qui est la hauteur du détroit : cette province est située entre le quatrième climat et le huitième exclusivement, ce qui fait que la durée des jours et des nuits, où ils sont les plus courts, ne sont guère au-dessus dequatorze heures trente minutes, ni au-delà de quinze heures trente minutes, où ils sont les plus longs.
Le climat en général est tempéré ; il est le même de la Perse, du Mogol et d'une grande partie de la Chine ; toutes les saisons y sont assez bien marquées, et si les nouveau-venus trouvent que le pays soit plus chaud que froid, c'est qu'ils viennent la plupart des pays septentrioneaux ; ceux que arrivent des îles pensent différemment. Pour connaître la bonté du climat de cette province il faut remarquer de l'air quo l'on y respire est sain, et que les terres sont très fertiles. On ne sait ce que c'est que les maladies épidémiqucs qui désolent les autres parties de l'Amérique, et s'il y a dans le pays quelques mortalités, elles n'ont été causées que par les maladies contractées à Saint-Domingue, et par la misère où les colons ont été réduits en arrivant à la côte. L'expérience a fait connaître depuis long-temps que les maladies des Européens se communiquent facilement aux Indiens, que cedes de ces derniers aux Européens, ce qui vient de ce que les pores de la chair des blancs sont plus resserrés que ceux des sauvages. On remarque à la vérité que les nouveau-venus sont pour la plupart attaqués d'une fièvre lente ; mais quoiqu'elle affaiblisse beaucoup, on ne voit pas de personnes en mourir. Il faut aussi convenir que les côtes de la mer dont le terrein sablonneaux est moins humide sont très saines, et dès qu'on a franchi ces bas-fonds, en avançant dans les terres, on y jouit d'une santé très constante ! que si l'on voit peu de vieillards parmi les sauvages, c'est qu'ils se tuent les uns les autres avant d'arriver à la vieillesse, ou qu'ils détruisent la bonté de leur tempérament par des travaux qui les épuisent en peu de temps.
Cette position de la Louisiane, bien entendue sur la carte qu'en a donnée le sieur de la Harpe, il est aisé de comprendre que le premier objet de cette découverte a été la communication du Canada avec le golfe du Nouveau-Mexique, par un pays sauvage de près de cinq cents lieues, et cependent très aisé à établir par le fleuve de Missisipi. qui court du nord au sud, pour venir se jeter dans le golfe du Mexique, et par les rivieres d'Ouabache et des Illinois, qui viennent par le côté du Canada se jeter dans le Missisipi.
Il s'agit d'examiner quels avantages on peut tira de cette communication, tant pour le commerce, que pour empêcher l'accroissement des autres puissances de l'Europe, qui ont des établissemens dans l'Amérique, particulièrement les Anglais ; mais avant d'entrer dans le détail du commerce, il est bon de faire quelques réflexions sur l'établissement de cette colonie par rapport aux Anglais.
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Orleans from Pensaoola, after having taken the troops to Mobile. He reported that the Spaniards had established themselves upon the island of Santa Rosa, and were waiting for the necessary armament
Les Anglais possèdent dans l'Amérique septentrionale l'île de Terre-Neuve, l'Aoadie, la Nouvelle-Angleterre, la Pennsylvanie, York, la Virginie et la Caroline. Ils ont les îles de la Providence à la proximité de La Havane, celles de la Jamaïque, de la Barbade et plusieurs autres moins considérables. Toutes ces colonies sont très puissantes et fournissent un commerce immense à l'Angleterre.
Les Anglais ont des alliances avec un grand nombre de nationes sauvages de l'Amérique, et ils les étendent journellement avec les Iroquois. les Charaquis, les Chaouanons, les Chicachas, les Cahuitas, les Alibamons, et plusieurs autres nations voisines de la Louisiane; on les avus pousser leur traite jusque sur le Missisipi, et aux portes de la Mobile, et s'ils avaient mis à exécution leur projet d'établissement sur la rivière des Ouabaches, dont la source vient environs de la Nouvelle-Angleterre, il arriverait que dans peu de temps ils débouche" raient et mettraient dans leur parti les Illinois, les Miamis, les Octotata, les Renards, les Scioux et autres nations du Haut-Canada ; ce qui apporterait un grand préjudice à la Nouvelle-France de laquelle dépend l'île du cap Breton, qui est la seule où nous pouissions être en sûreté pour faire la pêche de la morue.
La perte du Canada ne serait pas la seule qui pourrait en résulter ; cela les mettrait en état de pénétrer dans le Mexique qu'ils pourraient attaquer par différens endroits: par mer, en faisant descente aux environs de la Vera-Cruz, ou du côté de Panuco et de Tampico qui ne sont point fortifiés ; ou par terre, en pénétrant dans le nouveau royaume Léon, ce qui leur serait facile, en faisant un établissement au port découvert par M. de la Harpe à cent lieues à l'ouest de l'entrée du Missisipi. Ce passage serait d'autant plus important pour eux, qu'ils formeraient une barrière au Française de la Louisiane, à l'effet de les empêcher, non seulement de pénétrer chez les Espagnols, mais même de commercer par les terres avec eux, attendu que leurs comptoirs seraient bien plus à portée que les postes que nous occupons sur la rivière Rouge ; joint à cela que ce serait une relâche pour teurs balandres et autres petits batimens interlopes qui vont aux côtes de Campêche et de la Vera-Cruz, lesquels par ce moyen ne se trouveraient pas dans la nécessité de débouques le canal de Bahama sur la moindre appréhension. Il est aisé de comprendre que cette augmentation de puissance des Anglais dans l'Amérique influerait beaucoup sur les affaires d'Europe, et qu'il est important de les prévenir ; les vues qu'ils ont toujours sur l'Amérique ont paru dans toutes les occasions par le traité d'alliance qu'ils firent à La Haye avec l'empereur et les Hollandais le 7 de Septembre, 1701. Il est stipulé à l'article 6 que le roi de la Grande-Bretagne et les seigneurs états-généraux pourront conquérir à force d'armes, selon qu'ils auront concerté entre eux pour l'utilité de la navigation et du commerce de leurs sujets, les pays et les villes que les Espagnols ont dans les Indes, et que tout ce qu'ils pourront y prendre sera pour eux, et leur demeurera. Les mêmes vues se justifient encore au sujet de l'établissement qu'ils avaient projeté de faire à la côte déserte, dans le continent de l'Amérique méridionale, qui s'étend depuis la rivière de la Plata, située aux 36° de latitude jusqu'au cap des Vierges, qui orme l'entrée du détroit de Magellan aux 52°, dans lequel continent sont les
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA.
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to fortify themselves at Grand Terre. That they had entirely abandoned the bay of St. Joseph's, and had taken with them all the inhabitants and troops to Pensacola, and that the Marquis Casa Fuerte had succeeded the Marquis de Valero as Viceroy of Mexico.
ports de Saint-Julien-le-Désiré et celui des Lions, et cela dans l'intention d'avoir communication par les terres avec les côtes voisines de l'île de Chiloé, et par ce moyen se mettre en état deparvenir un jour à la conquête du Chili.
Leurs mômes desseins se prouvent encore par l'attention qu'ils ont portée au mois d'août 1724 au mémoire présenté à milord duc de New-Castle, chambellan et secrétaire de sa majesté le roi George, par M. Jean-Pierre Pury, de Neufchàtelen Suisse, ci-devant employé dans la compagnie des Indes en France, par lequel il fait connaître l'importance de l'établissement de la Caroline, sa situation avantageuse et les droits que les Anglais ont sur les terres de l'ouest de cette partie de l'Amérique, suivant les Chartres accordées aux concessionnaires en 1664 et 1666, sous le règne de Charles II.
Pour juger de l'avantage qu'on peut tirer du commerce de cette colonie il reste à expliquer quelles sont les marchandises qu'on en pourra retirer, sans que pour cela il sorte aucune espèce d'or ou d'argent du royaume.
Il est certain qu'on y établira deux commerces, l'un avec les Espagnols, et l'autre dans le pays, pour le culture des terres qui produiront plusieurs bonnes marchandises: l'avantage du commerce avec les Espagnols est connu, et l'on peut dire que la Louisiane est le seul endroit qui reste pour l'introduire, parce que c'est une espèce de magasin dans le même continent que le Mexique, où les marchandises peuvent demeurer en dépôt en attendant les occasions de les débiter dans quelques-uns de leurs ports, ou par nos rivières de l'ouest, qui affluent dans le Missisipi, particulièrement par la rivière Rouge, qui fait la séparation de la rivière de Lastekas où les Espagnols se sont établis en 1718 ; laquelle joint le nouveau royaume de Léon, abondant en bestiaux et en minéraux. Cet article est d'une très grande conséquence pour la compaigne, et messieurs les directeurs ne sauraient y donner trop leur attention ; ils doivent bien considérer qu'il est bien plus avantageux de l'entreprendre par la Louisiane avec le Mexique, que par mer avec le Pérou. L'exemple de l'escadre M. de Saint-Juan doit convaincre que ces sortes d'entreprises ne se peuvent faire sans risquer le tout, et sans entraîner des frais immenses ; au lieu qu'en établissant un comptoir au port découvert par M. de la Harpe, dans le fond du golfe du Mexique, on pourrait avec facilité faire un commerce considérable, sans donner d'ombrage aux puissances étrangères, et sans rien risquer dans ces entreprises, parce que le commerce ne se ferait que dans de petits batimens, lesquels dans quatre ou cinq jours se rendraient dans les endroits convenus avec les marchands, et sur la moindre alarme, s'en retourneraient dans aussi peu de tenv.s et attendraient une conjoncture plus favorable.
Quant à ce que la colonie de la Louisiane peut produire, en voici le détail : il y a plusieurs mines de plomb abondantes, peu éloignées du fleuve, et ce plomb est facile à fondre. Si la compagnie des mineurs qu'on a envoyée aux Illinois? sous la direction de M. Renaud, avait pu y être transportée en arrivant à la colonie, elle aurait fait certainement des envois considérables de ce métal; mais son sort été égal à celui dos autres compagnies qui ont dépéri, ou le temps de leurs engagés s'est écoulé inutilement.
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HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.
On the 27th August, 1722, M. de Bienville was informed that the vessel which had been carried off by a company of Swiss had arrived at Havana, and the Governor had refused to let them enter the
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II y a des mines de cuivre dans la rivière des Illinois, dans celle des Oua-baches, et dans plusieurs autres de la partie ouest du fleuve ; les Canadiens et les sauvages en ont apporté plusieurs morceaux qu'ils ont ramassés dans des plaines et des ravines, à la chute des montagnes: il est certain que la nation Ouabache sait où elles sont ; ainsi il ne s'agit que de connaître leur secret, ce qu'il est facile de faire par le moyen de quelques présens.
On n'a point encore de certitude qu'il y ait des mines d'or ou d'argent considérables, mais il y a grande apparence qu'on pourrait en trouver : les morceaux de vert-de-gris, l'azur et les eaux salées qu'on trouvre, joint aux montagnes arides et colorées, comme celles où sont les mines des Espagnols, sont des indications certaines : aussi M. Renaud, qui a fait l'épreuve de quelques pierres métalliques, tirées a l'entrée de la rivière des Illinois, y a trouvé quelque argent qu'il a remis en 1722 au conseil de la compagnie des Indes.
On tirera de la Louisiane des peaux de b ufs sauvages, dont la laine peut servir; c'est ce qui ne souffre aucune difficulté, puisque M. de Juchereau, lieutenant-général de la juridiction de Mont-Real, qui avait établi en 1702 un poste sur Ouabache, avec trente-quatre Canadiens au nom d'une compagnie, y avait ramassé en peu de temps quinze mille peaux de b ufs, ainsi qu'il est marqué à l'article du journal historique du mois de janvier 1705.
On tirera par cette colonie des peaux de chevreuils, d'ours, de cerfs et de plus belles pelleteries que par le Canada, parce que le haut de la rivière du Missisipi communique avec plusieurs nations du nord qui sont trop éloignées des lacs par lesquels on descend la rivière de Saint Laurent, et c'est par cette même raison qu'on ne peut pas tirer par le Canada des peaux de b ufs, les Canadiens n'ayant pu porter leur commerce jusque-la ; ce sont les sauvages Scioux de la partie de l'est, et les Assinipolis. qui portent aux Anglais de la baie d'Hudson, par le moj'en des christianaux, la plus grande partie des plus belles pelleteries ; mais il serait facile de renouveler allians avec eux, et d'attirer leur commerce par le Missisipi, parce que, pour aller à la baie d'Hudson il faut qu'ils fassent un grand voyage dans un pays toujours glacé et sans vivres, portant leurs marchandises sur leur dos, au lieu que pour traiter avec nous ils n'auraient qu'à descendre la rivière du Missisipi dans leurs canots, jusqu'à l'entrée de la rivière Saint-Pierre, où ils trouveraient un climat plus tempéré, et un pays plus abondent en toutes sortes de choses ; mais il faudrait en ce cas faire des établissemens sur les bords de cette rivière, et suivre le projet de feu M. le Sueur de la manière qu'il était convenu avec M. L'Huillier, fermier général.
Les mûriers sont communs à la Louisiane, les vers à soie s'y élèvent très bien, l'expérience qu'on en a faite doit donner des espérances pour la fabrique de la soie, mais on ne doit pas espérer cet avantage, jusqu'à ce que la pays soit bien peuplé, et se fournisse abondamment de toutes les choses nécessaires à la vie.
Pour la culture des terres, elle donnera indifféremment de toutes sortes de grains et de légumes : le tabac, le riz, le chanvre et l'indigo. On doit s'attendre peu-à-peu à des retours de ces marchandises, surtout de l'indigo, qui donnera trois coupes pour chaque année.
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port. That some of the deserters escaped on shore and joined the troops, but the remainder had sailed to Carolina. M. de Wauchopp wrote in a few days after to M. de Bienville that he had expected
Le café, les oliviers et le coton pourraient y réussir. La compagnie devrait donner ses attentions pour y eu faire passer des plantes ; c'est une chose qu'on ne doit point négliger.
La Louisiane est un pays si étendu et si rempli de toutes sortes d'arbres, qu'il est aisé de comprendre qu'on y peut tirer parti des bois propres à la construction des vaisseaux et au débit des îles de l'Amérique et des brais et goudrons que nous tirons des étrangers.
On trouve dans cette colonie quantité de simples utiles à la médecine, comme l'esquine, le sassafras, la moréal, le zinzin. Il y a pareillement le baume de copaline, et plusieurs gommes, plusieurs simples et racines inconnues dont les sauvages se servent avec succès.
On y a fait récemment la découverte d'une racine que les sauvages nomment tisaougéne, qui teint en rouge. On peut juger par le récit naturel qu'on vient de faire de l'attention que mérite cette colonie, par rapport au commerce, qui peut apporter dans le royaume des marchandises que nous ne tirons des étrangers qu'avec de l'argent, et joindre à cela que cette province étant bien établie, elle occuperait un nombre considérable de vaisseaux, ce qui est d'autant plus important, que nous n'avons pas présentement beaucoup d'occasions de former des matelots, chose néanmoins bien nécessaire à l'état ; à quoi il faut ajouter que les Français ont découvert plusieurs pays qui appartiennent aujourd'hui à des étrangers qui en tirent de grands avantages, et il arriverait la même chose de la Louisiane si on l'abandonnait: ce qui serait très honteux à la France, après les dépenses qu'on y a faites, et l'idée qu'on en a voulu donner aux étrangers.
Après avoir marqué le bien qui doit résulter de l'établissement de la Louisiane, il reste à faire connaître les causes qui ont empêché ses progrès, et celle de la situation où elle se trouve en 1724.
Ceux qui ne jugent des choses que par les apparences soutiennent que cette province sera toujours à charge au roi et à la compagnie, qu'on n'en peut rien tirer. Ils appuient leur sentiment sur ce qu'on y a dépensé près de huit millions, sans qu'on ait apporté aucun retour en Franco. Il est certain qu'une pareille dépense doit donner des idées désavantageuses ; mais lorsqu'on examinera sans prévention la manière dont les fonds qu'on reproche ont été employés, on ne pourra point disconvenir que ce n'est pas la faute du pays, mais les dispositions qui ont été prises en France, par les fraudes commises sur les achats des marchandises, et par le peu d'ordre, qui à été apporté dans les envois de monde et de vivres, qui, avec la mauvaise régie des directeurs à la Louisiane, ont reculé son établissement. En effet la compagnie l'a commencé par y faire passer des forçats et gens sans avec des filles de débauche ; les troupes qu'elle y a envoyées ont été composées de déserteurs et de personnes ramassées sans distinction dans les rues de Paris. On y a vu une multitude de commis sans expérience piller publiquement les magasins, et se mettre à l'abri des fripponeries par des procès-verbaux faux sans nombre ; elle a contracte des traites desavantageuses avec des compagnies suisses, des Allemands, des cléracs et des mineurs, et elle n'a point exécuté les conventions, ce qui le a rendues inutiles ; elle y a
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two vessels with provisions to arrive from Vera Cruz ; but as they had not yet come he wished to know whether he could furnish him thirty barrels of flour, for which he would send a vessel to New Orleans. M. de Bienville advised with the Council what he should do, and they decided that it would not be prudent to permit the Spaniards to come into the Mississippi before it was fortified, but that he could have the flour by sending for it to Mobile.
On the 16th. M. de Bienville received letters from Natchitoches, informing him that five hundred persons under the command of the Marquis de Guallo had entered the province of Lastekas. On the 29th, the ships la Loire and Deux Frères passed over the bar at the mouth of the Mississippi, on which were embarked MM. Dutisné, Lafreniere Freboul, le Vens, Dubuisson, and a number of other passengers, who were going to France. M. Dutisné returned on account of family matters, and had to resign his office, which he had faithfully filled for many years in the colony. On the 2d February, 1723) M. de la Harpe returned to New Orleans from Pensacola. His health being now greatly impaired by exposure to the climate, he was compelled to ask permission of the Council to let him return to France, which was granted. M. de Bienville gave him letters, and the Council settled his accounts by paying him three thousand livres which was due to him by the Company of the Indies. On the 12th, the ship VAlexandre crossed the bar at the mouth of the Mississippi, and sailed for France, having on board MM. de la Harpe and Mon-tigny, officers ; Gamier, Haniele, and Murtel, concessionnaires; forty sailors, and the equipage of the ships I'Adour and le Dromedaire.
créé une infinité d'emplois à charge ; la plupart des directeurs qu'elle y a envoyés n'ont pensé qu'à leurs intérêts, et à contrecarrer M. do Bienville plus au fait du pays qu'eux. S'il a proposé de faire entrer les vaisseaux dans le fictive, ils s'y sont opposés avec opiniâtreté, dans la crainte que s'éloignant de la côte, ils ne se fussent trouvés hors de situation de commercer avec les Espagnols, et de ramasser des piastres. C'est ces vues d'intérêt que toutes les dépenses sont devenues inutiles, par les consommations que se sont faites à l'île Dauphine, au Vieux et au Nouveau-Biloxi, où ils ont laissé périr, à l'injure du temps et dans les sables, une très grande quantité d'effets. Les traversiers, chaloupes, bateaux et pirogues ont tellement été négligés, que toute cette marine s'est trouvée absolument hors de service ; les navires ont été si long-temps retenue à la côte que la dépense des salaires a augmenté considérablement : à quoi il faut ajouter le guerre avec l'Espagne, qui a constitué dans des frais d'armement, par rapport à Pensacole, de sorte qu'on ne droit compter l'établissement de cette colonie depuis 1722, qu'on a pris le parti de faire entrer les vaisseaux dans le fleuve, et d'établir le comptoir principal à la Nouvelle-Orléans, à trente lieues dans la rivière, où les habitans se sont fixés, et eu ils travaillent avec succès à la culture des terres.
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