USA > Iowa > Floyd County > History of Floyd County, Iowa : together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 3
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from its being surrounded with an indifferent palisade, which is pretty near the case in all the rest. We have here two villages of Indians, one of the Miamis and the other of the Pottawatomies, both of thein mostly Christians; but as they have been for a long time without any pastors, the missionary who has been lately sent to them will have no small difficulty in bringing them back to the exercise of their religion." He speaks also of the main commodity for which the Indians would part with their goods. namely; spirituous liquors, which they drink and keep drunk upon as long as a supply lasted. More than a century and a half has now passed since Charlevoix penned the above, without any change whatever in this trait of Indian character.
In 1765 the Miami nation, or confederacy, was composed of four tribes, whose total number of warriors was estimated at only 1,050 men. Of these about 250 were Twightwees, or Miamis proper, 300 Weas, or Oniatenons, 300 Piankeshaws and 200 Shockeys ; and at this time the principal villages of the Twighitwees were sit- uated at the head of of the Maumee river, at and near the place where Fort Wayne now is. The larger Wea villages were near the banks of the Wabash river, in the vicinity of the Post Ouiate- non ; and the Shockeys and Piankeshaws dwelt on the banks of the Vermillion, and on the borders of the Wabash between Vin- cennes and Ouiatenon. Branches of the Pottawatomie, Shawnee. Delaware and Kickapoo tribes were permitted at different times to enter within the boundaries of the Miamis and reside for a while.
The wars in which France and England were engaged, from 1688 to 1697, retarded the growth of the colonies of those na- tions in North America, and the efforts made by France to con- nect Canada and the Gulf of Mexico by a chain of trading posts and colonies, naturally excited the jealousy of England, and grad- ually laid the foundation for a struggle at arms. After several stations were established elsewhere in the West, trading posts were started at the Miami villages, which stood at the head of the Maumee, at the Wea villages about Quiatenon on the Wabash, and at the Piankeshaw villages about the present site of Vin- cennes. It is probable that before the close of the year 1719, temporary tradingposts were erected at the sites of Fort Wayne, Ouiatenon and Vincennes. These points were probably often visited by fur traders prior to 1700. In the meanwhile the Eng- lish people in this country commenced also to establish military posts west of the Alleghanies, and thus matters went on until they
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naturally culminated in a general war, which, being waged by the French and Indians combined on one side, was called " the French and Indian war." This war was terminated in 1763 by a treaty at Paris, by which France ceded to Great Britain all of North Amer- ica east of the Mississippi, except New Orleans and the island on which it is situated; and indeed, France had the preceding autumn, by a secret convention, ceded to Spain all the country west of that river.
In 1765 the total number of French families within the limits of the Northwestern Territory did not probably exceed 600. These were in settlements about Detroit, along the river Wabash and the neighborhood of Fort Chartres on the Mississippi. Of these families, about 80 or 90 resided at Post Vincennes, 14 at Fort Ouiatenon, on the Wabash, and nine or ten at the confluence of the St. Mary and St. Joseph rivers.
The colonial policy of the British government opposed any measures which might strengthen settlements in the interior of this country, lest they become self-supporting and independent of the mother country; hence the early and rapid settlement of the Northwestern Territory was still further retarded by the short- sighted selfishness of England. That fatal policy consisted mainly in holding the land in the hands of the government, and not allow- ing it to be subdivided and sold to settlers. But in spite of all her efforts in this direction, she constantly made just such efforts as provoked the American people to rebel, and to rebel successfully, which was within 15 years after the perfect close of the French and Indian war.
Thomas Jefferson, the shrewd statesman and wise Governor of Virginia, saw from the first that actual occupation of western lands was the only way to keep them out of the hands of foreigners and Indians. Therefore, directly after the conquest of Vincennes, by Clark, he engaged a scientific corps to proceed under an escort to the Missisippi, and ascertain by celestial observations the point on that river intersected by latitude 36 ° 30' the southern limit of the State, and to measure its distance to the Ohio. To Gen. Clark- was entrusted the conduct of the military operations in that quar- ter. He was instructed to select a strong position near that point and establish there a fort and garrison; thence to extend his con- quests northward to the lakes, erecting forts at different points, which might serve as monuments of actual possession, besides affording protection to that portion of the country. Fort "Jeffer-
Sarah. E. Gaylord
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son" was erected and garrisoned on the Mississippi a few miles above the southern limit.
The result of these operations was the addition to the chartered limits of Virginia, of that immense region known as the North. western Territory. The simple fact that such and such forts were established by the Americans in this vast region convinced the British commissioners that we had entitled ourselves to the land. But where are those "monuments " of our power now ?
HISTORY OF LOUISIANA TERRITORY.
LOUISIANA PROVINCE.
The province of Louisiana stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the sources of the Tennessee, the Kanawha, the Alleghany and the Monongahela on the east, and the Missouri and the other great trib- utaries of the Father of Waters on the west. Says Bancroft : "France had obtained, under Providence, the guardianship of this immense district, not as it proved, for her own benefit, but rather as a trustee for the infant nation by which it was one day to be inherited. By the treaty of Utrecht, France ceded to England her possessions in Hudson's Bay, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia. France still retained Louisiana, but the province had so far failed to meet the expectations of the crown and the people that a change in the government and policy of the country was deemed indispens- able. Accordingly, in 1711, the province was placed in the hands of a governor-general, with headquarters at Mobile. This govern- ment was of a short duration, and in 1712 a charter was granted to Anthony Crozat, a wealthy merchant of Paris, giving him the en- tire control and monopoly of all the trade and resources of Louisi- ana. But this scheme also failed. Crozat met with no success in his commercial operations; every Spanish harbor on the Gulf was closed against his vessels; the occupation of Louisiana was deemed an encroachment on Spanish territory; Spain was jealous of the ambition of France.
Crozat failing to open the ports of the district, sought to develop the internal resources of Louisiana, by causing trading posts to be opened, and explorations to be made to its remotest borders. But he actually accomplished nothing for the advancement of the colony. The only prosperity which it ever possessed grew out of the enterprise of humble individuals, who had succeeded in insti-
1
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tuting a little barter between themselves and the natives, and a petty trade with neighboring European settlements. After a per- severing effort of nearly five years, he surrendered his charter in August, 1717.
Another and more magnificent scheme immediately followed the surrender of Crozat's charter. The national government of France was deeply involved in debt; the colonies were nearly bankrupt, and John Law appeared onthe scene with his famous Mississippi Company, as the Louisiana branch of the Bank of France. The charter granted to this company gave it a legal ex- istence of 25 years, and conferred upon it more extensive powers and privileges than had been granted to Crozat. It in- vested the new company with the exclusive privilege of the entire commerce of Louisiana, and of new France, and with authority to enforce their rights. The company was authorized to monopolize all the trade in the country, to make treaties with the Indians, to declare and prosecute war to grant lands, erect forts, open mines of precious metals, levy taxes, nominate civil officers, commission those of the army, to appoint and remove judges, to cast cannon, and build and equip ships of war. All this was to be done with the paper currency of John Law's Bank of France. He had suc- ceeded in getting His Majesty, the French king, to adopt and sanction his scheme of financial operations, both in France and in the colonies, and probably there never was such a huge financial bubble ever blown by a visionary theorist. Still such was the condition of France that it was accepted as a national deliverance, and Law became the most powerful man in France. He became a Catholic, and was appointed Comptroller General of Finance.
The first move of the new company was to send 800 emigrants to Louisiana, who arrived at Dauphine Island in 1718. In 1719 Philipe Francis Renault arrived in Illinois, with 200 miners and artisans. The war between France and Spain at this time rendered it extremely probable that the Mississippi Valley might become the theater of Spanish hostilities against the French settlements. To prevent this, as well as to extend French claim, a chain of forts was begun to keep open the connection between the mouth and the sources of the Mississippi. Fort Orleans, high up the river, was erected as an outpost in 1720.
The Mississippi scheme was at the zenith of its power and glory in January, 1720, but the gigantic bubble collapsed more sud- denly than it had been inflated. and the company was declared
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
hopelessly bankrupt in May following. France was impoverished by it, both private and public credit were overthrown, capitalists suddenly found themselves paupers, and labor was left without employment. The effect on the colony of Louisiana was disas- trous.
Heretofore Louisiana had been a subordinate dependence, under the jurisdiction of the Governor-general of Canada. Early in the year 1723 the province of Louisiana was erected into an independent government, and it was divided into nine districts, for civil and military purposes.
Notwithstanding the company had embarked largely in agricul- ture, and had established large plantations on the river, still it refused to abandon the idea of discovering boundless wealth in the mines of Missouri. They still believed that gold and silver mines were to be found in the Illinois country. Desire begets credulity ; and the directory, ever ready to receive and encourage extravagant accounts of mines, offered rewards proportionate to the importance of the discovery. In this way the attention of the company was diverted to the search of mines in distant regions, as far as the sources of the St. Peter's, the Arkansas, the tributaries of the Missouri, and even to the Rocky Mountains, while they neglected the increasing hostile indications among the Chickasaws, the. Natchez and other tribes immediately contiguous to their princi- pal settlements.
The year 1723 also witnessed the first outbreak among the In- dians. This was by the Natchez, a peaceful tribe who were cruelly treated by the French. The Natchez were subdued for a time, but in 1729, with the Chickasaws and others, fell upon the French vil- lage of St. Catharine and massacred the whole male population; two soldiers only, who happened to be in the woods, escaped, to bear the tidings to New Orleans. The colonies on the Yazoo and on the Washita suffered the same fate; more than 200 were killed; 92 women and 155 children were taken prisoners.
This massacre and consequent war was disastrous in the ex- treme. The province had been in the most prosperous condition. The company had controlled it for 11 years, and raised it from a few hundred idle, indolent and improvident settlers around the Bay of Mobile, and along the coast west of that place, to a flourish- ing colony of several thousand souls, many of whom were industrious, enterprising and productive citizens. But now New Orleans and the other settlements presented for a time a scene of 2
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general commotion and consternation. They speedily recovered themselves, however, and at once took measures to completely crush the Indians, and prevent future trouble of the kind. This, however, was a difficult task, and required three years of constant war. The result was complete victory for the French. The Nat- chez were never more known as a tribe, the scattered remnants seeking an asylum among the Chickasaws and other tribes hostile to the French. Yet no tribe has left so proud a memorial of their courage, their independent spirit, and their contempt of death in defense of their rights andliberties. The city of Natchez is their monument, standing upon the field of their glory In refinement and intelligence, they were equal, if not superior, to any other tribe north of Mexico. In courage and stratagem they were in- ferior to none.
To the great joy of the whole province, a partial and temporary peace now succeeded. But the company had been involved in enormous expenses in this war. Their trade with the Indians, too, was diminished and less profitable. The state of things following upon the disasters consequent upon Law's failure, alarmed the directory, who, believing that they were not secure from similar disasters in future, determined to surrender their charter into the hands of the crown, and abandon the further prosecution of their scheme. Their petition was readily granted, and April 10, 1732, the king issued his proclamation, declaring the province of Louisi- ana free to all his subjects, with equal privileges as to trade and commerce.
During the 15 years from 1717 to 1732 the province had increased in population from 700 to 5,000, and the improvement in character and prosperity had been equally marked. Settlements had sprung up farther inland. The Illinois and Wabash countries, comprising all the settlements on the Upper Mississippi, from "Fort Chartres" and Kaskaskia eastward to the Wabash, and south of Lake Michigan, contained many flourishing settlements devoted to agriculture and the Indian trade.
From 1732 till 1764, the end of French dominion in Louisiana, the province was under royal governors. M. Perrier held this office for two years, and in 1734 Bienville, who had served before, and had been successful in his treatment of the Indians, was again commissioned governor and commandant-general of Louisiana. Bienville, though old, still thirsted for military fame, and desired to chastise the Indians who had sympathized with the Natchez. He
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demanded from the Chickasaws the surrender of the Natchez refu- gees. This being refused, he determined to punish the Chickasaws. Then ensued several years of war, with here and there a peaceful interval. At last peace was established, on terms unfavorable to Bienville and the French. Bienville, who for 40 years, short intervals excepted, had ably managed Louisiana, was recalled in the spring of 1740. His public career ended under a cloud of censure, and the disapprobation of his sovereign. The Marquis de Vaudreuil succeeded Bienville as governor. During the latter's adminstration, in spite of the continual Indian wars, the province had gradually increased in wealth and population. About this time cotton, the fig-tree, the orange-tree, and other tropical products were introduced into the province.
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For the 10 years from 1741 to 1751 the settlements were com- paratively free from Indian hostilities. Relieved from danger and apprehension of Indian violence, agriculture continued to flourish, and commerce, freed from the shackles of monopolies, began rapidly to extend its influence and to multiply its objects under the stim- ulus of individual enterprise. Sugar-cane was first cultivated in 1751.
In 1752, the Indians, instigated by the English, began to be troublesome again. De Vaudreuil made a partially successful ex- pedition against them, and the trouble was temporarily at an end. In 1753 De Vaudreuil was promoted to the government of Canada, and M. Kerlerec succeeded him as governor of Louisiana. The following year witnessed the beginning of a long war between France and England for the possession of the Mississippi Valley. This contest was waged for eight years with varied success, until finally the tide of war set in favor of Great Britain, and France was compelled at length to surrender first one, and then another of her military positions in New France; and at last, driven by stern necessity, the king sought peace at the expense of a treaty which confirmed to Great Britain the whole of Canada and the eastern half of Louisiana. Although Louisiana was thus concerned in this war, her remote situation secured her from horrors of actual war, and she continued to prosper. She suffered, however, from another flood of irredeemable paper money.
Hostilities between the great powers ceased in 1762, and a treaty of peace was ratified the following year, according to which France ceded all her territory east of the Mississippi to Great Britain.
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
In the meantime she had made a secret treaty with Spain, ced- ing all the residue of Louisiana, that is, all west of the Mississippi, to that power. So that from this time the valley of the Mississip- pi was virtually divided between the two great European powers of Great Britain and Spain. The dominion of the former was des- tined to be of short duration, and to be superseded by a new power heretofore unknown, a power which was ultimately to swallow up the dominion of Spain also. This new power was to be the United States of America, the land of freedom and the rights of man, the bulwark of human liberty and the asylum for the oppressed.
The boundaries of Western, or Spanish, Louisiana, after the dis- memberment, comprised, as we have already stated, all that vast unknown region west of the Mississippi River, from its sources to the Gulf of Mexico, and extending westward to the extreme sources of all its great western tributaries among the Rocky Moun- tains. It included also the island of New Orleans east of the Mis- sissippi, and south of the bayou Iberville. The French inhabitants were so loth to be brought under Spanish rule, and manifested so much dissatisfaction, that his Catholic majesty did not insist on actual possession until two years after the cession. Even then, the prospect for disturbance was so alarming that Don Ulloa, the Span- ish governor, deemed it best to withdraw to Cuba. Not until 1769, when a formidable army arrived from Spain, was the prov- ince formally occupied by the Spanish authorities, and the French flag lowered at New Orleans. Thus was Louisiana forever lost to France. During the 70 years of colonial dependence on France, it had slowly augmented its population, from a few desti- tute fishermen and hunters to a flourishing colony of 13,540 souls. The exports at this time were valued at $250,000 annually.
The first act of Don O'Reilly, the new governor, was to order a complete census of the city of New Orleans. This showed an ag- gregate of 3,190 souls. The total number of houses was 468. The population at this same time of eastern Louisiana, now called, under British rule, West Florida, was about 1,500.
Up to this date but few settlements had been made on the west bank of the Mississippi above the mouth of the Ohio. The most important of these was St. Louis, begun in 1764.
O'Reilly ruled with a despotic hand, and began by punishing some of the prominent citizens for the discontent they had mani- fested. Five were shot, others were imprisoned. He then intro- duced Spanish courts, laws, language and customs. Though his
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government was severe, it was on the whole salutary for the peo- ple. Confidence once restored, immigrants began to flock in in large numbers from Spain. O'Reilly was recalled after one year, however, and was succeeded by Don Antonio Maria Bucarelly as Captain-General, but the administration was supervised by Unza- ga, Captain-General of Cuba, who was really an intermediate be- tween the crown and the king's officers in Louisiana. Under his mild and judicious rule Louisiana flourished and grew rapidly. St. Louis, at the end of his administration, was already an important town, with a population of 800.
Unzaga was succeeded Jan. 1, 1777, by Don Bernard de Galvez. This was at the time when the colonies were making their great struggle for independence. As a Spaniard, De Galvez had no pre- dilection for English rule, and his sympathies were enlisted for the colonies. The United States procured many military supplies through their agent in New Orleans. In fact, Spain and France recognized the independence of the United States, and joined in actual war with Great Britain. De Galvez, now General Galvez, in 1779 commenced by attacking the English posts in West Florida. In this he was successful, and before the end of the war, all of West Florida was in possession of the Spanish.
During these Spanish successes in Florida, an attempt was made by the British commandant at Michilimackinac to invade Louisiana from the north, and he marched against St. Louis with 140 troops and 1,400 Indians. They encamped within a few miles of St. Louis, and began a regular Indian investment of the place, which had been temporarily fortified. During the siege the inhabitants sent a special request to Col. Clark, then commanding at Kaskaskia, to come to their relief. He immediately marched to the Mississippi, a few miles below St. Louis. He remained here till the 6th of May (this was in 1780), when the grand Indian attack was made. Clark crossed the river, and marched up to the town to take part in the engagement. The sight of the "Long-knives," as the Amer- icans were called, caused the savages to abandon the attack and seek safety in flight. They reproached the British commandant with duplicity in having assured them that he would march them to fight the Spaniards only, whereas now they were brought against the Spaniards and the Americans. They soon afterward abandoned the British standard, and returned to their towns. Such was the invasion of Upper Louisiana in 1780 from the north.
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By the peace of 1783 all of East and West Florida were confirmed to Spain, and thus terminated the last' vestige of British power upon the Lower Mississippi, after an occupancy of 19 years.
Relieved from the danger and privations of active warfare, the country began to prosper once more. Immigration once more set in. In the spring of 1785 a complete census was taken by order of Governor Galvez, which showed the population of Louisiana to be 33,000, exclusive of Indians.
In the summer following Galvez was promoted Captain-general of Cuba, and he left Don Estevan Miro as temporary governor until some one should be regularly appointed by the king.
In this year an attempt was made by the Catholic authorities to introduce the inquisition in Louisiana, and a priest in New Orleans was appointed "Commissary of the Holy Office" in that city. Gov- ernor Miro, instructed by the king, forbade him to exercise the duties of his office. The reverend father, deeming it his duty to obey his spiritual rather than his temporal master, was then sum- marily seized at night, conveyed safely on board a vessel about to sail for Spain, and before daylight the next morning he was on his way to Europe. This was the first and the only attempt to establish the inquisition in Louisiana. The following year, 1786, Miro was confirmed as Governor by the king. Under his wise administration the province continued to enjoy a high degree of prosperity.
It was about this time that the Spanish began to feel the en- croachments of the United States. A portion of eastern Louisiana was claimed by the State of Georgia, as well as the Spanish. Then, too, the trade of the Mississippi was subjected to various duties and annoyances by the Spaniards. For two or three years the Spaniards pursued a conciliatory course with regard to the Mississippi. They then began to vigorously enforce the revenue laws, and were only checked by a threatened invasion from Kentucky. From 1788 on, the Spanish government continually schemed to extend its posses- sions, and to hold its own against the rapidly growing United States.
In the year 1792 Governor Miro was promoted to the Mexican provinces, and succeeded in Louisiana by Baron de Carondelet. In 1793-'4 the French minister to the United States (France and Spain being at war) endeavored to arouse the West, and provoke a hostile attack on Louisiana. This attempt failed, and the minister, Genet, was recalled, at the request of the Federal government.
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