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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02305 1219
L r
HISTORY OF LOUISIANA,
FROM ITS
FIRST DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT
TO THE
' PRESENT TIME.
BY E. BUNNER.
NEW-YORK :
HARPER AND BROTHERS, 82 CLIFF-ST.
1.842.
76
13
Bunner, E.
History of Louisiana, from its first discovery and set- tlement to the present time. By E. Bunner. New-York, Harper and brothers, 1842.
1 p. 1., tix1-xi, 1131-267 p. 16em. (On cover: Harper & brothers. School district library, no. 180)
1. Louisiana-Hist.
1764892
3-9015
(2201)
Library of Congress
UHELP CARE369.B93
2828
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Discovery of Canada
· Page 13
CHAPTER II.
Discovery of the Mississippi
. 21
CHAPTER III.
Settlement of Florida .
. 31
CHAPTER IV.
Expedition of Joliet and Marquette .- Hennepin .- La Salle 40
CHAPTER V.
Expedition of Iberville .- Mississippi Company .- Foundation of New-Orleans by Bienville . 55
CHAPTER VI.
Indian Tribes
.. 73
CHAPTER VII.
War of the Natchez
. 85
CHAPTER VIII.
Surrender of the Charter of the Mississippi Company .- War of the Chickasaws .- Interior affairs · . 95
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IX.
Differences between France and England .- General Washing- ton .- Nova Scotia .- Fort Duquesne .- Loss of Canada .- Sup- pression of the Order of Jesuits . Page 106
CHAPTER X.
Louisiana ceded to Spain . 121 -
CHAPTER XI.
Conduct of O'Reilly .- Villere .- Acts of the Spanish Govern- : ment . 131
CHAPTER XII.
Galvez .- War with England .- Mira .- St. Domingo. .
.. 145
CHAPTER XIII.
Carondelet .- Fortification of New-Orleans .- Sugar Manufacto- ry .- French Emigrants .- Treaty between the United States and Spain .- Gayoso de Lemos . 158
CHAPTER XIV.
Transfer of Louisiana to the United States
. 167
CHAPTER XV.
Territorial Government of Louisiania .- Laws
. 177
CHAPTER XVI.
Spain .- Conspiracy of Burr .- General Wilkinson .- Refugees from Cuba .- Taking of Baton Rouge .- Louisiana made a State .- Constitution .- Steamboats . 196
CHAPTER XVII.
War with England .- Battle of New-Orleans
·
. 213
1
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Prosperity of Louisiana .- Bank of Louisiana .- Laws .- Florida. -Mouth of the Mississippi .- Lafayette .- General Jackson elected President .- National Bank .- Cholera . 232
CHAPTER XIX.
Tariff .- Speculation .- Lotteries .- Banks .- Madame Lalaurie. -New-Orleans Divided .- Stoppage of Specie Payments 248
CHAPTER XX.
Project of Albert Hoa .- Appropriations .- Great Flood. - Im- provements in Louisiana .- State of Society .- Conclusion 259
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HISTORY OF LOUISIANA.
CHAPTER I.
Discovery of Canada.
LOUISIANA having been formerly connected with Canada and the northern parts of America while they were under the dominion of France, it seems proper to take some notice of the early settlements in those extensive countries. In 1504, within seven years of the discovery of the Con- tinent, the mariners of Brittany resorted to New- foundland for the purpose of fishing. The island of Cape Breton received its name from them ; and in France they were generally regarded as the discoverers of the country, though it could not be denied that the Cabots had first visited it. In 1506, Denys, a citizen of Honfleur, made a map of the Gulf of St. Lawrence ; plans of colonization were formed; and two years after- ward Aubert brought to France some of the na- tives of Canada ; but it was not until 1524 that any decisive step was taken. Francis I. then
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HISTORY OF LOUISIANA.
employed Verazzani, a Florentine, to explore these new regions. He set sail with a single vessel in the month of January, and made the land at a point as yet unseen by any European, in the latitude of Wilmington. Not finding a con- venient harbour, he ran down far to the south ; and thence returning northward, cast anchor on the coast of North Carolina. After this he vis- ited the harbours of New-York and Newport, sailed along the whole coast of New-England to Nova Scotia, and returned to France in July. His narrative of this navigation furnishes the ear- liest original account now extant of the coast of the United States, and gave to France such claim to the country as discovery could confer. The remainder of Verazzani's career is involved in obscurity. Historians, however, for the most · part agree that he embarked on another expedi- tion ; but whether in the service of France is unknown. The disastrous battle of Pavia had just taken place, in which Francis, as he himself said, had lost everything but honour; and for many years America was left to the Breton and Norman fishermen, who continued to carry on a successful trade.
At length Chabot, admiral of France, inter- ested Francis in a design to colonize the country,
15
VOYAGES OF CARTIER.
and Jacques Cartier, a mariner of St. Malo, was intrusted with the command of the expedition. His several voyages were of great importance, as they directed the attention of France to the region of the St. Lawrence. He arrived with two ships on the coast of Newfoundland, and, after almost circumnavigating the island, turned to the south, and, crossing the gulf, entered a bay, which he called Des Chaleurs, from the in- tense heat which then prevailed. Finding no passage to the west, he sailed along the coast as far as the smaller inlet of Gaspe, and on a point of land at its entrance raised on a lofty cross a shield bearing the lilies of France, with an ap- propriate inscription. Thenceforth the soil was to be considered as part of the dominions of the French king. Cartier next discovered the great river of Canada, and sailed up its channel till he could discern the land on either side. After a short and successful voyage he returned to France.
The following year a new commission was is- sued ; and Cartier again arrived on the coast of Newfoundland. Passing to the west of that isl- and on St. Lawrence's day, he gave to the noble gulf into which he entered the name of that mar- tyr, and which was afterward extended to the
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HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. .
whole river. Sailing to the north of Anticosti, they commenced ascending that majestic stream. The Indians, who were of the Algonquin race, received them in the most hospitable manner ; and Cartier, leaving his ship, proceeded in a boat to the island of Hochelaga, where was their principal settlement. The town lay at the foot of a hill, ascending which, he was so de- lighted with the prospect from its summit that he called it Mont Réal : the name by which the island itself has since been known. He also gathered from the natives some indistinct ac- counts of the surrounding country, and, having formally taken possession of it in the name of the French king, returned to his ship, passed the winter there, and in the spring sailed for France.
His description of the region bordering on the St. Lawrence afforded no encouragement to the plan of establishing a colony there ; the severity of the climate terrified the inhabitants even of the north of France; and the honest navigator held out no promises either of silver, or gold, or precious stones. Yet the advantages to be derived from occupying the country were not to be neglected ; and in 1540, Francis de la Roque, lord of Ro- berval, a nobleman of Picardy, obtained a lib- eral charter for this object. The assistance of
11
UNSUCCESSFUL EXPEDITION OF ROBERVAL. 17
Cartier could not be dispensed with, and he ac- cordingly received a similar commission ; but they neither acted in concert nor sailed togeth- er. Cartier, again ascending the St. Lawrence, built a fort near the site of Quebec; and after wintering there, he set sail to return to France just as Roberval arrived with re-enforcements. The latter, unaided by Cartier, could do no more than verify the previous discoveries; and after remaining about a year, he abandoned his brill- iant enterprise, which terminated without any permanent results.
France being at this time plunged in civil war, was not in a situation to undertake farther discoveries, though some French Protestants at- tempted a settlement in Florida, the melancholy fate of which will be hereafter related. It was not till the reign of Henry IV. that the purpose of founding a French empire in America was vigorously renewed. In 1598, a charter no less ample than that given to Roberval was issued to the Marquis de la Roche, a nobleman of Brittany ; but his enterprise failed. A monopo- ly of the fur-trade was next granted to M. Chauvin in 1600. He made two profitable voyages, but death prevented him from accom-
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HISTORY OF LOUISIANA.
plishing his principal object of establishing a colony.
In 1603 a company of merchants was formed at Rouen by the governor of Dieppe, and Sam- uel Champlain, a skilful mariner, and a man of science, was appointed to command the expedi- tion fitted out by them. The account he after- ward gave of his voyage, shows that he had accurately observed the character of the savage tribes and the geography of the country. Que- bec (which, in the Algonquin language, signifies a strait) was selected as the most advantageous site for a fort.
Champlain returned to France just before a most extensive patent was granted to De Monts, conferring on him the sovereignty of Acadia, the country from the fortieth to the forty-sixth degree of latitude, that is, from Philadelphia to a point north of -Montreal ; a monopoly of the lu- erative fur-trade ; and an exclusive right to con- vey the soil, control trade, admit emigrants, &c. Vagabonds, idlers, banished men, and reckless characters of every description, were invited to join in forming a colony, and those who could be induced to embark in the enterprise sailed in two ships for Nova Scotia. The excellent harbour, since called Annapolis, difficult of access, but
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SETTLEMENT OF PORT ROYAL.
· possessing a small navigable river abounding in fish and bordered by beautiful meadows, was selected by Pontrincourt, one of the leaders of the expedition, who solicited a grant of it, and naming it Port Royal, determined to remain there. The other division of the company made their first attempt at a settlement on the island of St. Croix, at the mouth of the river of the same name. This river was subsequently adopt- ed as a part of the northeastern boundary of the United States; and a question arising as to which stream was the true St. Croix, the remains of the fortifications erected by De Monts assisted in deciding it. The island was, however, so ill suited to the purposes of the colony, that it was abandoned in the following spring, and the whole company removed to Port Royal
With the view of making a settlement in a mild- er climate, De Monts explored and claimed the rivers, coasts, and bays of New-England, at least as far as Cape Cod ; but the hostility of the sav- ages, and other difficulties, caused him to delay, and finally to abandon his purpose. Thus the first permanent French settlement made on the continent of America was at Port Royal, in 1605 ; for it was not until 1608, after the remon- strances of the French merchants had procured
20
HISTORY OF LOUISIANA.
a revocation of the patent granted to De Monts, that a company formed at Dieppe and St. Malo, founded Quebec. This latter undertaking was accomplished by Champlain, who aimed not at the profits of trade, but the glory of founding a state. Rude cottages were erected ; a few fields were cleared, and a few gardens planted. The next year, this daring adventurer, accompanied only by two Europeans, joined a mixed party of Hu- rons from Montreal and Algonquins from Quebec, in an expedition against the Iroquois, or Five Nations, in the country now forming the north- western part of New-York. He ascended the River Sorel, and explored the lake within our Republic which bears his name, and which will perpetuate his memory to the latest period of time. Champlain succeeded in fully establishing the authority of his nation on the banks of the St. Lawrence. He was the father of New-France, and his remains lie buried in the land he subdued and colonized.
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JUAN PONCE DE LEON.
CHAPTER II.
Discovery of the Mississippi.
ABOUT the same time that the discoveries of Cartier were opening to the enterprise of the French vast territories in Canada, the Spaniards, at the other extremity of the northern continent, were attempting to effect a settlement in Florida, which was first visited by Juan Ponce de Leon , in 1512. A gallant soldier, and one of the com- panions of Columbus in his second voyage, he had been appointed governor of Hispaniola, but was removed from that post on account of his severity. He then turned his thoughts to the Continent of America, where, according to an Indian tradition, among other wonders, there was a fountain whose waters conferred the boon of perpetual youth. Although Ponce was in the decline of life, his ambition and love of enter- prise were unabated : no wonder, then, he should have implicitly believed a tale which had gained credence from the wisest men in Spain, or that he should have been eager to renew his youthful
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HISTORY OF LOUISIANA.
vigour, and at the same time advance his for- tunes, by visiting the miraculous fountain. Ac- cordingly, he fitted out three ships at his own expense, and on Easter Sunday, called by the Spaniards Pascua Florida, he reached the sought- for land, to which, from the day when it was discovered, and its profusion of flowers, he gave the name of Florida. Ponce landed in the lati- tude of thirty degrees and eight minutes, a few miles north of where St. Augustine now stands. The determined hostility of the Indians obliged him, however, to postpone his search for the fountain of youth; and after reconnoitring with great danger the eastern coast, he returned to Spain, and was rewarded with the government of the country.
1521 .- Some years elapsed before he could complete his preparations for taking possession ` of his province; and when he at last returned, his company were attacked by the Indians with so much fury that they were forced to retreat to their ships, and Ponce himself received a wound from an Indian arrow, of which he soon after died. Thus terminated his dream of riches and of renovated youth : but Spain acquired a new channel for her commerce through the Gulf of Florida, and a new territory of unknown extent.
23
HERNANDEZ DE SOTO.
Several other expeditions were sent out, but they were generally unsuccessful, and afforded but little information that could be relied on in regard to the countries bordering on the Gulf of Mexico. Some of the parties had penetrated ·into the interior, where they encountered great hardships; and on their return they related the most wonderful tales of what they had met with and heard, persisting in the assertion that Florida was the richest country in the world.
1537 .- Hernandez de Soto had gained both fame and fortune by military service in the con- quest of Peru, in which he had distinguished himself no less by conduct than valour. But his ambition was still unsatisfied; and he solicited from Charles V. permission to conquer Florida at his own cost. The monarch readily granted to the renowned commander the government of Cuba, with unlimited authority over the immense unexplored territory included under the name of Florida.
As soon as the projected expedition was an- nounced in Spain, the eagerness to join it brought forward many more adventurers than could be received. De Soto selected six hundred young men, the very flower of Spain, and many who had sold houses and lands to equip themselves
24
HISTORY OF LOUISIANA.
for the enterprise were obliged to remain un- willingly at home.
1538 .- Everything being ready, the splendid fleet set sail for Cuba. Leaving his wife there, with a considerable addition to the number, of his companions De Soto started to accomplish his projected conquest, and in the month of May, 1539, arrived in the Bay of Esperitu Santo. Landing his soldiers and horses, of which latter there were about three hundred, he sent most of his vessels back to the Havana. At the head of a more formidable force than had been employed in the subjection of Mexico or Peru, he now set forward to acquire for himself unbounded wealth and power, and to convert the ignorant heathen to Christianity. Twelve priests accompanied the army for the purpose of inculcating, amid scenes of blood and carnage, the mild and peaceful doc- trines of the Christian faith.
The wanderings of the first summer brought the adventurers to the country of the Apalachi- ans, east of the Flint River, not far from the head of the Bay of Apalachee. Their march was attended by nothing but danger and disappoint- ment. Two Indian captives, on whom they had depended as guides, deserted them; others led them purposely astray ; and no wealth was found
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25
BATTLE WITH THE INDIANS.
to recompense them for their toils. Thus the summer passed fruitlessly away without realizing a single advantage. The next spring, however, they resumed their march, led by an Indian, who treacherously flattered them with hopes of gold. They must have passed through Georgia and the country of the Cherokees; but though gold is now found in parts of this region, their search proved unavailing; and after wandering much as they had done the year before, they descend- ed the valley of the Tombeckbee, and arrived at . a considerable town on the Alabama, called Mo- bile. The Spaniards attempting to make them- selves masters of the place, the savages resisted with the utmost fury, and the most bloody battle ever known in Indian warfare ensued. Two thousand five hundred of the latter are said to have been destroyed, part in battle, and part in the flames of their burning houses. The Span- iards, who were indebted to their cavalry for the victory, lost but eighteen men and twelve horses, though, a great number of both were severely wounded, and their baggage was consumed in the conflagration. The bay into which the uni- ted waters of the two rivers fall still retains the Indian name.
Meanwhile ships had arrived from Cuba; but R
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HISTORY OF LOUISIANA.
De Soto, unwilling that his failure should be known, resolved to send no tidings of the expe- dition until he should have made some important discoveries.
1541 .- De Soto now directed his course to . the north, his troops having been reduced by sickness and warfare to five hundred men. They passed the winter in the country of the Chicka- saws, in the upper part of the state of Mississippi, still disappointed in their hopes of wealth, and continually harassed by the Indians, whom they provoked by their injustice and cruelty.
De Soto was not yet discouraged ; and, resist- ing the entreaties of his followers to abandon a fruitless pursuit, he started afresh on his enter- prise in the spring! He now took a westerly direction ; and, after making his way with great difficulty through forests and marshes, he at length came in view of the Mississippi. We may imagine the astonishment of the Spaniards at beholding this magnificent river, more than a mile in width, rolling on in its rapid course, and bearing on its bosom enormous trees, rooted up in its passage through the dense forests. The yellowish colour of the turbid water, so unlike the silver streams of Spain, must have added to their wonder. The magnolia, cotton-wood, sas-
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DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
safras, and cypress, with long moss depending from their branches, and a multitude of shrubs and flowers, all differing from those of Europe, completed the strangeness and novelty of the picture. Even the fish were of a new species ; and one of them, the spade fish ( Platirosto Eden- tula), now so rare that it is seldom found even in the museums, is accurately described by one of the adventurers.
1542 .- A party sent to explore the regions to the north, reported them to be almost a desert. De Soto, therefore, turned to the northwest, and advanced in the direction of the White River to the distance of about two hundred miles from the Mississippi. Still neither gold nor pre- cious stones were found; and, turnnig to the south, they arrived among the Tunicas, at the Salt Springs, near the head of the Washita, where they wintered. They were now among a peaceful agricultural people ; but, as experience had not taught them either mildness or forbear- ance, they soon quarrelled with the natives, and lost many of their men. Disease and fatigue contributed still farther to thin their ranks, until De Soto at length determined to retrace his course to the ocean. After many difficulties, he succeeded in getting back to the Mississippi, by
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HISTORY OF LOUISIANA.
descending the Red River; but there he was at- tacked by a fever. Feeling that his last moments were approaching, he summoned his officers around him, and naming Muscoso de Alvarado for his successor, he recommended to the rest submission to the chief he had chosen, a strict maintenance of discipline, and, above all, perse- verance in their enterprise. The next day, in May, 1542, and at the age of forty-two, he ex- pired in the arms of his almoner, exactly three years from the time of his first landing in Florida. His body was placed in a coffin loaded with cannon balls, and sunk in the Mississippi, at the mouth of the Red River. He was the first Eu- ropean to behold that magnificent river, and scarcely had he discovered it ere he slept beneath its waters.
This romantic expedition has been rendered still more so by Garcilasso de la Vega, in his History of the Conquest of Florida. He men- tions a number of Indian tribes, few of which are now in existence, and which he represents as having attained a much higher civilization than any of the native races are found to possess at the present day, living in well-built houses, sur- rounded by cultivated fields, wearing linen em- broidery and pearls, and having made no small
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FAILURE OF ALVARADO'S EXPEDITION.
proficiency in music, with many other particulars still more extravagant. Although recent dis- coveries seem to indicate the existence, at some remote period, of a more civilized people than any the early colonists found here, we can by no means admit the exaggerations of De la Vega, which are even contradicted by the more au- thentic accounts of the followers of De Soto.
Alvarado resolved on leading his forces to New-Spain without delay. Some few deter- mined spirits would indeed have preferred dying in the wilderness to the mortification of returning with baffled hopes; but their leader did not share in this feeling, and they set out with the design of proceeding across the country to Mex- ico. On arriving at the Red River, they found it so swollen that it was impossible to pass it ; and, after roaming about without making any progress during the summer, determined to re- trace their steps to the Mississippi, and follow its course to the sea. They reached it in Decem- ber, a few leagues above the mouth of the Red River; when, exhausted by toil, want, and sick- ness, it was with the greatest difficulty, in their enfeebled condition, that they managed to build seven frail vessels, in which the poor remains of this once formidable expedition embarked. An
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HISTORY OF LOUISIANA.
Indian fleet of gayly-painted canoes followed and harassed them. The weather being calm, the Spaniards passed slowly down, and the Indians overtaking them, let fly a shower of arrows, and hastily retreated, to avoid the fire of their mus- kets. In their wretched state, destitute of food, and many of them wounded, it is probable the whole party would have fallen into the hands of the savages had not a favourable breeze sprung up and carried them out of danger. In seven- teen days they reached the Gulf of Mexico. To those who now navigate the Mississippi, where the experienced eye can scarcely discern a pas- sage at times among the snags, it must appear almost a miracle that the slight vessels of the Spaniards were not dashed in pieces long before they gained the sea.
These adventurers were the first to discover that the waters of this great river, so vast is their volume, retain their freshness for some miles after they enter the sea. The party followed the direction of the coast, and, after fifty days, arrived at the River Panuco, from whence they were enabled to return to Spain in September, 1543. Thus ended an expedition which, dis- astrous as it was, gave to the Spaniards the hon- our of discovering the Mississippi; and which,
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RIBAULT VISITS FLORIDA.
with a more energetic people, might have led to Important results. But though, under the name , of Florida, Spain claimed the whole coast of North America, the ill success of this enterprise, and of another undertaken by Louis Cancello, a Dominican missionary, in 1547, in which he per- ished by the hands of the savages, discouraged any farther attempts, and the country remained neglected for a series of years.
CHAPTER III.
Settlement of Florida.
1562 .- THE next attempt to settle Florida was made for the purpose of establishing a colony of Calvinists. Coligny planned this expedition in order to provide a refuge for the Huguenots, and intrusted the command of it to John Ribault, of Dieppe, a brave man, a good seaman, and a firm Protestant. He made the land in the neighbour- hood of St. Augustine, discovered the river now called St. John's, and gave to it the name of May. It is the St. Mateo of the Spaniards. At length they came to Port Royal entrance, afford-
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