A history of Louisiana, Volume II, Part 3

Author: Fortier, Alcace, 1856-1914
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: New York, Goupil & co. of Paris, Manzi, Joyant & co., successors
Number of Pages: 772


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Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24


The following letter, written in French, from O'Reilly to Mrs. Bouligny, shows the stern Spanish commander as a polite cavalier :


MADAME: Your happiness will always interest me, and I shall give you with pleasure all the proofs of it that depend upon me. I congratulate you on your marriage. Your husband is a worthy


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A HISTORY OF LOUISIANA [1776


officer, whom I esteem highly. I hope that you will be happy together, and this persuasion has made me desire your union.


I have the honor to be very respectfully, Madame, your very humble and very obedient servant,


O'REILLY.


In a letter written to Francisco Bouligny on July 24, 1776, by "El Conde de O'Reilly," the latter offers his services to his former " ayudante." On June 22, 1802, Governor Manuel de Salcedo wrote to Mrs. Francisco Bouligny, advising her that he had received orders to transmit to Colonel Bouligny's heirs his commission as brigadier, although that officer had died before the com- mission reached him. His oldest son, Dominique, became a United States senator from Louisiana in 1824.


In 1776 Don Francisco Bouligny transmitted to the Spanish government a long and important memoir con- cerning the province of Louisiana. No mention of this paper has been made by any historian. The author oc- cupied such a high rank, by the influence of his family and by his own merit, that his work is valuable and en- titled to careful consideration. The title of the paper is as follows:


Notice of the actual state of the commerce and population of New Orleans and Spanish Louisiana, and the means of advanc- ing that province, which is presented to His Catholic Majesty through his Minister of the Indies, the most illustrious Don Josef de Galvez, with the greatest respect, by Don Francisco Bouligny, Captain of the Battalion of Infantry of that province.


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At the bottom of the title-page are the following words:


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AFFIRFID


DON ALESSANDRO O'REILLY 1735-1794


Second Spanish Governor of Louisiana, known as " Bloody O'Reilly " on account of the execution of the chiefs of the Revolution of 1768. From a contemporary miniature owned by Madame Pierre Lanaux, New Orleans, La.


O'REILLY


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DON ALESSANDRO -


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THE PROVINCE


1776]


Presented in person to his Excellency, Don Josef de Galvez, Minister of the Indies, by the author himself, on the 10th of August, 1776, at St. Ildefonso.


In the introduction the author says:


Knowing the zeal with which the magnanimity of Charles III, august monarch of Spain and of the Indies, extends his benefi- cence to the commerce and prosperity of all his dominions, and especially of the province of Louisiana, inasmuch as its greater population, agriculture, and commerce interest the state, as a barrier that it is, and a rampart for all New Spain, I consider myself obliged to present my observations made in that region under the protection of his royal patronage, in order that those new subjects may experience all the felicities to which they are entitled, and the Crown assure its domination.


The author then gives a summary of what he intends to present, and says that his remarks are based on his own observations and on what the natives have told him. He adds that if he makes errors in his political specu- lations they will be only of judgment, for the spirit that moves him is none other than an ardent zeal for the ser- vice of the King, and the greatest desire to see that prov- ince flourish, as in its population, progress, and felicity he finds the surest and only means for its preservation. He writes :


Spain possesses all the right bank of the river Mississippi (the origin of which until now is unknown) and part of the left bank from Manchac to the sea-the island in which New Orleans is situated. This strip of land has a width of not more than two or three leagues, and is surrounded by water, by the Mississippi in front of the city, by lakes Pontchartrain, Maurepas, and Visco [probably Borgne] in the rear, and by Bayou Manchac or river


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Iberville, through which the waters of the Mississippi flow through Lake Maurepas and other outlets into the sea. The river is about a quarter of a league wide, and in some parts much wider, and is navigable in all parts for more than six hundred leagues, and has a depth, when the water is low, of thirty to forty fathoms, with- out a fall or impediment. The mouth of the river, however, is only from twelve to fourteen feet in depth, and does not allow large ships to enter the river, as the system of locks employed in Holland has not been introduced in Louisiana. By that sys- tem ships of 800 tons are carried a much longer distance than they would be in the passes of the Mississippi.


In the province there are other towns than New Orleans : Pointe Coupée, Natchitoches, Arkansas, which is about half way to the Illinois, and two places in the Illinois, little distant from each other, St. Louis and Pencourt or Miseria [Paincourt ].2 In front of the latter, on the opposite bank of the river, is Fort Chartres, which was abandoned and demolished by the English two or three years ago, but which has a population about equal to ours. The population is principally in New Orleans, and on both sides of the river Mississippi. The first ten leagues from the sea are unin- habitable, because the land is very low and always covered with water. From that point the habitations begin. The English can reach the Mississippi at Manchac through the lakes and Iberville River, without the knowledge of the Spaniards, as the latter have no establishments on the banks of the lakes except a fort at Bayou St. John, and a detachment of two or three men on the Tiguyu or stream that unites Lake Pontchartrain with Lake Maurepas.


There being lakes in the rear of New Orleans, the water from these lakes is carried by the south winds as far as the houses, which are on the very bank of the river; and, therefore, the land bordering on the lakes is not habitable, both on account of being overflowed and from want of sweet water. There are, however, some places that may be cultivated, where a few families should be established to watch the English on the lakes. Sweet water may be obtained by gathering rain-water in trunks of large trees, and


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LANDS ON THE RIVER


1776]


there is an abundance of game and fish. The lands there are very salubrious and fertile.


The lands on both sides of the river are higher on the banks, and there is such a slope further that when it rains not a single drop of the water that falls on the fields enters the river. The slope is so irregular that it is impossible to measure it with accuracy. The river rises and falls at New Orleans from two to twelve fect. The rise begins in December, and the river remains high five or six months, with some slight variation, owing to the more or less snows in the upper part beyond the Illinois. There are many ad- vantages in the declivity from the banks of the river, among which is the facility of constructing saw-mills, which are of the greatest importance on account of the immensity of the forests in this country ; the facility of opening canals of communication with the lakes in the rear of the city, and Lake Barataria on the opposite side of the river, which canals facilitate the transportation of the timber and lumber and of the fruits from the lands in the interior. The river, being high in the spring, communicates a certain moisture to the fields, favorable to the sprouting of the seeds, and the waters irrigate the rice-fields, which are of considerable im- portance.


After the first ten leagues from the mouth of the river, the lands on both sides are cultivated, and the concessions are generally from 500 to 600 yards front, by 2400 yards in depth. The planters generally cultivate their land only 600 or 800 yards from the river, leaving the rest for pasture, and contenting themselves with cutting the wood that abounds in the rear. The country from Manchac to the river is not peopled equally, and there are places of nearly a league that are abandoned from want of in- habitants. Beyond Manchac there is a part of the Spanish coast which is unoccupied until we reach the settlements at Pointe Coupée, which are about the same as in the vicinity of New Orleans.


In all these places a considerable number of families might be established. The shores of Lake Barataria, the Attakapas, and


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A HISTORY OF LOUISIANA [1776


Opelousas are very favorable for families to prosper and to in- crease infinitely, and they are distant from New Orleans less than two days. After settling the latter, attention could be given to the coast from Pointe Coupée to Arkansas, penetrating the rivers that flow into the Mississippi. These lands are so rich that what the hunters report daily about them appears incredible. The same thing happens with the coast from Arkansas to the Illinois, and particularly on the banks of the Missouri; but it is not pos- sible to attend to those regions so remote before the country near New Orleans be securely settled. The Indians in this vast country are innumerable, but as they go where there is more com- merce, they are more numerous in the English possessions than in the Spanish.


The greatest advantage of this country is, without doubt, the facility of transporting all its products to the capital in a short time, as four or five men go down the river in twelve days to New Orleans from the Illinois, in a flatboat that may contain 1500 quintals.


It is almost impossible to conceive the abundance of the forests. From Manchac to the sea-shore, only in the island of Orleans, there are one hundred square miles of cypress trees, which are as thick as the hair on the head, and the same on the other side of the river, where the number of those trees, as well as of the live-oaks, is wonderful. On the shores of Lake Pontchartrain and of Lake Barataria there are so many pines that, without exaggeration, they could furnish pitch and tar to the whole world; and they are not less on the banks of the Red River and other regions of the upper Mississippi. One of the most important uses of the trees, for the state and for the happiness of the people, would be the construction of ships in the Mississippi. A small privilege would assure this, and it would facilitate the commerce of the Spanish merchants, who would not have to solicit or to buy foreign ships.


All the lands where forests have been cut down are exceedingly fertile, as they have been nourished for many centuries with the


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FORESTS


1776]


spoils of so many trees, and they are suited to any cultivation whatever, especially for flax and hemp, which are of the highest importance for ships and would be supplied forever to Havana, as the population of this country increases. There are few coun- tries in the world where so many live-oaks could be found, a kind of wood that is superior to any other for the interior construction of ships. The cypress is also important for constructing ships and masts and houses. In the interior of houses not only is its duration great, but no worms attack it. It would be essential to forbid with severity the cutting of the cypress at any other time than in October, November, December, January, and Febru- ary, otherwise the wood loses half of its quality and durability. It is useful also for roofs and for staves. The question of timber and lumber is the most important for this colony. Its industry would save large sums of money that are now paid to the English and other nations ; it would prevent the destruction of the forests of Cuba ; and it would render prosperous one million souls who might establish themselves in this country with their families.


Crops of hemp and flax could be cultivated easily and with great advantage in the colony. The land is admirably adapted to the cultivation of indigo; and although the indigo of Louisiana is not as good as that of Guatemala, the planters are always sure to sell it, were they to make three times more. Blue-stuffs are needed for the large armies of Europe, especially of Germany, Russia, and Sweden. Cotton is easy to cultivate and very useful. By their industry the Germans, and especially the Acadians, whom Don Antonio de Ulloa established on the Iberville coast before reaching Manchac, have succeeded in producing it and in making textures with which they clothe themselves and which they sell to their neighbors. The cotton of Louisiana is as good as that of any other country ; and if that cultivation were encouraged, the colony could supply all Europe, and commerce would flourish, as the ships would always be assured of obtaining freight for their return voyage to Europe. Maize is produced in quantity when the ground is well cultivated. It grows eight or ten feet


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[1776


A HISTORY OF LOUISIANA


tall, and is so necessary in this country that were it to fail, the greater part of the negroes would perish, as they are accustomed to this food and prefer it to the best bread. Although the laborers do not always eat rice, it is an article of prime necessity. There is hardly a house where they do not place on the table a dish of rice-in the morning, at noon, and in the evening. The children especially are accustomed to it, and prefer it to the best food. It is very easily cultivated when the river is high ; there is nothing to do but to plow the ground, plant the rice, and cover it with water to kill the weeds. Like cotton, it might be made an im- portant object of commerce. Although the sugar-cane grows tolerably well, the country cannot compete with the Leeward Islands. The severe cold that happens sometimes during the winter is not favorable to it ; but we should not neglect the opinion of some planters who maintain that the climate is suitable to it. Formerly there were three or four factories here which produced tolerably good sugar, but now they have been abandoned; some say through the want of application and intelligence of the owners, others because they did not find sufficient compensation. New observations should be made in this matter. The tree that pro- duces wax is found everywhere, and requires no cultivation. The only thing to do is to gather the seeds when they are ripe and melt them in large kettles. When exposed to the sun, the wax becomes almost as white as that of bees, and candles are made of it which are as pretty and last as long as those made of bees- wax. The mulberry trees grow wild in this country, especially in the vicinity of New Orleans, where a lady in the time of the French thought to cultivate the silk-worm, and it is admitted that the silk that was produced was as good as any made in Europe. Tobacco is the most interesting of all the products of the colony, and the most lucrative for the laborer, as one man alone can devote himself to it. The tobacco from Natchitoches, Opelousas, and Attakapas is superior to that produced in Virginia and Maryland, and the advantages derived from an increase in its cultivation are as follows: it would furnish freight for the ships returning


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CROPS AND PELTRIES


1776]


to Europe; it would diminish the commerce of the English provinces of Virginia and Maryland, especially if France, our ally, should give us the preference; it would take away from the English and give to us the million of dollars that England derives from France alone by that industry ; it would enable the planters to have enough means to devote themselves to other profitable cultivations, as they have done at Santo Domingo, Martinique, and Havana, where they began with the cultivation of tobacco. Wheat is an article of prime necessity, and demands great en- ' couragement and a large population. The lands as far as Pointe Coupée are not suitable for this cultivation ; but from that place to a point four hundred leagues above the Illinois country, on both sides of the Missouri River, there are immense regions suit- able for wheat, and although they are at a considerable distance, transportation by water, down the current, is easy and not costly. If the population of Louisiana were increased, there is no doubt that the province might provide with flour, at the same price as the English, Cuba, Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico, Caracas, Carthagena, Campcachy, and other maritime possessions of His Majesty, from which the English derive annually more than a million dollars, merely from the flour they furnish to those countries. Ali the peltries produced in the province are valued highly in Europe, especially those of the deer,-which are the most numerous,-of the wild oxen, of the bisons, of the bears, of the wild cats, and of the martens. By protecting this trade, the government may obtain the surest and perhaps the only means of preserving the friendship of the Indians, who are favorable to us, and of gaining the good will of the tribes that are friendly to the English. The vast fields and prairies at Opelousas and Attakapas offer the finest situation in the world for establishing immense flocks, without any labor or expense. Cattle, hogs, and horses can be raised with great facility, and, besides the do- mestic animals, there is such a large quantity of wild animals, from Pointe Coupée to the Illinois, that in no other country can one get better or more abundant meat. Four hunters, in one


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A HISTORY OF LOUISIANA [1776


pirogue, go up the river from New Orleans to Arkansas in forty or fifty days, and, entering the White River or the St. Francis, reach such vast pastures and such abundant game that in two or three days they kill enough to fill their pirogue with tallow and with bears' tongues or oil, and return to New Orleans, leaving scat- tered around the fields an infinite quantity of meat for which they have no use. If some families were established in those regions, they might furnish the fleets of the King with whatever salt meat they might need; but this can only be done with a large popula- tion, which is the principal requisite for everything. The apples alone are indigenous in the region of the Illinois, and there are fruits from Europe of which the trees have been transported. The peaches especially are excellent, and the figs, when it does not rain in the spring. The plums from Europe are grown with success, but those that are indigenous are bitter, and are used for fevers. Grapes are grown with case, but they do not mature with regularity. There are all kinds of vegetables and flowers, and the medicinal herbs are infinite and deserve to attract the attention of botanists. Although this wealth is certain and abundant in the whole country that belongs to us, there are mines of gold, silver, lead, and salt, particularly up the Red River, the St. Francis, and the Missouri. I have placed this subject last, because we must not think to exploit said mines, but to increase the population and agriculture of this country. These mines would be more profitable than those of Mexico, on account of the greater facility of transportation (by water) of all things needed for the exploitation, and on account of the greater fertility and salubrity of the fields surrounding the mountains, from which could be drawn everything necessary for the sustenance of the workmen. This proves, besides, how important it is to the state to preserve this province; for the English, curious, diligent, and instructed, are not ignorant of any of these facts.


According to a conservative estimate, there are in this whole province from two thousand to three thousand inhabitants, and from three thousand to four thousand negroes. The numberless


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THE CREOLES


1776]


misfortunes that the inhabitants of Louisiana have endured, from the foundation of the colony, are the causes of the present condi- tion of a country where abound all the necessaries of life. In the books written by the French about Louisiana may be seen the cause of this decline.


This province is without doubt the most favorable to population that can be found in the world. The salubrity of its climate, the beauty and fertility of its fields, the abundance of its forests, the facility of constructing canals to penetrate into the interior of the country, make of this country a terrestrial paradise. The women are all fruitful; and there is no marriage without children, and many of them.


The Creoles are of a healthy and robust temperament, capable of the most violent exercises. Accustomed from childhood to hunting, they pass entire days with their feet in the water, with- out suffering the least inconvenience. Their industry and dili- gence are not less, because it is rare to see a father of a family who does not have the best books about agriculture and the ex- ploitation of timber and lumber. There are few houses of which the furniture has not been made by the owners themselves, and men of means do not disdain to pass entire days handling a plow, in the mill, in the carpenter shop or the blacksmith shop.


In all other countries, the men who devote themselves to culti- vation of the fields are mere day-laborers, in general, and the owners of important plantations disdain the knowledge and the details of husbandry. In this country, on the contrary, there is a noble and worthy pride, since the greatest praise that can be given to a young man is to call him a good planter, that is to say, a man who understands the labors of the fields. The ladies themselves distinguish and praise the most intelligent and the most diligent, a policy sufficiently strong to make this country reach the highest perfection. The Creoles are not satisfied with theory only, but with daily practice, without having that rudeness which is brought about generally by the heavy labors of the fields. They leave the plow which they have been handling for hours to offer their


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A HISTORY OF LOUISIANA [1776


hand to a lady to help her across the furrows that they themselves have opened. Foreigners admire the elegance of their manners and the good sense with which they reason on all subjects.


The greater number of the planters who live in the vicinity of New Orleans are the most refined people in this country. Many of them were officers during the French domination, and some are decorated with the cross of St. Louis ; the others are merchants also, who, having earned a certain wealth, have invested it in negroes and in a patch of ground. As the cultivation of the land not only occupies and interests them, but gives them facility of increasing their capital, they devote themselves to it with the greatest zeal. They often dine together, and their conversation is always directed toward the condition of the crop and the progress that each one is making in the cultivation of his land. Each one has a few negroes, according to his means, and the wealth of a planter is reckoned by the number of negroes whom he possesses.


The houses are convenient, according to the climate; all have a very wide gallery or covered balcony, which surrounds them, for protection against the intense heat of the summer, and there are fireplaces in all the rooms for the winter, which sometimes is severe. All the houses are thirty or forty feet from the bank of the river, because they are pleasanter thus, and it is easier to embark and debark, as everything is conducted by water. The houses are of wood, brick, and mortar, and the kitchen is about twenty paces to the rear of the house. Especially in the country there is a garden or orchard, which almost all cultivate themselves with the help of their sons and their servants. This garden furnishes them all the vegetables and fruits they can consume, and many of them send the surplus to the city for sale, especially those who do not live far from it.


The dress of the men is usually a jacket and long breeches, to protect them from the mosquitoes that abound here in the sum- mer. All like hunting very much, and boys ten or twelve years old shoot so well that it is rare that they miss a bird. Generally, the people prefer to live in the country ; there everything interests


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CLASSES OF PEOPLE


1776]


them, and they have all their commodities without much expense. In the city everything costs dear, and as most of them have no money, they flee from the city. I say that they have no money, because such is the passion with which they improve their lands, that hardly have they sold their crops and supplied themselves with what they need for the whole year, such as wine, oil, tobacco, flour, and clothing, when they spend what is left of their money in agricultural implements or in negroes, if they have occasion to buy them.


The inhabitants of this country may be divided into three classes : planters, merchants, and day-laborers. The first are the most important ; their sole occupation is the improvement of their lands, and they think of nothing but to derive the greatest profit possible from their fields, in order to possess a large number of slaves, with whom they can accomplish whatever they desire, and satisfy their dominant passion, which is to beautify their planta- tions. The second class-the merchants-are occupied only in buying and selling and in making occasional journeys to distant posts, eager to be able to earn enough to become planters; for, as this country has no active commerce and there cannot be expedi- tions to Europe, no trader has remained here. The third class work two or three days in the week, and spend the remainder of their time in the taverns. A few make journeys to the Illinois, hiring out as oarsmen. But those among them who possess a little judgment and are diligent, soon succeed in possessing a piece of ground and prosper.




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