History of Louisiana, from its first discovery and settlement to the present time, Part 5

Author: Bunner, E
Publication date: 1842
Publisher: New York, Harper and brothers
Number of Pages: 534


USA > Louisiana > History of Louisiana, from its first discovery and settlement to the present time > Part 5


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HISTORY OF LOUISIANA.


cessary to court the friendship of these savages, notwithstanding they were the most insolent, and the most troublesome and disgusting of all the Indian tribes. Fortunately, at this moment three companies of marines arrived from France, with which addition to their strength they were ena- bled to continue the war. It was first necessary to chastise the negroes who had been employed to destroy the Chonachas, and who had now turned their arms against their masters : they were speedily subdued, their ringleaders hung, and the others severely flogged.


1731 .- The Natchez having retired to a spot near the Black River, and concealed themselves in the woods, Perier ascended the Mississippi in mid-winter in search of them. He would not, probably, have succeeded in discovering their re- treat, had they not spied an Indian boy fishing, and by his flight been directed to the path which led to their camp. The post they occu- pied they had in some measure fortified, and seemed disposed to defend it; but a bomb fall- ing among the women and children so terrified them that they made signs of submission. Pe- . rier required that the chiefs should come to his camp, to which they finally yielded, though un- willingly, and not until after many efforts to


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DESTRUCTION OF THE NATCHEZ.


avoid it. While they were there they feigned to be asleep, and one of them, eluding the vigi- lance of the guards and making his escape, returned to his people, and assured them they had nothing to hope from the mercy of the French. . When Perier the next day called upon them to submit, they delayed their answer till evening, and then, telling him they did not fear him, braved his threats. This defiance, however, was but a pretence, as they hoped to escape during the night in the manner they had done before; this repetition of a stratagem which has once been successful being a common trait in the Indian character. But this time they found themselves mistaken, for they were closely watched, and, being completely surrounded, many of them were killed; a few only effected their escape, favoured by the darkness, and the re- mainder were forced to surrender. The prison- ers were carried as slaves to New-Orleans, and from thence sent to St. Domingo and sold, all except the Indian woman who had practised the stratagem against her countrymen to save the French; she, with her son, was exempted from the general doom, though both of them died soon after.


The Natchez who had escaped hearing of the


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HISTORY OF LOUISIANA.


fate of their brethren, became desperate : they fell upon the Tunicas, who continued faithful to · the French, and, having made a great slaughter of them during a furious contest of five days, they at length retired. They then attacked the Natchitoches, and finally ventured to attack the French in their fort; but these having been re- enforced, made a sally, and killed a considerable number, among whom were the Great Sun and most of the chiefs. This loss was irreparable : the few surviving Natchez could no longer form a nation, and most of them took refuge among the Chickasaws, the first instigators of the war. These adopted them into their nation, according to the custom of the Indians; the rest dispersed themselves among the other tribes; and this once- powerful people, as a distinct race, was entirely lost. Their name alone, attached to one of our . flourishing cities, remains to perpetuate their memory.


FLOURISHING STATE OF THE COLONY. 95


CHAPTER VIII.


Surrender of the Charter of the Mississippi Company .- War of the Chickasaws .-- Interior affairs.


1732 .- AT this period, the Mississippi Compa- ny, having sustained great losses, and seeing.lit- tle reason to anticipate greater success for the future, determined to abandon a hopeless enter- prise, and relinquish to the king the charter he had granted them. They had held possession of Louisiana for fourteen years, and left it with a population of five thousand whites, and two thousand five hundred blacks. Many public buildings had been erected in New-Orleans, and in different places forts had been constructed for the defence of the colonists against the Indians. Agriculture was in an improving condition through all the nine cantons, and particularly in Illinois, which was considered the granary of the colony. The alluvial land on the banks of the rivers was extremely fertile, and well adapt- · ed to grain, especially maize, which was so gen- erally cultivated by the Indians at the time the country was discovered that it was supposed to


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HISTORY OF LOUISIANA.


be indigenous to the soil. But never having been found by botanists in a wild state, it has been concluded that it must have come from some other region ; and recent researches have indu= ced the belief that it is a native plant of South America. Many of the northern fruits were to be found here; and with so great a variety of soil and climate as was embraced within the ex- tensive tract then called Louisiana, the settlers possessed facilities for raising almost any Euro- pean production.


To encourage agriculture and increase the' population of the colony, an ordinance of the king, dated in this year, granted to every soldier, on retiring from the service, a certain quantity of land, in fee simple, to be cultivated by him, and continuing at the same time his pay and rations for three years. Good behaviour in the army was sure of being thus rewarded; and in this manner obedient soldiers were secured to the state, to become respectable planters after their term of service was expired.


1734 .- The Chickasaws were at this time as- suming a hostile attitude. They had afforded an asylum to the Yazoos, to a body of the Natchez, and to a number of refugee negroes from the colony of Rosalie. They did more :


OPERATIONS AGAINST THE CHICKASAWS. 97


they sent some of these negroes to the banks of the river, some to New-Orleans, and others to Mobile, to excite the slaves on the plantations to revolt. Their plot, however, was discovered in time : some of the negroes were put to the rack, and one negro woman was hung. The plans of the Chickasaws did not stop here. They sought to withdraw the Eastern Choctaws from their alli- ance with the French; while, with the aid of the Cherokees, they intercepted all communica- tion between Canada and Louisiana, and com- mitted numerous acts of violence.


1735 .- Bienville, the founder of New-Or- leans, had returned, and was again governor. He felt the necessity of reducing the Indians to submission, but at the same time wished to con- ciliate them if it were possible. All his efforts to effect this, however, failed ; they still contin- ued their depredations; and he found himself obliged to commence hostile operations against them. He sent orders to the Chevalier D'Arta- grette, who commanded at Fort Chartres, on the Illinois, to join him with all his forces. This young officer, son of the former commissary of that name, rapidly descended the Mississippi with a body of twelve hundred men, nearly all Indians, and came in sight of the enemy before


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HISTORY OF LOUISIANA.


Bienville arrived. He had already distinguished himself 'in the war with the Natchez ; and now, with about fifty French and a thousand Indians, he advanced into the country of the Chickasaws, who were intrenched behind fortifications, and commanded by English officers. Though the Illinois were impatient for the combat, as he was anxious to wait for Bienville's co-operation, he endeavoured to restrain their ardour ; but, at the expiration of ten days, they threatened desertion, and he was obliged to give battle. He captured two of the forts, and was about gaining posses- sion of the third, when he received several wounds, and was taken prisoner by the enemy; together with Father Senac, De Vincennes, and a few gallant spirits who refused to abandon their leader. Upon this the Illinois precipitate- ly fled. At this crisis Bienville arrived, but it was now too late. He attacked a fort defended by a body of English, and lost nearly two thou- sand men. Being unable to remove his dead, the Indians cut them in pieces and nailed them to the palisades. The wounded were carried off in the arms of such of their companions as could bear the fatigue, and were protected by Voisin, a youth only sixteen years old, who conducted the retreat with admirable presence of mind,


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MASSACRE OF FRENCH CAPTIVES.


marching more than a hundred miles without food, and having the enemy in hot pursuit near- ly half the way. D'Artagrette and his compan- ions were taken to the cabins of the Chicka- saws, where, according to the Indian custom, their wounds were bound up, and they were well fed, and treated with seeming kindness. But after Bienville and his army were gone, they were brought out, bound to a stake, and doomed to perish by a slow fire, having first en- dured all the tortures which Indian cruelty could invent ; one only of their number being spared, to acquaint their countrymen with their fate.


1739 .- Another campaign against the Chick- asaws was determined on by Bienville; and his plan was to attack them by the Mississippi, with all the forces of Canada and Louisiana com- bined. Beauharnais, governor of New-France, entering into his views, sent to him Celeron, with the cadets of Quebec and Montreal, and a strong body of Canadian Indians. On arriving with his troops at the point where the town of Memphis, in Tennessee, now stands, Bienville was joined by the Canadian force, and that sent from Fort Chartres, on the Illinois, commanded by Lobuissonnèire. These united detachments formed a body of three thousand six hundred


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HISTORY OF LOUISIANA.


men, twelve hundred of whom were Europeans. They constructed a fort, to which they gave the name of L'Assomption. It was in the month of August; the heat was excessive; the situation unhealthy ; and, to add to their difficulties, their provisions failed, so that they were obliged to eat their horses. Diseases broke out among the troops, and particularly those recently arrived from France, and carried off great numbers of them ; while those who escaped with life, being weakened by hunger and suffering, were disa- bled from taking any part in the war.


1740 .- An attack on the enemy was, howev- er, decided on, and it was led by the savages and " the Canadian French. At the approach of an army which appeared to them innumerable, the Chickasaws were struck with dismay. They ac- cordingly sued for peace, declaring that they had been seduced into hostilities by the English of Carolina, but that they desired nothing so ear- nestly as to live on good terms with the French. To appease their dreaded enemies, they gave up two Englishmen who were with them. Bien- ville suffered himself to be appeased by these manifestations of friendship: they smoked the calumet together, and buried the tomahawk. Peace was said to be established; but it was


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DEPARTURE OF BIENVILLE FOR FRANCE. 101


only a nominal peace; for the settlements be- tween Illinois and Lower Louisiana were kept in constant alarm. The Chickasaws, in fact, re- mained masters of the country ; and, aided by the English, they kept the French out of their territory, and continued to harass them for sever- al years. 1


1741 .- Bienville now took his final departure from Louisiana, to the great regret of the inhab- itants, and was succeeded by Vaudreuil in the command of the colony. Commerce was at this time in a flourishing condition, having been freed from the monopoly granted to the Western Com- pany, which had greatly impeded its advance. In 1731 the king also relieved it from all duties ; and when the country came again under the royal administration, no change was made in the government.


Legal questions had at this time become so complicated that it was found necessary to in- crease the number of members in the superior council. Four assessors, chosen for four years, were entitled to a seat in this body, but they were only allowed to vote when there was an equal division among the regular members.


1742 .- Six years previous to this, owing to the great scarcity of specie, there had been an


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THE


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HISTORY OF LOUISIANA.


emission of paper to the amount of two hundred thousand livres (a little more than forty thousand dollars), to meet the necessities of the colony. These bills were in sums of five, ten, fifteen, and twenty livres; and there were smaller ones of fifty, twenty-five, twelve and a half, and six and a quarter sous. The effect of this paper money was to cause the gold and silver to disappear, and in a short time it greatly depreciated. In- stead. of applying the proper remedy to the evil, another description of paper money was put in circulation, to be employed in commerce ; and this was followed, in 1743, by an issue of treasury notes, receivable for all fiscal demands. This profusion of public securities gave rise to the practice of stock-jobbing, greatly to the inju- ry both of the commercial and agricultural in- terests.


The War of the Succession, which had set Europe in flames, soon extended to America. The English colonists were at this time di- recting all their energies against Canada; and Georgia and both the Carolinas being engaged in this Northern war, no longer sought to excite the Indians against Louisiana, the only part of the French colonies which now enjoyed perfect tranquillity. But enemies of a different kind


LEGAL DIFFICULTIES. . 103


were Iet loose upon her. In 1746 a terrible , hurricane desolated the country, and entirely de- stroyed the rice-crop. This grain had, for a long time, been substituted in the colony for bread. The foreign bread-stuffs destined for its use in this emergency having been taken by the English, the only resource left was to send to the country of the Illinois, then in a very flour- ishing condition, for a supply. This country produced everything in abundance : grain, cat- tle, venison, tallow, beans, oil, wool, skins, leath- er, and lead. In the course of the year there were received from thence more than four thou- sand bags of flour.


1748 .- In this year the excessive severity of the winter destroyed, for the first time, all the orange-trees. The people had long suffered se- rious inconvenience from the want of duly quali- fied persons in the civil offices. Wills, sales, or deeds, made in good faith, might all be annulled, from not being executed with due formality ; and thus many families were compelled to apply to the government to have their titles legalized, and were exposed to be ruined by lawsuits. An order of the superior council declared that all papers preserved in the public offices should be considered valid, provided there was no evidence


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HISTORY OF LOUISIANA.


of any fraud in the transactions to which they related; and decreed that in future, wherever there were no offices of justice, two responsible inhabitants should be authorized to draw up the necessary writings, to be attested by two witness- es, requiring only, to render them valid, that they should be transmitted, within the space of a year, to the superior council of the colony, or to the inferior courts of Mobile or Illinois.


1751 .- The most valuable gift ever conferred on Louisiana was received from the Jesuits of . St. Domingo, who sent to their brethren on the. Mississippi sugar-canes, with negroes accustomed to their culture and management. These canes were planted on the lands belonging to the Jes- uits, comprising the lower part of the Faubourg. St. Marie. In this year sixty poor girls arrived from France, who were given in marriage to the soldiers whose good conduct had obtained for + them an award of land, as we have before related. 1752 .- The Chickasaws, after a peace of "twelve years, again commenced their depreda- tions, and with greater boldness than ever, upon the French settlements. To revenge and put · a stop to these repeated outrages, Vaudreuil marched against them with a force of seven hundred troops of the line and a large body of


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FIRST LITERARY PRODUCTION.


savages. The expedition, however, in a great measure failed. The Indians had by this time learned something of fortification, and the French were unable to take their strongholds for want of artillery. They contented themselves, there- fore, with laying waste their country, and strengthening the fort of Tombeckbee, the gar- rison of which they doubled.


1753. - A circumstance this year occurred, which gave rise to the first literary production of Louisiana. A Choctaw having killed an In- dian of another tribe, fled for refuge to New- Orleans. The relations of the deceased pursued him, and demanded his surrender of the governor, who felt himself bound to order his arrest, though he had then escaped beyond pursuit. His father came forward, and offered his own life to ensure the safety of his son. The family consented to the compromise, and the old Indian endured tortures and death without a groan. A tragedy was written on this subject by Leblanc de Ville- neuve, one of the officers of the garrison.


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HISTORY OF LOUISIANA,


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CHAPTER IX.


Differences between France and England .- General Washing- ton .- Nova Scotia .- Fort Duquesne .- Loss of Canada .- Sup .. pression of the Order of Jesuits.


THE power of France was at this time ex- tended over a great part of North America. It is true she had, by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, ceded Acadie, now called Nova Scotia, to Eng- land. But her title to Canada was undisputed, and she still held possession of the Valley of the Mississippi, along the whole extent of which there were detached French settlements. To . protect these valuable possessions, a plan worthy of its object had been formed and partly exe- cuted. This was, to connect Quebec with the Gulf of Mexico by a continued line of fortified posts. The governors of New-France (under which name were comprehended the whole of Canada and Louisiana) had been for the most part military men, who had selected the sites for these posts with great judgment, and in situations the most favourable for the defence of their own people, and to overawe the Indians. The native


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THE FIVE NATIONS.


tribes were generally friendly to the French, if we except the Iroquois, or, as they were called by the English, the Five Nations ; viz., the Mo- hawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Sen- ecas, inhabiting the borders of the rivers and lakes bearing these names : they were sometimes called the Six Nations, the Tuscaroras having been admitted into the confederacy. They were a brave and warlike people, attached to the English, with whom they afterward took part in the American war. The French found them troublesome neighbours, as they not unfrequently extended their incursions to the St. Lawrence, and even as far as the Valley of the Mississippi. A strong fort at Crown Point, on Lake Cham- plain, commanded part of the country they occu- pied, and others were erected in suitable situa- tions, extending from Quebec up the St. Lawrence River, and along the Great Lakes. It is obvious that the completion of this line of fortified sta- tions would have completely hemmed in the English settlements, and that, as it has been expressed, Canada and Louisiana would have ' formed a bow, of which the colonies of England would have represented the cord.


It was not to be supposed that the English could regard these proceedings of their rivals


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HISTORY OF LOUISIANA.


without alarm, or that they could see them mo- nopolizing the vast and fertile country of Upper Louisiana without desiring to share its advanta -. ges, especially as they considered themselves possessing an equal claim to them. In conse- quence of the discovery of the Cabots, they asserted the right of extending their settlements as far as the Pacific. The French, on the other hand, maintained their claim to the Valley of the Mississippi, on the ground of having been the first to explore and colonize it, and insisted that the English should confine themselves to the country east of the Alleghany Mountains. Amid · these conflicting pretensions, neither party seems to have imagined that there might be prior rights, which equally barred the claims of both. An Indian chief remarked on the occasion of this dispute, " The French claim all the country to the west, and the English all to the east and west; where, then, is the country of the Indians ?" This was an embarrassing question, and has never yet been satisfactorily answered.


At this time, however, the Indians did not seem to think of asserting their own rights, but took part in the quarrels of the two nations, which were both equally regardless of them : a very fortunate circumstance for the French, as Canada then con-


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THE OHIO COMPANY.


tained only 45,000 inhabitants, and the whole of . Louisiana no more than 7000 whites, while the English colonies had a population of 1,051,000. The rival nations now only waited an occasion of commencing the contest; and it soon arrived. Shortly after the conclusion of the last war, sever- 'al individuals in Virginia and England associa- ted together under the name of the Ohio Com- pany, and obtained a grant from the crown of six hundred thousand acres of land, lying in the country claimed by either nation. The ob- jects of this company being commercial as well as territorial, measures were taken for securing all the advantages which could be derived from - their charter, by establishing trading-houses and employing persons to survey the country.


The governor of Canada, on receiving infor- mation of what he considered an encroachment on the French dominions, wrote to the governors of New-York and Pennsylvania, stating that the English traders had trespassed upon the French territory, and that, if they were not made to de- sist, he should be under the necessity of seizing them. Finding his threats disregarded, he pro- ceeded to put them in execution ; and, arresting the company's servants, had them conveyed as prisoners to Presque Isle, on Lake Erie, where he


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HISTORY OF LOUISIANA.


was engaged in erecting a strong fort About the same time a communication was opened from Presque Isle, along French Creek and the Alle- ghany River, to the Ohio, called by the French La Belle Rivière. This communication was kept up by. detachments of troops posted at proper 1 · · distances, in works capable of protecting them against an attack made with small arms alone.


This military line passing through the territory granted to the Ohio Company as a part of Vir- ginia, the lieutenant governor of that province laid the matter before the Assembly, and de- spatched Washington, then a young officer only twenty-one years old, with a letter to Monsieur de St. Pierre, commander of the French forces on the Ohio, requiring him to withdraw from the dominions of his Britannic majesty. M. de St. Pierre replied with politeness, but in decided terms, that he had taken possession of the coun- try by order of his superior officer, Governor Duquesne, to whom he would transmit the letter, but the summons to retire he could not comply with.


1754 .- Preparations were immediately made in Virginia to assert the rights of the British crown, and a regiment was sent to the defence of the frontier. Advancing with a small de-


WASHINGTON ENCOUNTERS JUMONVILLE. 111


tachment, Washington fell in with a party of French and Indians, who approached with every appearance of hostile intentions. A skirmish ensued, in which the commander of the party, M. de Jumonville, and ten of his men, were killed. The affair was at the time greatly misrepresented, and Washington was blamed for having com- mitted an act of aggression before war had been declared, and for attacking, as it was said, the bearer of a summons. It is true that Jumon- ville had a summons in his possession, but that fact could not have been known to Washington ; nor had he any reason to suppose, from the con- duct of this officer, that his intentions were of a friendly. nature. He was at the head of an . armed force, sent forward spies in advance, con- cealed himself and his party, and despatched information of the state of things to his com- mander in the fort. Had Washington disregarded these indications, he would have been justly cen- surable for neglect of duty; and the unhappy consequences of proceedings so unusual may be charged to the indiscretion of Jumonville him- self. The French subsequently acquitted Wash- ington of any blame in this unfortunate affair.


The object of the American officer had been to anticipate the French in occupying the post


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HISTORY OF LOUISIANA.


at the junction of the Alleghany and Mononga- hela, where a party of militia and a body of workmen had been sent by the Ohio Company ; but finding they had already driven the latter away, and erected a strong fort on the spot, and foreseeing that, on hearing of the affair of Jumon- ville, they would at once send a detachment against him, he hastily completed a small stock- ade he had commenced at a place called Great Meadows, and gave to it the name of Fort Necessity. Here he was soon attacked, and, · after a gallant defence, capitulated on honour- able terms.




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