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That individual was Etienne de Boré, who was born in the Illinois district of Louisiana in 1740, and who had gone back to France with his parents when he was only four years old. He was of a distinguished Norman family, being lineally descended of Robert de Boré, who was, in 1652, one of the king's counsellors, director general of the post-office department, and one of the stewards of the king's household," &c. Etienne de Boré, when his age permitted it, entered into that privileged body of the king's household troops, called the "mousquetaires," or guardsmen. None could be a " mousquetaire" unless he was noble by birth ; every "mousquetaire" had the grade of captain, and the Captain of a company of
* Conseiller de roi, controleur general des postes, et maître des courriers do Paris à Orléans, maître d'hotel de la maison du roi, &c.
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THE FIRST SUGAR PLANTER.
" mousquetaires" had the rank of Lieutenant General Etienne de Boré had left the mousquetaires in 1772, to assume the command of a company of cavalry. But the circumstance of his having, the year before, married in Paris the daughter of Destrehan, the ex-treasurer of Louisiana when it was a French colony, operated a change in his career, by inducing him to return to Louis- iana, where his wife had some property. Etienne de Boré had settled on a plantation which was situated on the left bank of the Mississippi, six miles above New Orleans. There he had, like the majority of the planters, given his attention to the cultivation of indigo, and he had also seen his hopes blasted, and himself and family threatened with entire ruin.
In these critical conjunctures, he determined to renew the attempts which had been repeatedly made to manu- facture sugar. He immediately prepared to go into all the expenses and incur all the obligations consequent on so costly an undertaking. His wife warned him that her father had, in former years, vainly made a similar at- tempt; she represented that he was hazarding on the cast of a die all that remained of their means of existence ; that, if he failed, as was so probable, he would reduce his family to hopeless poverty ; that he was of an age, being over fifty years old, when fate was not to be tempted by doubtful experiments, as he could not rea- sonably entertain the hope of a sufficiently long life to rebuild his fortune, if once completely shattered; and that he would not only expose himself to ruin, but also to a risk much more to be dreaded-that of falling within the grasp of creditors. Friends and relations joined their remonstrances to hers, but could not shake the strong resolve of his energetic mind. He had fully matured his plan, and was determined to sink or swim with it. There are circumstances in a man's life when he must know
349
THE FIRST SUGAR PLANTER.
how to play, coolly and sagaciously, a desperate game. Bore felt it, and braced up his strength to fling himself on "the tide which, if taken at the flood, was to lead him to fortune, or if not, was to wreck him among the shoals of life."
Purchasing a quantity of canes from Mendez and Solis, he began to plant in 1794, and to make all the other necessary preparations, and, in 1795, he made a crop of sugar which sold for twelve thousand dollars-a large sum at that time. Boré's attempt had not been without exciting the keenest interest; many had frequently visit- ed him during the year, to witness his preparations ; gloomy predictions had been set afloat, and, on the day when the grinding of the cane was to begin, a large number of the most respectable inhabitants had gathered in and about the sugar-house, to be present at the failure or success of the experiment. Would the syrup granu- late ? Would it be converted into sugar? The crowd waited with eager impatience for the moment when the man who watches the coction of the juice of the cane, determines whether it is ready to granulate. When that moment arrived, the stillness of death came among them, each one holding his breath, and feeling that it was a matter of ruin or prosperity for them all. Suddenly the sugar-maker cried out with exultation : " It granulates !" and the crowd repeated : "It granulates !" Inside and outside of the building one could have heard the won- derful tidings, flying from mouth to mouth, and dying in the distance, as if a hundred glad echoes were telling it to one another. Each one of the bystanders pressed on, to ascertain the fact on the evidence of his own senses, and, when it could no longer be doubted, there came a shout of joy, and all flocked around Etienne Boré, over- whelming him with congratulations, and almost hugging the man whom they called their saviour-the saviour of
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CARONDELET'S PROCLAMATION.
Louisiana. Fifty-seven years have elapsed, and an event, which produced so much excitement at the time, is very nearly obliterated from the memory of the present gene- ration ; but it may be permitted to the filial piety of a grandson to record in these pages, with an honest pride, the indebtedness of his native country to a cherished ancestor.
The population of Louisiana had been steadily increas- ing, notwithstanding the obstacles and even calamities which had retarded its progress, and, in the beginning of 1795, the Cabildo made a representation to the King on their inadequacy to fulfil their duties, and prayed for the creation of six additional offices of "regidor," which petition was subsequently granted.
If the fears of an immediate attack had disappeared, the excitement produced in Louisiana by the French revolution, the intrigues of Genet, and the rumors of an invasion by De la Chaise, who was thought to be coming, as he had promised, "to give freedom to the land of his birth," had not entirely subsided. In such circumstances, says Judge Martin in his History of Louisiana, the Baron thought that the strictest vigilance was required in New Orleans, and availed himself of some nocturnal depreda- tions, to issue a proclamation enforcing a severe police and directing the shutting of the gates at an early hour.
In this proclamation he complained of "the success with which evil-minded, turbulent and enthusiastic indi- viduals, who certainly had nothing to lose, had spread false rumors, calculated to give rise to the most complete distrust between the Government and the people, whereby the province was threatened with all the disas- ters to which the French colonies had fallen a prey."
After this, the proclamation announces that* "to * Martin's History of Louisiana, vol. ii .. p. 12'7.
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THE CARONDELET CANAL.
restore order and public tranquillity, Syndics, chosen among the most notable planters, are to be appointed, residing within about nine miles of each other, to be subordinate to the commandant, to whom they are to give weekly accounts of every important occurrence.
"It is made the duty of every one having the know- ledge, even by hearsay, of any offence, or seditious expressions tending to excite alarm or disturb public tranquillity, to give immediate notice to the Syndic, commandant or governor.
"Every assemblage of more than eight persons, to consult on public matters, is absolutely forbidden.
" Every individual is bound to denounce to the com- mandant any Syndic guilty of the offence of making use of any seditious expressions.
" Every traveller, found without a passport, is imme- diately to be arrested, and carried before the Syndic, who is to examine and send him to the commandant.
" Every traveller, possessed of the knowledge of an important event, is first to give notice of it to the Syn- dic, who is to take a note of it, register the name of said traveller, and afterwards, according to the circumstances, permit or forbid the communication of the event, giving information of it to the commandant.
" Syndics* are to order patrols from time to time.
" At the same time," says Monette in his History of the Valley of the Mississippi, "Baron de Carondelet was laudably exerting himself to enlarge, beautify and fortify the city. Early in May, 1794, he had given public notice of his intention to open a canal in the rear of the city, for the double purpose of draining the marshes and ponds in that vicinity, and establishing a navigable com- munication with the sea. This canal, communicating
American State Papers, vol. i., p. 377.
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THE CARONDELET CANAL.
with the Bayou St. John, would effectually accomplish the latter object, to the great commercial advantages of New Orleans, while it would also remove one great source of annoyance and disease proceeding from the generation of innumerable swarms of mosquitoes and march miasma from the stagnant pools.
"To accomplish this important undertaking for the advantages of the city, he proposed to accept the volun- tary contribution of such slave labor as the planters and others in the vicinity might be willing to give. The month of June had been announced as the time for beginning the work, at which time sixty negro slaves were sent by the patriotic inhabitants, and the canal was commenced. The work progressed rapidly; but the depth of the canal was only six feet. The convicts and a few slaves continued to labor upon the work during the remainder of the year, until the canal was opened to the intersection of the Bayou St. John, through which a navigable route lay to Lake Pontchartrain. The following year, the plan of making the canal navi- gable up to the city was concurred in, and the Governor made a second call upon the patriotism and public spirit of the people for additional labor. To this call a gene- rous response was given, and one hundred and fifty negroes were sent to expedite the work. The excava- tion was now made to the width of fifteen feet, with a depth sufficient to admit small vessels to the vicinity of the ramparts on the rear of the city. In November, the Governor made one more call for aid from the planters within fifteen miles of the city, assuring them that, with eight days' work from the same number of hands, he would be able to render the canal navigable for small vessels up to the 'basin,' which had been exca- vated near the ramparts of the city. The labor was cheerfully contributed, and the canal was in successful
353
ENCOURAGEMENTS TO EMIGRANTS.
operation during the following winter, 1796. Early in the spring, a number of schooners came up and moored in the basin. Thus, in the autumn of 1795, was there a navigable canal route from the city, by way of the Lakes, to the sea. In honor of the projector and patron, the Cabildo, by a decree, designated it as 'Canal Caron- delet,' a name which it retains to this day." It will be recollected that this same work had been projected and begun, in 1727, by Governor Perier, but soon relin- quished.
The revolution in France had been favorable to the increase of the population of Louisiana, which had been recruited by the arrival of some French royalists, who had fled from the anger of their former vassals. Such emigrants were acceptable to the crown of Spain, and among the most conspicuous were the Marquis de Maison Rouge, the Baron de Bastrop, and Jacques Céran de Lassus de St. Vrain, an officer of the late royal navy of France, who had emigrated like so many others of the nobility. They proposed* plans for the removal of a number of their countrymen to Louisiana from the Uni- ted States, where they had sought an asylum. Their propositions were accepted-twelve square leagues were granted to Bastrop, on the banks of the Ouachita, thirty thousand superficial acres were appropriated to Maison Rouge's establishment, and De Lassus de St. Vrain ob- tained a concession of ten thousand square arpens. These grants were made on certain conditions, which were never complied with, and a full title never vested in the grantees, who, by their birth, habits and tastes, were not qualified to carry such plans into execution and to become pioneers in the wilderness.
"The encouragement thus given by the colonial go-
* Martin's History of Louisiana, vol. ii., p. 128.
23
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A SLAVE CONSPIRACY.
vernment," says Judge Martin, "was not confined to a grant of land. It covenanted to pay two hundred dol- lars to every family, composed of at least two white persons, fit for the labors of agriculture, or the mechani- cal arts necessary in a settlement of the kind, such as carpenters, blacksmiths, &c. Four hundred dollars were allowed to families having four laborers, and proportion- ately to those having only an artisan or laborer. They were to be assisted with guides and provisions from New Madrid to the Ouachita district. Their baggage and implements of agriculture were to be transported from New Madrid at the King's expense. Each family, con- sisting of at least two white persons fit for the pursuits of agriculture, was entitled to four hundred acres of land, with a proportionate increase to more numerous families. Settlers were permitted to bring European servants, to be bound to them for six or more years, and who, at the expiration of their time of service, were to receive grants of land in the same proportion."
A few months after, the King gave his approbation to this agreement between the Spanish authorities and the French royalists. These were laudable efforts on the part of the Spanish government, but they proved completely abortive.
Thus was that government pursuing, with all the means in its power, the wise policy of increasing the white population, when the colony was discovered to be threatened with a very serious danger. The news of the success of the St. Domingo revolution, and of the rebellion of those who might be called the white slaves of France against their masters, had not been without penetrating into the very cabins of the blacks of Louisi- ana, who thought that they were authorized to do the same thing for themselves; and, accordingly, a conspi- racy was formed on the plantation of Julien Poydras,
355
A SLAVE CONSPIRACY.
one of the wealthiest planters, who was travelling in the United States. The estate of Poydras was situated in Pointe Coupée, an isolated parish, distant one hundred and fifty miles from New Orleans, and where the num- ber of the negroes was considerable-from which cir- cumstances they had derived much encouragement. The conspiracy had extended itself throughout. the whole parish, and the 15th of April had been the day selected for the massacre. All the whites were to be indiscrimi- nately butchered, with the exception of the adult females, who were to be spared to gratify the lust of the conspirators. A disagreement as to the hour at which the rising should take place gave rise to a quarrel among the leaders, and one of them, through his wife, sent information to the commandant of the parish of all the details of the plot. The ringleaders, among whom were three whites, were immediately arrested and put in prison. The blacks rose and flew to the rescue of their chiefs; a conflict ensued, in which twenty-five of them were killed. The trial of the rebellious slaves was rapidly got through; twenty-three were hung all along the banks of the river down to New Orleans, and their corpses remained for some days dangling from their gibbets, as a warning to the rest of their population ; thirty-one were severely flogged; and the three whites, who certainly were the guiltiest, and who ought to have been punished with more rigor than the miserable and ignorant beings* they had deluded, were only sentenced to leave the colony. This event produced great alarm among the inhabitants, who did not know how far the ramifications of the conspiracy had extended, and the apprehensions continued to be such, that, on the 29th of February of the following year, the Cabildo petitioned
* The Intendant Rendon's despatch of the 15th of June, 1795
356
THE MADRID TREATY OF 1795.
the King, to obtain from him that the importation of slaves into Louisiana be completely prohibited, and in the mean time, the Baron, in compliance with their wishes, issued a provisional proclamation to that effect.
Snch was the state of affairs in Louisiana, when the negotiations which had been so long pending between the United States and Spain were brought to a close, by a treaty signed at Madrid, on the 20th of October, 1795.
The principal stipulations of the treaty, which related to Louisiana, were, says Monette in his History of the Valley of the Mississippi, as follows :
" The second article stipulates that the future boun- dary between the United States and the Floridas shall. be the thirty-first parallel of north latitude, from the Mississippi eastward to the Chattahoochy River ; thence along a line running due east, from the mouth of Flint River to the head of St. Mary's River, and thence down the middle of that river to the Atlantic Ocean, and that, within six months after the ratification of the treaty, the troops and garrisons of each power shall be withdrawn to its own side of this boundary, and the people shall be at liberty to retire with all their effects, if they de- sire so to do.
" The third article stipulates that each party, respec- tively, shall appoint one commissioner and one surveyor, with a suitable military guard of equal numbers, well provided with instruments and assistants, who shall meet at Natchez, within six months after the mutual ratifica- tion of the treaty, and proceed thence to run and mark the said Southern boundary of the United States.
" The fourth article stipulates that the middle of the Mississippi River shall be the Western boundary of the United States from its source to the intersection of the said line of demarcation. The King of Spain also stipu-
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THE MADRID TREATY OF 1795.
lates that the whole width of said river, from its source to the sea, shall be free to the people of the United States.
" The fifth article stipulates, that each party shall require and enforce peace and neutrality among the Indian tribes inhabiting their respective territories.
" The King of Spain stipulates and agrees to permit the people of the United States, for the term of three years, to use the port of New Orleans as a place of de- posit for their produce and merchandise, and to export the same free from all duty or charge, except a reason- able consideration to be paid for storage and other incidental expenses ; that the term of three years may, by subsequent negotiation, be extended ; or, instead of that town, some other point in the island of New Orleans shall be designated as a place of deposit for the American trade. Other commercial advantages were likewise held out as within the reach of negotiation. The treaty was duly ratified by the Senate in March following, and the Federal Executive proceeded to make the necessary arrangements for the fulfilment of all its stipulations on the part of the United States."
By this treaty the Southern boundary of the United States, as settled by their treaty of peace with Great Britain, was recognised, and also the principle so tena- ciously advocated-that free ships make free goods.
" But," continues Monette, " although Spain suspended her restrictions upon the river trade after this treaty had been ratified, it was quite apparent that the King never intended to surrender the territory east of the Missis- sippi, and north of latitude 31, provided any contin gency should enable him to hold possession. He had been compelled, by the pressure of political embarrass ment, both in Europe and in America, to yield a reluc- tant assent to the treaty, as the only means by which he
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SPANISH INTRIGUES IN THE WEST.
could preserve the province of Louisiana fron_ invasion, and conciliate the hostile feelings of the Western people of the United States. The provincial authorities 'in Louisiana seemed to view the late treaty on the part of Spain as a mere measure of policy and court finesse, to propitiate the neutrality of the Federal Government and satisfy the American people, until her European embar- rassments should have been surmounted. Spain, incited by France, had been upon the verge of a war with Great Britain ; and already the British authorities in Canada had planned an invasion of Upper Louisiana, by way of the Lakes and the Illinois River, whenever hostilities should be formally proclaimed. To prevent this inva- sion was one object to be gained by the treaty of Madrid, which would put the neutral territory of a friendly power in the way of invasion."
Whilst the negotiations had been carried on between Spain and the United States, the Baron de Carondelet had not been inactive, and had been striving to secure success to his favorite plan of separating the West from the rest of the Union. His chief agent, Power, had in- formed him that the same influential individuals in Kentucky, who had been in secret correspondence with Governor Mirò, such as Wilkinson, Innis, Murray, Nicholas, &c., were disposed to renew their former rela- tions with the Spanish Government, and that some of them would be ready to meet at the mouth of the Ohio any officer of rank that should be sent to them. In con- sequence of this communication, Carondelet chose for this delicate mission the Governor of Natchez, Gayoso de Lemos, who proceeded to New Madrid, whence he despatched Power to make the preliminary arrangements for the interview with Sebastian, Innis, and their other associates. Power met Sebastian at Red Banks. This individual told the Spanish emissary, that Innis had been
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POWER, THE AGENT OF CARONDELET.
prevented by some family concerns from leaving home ; that, as the courts of Kentucky were then in session, the absence of Nicholas-a lawyer in great practice-would excite suspicion, and that Murray," having lately become an habitual drunkard, was unfit for any kind of business and could not be trusted. This was a great disappoint- ment for Power; but Sebastian went down with him to meet Gayoso, who, in the mean time, had employed the men of his escort in erecting a small stockade fort, on the right bank of the river, opposite the mouth of the Ohio, in order to cause it to be believed that the con- struction of this fortification had been the object of his journey. Sebastian declared to Gayoso that he was au- thorized to treat in the name of Innis and Nicholas, but seems to have said nothing about Wilkinson. Gayoso proposed to him that they should together visit the Baron de Carondelet; this was assented to, and Power, Sebastian, and Gayoso departed for New Orleans, where they arrived early in January, 1796, and, in the begin- ning of the spring, Sebastian and Power sailed together for Philadelphia, no doubt on a mission from the Spanish Governor.
Power soon returned to Kentucky, and submitted to those whom he expected to seduce the following docu- ment :
" His Excellency, the Baron de Carondelet, &c., Com- mander-in-chief and Governor of his Catholic Majesty's provinces of West Florida and Louisiana, having com- munications of importance, embracing the interests of said provinces, and at the same time deeply affecting those of Kentucky and of the Western country in general, to make to its inhabitants, through the medium of the influential characters in this country, and judging it, in
* Martin's History, vol. ii., p. 126.
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CARONDELET'S PROPOSITIONS.
the present uncertain and critical attitude of politics, highly imprudent and dangerous to lay them on paper, has expressly commissioned and authorized me to submit the following proposals to the consideration of Messrs. Sebastian, Nicholas, Innis and Murray, and also of such other gentlemen as may be pointed out by them, and to receive from them their sentiments and determination on the subject.
" 1º-The above mentioned gentlemen are to exert all their influence in impressing on the minds of the inhabit- ants of the Western country, a conviction of the necessity of their withdrawing and separating themselves from the Federal Union, and forming an independent government wholly unconnected with that of the Atlantic States. To prepare and dispose the people for such an event, it will be necessary that the most popular and eloquent writers in this State should, in well-timed publications, expose, in the most striking point of view, the inconve- niences and disadvantages that a longer connection with and dependence on, the Atlantic States, must inevitably draw upon them, and the great and innumerable diffi- culties in which they will probably be entangled, if they do not speedily recede from the Union ; the benefits they will certainly reap from a secession ought to be pointed out in the most forcible and powerful manner ; and the danger of permitting the federal troops to take possession of the posts on the Mississippi, and thus forming a cordon of fortified places round them, must be particularly ex- patiated upon. In consideration of gentlemen devoting their time and talents to this object, his Excellency, the Baron de Carondelet, will appropriate the sum of one hundred thousand dollars to their use, which shall be paid in drafts on the royal treasury at New Orleans, or, if more convenient, shall be conveyed at the expense of his Catholic Majesty into this country, and held at their
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