USA > Louisiana > Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, Volume II > Part 4
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2. All those holding lands fronting on the Mississippi were re- quired to make levees, make and keep in order public highways 30 feet wide, with bridges 15 feet in width over all ditches or canals.
3. Settlers were required to clear and put in cultivation within 3 years all the front of their concessions for a depth of at least 2 arpents, under penalty of forfeiture, and they were not permitted to sell their lands during the period of 3 years unless this had been done.
4. Notaries and commandants were forbidden to take any ac- knowledgment of conveyance, unless the seller presented and de- livered to the purchaser the title obtained from the government.
5. Settlers were not to secure a second concession until in pos- session of the first for 3 years, and had complied with all the pre- scribed conditions.
6. In the posts of Opelousas and Attakapas the maximum amount of land that could be granted to any one individual was one league square.
7. Only vacant lands to be granted or sold, information to that effect to be secured by the signature of the commandant or syndic- surveyor and 2 neighbors, and if another claimant appeared the per- sons signing the information were required to indemnify such claim- ant.
8. All concessions were declared given in the name of the king,
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by the general intendant of the province, who should order the sur- veyor to mark the bounds, and all who possessed lands by virtue of formal titles from the French and Spanish governments were to be maintained in their possessions. Any one found occupying lands without such title was to be evicted.
9. Within six months after the publication of these regulations, all persons occupying lands were required to have their titles made ont and recorded. If they possessed no title they might be admitted the possessor of the land by a compromise, otherwise the lands should revert to the public domain, except where they had been occupied for 10 years or longer. Those giving information of lands held without a valid title were to receive one-fourth of the price for which such lands might be sold, the informer to have the preference of purchase at a discount of 25 per cent.
10. Titles were to be issued by the general intendant, who, after the price of the land was fixed. was required to collect half a year's rent, or a quit rent of 21/2 per cent on the price of estimation, which amount was to be sent to Spain and paid into the treasury in order to make the title valid. After this the commandants or syndics were to collect taxes or rents.
These regulations remained in force until the cession of Louisiana to the United States, though Stoddard thinks that neither the laws of O'Reilly nor the regulations of Morales were even in force in Upper Louisiana. At the time the province was ceded to the United States the lands of Louisiana had nothing like a fixed value, and cost the settlers no more than the fees of entry and expenses of sur- vey. About that time large quantities of land were offered for sale at 25 cents an acre, but as soon as it became known that the gen- eral land laws of the United States would be made applicable to Louisiana, and that the government was disposed to postpone the sale of public lands, private holdings increased in value and within 3 years after the cession it became difficult to purchase good lands for less than $2 an acre.
For years after the beginning of the American domination some confusion resulted from the uncertainty as to the validity of titles to lands granted by the French and Spanish governments. On May 24, 1828, President Adams approved an act of Congress "to enable claimants to land within the limits of the State of Missouri and the Territory of Arkansas to institute proceedings to try the validity of their claims," and on March 15, 1839, the Louisiana adopted the following preamble and resolution :
"Whereas, there are several large claims to land in the State of Louisiana, derived from the governments of France and Spain while they exercised the rights of sovereigns over the territory of Louisiana ; and whereas, earnest and repeated efforts have from time to time been made for the last 25 years, by our senators and representatives in Congress, in accordance with resolutions at vari- ous times passed by the legislature of this state, and memorials and petitions sent to Congress by large numbers of our citizens, to have the said claims finally settled by the action of judiciary or in some
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other effectual mode; and whereas, a serious obstacle has been opposed to the prosperity of the state in consequence of the refusal or delay on the part of the general government to submit the ques- tion of the validity of said claims to the judiciary, or to provide some other mode of bringing the same to a definitive adjudication and settlement ;
"Now, therefore, be it resolved by the senate and house of repre- sentatives of the State of Louisiana, in general assembly convened, That our senators in Congress be instructed, and our representatives be requested to renew their exertions to obtain from Congress the passage of a law giving the claimants to all grants made by Spain and France while they exercised the rights of sovereigns over the territory of Louisiana, and also to all purchasers of land from Indian tribes, the right to test the validity of said grants before the judiciary of the United States upon principles of the laws of nations, the co- lonial laws and customs of France and Spain, in force in Louisiana at the time said grants were made, and in accordance with the treaties by which Louisiana and that part of the former territory of West Florida were acquired by the United States from France and Spain : Providing, also, that if in case the grant or grants should be decided to be good and valid, and it should appear that the land included in said grant or grants or any portion thereof had been previously sold or disposed of by donation or otherwise by the gov- ernment of the United States, the holders shall not be disturbed in their right or possession so acquired, and the claimant under France and Spain shall be entitled to locate an equal quantity of land be- longing to the public domain of the within limits of Louisiana."
The resolutions further set forth that such rights had been ac- corded to the claimants in Missouri, Arkansas and Florida by special enactments of Congress, etc. Congress was slow to act, however, and on May 12, 1846, the general assembly passed a resolution ask- ing Congress to revive the act of May 24, 1828, and to make its pro- visions applicable to Louisiana "in the same manner and with like effect as if the amended act had been received and applied to. the State of Louisiana by the act of June 7, 1844." After some further delay the titles of these claimants were verified and confirmed by the United States government. and since then the land laws of Louisiana have been practically the same as those of other states, as the general assembly or legislative power of a state can enact no legislation at variance with the general land laws of the nation. (See Land Grants. )
Land Offices .-- By the act of Congress, approved March 2, 1805, the powers of the surveyor-general south of Tennessee were ex- tended over all the lands in the Territory of Orleans, but the sur- veys therein were to be made under the immediate orders of the president. The plan of the government was to make the survey of Louisiana (Orleans Territory) conform to that east of the Missis- sippi river, using the parallel of 31º north latitude as a base, and this plan was adopted by Isaac Briggs. then surveyor-general of Mississippi, whose powers were extended by the act to the Territory
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of Orleans. The territory was divided into two land districts, and the president was authorized to appoint two commissioners for each, who were to act in conjunction with the receiver in each dis- trict, thus constituting a commission of three members, authorized to convene "on or before Dec. 1, 1805." In May, 1805, the presi- dent appointed James Trimble and Francis Vacher commissioners for the western district, and Benjamin Sebastian and John Coburn commissioners for the eastern district. The powers of these com- sioners were almost unlimited. They could summon witnesses, de- mand public records, administer oaths, hear testimony, and adjourn to such time and place as they might deem advisable. At first their labors were confined to the adjustment of claims made prior to the treaty of St. Ildefonso (Oct. 1, 1800), but their jurisdiction was afterward extended to claims made subsequent to that date. The office of the eastern district was located at New Orleans, and that of the western district at Opelousas. On April 17, 1806, the presi- dent appointed John W. Gurley register of the former and John Thompson register of the latter. With these appointments the ma- chinery for dealing with land claims and the public domain within the Territory of Orleans was complete.
By the act of Feb., 1811, the territory was divided into three land districts-the eastern, the western and the northern. The land of- fices in the eastern and western districts were to remain as already located, and that in the northern district was to be established at such point as the president might designate. Ouachita was named. Under the executive order of March 3, 1811, a branch of the U. S. general land office was established in New Orleans and it opened for business about the beginning of the succeeding year. In 1826 a bill was introduced in Congress providing for the establishment of an independent land district for Louisiana, with a separate surveyor- general, but it failed to pass. However, such a law was passed in 1831, and the first surveyor-general was soon after appointed. About this time the eastern district was divided, and a land office was es- tablished at Greensburg. On July 7, 1838, the president issued an order for the establishment of a branch of the U. S. Land office at Natchitoches, and the first entry was made in that office on Oct. 12, following. A branch land office was located at Winnsboro under the order of May 4, 1847.
On April 7, 1880, Gov. Wiltz approved an act creating a state land office, to be located at Baton Rouge, for the sale of the public lands donated to the state by Congress. The governor was to ap- point the register, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, and this register was required to keep an account of the sales, mark the same on the plats or map, and report annually to the auditor.
As the old French and Spanish claims were adjusted and the pub- lic domain was disposed of to settlers, the early land offices were discontinued, until at the present time the only land offices in the state are the U. S. district offices at New Orleans and Natchitoches and the state land office established under the act of 1880. It is rumored that the national government is preparing to discontinue
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the office at New Orleans as soon as the business now pending can be brought to a successful conclusion.
Landrum, John M., lawyer and member of Congress, was born in Edgefield district, S. C., July 3, 1815. He received a classical educa- tion, and graduated at the South Carolina college in 1842. After leaving college he taught school for a time, then studied law and was admitted to the bar. He began practice at Shreveport, La., and in 1858 was elected a representative from Louisiana to the 36th Congress as a Democrat.
Landry, a post-village of Ascension parish, is situated near the southern boundary, about 3 miles west of Barment, the nearest rail- road station, and 8 miles cast of Donaldsonville, the parish seat.
Landry, J. Aristide, member of Congress, was a native of Louis- iana and resided at Donaldsonville. He was elected a representative from Louisiana to the 32d Congress as a Whig.
Lane, a post-village and station of Caddo parish, is on the Texas & Pacific R. R. 12 miles south of the state line and 20 miles north of Shreveport, the parish seat. It has a telegraph station and in 1900 had a population of 53.
Lanesville (R. R. name Sibley), a village of Webster parish, is located at the junction of the Louisiana & Arkansas, the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific, and the Sibley, Lake Bistineau & Southern railroads, about 5 miles south of Minden, the parish seat. It has a money order postoffice, express and telegraph offices, telephone fa- cilities, and is the shipping and trading town for a large district. Its population in 1900 was 220.
Lapine, a postoffice in the southwestern part of Ouachita parish. is a station on the Monroe & Southwestern R. R., 11 miles south- west of Monroe, the parish seat.
Laplace, one of the principal towns in the parish of St. John the Baptist, is located on the east bank of the Mississippi river, about 5 miles northeast of Edgard, the parish seat, in one of the richest agricultural districts of the state. It has important sugar industries, a money order postoffice, express and telegraph offices, local and long distance telephone connections, and is one of the greatest ship- ping points between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Three lines of railroad-the Yazoo & Mississippi valley. the Louisiana Railway & Navigation company, and the Mississippi River Sugar Belt-pass through the town, and about a dozen lines of steamboats touch at Laplace, furnishing cheap transportation by water. Among these lines are the Ouachita and Red river steamers, the New Orleans, Natchez & Vicksburg Packet company, the St. Louis & Mississippi River Transportation company, and the St. Louis & New Orleans Anchor line. The population in 1900 was 320.
L'Argent, a village in the southeastern part of Tensas parish, is situated on the west bank of the Mississippi river, about 3 miles southeast of Listonia, the nearest railroad station, and 15 miles southwest of St. Joseph, the parish seat. In 1900 it had a population of 125. It is the shipping point for the southeastern part of the par-
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ishi, has a money order postoffice and telegraph station, and enjoys a good retail trade with the adjacent farmers.
La Salle, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de, French trader and ex- plorer, was born at Rouen, France, Nov. 22, 1643, and was educated for a Jesuit priest. About 1666 he came to America and joined an older brother, who was a priest in the seminary of St. Sulpice at Montreal, Canada. The superior of the seminary granted him a tract of land with seigniorial rights, and La Salle built a fort and laid out a village. A party of Seneca Indians passed the winter of 1668-9 at La Salle's fort and gave him an account of the great Ohio river, flowing from their country to the sea, so far distant that it re- quired eight or nine months to paddle to its mouth in canoes. Believ- ing that the river described by the Indians emptied into the Gulf of California, and fired by an ambition to be the discoverer of the much desired water route to the South sea, he obtained the consent of Gov. Courcelles to explore the river, but "at his own expense." In order to get the means. he sold his seigniory, and in July, 1669. with 4 canoes and 14 men left Montreal. At a place called Otinawatawa, near the west end of Lake Ontario, he met Joliet, from whom he ob- tained a map of the lake region farther west. From that point he was guided by a Shawnee Indian to the headwaters of the Alleghany river and followed that stream to the Ohio, which he descended to the rapids where the city of Louisville, Ky., now stands. Here his men deserted him and he made his way back to Canada alone. Al- though defeated he was not dismayed, but immediately went to work to secure the means for another expedition. During the year 1671 he visited the territory indicated on the map he had received from Joliet, and even descended the Illinois river nearly to the Mississippi. He then engaged actively in the fur trade until 1673, when he laid before Gov. Frontenac, the successor of Courcelles, his project for the exploration of the Mississippi. The governor could promise no financial assistance, but he saw in the undertaking mer- cantile advantages, in which he might share with La Salle, and gave it his official sanction. It was made to appear that the pur- pose of the enterprise was to build forts at Niagara and along the lake shore to the westward to hold the country for France and pre- vent the fur trade from being diverted to the Dutch and English, but in reality the forts were to be used as posts for the fur trade, from the profits of which La Salle was to acquire the means to push his explorations. Naturally, the Montreal fur traders objected to such a proceeding, and to their objections was added the opposition of the Jesuits, who derived an important part of their revenue from the fur trade at their missions.
1 In Nov., 1674. Frontenac sent La Salle to France, where he was favorably received by the king, was made governor of the new Fort Frontenac, and given a seigniorial grant around it. Wealthy rela- tives at Rouen, proud of the distinction he had achieved, furnished him with means to improve his seigniory, garrison the fort, and prosecute the fur trade. In 1675 he returned to Canada and during the next two years the accumulations from his trade in furs
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amounted to a considerable sum. In 1678 he again visited France to secure a confirmation of his rights and an extension of the privi- leges of exploration and discovery. He found an advocate in the person of Colbert, minister of Louis XIV, who foresaw that the erection of forts along the Mississippi would impede the progress of the Spaniards in their mining operations farther west, and believed that the possession of the Mississippi Valley would inure to the benefit of France. Consequently, when La Salle returned to Amer- ica, accompanied by Henri de Tonti (q.v.), he bore the following "letters patent":
"Louis, by the Grace of God. King of France and Navarre: To Our Dear and Well-Beloved Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle, Greeting :
"We have received with favor the very humble petition, which has been presented to ns in your name, to permit you to endeavor to dis- cover the western part of New France; and we have consented to this proposal the more willingly, because there is nothing we have more at heart than the discovery of this country, through which it is probable a road may be found to penetrate to Mexico; and be- cause your diligence in clearing lands which we granted to you by the decree of our council of the 13th of March, 1675, and by Letters Patent of the same date, to form habltations upon said lands, and to put Fort Frontenac in good state of defense, the seigniory and government whereof we likewise granted to you, affords us every reason to hope that you will succeed to our satisfaction and to the advantage of our subjects of the said country.
"For these reasons, and others thereunto moving us, we have per- mitted and do permit you by these presents, signed by our hand, to endeavor to discover the western part of New France, and for the execution of this enterprise to construct forts wherever you shall deem it necessary : which it is our will that you shall hold on the same terms and conditions as Fort Frontenac, agreeably and con- formably to our said Letters Patent on the 13th of March, 1675, which we have confirmed. as far as is needful, and hereby confirm by these presents. And it is our pleasure that they be executed ac- cording to their form and tenor.
"To accomplish this and everything above mentioned we give you full powers; on condition, however, that you shall finish this enter- prise within five years, in default of which these presents shall be void and of no effect : that you carry on no trade whatever with the savages called Outaonaes and others who bring their beaver skins and other peltries to Montreal ; and that the whole shall be done at your expense and that of your company, to which we have granted the privilege of the trade in buffalo skins. And we command the Sieur de Frontenac, our Governor and Lieutenant-General, and the Sicur Duchesne. Intendant, and other officers who compose the su- preme council of the said country, to affix their signatures to these presents : for such is our pleasure. Given at St. Germain en Laye, this 12th day of May, 1678, and of our reign the thirty-fifth.
"(Signed)
LOUIS."
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Armed with this authority, La Salle at once set about carrying out his long-cherished design, and on Nov. 8, 1678, he began his first attempt to reach the Gulf of Mexico by the "Great River." In the party were Tonti and Father Louis Hennepin, the latter of whom became the chief chronicler of the expedition. Their vessel was wrecked near the mouth of the Niagara river early in Decem- ber, but the stores were saved and carried above the falls, where they laid the keel of the first vessel ever built west of Lake Ontario. This was a bark of 45 tons and bore at the bow a rudely carved representation of the arms of Count de Frontenac-a griffin-which gave name to the ship. The Griffin was not completed until Aug. 7, 1679, when La Salle and 34 voyageurs embarked, and on Sept. 2 arrived at Green bay, on the western shore of Lake Michigan. Here La Salle found a large quantity of furs to be sent back to Montreal for his private account. The furs were placed on board the Griffin. which started on the return voyage in charge of a pilot and five sailors, and that was the last ever heard of her.
On Sept. 19, with 4 canoes and 14 men, La Salle proceeded along the shore of Lake Michigan to the mouth of the St. joseph river, where he built Fort Miami. Here he was joined on Dec. 3 by Tonti and 24 men. The expedition then ascended the St. Joseph, made the portage to the Kankakee, and passed down that stream to the Illinois. After many hardships they reached the vicinity of the present city of Peoria, Ill., where La Salle decided to build a fort and await the coming of spring before proceeding further. The fort was finished late in February and was named Fort Crevecœur (Broken Heart), indicative of the troubles they had undergone. Men were put to work on a boat to be used in navigating the Illinois and Mississippi. As spring approached La Salle left Tonti in charge of the fort and directed Father Hennepin and Michael Accault to pro- ceed down the Illinois to the Mississippi and explore the upper course of the latter, while he returned to Canada to procure more men and supplies. Upon his arrival at Fort Frontenac he learned that some of his agents had robbed him; that those who remained faithful to his interests were harassed by ereditors; that a vessel from France with a cargo consigned to him had been wrecked in the Gulf of St. Lawrence : and that his voyageurs' canoes laden with furs from his western posts had been lost in the rapids of the St. Lawrence river. In addition to all these disasters he learned that Fort Crevecœur had been deserted by his men, who had turned banditti and on their way eastward had plundered his forts as far as Fort Niagara. Thus ended in disappointment his first effort to ex- plore the Mississippi.
Many a man under such adverse circumstances would have given up in despair. But La Salle was made of sterner stuff. After land- ing his recreant followers in prison, he started on Aug. 10, 1680, with a new outfit and a company of 25 men for the relief of Tonti at Fort Crevecoeur, but upon arriving there he found that the fort and the Indian village near by had been destroyed by the warlike Iroquois. He continued down the Illinois to its mouth, where he
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left a mark to indicate that he had been there, and returned to Fort Miami. From there he went to Michilimackinac, where he met Tonti, and together they returned to Fort Frontenac.
The third and successful expedition of La Salle started late in the year 1681. It consisted of 54 intrepid men, who followed the route of the foriner expeditions and on Feb. 6, 1682, emerged upon the broad bosom of the Mississippi. The river was at that time filled with floating ice, but after a week's delay they started down the stream, and on the 24th came to the bluffs near the site of the pres- ent city of Memphis, Tenn. On the last day of March the canoes passed the month of the Red river and on April 6 they came to a place where the river divided into three channels. Concerning these channels Tonti wrote: "M. de la Salle sent canoes to inspect the channels ; some of them went to the channel on the right hand, some to the left, and M. de la Salle chose the center. In the evening each made his report, that is to say, that the channels were very fine, wide and deep. We encamped on the right bank; we erected the arms of the king, and returned several times to inspect the channeis. The same report was made." On the 9th the whole party reached the coast at the mouth of the river, after which they ascended the stream for a short distance to a considerable elevation, where La Salle formally took possession of the country in the name of his king. The following account of the ceremonies is by Jacques Metairie, notary of Fort Frontenac and a member of the expedition : "At about the 27th degree of elevation from the pole a column and cross were prepared, and on the column were painted the arms of France with this inscription : 'Louis le Grand, Roi de France et de Navarre, regne le 9 Avril, 1682.' All being under arms they chanted the Te Deum, the Exaudiat, and the Domine Salvum fac Regnum; then, after volleys of musketry and shouts of 'Vive le Roi,' M. de la Salle planted the column, and, standing near it, said in a loud voice. in French:
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