USA > Louisiana > Louisiana : its history as a French colony. Third series of lectures > Part 2
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In rendering an account of what he had done, De Vaudreuil said, in a despatch of the 6th of December, that one of his reasons for granting to Deruisseau the monopoly of trade in the Illinois district, was to deprive the colonists in that region of all means of carrying on any kind of commerce with the Indians, and thus to force them into the cultivation of the soil. Hle added : " It would be proper to prohibit the
24
LEAD MINES DISCOVERED IN ILLINOIS.
introduction of negroes into that part of the country, in order to correct the indolent habits of the colonists, and to oblige them to work themselves. Moreover, negroes would be more productive in the lower part of the colony. It would not be expedient to allow negroes to be taken up to the Illinois, except when the white inhabitants should be weaned from their life of wandering and plunder, and when, having assumed sedentary habits, they should at least be occupied in causing their negroes to cultivate their lands. I send samples from the mines of lead and copper which we continue to discover at the Illinois. To work these mines, it would be necessary to send convicts."
The discovery and working of. mines had always been the favorite object which the French government had kept in view, and De Vaudreuil encouraged the same delusion. It is difficult to imagine how the working of those mines could have been carried on with success in those days. The colony could not subsist on its own resources, and provisions had to be sent from the mother country. So scarce were those provisions, that, if all the despatches of the governors are to be taken to the letter as true, the inhabitants, since the very first day of the settlement of the colony, had always been on the eve of starvation. De Vau- dreuil himself, in a letter of the 28th of October, 1744, wrote : " If flour had not arrived by the Elephant, the troops would have revolted on account of the want of food." In such circumstances, how could several hundreds of workmen have been supported in the mines of Arkansas or of Illinois ? How difficult would it not have been to furnish them with all the necessaries for their mining operations ? What returns would have indemnified the government for its enormous
-
25
INDIAN DIFFICULTIES.
outlays ? It is astonishing that these considerations should not have precluded the very conception of any project of the kind.
It will be recollected that, shortly after the arrival of the Marquis of Vaudreuil in the colony, the Chickasaws had made proposals for peace, but the Marquis had answered that he would not treat with them separately from his allies, the Choctaws; and when the Choctaws showed themselves favorably dis- posed towards the Chickasaws, he, under some pretext or other, postponed the consideration of the peace negotiations which had been opened by the Chicka- saws, and succeeded at last in reviving the old hatred of these two tribes, and in renewing their acts of hosti- lity, which had been temporarily suspended. Red Shoe, whose intrigues and tamperings with the English had so long been a source of uneasiness to the French, had even been gained over by the diplomacy of the Marquis. The fact is that the policy of the French was to keep the Indian tribes at war with each other, in order to waste away their strength and power. The Indians were not so simple as not to be fully aware of the game that was played upon them. But, by the contact of the civilization of a superior race, they had been inspired with wants which they could not shake off, and had by this means been put under the complete dependency of these two European nations, the French and the English, on which they had now to rely for the gratification of their newly ar quired tastes and vices. The nature of the Indian was not such as to enable him to resist the tempting baits constantly thrown in his way by the two great male who, with mutual jealousy, were ever' strug- gling for mastery over his tribes ; and those ignorant children of the forest were, almost without interrup-
26
INDIAN DIFFICULTIES.
-
tion, driven into some acts leading rapidly to their de- struction. Divided among themselves, they were to meet the fate which had befallen, under such circum- stances, other far more powerful and more enlightened nations, and they certainly were entirely destitute of the necessary means to oppose an efficient obstacle to the wave of foreign invasion which was gradually gaining ground upon them. They were doomed !
On the 2d of January, 1745, the Marquis of Vau- dreuil announced to his government the discovery of an iron mine in the Mobile district, and other mines in Illinois ; but these discoveries did not lead to any practical results, and prove only one thing-that the experience of forty-five years had not convinced the French of the inutility of these fruitless and expensive researches.
During the whole of the year 1745, the Chickasaws proved very troublesome, and committed depredations which carried desolation and alarm throughout the colony. ' Red Shoe, with his accustomed versatility, had again become the ally of the English, and had even seduced his old rival, Alibamon Mengo, the hitherto constant friend of the French. But, although the French had thus lost the favor of the Cæsar and of the. Pompey of the Choctaws, they still retained numerous friends among them, and the French and English factions, as they were called, became so excited that they nearly resorted to blows. On the 28th of October, the Marquis of Vaudreuil wrote to his government: "The Chickasaws, in spite of our efforts to rouse the hostility of all the other Indian nations against them, cannot be destroyed, except it be through another French expedition. Delay in- creases the difficulties, because these people become every day more familiar with the art of war, and they
.
PROPOSED EXPEDITION AGAINST THE CHICKASAWS. 27
are gradually enlisting the sympathies of the Chero- kees, who are powerful auxiliaries. All expeditions of this nature have been so unsuccessful, that I well conceive the reluctance of the government to renew the attempt. But the roads being now better known, we can accomplish more, and at less expense. Two hundred recruits, in addition to the regulars and militia we already have here, would be all that is wanted. To avoid exposing our men, we would, in attacking the strongholds of the Chickasaws, have recourse to trenching and mining. In having them partially attacked and harassed, we have to spend much in presents to our Indian auxiliaries. It would be better to make short work of it, and to bring this matter to a conclusion." The Marquis closed his despatch by complaining of being entirely destitute of provisions, merchandise, and ammunition, and in- formed his government that the Choctaws were tired of their war against the Chickasaws.
De Loubois, who was one of the oldest and most influential officers in the colony, advocated the same course which the Marquis of Vaudreuil was recom- mending, and, in a despatch of the 6th of November, strenuously insisted on the importance of forcing the Chickasaws to drive away the English, who, he said, had avowed territorial pretensions extending to the left bank of the Mississippi. For this reason, he agreed with De Vaudreuil in the conclusion, that another expedition against the Chickasaws was necessary.
In a document presented to the French government in 1741, the white population of New Orleans was put down at eight hundred souls, not including two hun- dred soldiers and the women and children. The black population did not exceed three hundred. A few of the houses were of brick, and the greater portion
28
CENSUS OF LOUISIANA IN 1745.
were wooden buildings, or were bricked up between posts.
"There are," said the author of this census, "twenty- five inhabitants whose property may be worth from one hundred thousand to three hundred thousand livres. Almost all the colonists are married. The most considerable of them is Mr. Dubreuil, who owns five hundred negroes, several plantations, brick kilns, and silk manufactories."
" At the German Coast, there are one hundred white inhabitants and two hundred negroes. Occupa- tions : gardening and grazing." 1
" Pointe Coupée, two hundred whites, four hundred negroes. Occupation : the cultivation of tobacco and the raising of provisions."
" Natchitoches, sixty whites and two hundred blacks. Productions : cattle, rice, corn, tobacco."
GENERAL TABLEAU.
White inhabitants (male).
Blacks of both sexes.
At the Balize, .'
troops only, no settlers,"
. 30
New Orleans, .
.
800
300
German Coast, .
100
200
Pointe Coupée,.
200
400
Natchitoches,
60
200
Natchez, .
8
15
Arkansas, .
12
10
Illinois,
800
600
Missouri, .
200
10
Petit Ougas,
40
5
Pascagoulas,
10
60
Mobile, .
150
200
1700
2020
Women and children about
1500
3200
Troops, .
800
4000
1
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DISPUTE BETWEEN LENORMANT AND VAUDREUIL. 29
The old and the new Biloxi, the Pass Christian, and the Bay of St. Louis, where the first French settle- ments had been made, seem to have been entirely forgotten in this table, and yet they must certainly have retained some of the early settlers or their descendants. Taking into consideration omissions of this kind, and putting down the colonial population at 3500, it shows a remarkable decrease since 1731, when Louisiana was retroceded to the king by the India Company, at which time its population was estimated at 5000. This was a very discouraging proof of an absolute failure, so far, in the work of colonization, and yet the annual expenses of admi- nistration had been gradually increased, and now exceeded 500,000 livres.
Salmon, who had been for many years the King's commissary in the colony, had been succeeded by Lenormant, who had hardly entered upon the duties of his office, when he began to quarrel with the Marquis of Vaudreuil. The governor, in a despatch of the 6th of January, 1746, informed his government that the commissary retained for his private use, all the merchandise which he ought to have delivered as presents to the Indians, and that he had them retailed by his clerk to the inhabitants. By which operation, the Marquis pretended that Lenormant realized - enormous profits. On the 9th of March, De Vau- dreuil reiterated his complaints against Lenormant, whom he accused of starving the troops and of failing to supply the different settlements in the colony with the necessary provisions, and the Indians with the merchandise that they had a right to expect. "By his fault," said he, " I am placed in a very difficult position, being destitute of the means of paying for scalps and of
· remunerating our Indian friends and allies."
30 OBSTRUCTIONS AT THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
On the 22d of March, De Vaudreuil arrived at Mobile, where twelve hundred Choctaws had long been waiting for him, and for the usual distribution of presents by which the French used to secure their services. The celebrated Red Shoe had remained at home, and during the absence of the chiefs most favorable to the French, was intriguing to bring about a peace between the Choctaws and Chickasaws. But the chiefs who had gone to Mobile, arrived in time to defeat his machinations. In his anger at being thus foiled, he killed a French officer named the Chevalier de Verbois, and two French traders, who then happened to be among the Choctaws, and whose goods he plundered. On being informed of this outrage, De Vaudreuil immediately sent an officer to demand satisfaction, and obtained the promise that it would be granted.
Towards the end of the year 1745, the engineer Devergès had presented to the French government a memorial on the mouths of the Mississippi. . " The bars," said he, "which are to be found at the mouths of the river, are so many serious obstructions. The pass which is the deepest, and which has been the only practicable one since 1722, when it was examined and became thoroughly known, is that of the Balize, where ships drawing from thirteen to fifteen feet water, have been able to run through with more or less facility, in proportion to the depth of the water on the bar ; and it has ever since been observed that it has varied from eleven feet to fourteen feet and a half, so that it was but seldom that vessels drawing from thirteen to fifteen feet water could pass without stranding, and without making use of the warp, even after having been lightened of half their cargoes. This pass measures
1
31
.PROPOSED FORTIFICATIONS ON THE MISSISSIPPI.
in width from thirty to forty fathoms, and the current is very rapid."
On the 24th of November, 1746, the Marquis of Vaudreuil wrote to his government : "On being ap- prised of the declaration of war, I visited the mouths of the Mississippi. From the mobility of the passes, and from the want of solidity in the land bordering on those passes, it is nearly impossible to think of erecting fortifications there. It is only necessary to preserve the fort which already exists at the Balize, less on account of its being effective as a means of defence, than because it serves as a place of depot for our com- merce with the Spaniards. Besides, it is useful to maintain a post there, from which we can keep watch over the sea coast, and get timely information as to what may be going on in the gulf."
France being at war, it became necessary to provide for the defence of Louisiana. The spot which, on the Mississippi, seemed the most eligible for the construc- tion of fortifications, was the Plaquemine Turn, then considered as being thirty-three miles from the Balize. It was the first solid ground to be met with on coming from sea, and on that account had been selected by the Commissary Lenormant. "This reason appeared to me," said De Vaudreuil, in one of his despatches, " to be a good one, and I agreed to it, because fortifica- tions erected at that spot would have protected that considerable portion of the country lying between New Orleans and Plaquemine Turn. But on re- flection, I observed (and the same, observation struck with equal force both the engineer and the port- master), that the situation of that Turn presented no obstacles to ships, which being once under weigh, could run up beyond it by the help of the same wind which had enabled them to come through the pass.
32
PROPOSED FORTIFICATIONS ON THE MISSISSIPPI.
It would be impossible to stop them with the ten eighteen-pounders, which are the only pieces of artillery we can set up on each side of the river, because, availing themselves of a fresh breeze, the ships would have. but one discharge to stand, and would be out of the reach of our guns before they could be fired at a second time. To command that passage, it would be necessary to have at least three batteries of twenty heavy guns on each side of the river, close to each other, and this would cost immense sums."
De Vaudreuil also stated, that the distance from that spot to New Orleans was another objection, because if fortifications were constructed there, they would require a permanent garrison, which, in time of need, would not receive with sufficient promptitude the assistance it might want from New Orleans.
" Besides," continues De Vaudreuil, " it has struck me that the only spot on the river which we could use to advantage, with our twenty eighteen-pounders, is the English Turn, which is fifteen miles distant from New Orleans, and is a natural fortification against ships, that are stopped there by the same east and south-west winds which had been so favorable to come up so far. Ships cannot turn round that point without the south-west wind, which but seldom blows from July to January, the very time when the conquest of the country is to be undertaken with better chances of success, because the river is low. But supposing that the ships of the enemy should be favored with a south-west wind, they would hardly get round the Turn and ascend four miles and a half, when this very wind would become unfavorable, and they would be obliged to wait for an easterly wind to move on. Moreover, it must be observed that there are between
33
PROPOSED FORTIFICATIONS ON THE MISSISSIPPI.
the plantations established at the Turn, large wooded tracts of land, thick with intertwined briers, brambles, and canes, forming impenetrable jungles which termi- nate in swamps, cut up with deep water courses and leading to quagmires. Through such a country, pro- tected by good intrenchments and defended by some troops, it would be the height of temerity to penetrate.
" Another advantage would be, the great facility to concentrate there all our forces. These were my reasons for not hesitating in giving the preference to that spot. Therefore I have determined to establish on each side of the river, at those points where ships must come to catch the southwest winds, a fort made up of mud and fascines, with epaulments, the shelving sides of which are to be fenced and secured with hurdles, according to the plans and drawings of Devergès. For the construction of these fortifications, I have ordered, jointly with Mr. Lenormant, the inhabitants of New Orleans and of the neighboring country to send in the fifth of their negroes during six weeks. I hope that, in ten days, there will be a battery of ten eighteen-pounders in each fort. It would be proper to send sixteen twenty-four-pounders with their balls, and fourteen eighteen-pounders, to fill up all the embrasures which overlook the river. The intrench- ments on the land side would be sufficiently fortified with the four ten-pounders we have at New Orleans. With this additional supply, the colony would be susceptible of defence."
It will be recollected that Bienville had been of opinion that fortifications could be erected at the Balize ; and that he had, in 1741, contracted with Dubreuil for the partial construction of fortifications, for which he had agreed to pay 297,382 livres. The engineer, Deverges, had also decided in favor of the
3
34
MEANS OF DEFENCE OF THE COLONY.
possibility of erecting effective fortifications at the Balize, and had estimated their cost at 532,408 livres. The Marquis of Vaudreuil entertained, as it is seen, a different view of the question, and preferred the English Turn ; but modern engineers have pronounced themselves in favor of the site chosen by Lenormant, the Plaquemine Turn, where now stand the fortifica- tions called Forts Jackson and St. Philip.
On the 26th of November, the Marquis wrote to the French government : " I received, in September last, the letter of the 6th of May, in which I was informed that three ships of the line and one frigate had left England, in the month of April, under the command of Admiral Knowles, who was to stop at Antigua and then at Jamaica. It is supposed that this armament is destined to operate against Louisiana. I have also been informed that General Oglethorpe was to return shortly to Georgia with additional troops, and that, perhaps, Admiral Knowles would .combine with him in Florida. I gave information of it to the Governors of Pensacola, St. Marc, and St. Augustin.
"I am prepared for any event that may occur. I have the strong will to be equal to the emergency, whatever it may be, but I am sadly deficient in means to back this will. I have nothing wherewith to defend the East Pass, where a new channel has formed itself in the parts nearest to the Balize. This channel is. from fifteen to sixteen feet deep on the bar at low water, and measures in length two hundred fathoms, through the battures which advance most into the sea, in the shape of a horse-shoe. This channel is divided into three outlets, or mouths. Two of these outlets are · from ten to twenty-five fathoms in width each, and the third from thirty to forty, and they are separated from
35
1764855
TERRIBLE HURRICANE IN LOUISIANA.
each other by battures and mounds of loam, or unctu- ous, slimy, and adhesive earth emerging from the sea. The largest of these outlets is on the right as you come in. We have labored to fortify this new pass with the help of the planters, who would have co- operated with more efficiency and readiness, if Mr. Lenormant had treated them differently. But he has even refused to supply them with the necessary tools, with provisions for the subsistence of their negroes, and with means of transportation. Latterly he went so far as to undertake to force them to complete the fortifications, to the injury of their crops. It was an unjust pretension, which was beginning to irritate the planters. I thought it proper, therefore, not to allow him to push the thing farther."
" With regard to the forces of the colony, I.can dispose of four hundred white men, five or six hundred Indians belonging to the small nations, and from two to three hundred negroes who are to be relied upon. But we are wanting in arms and ammunition."
This was Louisiana in 1746. We have had its substitute under our eye in 1846. What a transforma- tion ! What a tale of wonder ! It beggars comment !
Miserable as it was, the colony's situation was made still worse by a hurricane, as terrible as those which had committed such damage in 1740. A portion of the crops was destroyed, and the lower part of Louisiana would have been exposed to famine, if assistance had not promptly come from the Illinois district, which annually supplied New Orleans with a great quantity of flour. The boats from Illinois used to arrive at that town towards the end of December, and to depart in January. In those days, it is certain that hurricanes were more frequent than in ours. Nor is it to be wondered at, since it is well known that
36
LENORMANT'S REMARKS ON PAPER MONEY.
the physical laws which rule a wilderness are greatly modified, in proportion as it is gradually converted into the abode of civilization. It seems that, as a reward for the patient and persevering labor of man nature disrobes herself of her primitive rudeness, and that the elements, ceasing their old struggles, are soothed into gentleness.
*
Lenormant, whose province it was, in his capacity of intendant commissary, to preside over the finances of the colony, made on them a report, in which he said : " As soon as the paper money began to lose its value, there was an eager demand for dollars, which were bought at higher or lower prices, in proportion to the wants of purchasers, and the cupidity or speculating avidity of sellers. Hence the origin of all the jobbing which took place in the colony, in relation to, bills of exchange and dollars. It increased considerably during the years 1741, 1742, and 1743, but it would be difficult to convey an accurate idea of the ferment which sprung up in the colony on that occasion, of the number of transactions incidental thereto, and of the skill with which several individuals availed themselves of these circumstances, to the detriment of the interests of the king and the welfare of the colony."
" With regard to the question, whether it would be proper to venture on another emission of paper money, I think that it would be attended with considerable difficulties, in as much as the quantity of paper to be emitted cannot be known in advance, no more than the expenses of the colony, to which it is to be propor- tioned."
" Every thing is to be feared from the avidity of the inhabitants of this colony, and from their disposition to stock-jobbing. Their industry, of which a better use might have been made, has, at all times, taken this
37
LENORMANT'S REMARKS ON PAPER MONEY.
bad direction; for, although jobbing on the paper currency of the colony, on dollars and bills of ex- change, began only in 1737, jobbing on the mer- chandise in the king's warehouses, and on every thing which was susceptible of it, has always been a favorite occupation in the colony. It may be said that it is the only pursuit to which the inhabitants have steadily adhered, much to the prejudice of the nobler one of improving the lands, and in utter disregard of other resources, which, if attended to, would put the colony in a flourishing condition."
"I admit that another emission of paper money, will afford relief to the treasury of the marine department at home ; but a relief, which would only be temporary, and would not exceed the duration of one year, would not counterbalance the risks which are inseparable from the introduction and existence of this kind of currency in the country."
Thus, a century ago, Lenormant wrote, in anticipa- tion, the history of the deleterious effects of a system, which we lately saw stretched to its fullest extent, until its apparently strong texture snapped under the hands by which it had been woven. But the hotch- potch of corruption, of financial gambling, of frantic stock-jobbing and of thieving speculation, the mush- room wealth of the few amidst the sudden ruin of the many, and the mass of lasting depravation and misery, which appalled our sight, from the year 1835 to 1813, throw into the shade all the foregone calamities which paper money, ill devised and more foolishly applied, had entailed upon the colony since its foundation. The historical records of the world teem with the similarity of causes and effects through the long avenue of ages, on which the eye of study looks back with distinct vision, but it may be more than doubted
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