USA > Louisiana > Louisiana : its history as a French colony. Third series of lectures > Part 7
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INDIGNATION OF THE INDIANS.
loss, he who never had either the tenderness of a woman's heart, the pride of a king, or the courage of a man !
The English called West Florida that portion of territory they had acquired from Spain. George Johnston, having been appointed Governor of West Florida, soon arrived at Pensacola, in company with Major Loftus, who was to take command of the Illinois district, and they both lost no time in sending detach- ments to take possession of forts Condé, Toulouse, Baton Rouge, and Natchez. Thus, the British Lion had at last put his paw on a considerable portion of Louisiana, with no doubt a strong desire and with a fair prospect of grasping the rest at no distant time.
On the 16th of March, the King of France, who still acted as Sovereign of that part of Louisiana which he had not ceded to Great Britain, but which he had given away to Spain, announced, through a Royal ordinance, that he had determined to disband the troops serving in Louisiana, where his intention was to keep only a factory, with four companies of infantry for its protection and police. D'Abbadie was appointed Director of the factory, with the powers of a military commander.
· The Indians were much incensed, when they heard of the treaty of cession. They said that the King of France had no right to transfer them over to any white or red chief in the world, and dispose of them like cattle, and they threatened resistance to the execu- tion of the treaty. Several of the small nations, that were much attached to the French, when they saw the French flag pulled down, abandoned their lands, and came down to New Orleans. The Governor praised their fidelity, and granted them lands on the West bank of the Mississippi.
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96
DISSENSIONS IN THE COLONY.
On the 2d of May, Governor Kerlerec wrote to his government, that it was expedient to make the customary presents to the Indians, notwithstanding the state of penury in which the treasury then was-Ist. Because the government was pledged to it according to its promises, in return for which promises, real services had been performed. 2d. Because this honest and loyal dealing would secure for ever the attachment of the Indians, which would be handed down from generation to generation, and which might be of great help to the French, in case, on a favorable occasion, France should ever attempt to recover by force that of which she had been deprived by force. He added that the Cherokees, the Choctaws, and the-Alibamons, when united, might set afoot more than twelve thou- sand warriors, and, therefore, that they would be no despicable auxiliaries in case of need.
On the 29th of June, 1763, D'Abbadie landed at New Orleans, and Kerlerec soon after departed for France, where, on his arrival, he was thrown into the Bastile. He had been Governor of Louisiana about ten years and five months. He was accused of several violations of duty and assumptions of power, and he was reproached, in particular, with having spent ten millions in four years, during the administration of the Intendant Commissary, Rochemore, under the pretence of preparing for war.
When Kerlerec and Rochemore accused each other with such virulence, the colony became divided into two camps, and the French government hesitated between the conflicting testimony adduced by the con- tending parties ; but it is a matter of little importance to posterity, to know which of the two was right, or whether both had not acted with impropriety. It is enough to be informed that their dissensions, like those
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DESCRIPTION OF LOUISIANA, BY REDON DE RASSAC. 97
of their predecessors, proved injurious to the colony ; and when each of them, being weighed in his turn, was found wanting in the scales, and alternately kicked the beam, it is probable that both of them deserved the treatment which they received at the hands of their government.
In the archives of the Department of Marine in France is to be found a memorial, written on the 15th of August, 1763, on the situation of Louisiana, by one Redon de Rassac, who seems to have occupied an offi- cial position in the colony. Among the causes which he gives, as having operated as obstacles to the pros- perity of Louisiana, are the three following, described in his own style :-
"1. Says he, under Mr. De Vaudreuil, half of the married women sent to Louisiana had no children, and were between fifty and sixty.
" 2. A good many families were located below the English Turn, on marshy and unwholesome ground, requiring incessant labor to make and keep up embank- ments. To this must be added the deleterious influ- ence of poverty, and of every variety of misery, the abjection of the men and the prostitution of the women.
" 3. The officers, addicted to trading, and converting their soldiers into slaves ; a shameful system of plun- der, authorized by the governors, provided they had their share of it; the dissolute morals of the military ; drunkenness, brawls, and duels, by which half of the population was destroyed."
What a frightful synopsis in these few words ! What a picture, if it be a representation of truth !
On the 20th of October, Robert Farmer took pos- session of Mobile, in the name of his Britannic majesty, and Tombecbee was delivered up to Thomas Ford, on the 23th of November. Hardly had the English set
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98
DISPUTES BETWEEN THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH.
foot on their newly-acquired territory, when the French perceived that they had to deal with neighbors of a very exacting disposition. Thus, on the 5th of Dec., Colonel Robertson wrote to D'Abbadie, to claim the artillery which had been withdrawn from Mobile, because it belonged, said he, to Great Britain, in virtue of the treaty of cession.
On the 7th of the same month, D'Abbadie answered that his construction of the treaty was different from that of Colonel Robertson, because, in his opinion, the words : " The most Christian King cedes to his Britan- nic majesty the river and the port of Mobile, and all that be possesses or has a right to possess on the left side of the River Mississippi, with the exception of New Orleans and the island on which it is situated," could apply only to the soil and to the structures stand- ing thereon. He said, however, that, as a favor, he would not remove the guns from Fort Tombecbee and from the fort at the Alibamons, on account of the diffi- culty which the English might experience in supplying their place ; and also that he would leave a few guns at the Illinois, in case the English wanted them, but that it should be under a strict inventory, and with the promise on their part to give them back, if he was sup- ported by the French and English governments in his construction of the treaty.
Thus the French governor was acting with a cour- tesy which does not seem to have been acknowledged by the English, who made for it but a sorry return. " They never fail on every occasion," wrote D'Abbadie, " to harass me with innumerable objections and arti- fices of the pettiest and most groundless chicanery. For instance, among other things, they maintain that we are bound to protect them against the incursions of the Indians !"
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99
OPPOSITION OF THE INDIANS TO THE ENGLISH.
In the Illinois district, the Indians showed a dispo- sition to resist the English, and to prevent them from taking possession of the country. Nyon de Villiers, who was the commander of that district, wrote to D'Abbadie that it was the fault of the English if the Indian nations manifested such enmity to them. " The English," said he, " as soon as they became aware of the advantages secured to them by the treaty of ces- sion, kept no measure with the Indians, whom they treated with the harshness and the haughtiness of masters, and whose faults they punished by crucifixion, hanging, and every sort of torments. They wish to wipe away from the minds of the Indians the very recollection of the French name; and, in their harangues to these people, in order to induce them to forego their old attachment for us, they use, in refer- ence to our nation, expressions which are very far from being respectful, not to say gross and rude. I will, however, endeavor to dispose the Indians favorably towards the English, although their hostility to them is very great, and although they refuse to listen to words of peace on this subject. I doubt, therefore, whether the English will be able, for some time, to take possession of this district."
An amiable man this Nyon de Villiers was, who carried Christian humility and charity so far as to attempt to dispose the Indians favorably towards the . English, by whom they were crucified and hung, to punish them, no doubt, for the fault, among others, of regretting the French! It is, indeed, curious to observe such anxiety in a Frenchman to serve the English. who, not satisfied with having stript the French of almost all their magnificent American pos- sessions, used, in speaking of their vanquished foes, gross and disrespectful expressions !! The conduct
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EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS FROM LOUISIANA.
of Villiers was the more remarkable, from the fact that this gentleman was a chivalrous officer, who had highly distinguished himself in battle against the English, and who had had the honor to force Wash- ington to capitulate, at Fort Necessity, on the 4th of July, 1756. When it is considered that, in the opinion of Villiers, his brother Jumonville had been basely as- sassinated by the English, it must be admitted that his letter, as recorded here, is a monument of his modera- tion and magnanimity, and is one of the proofs of the more than good faith with which the treaty of cession was executed by the French officers, and another demonstration that the complaints of the English about the obstacles thrown in their way by those officers, were not well founded. The circumstances accompanying the death of Jumonville de Villiers had produced in France, at the time, a considerable degree of excitement, and became the subject of a short epic poem by the well-known French author, Thomas.
It will be remembered that the Capuchins had been struggling against the encroachments of the Jesuits, since 1755. But, in 1764, they were rid of their redoubtable adversaries, in consequence of the famous order of expulsion issued by the French government against this celebrated religious order. All their pro- perty in Louisiana was seized, confiscated, and sold for $180,000, a large sum at that time. It is well known that the Jesuits of Spain and Naples shared the same fate with those of France, and that they were almost simultaneously expelled from all the domains apper- taining to these three kingdoms. It was thought that these men, who held, it was said, every consideration secondary to the prosperity of their association, and whose attachment to it did not yield to that of Hora- tius, Scavola, or Brutus for Rome, had become too
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101
COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE ENGLISH.
powerful ; and even kings had been taught to fear their doctrines, which were represented as dangerous, and their ambition which had expanded in proportion to the vast wealth of their order. When it was subse- quently abolished by the Pope himself, in 1773, the shallow multitude, whose look does not penetrate beyond the epidermis of things, thought that the mighty society created by Loyola was really dissolved. But those who were better acquainted with the prodi- gious organization of the Company of Jesus, and with the vitality it derives from it, smiled at the ignorant credulity of mankind. Were they not right? Does not the year of our Lord, 1850, find the Jesuits in full resurrection everywhere, and is it not likely that they now possess more property in Louisiana than in 1764 ?
D'Abbadie, in a letter of the 10th of January, 1764, continued to complain bitterly of the conduct of the English. "Immediately," said he, " after the delivering up of Mobile to Mr. Farmer, who took possession of it in the name of his Britannic Majesty, this officer issued a captious decree, which is calculated to pro- duce the greatest anxiety in the minds of the French inhabitants.
" 1. He requires the French inhabitants to take the oath of allegiance within three months, if they wish to be protected in their property. What right has he to impose any such obligation on those inhabitants, since the treaty grants them a delay of eighteen months to emigrate, if they choose, and since it is stipulated that they shall be, under no pretext, subjected to any restraint whatsoever ?
"2. The French inhabitants are prohibited from disposing of any land or real estate, until their titles thereto are verified, registered, and approved by the
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NEWBERRY
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102
MAJOR LOFTUS ASCENDS THE MISSISSIPPI.
commanding officer. No titles are accepted as good, except those which are founded on concessions in due form, given by the governors and the Intendant Com- missary of New Orleans, when, on account of the small number of the inhabitants, and of the immense extent of public lands, the mere fact of taking possession and the continuation of it, on permission given to select a tract of land and to clear it of its timber, has always been looked upon as a sufficient title."
On the 7th of April, Aubry, who commanded the four companies left in New Orleans, wrote to the .French government : "The English being prevented from going to the Illinois by the way of Canada, on account of the hostile attitude .of the Indians, have been driven to attempt to ascend the Mississippi up to that territory. Consequently, a number of officers, with three hundred and twenty soldiers, twenty women, and seventeen children, left New Orleans on the 27th of February, under the command of an officer named Loftus, in ten boats and two pirogues. Mr. D'Abbadie had caused the Indians to be harangued in favor of the English, and had ordered the French commanders stationed at the several posts on the bank of the river, to afford aid and protection to Loftus and his party, and had given them Beaurand as interpreter. He had thus done all that he could to ensure the success of their expedition."
On the 15th of March, the convoy had arrived, without accident, at Pointe Coupée, save the desertion of eighty men. When the English were at Pointe Coupée, something turned up which was very near bringing them into collision with the French. It seems that an Indian slave had fled from New Orleans, and taken refuge on board of one of the English boats. At Pointe Coupée, this Indian was recognised by one
103
LOFTUS ATTACKED BY THE INDIANS.
of his former masters, and claimed as a slave. The demand was backed by several persons who knew the man to be a slave, and the French commander granted the order to arrest him, but gave courteous informa- tion of the fact to Loftus, before permitting the order to be executed. Loftus, however, disregarding all the reasonings assigned to justify the arrest, declared haughtily that he would protect the slave at all risks, and ordered his detachment to betake themselves to their arms in support of the position he had assumed. The French commander, wishing to avoid a conflict, the consequences of which might be exceedingly serious, had the prudence to yield, and the slave remained free, in spite of the justice of the claim set up to him, in violation of the right of the master, and much to the annoyance and vexation of the inhabitants of Pointe Coupée and of the neighboring Indians, who would have been glad of an opportunity to give, by hard blows, substantial ;evidence of their feelings towards the English. :
At the upper limit of the Parish of Pointe Coupée, Beaurand, the interpreter, took his departure, as it had been agreed upon, but not before having warned the English to beware of the Indians. The advice was kindly meant, but the English took it for an ironical and treacherous show of sympathy.
The English had come up to Davion's Bluff, or Fort Adams, when, on the 19th of March, at ten o'clock in the morning, some Indians, who were in ambuscade on both sides of the river, fired at the two pirogues, which were reconnoitring ahead of the bulk of the convoy, killed six men and wounded seven. The pirogues fell back on the main body of the English, who, without firing a shot, slunk back to New Orleans, where they arrived on the 22d. The Indians who had
104
LOFTUS RETURNS TO NEW ORLEANS.
attacked them did not number more than thirty men, and might casily have been repulsed. But Loftus and his party were frightened by the bugbear of French treachery, and were under the impression that whole Indian tribes had been instigated to lie in wait for them on their way to the Illinois. But no fears can have been more groundless, as demonstrated by the corres- pondence of the French officers, who acted not only with strict good faith, but also with something like a wonderful abnegation of sensitiveness, of pride, and of long-nourished prejudice towards an hereditary foe.
" On the return of the English commander to New Orleans," says Aubry, in one of his despatches, " Mr. D'Abbadie expressed to him his regrets at the unto- ward event which had happened, and tendered all the assistance in his power. But the English officer, far from answering this act of kindness as he should, and far from showing any gratitude for it, said that Mr. D'Abbadie was the cause of the failure of the English expedition, that the Indians had attacked his party in obedience to the orders of D'Abbadie, who afterwards, as he alleged, received from the chief of the Indians in person an account of what had been done. There never was a blacker or more atrocious calumny. Mr. D'Abbadie used his best efforts to induce the Indians to remain quiet, and the English commander seeks in vain to excuse himself for the weakness of his nerves, and the little determination and judgment which he showed on that occasion."
Much to the displeasure of the English, some of the Indian tribes continued to emigrate and to settle among the French. Two hundred Taensas and about as many Alibamons were allowed to form two villages on Bayou Lafourche. In relation to these emigrations,
105
CONDITION OF LOUISIANA.
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D'Abbadie said to his government that they were pro- ductive of a good deal of expense, but that it was inevitable, and that he took care that it should be as moderate as possible. He further observed that these Indians could be turned to useful purposes, and might help in the defence of the colony, which therefore would receive the equivalent of the money they cost the government. But he severely animadverted on other sources of expense.
" The expenses of the several posts in the colony," said he, "are analogous to those incurred in Canada, where, as here, everybody has some sort of justification for everything. It is a chaos of iniquities, the cause of which must be traced up to the chiefs, who ought to have been the first to check all abuses, and who have not done so. I cut down every - claim on the government to one fourth, &c., &c.
" With regard to the possession of that part of the colony which has remained ours, I shall always consider it very precarious, until it is made sure by new arrange- ments ; for, how can I keep it without troops, without ammunition, and without ships to protect the naviga- tion of the Gulf, and to defend the mouths of the Mississippi ?"
On the 7th of June, D'Abbadie wrote to his govern- ment a very interesting letter, containing his views on the situation of the country :
" I have the honor," said he, " to submit my obser- vations on the character and dispositions of the inhabit- ants of Louisiana. The disorder long existing in the colony, and particularly in its finances, proceeds from the spirit of jobbing which has been prevalent here at all times, and which has engrossed the attention and faculties of the colonists. It began in 1737, not only on the currency of the country, but also on the bills of
106
CONDITION OF LOUISIANA.
exchange, on the merchandise in the King's ware- houses, and on everything which was susceptible of it. It is to this pursuit that the inhabitants have been addicted, in preference to cultivating their lands, and to any other occupation, by which the prosperity of the colony would have been promoted. I have entirely suppressed the abuse existing in connexion with the King's warehouses, out of which merchandise was extracted to be sold to individuals, and frequently to the King himself.
" The old paper currency, not having been converted by the government into bills of exchange on the French treasury, has no fixed value, but only that which public confidence assigns to it ; and it has fallen so low, that it loses three hundred per cent. when ex- changed for bills of credit on the treasury at home.
" If the inhabitants of Louisiana had turned their industry to anything else beyond jobbing on the King's paper and merchandise, they would have found great resources in the fertility of the land and the mildness of the climate. But the facility offered by the country to live on its natural productions, has created habits of laziness. The immoderate use of Taffia (a kind of rum), has stupefied the whole popula- tion. The vice of drunkenness had even crept into the highest ranks of society, from which, however, it has lately disappeared.
" Hence the spirit of insubordination and independ- ence which has manifested itself under several admi- nistrations. I will not relate the excesses and outrages which occurred under Rochemore and Kerlerec. Every one knows how far they were carried. Not- withstanding the present tranquillity, the same spirit of sedition does not the less exist in the colony. It re-appears in the thoughtless expressions of some mad-
107
CONDITION OF LOUISIANA.
caps, and in the anonymous writings scattered among the public. The uncertainty in which I am, with regard to the ultimate fate of the colony, has pre- vented me from resorting to extreme measures, to repress such license; but it will be necessary to come to it at last, to re-establish the good order which has been destroyed, and to regulate the conduct and morals of the inhabitants. To reach this object, what is first to be done is, to make a thorough reform in the composition of the Superior Council. I have already had the honor of expressing my opinion on the mem- bers of the council, and particularly on the Attorney- General Lafrenière. Subjects chosen in France, to fill up the offices of Counsellors and of Attorney-General, would assist me in the intention I have, to devote myself exclusively to promoting the welfare of this colony, which has been ruined by the effects of jobbing, that first cause of all the evils from which we suffer here. Three fourths, at least, of the inhabitants are in a state of insolvency. But everything will again be set to rights, and with some advantage, through that severity which is required, to enforce the observation of the laws and to maintain good order.
" As I was finishing this letter, the merchants of New Orleans presented me with a petition, a copy of which I have the honor to forward. You will find in it those characteristic features of sedition and insubor- dination of which I complain. Its allegations are false in every respect, &c., &c."
D'Abbadie concludes his letter with the observation, that the complaints set forth in this petition of the merchants are presented in a style and manner which deserve to be treated by the minister with the utmost sererity. In the petition to which D'Abbadie alludes, the merchants complained of the frightful condition
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108
MEMORIAL OF KERLEREC.
of affairs in the colony, of the repeated postponement of the liquidation of the paper currency, and of the concession by which D'Abbadie granted to a company the exclusive right of trading with the Indians. This petition, which had ruffled D'Abbadie so much, was signed by the principal merchants of New Orleans.
Whilst D'Abbadie was thus addressing the French government, his predecessor, Kerlerec, who was still . detained in the Bastile, was striving to excite the sym- pathies of that same government in his favor, and to prevent himself from being forgotten in his dungeon. To accomplish this object, he laid before the ministry a meniorial, in which he attempted to show the utility for France to convert Louisiana, in concert with Spain, into a commercial depot, in order to turn that colony to some profitable account. The minister, to whose consideration this document was specially referred, endorsed it with this note:
" Considering that there are in this memorial some details, which might point out to the Court of Madrid proximate causes of conflict with the English, and therefore render the cession of Louisiana less accepta- ble to Spain, it seems proper that this memorial be recast, so as to produce a favorable impression upon that government."
It is evident from this circumstance, and from many others, that the French government considered Louisi- ana as a burden, of which it was anxious to disen- cumber itself, and that. it was so fearful of the King of Spain's altering or withdrawing his act of accepta- tion, that it took every precaution to prevent his Catholic Majesty from rejecting the gift tendered to him.
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