USA > Louisiana > Romance of the history of Louisiana. A series of lectures > Part 11
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BIENVILLE ORDERED TO PUNISH THE NATCHEZ.
counter a hostile tribe that numbers eight hundred warriors !" "A truce to your observations," continued Cadillac, with a bitter smile, " to hear must be to obey. I cannot dispose of a greater force. I have myself good grounds to expect being attacked by the neigh- boring nations, who, as I am informed, have entered into a conspiracy against us. Yet the offence com- mitted by the Natchez must be instantly requited, or they would be emboldened into the perpetration of worse outrages. Go, then, with such means as I can give ; in case of success, your merit will be greater, but if you should meet with any reverse, you will be at no loss for an excuse, and all the responsibility shall be mine. Besides, you and Richebourg have such tal- ents and courage as will easily extricate you out of any difficulty. You are a very Hercules, and he is a perfect Theseus, in licentious propensities, at least. What is the mission I send you upon, compared with the twelve labors of the mythological hero, who, like you on this occasion, was sent forth to redress wrongs and punish crimes!" To the studied sarcasm of this set speech, Bienville made no answer. In those days of adventurous and almost mad exploits in America, in an age when the disciplinarian rules of hierarchy commanded such respect and obedience, none, without disgrace, could have questioned the word of his supe- rior, when that word was to brave danger, however
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CHARACTER OF RICHEBOURG.
foolish and reckless this exercise of authority might be. Moreover, Bienville saw that his ruin had been deliberately planned, and that remonstrance was use- less. Therefore, signifying mute assent to Cadillac's wishes, he withdrew to betake himself to the execu- tion of the orders which he had received, and to ad- vise with Richebourg on the best means of defeating Cadillac's malicious designs.
Richebourg was a brave officer, full of intelligence and of cool daring, whose career in Europe, as a mili- tary man, had been interrupted by several duels, which at last had forced him to leave his country. He was so amiable, so obliging, so exceedingly conciliatory, that it was difficult for one who did not know a cer- tain eccentric peculiarity of his mind, to understand how he had come to have so many quarrels. Who more gifted than he with suavity of manners and the art of pleasing ? He never was fretted by contradic- tion, and ever smiled at opposition. Popular among men, a favorite with women, he never allowed words of blame to fall from his lips, but on the contrary was remarkable for the good nature of his remarks on all occasions except one. How could this milk of hu- man kindness, which was the dominant element of his disposition, be suddenly soured into offensive acidity, or turned into gall ? It was passing strange ! But it was nevertheless true, that, for some cause which
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CHARACTER OF RICHEBOURG.
he never explained, he had conceived the most inveter- ate hatred for all that smacked of philanthropy. There suddenly sprung up in his heart a sort of diseased aversion for the man, who, in his presence, either went by the name of philanthropist, or expressed sentiments which gave him a claim to that character. Riche- bourg, on such occasions, would listen with exemplary composure, and, treasuring up in his memory every philanthropic declaration that fell from the lips of the speaker, he would, as soon as he found the opportunity, put him to the test, as to whether his practice corres- ponded with his theory. Alas! few stood the test, and then Richebourg was not sparing of the words, hum- bug, impostor, and hypocrite. What was the conse- quence ? A quarrel ; and in variably the philanthropist was run through. On this inexplicable whim, on this Quixotic tilting with all pretenders to philanthropy, Richebourg's friends frequently remonstrated, but found him intractable. No answer would be given to their observations, but he kept steadily on the same course of action. At last it became evident to them, that it was an incurable mania, a crotchet which had got into his brain and was incapable of eradication. With this imperfection they put up with good humor, on account of his many noble qualities, and he became generally known and designated as the philanthropist hater. His companions in arms, who loved him-
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CHARACTER OF RICHEBOURG.
although with some of them he had actually fought because, either in earnest or in jest, they had hoisted the red flag that was sure to rouse the bull-had, in a joking manner, convened one day all the officers and inhabitants of Mobile and Massacre Island, and had passed, with mock gravity, a resolution, which was however seriously adhered to, and in which they de- clared that, for the future, no one would allow himself, either directly or indirectly, to be a philanthropist within a radius of three miles of Richebourg. This secured peace; but woe to the imprudent or unin- formed stranger who trespassed on that sacred ground, with the slightest visible sign of the heresy which the fanatic Richebourg held in utter abomination !
Such was the officer who was to share with Bien- ville the dangers of the expedition, which was subse- quently known in the annals of Louisiana, as the first Natchez war.
On the 24th of April, 1716, Bienville, with the small force which had been allotted to him, encamped on an island, situated in the Mississippi, opposite the village of the Tunicas, at the distance of about eighteen leagues from the Natchez. He immediately sent a Tunica to convey to the Natchez the intelligence that he was coming to establish a factory among them, to trade in furs, and to supply them, in exchange, with all the Eu- ropean merchandise they might want. Bienville had
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BIENVILLE'S INTERVIEW
been informed that the Natchez believed that the late murders they had committed on the persons of some French traders, had not been discovered, and he resolved to avail himself of this circumstance to accomplish his purposes without the risk of a collision. He affected, therefore, to have come on the most friendly errand, and gave out that he had encamped on the island merely to afford rest to his men, and to minister to the wants of some that were sick. He nevertheless took the pre- caution to have an intrenchment made with stakes or posts, within which he erected three log-houses. One he intended as a storehouse for his provisions and am- munition, the other as a guard-house, and the third for a prison.
On the 27th, three Natchez came, under the osten- sible purpose of complimenting Bienville, on the part of their tribe, but in reality to act as spies, and they ten- dered to him the calumet, that mystic pipe which the Indians use for fumigation, as the ensign of peace. Bienville refused to smoke with them, and pretended to consider himself as not treated with the respect to which he was entitled, because their chiefs had not come in person, to greet him, the chief of the French. " I see," said he, " that your people are not pleased with the idea of my forming a settlement on their territory, for trading with them. Otherwise they would have expressed their satisfaction in a more becoming man-
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WITH THE NATCHEZ EMISSARIES.
ner. Be it so. If the Natchez are so thankless for what I meant to be a favor, I will alter my determina- tion, and give the preference to the Tunicas, who have always shown themselves such great friends to the French."
After this speech, Bienville ordered the three envoys to be well feasted and treated with kindness. The next day they returned to their villages, with a French- man sent by Bienville, and whose mission was to ad- dress a formal invitation to the Natchez chiefs to a conference on the Tunicas Island. On this occasion, the Natchez felt greatly embarrassed, and many con- sultations were had on the best course to be pursued. Some were of opinion that it would be imprudent for their chiefs to put themselves in the power of the French, who might have received information of what had lately occurred, and who might have come, under the garb of peace, to entrap their great men and wreak ven- geance upon them. Others maintained that, from the circumstance of the French having come in such small number, it was evident that they were ignorant of the death of their countrymen, and did not intend to act as foes. " That inference," they said, " was confirmed by the information which had been carefully collected by their spies. They had no pretext to treat the French with indignity, and therefore it was proper for the chiefs of their tribe to go to meet and escort to their villages
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THE CHIEFS OF THE NATCHEZ
the wise and valiant pale-faced chief, who had already visited them on preceding occasions. A different course might excite suspicion, and investigation might lead to the discovery of what it was desirable to conceal. At any rate, the chiefs, by refusing to accept Bienville's invitation, would certainly incur his displeasure, and he might, by forming a trading establishment at the Tuni- cas, enrich that rival nation, to the detriment of the Natchez." These arguments prevailed, and in an evil hour for the Indian chiefs, their visit to Bienville's camp was resolved on.
On the very day that Bienville had dismissed the three Indian envoys, he had dispatched one of his most skilful Canadian boatmen, to ascend the river, with the utmost secrecy, during the night, and proceeding to a certain distance beyond and above the villages of the Natchez, to give notice to the French, who might be coming down the river, of the danger that threatened them from the Natchez. That man was provided with a score of parchment rolls, which he was to append to trees in places where they were likely to meet the eyes of those descending the Mississippi, and which bore this inscription : " The Natchez have declared war against the French, and M. de Bienville is encamped at the Tunicas."
On the 8th of May, at 10 o'clock in the morning, the Indian chiefs were seen coming, with great state, in
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VISIT BIENVILLE.
four pirogues. The chiefs were seated under parasols, and were accompanied by twelve men, swimming. At that sight, Bienville ordered half of his men to keep themselves well armed and concealed in the guard- house, but ready for sudden action. The other half he instructed to appear without any weapons, to assist the Indians in landing, and to take charge of all their war apparel, as it were to relieve them from an encumbrance, and under the pretext that it would be improper to go in such a guise to the awaiting feast and carousal. He further commanded that eight of the principal chiefs, whom he named, should be introduced into his tent. and the rest be kept outside until his pleasure was made known. All this was carried into execution without the slightest difficulty. The chiefs entered the tent, singing and dancing, and presented the calumet to Bien- ville. But he waved it off with contempt, and sternly told them that, before drawing one whiff from the smoking pipe, he desired to know what they had to say, and that he was willing to listen to their harangue. At this unexpected treatment, the chiefs were highly dis- concerted : they went out of the tent in dismay, and seemed, with great ceremony, to be offering their calu- met to the sun. Their great priest, with extended arms, made a solemn appeal to that planet, supplicating the god to pour his rays into the heart of the pale-faced chief, to dispel the clouds which had there accumulated,
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BIENVILLE ARRESTS THE
and had prevented him from seeing his way and doing justice to the feelings of his red friends. After all this religious display, they returned to the tent, and again tendered their calumet to Bienville, who, tired of all these proceedings, thought proper at once to take the bull by the horns and to come out with his charges. " Before I receive your token of amity," said he ab- ruptly, "and pledge my faith in return, tell me what satisfaction you offer for the death of the Frenchmen you have murdered." The Indians, who had - really thought that Bienville knew nothing of that crime, ap- peared to be struck aghast by this direct and sudden apostrophe : they hung down their heads and answered not. " Let them be carried to the prison prepared for them," exclaimed Bienville impatiently, "and let them be secured with chains, stocks, and fetters."
On this demonstration of hostility, out came the In- dians with their death-songs, which, much to the an- noyance of the French, they kept repeating the whole day :- they refused all food, and appeared determined to meet their expected doom with the dauntless energy so common in that race of men. Towards evening, Bienville sent for the great chief, called " The Great Sun," and for two of his brothers, whose names were, " The Stung Serpent " and " The Little Sun." They were the three most influential rulers of the nation. Bienville thus addressed them: "I know that it was
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NATCHEZ CHIEFS.
not by your order, or with your consent, that the French, whose death I come to avenge, have been murdered. Therefore, your lives are safe, but I want the heads of the murderers, and of the chiefs who or- dered or sanctioned the deed. I will not be satisfied with their scalps :- I wish for the very heads, in order that I may be sure that deceit has not been practised. This whole night I give you for consultation on the best mode of affording me satisfaction. If you refuse, woe to your tribe ! You know the influence which I have over all the Indian nations of this country. They respect, love and trust me, because from the day, sev- enteen summers ago, when I appeared among them, to the present hour, I have always been just and upright. You know that if I raise my little finger against you, and give one single war-whoop, the father of rivers will hear, and will carry it, up and down stream, to all his tributaries. The woods themselves will prick up their leafy ears, from the big salt lake, south, to the fresh water lakes at the north, and raising their mighty voice, as when struggling with the hurricane, they will summon from the four quarters of the horizon, the children of the forests, who will crush you with their united and overwhelming powers.
" You know that I do not boast, and that those red allies will gladly march against you, and destroy the eight beautiful villages of which you are so proud,
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SPEECH OF BIENVILLE
without my risking the life of one single Frenchman. Do you not remember that, in 1704, the Tchioumaqui killed a missionary and three other Frenchmen ? They refused to deliver the murderers to me,-my wrath was kindled, and I said to the neighboring Indian na- tions : 'Bienville hates the Tchioumaqui, and he who kills a Tchioumaqui, is Bienville's friend.' When I passed this sentence upon them, you know that their tribe was composed of three hundred families. A few months elapsed, and they were reduced to eighty ! they sued for peace at last, yielded to my demands, and it was only then that the tomahawk, the arrow and the rifle ceased to drink their blood. Justice was satisfied : -and has Bienville's justice a smaller foot and a slower gait when it stalks abroad in the pursuit of the white man who has wronged the red man ? No! In 1702, two Pascagoulas were killed by a Frenchman. Blood for blood, I said, and the guilty one, although he was one of my people, no longer lived. Thus, what I have exacted from the Indians, I have rendered unto them. Thus have I behaved, and thus have I deserved the reputation which I enjoy in the wigwams of the red men, because I never deviated from the straight path of honesty. Hence I am called by them the arrow of uprightness and the tomahawk of justice.
" Measure for measure !- this is my rule. When the Indians. have invoked my arbitration between
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TO THE CHIEFS.
themselves, they have been invariably subject to this same rule. Thus, in 1703, two Taouachas having killed a Chickasaw, I obliged their chiefs to put them to death. Blood will have blood. When the Choctaws murdered two Chactioumans in 1715, I said, tooth for tooth, lives for lives, and the satisfaction was granted. In 1707, the Mobilians, by my order, carried to the Taouachas, the head of one of their tribe in expiation of an of- fence of a similar nature ; and in 1709, the Pascagou- las having assassinated a Mobilian, ' an eye for an eye,' was my award, and he who was found guilty, forfeited his life. The Indians have always recognized the equity of this law, and have complied with it, not only between themselves, but between them and the French. In 1703, the Coiras made no difficulty to put to death four of their warriors, who had murdered a missionary and two other Frenchmen. I could quote many other instances,-but the cause of truth does not require long speeches, and few words will convince an honest heart. I have done. I do not believe that you will refuse to abide by the law and custom which has al- ways existed among the Indians, and between them and the French. There would be iniquity and dan- ger in the breach of that law : honor, justice, peace and safety lie in its observance. Your white brother waits for an answer."
The Indians listened to this speech with profound
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THE CHIEFS AGREE TO
attention, but made no reply, and Bienville ordered them to be remanded to prison. The next morning, at daybreak, they requested to speak to Bienville, and they were conducted to his presence. The Indian, who was the first of the chiefs by rank, addressed him in these terms : "The voice of the Great Spirit made itself heard within us last night. We have listened to his dictate, and we come to give our white brother what- ever satisfaction he desires. But we wish him to ob- serve that we, the great chiefs, being all prisoners, there is no man left behind, who has the power to accomplish the mission of bringing the heads thou de- mandest. Let therefore the Stung Serpent be liberated, and thy will shall be done." To this request, Bienville refused his assent, because he knew the energy of that chief, and doubted his intentions ; but he consented that Little Sun should go in his brother's place.
Five days had elapsed, when Little Sun returned, and brought three heads. After a careful examina- tion of their features, Bienville sent again for all the chiefs, and ordering one of the heads to be flung at their feet ; " The eye of the white chief," said he, " sees clear through the fog of your duplicity, and his heart is full of sorrow at your conduct. This is not the head of the guilty, but of the innocent who has died for the guilty. This is not the head of Oyelape, he whom ye call the Chief of the White Clay."
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PUNISH THE MURDERERS.
"True," answered the Indians, "we do not deny thy word, but Oyelape has fled, and his brother was killed in his place." " If even it be so," observed Bienville, " this substitution cannot be accepted."
The next day, the 15th of May, Bienville allowed two other chiefs and the great priest to depart for their villages, to try if they would not be more suc- cessful than the Little Sun. They returned on the 25th, and informed Bienville that they could not dis- cover the place of Oyelape's concealment, but they brought along with them some slaves and part of the goods which had belonged to the murdered French- men. In the meantime, twenty-two Frenchmen and Canadians who were coming down the river in sepa- rate detachments, having seen the parchment signs posted up along its banks, by the order of Bienville, had given a wide berth to the side occupied by the Natchez, and using proper precaution, had arrived safely at Bienville's camp. Thus he found himself at the head of seventy-one men, well armed, of tried har- dihood, and used to Indian warfare. This was a for- tunate accession to his forces; for the Indians had almost determined to make, in their canoes, a night at- tack upon the island, and to rescue their chiefs in the attempt. The Tunicas had given to Bienville notice of what was brewing among the Natchez, and offered forty of their best warriors to assist the French in the
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THE MURDERERS ARE
defence of the island. But Bienville, who, although he affected to put great trust in them, feared that they might prove traitors, refused, with apparent thankful- ness, their proffered assistance, and replied that, with his small force, he could make the island good against the whole tribe of the Natchez. This manifestation of confidence in his strength, and the timely arrival of the twenty-two white men, with some Illinois, no doubt prevented the Natchez from carrying their pro- ject into execution. It is probable that they were also deterred by the consideration, that the French, if hard pressed, would put their prisoners to death.
The Great Sun, the Stung Serpent, and the Little Sun, who, perhaps, had so far delayed to make any confession, because they entertained the expectation of being rescued, having at last given up this hope, came out with a frank avowal. They maintained that they never had any previous knowledge of the intended murder of the French, and declared that four of the assassins were among Bienville's prisoners. One of them was called the Chief of the Beard ; the other was named Alahoffechia, the Chief of the Walnut Village ; the two others were ordinary warriors. They affirmed that these were the only guilty ones, with the excep- tion of Oyelape, the Chief of the White Clay, who had fled. " The Great Spirit," they said, "has blinded them, has turned their wits inside out, and they have,
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SURRENDERED TO BIENVILLE.
of their own accord, delivered themselves into thy hands. It is fortunate that it be so ; otherwise, the two warriors might have fled, and the two chiefs are such favorites with the nation, that they would have successfully resisted our demand for their heads, and to give thee satisfaction would have been impossible. As it is, it shows that our Great Spirit has shaken hands with the God of the Cross, and has passed on the side of our white brother."
It was then the 1st of June, and the river which was rising daily, had overflowed the island, one foot deep, and made the quarters of the French more than uncomfortable. Humidity, combined with heat, had engendered disease, and half of Bienville's men were stretched on the couch of sickness. It was then high time for him to put an end to the situation he was in. Summoning to his presence all his prisoners, with the exception of the four men who had been designated as the assassins, he said to them : " Your people after having invited my people to trade with them, suddenly violated the laws of hospitality, and treacherously murdered four Frenchmen who were their guests. They thought the atrocious deed would remain un- known, and that they would quietly enjoy their blood- stained plunder. But the souls of the dead spoke to me, and I came, and I invited you to my camp, as you had invited the French to your villages, and you be-
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BIENVILLE'S TREATY.
came my guests, as they had been yours, and I rose upon you, as you rose upon them. Measure for mea- sure. But I shall not butcher you, as you butchered them. You killed the innocent and the confiding-I shall kill only the treacherous and the guilty. Who can say that this is not justice ? Now, let us bury the hatchet of war. I am satisfied with and believe your last declarations. Hear, then, on what conditions I consent to release you and grant you peace. You will swear to put to death, as soon as possible, Oye- lape, the Chief of the White Clay, and you will bring his head to the French officer whom I shall station among you. You will consent also, to my putting to death the two chiefs and the two warriors who are in my hands. You will restore every object that you may ever have taken from the French ; for what has been lost or wasted, you will force your 'people to pay the equivalent in furs and provisions. You will oblige them to cut two thousand five hundred stakes of aca- cia wood, thirteen feet long by a diameter of ten inches, and to convey the whole to the bank of the Mississippi, at such a spot as it will please the French to erect a fort ; and furthermore, you will bind your- selves to furnish us, as a covering for our buildings, with the barks of three thousand trees. This is to be expected before the first day of July ; and above all, you will also swear, never, and under no pretext
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217
ITS RATIFICATION BY THE NATCHEZ.
or color whatever, to entertain the slightest com- mercial or friendly relations with the British, whom you know to be the eternal enemies of the French."
The chiefs assented to these terms, swore by the sun that they would, for the future, be the best friends of the French, and urged Bienville to smoke the pipe of peace. Bienville knew well what to think of these hollow protestations, but affected to believe in the re- turn of the Natchez to the sentiments they professed. He refused, however, to smoke, because he considered that the treaty of peace would not be valid, until rati- fied in a meeting of the whole nation, but he dismissed all the Indians, with the exception of the Stung Ser- pent, the Little Sun, and the four criminals who were doomed to death. With the departing Indians, he sent Aid-major Pailloux, accompanied by three soldiers, to be present at the ratification of the treaty. On the 7th of June, nine old men came, with great ceremony and pomp, to give to Bienville official information of the expected ratification.
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