USA > Louisiana > Sketches, historical and descriptive, of Louisiana > Part 3
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'This retrograde movement was a terrible misfortune. as it protracted the period of relief. M. de la Salle feit the full force of it. The effect was to stimulate his exer- tions, and to animate him with the hopes of arriving at the Illinois in season to save his people from famine and death. He set out again in January 1687, with the same num-
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ber of men, and directed his course more to the east- ward, perhaps to find the Mississippi. The rains had raised all the rivers, which impeded his progress, and . . imposed on him and his men the most incredible hard- . ships. He likewise on this journey visited many nations of Indians, and some of them manifested hostile designs ; but his penetration and vigilance enabled him more than once to preserve the lives of his men.
Some remission from about two months' incessant toil was rendered necessary, not only to recruit the strength and spirits of the men, but likewise to prepare a stock of provisions. M. de la Salle, therefore, halted for these purposes in a delightful part of the Country, where there appeared to be plenty of game. In this situation the men under his command had time to reflect on the fatigues they suffered, and secretly to deliberate on the means of escaping them. They readily fancied, that their compa- nions, who deserted the year before, were happy among the Indians, and they felt a secret desire to participate with them the enjoyments of rural life. Under these ex: travagant impressions, they soon reconciled themselves to the commission of the blackest crimes. These " poor " fellows" had been accustomed " to beg their bread about " the streets of Rochelle," and honor and gratitude formed no part of their character. In fine, they resolved to mur- der such as were likely to obstruct their designs. M. de la Salle sent his nephew, servant, and hunter, in pursuit of game ; and these fell the first victims. Their long ab- sence rendered him uneasy, particularly as he had disco- vered treacherous symptoms in the conduct of his men ; and he went in search of his lost companions with the most awful presages of their destruction, and of his own fate. Ile finally found their dead bodies. The two mur- derers fired from their obscure retreat, and gave him a mortal wound, of which he shortly expired.
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Thus perished M. de la Salle on the 19th of March, 1687, illustrious for his courage as well as misfortunes, and one of the greatest adventurers of the age in which he lived. His discoveries were extensive, and of impor- tance to his nation. He laid the foundation of the Colony of Louisiana. The difficulties and dangers he encounter- ed, added to his private virtues, seem to entitle him to our esteem and admiration.
Immediately after this tragical event, a quarrel ensued about the command. The bosoms of all the men were 'not inaccessible to remorse ; and in this quarrel the two murderers were shot. The remainder of the party (among whom was Father Anastasius, who has left us an account of these transactions, and likewise a Priest by the name of Cavalier, brother to M. de la Salle) directed their course northward, and soon arrived among the Cenesians and Nassonians, where they were joined by the four men who deserted them the preceding year. The Cenesians prevailed on some to take up their abode among them, particularly those in any way concerned in the late muti- ny. The remaining seven, with Father Anastasius and Cavalier at their head, set out for the Illinois. The Ce- nesians furnished them with horses and guides to conduct them to the Cahirmois. These likewise furnished them with horses and guides to conduct them to the Arkansas, where they all arrived (except one man, who was drown- ed by the way) in July 1687, and where, to their great joy and surprise, they found a Fort already erected, and a number of Canadian settlers planted about it.
At the time of the expected arrival of M. de la Salle, more than two years before, M. Tonti descended to the mouth of the Mississippi to meet him. After a fruitless stay of some weeks, he proceeded on his return to the Il- linois. He entered the Arkansas river for the purposes of discovery, and soon found himself among the Indians
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of that name. He made a treaty with that people, opened a trade with them, built a Fort, and made preparations for a settlement. The Soldiers he left here were soon joined by adventurers from Canada ; many of whom married In- dian women.
Father Anastasius calculates, that the distance from the bay of St. Bernard to the Arkansas, following the route of the party, was about six hundred miles. Many of the ' Colonists left at the former place perished with hunger and sickness, and by the stratagems of the Indians. About two years after the death of M. de la Salle, the surviving few were seized by the crews of some Spanish Vessels, and conducted to New Leon.
The Spaniards about St. Augustine were not ignorant of the discoveries made by the French on various parts of the Mississippi, and they resolved to prevent, if possible, „their settlement in the Country, or at least to confine them to the Delta, where it was believed they would perish. For this purpose they founded Pensacola in 1696, and strongly fortified it; well aware, that the French would soon appear again on the coast. 'They even endeavoured to excite the prejudices of the Indians against them, and . to engage them to commence hostilities on their arrival.
Ibberville was the first royal French Governor, and he arrived with the first Colony in 1699; and from this pe- riod the Country was known by the name of Louisiana, which was given to it about nineteen years before by F'a- ther Hennepin. He entered the mouth of the Mississippi, and hovered on the coast for some time, in search of the settlement made by the unfortunate M. de la Salle. At length he landed his Colonists at old Baloxi, situated at the mouth of the Rio Perdido, and twelve miles west of Pensacola river or bay, where he erected a Fort with four bastions, on which he mounted twelve pieces of ord- nance. Ile went several times to France in pursuit of
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settlers and necessaries for the province, and finally died in one of the Islands, while fitting out an expedition against the English of Carolina.
"The success of colonization in a great measure depends on the reputation and resources of the first Colonists. Those of Canada were not famed for either; but they much surpassed those of Lower Louisiana in both. Two descriptions of Colonists came out under Ibberville. The first were unaccustomed to manual labor, but they posses- sed enterprise, and expected to gather fortunes from the _ mines and Indian trade. The second, and much the most numerous, were poor and idle, and expected to subsist on the bounty of Government rather than on the avails-of their own industry. It may be readily conceived, that both were frustrated in their expectations.
Disappointment and apathy succeeded the allurements held out to the adventurers. They had no inclination to labor ; nor were they supplied with the tools and imple- ments necessary to their various professions. 'Their situa- tion was rendered still more deplorable from the gradual additions made to their number ; for; previously to the death of Ibberville, several hundred arrived, who were planted on Isle Dauphin, and along the Mobile and Per- dido. An intercourse was opened with the Spaniards at Pensacola, from whom they obtained some supplies of provisions. They even extended their trade to the Ha- vanna and Vera Cruz, and drew from them many of the. necessaries of life, particularly vegetables! They appear- ed wholly ignorant, that their own grounds were calcula- ted for the growth of the very articles they imported, or they were too indolent to try experiments in agriculture. The consequence was, that during the short administra- tion of Ibberville, upwards of sixty persons perished with hunger ; so that, at the close of the year 1705, the Colony was reduced to one hundred and fifty persons.
F.
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No doubt these distresses were multiplied from the want of power in the Colonial authorities to remedy abu- . ses, and to guard against anticipated evils. The French Cabinet, from an ill-timed jealousy, reserved to itself the power of devising the necessary Colonial measures, even those of a local and sumptuary nature ; and hence the evils it aimed to avert, generally' arrived, and oppressed the settlers, before any steps were taken for their relief. This ruinous system was persisted in till Louisiana fell into the hands of Crozat.
One instance is sufficient to illustrate the bad policy of the French Cabinet. It was rumored in France, that fa- tal endemics prevailed on the Perdido. Peremptory or- ders were sent out to remove the Settlers to Isle Dauphin, and Mobile, places equally unfavorable to health, and these orders were partly carried into effect in January 1702; a small Garrison and a few settlers only, were suffered to remain. The seat of Government, hitherto established on the Perdido, was likewise transferred to Isle Dauphin, where it remained till New Orleans was founded. So ea- ger were the authorities in France to ascribe to the climate what was the effect of their own inefficient measures ! This removal operated to the great injury of the people. To abandon their dwellings, and be compelled to form new settlements in the wilderness, produced a train of misfor- tunes, not easily avoided by their slender means. It must be acknowledged, however, that they were partly the authors of their own distresses. They depended on the Government for those supplies, which the lands about them were calculated to yield in abundance, and with lit- tle labor. Notwithstanding the evidence of their. senses, they persisted in the discovery of rich mines, and in the acquisition of fortunes in Indian Countries.
During this period the settlements in the Illinois were in a much more prosperous condition. The climate was
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favorable to health, and the soil prolific. The inhabitants pursued agriculture as a secondary object only ; yet they were plentifully supplied with provisions. They were likewise exempt from Indian wars, which enabled them to prosecute their trade in safety. The same may be said of the lower Colony : For Ibberville made it his first care to establish peace among the Indian tribes, and between them and the French ; which continued, with one or two unimportant interruptions only, for several years.
Notwithstanding the embarrassments of the French, projects of discovery were formed, and carried into effect ; more, perhaps, to ascertain the existence of mineral wealth, than to gratify mere speculative curiosity. Shortly after the arrival of the Colony, M. de St. Dennis penetrated se- veral hundred miles up Red River ; and in 1700 M. Biain- ville ascended the same River to the Yattersee villages on Bayou Pierre, and at the same time explored the Washi- ta. The next year both these Rivers were more fully ex- plored by M. de St. Dennis, who spent six months on them ; and in 1703 a settlement was made on the banks of the latter. Another settlement, with a mission, was established at the same period on the Yazous.
The French of Kaskaskia, as early as 1683, discovered some copper mines on the Mississippi, about six hundred miles above the mouth of the Illinois River, as likewise great quantities of different colored clays, which were con- sidered as valuable. In 1695 they formed an establish- ment at these mines, which so much incensed the Indians, that they were soon obliged to abandon it.
Expectations of mineral wealth induced the Farmer- General to send out with Ibberville some experiet ced metallurgists. He had orders to attempt a settlement in the vicinity of the mines ; and this enterprise was under- taken in 1702. The French in that year erected a Fort, named I' Huiller, at the mouth of Blue River, said by them to be in N. Lat. 44 deg. 13 min. This was consi-
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dered by the Indians as a fresh encroachment ; and the French, to avoid hostilities, retired in the course of a year to the mouth of a small River about twenty one miles above the de bon secours, or about one hundred miles above the Ouisconsing, where they built another Fort, and com- menced a settlement. Here they procured two thousand quintals of fine clay, and opened some mines of Copper. At another place, about forty miles above the River St. Croix, they found considerable quantities of Virgin Cop- per, particularly one piece (they say of native brass) weigh- ing sixty pounds. The Indians still cherished prejudices against them ; and they finally became so troublesome, that the French found it prudent to abandon this part of the Country.
These repeated interruptions were the more severely felt, as they blasted the prospects of a settlement at the source of the Mississippi, which the ministry designed, and had much at heart. The French next turned their attention to the Missouri ; which they ascended in 1705 to the mouth of the Kansas River, where they met with a welcome reception from the Indians. Their success in this quarter soon obliterated from their minds the rever- ses they had experienced on the Upper Mississippi, as likewise the very existence of the Copper mines.
About this period the English concerted a plan to seize on Louisiana, and to expel the French. Several armed Vessels of that nation arrived in the Mississippi under the mask of friendship. Their object was suspected by M. Biainville, who commanded in the absence of the Gover- nor ; but he was in no condition to oppose them. The English, however, did not believe themselves in the Mis- sissippi, and conceived it to be more to the westward. This idea was encouraged by M. Biainville ; but it served only to postpone the meditated blow. They soon after landed on Isle Dauphin, and plundered the French to the : amount of fifty thousand livres.
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On board of one of these Vessels was a French Protes- tant, who, with a number of others, had fled from religi- ous persecution, and taken refuge in Carolina. He found means to present a petition to M. Biainville, stating, " that " if the King would allow them the free exercise of their " religion, upwards of four hundred Protestant families ' " would remove from among the English into Louisia- " na." "This petition was laid before the King, who re- turned for answer, " that he had not expelled them from " his kingdom to form a republic of them."
Perhaps no Colony, for the first few years of its exist- ence, ever suffered more than that of Louisiana. Between negligence and disappointment, connected with poverty and the endemics of the climate, the settlements gradually declined. The loss of Ibberville was severely felt, and the more so as, during the long vacancy occasioned by his death, jealousies were excited among the several Co- lonial authorities, and their contentious proceedings poi- soned the minds of the people. The Governor, or rather his Representative, frequently exercised the power given him of suspension from office ; but this, instead of healing the public disorders, served only to embitter them. This power of suspension was greatly abused ; it was therefore withdrawn. The Governor was authorised to suspend the exercise of official functions, and suspension from office was reserved to the ministry.
To an improper management, and want of system, may be traced most of the misfortunes we have stated. The crown was liberal in both men and money. During the first thirteen years, about 2500 Settlers arrived, and few of them ever returned ; and the money expended on the Colony, during the same period, amounted to the enor- mous sum of 689,000 livres : Yet such were the sufferings of the Colony, that, in 1712, it contained only four hundred Whites, twenty Negro Slaves, and three hundred head of C'attle.
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At this time the wars in Europe demanded all the at- tention and resources of France. The King, though obli- ged to withhold from Louisiana the usual supplies of men and money, was determined to keep it out of the hands of his enemies ; and for this purpose granted it to Crozat in 1712. The great wealth and credit of this Gentleman, and the important services he had rendered the crown, were sure pledges of his ability and exertions ; and it was · confidently expected, that he would prevent the extinction of the Colony. Another motive, perhaps still stronger, led to the concession. The provincial authorities were hostile to each other, and it required some steady and en- "ergetic hand to heal the disorders among them. M. de la Motte, who was the first Governor under the grant, ar- rived in 1713, and took possession of his Government.
The English were always jealous of the French Colo- nies, and took no small pains to obstruct their prosperity. They at length prevailed on the Spaniards to shut their ports against them, and to suspend the usual intercourse. This was the more injurious, as the French depended on Pensacola, and the other Spanish settlements, for most of their supplies. Perhaps their wants were as great at this as any former period, particularly as Crozat sent out a con- siderable number of Settlers. In fine, this suspension of intercourse produced an unpleasant state of things, which eventuated in actual war. If, indeed, peace had hitherto subsisted between the F'rench and Spaniards, it resulted more from mutual fear than friendship.
About this time a rumor prevailed, that the Mexican Spaniards meditated an establishment on the east side of the Rio Bravo. To ascertain the fact, and to gain other intelligence, M. de St. Dennis was despatched in 1714 to Natchitoches with thirty men; part of whom he left at that place to form a settlement, and the remainder attend- ed him in his inland voyage of discovery. No Spaniards were found to the eastward of the Rio Bravo, nor had any
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passed that river ; but a number of them, under the com- .mand of a Captain Raymond, had just arrived on the west bank of it, where they erected a Fort, called St. John Baptist. M. de St. Dennis was received in a friendly manner, and while there, married the sister of that offi- cer, and a near relation of the Viceroy of Mexico.
'The main object of the Spaniards was to penetrate to Red River, and in this way to circumscribe or weaken the claims of the French; but they dreaded them too much to make the attempt, or to interrupt them in their voyages of discovery. They were content to create a province, with- out inhabitants, on the east side of the Rio Bravo, and to call it Texas.
The policy of this measure was understood ; and to de- feat it, the French the same year (1714) sent two detach- ments into that Country. One built a Fort, called the Dout, near the source of the Sabine, which was maintain- ed till Louisiana changed masters. The other penetrated to a nation of Indians, called the Assinais, situated on a small River about twenty seven or thirty miles to the westward of the present Spanish village of Nacogdoches, or about 140 miles to the westward of Red River, where they built a Fort, the ruins of which still remain, and took every other precaution in their power to vindicate their rights. During the two or three succeeding years, they several times visited the Rio Bravo ; both to watch the motions of the Spaniards, and to gain additional informa- tion of the Country.
No complaints of intrusion were made by the Spaniards. 'They meditated a deeper game, and artifice was the wea- pon with which they designed to accomplish their wishes ; particularly as they knew the Indians to be friendly to the French, and felt themselves incompetent to contend with both. They conceived it practicable to seduce the French into an approbation of their measures, and even to render them subservient to their own views.
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A Spanish Franciscan Friar, by the name of Ydaldo,* was the principal agent in this affair. Ile addressed a letter to M. de la Motte, and requested his assistance and concurrence in a mission to the Assinais. It was common in those times for the Missionaries of two rival nations, not to say belligerents, attended by the troops of both, to unite in spreading the light of the Gospel among the chil- dren of darkness. 'The conversion of the heathen was considered by them as a sacred duty, and paramount to all secular views and obligations. Still many frauds and impositions, and even crimes, were committed under the mask of religion, and ambition was as incident to the mitre as the crown. The Spaniards meditated the ex- pulsion of the French from the Assinais, and they eventu- ally effected it.
M. de la Motte penetrated the motives of this mission, and he saw the danger with which it was pregnant : But " he was inclined to assent to it, though not without an am- ple equivalent ; he entertained the belief that he should be able to frustrate the views of the Spaniards, and at the same time, from a temporising policy obtain provisions and other necessaries for the Colony. He anticipated many in- superable difficulties from a state of war, and therefore re- solved to avoid it, particularly as he was not furnished with the means of carrying it on, and as the people were desti- tute of the necessaries of life.
. Instead of entering into any discussion with Ydaldo, he · conceived it most prudent to send an Agent to Mexico, properly authorised to conclude a Treaty, and to obtain a revival of the commercial intercourse, which was some-
* This man was an artfulcunning priest, extremely bold and daring in his actions. He was at the head of the missions in Texas, and makes a conspicuous figure in the history of that Country. Ile published an account of the most material transactions of his life, which was long and active, and several families in Nacogdoches are in possession of the work. And finally, he was canonized for the services he had ren- dered to his religion and Government !
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tinie before suspended at the instigation of the English. M. de St. Dennis was deemed the most suitable person to conduct the negociation, particularly as he was inti- mately acquainted with the concerns of the Colony. In addition to this qualification, he commanded at Natchito- ches, and his courage and military talents had gained him universal respect. The Spaniards dreaded him as an enemy ; many Indian nations so much esteemed him as to make him their Chief; and it was likewise conceived, that his marriage with a Spanish Lady of rank would en- sure him a welcome reception at Mexico, and add much to his influence. He was accordingly invested with full powers to negociate a commercial Treaty, and to remove the obstacles in the way of a friendly intercourse between the French and Spaniards.
On his arrival at Mexico in June 1715 he was favora- bly received by the Viceroy, who pledged himself to con- clude the Treaty in question, and to suffer the French of Louisiana to import provisions and other necessaries from the Spanish Provinces, as soon as the Mission was esta- blished among the Assinais. In making this verbal ar- rangement, the Viceroy was unquestionably sincere ; and to exact of the French the fulfilment of a previous con- dition, was deemed by him as mere matter of precaution.
M. de St. Dennis, on reporting to M. de la Motte the conditions of the agreement, was directed to carry them into effect. He accordingly hastened to the fortress of St. John Baptist, where he formed a caravan, put himself at the head of it, and in the early part of the year 1717 con- ducted the Spaniards to the Assinais. He assembled the Chiefs and old men of that nation, and persuaded them, much against their inclination, to admit the strangers among them. 'This was the first time the Spaniards ever appear- ed on the east side of the Rio Bravo; except in one in- stance by way of the Gulf, when they took away the
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wretched remains of the Colony planted by M. de la Salle on the bay of St. Bernard.
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In the month of May of that year, M. de St. Dennis arrived the second time at Mexico, expecting a punctual fulfilment of the stipulations already made, and taking with him a considerable quantity of merchandise to ex- change for such articles as were indispensably necessary in Louisiana. But what was his chagrin and disappoint- ment, when he found the old Viceroy on his death-bed, and his successor indifferent to his claims! Still greater was his disappointment when he found himself arrested, and confined in a dungeon, denounced as a Smuggler and Spy, and his merchandise seized and condemned as con- traband. This act of injustice .excited the murmurs of the Spanish populace, particularly as M. de St. Dennis was a public authorised Agent, and not only highly res- · pected among them, but connected by marriage with some of the first families in the Spanish Provinces. Such in- deed was the irritation of the public mind, that he was li- berated from confinement, but restricted to the limits of the City. His situation was extremely disagreeable, if not dangerous, and he determined to seize the first favor- . able moment, and attempt the recovery of his liberty. Accordingly in September 1718 he escaped from Mexico in the night, soon procured a good Horse by dismount- ing the rider, and finally arrived in Louisiana in April 1719.
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