USA > Louisiana > The history of Louisiana : from the earliest period, Volume I > Part 19
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learn on his arrival, that the pieces of ore, which Dutigne had brought down, came from Mexico. and had been left as curiosities, by a Spaniard, with a gentleman at the Illinois, from whom Dutigne had received them. Disappointed in his hope of the silver mine, he visited mines of lead on the western side of the Mississippi, and returned to Mobile, with- out boasting of the object of his errand.
The British, in the meanwhile, were progressing fast in their plan of establishing truckhouses among the Choctaws, Natchez, Yazous and other nations on the Mississippi. Bienville had sent for the principal chiefs of the Choctaws ; he upbraided them for their treachery; urging that the French were the only peo- ple, from whom they could conveniently get the goods they wanted, as the British were at a comparative great distance from their villages. He prevailed on them to draw off all communication with them and the Indians in their alliance. The Choctaws kept their word, and on their return drove off every British trader from their villages.
An officer of the name of Young, a native of South Carolina, who was then with the Choctaws, made his way to the Natchez, and descended the Mississippi, with the view of inducing the Oumas, Pascagoulas, Chouachas and Colapissas, to enter into an alliance with his nation. Laloire des Ursius, Crozat's prin- cipal agent on the river, went up in a pirogue to meet the intruder. He found him near Bayou Man- · chac, arrested and sent him a prisoner to Mobile. Bienville allowed him to proceed to Pensacola, whence he attempted to reach Carolina by land, but was killed by some of the Thome Indians.
While Bienville was thus successful in preserving the attachment of the Choctaws and the natives on the Mississippi, he had the pleasure of learning that LOU. I. 24
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the Indians bordering on Carolina, imitating the Choctaws, had turned against the British, and invad- ed the frontier settlements of that province. The Yamassees, the Creeks and Apalachians spread de- . solation and slaughter in the south ; while the Cher- okees, Congarees and Catawbas, ravaged the north- ern part. It was computed the enemy were between seven and eight thousand strong. Indeed every tribe from Florida to Cape Fear, had engaged in the war. The security of Charleston was doubted. It had not more than twelve hundred men fit to bear arms ; but there were several forts near it, which offered places of refuge. Governor Craven marched with his small force against the enemy, who had advanced as far as Stono, where they burnt the church, as they did every house on their way. The governor ad- vanced slowly and with caution, and as he proceed- ed, the straggling parties fled before him, till he reached the Saltketchers, where the Indians had pitched their great, camp. Here a sharp battle ensued. The Indians were repulsed and the gover- nor pursued them over the Savannah river. It is said the province lost, in this war, upwards of eight hundred men. women and children. The Yamasees were driven from the land they had heretofore occu- pied, behind Port Royal Island, on the northeast side of the Savannah river. They settled in the neigh- bourhood of the Spaniards, by whom the British al- leged they had been instigated.
An officer of the garrison of Mobile, called St. Helen. who happened to be in a village of the Chick- asaws, in which were fifteen British traders, was protected by a Choctaw chief, while these men were killed: but, being mistaken for one of them, by a young Indian who entered the cabin he was in, while he stooped to light a cigar, he was slain.
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Bienville forwarded presents to the Indians, who had seceded from the British alliance, and directed his messengers to induce them to send to Mobile some of their head men, with whom a treaty might be made.
The Indians of the two villages of the Choctaws, who had remained steadfast in their friendship for . the French, were still in the very neighbourhood of Mobile. Bienville sent word to the chiefs of the other villages, he would not confide in them as friends, but cease to have any communication with them, if they persisted in refusing to receive their countrymen. He required them to send him the head of Ousachoutie (the brother of the principal chief) who had been most active in introducing the British traders, and fomenting the civil war. The Choctaws, after some debate, slew the obnoxious chief, and sent for their countrymen of the two vil- lages.
In the summer, the garrison was reinforced by two companies of infantry, commanded by Marigny de Mandeville and Bagot. With them came Rouzeau, sent to succeed Dirigoin, as principal director of Crozat's concerns in Louisiana.
At the same time, Bienville received the commis- sion of commander-general of all the establishments on the Mississippi. and the rivers flowing into it.
A ship from La Rochelle, and another from Mar- tinico, came to Dauphine Island to trade. They were not permitted to land any goods, as this would have been a violation of Crozat's privilege.
Louis the fourteenth died on the first of September, in his seventy-seventh year, and was succeeded by his grand-son, Louis the fifteenth. The new monarch being in his sixth year only, his uncle, the Duke of Orleans, governed the kingdom, during the minority.
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The Cherokees fell, in the beginning of the next year, on the French settlements on the Wabash, and killed two men, named Ramsay and Longeuil. The father of the latter, who was the king's lieutenant at Montreal, induced the Iroquois to declare war against the Cherokees. It was prosecuted with much vigour for a considerable time, and ended in the rout of the latter.
In execution of the king's order, Bienville assumed the command of the establishments on the Mississippi. A few French stragglers had settled among the Tunicas, Natchez, Yazous and Bayagoulas, and we have seen that clergymen from Canada visited, at times, these tribes, as missionaries, and some of them had located themselves among these Indians : but there was as yet, but one small fort on the mighty stream, not far from the sea. He was instructed to erect two others-one among the Natchez, and the other on the Wabash. The connection of Louisiana with Canada was a favourite object at court, and it had been very strongly recommended to both the colonial governments. There was already a consi- derable population on that river, with whom the Ca- nadians kept a regular intercourse, by their hunts- men or coureurs de bois ; this rising settlement afforded also a commodious resting place, to emi- grants from Canada to Louisiana.
Laloire des Ursins, who lived in the fort on the Mississippi, as director of Crozat's concerns on the river, had built six large pirogues for the intended expedition, and Bienville having reached the fort with a detachment, ordered his men to proceed to the landing of the Tunicas. These Indians had lately removed to the banks of a lake, which empties in the Mississippi, through a bayou, to which they gave their name, which it still retains.
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Bienvillespent a few days with Laloire des Ursins, in order to have a conference with the head men of the Chouachas, a tribe who lived a little below the spot on which the city of New Orleans is built; on reaching his detachment, he was informed the Natch- ez had lately killed two Frenchmen, and stopped and robbed nine Canadians, who were descending the river. They had sent a messenger to solicit their aid in resisting the French. He sent an interpreter to the Natchez, directing him to conceal from them Bienville's knowledge of the murder-and to request them to meet him on friendly terms at their landing. In the hope that a shew of confidence might induce him to overlook what had happened, when he was in- formed of it, nineteen of these Indians attended with the nine Canadians. Among the former, were five suns and seven village chiefs.
Bienville had pitched his tent on the bank of the Mississippi, and the Indians, as they approached, were told they could not be received as friends till the death of his countrymen was expiated. The head of the deputation, turning towards the sun, addressed that luminary in an invocation, which he seemed to think would appease Bienville, to whom he tendered the calumet of peace. He was told no reconciliation could be expected, till-the head of the chief, at whose instigation the French had been killed, was brought to the camp. He replied that chief was a great war- rior and a sun. On this, Bienville had him and some of his companions arrested and put under guard and in irons.
On the next day, the captives sent a messenger to the village for the desired head. He returned with that of an Indian, who had consented to die for his chief: but Bienville, having been apprised of the de- ception, refused the proffered head. With as little
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success, the same imposition was attempted the fol- lowing day.
The Canadians having informed Bienville that six pirogues were on their way from the Illinois, and would probably be stopped by the Indians, if timely precau- tions were not taken, a canoe was despatched at night, and the people on the pirogues, being thus ap- prised of the impending danger, were enabled to avoid it.
A number of the Natchez came to Bienville's camp and surrendered themselves, desirous to lose their lives, that they might in the next world wait on their captive chiefs, if their lives were not spared. He told them he had no doubt that Longbeard, one of his pri- soners, had been concerned in the murder, and was one of those who had favoured the admission of the British traders among the Natchez; but, as he had come into the camp of the French as a messenger of peace, his life would not be taken, till the determina- tion of the nation, to refuse the head that had been demanded, was known. The Indians, in the camp, however expressed their wish that, as he was a tur- bulent fellow, and had often disturbed their tranquil- ity, he might be sacrificed. Bienville declined doing so, until he had the consent of the nation. The Indi- an was however secretly dispatched, by his country- men, without the participation of any of the white people.
After this, Bienville and the French accompanied the Indians to their village. The property of the Ca- nadians was restored, and with the consent of the Nat- chez a fort was begun, on the spot which Iberville had before chosen for a town. It was called Fort Ro- salie, and a small garrison was left in it, under the order of Pailloux, in the latter part of June.
One of Crozat's ships arrived at Mobile in the fol-
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lowing month, with a large supply of goods and pro- visions; she landed twenty passengers.
After a journey of upwards of two years, St. Denys reached Mobile, in the month of August. We have seen that he was sent in 1714 into the internal pro- vinces of Spain, for the double purpose of finding a vent for Crozat's goods, and checking the advances of the Spaniards, who were preparing to form settle- ments, in the neighbourhood of Natchitoches. He had reached this place, with his Canadians and Indi- ans, without accident. He employed them in erect- ing a few huts for some of the Canadians he was to leave there, and having engaged some individuals of the neighbouring tribes to join the Natchitoches, he supplied them with a few implements of husbandry, and useful seeds. Then, taking twelve chosen Cana- dians and a small number of Indians, he left Red ri- ver and marched westerly. After journeying for twen- ty days he came to a village of the Assinais, not far from the spot where Lasalle was murdered, about thirty years before. There he obtained guides, who led him one hundred and fifty leagues farther, to the easternmost settlement of the Spaniards on Rio bravo ; it was called St. John the Baptist, or Presidiodel Norte. Don Pedrode Villescas, who commanded there, received the French with much hospitality. St. De- nys informed his host he was sent, by Lamotte Cadil- lac, to make arrangements for a commerce that might be equally beneficial to the Spanish and French colo- nists. Don Pedro said he could not do any thing, without consulting the governor of Caouis, under whose immediate orders he was. This officer resi- ded at the distance of about one hundred and eighty miles, and on receiving a communication from Don Pedro, despatched twenty-five horsemen to bring St. Deny's to him. He detained him until the beginning
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of 1715, when he informed him, that he considered it his duty to send him to the viceroy. St. Denys being about to depart, wrote to his companions, whom he had left at the Presidio del Norte to return to Nat- chitoches.
Caouis is distant from Mexico about seven hundred and fifty miles, and St. Denys was conducted by an officer, attended by twenty horsemen. On his arri- val in the capital, the viceroy sent him to prison. He was enlarged, after a confinement of three months, at the solicitation of several French officers, in the ser- vice of Spain. The viceroy now treated him with kindness, and made every effort in his power to in- duce him to enter the service of the Catholic king. Finding his endeavours useless, he made a present to St. Denys of a fine horse from his stable, supplied him with money and sent him back to Caouis, from whence he proceeded to the Presidio del Norte. Don Pedro was much affected at the removal of the Indians of five neighbouring villages, who fatigued at the vexa- tions they experienced from the officers and soldiers of the garrison of the Presidio, had determined to scek an asylum among a distant tribe of Indians. St. De- nys offered to Don Pedro to go and bring them back; he soon overtook them, as their children and bag- gage much retarded their march. Placing a white handkerchief on the muzzle of his musket, as soon as he perceived them, he waved it as a token of his friendly intentions ; they waited his approach. He placed before them the danger they ran, in removing among Indians who were utter strangers to them, and told them he was charged by Don Pedro to assure them, that, if they would re occupy their villages, nei- ther officers, or soldiers of the Presidio, would be suf- fered to enter any of them, without their consent. They agreed to return with him, and Don Pedro, who
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feared that the departure of these Indians from the neighbourhood of the Presidio should be attributed to his ill conduct or neglect, was gratified by the service St. Denys had rendered him.
During the short interval he had passed before, un- der Don Pedro's roof, the charms of the Spaniard's daughter had made a lively impression on St. Denys, and she had appeared to reciprocate his affection. He now pressed his suit, and obtained her hand. He staid six months with her, after their nuptials, and left her pregnant, returning to Mobile, accompanied by Don Juan de Villescas, her uncle.
Lamotte Cadillac was now convinced that a com- merce with the Spaniards was as impossible by land as by water; and he apprised Crozat of the inutility of any further attempt either way.
The period, for which the Superior Council of Loui- siana had been established, being about to expire, the king, in the month of September, re-established it by a perpetual and irrevocable edict. It was how- ever, new modelled, and to be composed of the go- vernor-general and intendant of New France, the go- vernor of Louisiana, a senior counsellor, the king's lieutenant, two puisne counsellors and an attorney- general and clerk. The edict gives to the council all the powers, exercised by the superior councils of other colonies : principally that of determining all ca- ses, civil and criminal, in the last resort, and without costs. Its sessions are directed to be monthly, and a quorum is to consist, in civil cases of three judges, and in criminal of five. When necessary, in the ab- sence and lawful excuse of the members, notables may be called to vacant seats. The intendant of New France, and, in his absence, the senior counsellor, is to act as president, even, in presence of the governor- general of New France, or the governor of Louisiana. LOU. I.
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In provisional matters, fixing of seals, making invento- ries, &c. the senior counsellor is authorised to act as a judge of first instance.
This edict was followed on the sixteenth of Novem- ber, by an ordinance relating to redemptioners and muskets ; it was not confined to Louisiana. Vessels, leaving the kingdom for any of the king's American colonies, were directed to carry thither, if under six- ty tons four, and if above, six redemptioners, whose period of service was fixed at three years. They were required to be able bodied, between the ages of se- venteen and forty, and in size not under four feet. It was provided that the redemptioners, whom the cap- tain might not sell, should be given by the governor to some of the planters who had not any, and who were to pay their passage.
Crozat having recommended that notwithstanding the ill success of St. Denys, in his attempt to open a trade with the Spanish provinces bordering on Loui- siana, the project should not be abondoned; three Canadians, named Delery, Lafreniere and Beaulieu, were supplied with goods out of his stores, in the month of October, and proceeded by the way of Red river to the province of New Leon; and to prevent the Spaniards from occupying the country of the Nat- chitoches, among whom St. Denys had left a few of his countrymen, a detachment was placed under the orders of Dutisne, who was directed to build and gar- rison a fort, among these Indians.
Three of Crozat's ships arrived from France on the ninth of March. They brought l'Epinai, who had been appointed governor, and Hubert commissary ordonnateur. Duclos, whom he succeeded, went in that capacity to St. Domingo. Three companies of infantry, under the orders of De Rome and Gouis,
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and fifty new colonists, accompanied them, among whom were Trefontaine, Guenot, Dubreuil and Mossy.
L'Epinai brought the cross of St. Louis to Bien- ville.
The Peacock, one of these ships, went into the bay of Ship Island, on the entrance of which they found twenty-seven feet of water; and two days after, she was unable to come out, without being unladen -- the pass being entirely stopped up. After being lighten- ed, she came out through the channel of the Island of Grand Gozier; where she found ten feet of water. This was more surprising, as since the arrival of Iber- ville, nineteen years before, no alteration had been noticed.
Another of the ships was sent to Havana for cattle; she went in under the pretence of distress, and was allowed three days to refit and procure provisions. She took in sixty cows; this excited surprise, and it being found they were intended for Louisiana, the captain-general insisted on forty-five of them being re-landed.
Although the services of Bienville had been re- warded by knightood, the arrival of l'Epinai, as go- vernor gave him great mortification. The officers of the garrison were attached to him, and observed their new chief with a jealous eye. This was the source of an unfortunate schism in the colony, which for a while checked its progress. Hubert, who was a man of business, sided with l'Epinai, and his ani- mosity against Bienville went so far, as to charge him with being a pensioner of Spain, bribed to check the progress of the settlement.
Crozat's agents, finding but little vent for his goods in the colony, put a considerable quantity of thein on board of one of his ships, which they sent to Vera Cruz, under the impression that they might be per-
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mitted to land them : but the viceroy was found in- flexible. Her cargo was worth two hundred thousand dollars, at the costs in France, and the goods had mostly been selected with the view of being sold to the Spaniards at Mexico, and Crozat had made the attempt, in the hope of providing by the sale of these goods the means of discharging large sums that were due to the troops and workmen. On the return of the ship, they were compelled to offer to these people, in discharge of their claims, articles of luxury better suited for a great city, than for a rising colony. This excited great murmurs ; Crozat's exclusive privilege had grown very unpopular in Louisiana. The colo- nial officers, who, heretofore had carried on an inter- lope trade with Vera Cruz, Havana and Pensacola, viewed with jealousy his agents and the new admin- istrators, whom he had strongly attached to his inte- rest, by a share in the privilege.
In the month of August, Crozat disappointed in the expectations he had entertained, surrendered his grant to the king. He complained that the weak- ness of the colony rendered it contemptible to the In- dians, whom it could not prevent from incessantly waging war among themselves, whereby no trade could safely be carried on with them ; that, the Brit- ish drew nigher and nigher, and confined the French to their small settlements at Mobile, Biloxi and Dau- phine Island-that the land on the island, and near the other two settlements, was sandy and sterile, while the rich land on the Mississippi was open to the Brit- ish, whom nothing prevented from occupying it. The surrender was accepted on the twenty-third-about five years from the date of the charter.
During this period, neither the commerce nor agri- culture of the colony was increased. The troops sent by the king, and the colonists who came from
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France, did not swell its population to more than se- ven hundred persons of all ages, sexes or colour. Two new forts were erected and garrisoned; Fort Toulouse among the Alibamons, and Fort Rosalie among the Natchez.
Arrangements having been made with three indi- viduals, of the names of Aubert, Renet and Gayon, for the commerce of Canada, which were to expire with the current year, government determined on creating a company, capable of carrying on the com- merce of Canada and Louisiana, and improving the advantages which the cultivation of the soil, in these colonies presented. This was effected a few days af- ter the surrender of Crozat's privilege was accepted.
Charlevoix .- Laharpe.
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CHAPTER IX.
Charter of the Western Company .- Card money of Ca- nada .- Bienville, Hubert, Boisbriant .- New Leon,- Bay of St. Joseph .- New Orleans .- Large grants of Land .- New Settlers .- Richbourg, Grandval .- Acces- sion of population .- Laharpe .- Bizart .- Desertion .- Spaniards defeated on the Missouri .- L'Archambault. St. Denys .- Bay of St. Bernard .- San Fernandez .- New Philipines .- Serigny .- War between France and England .- Pensacola taken and retaken .- Dauphine Island .-- Champmeslin .- Pensacola taken again .- - Superior Council and Inferior Tribunals .- A Mineral- ogist sent to the Illinois .- New Biloxi .- Dutisne .- Delochon .- Mine .- Union of the Western and Eastern Companies .- Proclamation fixing the price of goods and produce .- Laharpe .- Chickasaw hostilities .- Illinois .-- Repeal of the edict respecting the transportation of Convicts to Louisiana .- Plague .- Father Laval .- Natchitoches .- Negroes .- Mines .- Choctaws and Al- ibamons .- Accession of population .- Beaumonoir .- Bouteux .- Laloire .- Boispinel .- Bay of St. Bernard. Head Quarters removed to New Biloxi .- Girls from the Salpetriere .- Deserters .- German Settlers .- Bel- lisle .- Survey of the passes of the Mississippi .- Guin- eaman .- Irruption of the Spaniards from Santa Fe .- Marigny de Mandeville .-- D'Arensbourg .-- German passengers .- Failure of Law .- Another Guineaman.
THE charter of the new corporation was register- ed, in the Parliament of Paris, on the sixth of Sep- tember, 1717.
It is to be distinguished by the style of the West- ern Company, and all the king's subjects, as well as
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corporate bodies and aliens, are allowed to take shares in it.
The exclusive commerce of Louisiana is granted to it, for twenty-five years; with the right, also ex- clusive, of purchasing beaver skins from the inhabit- ants of Canada, from the first of January, 1718, until the last day of the year 1742; and, the monarch reserves to himself the faculty of settling, on infor- mation to be obtained from Canada, the number of skins the company shall be bound annually to receive from the inhabitants, and the price to be paid there- for.
All the other subjects of the king are prohibited from trading to Louisiana, under the penalty of the confiscation of their merchandize and vessels: but this is not intended to prevent the inhabitants from trading among themselves or with the Indians. It is likewise prohibited, to any but the company, to pur- chase, during the same period, beaver skins in Can- ada for exportation, under the penalty of the forfeit- ure of the skins, and the vessels in which they may be shipped : but, the trade in these skins in the in -. terior is to continue as heretofore.
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