USA > Louisiana > The history of Louisiana : from the earliest period, Volume II > Part 10
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28
The expenses of lighting the city of New-Orleans. and the wages of thirteen watchmen, had originally been provided for by a tax on chimneys. The des- truction of a considerable number of houses by the late conflagration, now rendered this provision in- sufficient, and the Baron proposed to the cabildo that three hundred toises in depth, of the land of the city beyond the fortifications in its rear, should be parcelled out into small tracts, to be leased out for gardens. from which the market could be supplied. with vegitables; and he expressed his belief that by the draining of the land, the city would be relieved from the noxious exhalations of such an extent of ground, covered with water during the greatest part of the year. 'This proposition was not, however, adopted; and a tax was laid on wheat bread and meat. It was thought the tax on bread would fall on the rich only; the poorer class of people using VOL. II. 18
»
E
138
CHAPTER
[1796
corn and rice; and that a part of both would be borne by travellers and sojourners. The Baron urged the necessity of continuing to light the city, and re- taining the watchmen, on the ground of the city being full of French people, the nocturnal assemblages of whom, as well as that of the slaves, it was pru- dent to prevent.
The king's officers in New-Orleans appeared im- pressed with the idea that the late treaty between Spain and the United States, would never be carried into effect. They thought that, at the time it was entered into, the affairs of Europe rendered the neutrality of the United States of great importance to Spain; and, according to them, the object of Great Britain, in her late treaty with those States, was to draw them over to her interests, and render them in some measure dependent on her. They believed that their sovereign had ratified the treaty for the purpose of counteracting the views of Great-Britain, and concluded that, as that power had failed in her - object, Spain, on her part, would be no longer inter- ested in fulfilling the stipulations of the treaty.
Accordingly, the Baron had sent Power to Ken- tucky, in the beginning of this year, to keep alive the hopes of those who still favored the plan of a seces- sion of the western people from the Atlantic states. The messenger delivered the Baron's packets to Wil- kinson, at Greenville, in the latter part of May, and was dispatched by him to New-Madrid, to take charge of a sum of money (about $10,000) deposited by the Baron in the hands of Don Thomas Portell, the commandant. After overcoming some difficulty, resulting from his having no written order from Wil- kinson, the money was delivered to him. He con- cealed it in barrels of sugar and coffee, and brought
.
3
132
THE EIGHTH.
1796]
it up in safety. On his return to New-Orleans, he reported to his employer that whatever might hereto- fore have been the disposition of the people of Ken- tucky, they were now perfectly satisfied with the federal government, and their leading men (with very few exceptions) manifested an utter aversion to the hazardous experiments heretofore thought of -- especially as their own government had now obtain- ed from them, by the late treaty, the principal object which they expected to attain by a separation from the Union.
The Baron's attention was now momentarily drawn from his favorite plan, by the necessity of protecting the province under his care from impend- ing danger. The governor of Canada had assembled a considerable number of troops on the Southern -border of that province; a circumstance which in- duced the belief that an expedition was contemplated from thence, through the western territory of the United States, against the dominions of Spain on the Mississippi. The minister of the Catholic king at Philadelphia, communicated to the department of state the information he had received on this head, and demanded that, according to a stipulation in the late treaty, the United States should oppose, in the most effectual manner, the intended violation of their territory.
Spain had concluded a treaty of peace with the French republic, and on the 7th of October ha. clared war against Great-Britain. The Catholic ki. . in the declaration of war, mentions the late treaty between Great-Britain and the United-States, as one of the motives that had influenced his conduct in this respect.
-
7
140
CHAPTER
[1797
Serano and Argotte were the ordinary alcades for the years 1797 and 1798.
By a royal order of the fourteenth of May, the royal audience of Santo-Domingo was removed to Puerto del Principe, a town in the island of Cu- ba.
The king having acceded to the proposition of the cabildo, in regard to an additional number of regi- dors, Francisco de Riano, Louis d'Arby d'Ani- cant, Jayme Jordan, John Leblanc, Gilbert Andry and Francisco Castanedo, took their seats in that body as such.
It had been stipulated, in the late treaty between the United States and Spain, that commissioners of both nations should meet at' Natchez, within six months from the ratification. Accordingly, Andrew Ellicot had been appointed commissioner on the part of the United States, and Don Manuel Gayoso de Lemos on that of the Catholic king.
Gayoso, according to the instructions of the Baron, as soon as he heard of Ellicot's approach with a small body of infantry under the orders of Lieut. M'Leary, sent an officer to meet him, with a request that he would not attempt to come to Natchez as yet, but stop at bayou Pierre, as the fort was not ready to be surrendered, and some disorder might result from the approximation of the troops of the two nations.
Ellicot disregarded this message, and reached Natchez with his men in the month of Febi and displayed the flag of his country near the fort.
The Baron, wishing to gain time, urged, as his reason for delaying a compliance with the stipula- tions of treaty, that they were not sufficiently explicit, and doubts had arisen in his mind as to the manner
.
- 141
THE EIGHTTH.
1797]
in which the posts were to be delivered. It appeared to him questionable whether they were to be so, with all the forts and edifices standing, as the United - States seemed to understand, or evacuated, rased and abandoned, as he conceived, in order that Spain might avoid involving herself into difficulties with · the Indian nations, who, by formal treaties, had ceded to her the land at the Chickasaw bluffs, Walnut Hill, and 'Tombecbee, on the express conditions that she should erect fortifications there, to prevent their country from being invaded. He therefore declared his determination to await the orders of his sove- reign, or those of his minister at Philadelphia, re- tain the posts on the Mississippi, and defend upper Louisiana, until congress, acting upon the represen- tation of the latter, should take measures to restrain any expedition against those Indians, according to the stipulations of the treaty.
For the purpose of receiving possession of the posts to be surrendered, a larger detachment, under the orders of Lieutenant Pope, soon followed the former. The instructions of that officer render it probable that the government of the United States ap- prehended some difficulty from that of Spain. The lieutenant was directed, in the first instance, to pro- ceed to Fort Massac on the Ohio, and there to await the return of an officer previously sent to Ne Ma- drid for official information in regard to the de. of the posts; and, on the certainty or probability of such an event, he was to proceed to Natchez, and on his arrival there, to keep up the most perfect disci- pline among the troops, so as to prevent every kind of disorder, and promote harmony and friendly inter-
--------
142
CHAPTER [1797
change of good offices with the subjects of the Catho- lic king, and to treat the Spanish flag with respect.
The commandant at New Madrid, boing without instructions, was unable to give any information re- specting the views of the colonial government, and lieutenant Pope, concluding that possession would probably be given, descended the Mississippi, and had proceeded as far as New Madrid, where he was met by a messenger from the Baron, warning him to proceed no farther. The lieutenant thought it best, however, to go on, and, at the Walnut Hills, found a letter from Gayoso, requesting him to stop ther .. He tarried awhile; but, on receiving a letter from Ellicot, advising him to come to Natchez, he departed, and joined Ellicot soon after, and immediately increased his force by enlistment, and apprehended several de- serters from the army of the United States, who had taken refuge under the protection of the Spanish flag.
The most considerable part of the population of the district of Vatchez had removed from the United States, or were descendants of emigrants from the British provinces, after the peace of 1762. They were anxious for a change of government, and ap- peared to disregard the authority of the officers of Spain. Gayoso issued a proclamation on the twen- tieth of March, calculated to brie them back to their duty.
'The Baron had resolved that his dete mination, in regard to the delivery of the posts to the United States, should be regulated by the success or failure of a last attempt to detach the western country from the Union, and had accordingly sent Power thither on this errand.
-
1797]
THE EIGHTH.
143
The avowed object of his mission was the delivery of a letter to Wilkinson, who, on the death of Wayne, had succeeded to the command of the American forces, to induce him not to insist on the immediate evacuation of the posts of Spain: the real object of the journey, however, (and concerning which the Baron, in order to avoid all danger of detection, had given only verbal instructions) was to sound the dis- position of the western people, whose militia, the Baron had heard, had received orders to be ready to march at the first call. In the event of this proving true, Power was directed to send immediate infor- mation of it to the commandant at New Madrid.
He was instructed adroitly to give it out among those with whom he might have an opportunity of conversing in the course of his travels, that the sur- render, to the forces of the United-States, of the posts occupied by those of Spain, on the Mississippi, was in direct opposition to the interest of the western people, who, as they must one day be separated from the Atlantic states, would find themselves without any communication with the sea, excepting through Louisiana, from whence they might expect powerful succours in artillery, arms, ammunition and money, openly or secretly, as soon as they determined on a secession, which must secure to ther independance and prosperity.
The wish was expressed that it might be suggested that, for this reason, Congress was determined on hastening the taking possession of these posts, and the western people would forge fetters for themselves, if they consented to furnish their militia, and other means, which the United-States could find among them only.
It was urged that these hints, if diffused through
-
144
CHAPTER [1797
the papers, might make a strong impression on the people, and dispose them to throw off the yoke of the Atlantic states; and if they could be dissuaded from aiding congress, it could not give law to the Spaniards.
Assurances were given that, if one hundred thou- sand dollars, properly distributed in Kentucky, could induce the people to resist, that sum would be readily furnished. The messenger was authorised to pro- mise this, and an equal sum to procure arms, in case of necessity, with 20 pieces of artillery.
The packet for Wilkinson, securing to the bearer the best opportunity of viewing the army and ascer- taining its force, discipline and disposition, he was directed to improve it, and transmit to his employer without delay, the most correct and minute informa- tion he could obtain. A doubt was expressed whe- ther a person of Wilkinson's character would prefer the command of the army of the United-States, to the glory of being the founder, the liberator, indeed the Washington of the western states. His part was saiu to be brilliant and casy; all eyes were fixed on him; he possessed the confidence of his fellow-citizens, and principally of the Kentucky volunteers; at the slightest r ent, the people would hail him the general of ua new republic. His reputation would raise him an army, and France and Spain enable him to pay it.
Pursuing his prophetic strain, the Baron added that, on Wilkinson's taking Fort Massac, he would instantly send him small arms and artillery from New-Orleans; and Spain, limiting herself to the posts at Natchez and Walnut Hilst, would cede all the left bank of the Mississippi as high as the Ohio, which would form an extensive republic, con-
1
,
145
THE EIGHTH.
1797]
nected, by its situation and- interests, with Spain, who, in conjunction with it, would force the Indians to seek its alliance and confound themselves, in time, with its citizens.
The Baron added that the western people were dissatisfied with the tax on whiskey, and Spain and France were enraged at the connexion of the United States with Great Britain; the army was weak and devoted to Wilkinson, and the threat of congress authorised him (the Baron) to succour the western people immediately and openly; money would not be wanting; and he was about despatch- ing a vessel to Vera Cruz for a supply of it, and am- munition; so that nothing was required but an in- stant of firmness and resolution to render the western people free and happy. But, if they suffered the op- portunity to pass unimproved, and the Spaniards were compelled to surrender the posts, Kentucky and Tennessee would forever remain under the oppres- sive yoke of the Atlantic states.
These instructions concluded with an assurance to Power, that if, by forcibly urging these arguments, he succeeded in bringing over Wilkinson, Lacasa- gne, Sebastian, Brackenridge, he other principal men, and if, by dint of promises, wi. ch he (the Ba- ron) pledged himself should be faithfully redeemed, and by the general diffusion of these notions among them, the public generally could be engaged to se- cond their efforts, the object of his expedition would be accomplished, and he would acquire imperishable renown, and a claim to the most brilliant rewards; whilst, on the other hand, should he unfortunately fail, his employer would be able to procure him an appointment, which would place him beyond the reach of the envy or hatred of his enemies.
VOL. IL
19
148'
CHAPTER
[1797
In the meanwhile other agents were sent among the nations of Indians within the territory of the United States, with speeches calculated to induce them to withdraw from the protection of congress, and take up the hatchet against the citizens of the United-States.
The Baron, at the same time, reinforced the garri- son of Fort Panmure, and that of the Walnut Hills; a measure which he said was resorted to, as one of precaution against the descent which the British meditated from Canada. The people of the district of Natchez viewed it as a prelude to the arrest of those among them who had manifested a partiality to the government of the United States. Their alarm was such as to drive a few of them to some violent steps. . The subsequent commotion in the neighbour- hood was so great as to induce Gayoso, with his fa- . mily, to seek an asylum in the fort, on the seventh of June.
Four days after, he issued an elaborate proclama- tion, warning the people of the consequences of their illegal proceedings, requiring them to return to their duty and allegiance to their sovereign, submission to his laws and obedie · his officers; commanding those who had embolia dremselves, to disperse and return to their usual and lawful occupations, as the only means of obtaining an amnesty for the past and security for the future.
A general meeting of the people, to deliberate on the state of the district, was proposed, and was gen- crally approved of, bat an apprehension was enter- tained that Gayoso would break up their assembly. by arresting those who might attend. Lieutenant Pope assured the inhabitants he would protect them at all hazards. . He recommended that they should
147
THE EIGHTH.
1797]
come forward and assert their rights in the most so- lemn manner, and join the forces of the United States in case the Baron sent more soldiers there from New Orleans. The lieutenant's conduct was countenan -.. · ced by Ellicot.
'The meeting took place on the twentieth of June. They remembered the conduct of O'Reilly in 1769, and felt apprehensive of the consequences of any step- they might take: they feared th it Gayoso's procla- mation might only be intended as a snare, and were anxious to fix the terms of their surrender so as to avoid every ambiguity of expression. At last they assented to Ellicot's proposition for the appointment of a committee of safety, of which lieutenant Pope was a member.
This committee called on Gayoso, and proposed that he should recognise their existence as a body- that none of the people should be injured or prose- - cuted ou account of the part they had taken against government-that they would be exempted from serving in the militia, uric a Spanish authorities, except to suppress riots or rep. ss the insults of In- dians -- that they should be considered as in a state of. neutrality, although governed by Spanish laws, and . none of them should be sent out of the country under any pretence whatsoever.
Gayoso gave his ready assent to these propositions, and the Baron ratified what he had done, with a sin- gle and unimportant exception.
The fall of this year was very sickly in New-Or- leans, and the city was visited by the yellow fever.
The Baron was now appointed president of the royal audience of the province of Quito, and left Louisiana.
1
·
148
CHAPTER [1797
This year, the people of the South-western Terri- tory of the United States were admitted into the Union, as the state of Tennessee, and formed the six- teenth member of the confederacy.
John Adams succeeded General Washington in the presidency of the United States.
Archives-Gazettes-Clark-Wilkinson.
..
.
1797]
THE NINTH.
149
CHAPTER IX.
Don Manuel Gayoso de Lemos-Don Carlos de Grandpre-Power's report-General Collet- Instructions to commandants-The French - princes-Capt & Guion brings a reinforce- ment to Natt -Line of demarcation-Mis- sissippi territ -Georgia claim-Schedule for the disposal of vacant land-Deposit suspended -Arrangement as to deposit-Land regulati- ons-Death of Gayoso-the Marquis de Casa Calvo-Upper Louisiana-Don Ramon de Lo- pez -- Warlike measures of the U. S .- Vacant land -- Division of the North-western territory- Deposit restored-Louisiana ceded to Spain- Grant of land to the city-Thomas Jefferson- Treaty between the U. S. and France.
Don Manuel Gayoso de Lemos, a brigadier-gene- ral of the royal armies, who commanded at Natchez, succeeded the Baron de Carondelet, in the govern- ment of the provinces of Louisiana and West-Flori- da, and was succeeded in his former command by Don Carlos de Grandpre. The latter officer, being obnoxious to the people of the district of Natchez, 'declined going there, and Major Minor, a native of New-Jersey, who came to Louisiana in the year 1778, and had accepted of a commission in the Ca- tholic king's service, acted as commandant, until the
.
WE
1.50
CHAPTER _ [1797
establishment of the government, under the authority of the United. States.
Power now returned from the western country, and in his report to Gayoso, which bears date on the fifth of December, stated that he met Sebastian at Louisville, and communicated to him the real and ostensible objects of his mission, when, after confer- ing together, they were of opinion it was indispensa- ble to add four propositions to those the Baron had authorised Power to make. Without the first, nei- ther Sebastian, nor any other person concerned or interested in the important undertaking, would take any step for its success. These propositions were, that
1. If any person should lose his office, on account of promoting the Baron's views, he should be indem- nified by the king of Spain.
2. The northern boundary of the king's dominion should be a line drawn from the mouth of the river Yazoo to the river Tombeckbee; and the northern- most Spanish fort should be six miles below that line.
3. But the king should retain the fort of San Fer- nando de Barancas (Chickasaw bluffs) with the land around it, ceded to him by the Indians by their treaty with Gavoso.
4. The king should not interfere, directly or 'indi- rectly, with the form of government or laws, which the western people should adopt.
Sebastian undertook to communicate the Baron's propositions, with the above amendments, to Innis and Nicholas. To conceal the real object of Power's journey, and avoid the resentment of the people of Louisville, who were enraged at his frequent visits and threatened to tar and feather him, it was agreed
.
-
151
THE NINTH.
1797]
that, after having seen Wilkinson at Detroit, he should return by Greenville, Cincinnati, Newport, Georgc- town, and Frankfort, to meet Innis and Nicholas, and be informed of the success of their efforts; and that Sebastian, and another person, should accompa- ny him to New-Orleans. Notwithstanding he (Sebas- tian) was of opinion that, for the present, all the means and efforts used to stimulate the western people to secede from the union, would be of no avail, he promised that nothing should be wanting, on his part, to obtain what was so much desired.
Power arrived in the neighbourhood of Detroit on the sixteenth of August, and finding that Wilkin- son was then at Michilimackinac, he did not enter the fort. The general, immediately after his return, hearing of Power's arrival, had him arrested and brought to the fort, and thus got the Baron's dis- patches. He gave a cold reception to the bearer, and informed him that the governor of the North- Western territory had orders to arrest and send him to Philadelphia, which could be prevented in no other manner than by sending him, under a strong guard to New-Madrid, without delay. He added, the Baron's project was a chimerical one, impossible to be executed, as the western people, having obtain- ed, by the late treaty, all that they wanted, have no need of any connexion or alliance with Spain, nor any motive for a separation from the Atlantic states, even if France and Spain should make them the most advantageous offers-that the ferment which existed four years ago, had now subsided, and the vexations and depredations which the American commerce had suffered from the privateers of France, created au implacable hatred for that nation. He added that the people of Kentucky had proposed to
.152
[CHAPTER [1797
him to raise an army of ten thousand men, to take New-Orleans, in case of a rupture with Spain, and the governor of Louisiana had no other measure to pursue, under the present. circumstances, than fully to comply with the treaty. He complained that all his plans were overturned, and all his labours for ten years past lost. He added that, he had destroyed all his cyphers and burnt his correspondence with the governors of Louisiana, and duty and honor did not permit him to continue it. The Baron, however, need not apprehend his confidence should be abused -that if Spain surrendered the district of Natchez to the United States, they would probably make him governor, and he should not then lack the opportu- nity of promoting his political projects. He com- plained that his commexion with the colonial govern- ment had been divulged-that Don Zenon Trudeau, the commandant at St. Louis, had sent emissaries among the Indian nations within the territory of the United States, inviting them to come and settle with- in that of Spain, as the Spanish king was at war with the British, and would soon be with the French.
On the sixth, Wilkinson delivered his answer, for the Baron, to Power, and immediately compelled the latter to depart for New-Marid, by the way of the Wabash, under a guard commanded by captain Shaumburg. On passing through Vincennes, Power sent an express to Louisville, in order to apprise Scbastian of what happened.
Power concluded his report, by stating that, with regard to the people of Kentucky, Sebastian's opini- on differed from Wilkinson's. The former had told him that should war be declared between Spain and the United States, Louisiana would have nothing to fear from the people of Kentucky; and insinutated
1
15$
THE NINTH.
1798]
it would more likely be the circumstance which should stimulate them against the United States. The reporter's own opinion was, that a great propor- tion of the most influential characters in Kentucky and Tennessee, had been the instigators of the expe- ditions set on foot, under Lachaise and Clark, against the dominions of Spain, by Genet. The rest werc unambitious of conquest from Spain, and desired only to preserve the boundary secured to them by the treaties.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.