USA > Louisiana > The history of Louisiana : from the earliest period, Volume II > Part 11
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During this winter, general Collet, who had tra- velled through the states of Kentucky and 'Tennes- see, by order of the French goverment, passed through New-Orleans. It was supposed Adet, the French minister at Philadelphia, sent him on an er- rand similar to that on which Lachaise had been employed by Genet.
Gayoso issued his bando de buen gobierno, in the month of January, 1798. It does not contain any important new regulation.
On the following day, he published a set of instruc- tions to commandants, in regard to the grant of land, as follows:
1. They are forbidden to grant land to a new set- tler, coming from another psot, where he has obtain- ed a grant. Such a one must buy land, or obtain a grant from the governor.
2. If a settler be a foreigner, unmarried, and with- out either slaves, money, or other property, no grant is to be made to him, until he shall have remained four years in the post, demeaning himself well in some honest and useful occupation.
3. Mechanics are to be protected, but no land is to be granted to them, until they shall have acquired VOL. II. 20
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some property, and a residence of three years in the exercise of their trade.
4. No grant of land is to be made to any unmar- ried emigrant, who has neither trade nor property, until after a residence of four years, during which time he must have been employed in the culture of the ground.
5. But if, after a residence of two years, such a person should marry the daughter of an honest far- mer, with his consent, and be by him recommended, a grant of land may be made to him.
6. Liberty of conscience is not to be extended be- yond the first generation : the children of the emigrant must be Catholic; and cmigrants, not agreeing to this, must not be admitted, but removed, even when they bring property with them. 'This is to be ex- plained to settlers who do not profess the Catholic religion.
7. In Upper Louisiana, no settler is to be admit- ted, who is not a farmer or a mechanic.
8. It is expressly recommended to commandants, to watch that no preacher of any religion but the Catcholic, comes into the province.
9. To every married emigrant of the above de- scription, two hundred arpents may be granted, with the addition of fifty for every child he brings.
10. If he bring negroes, twenty additional arpents are to be granted him for each: but in no case are more than eight hundred arpents to be granted to an emigrant.
11. No land is to be granted to a trader.
12. Immediately on the arrival of a settler, the oath of allegiance is to be administered to him. If he has a wife, proof is to be demanded of their mar- riage; and, if they bring any property, they are to be
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required to declare what part belongs to either of them; and they are to be informed that the discovery of any wilful falsehood in this declaration, will incur the forfeiture of the land granted them, and the im- provements made thereon.
13. Without proof of a lawful marriage, or of ab- solute ownership of negroes, no grant is to be made for any wife or negro.
14. 'The grant is to be forfeited, if a settlement be not made within the year, or one tenth part of the land put in cultivation within two.
15. No grantee is to be allowed to sell his land until he has produced three crops on a tenth part of it; but in case of death, it may pass to an heir in the province, but not to one without, unless he come and settle it.
16. If the grantee owes debts in the province, the proceeds of the first four crops are to be applied to their discharge, in preference to that of debts due abroad. If, before the third crop be made, it hecoines necessary to evict the grantee, on account of his bad conduct, the land shall be given to the young man and young woman, residing within one mile of it, whose good conduct may shew them to be the best deserving of it; and the decision is to be made by an assembly of notable planters, presided by the commandant.
17. Emigrants are to settle contiguous to old esta- blishments, without leaving any vacant land-that the people may more easily protect each other, in case of any invasion by the Indians; and that the administration of justice, and a compliance with po- Jiee regulations, may be facilitated.
Early in this year, the dukes of Orleans and Mon- tausier, and the count of Beaujolais, came toNew-Or-
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leans from the western states. These grand-children of the duke of Orleans, who was regent of France during the minority of Louis XV. and descendants of Louis XIII. were seen with great interest by the inhabitants. After a stay of a few weeks, they de- parted for Europe, by the way of Havana.
Don Denys de la Ronde and Don Pedro de la Roche took their seats in the cabildo; the former as successor of Almonaster, and the latter as principal provincial alcade.
Captain Guion, an officer of the revolutionary war, came this winter to Natchez, with a strong rein- forcement, and took the command of the forces brought by lieutenants Mary and Pope. On the 23d of March, the fort at the Walnut-Hills, and on the twenty-ninth. fort Panmure, were evacuated by the troops of Spain, and immediate possession taken by those of the United States. Shortly after, Gayoso gave orders to William Dunbar, who had succeeded him in the office of commissioner, on the part of Spain, for running the line of demarcation) to make arrangements with Ellicot, in order that the opera- tions might be immediately begun. Major Trueman was the surveyor on the part of the United States, and Power, the baron's late agent, that on the part of Spain.
Congress, on the seventh of April, erected the . country bounded, on the north, by a line drawn due cast from the mouth of the river Yazou to the Cata- houche river; on the cast by that stream; on the south by the thirty-first degree of north latitude, and on the west by the Mississippi-into a separate gov- ernment, to be called the Mississippi territory; and " a form of government was established therein, simi- lar to that provided for the north-western territory,
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by the ordinance of 1787, with the exception of the clause prohibiting slavery.
The state of Georgia laid claim to the land inclu- ded within the new government, or the greatest part of it; and congress declared that the establishment of the territorial body should not, in any respect, im- pair the rights, to any land west of that state, of any person or persons, either to the jurisdiction or soil of the said territory. The president of the United- States was authorised to appoint commissioners to ascertain, conjointly with others appointed- on the part of the state, her right to any land west of the river Catahouche, north of the thirty-first degree of north latitude, and south of the land ceded by the state of North-Carolina to the United-States; and to receive proposals for the relinquishment, or cession, of the whole or any part of the other territory claim- ed by the state of Georgia and out of her ordinary jurisdiction.
Winthrop Sergeant was appointed governor of the new territory; and, on his arrival soon after, with the secretary and judges, its government went into operation.
The Northern Indians continuing to manifest pa- cific dispositions, it was thought proper to transfer the head-quarters of the army of the United-States to the Mississippi; and, accordingly, Wilkinson came to Natchez with a considerable part of the forces. Here was fixed, at this time, the southern- most post. Ile removed, with all his men, to the spot called by the French La-Roche-à-Dation, and by the English " Loftus-Heights," which was the most sontherly tenable point within the United-States, and immediately began the fortification which was after- wards called Fort-Adams.
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By a royal schedule of the twenty-first of October, the intendancy of the provinces of Louisiana and West-Florida, was put in possession, to the exclusion of all other authority, of the privilege of dividing and granting all kinds of land belonging to the crown-a privilege which, under the royal order of the twenty-fourth of August, 1770, belonged to the civil and military government,
Riano and Fonvergne were the ordinary alcades for the year 1799.
On the 30th of April, Don Joseph Vidal, the commandant of the post of Concord'a, opposite to Natchez, entered, by order of Gayoso, into an ar- rangement, with the governor of the Mississippi territory, for the reciprocal surrender of runaway slaves.
Morales, considering that three years had elapsed since the ratification of the treaty between his sove- reign and the United-States, did not think himself authorised to allow any longer the citizens of the latter a place of deposit in the city of New-Orleans; and he issued an order accordingly. A measure which excited great commotion in the provinces and the United-States, particularly in Kentucky and Tennessee.
Gayoso and Wilkinson, on the first of March, en- tered into a provisional convention for the mutual surrender of deserters from the armies of Spain and the United-States, seeking an asylum within the lim- its of their respective adjacent territories.
In the latter part of the month, the running of the line of demarcation was completed, except a small portion of it on the borders of East-Florida, which
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was deferred on account of the hostile appearance of the Indians.
On the seventeenth of July, Morales issued a set of regulations in regard to the grant of land, bottom- ed on the provisions of the late schedule, as fol- lows:
1. To each newly arrived family, à chaque famil- le nourelle, who are possessed of the necessary qua- lifications to be admitted among the number of cul- tivators of these provinces, and who have obtained the permission of the government to establish then- selves on a place which they have chosen, there shall be granted, for once, if it is on the bank of the Mississippi, four, six, or eight arpents in front on the river, by the ordinary depth of forty arpents; and if it is at any other place, the quantity which they shall be judged capal le to cultivate, and which shall be deemed necessary for pasture for their beasts, in pro- portion and according to the number of which the family is composed; understanding that the conces- sion is never to exceed eight hundred arpents in su- prefices.
2. To obtain the said concessions. if they are asked for in this city, the permission which has been ob- tained to establish themselves in the place from the governor, ought to accompany the petition; and if, in any of the posts, the commandant at the same time will state that the lands asked for are vacant, and belong to the domain, and that the petitioner has obtained permission of the government to establish himself; and referring to the date of the letter or ad- vice they have received.
3. Those who obtain concessions on the bank of the river, ought to make, in the first year of their - possession, levees sufficient to prevent the inundation
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of the waters, and canals sufficient to drain off the water when the river is high; they shall be held, in addition, to make, and keep in good order, a public highway, which ought to be at least thirty feet wide, and have bridges of fifteen feet over the canals or ditches which the road crosses; which regulations ought to be observed, according to the usages of the respective districts, by all persons to whom lands are granted, in whatever part they are obtained.
4. The new settlers who have obtained lands shall be equally obliged to clear and put in cultivation, in the precise time of' three years, all the front of their concessions, for the depth of at least two arpents, un- der the penalty of having the lands granted reunited to the domain, if this condition is not complied with. The commandants and syndies will watch that what is enjoined in this and the preceding article, be strictly observed; and occasionally inform the inten- dant of what they have remarked, well understand- ing that in case of default they will be responsible to his majesty.
5. If a tract of land, belonging to minors, remain without being cleared, or as much of it as the regu- lations require; and that the bank, the road, the ditches, and the bridges, are not made, the com- mandant or syndic of the district will certify from whom the fault has arisen; if it is in the guardian, he will urge him to put it order; and, if he fails, he shall give an account of it; but, if the fault arises from want of means of the minor to defray the ex- pense, the commandant or syndic shall address a statement of it to the intendancy, to the end that sale of it may be ordered for the benefit of the minor, to whom alone this privilege is allowed ; if, in the space of six months, any purchaser presents himself; if
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not, it shall be granted gratis to any person asking it, or sold for the benefit of the treasury.
6. During the said term of three years, no person shall sell or dispose of the land which has been gran- ted to him, nor shall he ever after the term, if he has failed to comply with the conditions contained in the preceding article; and to avoid abuses and surprise in this respect, we declare that all sales made with- out the consent of the intendancy, in writing, shall be null and of no effect; which consent shall not be granted until they have examined, with scrupulous attention, if the conditions have or have not been fulfilled.
7. To avoid, for the future, the litigations and con- fusion of which we have examples every day, we have also judged it very necessary that the notaries of this city, and the commandants of posts, shall not take any acknowledgment of conveyances of land obtained by concession; unless the seller (grantor) presents and delivers to the buyer the title which he has obtained, and in addition, being careful to insert in the deed the metes and bounds, and other descrip- tions, which result from the title, and the proces verbal of the survey which ought to accompany it.
8. In case that the small depth which the points, upon which the land on the river is generally formed, prevent the granting of forty arpents, according to usage, there shall be given a greater quantity in front to compensate it; or, if no other person asks the concession, or to purchase it, it shall be divided equally between the persons nearest to it, who may repair the banks, roads, and bridges, in the manner before prescribed.
9. Although the king renounces the possession of the lands sold, distributed, or conceded, in his name, VOL. II. 21
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those to whom they are granted or sold ought to be apprized that his majesty reserves the right of taking from the forests known here under the name of cy- press woods, all the wood which may be necessary for his use, and more especially which he may want for the navy, in the same manner and with the same liberty that the undertakers have enjoyed to this time; but this, notwithstanding, they are not to sup- pose themselves authorised to take more than is ne- cessary, nor to make use of or split those which are cut down and found unsuitable.
10. In the posts of Opelousas and Attakapas, the greatest quantity of land that can be conceded, shall be one league front by the same quantity in depth; and when forty arpents cannot be obtained in depth, a half league may be granted : and, for a general rule, it is established, that, to obtain, in said posts, a half league in front by the same quantity in depth, the petitioner must be owner of one hundred head of cattle, so'ne horses and sheep, and two slaves, and also in proportion for a larger tract, without the pow- er, however, of exceeding the quantity before men- tioned.
11. As much as it is possible, and the local situa- tion will permit, no interval shall be left between concessions; because it is very advantageous that the establishments touch, as much for the inhabitants, who can lend each other mutual support. as for the more easy administration of justice, and the obser- vance of rules of police, indispensable in all places, but more especially in new establishments.
12. If, notwithstanding what is before written, marshy lands, or other causes, shall make it necessa- ry to leave some vacant lands, the commandants and syndics will take care that the inhabitants of the dis-
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trict alone may take wood enough for their use only, well understanding they shall not take more; or, if any individual of any other post, shall attempt to get wood, or cut fire-wood, without having obtained the permission of this intendancy, besides the indemnity which he shall be held to pay the treasury for the damage sustained, he shall be condemned, for the first time, to the payment of a fine of twenty-five dol- lars; twice that sum for the second offence; and, for the third offence, shall be put in prison, according as the offence may be more or less aggravated ; the said fines shall be divided between the treasury, the judge, and the informer.
13. The new settler, to whom land has been gran- ted in one settlement, cannot obtain another conces- sion without having previously proven that he had possessed the first during three years, and fulfilled all the conditions prescribed.
14. The changes occasioned by the current of the river, are often the cause of one part of a concession becoming useless, so that we have examples of pro- prietors pretending to abandon and re-unite to the domain a part of the most expensive, for keeping up the banks, the roads, the ditches, &c. and willing to reserve only that which is good; and seeing that, unless some remedy is provided for this abuse, the greatest mischief must result to the neighbours, we declare that the treasury will not admit of an aban- . donment or re-union to the domain of any part of the land the owner wishes to get rid of; unless the aban- doament comprehends the whole limits included in the concession or act in virtue of which he owas the land he wishes to abandon.
15. All concessions shall be given in the name of the king, by the general intendant of this province,
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who shall order the surveyor-general, or one particu- larly named by hun, to make the survey and mark the land, by fixing bounds, not only in front, but also in the rear; this (survey) ought to be done in the presence of the commandant or syndic of the district and of two of the neighbours; and these four shall sign the proces verbal which shall be drawn up by the surveyor.
16. The said proces verbal, with a certified copy of the same, shall be sent by the surveyor to the in- tendant, to the end that, on the original, there be de- livered, by the consent of the king's attorney, the necessary title paper ; to this will be annexed the cer- tified copy forwarded by the surveyor. The original shall be deposited in the office of the secretary of the treasury, and care shall be taken to make annu- ally a book of all which have been sent, with an al- phabetical list, to be the more useful when it is neces- sary to have recourse to it, and for greater security, to the end that, at all times, and against all accidents, the documents which shall be wanted, can be found. The surveyor shall also have another book, number- ed, in which the proces rerbal of the survey he makes shall be recorded; and, as well on the origi- nal, which ought to be deposited on record, as on the copy intended to be annexed to the title, he shall note the folio of the book in which he has enregistered the figurative plat of survey.
17. In the office of the finances there shall also be a book, numbered, where the titles of concessions shall be recorded; in which, beside the ordinary clauses, mention shall be made of the folio of the book in which they are transcribed. There must also be a note taken in the contadoria (or chamber of accounts) of the army and finances, and that un-
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der the penalty of being void. The chamber of ac- counts shall also have a like book; and, at the time of taking the note, shall cite the folio of the book where it is recorded.
18. Experience proves that a great number of those who have asked for land think themselves the legal owners of it; those who have ol:tained the first de- cree, by which the surveyor is ordered to measure it, and to put them in possession ; others, after the sur- vey has been made, have neglected to ask the title for the property; and, as like abuses, continuing for a longer time, will augment the confusion and disorder which will necessarily result, we declare that no one of those who have obtained the said deerces, not- withstanding, in virtue of them, the survey has taken place, and that they have been put in possession, can be regarded as owners of land until their real titles are delivered, completed with all the formalities be- fore recited.
19. All those who possess lands in virtue of formal titles given by their excellencies the governors of this province, since the epoch when it came under the power of the Spanish; and those who possessed them in the time when it belonged to France, so far from being interrupted, shall, on the contrary, be protected and maintained in their possessions.
20. Those who, without the title or possession mentioned in the preceding article, are found occu- pying lands, shall be driven there from, as from pro- perty belonging to the crown; but, if they have occupied the same more than ten years, a compro- mise will be admitted to those who are considered as owners, that is to say, they shall not be deprived of their lands. Always that, after information, and summary procedure, and with the intervention of the
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procureur of the king, at the board of the treasury, they shall be obliged to pay a just and moderate ro- tribution, calculated according to the extent of the lands, their situation, and other circumstances, and the price of estimation for once paid into the royal treasury. The titles to property will be delivered, on referring to that which has resulted from the proceedings.
21. Those who are found in a situation expressed in the 18th article, if they have not cleared nor done any work upon the land they consider themselves proprietors of, by virtue of the first decree of the go- vernment, not being of the number of those who have been admitted in the class of new comers, in being deprived or admitted to compromise, in the manner explained in the preceding article: if they are of that class, they shall observe what is ordered in the arti- cle following.
22. In the precise and peremptory term of six months, counting fron the day when this regulation shall be published in each post, all those who occupy lands without titles from the governor, and those who, in having obtained a certain number of arpents, have seized a greater quantity, ought to make it known, cither to have their titles made out, if there are any, or to be admitted to a compromise, or to declare that the said lands belong to the domain, if they have not been occupied more than ten years; understanding, if it passes the said term, if they are insructed by other ways, they will not obtain either title or compromise.
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23. Those who give information of lands occupied, after the expiration of the term fixed in the preceding article, shall have for their reward the one fourth part of the price for which they are sold, or obtained
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by way of compromise; and, if desirable, he shall have the preference. either by compromise, at the price of appraisement, and there shall be made a de- duction of one fourth, as informer.
21 As it is in possible, considering all the local circumstances, that all the vacant lands belonging to the domain should be sold by auction, asit is ordained by the law 15th, title 12th, book 4th, of the collection of the laws of these kingdoms, the sale shall be made according as it shall be demanded, with the interven- tion of the king's attorney for the board of finances, for the price they shall be taxed, to those who wish to purchase; understanding, if the purchasers have not ready money to pay, it shall be lawful for them to purchase the said lands at redeemable quit-rent, dur- ing which they shall pay the five per cent. yearly.
25. Besides the moderate price which the land ought to be taxed, the purchasers shall be held to pay down the right of media annata, or half year's, to be remitted to Spain, which, according to the custom of Havana, founded on law, is reduced to two and a half per cent. on the price of estimation, and made 18 per cent. on the sum, by the said two and a half per cent .; they shall also be obliged to pay down the fees of the surveyor and notary.
26. The sales of' land shall be made subject to the same condition, and charges of banks, roads, ditches and bridges, contained in the preceding article. But · the purchasers are not subject to lose their lands, if, in the three first years, they do not fulfil the said con- ditions. Commandants and syndics shall oblige them to put themselves within the rule, begin to perform the conditions in a reasonable term, and, if they do not do it, the said work shall be done at the cost of the purchasers.
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