USA > Louisiana > The province and the states, a history of the province of Louisiana under France and Spain, and of the territories and states of the United States formed therefrom, Vol. I > Part 16
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"LI. We bestow likewise in gift to the said company, the ves- sels, goods and effects which M. Crozat delivered over to us, as explained in the decree of our council on the 23d day of the pres- ent month, of whatever nature they may be, and whatever may be their amount, provided that in the course of her charter she carry over to the lands granted to her, no less than six thousand white persons and three thousand negroes."
It was agreed that if, after the lapse of the charter's life, the king did not see fit to prolong the life of the company, the entire grant should pass to it absolutely, with liberty to dispose of the
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same as it saw fit. The company was required to instruct the Indians and the people in the established religion. It was also permitted "to take for its coat of arms an escutcheon vert, waved at the base argent, lying thereon a river god proper, leaning on a cornucopia ; or, in chief azure service of fleur de lys, or bearing upon a closet, or supporters two savages; crest a trefoiled crown; . and we grant it the said arms that it may make use of them on its seals, and place them on its buildings, vessels, guns and wherever it may think fit."
"LVI. Whereas it is not our intention that the special pro- tection we grant to the said company be in any respect prejudicial to our other colonies whom we wish also to favor, we forbid the said company to take or receive under any pretence whatever, any inhabitant established in our colonies, and transfer them to Louisiana, unless they have obtained the necessary permission in writing of the governors general of our said colonies, authenti- cated by the Intendants or chiefs of the commissariat." (Signed August, 1717.)
As under Crozat so under the Western Company, exaggera- tions and misrepresentations were resorted to by the proprietors to influence the people of France to immigrate to Louisiana. The stories of gold were adopted to induce colonization and to fortify the paper-money scheme of Mr. Law. Louisiana was used as a cat's-paw to snatch the chestnuts out of the fire of finan- cial disaster and disgrace that might result to the monetary sys- tem of France. Law was not at heart a knave, as has been alleged; but was himself deceived by false principles of money and credit. The mines of Mississippi were declared by the French ministry to be sufficient to sustain the paper money emitted by the bank established by Law. If any deception was prac- ticed upon the people of France, it was by the Regent and not by Law. They deceived the public only by deceiving themselves. When the collapse came, the name of Mississippi became mal- odorous, not through any fault of its own, but by association with bankruptcy and distress. The faith of Law in his system is shown by the fact that he kept up an enormous expenditure to sustain his Arkansas colony to the very last and was beggared by the collapse. The distresses and calamities in Louisiana were largely concealed from the people of France ; correspondence was secret ; but the true state of affairs was known to clear-headed French statesmen.
Under both Crozat and the Western Company many of the worst classes in France were sent to the colony. "The people
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who are sent there are miserable wretches driven from France for real or supposed crimes or bad conduct, or persons who have enlisted in the troops or enrolled themselves as emigrants in order to avoid the pursuit of their creditors. Both classes regard the country as a place of exile. Everything there disheartens them ; nothing interests them in the progress of a colony of which they are only members in spite of themselves. You are not ignorant of the reasons which led to its being reported that Louisiana pos- sessed in its bosom great treasures, and that its occupation brought us into the neighborhood of the famous mines of St. Barbe and of others still richer, from which we flattered our- selves with the prospect of easily driving away the present pos- sessors."* Du Pratz declares that all the letters sent to France were intercepted, meaning that they were opened and examined and those of an injurious nature withheld or destroyed. The proprietors did not dare let the whole truth become known in France.
When the Company of the Indies took the reins in 1723, there was no reform nor no relief from the distresses in the colony. The monopoly became more grinding and burdensome than ever. The tariffs and exactions drove many out of the colony. The company plunged into debt and ere long mortgaged its capital. Bankruptcies and law-suits resulted. In order "to attach the governor and the intendant to the interests of the Company there was assigned to them an annual gratuity and an allowance on the exports of the staple commodities of France." Under this extreme order of affairs, the governor and the intendant in 1726 were the creditors of Louisiana to the amount of $587,190. The colonists did not dispute this debt, but there was no way to com- pel them to pay it. They refused the police protection of the troops sent out, and engaged in the fur trade. Soon they were involved in intermittent and diminutive wars with the natives, whom, of course, they cheated and otherwise wronged. The massacre at Natchez was one of the direct results of the lack of control over the colony by the company.
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The formation of the' Western Company was the signal for an important change in colonial proceedings. The new company determined to make agriculture an important feature in the col- ony. It was determined to form a permanent settlement on the Mississippi, as near its month as the banks would allow and be
* Letter of Charlevoix to the Duchess de les Dignieres, which was kept secret for about twenty-five years, in order that its unfavorable review of Louisiana might not be known to the people of France.
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above overflow. The mistake of the past in retaining the seat of government at Mobile was admitted. It had already been learned . that rice, indigo and tobacco could be grown in the fertile soil along the Mississippi. In the autumn of 1717, D'Bienville again prospected the various sites along that river and finally selected the present position of New Orleans as the most eligible. One of the earliest acts of the new administration was to send laborers and mechanics to lay the foundations of the new town. There were trees to be cut down, ditches to be filled, drains to be dug, brush to be removed, plans to be drawn, and considerations of great moment to be considered concerning the periodical over- flow and the facility of communication by ships with the Gulf. No doubt, the proximity of Lake Pontchartrain, as well as that of the Mississippi, influenced the selection of the present site of New Orleans. From the very start, embankments were thrown up around the town to protect it from the overflows of the Missis- sippi. D'Bienville supplied the name New Orleans.
The great influence of the new company was felt in the arrival of a large number of colonists and in the stimulus given to agri- culture, as well as to the Indian trade. In March, 1718, over five hundred persons arrived and established themselves on their con- cessions. The first important grant was that to Paris du Vernay, who brought over with him his brother, two sisters and twenty- five other persons. He was given a large tract twenty-eight . leagues above New Orleans at the old Indian village of the Bay- agoulas and opposite Manshac. Preparations were made to culti- vate the soil, rear silk worms and manufacture silk, plant and raise rice, indigo and tobacco. The second concession was made to M. de Muyes at the old Tensas village. That gentleman sent out his two nephews, MM. D'Loire des Ursins, and two associates, Chastan and Roué, in charge of about cighty persons, all pro- vided with the necessary tools and implements for the cultivation of the soil. Two merchants of the city of Lyons, Brossart brothers, were given a large grant on Red river in the vicinity of Natchitoches. They, likewise, sent over laborers and mechanics. To Benard de la Harpe, of the French town of St. Malo, was granted a large concession one hundred leagues above Natchi- toches among the Cadodaquois on Red river. This was in what is now northeast Texas. He sent over twenty-five persons to form this settlement, so far on the outskirts of the colony. In fact, the country of the Cadodaquois was claimed by the Spaniards for many years after this event. A grant among the Tunicas was given to M. St. Reine, and one at Pointe Coupée to M. Dilleuse.
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Diron D'Artaguette received the grant at Baton Rouge; and Marquis D'Artagnac that at Burnt Canes. Concessions were also made at the old Natchez and the old Choupitoulas villages on the east side of the Mississippi. Ere long M. D'Boisbriant was made a knight of the Order of St. Louis and appointed gov- ernor of the Illinois, which district then embraced all west of the Mississippi and above the Arkansas. A company of troops destined for the Illinois was placed under the command of Major Pailloux and Captain Diron, brother of M. D'Artaguette.
In October, 1718, M. D'Boisbriant set out for his destination in the Illinois ; and at the same time M. de la Harpe, accompanied by about fifty men, started up Red river for liis concession among the Cadodaquis.' At this time M. Bondel was ordered to Natchi- toches to relieve M. Dutisnet, the latter being sent to the Illi- nois with Governor D'Boisbriant. Lieutenant de L'Boulaye, with thirty men, was sent by Governor D'Bienville, to build a fort among the Yazoos on or near the river of the same name. Ile erected the fort on the Yazoo, four leagues from the Mississippi. M. Dubuisson, who was in charge of the concession of Du Ver- nay at the Bayagoulas, complained that there was no safety there so long as the French continued at war with the Chetimachas. Accordingly, a treaty of peace was concluded with the chiefs of that tribe, greatly to their satisfaction, as well as to that of the inhabitants at Bayagoulas. They agreed upon their removal to the banks of the Mississippi about a league above the Vernay con- cession. Many more colonists came over from France in the spring of 1719. On three vessels came one hundred and thirty. M. D'Montplaisir arrived with thirty persons prepared to estab- lish a tobacco factory ; and an Irish gentleman brought over sixty men to form a settlement on his concession on the Ouachita (Washita) river, eight leagues from its mouth. M. D'Serigny, commander of one of the vessels, brought to the colony several hundred workmen and soldiers and about two hundred and fifty negroes, the first large importation of Africans to the colony. After this date, however, they continued to arrive rapidly, because the company was bound by its charter to introduce a considerable number each year.
On the 6th of June, 1719, two ships arrived from the coast of Guinea with five hundred negroes, all of whom were sold to the concessionaries. On the Ist of September, four ships arrived, having on hoard eight hundred and thirty men, all destined to remain in the colony. In the war which broke out between France and Spain and extended to the Louisiana colony, the con-
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cessionaries were called upon for assistance and responded as became faithful subjects of the French crown. No attempt was made by the Spanish vessels to ascend the Mississippi for the pur- pose of attacking the settlements along its banks. The large number of soldiers sent over served to protect the Mississippi set- tlements, but the outlying districts suffered. Late in September there arrived from France two hundred and fifty miners and sev- eral companies of soldiers, and with them came immense quanti- ties of ammunition, merchandise and stores for the colony. The miners were destined for the Illinois, and boats were at once constructed for their transportation up the Mississippi. Thus, the Western Company had fallen into the dangerous habit of look- ing after minerals instead of crops of corn, tobacco and rice. In October the news was received that the two companies-East- ern and Western-had been united by an edict of May 12, 1719. At the same time the ship brought several scores of Germans who had been secured from one of the German princes to be used in colonizing Louisiana. They were the first installment of twelve thousand, which had been thus "purchased." At this time, M. Pailloux was appointed major-general ; Diron D'Artaguette inspector-general; and D'Chateaugue lieutenant of the king. D'Artaguette was ordered to remove from Dauphine Island to the Mississippi, because the lands there were too sterile to be culti- vated.
In August, 1718, there arrived in the colony sixty persons designed for the concession of M. De la Harpe in the country of the Cadodaquis on Red river. When the Eastern and Western Companies were united by the edict of May 12, 1719, the colon- ists learned that they could procure the merchandise of the new company by paying at New Orleans five per cent above cost, at Natchitoches twenty-five per cent above cost, and in Missouri and Illinois fifty per cent above cost. All articles that were not specified in the official schedule were procurable upon the pay- ment of fifty per cent. above cost. In September, 1720, two hun- dred and fifty colonists arrived under the direction of MM. Elias and Le Bouteaux for the concession of M. Law on the Arkansas. They were nearly all Germans, and were a most desirable class of immigrants, because they were agriculturists. Many more of the same class for the Law concession arrived in the spring of 1721.
In February, 1720, over five hundred colonists arrived from France, and were distributed among the concessionaries. Every effort was made to make them contented with their lot, in order
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that favorable intelligence might be sent back to France of life in the colony. M. Hubert, director-general of the province, removed all his possessions from New Orleans to Natchez. With him were sixty laborers and domestics. He sent a large batteaux loaded with merchandise and ammunition up the river to Governor D'Boisbriant in the Illinois. M. De la Harpe, whose concession was in the country of the Cadodaquis, used every argu- ment for the Western Company to colonize the country still farther to the westward than his concession. Heshowed that it would be immensely to the advantage of the company to open commercial relations as soon as possible with the Spaniards on the southwest. He had himself visited many of the Indian tribes of that region and still farther west, and felt that a large trade could be built up with those nations.
In January, 1721, about three hundred persons arrived for the concessions of Le Blanc and Count Belleville on the Yazoo, and for others. A little later, sixty colonists arrived for the conces- sion of Marquis D'Ancenis on the Houmas ( Washita). About this time Governor Bienville sent an armed vessel to the river Madeline (Bayou Teche), with a considerable body of soldiers and workmen and an abundant supply of provisions and merchan- dise, prepared to build a fort and make a settlement on that river. This was the stream from which the Chetimachas had previously committed so many attacks on the Bayagoulas along the Missis- sippi. M. De la Harpe, who commanded this expedition, met with opposition from the start. A large body of natives met him and stated that they desired no change and did not wish to form an alliance with the French. They were made many presents and treated royally, and in the end the French were permitted to build the fort and open a trading post. In February, 1721, three hun- dred and forty-seven Swiss troops arrived and were distributed to the different posts throughout Louisiana. The same vessel brought a letter to D'Bienville, dated October 31st, 1720, and informing him that "it was with great regret they had heard of a disagreement between him and the director-general of the com- pany, and that the king believed him to be at fault. It was, how- ever, contemplated to appoint another director, which act they hoped would prevent any future disagreement in regard to the government of the province." At this time, also, the colonists of Louisiana heard of the failure and flight of John Law, comp- troller-general of finance of France. This failure, so important in the history of France and of all Europe, produced no serious effect in Louisiana. There was some shifting on the conces-
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sions, but otherwise there was no serious result. Of course, Law's settlement on the Arkansas, was forced to the wall, and compelled to remove to other portions of the colony. But the loss of one locality was the gain of another.
The famous black code of Louisiana was drafted by D'Bienville under the orders of the Western Company in 1724 and was kept in force with few alterations until 1803. The company had found it absolutely indispensable to introduce Africans to work the fields of the south, and it was necessary that they should be thoroughly controlled. Under this code Jews were expelled from the colony, and all other religion than the Catholic was prohibited. In November, 1721, D'Bienville was informed by M. Renard, of Natchitoches, that Marquis Aguayo, governor of the province of Lastikas, had arrived at the Adayes with thirty thousand dollars in gold, four hundred horsemen, and all the necessary materials to build a strong fort at that point. This visit was actually made, but the fort was not built, owing to the opposition of the French. In the autumn of 1721, M. D'Bourgmont commanded the district of Missouri, and M. D'Laboulay of the Arkansas. The latter by permission of Governor D'Bienville, removed with his troops to White river in order to be handier to the concession of M. Law and to be in a position to receive assistance to better advantage. Canadians from the Illinois, with pirogues loaded with provisions, continued to be murdered by the savages along the Mississippi probably at the instigation of the English. They were rich prizes for the starving Indians, who cannot be blamed, in view of the treatment they had received from the Spanish and the French. So great became the danger to these pirogues that the custom was adopted for many to come at the same time in what were called "convoys," where all the men were armed and often num- bered several dozen. Constant watch was kept day and night, and any inquisitive Indians were summarily dealt with. In November, 1721, a hospital was ordered built in New Orleans by the commissioners. It was twenty-one feet wide by seventy feet long, and was constructed of cypress boards. In 1722, a negro who had killed a Frenchman was burned alive in New Orleans.
From the first to the fourth of September, 1722, four ships which arrived at New Orleans discharged provisions and mer- chandise to the value of nine hundred thousand livres ($166,500). There arrived before this date from France, as before stated, M. D'Bourginont, a knight of the Order of St. Louis, sent out for the purpose of visiting the country of the Padoncas (Com- auches), then the allies of Spain, and located on the headwaters
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of the Kansas and the Platte rivers, to induce them to form a treaty with France. Thus far those Indians had been an effectual bar to the advancement of the French traders beyond their country. Several expeditions had gone to their villages, but were unable to advance beyond, owing to the influences of the Spaniards on New Mexico, who supplied them with horses, merchandise, arms and ammunition. So many were returning to France from the colony at this time that the commissioners ordered that no further desertions from Louisiana would be per- mitted without their consent. In September, 1722, a violent hur- ricane blew down many of the houses in New Orleans, and seriously damaged all the rice, corn and beans of the lower val- ley. About this time, also, the commissioners were informed by several of the directors of the concessions that they had success- fully cultivated indigo during the past season, and requested that a vessel might be dispatched to St. Domingo for a further supply of seed. The request was granted. M. D'Artaguette made three or more voyages up the Mississippi from 1718 to 1722, dur- ing which time he noted accurately the many phases and courses of the current for the benefit of all navigators.
Late in 1722 a request was received from the Spaniards of Vera Cruz to permit several of their vessels to visit New Orleans for the purpose of procuring a supply of flour ; but after delibera- tion the council refused permission, it not being deemed prudent to permit them to come up the Mississippi, which was not forti- fied and could not repel an attack should one be made. The Spaniards were told that they could obtain the flour at Mobile, whither it was sent. It will be observed from this circumstance that New Orleans had already become known as a produce mar- ket to the cities of the Gulf. As a matter of fact, large quantities comparatively of flour and pork had already begun to descend the river, mainly from the Illinois country, but considerable from the Missouri, Arkansas and Red rivers. Late in 1722, D'Bien- ville received word that five hundred persons under the command of the Spanish Marquis D'Guallo, had entered the province of Lastikas to the westward of Natchitoches. It was learned later that the number of persons was much exaggerated, but that many had actually arrived there for settlement.
Among the most serious obstacles to retard the progress of the colony were the hostility of the Indians, the shipment to the col- ony of convicts and abandoned women, the lack of women of good character, the dissipation and debauchery of the soldiers, the prohibition of any crop in the colony which could be raised
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in France, the oppressive nature of the company's monopoly, the jealousy and ill-will between the colonial officers, the refusal of the colonists to till the soil, and the lack of enough soldiers to protect the remote inhabitants, scattered as they were from the Illinois to Biloxi. From the 25th of October, 1717, to the 22nd of May, 1721, seven thousand and twenty persons were trans- ported by the company to the colony in forty-three vessels. At the latter date there were remaining in the colony five thousand four hundred and twenty persons, all the others having either died, deserted, or returned to France or gone elsewhere.
In 1720 Louisiana Province was divided into nine civil and military posts . or districts : Biloxi,. Mobile, Alibamos, Yazos, Natchitoches, New Orleans, Arkansas and Illinois. Over each was placed a military commander and judge, and each was pro- tected by a fort. All were constituted three ecclesiastical dis- tricts-the first under the Capuchins extending from the mouth of the Mississippi to the Illinois river; the second under the Car- melites extending from the Mobile to the Alibamos, and the third under the Jesuits extending over the Ohio, Illinois and other tributary streams of the Mississippi. The prosperity in Louis- iana under the Law system was unnatural and could not last. A check was therefore cast upon colonization and improvement on the various concessions, which occasioned a re-organization to meet the new conditions of trade and prosperity. The extensive grant to Law himself on the Arkansas river near its mouth, was . deserted by his German colonists as soon as the news of his col- lapse reached louisiana. However, they had come to stay if they could be made comfortable ; and accordingly they were given a large and valuable tract on both sides of the Mississippi at what has since been known as the "Gerinan Coast," a short distance above New Orleans. It cannot be said that the desertion of some of the outlying settlements was due to the failure of the Law sys- tem. Of course the collapse of the Law scheme removed one of the principal supports of the Western Company; and this lack of support to the latter prevented them from properly sustaining the colonists as they had faithfully promised to do. But it is true that comparatively few people returned to France as a result of the failure of the Mississippi scheme. If some of the outlying set- tlements were abandoned, the people joined other colonies and remained a source of strength to Louisiana as a whole.
In 1710, there again came down to New Orleans from Canada M. Dutisnet (sometimes written Dutistine and Dutisne), to enter the service of M. Crozat. He exhibited samples of sil-
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ver, which he claimed had been found in the Illinois country. He was given every assistance in the power of Governor D'Bien- ville, and later with a force of men and a liberal supply of provi- sions, passed up the Mississippi, thence up the Missouri, or at least in its valley, to the country of the Osages, thence about a hundred miles up to the Panis or Pawnees, and thence more than a hundred miles farther to the prairie country of the Padoucas, or what is now the Kansas river region of Kansas. In all these regions M. Dutisnet explored and examined the mineral sec- tions, but found nothing more valuable than lead and rock salt. He took possession of all the territory visited in the name of the king of France. In the Padouca country he planted a large col- umn and carved thereon the fleur de lis of his country. This important expedition was made partly by water and partly by land. It was noted that the waters of the Missouri were very middy, were filled with floating timber and that the current was strong and uncertain. Much of the country visited was moun- tainous, particularly in the country of the Osages, where many lead mines were found. It was observed that the nations far to the northwest were not stationary, but spent the winters in hunt- ing and following the buffalo herds. They were a vigorous people, and the men were great warriors and nearly always on the war path.
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