USA > Missouri > A history of Missouri from the earliest explorations and settlements until the admission of the state into the union, Volume I > Part 33
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be given to the marines or troops after landing, as it would "bring drunkenness and disorder," and Ulloa expressly says "this liquor is not allowed on board nor included in the rations," but sailors and soldiers accustomed to it are permitted to take it along on their own account, yet " will not be allowed to use it to excess." On Sundays and holidays mass is to be said on land before day-break, and all are required to attend, and when mass is over the Salve is to be sung, as "is done on the war-ships of Spain." After landing at night the rosary is to be recited and prayer said, trying, as to customs, " to keep all the good Christian practices of Spain." After dark, to prevent surprise by savages, two sentinels are ordered to be posted to guard the encampment. Extensive hunting is to be avoided, but in case hunters went out, on their return the weapons are to be examined so as to be loaded and ready for use. These weapons are to be placed near the commanders at each end of the camp, but covered up so as to be protected from the dew. It is ordered that the French officers should be consulted at all dangerous points, because they are familiar with the river and country. The officers are strictly enjoined to treat the men under them, and the settlers, with kindness, because the men, if treated harshly by the superior officers, might tire of the enterprise.3 The savages, the instructions say, should be treated with great tact.
On arrival of the expedition in the Illinois country the advice of the French commandant, St. Ange, on account of his experience, is to be taken. The engineer of the expedition, Don du Fossat, is ordered first to erect a stockade on arrival in the country, with a front of thirty to forty-five yards, and of the same width, large enough to enclose within it lodgings for the officers, the troops, and others, all to be erected at the least possible expense. The goods being sent up the river as presents for the savages are to be distributed as directed by St. Ange, and all formality observed by the French is to be fol- lowed in making these presents. Powder is to be sold, but not freely distributed, as among the French, to the hunters of the new settle- ments. A lot of new merchandise is also sent up to be sold to those who might desire to purchase, according to a fixed price-list. On arrival of the expedition at the place where the forts were to be
3 For the details of instructions for this expedition, see letter of Ulloa, dated January 7, 1767, in the archives of the Missouri Historical Society, being a copy of a letter found in the General Records of the Indies at Seville, among papers coming from the island of Cuba, and the correspondence of the Governors of Louisiana.
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MARRIED MEN TO BE FAVORED
erected it is ordered that the timber should be cut down and dragged away, and soldiers who assist as laborers in this work are to be allowed extra pay at the rate of four reals per day, carpenters and masons six reals per day, payable in powder, ammunition, rifles and clothing, and even savages to be employed as laborers at four reals per day, but to be treated with "much love and forbearance." While the work of construction was going on, one sentinel is to be kept on watch day and night. After the first lodging is thus provided for this establishment, it is ordered that brick should be made and quarries opened and foundation walls started for the fort outside of the stockade, and it is estimated that, since the settlers would have nothing else to do beside this, rapid progress would be made with this work, "as one sees," says Ulloa, "that the English people have done in their two establishments newly founded at Iberville and the Natchez."
After the completion of the fort, the directions continue, a battery is to be placed in the same, and a powder magazine built. The new settlement which it is expected would spring up near this fort, Ulloa orders shall be governed by the usages and customs of Spain. It is deemed important that the laborers and mechanics should be mar- ried men, so as to secure an orderly and moral population, and there- fore, it is said, "it is necessary to look with particular distinction and with marked esteem on those who are married, although they may be of low sphere and of mixed blood," and that if it should occur that some of the settlers are not able to marry on account of the fact that there are no marriageable women, this fact shall be communi- cated to the government so that orphan girls or some Florida girls may be imported "from Habana," where they are without means, and " are white and of good morals." Ulloa says that intoxication is a very common fault, but that among the Spaniards it is easy to overcome it, and he expressly orders that no "disorderly saloons nor vice-meetings" shall be allowed. Land is ordered to be distributed among the married settlers, and between all possessions a straight highway twelve varas (yards) wide is to be set aside.
A large part of Ulloa's instructions relate to the manner in which the Indians are to be treated, and the commander is particularly enjoined not to allow them to "have brandy, although this is the liquor they desire most." He says that the Indians on the east side of the river are not to be traded with, in order to avoid offending
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the British. Peace is to be preserved among the Indians living in the Spanish possessions, as well as with those residing on the east side, in the English territory. The English officers when visiting the new forts are to be treated with the greatest civility and every cour- tesy is to be extended; in case these English commanders need pro- visions or merchandise they are to be furnished, excepting "ammuni- tions of war." All settlers are allowed to trade with the Indians, but all traders are to be first authorized by the commander. The first thing to which attention must be given after the location of a fort, says Ulloa, "should be the establishment of a large vegetable garden, or several small ones, one for the commandant and officers, another for the rest of the employees and office clerks, and another for the marines, another for the army which must be taken care of until the establishment has more permanency." Several savages are also to be employed to hunt, and two of the soldiers "who know best how to shoot" are to accompany them, so as to get accustomed to it and to follow that sport themselves afterward, "as the French have done and the British are now doing." Domestic animals are to be dis- tributed among the settlers, and as soon as possible corn is to be planted and wheat to be sown, so as to put the establishment "on a solid basis" and " where no hunger will be known." Then, speak- ing of the soil and climate where this establishment was to be formed, he says that everything is "produced in abundance, because the cli- mate is suitable and the soil virgin," and that it is a consolation that the climate is healthy, "which was not the case with the first Span- iards in the places where the establishments of the Indies were begun, which were the commencement of the vast dominion that Spain has in the same," and this he thinks ought to be encouraging. In order to encourage the soldiers and civilians to settle in the new establish- ment on the Missouri, special inducements are offered " as a suitable dowry" to officers and soldiers who should marry before going there. Thus, sergeants are allowed fifty pesos, corporals forty, and soldiers thirty, and grants of land in the new settlements, which they may cultivate, being also permitted to live with their families while in the military service, but they are to make such arrangements as they could with their fellow soldiers to perform service for them at times.
The first one of the forts to be established, and the most impor- tant of the two, Captain Rui is instructed to erect on the north side
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TO GUARD AGAINST THE ENGLISH
of the Missouri river, and it is to be named "Carlos Tercero el Rey." The second is to be built on the south side of the Missouri, and named "El Principe de Asturias, Señor Don Carlos."
These instructions of Ulloa to Captain Rui were supplemented by secret instructions transmitted separately to St. Ange, to be deliv- ered to him on his arrival in the Illinois country. In these instruc- tions Rui was first advised that the expedition was intended for the Missouri river, in order to protect the country against the encroach- ments of the English. In the largest fort, on the north side of the Missouri, twenty-five men were to remain as a garrison, including two sergeants, two corporals and a drummer, under the command of Don Francesco Rui himself. The lower and smaller fort on the south side of the river was to be garrisoned by fifteen men, including two corporals, under the command of Don Francisco Gomez. Of the eight four-pound cannon taken up in the bateaux, four were to be placed in each fort. Rui was instructed that the Missouri river belonged to the domain of his majesty in its entirety, and that the English had no right to trade along it, and that, if the English could not be persuaded to leave this river, complaint must be made to the English officer to "restrain his people" from trying "to enter the territory of another monarch." He was instructed to prevent Spanish subjects from passing over to the English side, so that there might be no complaint from the English in that respect. In case the English commandant refused to co-operate, Rui was ordered to make report of the facts, but all force was to be avoided. Protest was to be made against English encroachments on every occasion, to impress upon them that the territory belonged to Spain, and in case an English force crossed, the utmost resistance was to be offered and force concentrated with artillery on the north side, and the fort defended there to the end; but if it should be impossible to resist, surrender was to be made on account of not having sufficient force with which to make greater resistance, and the whole matter reported to New Orleans.
These instructions as a whole show that the Spaniards then were very apprehensive of an English invasion of upper Louisiana. Cap- tain Rui was especially instructed to cultivate friendly relations with the Indians, but not to introduce the use of the musket among them, if they were not accustomed to its use; in fact, he was advised that it must be his aim "to cause the savages to forget the use of the
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muskets." He was ordered to ascertain the names of the tribes on the Missouri river, together with all facts about these Indians, and to forward this information to the governor. The importance of not divulging these secret instructions was impressed upon him, and he was urged to speedily form a settlement, and advised that thirty or forty Acadian families would soon arrive to swell the population.
When Rui arrived at his destination at the mouth of the Missouri river, he discovered that it was impossible to erect a fort near the mouth on the north side; the land overflowed every spring, being submerged as much as nine feet, so that these instructions of Ulloa could not be carried out. Thereupon, the engineer, Du Fossat, Lieutenant Gomez, and Captain Rui held a council of war, at which it was resolved that the instructions of Ulloa could not be obeyed, that, instead of building a fort at the mouth of the Missouri on the north side, they would build the principal fort on the south side, and that a block-house should be erected on the north side of the river. Accordingly, the fort "El Principe de Asturias, Señor Don Carlos" was built by Captain Rui, according to the design of Du Fossat, the engineer. The plan of the fort, which was transmitted to Ulloa in February, 1769,4 has been preserved in the general archives of the Indies in Seville. The fort erected was a square, eighty feet each way, including the bulwarks, the latter having a front of seventeen feet, and six feet flank. It was constructed out of thick logs, in part round and in part split through the middle. There were two gates into the fort, one seven feet high and four feet broad, and the other
4 This plan was transmitted from Ste. Genevieve, by Joseph Varela, who came up the river as a cadet with Rui. In his letter he says he altered and by special order built some works designed from those represented in the original plan of the royal fort El Principe de Asturias. From this it might be inferred that this Varela built the fort or barracks at Ste. Genevieve. A translation of the letter to Ulloa accompanying the plan, dated "Santa Genoveva, February 6, 1769," will interest some readers. Varela writes:
"Sir: Because of having altered and built some works (by special orders) distinct from those represented in the original plan of the royal fort El Principe de Asturias, I take the liberty of sending Your Lordship the enclosed plan and outline, showing the condition in which it is at present. I desire exceedingly that Your Lordship is enjoying perfect health, and my lady as well, at whose feet I offer my attentive veneration. I reiterate my obedience to Your Lord- ship's orders, and my best desires of executing that obedience in those things most pleasing to you. I pray God to preserve your life the many years that I desire, with the most complete prosperity.
I kiss Your Lordship's hand. Your most affectionate, attentive, and grate- ful servant, and subject.
Santa Genoveva, February 6, 1769.
Joseph Varela."
-
Plass del Real fuerte 1 Precios de deturmas.
* Puerta Precipial
: verta que la a la campana.
10
1) to incastel , ins table "
11 du cossera de presa
7
2
Escala de seis tucosas.
PLAN OF THE ROYAL FORT "EL PRINCIPE DE ASTURIAS-SENOR DON CARLOS"
-
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DISSENSIONS
seven feet high and three feet broad. Within the enclosure, there was one barrack fifty feet long, on one side, and on the opposite side another edifice of the same length, divided into four compartments, one room, eighteen feet square, serving as a residence for the captain in command. The fort was armed with five cannon, two six-pound- ers and three four-pounders, all mounted on gun-carriages.
Soon after the arrival of Captain Rui on the Missouri, dissensions broke out between him and his subaltern, Don Fernando Gomez. General insubordination and disorder prevailed; some twenty soldiers and one sergeant and the storekeeper deserted. Afterward they were captured at Natchez and taken prisoners to New Orleans. From a letter of Aubrey, dated January 4, 1768, it seems that these soldiers were also guilty of murder.5 Rui seems to have been con- spicuously incompetent. Ulloa, although he wrote the Marquis of Grimaldi that he was unable to determine who was to blame for the disobedience and disorder, says that Rui was unfit to command, that at Havana he manifested a disposition which made him extremely unpopular, that officers as well as troops disliked him, and that the workmen under him on the Missouri were so enraged against him that they would not permit him to enter the fort, and that he conse- quently relieved him of his command, and ordered that he and Lieutenant Gomez return to New Orleans.
Captain Rui, while in command at the fort "El Principe de Asturias," styled himself "military and civil governor of the post of Missouri." Under his order, no trader of whatever rank was allowed to trade at any other place or post than the one at which he had express permission to trade, on penalty of confiscation of all his goods. They were not allowed to move from one place to another, nor to purchase goods from each other under any pretext whatever. Trad- ers from the English district on the opposite side of the river were ordered expelled, and if they remained and continued to trade, their
5 Aubrey wrote General Haldimand at Pensacola that "Vingt soldats espa- gnols avec un sergent et un garde-magasin se sont révoltés aux Illinois contre leur commandant, et ont même manqué l'assassiner. Il viens d'apprendre qu'après avoir enlevé un bateau, huit milliers de farine et plusieurs autres effets appartenant à Sa Majesté Catholique, ils se sont réfugies au poste des Natchez. Comme un crime aussi atroce ne doit point rester impuni je prie Votre Excellence d'ordonner que l'on rende au poste espagnol le plus prochain les Hommes, le bateau. - De Terrage, Les Dernieres etc., p. 247.
6 Letter to the Marquis de Grimaldi August 4, 1768 .- General Archives of the Indies, Seville.
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI
goods were to be seized and confiscated. Traders were especially enjoined by Rui to preserve good relations with all the Indian tribes, and, says he, "I enjoin them not to act the tyrant in their traffic and commerce with the tribes, in order not to give any ground for com- plaints and suspicions." This order, however, seems to have caused some dissatisfaction among the traders in St. Louis, for they met at the house of St. Ange in May following, to present an address to Captain Rui, as governor of the Missouri district, to secure permis- sion from him to trade up the Missouri. They asserted that if the Indians were cut off from the customary trade they would certainly destroy all the French, that even now the inhabitants were not culti- vating their fields for fear of Indian attacks, and that the English were encouraging dissatisfaction among the savages. This memorial was signed by Laclede Liguest, De Volsey, Dubreuil, Habert, Amable Guion, Rene Kiersereau, Francois Martigny, A. Conde, La Page, Costi, Joseph La Broun, Picar la Royer, L'Arche, Paillan, Picart, Barssalou, La Haussie, Deschenes, and Bequette, all early traders in St. Louis.
Piernas was appointed the successor of Rui by Ulloa on the 5th of August, 1768, and on November 26th, he arrived at the Race Isl- ands (Le Isles à la Course), ninety miles below Ste. Genevieve, but was stopped there by a frozen river, which caused him to go with half his crew overland to Ste. Genevieve, after placing his boat and cargo in safety. He arrived there on the 18th of December, most of his men " disabled by frost, cold, and other discomforts occasioned by the impassable road in thirteen days' travel." From Ste. Genevieve, he sent provisions to the men left behind in charge of the boat. After the river became free of ice, these also arrived at Ste. Genevieve on the 29th of January. Here the boat was repaired, and on the 6th of February, started for St. Louis, where it arrived on the 30th of February. At length, on the 6th of March, he says: "I entered the fort 'El Principe des Asturias,' which is constructed at the entrance to the Missouri river and which was my destination." A few days afterward, on the Ioth of March, the fort was delivered to him by the commandant, Captain Don Francesco Rui, "with due formali- ties." 7 But while he was examining the effects of the king, the "war
7 When Captain Rui surrendered the fort there were eighteen soldiers, eight workmen, and two sailors in the fort, named as follows: Thomas de Covos, first sergeant; Carlos Herrero, drummer; Pedro Leon, Miguel Pineyro, Manuel Martinez, first corporals; Benito Denurrado, second corporal; Don Joseph
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ROYAL EFFECTS ATTACHED
supplies and other things" which were in charge for the time being, of a French store-keeper, he received a letter dated October 30th, 1768, containing an order from De Ulloa, to evacuate the place and deliver it to St. Ange, to whom, when he presented himself, with due ceremonies " fitting for the occasion," he delivered the fort, making a complete inventory of the war supplies, ammunition, and other effects "inside and outside." On the 28th of March, after the inventory was concluded, Piernas " transferred" himself, with all his garrison, workmen, and other employees, "to the village of Paincourt." While in this village, the effects in his possession were attached on a suit of some three or four resident traders of the town for a debt which had been contracted by the Spanish store-keeper, who had received the supplies of food for the fort, through these traders, but had fled and deserted. This suit was brought before the local council, which then administered the affairs of the Illinois coun- try in accordance to French law. St. Ange was president of this council. Execution was about to be levied when Piernas advised St. Ange, as first judge of the council and military superior, that he would recognize him alone in this matter, and that if he failed to protect the royal interests he would be held responsible. This, Piernas afterward reports to Governor O'Reilly, had the desired effect, and the attachment was released. Before effecting his depart- ure for New Orleans, Piernas, however, settled from the royal treas- ury all the debts contracted by the store-keeper, on account of sup- plies furnished the troops in the fort, both during the command of his predecessor, Don Francesco Rui, as well as during his own residence. This left everybody well satisfied, and greatly strengthened the at- tachment of the people to the government. But he had a poor opinion of the council which issued the attachment; he says it was "composed of four useless habitans and one attorney, a notorious drunkard called La Bussiere, who is the substitute of the one who was attorney-general in the Superior Council in this colony." He remarks that, "while the common welfare ought to be the concern of
Varela, cadet; Miguel Moreno, Juan Ruperez, Antonio Lucas, Juan Minun, Gaspar de Marcos, Alexandro Pennela, Domingo Otero, Bernardo Peres, Man- uel Guerra, Francisco Tienda, Juan Manuel Molina, soldiers. Workmen : Yup'l (Hippolyte) Marin, master carpenter; Francisco Petan, Francisco Cespe- des, journeyman carpenters; Manuel Abreu, apprentice; Antonio Thagua, journeyman bricklayer; Pedro Peres, Jephe Seco, journeyman stone-cutters; Antonio Victorino, journeyman smith. Sailors: Francisco Sole, Guillermo Boye.
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all, they only look after their own individual interests," and adds, "the good-for-nothing Monsieur St. Ange is the one who, as first judge, presides, and whatever is determined by the fancy of those counselors is authorized and executed through the good intention of the latter's respectable old age." Piernas, returning, arrived in New Orleans, October 31, 1769.
O'Reilly, on the 18th of August, 1769, took possession of Louisi- ana, and to him Piernas made this detailed report of the condition of affairs in upper Louisiana. Piernas was then reappointed com- mandant of the Illinois country by O'Reilly, and by decree of the king dated August 17, 1772, his appointment was confirmed, and the office of lieutenant-governor "of the village of San Luis, San Gen- oveva, the district of the Missouri river, and the part of the Ylinnesee which pertain to me" created. The salary of the lieutenant-gov- ernor was fixed at three hundred and twenty-seven pesos per annum, in case the person appointed to the office did not enjoy "any other pay from the royal treasury."8 Trudeau, in 1799, writes that the lieutenant-governors who preceded him had no other pay than that of captains in the regular service, and consequently, the trade with the Big Osages was conceded to them, "by which they could live decently," but that this trade had been transferred to Chouteau, and that Baron Carondolet "to give him relief, "authorized him to take twenty-five pesos from the Indian traders for passports, and that this for one year gave him an income. "To-day," he laments, "I am reduced to only 150 pesos, by reason of the various privileges of exclu- sive trade." 9
Piernas returned to St. Louis May 20, 1770, and the possession of upper Louisiana was then formally surrendered by St. Ange. O'Reilly gave him voluminous instructions as to the rules to be observed in the government of the territory confided to his care, then having only two settlements, Ste. Genevieve and St. Louis. O'Reilly enjoined upon Piernas especially to make the domination of Spain loved and respected, to administer justice promptly, impar- tially, and according to law, and to foster and protect commerce; to maintain the greatest possible harmony with the English, and punish promptly all excesses committed by any subject of Spain within
8 General Archives of the Indies, Seville - order appointing Pedro Piernas Lieutenant-Governor - dated 1772.
9 Trudeau's Report - dated January 15, 1798.
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English territory or any insult offered the English while navigating the Mississippi. Friendly relations were to be cultivated with the Indians, and no injustice was to be practiced in any relation with them. The lieutenant-governor was enjoined not to permit any trader among the Indians unless the commandant has good reports con- cerning his conduct. No permit, however, to trade with the Indians, he distinctly says, shall be refused to any one "who shall be recog- nized as an honest man," and for no reason shall any monopoly or right to exclusive trade be given. On the other hand, all Indian traders were required to make the lieutenant-governor exact reports of the condition of the various tribes among whom they car- ried on business, and "if any one be found lacking in truth he shall not be permitted to again enter among the Indians nor to trade with them again." By every means in his power Piernas was urged to disseminate among the Indians the idea of the magnanimity, piety, and justice of the Spaniards, and in proof of this he was ordered to show " the order of the king to the effect that no Indian slave shall be allowed in his states, not even those of hostile tribes." He was also ordered to see to it that the Indians at "San Luis" and "Santa Gen- oveva" shall receive good treatment and just prices for their furs and other articles which they bring for sale. In the distribution of pres- ents, Piernas was ordered to make "exact investigation of the tribes whose friendship is of interest to us, and in proportion to their num- ber, location, and other advantages he shall distribute the presents that he carried among them."
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