USA > Missouri > A history of Missouri from the earliest explorations and settlements until the admission of the state into the union, Volume I > Part 34
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Military matters were an object of O'Reilly's special care. He ordered that the troops be kept under good discipline, but treated with justice by their officers. One lieutenant and one corporal and seven soldiers were to be stationed at Ste. Genevieve. The fort on the Missouri was to be garrisoned with one sergeant and six soldiers, and at St. Louis one first sergeant, one second sergeant, one drum- mer, three first corporals, two second corporals, and twenty-five soldiers were to be stationed. These soldiers were to be furnished annually two pairs of shoes, two pairs of stockings, two shirts, and one new suit of clothes. Every three months the lieutenant-gov- ernor was required to make a detailed report of the condition of his detachment, inclusive of officers, and to report vacancies caused by death or desertion. A militia company was ordered to be organized in St. Louis with Don Juan Baptiste Martinez as captain, Don Juan
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Luis Lambert as lieutenant, and Don Eugenio Purrè as sub-lieu- tenant; another company was ordered to be organized at Ste. Gene- vieve with Don Francisco Vallè as captain, Don Francisco Charpentier as Lieutenant, and Don Francisco DuChouquette as sub-lieutenant. These companies were each to have one first sergeant and two sec- ond sergeants, four first corporals and four second corporals, and to include all men capable of bearing arms between the ages of fifteen and fifty years. The muster-roll of each company was to be for- warded to the governor, giving the name, age, nationality, height, and trade of each soldier. This militia service, O'Reilly says, must not be burdensome to the citizens, and they shall continue in their trade; but the men shall show "the fit respect for their officers and prompt obedience to their orders." In good weather these militia companies were to assemble on Sundays, and good sergeants and corporals of the Louisiana regiment were assigned to "drill each company, to train them in quarter-wheeling and firing." In these exercises " the wasting of the king's powder, " he says, shall be avoided, and "the discipline and treatment" shall be so mild that "they will be greatly satisfied with the new formation."
Under O'Reilly's regulations, no person was allowed to establish his residence "in the territory of the Ylinnesee belonging to his majesty without having permission therefor in writing from the governor-general of this province." The lieutenant-governor was enjoined not to allow English merchants or traders to enter the Spanish territory, nor to permit the vassals of his majesty to have any communication with them-a rule, we are well satisfied, was more honored in the breach than in the observance. He was required to write the governor-general of the province on every oppor- tune occasion, and to inform him exactly of whatever might occur at his post. "His explanations must be clear and concise and his facts very true and well investigated, so that the governor-general may take measures in regard to them that are advisable." A census was also ordered to be taken immediately, according to a form fur- nished, and at the beginning of each year thereafter. Don Piernas was advised to preserve the best of relations with " Monsieur de Santo Ange, whose practical knowledge of the Indians will be very use- ful to him; he shall do whatever he can to gain his friendship and confidence, shall listen to his opinion attentively on all matters, and shall condescend to him so far as possible without prejudice to the
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service." A lieutenant was always to be maintained at St. Gene- vieve "for political matters by appointment of the Governor-Gen- eral of the province," but subordinate to the lieutenant-governor of " the district of the Ylinnesee."10 These instructions were afterward, on August 17, 1772, expressly by royal cédula, approved by the king "in toto" and ordered to be punctually and effectively observed.11
Piernas, after his arrival in upper Louisiana, in a letter to Gov- ernor O'Reilly, says that the distance from New Orleans to the first French settlement at Ste. Genevieve is 345 leagues at high water, but one-third more at low water. In this settlement the command- ant was a French retired officer, De Rocheblave, "but little affected towards the Spanish nation, none at all to the French and hates the English for their ungovernable and turbulent nature." His post was subordinate "to the commandant and council of Pain- court." By this name Piernas means St. Louis, for by this name the village was then generally known. Nobody, however, he says, obeys this council of Paincourt or recognizes its orders. He observes that "every one lives as he pleases and does what he premeditates," and complains that license, laxity of conduct, and vice are character-
10 Alexander O'Reilly, a native of Ireland, born about 1735; sent to Spain when very young; joined the Hiberni regiment; served in Italy and received a wound which lamed him for life; in 1757 by permission served in the Austrian army under Field Marshal De Lascy, his countryman, in two campaigns against the Prussians; as a volunteer served in the armies of France under Marshal Duke de Broglie; was made lieutenant-colonel in the Spanish service; served against the Portuguese; attained the rank of brigadier-general; taught the Spanish troops German maneuvers and tactics; in 1762 was raised to the rank of major-general and sent to Havana as second in command; restored the forti- fications of Havana; made inspector-general of the king's infantry; in 1765 by his cool intrepidity saved the king's life in the famous Madrid insurrection, which forced the sovereign to fly to Aranjuez; was made a count; decorated with many military orders; in 1769 made captain-general of Louisiana; in 1774 in command of the great expedition against Algiers, which resulted unfortunately ; afterward appointed commander-general of Andalusia and Cadiz; fell in disfavor and retired to Catalonia; in 1794, however, was appointed to the com- mand of the army of the east Pyrenees, to oppose the French, and died suddenly at an advanced age. His descendants resided in the island of Cuba at one time and a street in Havana is named O'Reilly in his honor; immortalized in Byron's "Don Juan"-
"Is it for this, that General Count O'Reilly Who took Algiers, declares I used him vilely?"
Pittman has a poor opinion of O'Reilly-says he made "great professions of friendship," but endeavored "to tamper with the Indians settled in our terri- tory, and behaved with great inhospitality toward all English subjects, who had occasion to go up the Mississippi." Mississippi Settlements, p. 20.
11 General Archives of the Indies, Audiencia of Santo Domingo, Louisiana and Florida - 1742-Estante 86 - Cajon 5 - Legajo 84.
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istics of the inhabitants, that religion is given but scant respect, or "totally neglected," that the people are given over to every excess without fear of punishment imposed by the law, there being no law or justice to restrain them. They have, he says, no spiritual min- isters to correct, instruct, and withdraw them from the license in which they are living, and they form a "small rabble which is in nowise different from the very savages." He also says that some of the principal inhabitants are associated with some of the inhabitants of the English district, and engaged in clandestine business to the prejudice of the legitimate native traders, and that by means of this clandestine trade this company of associated traders actually supply the English district with salt at a less cost than it is furnished the people on the Spanish side of the river, where the salt is produced. The Indians at this time, he tells us, were almost all domesticated, little to be feared, and useful because trading in flesh, oil and skins exchangeable for merchandise. "If the brandy trade," he writes, "were rigorously forbidden, then one could do with them whatever he pleased, but with the abuse of that trade the Indians are found to be importunate, insolent, and perhaps murderous, because of the intoxication to which they are inclined."
Paincourt, or St. Louis, Piernas describes as being situated on a high and pleasant place, built on rocks, and not in any danger of inundation, a higher plain behind the village dominating the town and river. To him the situation appeared suitable for the construc- tion of a fort for defense. The troops and garrison he thought could be supported from the products of the territory, without the need of any other aid. He predicts that if the people of Paincourt will continue with the energy that they have hitherto exhibited they will "make the settlement one of the most populous, extensive, well managed and respectable of all that have been established." He notes that the trade is the same as at Ste. Genevieve, but "looseness of conduct, the abandonment of life, the dissoluteness and license" are also " without any difference at all." At this time numerous Indian tribes came to St. Louis to trade, and to receive presents from the king, "although the traders only are benefited and make profit out of them." He also reports, that a large number of settlers from the English Illinois country had moved into the Spanish territory.
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II.
Cruzat, Appointed Lieutenant-Governor, Arrives at St. Louis, 1775-Spanish Aid Americans in Struggle for Independence-Liberal Spanish Policy to Secure Emigration from English Settlements, etc .- Importation of Negro Slaves Proposed for Cultivation of Hemp and Flax-Two "Missourie" Indian Slaves Ransomed by Cruzat-DeLeyba Appointed Cruzat's Successor, 1778- River Journey from New Orleans to St. Louis, 93 Days-English Invade the Illinois Country and Spanish Possessions, 1780-English and Indian Attack on St. Louis,-Second Administration of Cruzat as Lieutenant-Gov- ernor-English Machinations, 1781, to Incite Indian Warfare - Disastrous Expedition of French-Canadians Under De la Balme Against the English -Lawless Condition in Illinois Country Following American Conquest -- Spaniards Fear American Invasion-Spanish-Indian Alliances, 1782-Don Manuel Perez Supersedes Cruzat-Spanish Intrigues to Separate Western American Territory from Atlantic States-Plan of Col. George Morgan to Form English-American-Spanish Republic at Mouth of the Ohio- Migration of Shawnees and Delawares Across the Mississippi to Spanish Possessions-Trudeau Succeeds Perez-Genet's Efforts to Organize Filibust- ering Operations Against Louisiana-Spanish Plan of Defense-Invasion of Spanish Possessions Prevented by United States Government.
In 1775 Piernas was succeeded by Don Francesco Cruzat, ap- pointed by Governor-General Don Luis de Unzaga. Cruzat arrived in St. Louis May 20, 1775. While he was lieutenant-governor the English North American colonies declared their independence. Spain from the first gave the colonies secret assistance, through hatred of England,12 although the triumph of the Americans, all thinking men could even then well see, was likely to give the death-blow also to Spanish colonial dominion in America.13 In June, 1779, this jeal- ousy on the part of Spain impelled her statesmen to join with France in declaring war against England, in the hope of destroying her naval supremacy and of recovering Gibraltar. In the beginning of the War of Independence, money, gunpowder, and clothing secretly reached the Americans through the Spanish-American possessions, and in
12 Colonel Rogers, in July, 1779, came to St. Louis to receive goods which had been secretly stored there for the Americans.
13 Count Aranda said in 1783: " This federal republic is born a pigmy, if I may be allowed so to express myself. It has required the support of two such powerful states as France and Spain to obtain its independence. The day will come when she will be a giant, a colossus formidable even to those countries. She will forget the services she received from the two powers, and will think only of her own aggrandizement. The liberty of conscience, the facility of establishing a new population upon immense territory ** * will attract the agriculturists and mechanics of all nations, for men ever run after fortune, and in a few years we shall see the tyrannical existence of this very colossus of which I speak. * * * These fears are well founded; they must be realized in a few years, if some greater revolution even more fatal does not sooner take place in our Americas."
3º3
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1778 the invasion and conquest of the English Illinois country by Gen. George Rogers Clark gave the Spanish commandants on the Mississippi undisguised satisfaction. Clark reports that "our friends the Spanyards (are) doing everything in their power to con- vince me of their friendship, a correspondence immediately com- menced between the governor and myself." 14 Clark visited De Leyba, evidently, shortly after his arrival at Kaskaskia in 1778, and says that an intimacy commenced between them, and that the Spanish lieutenant-governor omitted nothing to prove his attachment for the Americans "with such openness as left no room for doubt."
The Spanish government had always been very anxious to increase the population of upper Louisiana, and Cruzat was instructed par- ticularly to make every effort toward securing such an increase of population, including French-Canadian families "living among the English." To induce them to remove to the western side, such emigrants were to be supplied with agricultural tools, land grants, and given every facility to establish themselves. Forty thousand pesos were set aside by the government to increase the population, promote commerce, and secure the friendship of the Indians. The Canadians, Cruzat afterward reported, were generally very poor, and others, owing to the war, had been greatly impoverished. It was his opinion that by making small advances it would not be diffi- cult to attract these to the west side, but others, he says, are so poor, that they "have not a shirt to wear," and many of them, he writes in December, 1777, have been "forced to bear arms against the Bostoneses." The letter of Cruzat was laid before the king, and on April 7, 1778, it was ordered that the necessary assistance should be extended to secure emigration. The settlers to be attracted to upper Louisiana were to be French Catholics, Italians, and Germans, who might desire to come into the country, or Spaniards sent from Spain. Upon the arrival of such emigrants the commandants of the several posts were advised to take great pains to settle them in suitable places as near as possible together, so that in case of emer- gency. they might render each other assistance. It was provided that each family, i. e., man and wife, should receive a tract of land of five arpens in front, with the customary depth, and be supplied, for the first year, with a barrel of maize in the ear, for each. Also, for each member of the family above 12 years an additional barrel 14 Clark's Campaign in Illinois, p. 35. (Robert Clark & Co., 1869.)
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HEMP AND FLAX
was to be provided, and for all under the age of 12 a half-barrel. In addition, each family was to have an axe, hoe, scythe or sickle, a spade, a hen, a cock, a pig of two months, "with which they may easily found and establish a household which will provide them with a living, or may even make their fortune." For the children able to work an additional hoe was also to be provided. This decree says: "The source and origin of all empires has been the refuge and kind usage which men find in the gentleness of the laws. The good or evil administration of them is the greatest impediment to the building of a government, for not only are those who are present and who are exposed to them exasperated, but others are prevented from coming. Hence, as our laws are extremely mild, they ought not to be obscured by ambition and self-interest, as has been the case with some settlements formed for the king." 15
The cultivation of hemp and flax in the Illinois country then greatly interested the Spanish government. The fact that in 1775 Laclede had succeeded in "producing a goodly quantity " of hemp, which he shipped to New Orleans, may have suggested the idea of encouraging the cultivation of these staples in upper Louisiana. At any rate, in 1777 Governor Cruzat was instructed to encourage hemp and flax culture, but he advised the authorities at New Orleans that owing to the weakness of the population in those settlements nothing could be accomplished, and suggested that if negro slaves were sent up into the colony and sold to the settlers on credit they might be able to cultivate these products. Subsequently Cruzat was informed by Galvez that "his majesty has decided to make provision for supplying them with negroes in such manner as may be practicable."
Cruzat seems to have aroused the displeasure of Galvez by send- ing, without first obtaining his authority, a pirogue from St. Louis to the Saukee and Renard villages established in the English Illinois country, in order to ransom two Missouries held by those Indians in slavery. This gave currency at the time to the report that the Span- iards were endeavoring to draw away the Indian tribes living in the English territory. Cruzat in a letter to Galvez regrets his "heed- lessness," but says he sent his pirogue by permission of the British commandant and under his passport, and that the negotiations to secure the return of these Indian captives were conducted in the
16Decree of Governor-General Galvez, dated February 19, 1778.
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presence of English merchants stationed among them. He pleads that his conduct in this matter was in exact accord with his instruc- tions; that the five slaves he ransomed belonged to the Peoria tribe settled near Kaskaskia, and that he had sent them to that tribe in charge of Don Francesco Vallè, as well as four others belonging to the Missouries, and that they had arrived "very happily." 16 Shortly after this incident, however, Cruzat was removed.
De Leyba was appointed Cruzat's successor in June, 1778, and made the trip from New Orleans to St. Louis in ninety-three days, arriving there July 10, 1778. He was received, he says, by "all the habitants with extraordinary signs of rejoicing," which he attributes to the fact that the people believe, "since this district is commanded by a person chosen by your lordship, they have whatever is neces- sary for their progress and happiness." The bateau upon which De Leyba came up river was armed with two swivel guns, which he sent back to New Orleans; but he retained the banner, explaining "for since I must go quite often to the village of Santa Genoveva I have no other to fly in the boat which transports me." 17 De Leyba quickly ascertained that the block-house, the so-called fort "Carlos Tercero el Rey," at the mouth of the Missouri river, was useless and recommended that it be dismantled, and a new fort established on Cold Water (Aquas Frias). This recommendation was approved by Galvez. 18 But Galvez could not grant his request to be allowed to establish a fort at the mouth of the Mua (Des Moines) river, to prevent the English from going into the upper Missouri river terri- tory, because the situado, i. e., the money at his disposal, did not allow this expenditure. A demand, too, for an additional force of two hundred men could not be granted; yet De Leyba was instructed and charged to prevent the English from entering "our rivers," in order that they might not "entice our Indians." The Osages were at this time also very troublesome, continually committing thefts and outrages at Ste. Genevieve and elsewhere. Galvez advised De Leyba to request the respective chiefs to punish the malefactors, and if they failed to do so, to cut off all trade relations with these Indians, and to allow no one to take to their villages any merchandise. But this
16 Letter from Cruzat, to Galvez dated November 26, 1777.
17 Letter of De Leyba to Galvez, dated July 11, 1778.
18 Letter of Galvez to De Leyba, dated January 13, 1779.
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seems to have been a very ineffectual method of securing peace or respect.
After the declaration of war against England by Spain in 1779, the English officers at Michillimackinac and Detroit began to make active preparations to drive out the Americans from the Illinois country ; and they also deemed possible the conquest of the Spanish possessions in upper Louisiana. Rumors of English preparations to invade the Spanish country prevailed in all the settlements on both sides of the river. De Leyba, anticipating this attack, fortified St. Louis as far as its open situation permitted ; he built a wooden tower at the expense of the people, at one end of the town, and in addition threw up two lines of entrenchments. When the attack was made on May 26, 1780, he successfully repelled the enemy with twenty-nine veteran soldiers and two hundred and eighty-one militia. The attacking force consisted of three hundred English troops under Captain Hesse, and nine hundred Indians, according to the report made by the intendant, Martin Navarro, to the Marquis of Sonora, then minister of the Indies. When the official report of this defense reached Madrid the king was greatly pleased. His majesty con- ferred the rank of lieutenant-colonel upon De Leyba, and that of captain on De Cartabona, second in command, as a reward for thus repelling, as stated in the Spanish commission, the English captain "with 300 regular troops and 900 savages" from capturing "San Luis de Ylinesse." Evidently, the number of English soldiers under Captain Hesse was greatly exaggerated, while no doubt more than 900 Indians participated in the assault. De Leyba died June 28, 1780, before he was advised of his promotion.
After De Leyba's death Don Silvia Francesco de Cartabona acted as lieutenant-governor until the arrival of Don Francesco Cruzat, who was reappointed by Galvez July 25, 1780. In a letter addressed to Cartabona, Governor-General Galvez thanks the inhabitants of St. Louis for their zeal and activity in defending the town from the English attack, and says that he will inform "the government of this example, worthy of a noble emulation in all the colony." Carta- bona was especially authorized in the name of the sovereign to abundantly thank the special lieutenant of Ste. Genevieve, Don Francesco Vallè, and Messieurs Picote de Belestre, Don Benito Vasquez, 19 and other inhabitants, " in general and particular," for
19. Galvez addressed,a special letter of thanks to him, and assured him that he would recommend him to the king.
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the "valor and noble intrepidity with which they have been enabled to restrain the impetuous pride of the enemy in the midst of greatest want."
Cruzat was ordered to give his whole attention to the con- servation of the post of St. Louis, supplying all the means possible for its defense in order to restrain and repel the raids and designs of the enemy, both of the British nation and of the Indians, who should attempt to destroy the settlements in his jurisdiction. He made the trip from New Orleans to St. Louis in fifty-nine days, a time then considered so short as to be worthy of notice. He was ordered to reserve one half of the war supplies that he took north for the de- fense of the post and to give the other half as presents to the Indians who might visit the village of Ste. Genevieve. These presents, consisting of 200 pounds of powder and corresponding balls, were to be delivered to Don Francesco Vallè for distribution. Cruzat was also advised to endeavor to conserve the greatest harmony with the parish priest at the post, his example to serve as a rule for the others, and to maintain friendly relations with the American commanders on the opposite side of the river.
In December, 1780, Cruzat, in order to show the English machina- tions among the Indians in the Spanish Illinois country, sent to New Orleans by Auguste Chouteau some English flags which had been given the Indians on the Missouri, and also some medals which they distributed. He writes that the English are continually smuggling merchandise into the Spanish territory; that the Aioas (i. e., Iowas) had been corrupted by them, and also the Hotos (i. e.,Otoes) on the Missouri, and remarks that he does not doubt the truth of this report, because he knows from experience "that the appearance of gain does not excite them to take action, but the reality of the presents does." He further says that although he distributes as many presents as he is able, yet these presents never reach the hundredth part of those which the English distribute, and that he is compelled to satisfy his Indian allies "more by astuteness than presents." 20
In the spring of 1781 Cruzat heard of English preparations to attack the Spanish settlements, that munitions and provisions were being collected at Green Bay (Bahia Verde) for that purpose, and that they were distributing "an enormous amount of merchandise" among the Indians, to enlist them in their contemplated campaign.
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