USA > Missouri > A history of Missouri from the earliest explorations and settlements until the admission of the state into the union, Volume II > Part 26
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When DeLassus was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of upper Louisiana in 1799, the first comprehensive and statistical census of Upper Louisiana was taken, showing the following population: St. Louis 925; Carondelet 184; St. Charles 875; St. Ferdinand 276; Marais des Liards 376; Maramec 115; St. Andre 393; Ste. Gene- vieve 949, exceeding the population of St. Louis; New Bourbon 560; Cape Girardeau 521; New Madrid 282; Little Meadows (Prairie) 49 ; total population 6,028. The total number of whites was 4,948 - slaves 883, and free colored 197. During this year 34 marriages were celebrated and 192 births and 52 deaths occurred. According to the last Spanish census of 1803, the population of the Cape Girar- deau district was 1,206, an increase of 622 since the census of 1799, the population having more than doubled in four years in this district.
The era of the French and Spanish possession of Missouri was unmarked by such Indian wars, forays or massacres as occurred in the Anglo-American colonies. The rules and regulations of the Spanish government for the protection of the Indians were numerous and specific, and the Government sought in every possible manner to protect these aboriginal inhabitants. In upper Louisiana, as elsewhere in America, the French settlers managed to live in amity with the Indians. When the savage visited the French villages on the Mississippi, he felt at home there. These French pioneers were free from the haughty arrogance and race superiority that characterised even the poorest Anglo-Saxon pioneer and they were especially free from the land hunger that consumed even the humblest English speaking settlers. Hence the two races generally lived in harmony and exchanged good offices. Then, too the French
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understood the Indian character and manifested a decent respect for his customs, his habits and his prejudices and for his institu- tions; made no attempt to induce him to accept alien and foreign ideas, always, of course, excepting the French missionaries, whose labors to Christianize them were unceasing and indefatigable.
But it would be erroneous from what has been said, to suppose that during the Spanish government, Indian depredations did not occur. The Osages, especially, always gave the Spanish authorities much trouble. Trudeau says that they always have "been the great- est obstacle to the settlement of the country." In 1794 Auguste Chouteau went to New Orleans with a delegation of Osage chiefs, and while there with Carondelet devised a scheme to control these In- dians. In a secret letter, dated May 24th, 1794, Carondelet wrote the Duke Alcudia that the Big and Little Osages had committed numerous robberies from the "city of San Luis de Ilinoa," as far south as "Nuevo Madrid," and Nachitoches, so that the set- tlers scarcely dared to leave the settlements to cultivate the fields or hunt. Like his predecessors, he had tried every means to re- duce them to perpetual peace with the Spaniards, but that he too, ex- perienced the same perfidy. He says, also, that he had tried to excite other savage nations against them, in the same manner as had been done with the Choctaws and Chickasaws, Arkansas and other Ind- ian nations, but that while awaiting the results of these measures, the expedition organized by the French on the Ohio to invade Louisiana, made it necessary to take into account the possibility of these French using the Indians against Spain. He therefore thought it best to receive a delegation of six of their great chiefs, who came from the Osage river to make peace, and accede to their request on condition that they pledge themselves to permit the erection, on a height over- looking their principal village, of a fort to be garrisoned by Spaniards. This was to hold their young warriors in check, and to obtain from them satisfaction in case of robberies committed by them. The Ind- ians had accepted this proposition. He then adds that he was informed beforehand that a citizen of "San Luis," Don Auguste Chouteau, who "enjoys the greatest consideration among the Indians" had offered to enter into contract to establish such a fort at his own expense, on condition that he be granted the exclusive trade with these Osages for six years, and that he receive the annual sum of $2,000, to be paid a garrison of twenty men of the fort, this sum not to be paid in case His Majesty should conclude to alter the arrange-
2II
FORT CARONDELET
ment by sending twenty veteran soldiers of the army to the fort. Carondelet then urges the approval of the contract as follows: "It is to be observed likewise, that the Commandant of said fort enjoys no pay whatever, and that His Majesty can replace him by an officer of his troops whenever he may deem proper, but I hold that until these Indians become habituated to the intercourse and habits of our na- tion, it will not be proper to adopt a different system; and as the six years of the present contract appear to me sufficient, therefore, His Majesty will at the end of that time find himself, without the slightest expense, master of a fort with all the edifices of stone necessary for a garrison of forty men, and will find a powerful nation under his dominion, who thus far have been an obstacle to the growth and pros- perity of the settlements of upper Louisiana, as the Osages have amid the people of Nuevo Madrid alone stolen more than sixty horses in one night ; and finally the enemies of this province, whether French, American or English would be deprived of a resource, always ready at hand, for introducing themselves into our interior possessions and extending their incursions three or four hundred leagues."
Auguste Chouteau in urging his proposal upon the Spanish offi- cials, writes on May 18, 1794, that the Osages count twelve hundred warriors, and that in view of the knowledge he acquired of them after thirty years of commerce with them, he is of the decided opinion that the only means of subjecting these Indians and preventing them from destroying and pillaging the settlements, is to construct a fort in "their very town," maintaining in it a garrison, and thus enabling the chiefs to "restrain the young warriors and prevent them from making raids, and chastise with the penalty of death those who commit mur- der in our districts, and bring about also restitution of such robberies as they may commit." In order to accomplish this with the appro- bation of the Osages, he proposed to construct this fort "incurring the risk with his brother, Pedro Chouteau" who is to be Commandant of the same, until the government should station a detachment of regular troops there. To indemnify him for the expense incurred, he asks for the space of six years, the exclusive trade privileges among the Osages on the Osage river, "without any other trader or hunter, except those he may send, on any pretext, presenting himself to trade with said nation." This proposal Carondelet accepted on the 2Ist of May 1794, advising the Duke of Alcudia on the 24th of May 1794, in the letter already quoted. The plans and specifica- tions for this fort, which became known as "Fort Carondelet," are
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dated May 18, 1794. It seems they were drawn up at New Orleans, as follows:
"The said stronghold is to be composed of two parts : The first shall be of brick or stone and the second of logs ten inches square laid horizontally one upon the other, as the Americans practice. It shall form a perfect square each side of thirty-two feet. The second part shall be placed diagonally, that is, so that each side shall cut and correspond to the angle of the first story, and each angle to the middle side of the second story : by which means those defending the top can exterminate with hand-grenades and guns through the holes in the plankwork, all those who attempt to force the door or approach the base of the wall.
The planking of the first story floors shall be at least three inches thick unless the contractor prefer to use tight bricks or stone of same dimensions. That of the second story shall be at least two inches thick and that of the gar- ret shall be of common boards.
The elevation of the first story shall be ten feet between first and second floors, that of the second story nine feet in the same manner : the roof shall have a height of six or eight feet and be covered with tiles, bricks, slate or mud.
All the woodwork shall be sustained by four posts, set at equal intervals in the interior of the edifices, on which the beam shall rest to insure greater solidity.
There shall be two embrasures in each facade of the first story, ten by eight inches square, for placing artillery on pillars (?) with a very thick door as on the vessels.
The door of the fort of the most solid nature with hinges, bolts and lock of iron, shall be 612 feet high and five feet wide. The stairway to upper story shall be solid and well conditioned; there shall be on each side of second story, ten loop-holes for guns 412 feet over the floor, and two at the extremities of the lower sides at a height of six feet, so that they can be used by mounting on a chair without danger of the enemy being able to insert guns to fire into the lower story.
New Orleans, May 18, 1794.
Auguste Chouteau. Rubric."
In order to protect the settlers against the Osages and a possible hostile American invasion, Carondelet as already stated induced the Shawnees and Delawares to settle permanently in upper Louisiana. This immigration and settlement was brought about chiefly by Louis Lorimier. The extent and character of his power over them is evident from the fact that on one occassion when a Delaware Indian killed a white man on his way to Vincennes, in what is now Illinois, he induced the Delawares, although at the time living without the jurisdiction of the United States, to surrender the guilty Indian to the authorities at Kaskaskia for punishment. This incident is noted by Jefferson in his correspondence, and the name of the man murdered is given by him as Harrison. He instructed the Secretary of State to write a letter of acknowledgement to the Marquis de Casa Yurjo, the Spanish Ambassador, and also in- structed the Secretary of War, General Henry Dearborn, to send a copy of this letter, together with a letter of thanks to Lorimier, and to
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RESPECT FOR INDIAN RIGHTS
arrange to interview and give a medal to the principal chief of the Delawares, Takinantha (or Captain Allen).28
During the Spanish regime no effort was made to deprive the Indians of their land by treaty, "to extinguish the Indian title," as it is euphonistically expressed by the Americans. Under the Spanish law all the vacant land, as "waste land," was held to be the absolute property of the Spanish king, requiring no pretended "extinguishment" of the Indian title. The title, however, of the Indians to the land which they held in actual possession was fully recognized, and many rules and regulations were made to protect this possession.
Only at rare intervals would an Indian rob or kill a French settler. In fact (if we except Gabriel Bolon 29 and his nephews, murdered by the so-called Mascoux and the massacre at Mine la Motte by the Indians), no record of the murder of a Frenchman by an Indian, during the Spanish Government in Missouri, has been preserved. Occasionally American settlers were killed by the In- dians during the Spanish occupancy. Sometimes too, a French set- tler would be robbed by an Indian; but this did not lead to a bloody Indian war. In some way the matter was always amicably adjusted by the Spanish authorities. Whenever it was necessary to apprehend and punish an Indian, great care was exercised to impress and con- vince his tribe that the punishment was just. The American settlers never troubled themselves in that way. Whether the chief of the tribe or the tribe approved or disapproved the punishment was of little consequence. In fact, the chiefs and other Indians could consid- er themselves fortunate if they were not killed without ceremony for an offense by one of their tribe of which they had no knowledge whatever. The Anglo-American asked permission from no one before proceeding against the Indians in his neighborhood. He took the matter in his own hands, and often remorselessly, cruelly, without the semblance of fair dealing, trampled all argument and all considerations under foot. If an Indian was tried at all it was in a forum, the nature and character of which he did not understand and was unable to comprehend; matters, also, which no one took the trou- ble to explain to him. His own chief was not consulted nor asked to assent to the justice of the sentence .. What wonder Indian wars and
28 He lived in the big Delaware (or Loup) village near Apple creek.
29 Came to upper Louisiana from Vincennes; he and his brother Amable were Indian interpreters for General George Rogers Clark.
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massacres resulted? And yet we hear much of the cruelty of the Spaniard in his dealings with the Indians. No doubt the early explorers and conquistadores were guilty of great cruelty, but the best commentary on the merits of the two methods is the fact, that in all Spanish speaking countries in Central and South America, the Indians and their descendants still constitute the bulk of the population, reclaimed to some extent to civilization and professing Christianity; while on the other hand, in the English speaking portion of the continent, they have been exterminated, or if not exterminated, driven and moved from place to place until now, finally, even their last resting place, assured them as a common home "as long as grass should grow and water run," against their will, and in the interest of great railroads and the land-hungry Anglo-Saxon, is divided among them in severalty, so that in some way white men may be enabled to secure their last acres. But our procedure is justified by the commercialism, the business interests of the country. Upon no subject does greater ignorance or more unfounded preju- dice generally prevail among the people than in regard to the treatment of the Indians by the Spaniards. The Indians in many instances received cruel treatment from the Spaniards, especially on the islands of the Caribbean Sea, but nothing in history can be compared with the cruel and heartless manner in which the Indians of North America have been maltreated, robbed, plundered and goaded into wars of retaliation, in order to absorb their rich heritage.
II
The Royal Domain in Upper Louisiana-Public Lands Donated, Not Sold - Officials Authorized to Grant Lands - Ordinances of O'Reilly and Gayoso -Speculation in Land not Favored - Ancient Spanish Land-Laws Cited-Methods of Securing Title to Public Lands- Popular Neglect of Same-Regulations of Morales Controverted-Authority of Morales Cited - Letter of Ramiro de Lopez Angula-Liberal Colonial Policy of Spain -Simple Procedure in Procuring Land Grants - First Official Land Surveyors - Petition for Land Grants, and Incidental Orders - Large Land Concessions Preceding Change of Government - Interesting Examples of Petitions Securing Immense Grants of Land - Mining Priv- ileges-Lead Mine Claims-Salt Spring Concessions.
Neither the French nor the Spanish Governments sold any por- tion of the Royal domain in upper Louisiana. No instance of such a sale can be found. Under the French Government grants of land were made by the Governor and Ordonnateur; but when O'Reilly took possession of the colony, he recommended to the King of Spain
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SPANISH LAND LAWS
that the Governor alone be authorized to make such grants, in other words, be vested with the powers of the Royal Intendants as exer- cised in the other American possessions of Spain. His suggestion was approved.30 As such Intendant, O'Reilly published his ordi- nances in 1770.31 So also Gayoso published his ordinances in 1798. These ordinances expressly provided for donations of land, to actual settlers coming into the province and desiring to "establish" themselves, and not for the sale thereof. In 1798 the Intendancy of the Province however was severed from the office of the Governor by Royal decree, and the exclusive faculty to grant and distribute land vested in a Royal Intend- ant. Don Juan Ventura Morales was appointed to this office, and in 1799 promulgated a series of rules and regulations in regard to grants of land, and particularly defined how donations of land to actual settlers should be made. Sales of land seem also to have been contemplated, although none were ever actually made.32 The first sale of land by the sovereign of the soil in upper Louisiana was made by the United States.
In the ordinances of Gayoso, for the first time, reference was made to the Illinois country. In his ordinances, it is provided that "In the Illinois, none shall be admitted but Catholics, of the class of farmers and artisans. They must also possess some property and must not have served in any public character in the country from which they come. The provisions of the preceding article shall be explained to the immigrants already established in the province who are not Catholics, and shall be observed by them, they not having done it until this time, being an omission and contrary to the orders of his Majesty, which required it from the beginning," and "To every new settler answering the foregoing description and married, there shall be granted two hundred arpens of lands. Fifty arpens shall be added for every child he shall bring with him, and in addition, twenty arpens for every negro that he shall bring."
These regulations also provided that no land should be granted to unmarried strangers, not farmers, and without property in negroes,
30 American State Papers, 5 Public Lands, p. 251.
31 These ordinances were published Feb. 18, 1770, and on Aug. 24, 1770, the Marquis de Grimaldi informed Don Louis de Unzaga, the successor of O'Reilly, that they had been approved. In Mackay vs. United States, 10 Peters, 341, the supreme court held that they were not in force in upper Louisi- ana.
32 American State Papers, 5 Public Lands, p. 704.
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI
or merchandize or money, until they had resided in the province four years, and conducted themselves "well, in some honest and useful occupation," but artisans were fully protected and after having resided in the country three years could apply for land. On the recommen- dation of a farmer any unmarried man, if the farmer was "willing to give him his daughter in marriage," as soon as the marriage was accomplished, could secure a grant of land. On coming into the province it was necessary to take the oath of fidelity to the king of Spain. If the immigrant claimed to be married proof of the marriage was required, and he had to specify what property belonged to his wife. No land could be granted to traders. Speculation in land was to be "by all possible means" prevented, and the new settler to whom land was granted lost it without recovery, if within the term of one year he did not begin to establish himself upon it, or if in the third year he "shall not have put under labor ten arpens in every hun- dred," and that "after he has produced three crops this settler has a right to sell his lands." But in case of his death the land descended to his lawful heirs, if "he has one, resident in the country," or if such heirs lived "elsewhere they must resolve to come and reside on it." These rules also required that the grants should be made so as "not to leave pieces of vacant ground between them," since this would offer greater exposure to the attacks of the Indians and render more difficult the administration of justice and the regulation of the police, " so necessary in all localities, " and "more particularly in new settle- ments. "
Under these regulations the Spanish officials of upper Louisiana, exercising the power of sub-delegates, made grants of lands varying in number of arpens according to the prayer or petition, and the cir- cumstances of the case. To a poor settler they would give from 200 to 500 arpens ; but, if he displayed ability and energy in reducing the land to cultivation, the Spanish officials were always ready to give him additional land. To the wealthy and influential settler larger grants would be made, perhaps of several thousand arpens or a league square, and, although the ordinances of O'Reilly prohibited a grant of more than one league to a person, the ordinance was construed as not prohibiting several grants of one league square to the same individual.33 Occasionally, in upper Louisiana, grants were made directly by the Governor-General. Thus, Carondelet directly granted to Louis Lorimier 7,000 arpens of land where the city of Cape 33 Chouteau's Heirs vs. United States, 9 Peters, p. 147.
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ROYAL INTENDANTS
Girardeau is now located, and to St. Vrain 10,000 arpens of mineral land in the lead district. He also ordered Trudeau to grant Moses Austin a league of land. Casa Calvo gave Colonel Christopher Hays a special permit to settle, and under this permit he took up his residence on Hubbell creek, and obtained a grant of 1,000 arpens from Don Carlos DeLassus.
In upper Louisiana, there were only two "patented officers," says De Lassus, these being the Commandants of St. Louis and New Madrid, who had the authority of sub-delegates, and as such could make grants or concessions of land. Commandants at St. Charles, Ste. Genevieve and Cape Girardeau, were "particular" Com- mandants, and had no such sub-delegate powers. Prior to 1799 the Commandant of St. Louis was the sub-delegate "for the Illi- nois," and the Commandant of New Madrid, sub-delegate for that district. How these sub-delegations were bounded is not definitely known; but it is probable that the New Madrid district extended as far north as Cape Cinque Homme (St. Cosme) creek, the northern limit of Morgan's claim. This seems to be confirmed by the fact that when Don Louis Lorimier, in 1795, made application for a grant of land, situated south of Cinque Homme, his petition was made to the Governor-General Carondelet, through Don Thomas Portelle, the Commandant of the district of New Madrid, and that his petition was prepared by Juan Barno y Ferrusola, the official greffier of this dis- trict. The order of Carondelet to have the survey made for Lorimier, however, was addressed to Don Zenon Trudeau.
The primary concessions made by the several Commandants of the Illinois country, or upper Louisiana, and the rights of posses- sion thereunder were, without exception, recognized by the Spanish authorities at New Orleans. Together with the survey made in accordance with the concession, they formed the foundations for a claim to a legal title. During the Spanish domination there was an uninterrupted exercise of the power to grant lands by Lieutenant- Governors and sub-delegates, which was never challenged, disputed, or questioned during that period. But land it should be remembered, was then of little value. And although the 11th section of the ordi- nances of Gayoso expressly says, "No lands shall be granted to trad- ers, as they live in towns, they do not want them," this was held to apply only to new settlers and not to Spanish subjects engaged in trade. So also it is to be noted, that while under the regulations of O'Reilly, no settler was to receive more than a certain number of
.
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI
arpens in front, in 1789 the Commandant at New Madrid was advised "that a greater or less quantity of land, agreeable to the wealth of the grantee" may be conceded.34 But it would be a mistake to suppose from this that these officers could at any time, with or without reason or condition, grant to any one any quantity of land, or that no author- ity existed to supervise these grants; on the contrary, as a matter of law, all grants made by these officials were always subject to the final approval of the Royal Intendants, these Intendants being the particular judges of the causes and questions arising under the Span- ish law in their respective districts, relating either to the sale or distribution of the Royal domain. Although no case arose in upper Louisiana where a concession made by the Lieutenant-Governor, or any sub-delegate, was rejected by the Intendant, it is nevertheless true that the Intendant had the power to reject any such grant, and that until as the King's deputy, he finally approved such grants, the title to the land remained in the Crown. This seems to have always been law even before the promulgation of the rules of Morales.35
But referring to that class of land grants made as a reward and payment for services rendered, a matter in which many of the early residents within the present limits of Missouri were deeply interested, it was argued that, under a decree of Emperor Charles in 1542, the Viceroys of Peru and Mexico, and the Governors of provinces under their authority, were authorized to grant such rewards, favors, or compensation as to them might seem fit, and that in 1588 this decree was recognized by Philip II., in 1614 by Philip III., in 1628 by Philip IV., and under Charles II., incorporated into the Spanish code for the government of the Indies. It was further argued that these laws were in no wise limited by subsequent, ordinances, and that an order of Philip V., of November 24th 1725, requiring a con- firmation by the crown, was revoked by an ordinance in 1754, and the Audiencias authorized to confirm such grants in the King's name; but that when the sea intervened, the Governors with the assistance of other officers, were authorized to issue complete titles; that by the 8Ist article of the ordinance of 1786 the Intendants of New Spain were made the exclusive judges of grants of land; 36 and finally that
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