USA > Mississippi > A history of Mississippi : from the discovery of the great river > Part 7
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Governor Bienville was dismissed from office on the 9th
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day of August, 1726, and the same day a commission was issned to M. Periere as his successor. Three years prior to this time, say in 1723, the Mississippi or India Company, had sent De la Chaise, with Du Saunoy, to the Colony of Louisiana, with very great and inquisitorial powers over everybody and everything in the colony, not even except- ing the officials charged with important duties there. Du Saunoy died soon after his arrival in the colony, and De la Chaise was left to exercise alone the almost unlimited power confided to the joint commission. De La Chaise was not a strong man intellectually, but Gayarre describes him as " a square block of honesty, who neither deviated to the right nor to the left from the path of duty, and who, possessing a considerable share of energy, moved stoutly onward in the accomplishment of his mission, regardless of persons and of consequences."
It is no marvel that such a man, surrounded as he was by a factious, envious and corrupt cabal, soon found him- self in a decidedly uncomfortable position, but it is to his credit that neither his courage nor his honesty failed him in any emergency, however great. With the most unfal- tering firmness, and a sauvity that was always perfect, he moved forward in the path of duty. He called everybody, high as well as low, to account, and compelled the home government to emulate his own vigorous action. As a re- sult of his reports, Boisbriant, the acting Governor, Per- rault, Perry, Pauger, the engineer, Fleuriau, the attorney- general, all members of the Superior Council, were severely censured by the government. In addition Boisbriant, (a cousin of Bienville), was ordered to report in person to the government in France and justify his official conduct. Per- rault, Fazendo and Perry, members of the Council, were dismissed from office. The Attorney-General, Fleuriau, was permitted to resign, and the office itself was allowed to remain vacant for the time-being. To demonstrate that the position of the new Governor was no sinecure, it is only necessary to quote from a letter written by Druot de Valdeterre who commanded at Biloxi and Dauphine Island in 1726. De Valdeterre writes as follows in reference to the colonists and soldiers, and nothing surely could be worse than the condition of the latter as described by him :
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"The inhabitants of this country, whose establishment in it is of such recent date, not being governed in the name of his Majesty, but in that of the Company, have become republicans in their thoughts, feelings and man- mers, and they consider themselves free from the allegi- ance due to a lawful sovereign. The troops are without dis- cipline and subordination, without arms and ammunition, most of the time without clothing, and they are frequently obliged to seek for their food among the Indian tribes. There are no forts for their protection, no places of refuge for them in cases of attack. The guns and other imple- ments of war are buried in sand and abandoned ; the ware- houses are unroofed; the merchandise, goods and pro- visions are damaged or completely spoiled ; the company as well as the colonists are plundered without mercy and restraint ; revolts and desertions among the troops are authorized and sanctioned ; incendiaries, who, for the pur- pose of pillage, commit to the flames whole camps, posts, settlements and warehouses, remain unpunished ; prison- ers of war are forced to become sailors in the service of the company, and by culpable negligence or connivance they are allowed to run away with ships loaded with mer- chandise ; other vessels are willfully stranded or wrecked, and their cargoes are lost to their owners ; forgers, rob- bers and murderers are secure of impunity. In short, this is a country which, to the shame of France be it said, is without religion, without justice, without discipline, with- out order, and without police."
This is not a charming picture of the colonists or the soldiers, but we have no doubt it was a perfectly true one. The company was constantly adding to the embarrassment and difficulties surrounding the colony, by its inordinate greed, and its insane interference with the circulating medium of the people, coin as well as paper currency. In October, 1726, the Council of State, at the request of the company, promulgated an ordinance declaring that "all creditors should accept in satisfaction of their claims, and that holders of promissory notes and letters of credit should receive in payment of those obligations, (any contrary stipulations, notwithstanding), the copper currency which
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had been introduced in the colony, and for the value affixed to it, instead of Spanish dollars or other Spanish coin. Any person violating this ordinance was declared to be guilty of peculation or extortion. sentenced to pay a fine of 300 livres, one-half of which to go to the informer, and the other was applied for the benefit of the charity hospital, and further to be whipped and branded by the public executioner. The Spanish dollars or coin paid in violation of this edict, were confiscated on behalf of the government." It would be difficult to find, or even to imagine a worse law, one more subversive of common honesty and justice, one more deeply impregnated with the spirit of despotism and injustice.
To this most uninviting field the new governor, Periere, came in March, 1727. His arrival created but little excite- ment among the colonists. They had seen so many changes in their governing classes, that any change failed to create more than a passing ripple upon the public mind. Governor Periere entered upon the discharge of his new duties with considerable energy. During the summer of that year the governor visited the first French settlements ever made on the soil of Mississippi, at Biloxi, Bay St. Louis and Pascagoula. He also extended his visit to Mobile. By the middle of November he had completed a levee of eighteen hundred yards in length for the protec- tion of the new seat of government. Later he extended this levee above and below the city for a distance of eigh- teen hundred yards. He caused a census to be made of the inhabitants of the colony. He found that the negroes numbered about 2600 souls, and the whites reached but did not exceed that number. Early in the year 1728 a ves- sel arrived with a number of young girls intended as wives for the colonists. These girls, unlike previous arrivals, were not taken from houses of correction. Each girl was given a casket, by the company, containing some articles of dress, which gave rise to the name of "casket girls," a title they long wore. These girls were consigned to the care and protection of the Ursuline Convent until they were happily married.
Governor Periere directed his attention to the encourage-
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ment of agriculture, rather than a vain search for the precious metals, and in 1728, rice, indigo, and tobacco were cultivated with considerable success by the 2600 slaves in the colony.
Before leaving France, the India Company had given Periere the fullest and most minute instructions for his gov- erance in the administration of the affairs of the colony. It was particular in instructing him that he should support De la Chaise, who had, by his integrity and courage, en- tirely won the confidence of the company, and brought order out of chaos, peace instead of warring factions, quiet out of constantly recurring storms.
In other instructions the company impressed upon Periere the importance of visiting, as soon as practicable after his arrival, the warlike and powerful Natchez Indians, in order that he might make himself fully acquainted with their dispositions in regard to the French settlements in their neighborhood. He was informed that the Natchez had three large villages in close proximity to the French settlements, which was referred to as the cause of frequent misunderstandings, heart-burnings and quarrels, and he was instructed to inquire into this matter, and if upon in- vestigation, he should agree that this close neighborhood was undesirable and likely to lead to unpleasant results, he was, in that case, directed to offer to the Indians what were regarded as tempting inducements to remove their villages to a greater distance from their French neighbors. Thus passed the year 1728, with a good degree of prosperi- ty and universal peace. Had Periere visited the Natchez in person, he would probably have been able to bring the question of removal to a peaceful solution, and thus have averted the horrors of the year 1729. In this year, one Chopart was exercising command at Fort Rosalie, where stands the present beautiful city of Natchez. From all contemporary accounts this officer was a coarse, brutal and drunken soldier. For brutality to the officers and men of his own command, he had recently had charges preferred against him, and it was with extreme difficulty, backed by certain great influences, that he escaped dismissal from the service. As it was, he was severely reprimanded, and
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under promises that he would abandon his former course of conduct to the officers and men under him, he was, in an evil hour, permitted to return to the command of Fort Rosalie. The change in his deportment to the soldiers of the fort was very marked, but he was bound to have some one on whom he could vent his spleen and ill nature. The Natchez Indians soon found that they were to be the objects of his drunken fury. Acting upon this motive he soon displayed his native insolence and malice against the Indians, from whom he made' no effort to disguise his hatred.
Not content with numberless acts of brutality and out- rage upon the Indians, he finally sent for the Great Sun, the traditional head of the Natchez tribe. Without pref- ace or circumlocution, he informs this great chief that he had received orders from Governor Periere, that the French should at once take possession of the beautiful White Apple Village, situated about six miles from Fort Rosalie, and there " establish a plantation and to erect certain buildings," and that " the Natchez should remove to some other place, which they might occupy without prejudice to the French." As Gayarre tells us, "The Great Sun looked at Chopart with a composed but inquisitive eye, and said, "Surely, my white brother does not speak in earnest, but only wishes to try the fortitude of the red man. Does not my white brother know that the Natchez have lived in that village for more years than there are hairs in the twisted lock which hangs from the top of my head to my waist ?" "Foolish barbarian," exclaimed the Frenchman, with unmeasured insolence and contempt, what ties of brotherhood can there be between thy race and mine? I have no explanation or apology to give to such as thou. It is sufficient for thee to know that I obey . superior orders. Obey mine !" This was unusual language for the Great Sun, the undisputed chief of a great and warlike tribe, to hear. But he stifled his emotion, and with kindling eyes, but a calm voice, he replied : "Brother, we have not been used to such treatment. So far, the French have taken nothing from us by force. What they possess, we gave freely, or they purchased. Wishing to
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live in peace with my nation, I say to thee, we have other lands that we can spare-take them ! Can we do more? But, as to the village of the White Apple, leave it un- touched in the hands of the Natchez. There we have a temple, and there the bones of our ancestors have slept since we came to dwell on the banks of the father of rivers." To this appeal Chopart listened with an insolent smile, and made answer thus: "I will not bandy fine sentiments with thee, romantic Indian ; but mark my word, and re- member that I shall keep it. Toward the latter part of November, I expect a galley from New Orleans. If, when she arrives, the village of the White Apple is not deliv- ered up to me, I will send thee bound hand and feet to our great chief in our village down the river. Thou seest that I make short work of it. Go! "Good, I see," was the prompt answer of the Indian chief, and I go home to lay thy communication before the old and wise men of the nation."
The Great Sun was true to his promise. Returning to his village he convened the chiefs in a great council, and laid before them the orders of Chopart. There were fierce growls of indignation when the Great Sun laid before the assembled chiefs, in an official manner, the insolent de- mands of the French, but a deep silence fell upon the multitude when the Chief of the White Apple, a noted warrior and an eloquent orator, was seen to rise. With a majestic wave of his hand he claimed and received the at- tention of his auditory of red warriors. Waiting for a few moments, casting his eyes over the assembly after the fashion of some orators of later times, the White Apple Chief thus addressed his eager and expectant listeners :
"Children of the Sun, old traditions and oracles have long informed us of the approaching doom that awaits our nation. We have had ancestors, but we are destined to be the ancestors of no human beings. If those tradi- tions and oracles are true, nay, if portentous signs and appearances are to be believed, soon this nation, which was once so powerful, will cease to exist. We have been gradually shrinking up into a small and weak population, and our once broad domain, which it required many moons
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to travel over, has fast escaped from our grasp as water oozes through the fingers by which it is clutched. Dis- eases, frequent human sacrifices in honor of our dead chiefs, and long wars with some of the red tribes by which we are surrounded, had contributed to diminish our num- bers, when, on a sudden, there came upon us this hostile race, the pale-faced warriors, who had been announced to us as our future destroyers. Bowing to the decree of the Great Spirit, and yielding to the superior powers which we recognized in these strange men, we tried to conciliate their good will, and we granted them land and all sorts of supplies. What has been the consequence ? Every year they have become more greedy, exacting and overbearing. Every year, between them and our people, quarrels have sprung up, in which blood was shed, and we had to make atonement, sometimes at the cost of the heads of our most illustrious warriors. The vicinage of these men have become at last an intolerable curse upon us. With their merchandise and new wares, they have introduced new wants among our people, corrupted their morals, and changed particularly the manners of our young men, who now despise the rugged virtues of their forefathers to ape the frivolity of the French, and have become effeminate and worthless drunkards. As to our women, their heads have been turned by the silver tongue and the gaudy plumage of these loose strangers. What is the result? Why, that debauchery has crept into every bosom, and that the very blood of the Natchez is tainted in its source. Which of us is sure now of the affection and the purity of his daughter or of his wife, when yonder thieves are prowling about our dwellings ? Before the French settled near us, we were in the full enjoyment of the greatest of blessings, boundless freedom ! What are we now? Hardly better than slaves ! Are we not controlled in every thing, and dare we move without asking leave from that haughty chief who sits in yonder fort with the white flag? Are they not stripping us every day of the poor remains of our ancient liberty ? Do they not frequently strike us with clubs, as they do their black slaves ? Depend upon it, they will soon seize upon us, put us in irons, force us to
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work for them in their fields, tie us to posts and apply the lash to our backs, as they do with the black faces. Shall we wait for that moment, or shall we not prefer to die be- fore, but satiated with blood and surfeited with revenge ?" Here the impassioned orator was greeted with a subdued howl of indignation from the elder, and a furious bran- dishing of their tomahawks by the younger and more im- petuous warriors. Waiving his hand, as if to demand silence, the White Apple Chief continued his address :
"Have we not met now to deliberate on a peremptory command which the French have ventured to send to us ? Have we not before us a sample of their audacity, and the harbinger of their future daring? Have they not ordered us to relinquish to them the harvests which grow around us, and which are the results of our labors ? Do they not order us away from the village of the White Apple, to shift for ourselves in the woods like wild beasts? Will they not soon drive us out of the other villages ? What then will become of the tombs of our ancestors and the cradles of our children? The white faces will run their plows over the bones of our dead, and put their cattle in our temples. Shall we consent to such profanation ? Are we not strong enough to prevent it? We are! Shall we wait until the French become so numerous that we shall not be able to resist oppression ? For my part, I say, No! We can destroy them all, if we choose, and act with proper courage and skill. Should we be doomed in our turn to perish all, and leave none of our race behind, let it not be without having struck a blow worthy of the children of the Sun. Let us not be immolated like bleating sheep, without resistance, but let us die like warriors, after having done a deed that will make the name of the Natchez famous among all the red tribes, however distant they may be from our native hills. I pause to put this question : Shall we yield our birth-place, our beautiful valleys, our temples, our sacred mounds, the tombs of our ancestors, and everything we hold dear, without a struggle? And shall we only utter impotent wailings like babes when de- prived of their playthings ? Shall we move away like a nation of cowardly beggars, to steal from some weaker tribe
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the land that we shall want for our support ? War or sub- mission ! Which do you choose ? I wait for your answer !"
A wild, fierce war-cry, was the immediate response to this impassioned appeal of the orator, the warrior-chief of the White Apple Village, who soon resumed his address in the following words :
" I see with pride that the contact with the French has not yet turned the Natchez into mean-spirited women. Now, listen to what I propose for the full and secure ac- complishment of our design. We have always been re- puted to have more mind than the other red nations. Let us show it on this occasion. All the Indians, the' Yazoos, the Chickasaws, the Choctaws, and others, have equally suffered like us from French insolence, and must be tired of their oppressive domination. Let us invite them to for- get our past hostilities, to join with us in a holy alliance against the common enemy, and to free our fatherland, with one blow, from the hated presence of strangers. Let ambassadors be forthwith sent to theni, to lay our propo- sition before their council of wise men. If they adopt it, let bundles made up of an equal number of small sticks be remitted to them and let one stick be removed every day. The last remaining one will designate the day when this combined attack shall be made against the French, over the whole face of the country. Thus assailed by sur- prise, and isolated, cut off from the reciprocal succor which the several settlements would give to each other, if this plan be adopted, the French must succumb under the vast- ly superior numbers that we shall bring against them. But, for the successful execution of this combination, we must gain time, and we must humbly entreat our august sovereign, the Great Sun, here present, to enter into nego- tiations with the hungry French wolf, the crocodile-hearted chief, in yonder fort, to obtain, by dint of presents, that our removal be postponed, and that the delay be sufficient to ripen to maturity the good fruit of this day's deliberations. The Chief of the White Apple, children of the Sun, has but one more recommendation to make, with a view to secure the success of our enterprise : that is, the observ- ance of secrecy. You know that women are never to be
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trusted in any thing, much less with designs of 'import- ance. They are fickle and indiscreet, and they can no more keep a secret than a seive will hold water. Besides, many of them love the French, and would certainly betray us. Therefore, let us swear before we separate, to keep our lips sealed, and not to say one word which might give to our women the slightest intimation of what we intend. The Chief of the White Apple has done, children of the Sun, and waits for better advice."
In accordance with the decision thus formed, the Great Sun called upon Chopart. the commander of the fort, early the next day, and successfully sought to gain time for their proposed vacation of the White Apple Village. The time for the departure of the Natchez from their home was ex- tended until the latter part of December, on condition that the Indians should pay to Chopart a contribution of one barrel of corn, and a certain quantity of fowls, furs and bears oil, for each and every cabin contained in the White Apple Village. Meantime, ambassadors were dispatched to the Chickasaw, the Choctaw, and the Yazoo tribes, and in due season these plenipotentiaries returned with the pleasing intelligence that the war-like tribes to whom they had been sent, gladly embraced the proposition sub- mitted to them, and on the day named would appear in great force before Fort Rosalie, there to glut their ven- geance upon the hated pale faces. Great was the rejoic- ing of the Natchez upon the receipt of this cheering in- telligence, and there can be no doubt that these untu- tored lords of the forest considered the day of their deliv- erance close at hand. There can be no question, that if closely united, under any sensible plan of combined action, the French could have been crushed as one could crush an egg-shell. If the opinion of Diron 'd Artaguette, conveyed in a dispatch dated December 9th, 1728, that the Chicka- saw Indians could place in the field seventeen thousand warriors, and that the Choctaws alone could muster ten thousand braves, be anything like a correct estimate, there can be no doubt that the insignificant force of the French could have been swept from the face of the earth as read- ily as flax before a consuming flame.
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The advice of the old Chief of the White Apple Village in regard to keeping their designs concealed from their women, was not heeded. The constant movements of the Natchez had excited the curiosity, not to say the suspicion of their women, and by various means they had wormed the secret from their sons and brothers. In various forms they sought to warn the French of their impending dan- ger, but to all warnings the ears of Chopart, the commander of Fort Rosalie, were deaf. With brutal and drunken fury he consigned to prison all who dared to breathe the word danger, and with a fatuity scarcely to be conceived, was blindly confident of his power to coerce the Indians until the storm, long threatened, burst forth in all its fury, satu- rating the earth covered by Fort Rosalie with blood.
On the 29th day of November, 1729. long before the sun had risen, the villages of the Natchez were the scene of animated and unusual bustle. The Indians had taken their measures with great foresight, and the house of every Frenchman, however distant, had several visitors that morning. The Natchez had many excuses for their early call, some to obtain powder, shot or brandy, for the pur- pose of going on a great hunt. Meantime, the Great Sun, all of his nobles and many warriors, took up their march for Fort Rosalie. The procession moved in great state, with much noise, and an ostentatious display of the stipulated tribute of fowls, corn, oil and furs. After marching around the fort with many manifestations of joy, they entered the house of Chopart, the commandant. He appeared in his dressing-gown, and was much elated at the sight of the abundant tribute tendered by the Natchez. During this side show of the Great Sun and his nobles, the Natchez swarmed into the fort dancing and singing. Meantime, a select party of braves swept noiselessly down the hill to the river " where the long expected and richly laden gal- ley, which had arrived the day previous, was moored. There each warrior having leisurely picked out his man and made his aim sure a simultaneous discharge was heard." This was the prearranged signal, and it was in- stantly answered from every direction, and a scene of slaughter that still causes a thrill of horror was enacted.
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