HISTORY OF LOUI&IANA, FIRST DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT PRESENT TIME. BY E. BUNNER. NEW YORK : HARPER srith Canada and the northern parts of America \vhile they were under the dominion of France, it seems proper to take some notice of the early settlements in those extensive countries. In 1504, within seven years of .the discovery of the Con- tinent, the mariners of Brittany resorted to New- foundland for the purpose of fishing. The island of Cape Breton received its name from them; and in France they were generally regarded as the discoverers of the country, though it could not be denied that the Cabots had first visited it. In 1506, Denys, a citizen of Honfleur, made a map of the Gulf of St. Lawrence ; plans of colonization were formed ; and two years after- ward Aubert brought to France some of the na- tives of Canada ; but it was not until 1524 that any decisive step was taken. Francis I. then B 14 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. employed Verazzani, a Florentine, to explore these new regions. He set sail with a single vessel in the month of January, and made the land at a point as yet unseen by any European, in the latitude of Wilmington. Not finding a con- venient harbour, he ran down far to the south ; and thence returning northward, cast anchor on the coast of North Carolina. After this he vis- ited the harbours of New- York and Newport, sailed along the whole coast of New-England to Nova Scotia, and returned to France in July. His narrative of this navigation furnishes the ear- liest original account now extant of the coast of the United States, and gave to France such claim to the country as discovery could confer. The remainder of Verazzani's career is involved in obscurity. Historians, however, for the most part agree that he embarked on another expedi- tion ; but whether in the service of France is unknown. TRe disastrous battle of Pavia had just taken place, in which Francis, as he himself said, had lost everything but honour ; and for many years America was left to the Breton and Norman fishermen, who continued to carry on a successful trade. At length Chabot, admiral of France, inter- ested Francis in a design to colonize the country, VOYAGES 01-' CAUTli'K. 15 and Jacques Cartier, a mariner of St. Malo, was intrusted with the command of the expedition. His several voyages were of great importance, as they directed the attention of France to the region of the St. Lawrence. He arrived with two ships on the coast of Newfoundland, and, after almost circumnavigating the island, turned to the south, and, crossing the gulf, entered a bay, which he called Des Chaleurs, from the in- tense heat which then prevailed. Finding no passage to the west, he sailed along the coast as far as the smaller inlet of Gaspe, and on a point of land at its entrance raised on a lofty cross a shield bearing the lilies of France, with an ap- propriate inscription. Thenceforth the soil was to be considered as part of the dominions of the French king. Cartier next discovered the great river of Canada, and sailed up its channel till ' he could discern the land on either side. After a short and successful voyage he returned to France. The following year a new commission was is- sued ; and Cartier again arrived on the coast of Newfoundland. Passing to the west of that isl- and on St. Lawrence's day, he gave to the noble gulf into which he entered the name of that mar- tyr, and which was afterward extended to the B J6 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. whole river. Sailing to the north of Anticosti, they commenced ascending that majestic stream. The Indians, who were of the Algonquin race, received them in the most hospitable manner; and C artier, leaving his ship, proceeded in a boat to the island of .Hochelaga, where was their principal settlement. The town lay at the foot of a hill, ascending which, he was so de- lighted with the prospect from its summit that he called it Mont Real : the name by which the island itself has since been known. He also gathered from the natives some indistinct ac- counts of the surrounding country, and, having formally taken possession of It in the name of the French king, returned to his ship, passed the winter there, and in the spring sailed for France. His description of the region bordering on the St. Lawrence afforded no encouragement to the plan of establishing a colony there ; the severity of the climate terrified the inhabitants even of the north of France ; and the honest navigator held out no promises either of silver, or gold, or precious stones. Yet the advantages to be derived from occupying the country were not to be neglected ; and in 1540, Francis de la Roque, lord of Ro- berval, a nobleman of Picardy, obtained a lib- eral charter for this object. The assistance of UNSUCCESSFUL EXPEDITION OF ROBERVAL. 17 Cartier could not be dispensed with, and he ac- cordingly received a similar commission ; but they neither acted in concert nor sailed togeth- er. Cartier, again ascending the St. Lawrence, built a fort near the site of Quebec; and after wintering there, he set sail to return to France just as Roberval arrived with re-enforcements. The latter, unaided by Cartier, could do no more than verify the previous discoveries; and after remaining about a year, he abandoned his brill- iant enterprise, which terminated without any permanent results. France being at this time plunged in civil war, was not in a situation to undertake farther discoveries, though some French Protestants at- tempted a settlement in Florida, the melancholy fate of which will be hereafter related. It was not till the reign of Henry IV. that the purpose of founding a French empire in America was vigorously renewed. In 1598, a charter no less ample than that given to Roberval was issued to the Marquis de la Roche, a nobleman of Brittany ; but his enterprise failed. A monopo- ly of the fur-trade was next granted to M. Chauvin in 1600. He made two profitable voyages, but death prevented him from accom- B2 18 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. plishing his principal object of establishing a colony. In 1603 a company of merchants was formed at Rouen by the governor of Dieppe, and Sam- uel Champlain, a skilful manner, and a man of science, was appointed to command the expedi- tion fitted out by them. The account he after- ward gave of his voyage, shows that he had accurately observed the character of the savage tribes and the geography of the country. Que- bec (which, in the Algonquin language, signifies a strait) was selected as the most advantageous site for a fort. Champlain returned to France just before a most extensive patent was granted to De Monts, conferring on him the sovereignty of Acadia, the country from the fortieth to the forty-sixth degree of latitude, that is, from Philadelphia to a point north of Montreal ; a monopoly of the lu- crative fur-trade ; and an exclusive right to con- vey the soil, control trade, admit emigrants, &c. Vagabonds, idlers, banished men, and reckless characters of every description, were invited to join in forming a colony, and those who could be induced to embark in the enterprise sailed in two ships for Nova Scotia. The excellent harbour, since called Annapolis, difficult of access, but SETTLEMENT OF PORT ROYAL. 19 possessing a small navigable river abounding in fish and bordered by beautiful meadows, was selected by Pontrincourt, one of the leaders of the expedition, who solicited a grant of it, and naming it Port Royal, determined to remain there. The other division of the company made their first attempt at a settlement on the island of St. Croix, at. the mouth of the river of the same name. This river was subsequently adopt- ed as a part of the northeastern boundary of the United States ; and a question arising as to which stream wias the true St. Croix, the remains of the fortifications erected by De Monts assisted in deciding it. The island was, however, so ill suited to the purposes of the colony, that it was abandoned in the following spring, and the whole company removed to Port Royal With the view of making a settlement in a mild- er climate, De Monts explored and claimed the rivers, coasts, and bays of New-England, at least as far as Cape Cod ; but the hostility of the sav- ages, and other difficulties, caused him to delay, and finally to abandon his purpose. Thus the first permanent French settlement made on the continent of America was at Port Royal, in 1605 ; for it was not until 1608, after the remon- strances of the French merchants had procured 20 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. a revocation of the patent granted to De Monte, that a company formed at Dieppe and St. Malo, founded Quebec. This latter undertaking was accomplished by Champlain, who aimed not at 'the profits of trade, but the glory of founding a state. Rude cottages were erected ; a few fields were cleared, and a few gardens planted. The next year, this daring adventurer, accompanied only by two Europeans, joined a mixed party of Hu- rons from Montreal and Algonquins from Quebec, in an expedition against the Iroquois, or Five Nations, in the country now forming the north- western part of New-York. He ascended the River Sorel, and explored the lake within our Republic which bears his name, and which will perpetuate his memory to the latest period of time. Champlain succeeded in fully establishing the authority of his nation on the banks of the St. Lawrence. He was the father of New-France, and his remains lie buried in the land he subdued and colonized. JUAN PONCE DE LEON. 21 CHAPTER II. Discovery of the Mississippi. ABOUT the same time that the discoveries ot Carder were opening to the enterprise of the French vast territories in Canada, the Spaniards, at the other extremity of the northern continent, were attempting to effect a settlement in Florida, which was first visited by Juan Ponce de Leon in 1512. A gallant soldier, and one of the com- panions of Columbus in his second voyage, he had been appointed governor of Hispaniola, but was removed from that post on account of his severity. He then turned his thoughts to the Continent of America, where, according to an Indian tradition, among other wonders, there was a fountain whose waters conferred the boon of perpetual youth. Although Ponce was in the decline of life, his ambition and love of enter- prise were unabated : no wonder, then, he should have implicitly believed a tale which had gained credence from the wisest men in Spain, or that he should have been eager to renew his youthful 22 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. vigour, and at the same time advance his for- tunes, by visiting the miraculous fountain. Ac- cordingly, he fitted out three ships at his own expense, and on Easter Sunday, called by the Spaniards Pascua Florida, he reached the sought- for land, to which, from the day when it was discovered, and its profusion of flowers, he gave the name of Florida. Ponce landed in the lati- tude of thirty degrees and eight minutes, a few miles north of where St. Augustine now stands. The determined hostility of the Indians obliged him, however, to postpone his search for the fountain of youth ; and after reconnoitring with great danger the eastern coast, he returned to Spain, and was rewarded with the government of the country. 1521. Some years elapsed before he could complete his preparations for taking possession of his province; and when he at last returned, his company were attacked by the Indians with so much fury that they were forced to retreat to their ships, and Ponce himself received a wound from an Indian arrow, of which he soon after died. Thus terminated his dream of riches and of renovated youth : but Spain acquired a new channel for her commerce through the Gulf of Florida, and a new territory of unknown extent HERNANDEZ DE SOTO. 23 Several other expeditions were sent out, but they were generally unsuccessful, and afforded but little information that could be relied on in regard to the countries bordering on the Gulf of Mexico. Some of the parties had penetrated into the interior, where they encountered great hardships ; and on their return they related the most wonderful tales of what they had met with and heard, persisting in the assertion that Florida was the richest country in the world. 1537. Hernandez de Soto had gained both fame and fortune by military service in the con- quest of Peru, in which he had distinguished himself no less by conduct than valour. But his ambition was still unsatisfied; and he solicited from Charles V. permission to conquer Florida at his own cost. The monarch readily granted to the renowned commander the government of Cuba, with unlimited authority over the immense unexplored territory included under the name of Florida. As soon as the projected expedition was an- nounced in Spain, the eagerness to join it brought forward many more adventurers than could be received. De Soto selected six hundred young men, the very flower of Spain, and many who had sold houses and lands to equip themselves 24 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. for the enterprise were obliged .to remain un- willingly at home. 1538. Everything being ready, the splendid fleet set sail for Cuba. Leaving his wife there, with a considerable addition to the number of his companions De Soto started to accomplish his projected conquest, and in the month of May, 1539, arrived in the Bay of Esperitu Santo. Landing his soldiers and horses, of which latter there were about three hundred, he sent most of his vessels back to the Havana. At the head of a more formidable force than had been employed in the subjection of Mexico or Peru, he now set forward to acquire for himself unbounded wealth and power, and to convert the ignorant heathen io Christianity. Twelve priests accompanied the army for the purpose of inculcating, amid scenes of blood and carnage, the mild and peaceful dec- lines of the Christian faith. , The wanderings of the first summer brought the adventurers to the country of the Apalachi- ans, east of the Flint River, not far from the head *>f the Bay of Apalachee. Their march was attended by nothing but danger and disappoint- ment. Two Indian captives, on whom they had depended as guides, deserted them; others led them purposely astray : and no wealth was found BATTLE WITH THE INDIAI\S. 25 to recompense them for their toils. Thus the summer passed fruitlessly away without realizing a single advantage. The next spring, however, they resumed their march, led by an Indian, who treacherously flattered them with hopes of gold. They must have passed through Georgia and the country of the Cherokees; but though gold is now found in parts of this region, their search proved unavailing ; and after wandering much as they had done the year before, they descend- ed the valley of the Tombeckbee, and arrived at a considerable town on the Alabama, called Mo- bile. The Spaniards attempting to make them- selves masters of the place, the savages resisted with the utmost fury, and the most bloody battle ever known in Indian warfare ensued. Two thousand five hundred of the latter are said to have been destroyed, part in battle, and part in the flames of their burning houses. The Span- iards, who were indebted to their cavalry for the victory, lost but eighteen men and twelve horses, though a great number of both were severely wounded, and their baggage was consumed in the conflagration. The bay into which the uni- ted waters of the two rivers fall still retains the Indian name. Meanwhile ships had arrived from Cuba ; but C 26 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. De Soto, unwilling that his failure should be known, resolved to send no tidings of the expe- dition until he should have made some important discoveries. 1541. De Soto now directed his course to the north, his troops having been reduced by sickness and warfare to five hundred men. They passed the winter in the country of the Chicka- saws, in the upper part of the state of Mississippi, still disappointed in their hopes of wealth, and continually harassed by the Indians, whom they provoked by their injustice and cruelty. De Soto was not yet discouraged ; and, resist- ing the entreaties of his followers to abandon a fruitless pursuit, he started afresh on his enter- prise in the spring. He now took a westerly direction ; and, after making his way with great difficulty through forests and marshes, he at length came in view of the Mississippi. We may imagine the astonishment of the Spaniards at beholding this magnificent river, more than a mile in width, rolling on in its rapid course, and bearing on its bosom enormous trees, rooted up in its passage through the dense forests. The yellowish colour of the turbid water, so unlike the silver streams of Spain, must have added to their wonder. The magnolia, cotton-wood, sas- DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 27 safras, and cypress, with long moss depending from their branches, and a multitude of shrubs and flowers, all differing from those of Europe, completed the strangeness and novelty of the picture. Even the fish were of a new species ; and one of them, the spade fish (Platirosto Eden- tula), now so rare that it is seldom found even in the museums, is accurately described by one of the adventurers. 1542. A party sent to explore the regions to the north, reported them to be almost a desert. De Soto, therefore, turned to the northwest, and advanced in the direction of the White River to the distance of about two hundred miles from the Mississippi. Still neither gold nor pre- cious stones were found ; and, turnnig to the south, they arrived among the Tunicas, at the Salt Springs, near the head of the Washita, where they wintered. They were now among a peaceful agricultural people ; but, as experience had not taught them either mildness or forbear- ance, they soon quarrelled with the natives, and lost many of their men. Disease and fatigue contributed still farther to thin their ranks, until De Soto at length determined to retrace his course to the ocean. After many 'difficulties, he succeeded in getting back to the Mississippi, by 28 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. descending the Red River ; but there he was at- tacked by a fever. Feeling that his last moments were approaching, he summoned his officers around him, and naming Muscoso de Alvarado for his successor, he recommended to the rest submission to the chief he had chosen, a strict maintenance of discipline, and, above all, perse- verance in their enterprise. The next day, in May, 1542, and at the age of forty-two, he ex- pired in the arms of his almoner, exactly three years from the time of his first landing in Florida. His body was placed in a coffin loaded with cannon balls, and sunk in the Mississippi, at the mouth of the Red River. He was the first Eu- ropean to behold that magnificent river, and scarcely had he discovered it ere he slept beneath its waters. This romantic expedition has been rendered still more so by Garcilasso de la Vega, in his History of the Conquest of Florida. He men- tions a number of Indian tribes, few of which are now in existence, and which he represents as having attained a much higher civilization than any of the native races are found to possess at the present day, living in well-built houses, sur- rounded by cultivated fields, wearing linen em- broidery and pearls, and having made no small FAILURE OF ALVAIIADO'S EXPEDITION. 29 proficiency in music, with many other particulars still more extravagant. Although recent dis- coveries seem to indicate the existence, at some remote period, of a more civilized people than any the early colonists found here, we can by no means admit the exaggerations of De la Vega, which are even contradicted by the more au- thentic accounts of the followers of De Soto. Alvarado resolved on leading his forces to New-Spain without delay. Some few deter- mined spirits would indeed have preferred dying in the wilderness to the mortification of returning with baffled hopes ; but their leader did not share in this feeling, and they set out with the design of proceeding across the country to Mex- ico. On arriving at the Red River, they found it so swollen that it \vas impossible to pass it ; and, after roaming about without making any progress during the summer, determined to re- trace their steps to the Mississippi, and follow its course to the sea. They reached it in Decem- ber, a few leagues above the mouth of the Red River ; when, exhausted by toil, want, and sick- ness, it was with the greatest difficulty, in their enfeebled condition, that they managed to build seven frail vessels, in which the poor remains of this once, formidable expedition embarked. An C2 30 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. Indian fleet of gayly-painted canoes followed and harassed them. The weather being calm, the Spaniards passed slowly down, and the Indians overtaking them, let fly a shower of arrows, and hastily retreated, to avoid the fire of their mus- kets. In their wretched state, destitute of food, and many of them wounded, it is probable the whole party would have fallen into the hands of the savages had not a favourable breeze sprung up and carried them out of danger. In seven- teen days they reached the Gulf of Mexico. To those who now navigate the Mississippi, where the experienced eye can scarcely discern a pas- sage at times among the snags, it must appear almost a miracle that the slight vessels of the Spaniards were not dashed in pieces long before they gained the sea. These adventurers were the first to discover that the waters of this great river, so vast is their volume, retain their freshness for some miles after they enter the sea. The party followed the direction of the coast, and, afte.r fifty days, arrived at the River Panuco, from whence they were enabled to return to Spain in September, 1543. Thus ended an expedition which, dis- astrous as it was, gave to the Spaniards the hon- our of discovering the Mississippi; and which> RIBAULT VISITS FLORIDA. 31 with a more energetic people, might have led to important results. But though, under the name of Florida, Spain claimed the whole coast of North America, the ill success of this enterprise, and of another undertaken by Louis Cancello, a Dominican missionary, in 1547, in which he per- ished by the hands of the savages, discouraged any farther attempts, and the country remained neglected for a series of years. CHAPTER HI. Settlement of Florida. 1562. THE next attempt to settle Florida was made for the purpose of establishing a coldhy of Calvinists. Coligny planned this expedition in order to provide a refuge for the Huguenots, and intrusted the command of it to John Ribault, of Dieppe, a brave man, a good seaman, and a firm Protestant. He made the land in the neighbour- hood of St. Augustine, discovered the river now called St. John's, and gave to it the name of May. It is the St. Mateo of the Spaniards. At length they came to 'Port Royal entrance, afford- C 32 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. ing a magnificent harbour. Leaving a party on Lemon Island, consisting of twenty-six men, to keep possession of the country, and erecting a fort there, which he named Carolana, in honour of Charles IX., Ribault determined to return to France for supplies. On arriving there, however, he found the country distracted with civil war ; and, being unable to obtain the necessary succour for the colonists, they attempted to return home. They were taken by a small English vessel on their way, the feeblest of them landed on the coast of France, and the others carried to Eng- land. Thus disastrously terminated the first at- tempt of France to establish a colony in Florida, not far from the southern border of South Caro- lina. 1564. After the treacherous peace concluded by Charles IX. with the Huguenots, Coligny re- newed his solicitations for the settlement of Flor- ida. The king granted him three ships for the purpose ; and Laudonniere, a man of intelligence, who had accompanied the former .expedition, was appointed to conduct the present. Emigrants were easily induced to embark for a region where, according to rumour, the deliciousness of the cli- mate lengthened to twice its usual term the life of man ; and where treasures were to be found by SETTLEMENT AT THE RIVER MAY. .'*3 all who sought them. A voyage of sixty days by the way of the Canaries and Antilles, brought the fleet to the American coast. They avoided Port Royal harbour, associated as it was with recollections of misery, and, after some examina- tion of the country, planted themselves on the banks of the River May. Here they joined in a hymn of thanksgiving, and, gathering courage from devotion, prepared to engage in the toils necessary to provide for their subsistence and safety. Their first care was to erect a fort, to which they also gave the name of Carolana. The natives received them with kindness; and had not the colonists been chiefly men of disso- lute character, all might have been well. But some of them quitting the settlement under pre- tence of escaping from famine, entered upon a career of piracy against the Spaniards, which was soon, however, avenged ; their vessel was taken ; and a few of them escaping in a boat, sought shelter at Carolana, where Laudonniere sentenced the ringleaders to death. Meanwhile the scarcity incpeased, and they had forfeited the friendship of the natives ; the winter passed without tidings from France, and, in despair, they resolved to construct some brig- antines and return to Europe. Just at that time, 34 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. Sir John Hawkins, the slave-trader, arrived with a cargo of Africans. He furnished them liberally with provisions, and giving them a vessel from his own fleet, they were on the point of embark- ing, when they discovered approaching sails. It was Ribault returning to assume the command, bringing with him supplies of every kind, emi- grants with their families, garden seeds, imple- ments of husbandry, and domestic animals. The French rejoiced in the prospect of acquiring for themselves a peaceful and secure home; and Calvinism seemed about to be permanently es- tablished in the inviting regions of Florida. 1565. But Spain had never relinquished her claim to that territory. Philip II., therefore, de- termined on its conquest and colonization, and a bold commander, named Pedro Melendez Aviles, long accustomed to scenes of blood, undertook to accomplish his sovereign's wishes. He promised that in the following May he would invade Flor- ida with five hundred men, raised and supported at his own cost ; and that within three years he would complete its subjugation, explore its rivers, examine its coasts and harbours, settle a colony of at least five hundred persons, of whom one hundred should be married men, and introduce twelve ecclesiastics, besides four Jesuits : and he EXPEDITION OF MELENDEZ. 35 farther stipulated that he would import all kinds of domestic animals. The bigoted Philip had no scruples respecting slavery, and Melendez also agreed to bring five hundred men slaves into the country to cultivate the sugar-cane, which was intended to be the principal staple. The king, in turn, granted various commer- cial privileges to the adventurers, conferring on Melendez the office of governor for life, with the right of naming his son-in-law as his successor, an estate of twenty-five leagues in the immediate vicinity of the settlement, a salary of two thou- sand ducats chargeable on the revenues of the province, and a fifteenth part of all royal per- quisites. 1565. In the mean time news reached Spain that the Huguenots had made a settlement in Florida, and that Ribault was preparing to sail with re-enforcements. A cry was raised that the heretics must be destroyed, the enthusiasm of fa- naticism was kindled, and Melendez readily ob- tained all the forces he required. It was on the day which the authority of Rome has consecrated to the memory of one of the sons of Africa, a most venerated father of the Church, that he came in sight of Florida. After sailing along the coast for four days, uncertain where the French were 36 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. established, he landed on the fifth, and obtained accounts of them from the Indians. To the beautiful harbour and river which he there dis- covered he gave, in commemoration of the saint on whose anniversary he first saw land, the name of St. Augustine. At noonday, on the festival of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin, the governor went on shore to take possession of the country in the name of the Spanish king; and on this occasion Philip was proclaimed monarch of all North America. The solemn mass of Our Lady was celebrated, and the foundation of St. Augustine was imme- diately laid. This is, by more than forty years, the oldest town in the United States. Houses are yet standing here which are said to have been built many years before Virginia was col- onized. The French deliberated whether they should strengthen their defences, and await the approach of the enemy, or take to their ships, and attack them by sea. Ribault resolved upon the latter course ; but a dreadful storm arising, every ship of the French fleet was wrecked on the rocks, about fifty leagues south of Fort Carolana, though most of the men were saved. Meanwhile, the Spaniards made their way to the unprotected MASSACRE OF THE FRENCH. 37 fort, and massacred the feeble garrison without mercy ; a small number only escaping into the woods, and, among them, Laudonniere, Challus, and Le Moine, who have left us an account of their sufferings. They at last found their way to the seashore, and were received on board of some ships that had remained in the harbour. The shipwrecked men were soon discovered; and, half famished, and exhausted by fatigue, Melendez invited them to surrender, at the same time holding out to them hopes of mercy. The unfortunate Frenchmen yielded ; but, as soon as they approached the fort of St. Augustine, they were inhumanly massacred : not, as their murder- ers asserted, as Frenchmen, but as Calvinists. A few Catholics were spared, and some mechanics were also reserved as slaves. The number thus barbarously butchered was supposed to be not less than nine hundred. 1567. The French government heard of this outrage without even making a remonstrance; but the nation and the Huguenots did not share the apathy of the court. Dominic de Gour- gues, a bold soldier of Gascony, sold his prop- erty, and, being farther aided by the contributions of his friends, equipped three vessels, in which, with one hundred and fifty men, he embarked for D 38 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. Florida. His sole object was destruction and revenge ; and having succeeded in surprising two forts near the mouth of the St. Mateo Riv- er, the consternation of the Spaniards was ex- treme. But, not being sufficiently strong to maintain his position, he made a hasty retreat, and sailed for Europe ; having first hung his prisoners on the trees, with this inscription placed over them : " I do not this as unto Spaniards or mariners, but as unto traitors, robbers, and mur- derers." The natives, who had been ill-treated both by the Spaniards and French, enjoyed the savage consolation of seeing their enemies butch- er each other. 1568. France disavowed the expedition of De Gourgues, and yielded her pretensions to Spain ; which power, so far as discovery could give her any right, had certainly the best claim. The history of the first discoverers and explo- rers of this New World shows that they were by no means fortunate. Columbus was loade'd with irons ; Munez de Balboa and Sir Walter Raleigh were beheaded ; Fernando Cortez was reduced to a state of poverty at his death; Magellan, Diaz de Solis, and Ponce de Leon were pierced by Indian arrows ; Pizarro was assassinated by rebels ; two of his brothers were put to death, FATE OF FIRST DISCOVERERS OF AMERICA. 39 the one in prison, the other on a scaffold, where Almagro and his son also laid their heads; Carrier, Verazzani, and Gilbert perished in the waves ; Hernandez de Soto and Herville were cut off by fever in the flower of their age, the one on the banks of the Mississippi, the other at the Havana; Ribault was massacred by the Spaniards ; La Salle met his death from an assas- sin ; Hudson, with his son, w r as thrown over- board by a mutinous crew ; and Baffin was slain in battle. Thus misfortunes and a violent death were, in almost every instance, the only reward of courage, perseverance, and genius. The first colonies were no less unfortunate. The French, in endeavouring to establish them- selves in Canada, suffered so much from the se- verity of the climate and the attacks of the na- lives, that they several times gave up the under- taking in despair. A company of adventurers who had sailed for the St. Lawrence were never afterward heard of. We have already seen what was the fate of Ribault in Florida, and the course of this history will show that of the ex- pediton of La Salle. But these were not the only obstacles that the new colonists had to contend with. Labour and hardships to which they had been entirely unao 40 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. customed, combined with the diseases incident to* new countries to thin their ranks ; and thus the numbers of the survivers were wholly insuf- ficient to till the ground, and defend the sick and helpless against the hostHe savages, who were constantly prowling about, and often, in the ab- sence of the father, murdered or carried off his wife and children. The colonists themselves added to the horrors of their situation by espous- - ing the quarrels of the European powers, and by calling in the dreadful assistance of Indian war- fare in their battles with each other. It may safely be asserted, that more lives were lost in the settlement of America than the most popu- lous state in our Union now contains. CHAPTER IV. Expedition of Joliet and Marquette. Hennepin. La Salle. 1673. AT this period, France had permanent- ly established her power in Canada. The Rock of Quebec was surmounted by fortifications, Mon- treal had been founded, and forts were erected at Richelieu, on Lake Chambly, and Lake Cham- CHARACTER OF FRENCH MISSIONARIES, 41 plain. The savage tribes, partly overawed by the military, and partly persuaded by the mis- sionaries, had placed themselves under French protection at a general assembly held at the Sault de Ste. Marie. The church and army engaged with equal zeal in making discoveries, the one to win souls for heaven, the other to increase the power and riches of France. Fathers Marquette and Hennepin were conspicuous for the ardour and perseverance with which they prosecuted their undertakings; but many others, whose names are now forgotten, equalled them in chari- ty and self-devotion. One of these, who attached himself to a party of Indians driven from their homes by a hostile tribe, thus writes to his supe- rior : " Our company consists of fifty people, men, women, and children, all in the most destitute condition. For our provisions we depend on Him who feeds the young ravens ; we bear with us a load of sins and sorrows, and have great need of the prayers of our Christian brethren." 1673. A Frenchman named Joliet, from Pic- ardy, who had recently arrived in Canada, ac- companied Father Marquette in an exploring expedition to the West. There the Indians, whose language Marquette partly understood, told them of an enormous river which they called Mescha- D 2 42 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. cebe Father of Waters. On their return they communicated the information to Talon, first in- tendant of New-France, who concluded that, by going up to the source of this river, a passage to China might be found ! and that, in following it to its mouth, the Gulf of Mexico would be reach- ed. Marquette and Joliet, both impressed with the same idea, offered to undertake its explora- tion. Engaging four Indians as guides, they were carried by them in their bark canoes across Lake Michigan to Green Bay, and thence they as. cended the Fox River, whose banks were inhab- ited by a tribe of Indians of the same name. Crossing some mountains, they came to the Wis- consin, and, following its course, on the 7th of July, 1673, they discovered the Meschacebe, whose poetical name has been since changed to Mississippi, a word taken from the Iroquois language. On arriving at its shore, the Indians offered arrows, calumets, and ears of corn to the Father of Waters ; Joliet inspected the soil on its borders, exulting in its fertility, and Father Mar- quette, falling on his knees, offered up thanks to Heaven for so great a discovery. They now committed themselves to the stream, which bore them rapidly past the mouths of its three great tributaries, the Missouri, the Ohio, and the Ar- DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 43 kansas, at which last they stopped ; for, though they felt assured that this mighty river must have its outlet in the Gulf of Mexico, as their provis- ions were nearly expended, they resolved to re- turn. They at length got back, with incredible fatigue, to the mouth of the Illinois, whose stream they ascended till they reached the heights which separate it from Lake Michigan. Here the two adventurers parted company, Father Marquette to return to his humble labours among the Miami Indians, and Joliet to proceed to Quebec to give information of their success to Frontenac, the governor of New-France. The tidings were re- ceived with enthusiastic delight. The bells were rung during the whole day, and the bishop, the clergy, and all the authorities of the place went in procession to the Cathedral, where Te Deum was sung and high mass celebrated. 1678. Notwithstanding the great excitement produced by this event, it did not lead immedi- ately to any farther undertakings. The good Father Marquette dying soon after, and Joliet becoming wholly occupied by commercial affairs, the Great River remained unnoticed in the wil- derness, and its discovery seemed almost forgot- ten, when attention to it was suddenly revived by another enterprising Frenchman. Robert 44 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. Cavelier de La Salle had belonged to the order of Jesuits ; but, leaving the society, and finding fiimselr Destitute of property in consequence of the civil death he had incurred by entering into a religious community, he embarked for Canada to seek his fortune. Courageous, enterprising, and persevering, he was precisely the man to complete the undertaking so favourably com- menced by Marquette and Joliet. He offered his services to the governor, promising to explore the Mississippi to its mouth if he were provided with the necessary means. Frontenac advising him to submit his proposals to the court of France, he returned immediately home, where gaining the influence of Colbert and of the Prince of Conti, Louis XIV. was 'easily persuaded to grant him the needed assistance. A ship, well manned and supplied, was equipped for him, and the Chevalier de Tonti, a brave Italian of- ficer, having joined him in the enterprise, he set sail from Rochelle on the 14th of June, 1678. La Salle had received from the king two sealed parchments, one giving him the command of Fort Frontenac, the other granting him a monop- oly of the fur-trade in all the countries he should discover. On^arriving at Quebec, he proceeded at once to EXPEDITION OF LA SALLE. 45 Lake Ontario, where he put Fort Frontenac in a state of defence, had another fort erected at the upper extremity of the lake, and employed him- self in exploring the surrounding country, while a vessel was building for him on Lake Erie. Every- thing being ready, he embarked on board of her in September of 1679, with forty men, among whom was Father Hennepin, a man fully worthy to be the successor of Marquette. They passed through the strait which connects Lakes Erie and Huron, and, entering Lake Michigan, erected a fort on the River St. Joseph. There they were met by Tonti, who had come by a different route. Passing over to the Illinois together, they built Fort Crevecceur on its banks; and, descending with the current, reached the Mississippi. La Salle resolved first to ascend the stream, ho- ging thereby to discover the supposed passage to China, and deeming it also advisable to attempt finding an easier line of communication between Canada and this important river. Accordingly, Father Hennepin, with two other Frenchmen, went up its channel in a bark canoe, taking particular note of its numerous tributaries as they passed along. Some miles below the mouth of the St. Peter's they came to a cataract, which they called the Falls of St. Anthony, and, 46 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. carrying their canoe past it, embarked on the river above, to which they gave the name of St. Francis. Atjength they fell in with a party_of SiouxIndianSy who made them prisoners; but they were well treated, and adopted by some of the chiefs. They did not remain long with them, however ; for, leaving them at the end of three months, they again descended the Missis- sippi, passed up the Wisconsin, from thence pro- ceeded to Michilimackinac, and returned to Canada. .1682^-jja Salle in the mean time remained among thg Illinois, ^ an establishment there. His efforts were baffled by tne jealousy o tHeindians, and even of some of his French companions, who, it is said, attempt- ed to poison him. A war among the Indians rendering his position insecure, he built, on a high bank commanding the river, a fort, to which he gave the name of St. Louis, for its protection. This was the germe of the future city of that name. Stationing most of his party there, he himself returned to Canada, engaged fresh ad- venturers, and, again embarking on the Mississip- pi, resolved to explore it in its whole extent. thp. Arkansas., where JoliaL^nd M^quette had teqpinated^eir voyage, and the LA SALLE DESCENDS THE MISSISSIPPI. 47 current rapidly swept them along through un- known countries. The distance^ appeared lo tlicm intefmlhaBle; and all began to despair ex- cept La Salle, who encouraged them to persevere, until at length'TnTlc^rlsfancy was rewardefl'wtth success: tEey' finally found the river separating "tntTTseven branches, and soon jilter _ discharging its enormous volume of water into the Jjrulf o Mexico*. Nearly the entire length of the Mississippi had now been explored ; and, according to the cus- tom by which discoveries were then regulated, the whole of the vast valley through which it flows was claimed for France. La Salle took pos- session of it with the usual forms, and gave to it the name of Louisiana. The Mississippi, rising near the forty-ninth parallel of latitude, and separating the Missouri from the Northwest Territory, runs in a south- southeast direction, receiving the waters of innu- merable tributaries both from the east and west, until it finally reaches its termination, after a winding course of three thousand miles. Next to the Amazon, it is considered the largest river in the world ; although the Missouri has certainly a better claim to that distinction, its length, before it joins the Mississippi, being one hundred miles D 48 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. greater than that of the whole course of its rival. Not only is it as broad and as deep, but it com- municates its own character to it. Before their junction, the Mississippi is. a transparent, gently- flowing stream, studded with numerous islands ; but when the Missouri rushes into it, it disturbs its whole current as far as the opposite bank; then (owing, probably, to the greater density of its waters) it disappears for nearly ten miles, the colour of the Mississippi being but little changed by its new ally ; and it is not befqre you approach St. Louis that the two rivers are distinctly seen, flowing unmingled side by side, until at length they unite in a yellow, turbid torrent, running at a rate of about four miles an hour. The distance from the junction of the two rivers to the Gulf of Mexico is one thousand three hundred miles. There are no tides in the Mississippi. It fre- quently overflows the country south of the Red River, which is a low alluvial tract, intersected with innumerable streams and lakes. The allu- vial lands bordering on the river are from one to ten miles broad, and extremely fertile, covered with cotton-wood trees, magnolia, honey locust, pawpaw, buckeye, and palmetto. On the sandy uplands, pines and oaks are seen. Towards the north these gradually give place to the Ken- LA SALLE RETURNS TO FRANCE. 49 tucky coffee-tree, pear, apple, maple, peach, va- rieties of oak, and all the trees of a northern climate. Wild grapevines hang from them in festoons ; wild rice grows in the northern parts of the country, and in the south the cotton-plant offers its stores of wealth. It would be impossi- ble to enumerate all the vegetable productions that grow spontaneously in this fertile region, or that have been, in the progress of cultivation, in- troduced into it; and there are probably few plants that would not find a congenial soil and climate in some part of this immense valley. It will readily be supposed that La Salle was not a little elated by his discovery: he hastened back to Quebec, and immediately set sail for France. He had, indeed, nobly redeemed his promise, and given to his sovereign a territory unequalled in extent and importance ; which, spanning like a bow the American Continent, and completely hemming in the English possessions (as yet reaching but little beyond the seaboard), might have rendered France the mistress of the world. 1684. Preparations for colonizing Louisiana were made in the early part of this year. Four vessels were equipped to carry out two hundred and eighty persons. One hundred of these were 50 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. soldiers, commanded by Joutel, the brother oi La Salle, and another brother, the Abbe Cavelier and two nephews, were with him. Mechanics and a small number of women and children gave hopes of a permanent settlement ; and some thirty volunteers and a few ecclesiastics comple- ted the party. But those who undertake to col- onize a new country are rarely the best of their kind. The soldiers were undisciplined vagabonds, whom their commander, a man of sense and courage, was unable, with all his efforts, to man- age ; the mechanics were ignorant and without experience ; and, worst of all, the naval com- mander, Beaujeu, was totally unfit to be the as- sociate of the heroic La Salle, and by his jealousy and foolish pride he baffled and defeated his well-laid plans. The voyage, in its commencement, was marked by disasters ; and it was not long before serious differences arose between Beaujeu and La Salle. Having passed the mouth of the Mississippi without observing it, La Salle soon discovered the error, and proposed to return ; but Beaujeu refused, and persisted in sailing to the west, till they had reached the Bay of St. Bernard. There he left La Salle and the little colony on an unknown coast with a single vessel, and with the remain- der of the fleet returned to France. SETTLEMENT OF LA SALLE IN TEXAS. 51 La Salle prepared to make the best arrange- ments he could for the safety and comfort of his companions, intending, after he had provided for their security, to embark in his boats in search of the Mississippi ; but, through the carelessness of the pilot, the vessel was wrecked, and many of their stores lost. Though this disaster struck his comrades with despair, it had little effect on the firmness of La Salle, who calmly proceeded to select a site for a fortified post, to which he gave the name of St. Louis. This spot sloped gently towards the west, presenting the prospect of a beautiful country, verdant with luxuriant herb- age, and variegated with groups of trees ; and south and east lay the Bay of Matagorda, skirted with prairies. The waters abounded with fish, flights of wild fowl filled the air, and the fields \rere alive with bisons, deer, and wild turkeys. The fort was erected, the arms of France were carved on the trees, and Texas was formally ta- ken possession of as a part of her dominions. Nor did she, so long as Louisiana was hers, ever re- linquish her rights to the territory thus colonized under her banners, but persisted in claiming it as far as the Rio del Norte; and her title, indeed, was considered so clear, that Bernard de la Harpe attempted at a later period to occupy the country 52 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. anew. But, though France was not sufficiently powerful permanently to push her settlements thus far, the mouth of the Rio del Norte continued to be considered as the western limit of Louisiana on the Gulf of Mexico, and the English geogra- phers allowed the claim. Though the excursions made in the vicinity of Fort St. Louis gave abundant evidence of the beauty of the country and the fertility of the soil, La Salle was far from being contented with his situation, and resolved to coast along the shore with canoes for the purpose of finding the Mississippi. The arms and canoes of the Indians at Matagorda bore a striking resemblance to those he had seen on that river, and this induced him to believe that he could not be far from it. Still he was unable to obtain the smallest infor- mation from these savages, who were extremely shy and unfriendly. He spent four months in vainly seeking for this mighty river, and return- ed to his companions. In April he traversed the wilderness towards New-Mexico, in hopes of discovering mi/ies. Among the Cenis he found wild horses, and abundant supplies of maize and beans, but nowhere any traces of the precious metals ; the only wealth of the country consisted in its exuberant fertility. LA SALLE STARTS FOR CANADA. 53 Meanwhile Tonti, by virtue of an understanding between himself and La Salle, had left his post on the Illinois, and descended the Mississippi, to meet him on his arrival. He remained there for some months, seeking for him along the coasts of the gulf, until finally, despairing of success, he returned to Fort Crevecceur ; a few of his com- panions deserting him on the way, and remaining behind on the Arkansas. 1687. The situation of La Salle had become extremely critical. From a sulky indifference, the savages had proceeded to acts of open hos- tility. The colony was threatened with famine, and its usual consequence, rebellion. Every ex- pedition had diminished their numbers, until at last they were reduced to thirty-seven men. From among these La Salle selected sixteen, and started with the desperate resolution of finding his way to Canada, or of perishing in the attempt. In the party there were two brothers of the name of Lancelot, the younger of whom, after two days' journey, became unable to proceed any farther, and was permitted to return to the fort. His brother wished to accompany him ; but La Salle considered it imprudent to diminish the strength of his cpmpany, even then insufficient for so dangerous a journey. He refused, there- 54 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. for^, to let him go ; and the young man return- ing alone, was murdered by the Indians. The surviving brother vowed revenge ; but he did nqt find an opportunity to execute his purpose till two months after, when, with some accomplices, he first murdered a nephew of La Salle, and then, concealing themselves in a canebrake, the conspirators fired at their commander himself. He received a death-wound, and expired on the 19th of May, 1687, near the western branch of Trinity River. His murderers avoided the ven- geance of his friends by quitting the party, which, now reduced to seven men, continued their march through tribes of Indians, w T ho treated them with kindness. They at length reached the country of the Natchitoches ; and, four months after the death of La Salle, arrived at the junction of the Arkansas with the Mississippi. There they were surprised at the sight of a cross, which had been set up by those companions of Tonti who had left him there on his return. This unexpected indication encouraged them to persevere in as- cending the Mississippi, and they finally arrived safely in Canada. The few unfortunate individuals left behind by La Salle at the Bay of St. Bernard soon fell victims to the barbarity of the Indians, with the DEATH AND CHARACTER OF LA SALLE. 55 exception of five children, whose lives were spared; and these, afterward falling into the hands of the Spaniards, made known the fate of the unhappy colonists. The death of La Salle put an end to all pres- ent prospects of colonization. It is little to the credit of France or of Louisiana that neither of them have shown the smallest mark of respect to his memory. A bust placed by order of Con- gress in the Rotunda of the Capitol, is the only memorial of a man whose enterprising genius and persevering resolution merit the highest hon- ours. CHAPTER V. Expedition of Iberville. Mississippi Company. Foundation of New-Orleans by Bienville. FOR several years after the death of La Salle, France, either discouraged by the ill success of this first attempt at colonization, or wholly occu- pied in war, abandoned its settlers on the Mis- sissippi entirely to their own resources. Their numbers were unequal to the laborious task of 56 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. clearing and cultivating the soil ; and fishing, hunting, and trading in furs became their prin- cipal occupation. Many of them, associating with the Indians in these pursuits, became assim- ilated to them in character, and adopted their roving and unsettled habits. But the ill effects of this companionship were soon felt : game be- gan to grow scarce ; and the Indians, finding the strangers interfering with their trifling com- merce, conceived a jealousy of them which finally led to serious consequences. 1697. The peace of Ryswick, concluded in 1697, left France at leisure to turn her attention to her neglected subjects, who had been for the last ten years lost sight of among the wilds of Louisiana. Lemoine d'Iberville, a brave naval officer, who had distinguished himself by several daring actions during the last war, volunteered to renew the explorations commenced by La Salle on the Gulf of Mexico. Two vessels were al- lowed him ; and, departing from Rochefort on the 17th of October, he first put in to St. Domingo. From thence he again set sail in the following January, and directed his course towards the Bay of Pensacola, where the Spaniards had made a small settlement. They protested against what they called an invasion of a country which they VOYAGE OF IBERVILLB. 57 claimed as belonging to Mexico ; but, having no power to impede his operations, he successively reconnoitred the Bay of Mobile, now the seat of a considerable city, the Isle of Dauphine, the River Pascagoula, and the Bay of Biloxi, and on the 20th of March, 1698, arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi. He entered the river without any positive assurance that it was the same that had been discovered by La Salle, when a fortu- nate accident removed every doubt. A letter, written by Tonti thirteen years before, at the time he descended the Mississippi in search of La Salle, and which had been intrusted to the care of a friendly Indian, was handed to Iber- ville, and proved of incalculable service, as it gave a particular account of the discoveries of his predecessors, and described the marks by which they could be recognised. Thus guided, Iberville passed some distance up the Mississippi, entered the outlet that bears his name, discovered Lakes Maurepas and Pont- chartrain, and, coming into the Bay of Biloxi, was so pleased with its advantages that he de- cided to establish there his first settlement. But, after building a fort, he perceived that he had chosen an injudicious location ; and, abandoning it, he selected another at Mobile, which was also 58 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. deserted for the Isle of Dauphine. Barracks and storehouses were afterward built there, and this island was for some years the headquarters of the colony. It does not seem to have struck Iberville that his principal establishment should have been on the largest navigable river, though he did not entirely neglect the Mississippi. He caused a fort, which he called Balize, to be erected at the mouth of the river ; and, after completing many important works, he returned to France to solicit farther assistance for his infant colony. During his absence his two brothers faithfully seconded his views. Saurolle, the eldest, took charge of the interior affairs of the colony, and Bienville, the younger, was indefatigable in' endeavouring to keep up a good understanding with the sur- rounding tribes. 1699. As the latter was descending the Mis- sissippi, on his return from a visit to the Indians, he perceived an English vessel of war, mounting sixteen guns, at anchor in the river. A project- ing point had obliged her commander to wait for a favourable wind. Being questioned by Bien- ville, he informed him that there was another ship of the same force at the mouth of the river, and that they had been sent out by their govern- IBERVILLE VISITED BY TONTI. 59 raent to discover the Mississippi, and to ascertain the practicability of establishing a colony on its banks. Inquiring of Bienville if this was not the river they were seeking, he replied that the Mis- sissippi was much farther to the west, and that the river they were now in was a dependancy of the French colonies in Canada. The credulous commander immediately weighed anchor and departed ; and the place where this occurrence took place has ever since been called the " Eng- lish Turn." 1699. Iberville came back from France in December, and shortly after he received an un- expected visit. Tonti, the brave companion of La Salle, had received tidings in Illinois, where he still remained, of the new colony formed by his countrymen at the South ; and, taking seven men with him, he had descended the Mississippi to assure himself of the fact. The brothers joy- fully received this new friend ; and, on his return, Iberville and Bienville accompanied him as far as the country of the Natchez. There Bienville fixed on the site of Fort Rosalie, afterward the scene of a bloody war, and there the friends parted, with promises of mutual support and as- sistance. 1706. It was not long before Louisiana had 60 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. to lament the loss of some of her best and bra- vest settlers. The search for gold and precious stones proved fatal to several of the adventurers who engaged in it. During the absence of Iber- ville, his second brother, Saurolle, fell a vic- tim to the prevailing fever, which made dread- ful havoc in the little colony, and reduced its numbers to one hundred and fifty-five. Soon after his return, Iberville himself was attacked, barely escaping with his life ; but his constitution was shattered ; and though he so far recovered his strength as to be able to lend his assistance to the French arms in 1706, the effort was followed by a severe illness, of which he died at the Ha- vana. He had commenced his career as a vol- unteer in the midnight attack upon Schenecta- da, in which he was chiefly remembered for an act of clemency. Rising afterward to the high- est distinction in the French navy, and acknowl- edged to be the bravest and most skilful officer in that service, Canada was justly proud of such a son. After the peace of Ryswick his indefat- igable spirit led him to seek a commission for completing the undertaking commenced by the unfortunate La Salle, and permanently establish- ing the French power on the banks of the Mis- sissippi. STATE OF THE COLONY. 61 At his death Louisiana was little more than a wilderness. The colonists had unwisely directed nearly all their attention to a vain search for mines of gold, or to the trade in furs, instead of occupying themselves with cultivating a soil whose fertility would have richly repaid their labour. Their scanty numbers, instead of being engaged in the profitable toils of husbandry, were widely scattered on distant journeys of dis- covery, or among the Indian tribes in quest of furs. Of the lands that were occupied, Biloxi was a barren sand ; the soil of Isle Dauphine was poor ; and at the fort on the Delta of the . Mississippi, the young Bienville and his few sol- diers w r ere completely isolated, at the mercy of the floods of the river, and obliged to dispute the possession of the country with moschetoes, frogs, snakes, and alligators, which seemed per- petually to remind them of their folly, and to warn them to seek for a home in some more fa- vourable situation. But Bienville was in all respects worthy to be the brother of Iberville ; fitted to accomplish what he had not been permitted to finish, and to win for himself an honourable name in the annals of Louisiana. 1712. But the colony was still doomed to 62 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. struggle with misfortune. The mother country was again plunged into war, and could no longer afford them any assistance. At this juncture, Antoine de Crozat, who had amassed an enor- mous fortune in the East India trade, purchased a grant of the entire country, with the exclusive right of commerce for sixteen years, the govern- ment retaining only the prerogative of sovereignty. The speculation, however, did not succeed ; and Crozat, after ruining himself and injuring the colo- ny, in 1717 surrendered all his privileges. But the failure of Crozat did not discourage other adventurers. A number .of these having united, and formed what was called the Missis- sippi Company, they obtained from government a charter, to continue for twenty-seven years, granting them a complete monopoly of the trade, and of mines ; an exclusive right to cede lands, ports, and islands ; exemption from duties ; the power to appoint judges; the prerogative of making peace or war ; and, in short, all the rights of sovereignty, except the bare nominal title. But their greatest expectations \yere from the mines ; and on the strength of a former traveller, named Nicolas Perrot, having discovered a mine of copper in the valley of the River St. Peter's, the directors of the company assigned to the soil FORMATION OF MISSISSIPPI COMPANY. 03 of Louisiana all kinds of treasures. The copper was metamorphosed into silver and gold ; and in the mud of the Mississippi diamonds and pearls were to be found. The secret agent of the com- pany was the notorious Law, who, not finding in Europe a theatre sufficiently wide for his financial operations, had extended them to the banks of the Mississippi. To form a capital for the company, its shares were sold at 500 livres each ; and such w r as the speculating mania of the times, that in a short time more than 100 millions were realized. This state of affairs, though it ruined a multitude of individuals, turned to the advantage of the colony. Great landholders came out, bringing with them numerous labourers, mechanics, &c. ; extensive clearings were made, and agriculture and com- merce flourished. 1717. The company had engaged to trans- port to Louisiana 6000 white persons and 8000 blacks during the continuance of its charter. In 1718 it sent over 800 of the former. The Isle of Dauphine . having been ravaged by the English in 17,10, and its ports being filled up with the sand driven into it by a hurricane in 1717, the stores were transported to the Bay of Biloxi, which again became the principal seat of the 64 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. colony. But the reasons which had determined Iberville to abandon this latter station soon be- came apparent. The wretched colonists, crowded together on a barren shore, could find means neither to live on it nor to leave it. Great num- bers sunk under famine and disease ; and the sur- vivers were indebted to the Indians for being enabled to make their escape, and to disperse themselves through the neighbouring country. 1718. Bienville felt the necessity of forming an establishment, which, from its local advanta- ges, might become the future metropolis of the country ; and in seeking for such a spot, not too far removed from the shore, and in a situation to command the resources of that extensive region, he fixed on the site now occupied by the city of New-Orleans. The plan of the future city embraced the pres- ent Parish of Orleans, and was laid out in imita- tion of Rochefort. The original town, now call- ed the old city, is in the form of a parallelogram, of which the longer sides are 1320 yards, and the shorter 700. The houses were built of wood ; the streets were narrow, not exceeding forty feet in width, and one of them still bears the name 01 Bienville. The city stands on the left bank of the river, at a distance of 90 miles from its mouth ADVANTAGES OF NEW-ORLEANS. 65 in a direct line, and 105 miles following the course of the stream. It was impracticable to place it nearer the gulf, as the long slip of land through which the river flows for the last hun- dred miles is little else than a marsh. Even in its present site the town is surrounded by swamps ; and the country being lower than the surface of the river during times of flood, it has been found necessary to raise high embankments, called leveeSyto protect it from inundation. This barrier does not always prove sufficient; and breaks, or, as the French call them, crevasses, often occur, when the water, rushing in, and con- tinually widening the passage, spreads destruc- tion all around. But if Bienville made an un- fortunate selection as it regards health and com- fort, it must be admitted that a better site could not have been chosen for a great commercial emporium. The command of the Mississippi, with its numerous navigable tributaries, the easy access from the sea, and the facility of securing it against hostile invasion, are advantages which must render it eventually one of the most impor- tant, and, perhaps, the largest of all the cities of America. 1719. Alberoni, the restless minister of Spain, having, in opposition to the interests of both 66 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. countries, involved his nation in a war with France, De Sevigny arrived in Louisiana in Feb- ruary of this year, with orders to take possession of the settlement and Bay of Pensacola. This bay received the name of Anchusa in the time of De Soto ; and subsequently it was called Mary, and St. Mary of Galves. In 1696, Don Andres Arriola had built upon its shores a fort, a church, and a few houses, in a situation unfavourable for commerce, agriculture, or productive labour of any kind. Bienville and his colonists rejoiced at an op- portunity to show their devotion to France ; and all the troops the young settlement could spare were withdrawn from the forts and garrisons to join the expedition, part of them proceeding by land to unite in the attack on Pensacola. Matamoro, the commander of the place, after a feeble resistance of five hours, surrendered; and by this conquest the French hoped to extend their power along the shores of the gulf, from the Rio del Norte to the Atlantic, But, having generously sent their prisoners to the Havana on parole, the treacherous governor of that post did not scruple to violate the courtesies of war, and, in contempt of a written capitulation, he impris- oned the commander, took possession of the two CAPTURE AND RECAPTURE OF PENSACOLA. 67 French vessels, and sent them with a Spanish force to recover Pensacola. Its small garrison was unable to make any serious opposition, and, forty days after its capture, it was again taken by its original possessors. The Spaniards then made an attempt on the Isle Dauphine and Mo- bile, but without success. Bienville having been re-enforced by three ships of the line, under command of the brave Champmeslin, again be- sieged Pensacola. It was defended by Mata- moro, the same officer who had so easily yielded it before, and who did not manifest any greater resolution on the present occasion : he submitted, indeed, without firing a single cannon. The only resistance the French encountered was from the Spanish fleet under Don Alfonso, brother-in- law of the governor of Havana, who, after an obstinate engagement, was compelled to surren- der, and deliver up his sword to Champmeslin, which the latter returned with the courtesy due to a gallant enemy. Matamoro, however, he treated in a very different manner ; and remark- ing to him that he had disgraced the brave na- tion to which he belonged, he ordered one of his sailors to receive his sword. Thus Pensacola changed masters three times in the space of five months ; but it was not destined permanently to 68 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. remain a French possession, being restored to Spain at the close of the war in 1721. 1720. The settlements of Natchitoches and Illinois continued to increase in spite of the Indian wars they had to encounter. Five hun- dred negroes were about this time brought from Africa ; and more than twelve hundred individ- uals of various descriptions, including a number of women, left France to settle on the fertile banks of the Mississippi. But as the character of many of these new colonists was not such as to render them a desirable acquisition, the West- ern Company obtained from the regent an order forbidding any more convicts to be transported to Louisiana. 1721. So sudden and considerable an ad- dition to their numbers soon caused a scarcity of provisions, which was followed by desertions, rebellion, and scenes of riot and assassination. Supplies were daily expected from France; but when the long - looked - for ship arrived, she brought also a large accession to the population. At another time these new-comers would have been most acceptable, but now they only in- creased the general distress. Bienville, however, having despatched a vessel to St. Domingo, she soon returned with the needed provisions, and their difficulties were for the time removed. DIVISION OF LOUISIANA INTO CANTONS. 69 1722. The bankruptcy of Law, which took place at this time, threw the colony into the greatest confusion, and occasioned wide-spread distress in France, where speculation had been carried to an extreme unknown before. Of course, the expenditures for Louisiana were in a great measure stopped, but the colony had now gained strength to struggle for itself. Duvergier was now appointed by the compa- ny, director, intendant, president of the council, and commandant of the marine. But, instead of turning his attention to the improvement of the colony, contrary to the advice of Bienville, he only sought to extend it. La Harpe attempt- e4 to form a settlement at the Bay of St. Ber- nard ; but the Indians opposed it, and the plan was abandoned. Three commissioners were soon af- ter sent out, under the appointment of the regent, viz., Faget, Ferrand, and Machinet. They di- vided Louisiana into nine cantons : New-Orleans, Biloxi, Mobile, Alibamons, Natchez, Natchito- ches, Yazoos, Arkansas, and Illinois. Each can- ton was provided with a judge, appointed by the superior council. The commissioners reinstated Bienville in the presidency of the council, and by his advice fixed the seat of government at New-Orleans. This 70 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. place then contained only a few wooden cottages, a storehouse, a small chapel, and two hundred inhabitants. An addition of a thousand negroes was this year made to the colony ; and two hundred and fifty German settlers also came over. Those of this nation who had previously occupied the lands of Law on the Arkansas, now returned to New- Orleans for the purpose of going back to their .native country. Bienville induced them, how- ever, to remain, and gave them land on the banks of the river, which are now known by the name of the German Settlements. The commissioners fixed the price of a slave at one hundred and seventy-six dollars, payable in three years either in rice or tobacco, the rice being valued at three dollars a barrel, and the tobacco at six and a half dollars ; a barrel of wine at six dollars, and a hogshead of brandy at thirty dollars. 1723. This year the colony suffered greatly from a dreadful hurricane, which lasted from the llth to the 16th of September, nearly destroying New-Orleans just as it was beginning to assume the appearance of a town. The corn and rice crops were almost ruined; but the rice being scattered about by the wind, springing up wher- SEASONS OF SCARCITY. 71 ever it fell, produced another harvest; and this singular proof of the fertility of the soil gave great encouragement to the planters. Still sea- sons of scarcity occurred ; the infant colony was unable to raise enough for its support, and a com- pany of soldiers who had embarked at Biloxi for New-Orleans, fearful of famine, took possession of the vessel and sailed for Charleston. The colonists were obliged, also, to defend them- selves against the Indians, the Natchez having made an attack upon Fort Rosalie. The friend- ship of the Choctaws and Alibamons was like- wise very doubtful, and it was deemed necessa- ry to build two new forts, the one on the Tom- beckbee, the other on the Alabama. 1724. At this time the population of Louisi- ana amounted to five thousand. No Jews were permitted to settle in the colony. 1725. A singular law was this year enacted, inflicting the punishment of death on any one who should kill the cattle belonging to another, and a fine of sixty dollars on every person who should kill his own. It would seem from this that they placed a higher value on horses and oxen than on men. 1728. Bienville returned this year to France, after having passed twenty-nine years in Louisi F 72 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. ana : he left Perier to succeed him in the super- intendence of the colony. Louisiana was now in a prosperous condition. Many new settlers had arrived ; agriculture was improving ; and indigo, rice, and tobacco were successfully cultivated. Fig-trees had been brought from Provence, and those of the orange from St. Domingo ; and both were seen growing luxuriant- ly on the plantations around New-Orleans. The fig-tree has become completely naturalized ; but the orange, though it thrives well and produces fine fruit, is sometimes destroyed by severe win- ters. Land now began to acquire a higher value. The superior council annulled all rights to unoc- cupied lands which had been granted previous to the year 1723, and enjoined upon all proprietors to show their titles, and declare the quantity of land owned and occupied by them, under penalty of forfeiture. The share allotted to each proprie- tor was twenty-five acres along the river, or as much more as had been actually possessed and improved. Measures were taken for the con- struction of roads and levees, and for the defence of the colony, which at that time could muster only eight hundred soldiers, a force wholly in- sufficient for so extensive a country, surrounded as it was by warlike, and, for the most part, hostile tribes of savages. THE ILLINOIS. 73 CHAPTER VL Indian Tribes. WHEN the French commenced their settlements on the Mississippi, they found its banks occupied by different tribes of Indians, of which the prin- cipal were the Illinois, the Chickasaws, the Choc- taws, and the Natchez, all on the eastern side of the river. The Illinois inhabited the country now bearing their name : though their numbers were considerable, they were sparsely scattered over an extensive territory. The region bounded by the Ohio on the north, the Mississippi on the west, on the east by the Cumberland River, and extend- ing south into what is at present the State of Mis- sissippi, was the country of the Chickasaws, the allies of the English, and inveterate enemies of the French. Marquette found them, in his time, already in possession of guns, obtained probably from Virginia. La Salle built a fort, to which he gave the name of Prud'homme, on one of the bluffs bordering on the river within their terri- tory ; but their favourite place of abode was in the upland country which gives rise to the Yazoo 74 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. and the Tombeckbee, and which possesses per- haps the finest climate and most fruitful soil on the Continent ; where the herbage is verdant in mid-winter, and where the bluebird and robin are heard in February ; where springs of the purest water bubble up through the white sand, and flow through natural bowers of evergreen holly; and where, if the earth be but sufficiently scratched to cover the kernels of maize, an abundant crop succeeds. No wonder that the occupants of this pleasant and fruitful region, savage as they were, should have highly prized it, and exerted all their courage in its defence. Below the Chickasaws, bet ween the Mississippi and the Tombeckbee, was the land of the Choc- taws, who, on their eastern frontier, were collect- ed in villages, but were fewer in numbers and more widely scattered throughout the rest of their territory. Their country was favourable to till- age, the soil being fertile, and the surface level or gently undulating; and they were more of ag- riculturists than any of the North American tribes, subsisting chiefly upon corn, and depending but little on the chase. They were a formidable na- tion, and could bring four thousand warriors into the field. They spoke a dialect of the Mobilian, the prevalent language of the Southern Indians, ACCOUNT OF THE NATCHEZ. 75 closely resembling that of the Chickasaws. Their customs are also similar to those of the latter. They were faithful in their friendship to the French, though they resolutely maintained their independence. Of the Natchez, whose settlements were south of the Choctaws, and who dwelt in villages, the most important of which were situated on the banks of the Mississippi, tradition related the most singular stories. It was believed they had emi- grated from Mexico, and were kindred to the Incas of Peru ; and it was likewise said that they differed not only in language, but in their policy and customs, from the surrounding Indian nations, and that they were much farther advanced in civilization. This last supposition, however, has been shown to be wholly groundless, and that they were in no respect superior to their neighbours in the rude arts of savage life. Still it is certain that their language was entirely different from that of the other nations, as were also many of their customs. Although by all the Indian tribes religious ceremonies are observed, and the belief in a future state (everywhere imprinted on the heart of man) is universal among them, the Natch- ez alone had a consecrated place of worship, or temple. It was but a simple hut, to be sure, without a window, with a low and narrow open- 76 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. ing on the side for the only entrance ; but here were preserved the most valued fetiches of the tribe, some of which were moulded from clay and baked in the sun ; here, too, were gathered the bones of the dead, and on the surrounding pali- sades were suspended their horrid trophies, the scalps taken from their enemies. A perpetual fire was kept up by appointed guardians ; and when, in one of the awful storms common to those regions, the lightning had set fire to the sacred edifice, terror-stricken mothers, like the votaries of Baal, cast their infants into the flames to ap- pease the fury of the unknown power. Near the temple, on an artificial mound, stood the hut of their chief, called the Great Sun, who was supposed to be descended from that lumi- nary, and all around were grouped the cabins of the tribe. Nowhere w r as the power of the chief- tain so despotic. The dignity was hereditary, and transmitted exclusively through the female line ; and the race of nobles was so distinct that usage had moulded language into forms of rever- ence. In other respects there was among them no greater civilization than among the Choc- taws; and, allowing something for difference of climate, their manners differed but little from those of the more northern races. Among; the less considerable tribes, the Pumas INDIAN TRIBES. 77 occupied the territory of Baton Rouge and of the two Felicianas ; between the Amite and the Fangipao lived the tribe of the latter name ; and more towards the east were the Colapipas, who numbered three hundred warriors. The Baya- goulas extended from the Iberville as far as New-Orleans, the site of which was then occu- pied by the Chap.itoulas ; and on the opposite bank were the Mongoulachas. On the Terre au Boeufs, at the English Turn, was the principal seat of the Chonachas, who claimed all the left bank of the river. The right belonged to the Onachas, whose name is still retained by a lake situated north of the Bay of Barrataria. The Chetimachas erected their huts on the banks of the River La Fourche, which at first bore their name. In the territory of the Attakapas lived the tribe of that name, which signifies eaters of men. At Pointe Coupee were the Tunicas, and at the mouth of Red River the Avoyellas. Natchitoches was occupied by the tribe of the same name; and west of Lake Bistineau were the Caddos, or Caddodaquis. The Dulcinos, On- chouis, and Yatapis were encamped between the Onachita and Red River, and the Onachitas and Tensas wandered along the banks of these two streams. 78 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. These different tribes, which had, perhaps, been once powerful, were reduced to but a small number at the time the country was settled by Jthe French. Some could muster no more than fifty warriors, and the most important scarcely five hundred. Neither horses, sheep, poultry, { ^nor bees were found among them. The Atta- kapas alone possessed a few domestic fowls, saved from a shipwrecked vessel. They raised a small quantity of maize, sw r eet potatoes, and beans. Instead of tobacco they smoked the papona (the leaf of a thorny shrub common in Louisiana). Their huts were open ; and, being thatched with leaves, were easily set on fire with burning arrows. Thus an enemy, surprising one of these villages in the night, could suddenly in- volve it in one wide conflagration, and, without opposition, destroy all its occupants. La Salle found on the banks of the Mississippi the ruins of an Indian village, its cabins all burned, and the wretched inhabitants massacred. They were continually at war with each other ; and to this is to be ascribed the smallness of their numbers. The Indian mounds and fortifications, which have so long excited curiosity and exercised con- jecture, have been supposed to indicate the exist- ence of a race of people not only much more INDIAN MOUNDS. 79 ancient, but also much more highly civilized than any found by the first discoverers. But a careful examination of these remains has proved that there was little more skill employed in their construction than is possessed by the Indians of the present day. Judging from the extent and number of their works, they must, however, have been a numerous people, whose principal habita- tions seem to have been in the central parts of the Valley of the Mississippi, in Ohio, Georgia, and Florida. Few traces of these ruins are found north or east of the great lakes, or east of the Alleghany Range. The most remarkable of these is a regular fortification in the interior of the State of Ohio, consisting of two circular ram- parts, connected with a square of the same con- struction, the gateways of which are perfectly distinct, though now overgrown with trees. At Circleville, on Paint Creek, on the east side of the Muskingum, and near Cincinnati, there are also extensive remains. Nearly opposite to St. Louis, also, there are several Indian mounds, among which the Big Mound of Cahokia is con- sidered the largest yet discovered. The circum- ference of its base is stated to be one hundred and eighty feet, and its height ninety. Several of the smaller mounds have been opened, and 80 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. found to contain human bones, coarse pottery, and rude weapons and ornaments. On one of these large mounds a number of refugee monks, of the order of La Trappe, found, a retreat for some years, during the troubles of their native land, and left to the eminence the name of Mcjiks' Mound. All researches have as yet failed in discovering who this lost people could have been. At first the Indians observed with tranquil cu- riosity the adventurers who had come to their shores. The idea of contending with them for land, of which they knew not the limits or value, did not enter their minds. The forests abounded with game, furnishing both clothing and food ; the rivers with fish ; and in all these their new guests were at liberty to share. They supposed the strangers must have come from some coun- try deficient in all such necessaries, and that they had braved the dangers of the ocean in quest of them. But when they found themselves driven from their accustomed hunting-grounds, saw the game grow scarce, and found their little planta- tions encroached upon, they began to look upon the intruder with an evil eye. Notwithstanding the general Kindness with which the French treat- ed them 5 among such a motley multitude acts of INDIANS JEALOUS OF THE FRENCH. 81 injustice and tyranny could not but occur ; while the natural inclination of the Indians for war, fos- tered by their continual quarrels among them- selves, joined to their vindictive spirit, disposed them bitterly to revenge every aggression of the strangers. In vain the more enlightened of the French commanders endeavoured to preserve peace. In vain the missionaries tried to, soften the character of the natives by instructing them in the useful arts. On the slightest pretence, they abandoned their peaceful occupations to engage in war with the foreign intruders or with each other. The Natchez were the first to commence hos- tilities. Their chiefs had viewed with jealousy the settlement of the French, whose proximity, numbers, and courage rendered them formidable neighbours. The progress of these wars, which were carried on with the most determined perse- verance, will be related hereafter. The Mongoulachas having destroyed a village of the Bayagoulas, the latter revenged them- selves bv exterminating their enemies to a man. Some time after this, the Tensas, being driven from their homes by the Yazoos, took refuge among the Bayagoulas, and were received by them as brothers. But, as a reward for this hos- 82 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. pitality, they arose in the night and murdered their hosts. The Tunicas had robbed two English traders ; and the Alibamons and Chickasaws, who had been employed to revenge this act, drove them from their camp. They fled to the Oumas for protection, and were treated by them with the utmost kindness, which they treacherously repaid by killing or making prisoners of as many of their benefactors as was in their power ; and the Ou- mas who escaped sought refuge on the shores of the Bayou St. John. The Chickasaws, in a time of profound peace, fell suddenly on the Choctaws, carried off a great number of them prisoners, and sold them for slaves in Carolina. About thirty individuals, men, women, and children, belonging to the of- fending nation, were encamped around the fort of Mobile. To return to their homes they had to pass through the country of the Choctaws, and, dreading their vengeance, they asked of Bienville an escort for their protection, which he thought proper to grant. St. Denis, wdth twen- ty Canadians, was employed in this service. As they approached the nearest village of the Choc- taws, this officer, advancing alone, requested of the Indians a free passage through their territo- MASSACRE OF THE CHICKAfiAWB. 83 ry for himself and the people under ius charge. This they consented to allow, on tins condition of being permitted to reproach the Chickasaws with the treachery of their nation. The latter, with arms in their hands, stood in an open plain, and were soon surrounded by the Choctaw chiefs, attended by about three hundred war- riors. An old sachem, holding the calumet in his hand, after giving full scope to his indigna- tion, concluded by saying that the French pro- tected their enemies only because they were ig- norant of the crimes of which they had been guilty, and that the Chickasaws then present de- served death, as a just retribution for the treach- ery of their tribe. He then threw down the cal- umet, the Choctaws drew their bows, and most of the Chickasaw warriors fell dead. The sur- vivers made a vain attempt at resistance but none except the women and children were spared. St. Denis received a wound as he was endeavouring to restore peace. A large body of the Choctaws conducted the French in safety to Mobile, to express their regret at this unfortu- nate occurrence. These instances show the vindictive spirit of the Indians, and the persevering, though gener- ally unavailing, efforts of the French to preserve harmony among them. 84 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. At last, however, the French succeeded in ac- complishing their object : they effected a peace among the tribes of the Valley of the Mississippi, which lasted for twelve years. It was then in- terrupted by the English ; and after the conquest of Canada by the latter, there was no possibility of restoring it. These two European nations were guided by very different principles. The English colonists sought to possess themselves of the land ; the French were principally anxious to secure the fur-trade. This alone will account for the prosperity of the former, and the ruin of the latter. The French desired to promote peace ; the English, continual wars, which should involve the destruction of the Indians. With their views, the French frequently intermarried among the Jndians : a connexion always repugnant to the other nation. There is but a single marriage of this kind recorded of the English colonists, that of Rolfe with Pocahontas. In the early periods of their settlements, the English paid but little attention to religion or morality in their inter- course with the Indians ; while the French mis- sionaries, prompted by religious zeal, were inde- fatigable in their efforts to win them to their faith. But, although the English might better have imitated the kindness, good temper, and HOSTILITY OF CHICKASAWS AND NATCHEZ. 85 social qualities of their rivals, it may be thought that these qualities were often carried by the lat- ter too far ; and that the French traders, instead of raising the Indian character, often sunk to its level themselves. CHAPTER VII. War of the Natchez. 1729. THE Chickasaws and Natchez had for some time watched the French with a jealous eye, when the erection of Fort Rosalie greatly inflamed their hostile feelings. They manifested so much dissatisfaction on the occasion, that Pe- rier, the successor of Bienville in the government of Louisiana, deemed it expedient to solicit as- sistance from the Western Company. This, how- ever, was refused, and the situation of the colony became daily more critical, the two tribes already mentioned having succeeded in drawing all the neighbouring nations into a confederacy against the French, with the exception of the Illinois, the Arkansas, and the Tensas, whose fidelity remain- ed unshaken. At a concerted signal, they were 86 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. to make a general attack, and massacre all the colonists. But the French having prevailed in detaching the Choctaws from the league, the Chickasaws concluded to defer the attack to a more favourable opportunity. The Natchez, however, having, in the course of this year, been treated with the greatest injustice by the com- mandant of Fort Rosalie, the smothered flame burst forth, and threatened not only the safety of the fort, but the existence of the whole colony. This commandant, whose name was Chepar, wishing to form an extensive agricultural estab- lishment, could not find any place so suitable for the purpose as the village of La Pomme, belong- ing to the Natchez. Instead of endeavouring to get possession of it by negotiation, he sent for the chief of the place, and ordered him immediately to evacuate it. In vain did the Indian seek to divert him from his purpose. " When," said he, " you and your brothers came here to ask us for land, we did not refuse it ; there was enough for you and for us : we might have hunted in the same forests, and been buried in the same place. Why will you drive us from the^ cabins where we have received you with kindness, and smoked with you the calumet of peace ?" But this simple and affecting expostulation INDIANS CONSPIRE AGAINST THE FRENCH. 87 was of no avail. The inexorable commandant persisted in his brutal purpose. All that could be obtained from him was permission for the Indians to remain until after their harvest had been gathered in ; and even for this small indul- gence he demanded a tribute of corn. The Natchez vowed a payment of blood. They as- sembled their chiefs, and resolved on the destruc- tion of the French ; and, not satisfied with the death of the offenders, they determined to exter- minate the whole race of strangers. The neigh- bouring chiefs all entered into the combination: a bundle of reeds was sent to each ; and, begin- ning from the next new moon, one was daily to be withdrawn from the heap, and the last to be the signal for the attack. The conspiracy was disconcerted by the wife of a chief. Whether moved by pity or love is not known; but she determined to save the French, and for that purpose -managed to sub- tract a few reeds from several of the bundles. Some rumours of the intended plot reached the ears of the French, and the commandant was se- cretly informed of it. But the infatuated man refused to believe he had any reason to fear the vengeance of those whom his barbarity had so justly enraged: he accused the officers who G 88 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. brought him the intelligence of cowardice, and even ordered some of them . to be arrested. On the 28th of November the Indians pre- sented themselves before the fortress, each bearing a portion of the tribute of corn. They were al- lowed to enter without the least precaution. Some crowded to the residence of the command- ant, others to the dwellings of the officers, while the rest surrounded the fort. The signal was given, the tomahawk raised, and the massacre began. The soldiers, surprised and thrown into confusion, were easily slaughtered. All the men in the fort were put to death, except a carpenter, a tailor, and a few negroes, who, with the women, eighty in number, were carried away captive; also one hundred and fifty children, though many of the infants were killed because their cries disturbed the victors. The negroes submitted without the least resistance ; most of them, indeed, having been drawn into the con- spiracy under a promise of liberty, and that they should be given the wives of their masters. Che- par met the fate his tyranny deserved, being consigned to an ignominious death at the hands of the squaws. A similar scene of carnage was at the same time enacted among the Yazoos, where a French MASSACRE OF THE FRENCH. ^. 103 were let loose upon her. In 1746 a terrible hurricane desolated the country, and entirely de- stroyed the rice-crop. This grain had, for a long time, been substituted in the colony for bread. The foreign bread-stuffs destined for its use in this emergency having been taken by the English, the only resource left was to send to the country of the Illinois, then in a very flour- ishing condition, for a supply. This country produced everything in abundance : grain, cat- tle, venison, tallow, beans, oil, wool, skins, leath- er, and lead. In the course of the year there were received from thence more than four thou- sand bags of flour. 1748. In this year the excessive severity of the winter destroyed, for the first time, all the orange-trees. The people had long suffered se- rious inconvenience from the want of duly quali- fied persons in the civil offices. Wills, sales, or deeds, made in good faith, might all be annulled, from not being executed with due formality; and thus many families were compelled to apply to the government to have their titles legalized, and were exposed to be ruined by lawsuits. An order of the superior council declared that all papers preserved in the public offices should be considered valid, provided there was no evidence 104 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. of any fraud in the transactions to which they related; and decreed that in future, wherever there were no offices of justice, two responsible inhabitants should be authorized to draw up the necessary writings, to be attested by two witness- es, requiring only, to render them valid, that they should be transmitted, within the space of a year, to the superior council of the colony, or to the inferior courts of Mobile or Illinois. % 1751. The most valuable gift ever conferred on Louisiana was received from the Jesuits of St. Domingo, who sent to their brethren on the Mississippi sugar-canes, with negroes accustomed to their culture and management. These canes were planted on the lands belonging to the Jes- uits, comprising the low r er part of the Faubourg St. Marie. In this year sixty poor girls arrived from France, who were given in marriage to the soldiers whose good conduct had obtained for them an award of land, as we have before related. 1752. The Chickasaws, after a peace of twelve years, again commenced their depreda- tions, and with greater boldness than ever, upon the French settlements. To revenge and put a stop to these repeated outrages, Vaudreuil marched against them with a force of seven hundred troops of the line and a large body of FIRST LITERARY PRODUCTION. 105 savages. The expedition, however, in a great measure failed. The Indians had by this time learned something of fortification, and the French were unable to take their strongholds for want of artillery. They contented themselves, there- fore, with laying waste their country, and strengthening the fort of Tombeckbee, the gar- rison of which they doubled. 1753. A circumstance this year occurred, which gave rise to the first literary production of Louisiana. A Choctaw having killed an In- dian of another tribe, fled for refuge to New- Orleans. The relations of the deceased pursued him, and demanded his surrender of the governor, who felt himself bound to order his arrest, though he had then escaped beyond pursuit. His father came forward, and offered his own life to ensure the safety of his son. The family consented to the compromise, and the old Indian endured tortures and death without a groan. A tragedy was written on this subject by Leblanc de Ville- neuve, one of the officers of the garrison. 106 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. CHAPTER K. Differences between France and England. General Washing ton. Nova Scotia. Fort Duquesne. Loss of Canada. Sup* pression of the Order of Jesuits. THE power of France was at this time ex- tended over a great part of North America. It is true she had, by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, ceded Acadie, now called Nova Scotia, to Eng- land. But her title to Canada was undisputed, and she still held possession of the Valley of the Mississippi, along the whole extent of which there were detached French settlements. To protect these valuable possessions, a plan worthy of its object had been formed and partly exe- cuted. This was, to connect Quebec with the Gulf of Mexico by a continued line of fortified posts. The governors of New-France (under which name were comprehended the whole of Canada and Louisiana) had been for the most part military men, who had selected the sites for these posts with great judgment, and in situations the most favourable for the defence of their own people, and to overawe the Indians. The native THE FIVE NATIONS. lO? tribes were generally friendly to the French, if we except the Iroquois, or, as they were called by the English, the Five Nations; viz., the Mo- hawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Sen- ecas, inhabiting the borders of the rivers and lakes bearing these names : they were sometimes called the Six Nations, the Tuscaroras having been admitted into the confederacy. They were a brave and warlike people, attached to the English, with whom they afterward took part in the American war. The French found them troublesome neighbours, as they not unfrequently extended their incursions to the St. Lawrence, and even as far as the Valley of the Mississippi. A strong fort at Crown Point, on Lake Cham- plain, commanded part of the country they occu- pied, and others were erected in suitable situa- tions, extending from Quebec up the St. Lawrence River, and along the Great Lakes. It is obvious that the completion of this line of fortified sta- tions would have completely hemmed in the English settlements, and that, as it has been expressed, Canada and Louisiana would have formed a bow, of which the colonies of England would have represented the cord. It was not to be supposed that the English could regard these proceedings of their rivals 108 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. without alarm, or that they could see them mo- nopolizing the vast and fertile country of Upper Louisiana without desiring to share its advanta- ges, especially as they considered themselves possessing an equal claim to them. In conse- quence of the discovery of the Cabots, they asserted the right of extending their settlements as far as "the Pacific. The French, on the other hand, maintained their claim to the'Valley of the Mississippi, on the ground of having been the first to explore and colonize it, and insisted that the English should confine themselves to the country east of the Alleghany Mountains. Amid these conflicting pretensions, neither party seems to have imagined that there might be prior rights, which equally barred the claims of both. An Indian chief remarked on the occasion of this dispute, " The French claim all the country to the west, and the English all to the east and west; where, then, is the country of the Indians ?" This was an embarrassing question, and has never yet been satisfactorily answered. At this time, however, the Indians did not seem to think of asserting their own rights, but 'took part in the quarrels of the two nations, which were both equally regardless of them : a very fortunate circumstance for the French, as Canada then con- THE OHIO COMPANY. 109 tained only 45,000 inhabitants, and the whole of Louisiana no more than 7000 whites, while the English colonies had a population of 1,051,000. The rival nations now only waited an occasion of commencing the contest; and it soon arrived. Shortly after the conclusion of the last war, sever- al individuals in Virginia and England associa- ted together under the name of the Ohio Com- pany, and obtained a grant from the crown of six hundred thousand acres of land, lying in the country claimed by either nation. The ob- jects of this company being commercial as well as territorial, measures were taken for securing all the advantages which could be derived from their charter, by establishing trading-houses and employing persons to survey the country. The governor of Canada, on receiving infor- mation of what he considered an encroachment on the French dominions, wrote to the governors of New-York and Pennsylvania, stating that the English traders had trespassed upon the French territory, and that, if fliey were not made to de- sist, he should be under the necessity of seizing them. Finding his threats disregarded, he pro- ceeded to put them in execution ; and, arresting the company's servants, had them conveyed as prisoners to Presque Isle, on Lake Erie, where he 110 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. was engaged in erecting a strong fort About the same time a communication was opened from Presque Isle, along French Creek and the Alle- ghany River, to the Ohio, called by the French La Belle Riviere. This communication was kept up by detachments of troops posted at proper distances, in works capable of protecting them against an attack made with small arms alone. This military line passing through the territory granted to the Ohio Company as a part of Vir- ginia, the lieutenant governor of that province laid the matter before the Assembly, and de- spatched Washington, then a young officer only twenty-one years old, with a letter to Monsieur de St. Pierre, commander of the French forces on the Ohio, requiring him to withdraw from the dominions of his Britannic majesty. M. de St. Pierre replied with politeness, but in decided terms, that he had taken possession of the coun- try by order of his superior officer, Governor Duquesne, to whom he would transmit the letter, but the summons to retire he could not comply with. 1754. Preparations were immediately made in Virginia to assert the rights of the British crown, and a regiment was sent to the defence of the frontier. Advancing with a small de- ! WASHINGTON ENCOUNTERS JUMONVILLE. Ill tachment, Washington fell in with a party of French and Indians, who approached with every appearance of hostile intentions. A skirmish ensued, in which the commander of the party, M. cle Jumonville, and ten of his men, were killed. The affair was at the time greatly misrepresented, and Washington was blamed for having com- mitted an act of aggression before war had been declared, and for attacking, as it was said, the bearer of a summons. It is true that Jumon- ville had a summons in his possession, but that fact could not have been known to Washington ; nor had he any reason to suppose, from the con- duct of this officer, that his intentions were of a friendly nature. He was at the head of an armed force, sent forward spies in advance, con- cealed himself and his party, and despatched information of the state of things to his com- mander in the fort. Had Washington disregarded these indications, he would have been justly cen- surable for neglect of duty ; and the unhappy consequences of proceedings so unusual may be charged to the indiscretion of Jumonville him- self. The French subsequently acquitted Wash- ington of any blame in this unfortunate affair. The object of the American officer had been to anticipate the French in occupying the post 112 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. at the junction of the Alleghany and Mononga- hela, where a party of militia and a body of workmen had been sent by the Ohio Company ; but finding they had already driven the latter away, and erected a strong fort on the spot, and foreseeing that, on hearing of the affair of Jumon- ville, they would at once send a detachment against him, he hastily completed a small stock- ade he had commenced at a place called Great Meadows, and gave to it the name of Fort Necessity. Here he was soon attacked, and, after a gallant defence, capitulated on honour- able terms. 1755. This action being considered by the British government as the commencement of hostilities by the French, troops were immedi- ately sent from England, under the command of General Braddock, and three different expedi- tions were planned : the first against Fort Du- quesne, the second against Niagara and Fort Frontenac, and the third against Crown Point and Ticonderoga ; but before the preparations for these enterprises could be completed, another, previously concerted, was carried into execution against the French on the borders of Nova Scotia. After the cession of this province to the Eng- lish, its limits continued to be unsettled, the com- NOVA SCOTIA SUBDUED BY THE ENGLISH. 113 missioners appointed to determine them not hav- ing been able to come to any agreement, in con- sequence of which the French proceeded to erect forts on the territory in dispute, and placed garrisons in them. The expedition to which we have alluded consisted of more than thre'e thou- sand men, and its operations were first directed against Beau Sejour, the principal post held by the French in that country. At the river Mus- saquach, which the French considered as their western boundary, some slight works had been thrown up, with the intention of disputing its passage. After a short resistance, however, they gave way, and the river was passed. Beau Sejour capitulated, and the English acquired complete possession of Nova Scotia. This country having been originally settled by France, its inhabitants were chiefly of that na- tion. It had been stipulated in favour of the colonists, that they should be permitted to retain possession of their lands on condition of taking the oath of allegiance to their new sovereign. This, however, they refused to do, unless they were permitted to qualify it with a proviso, that they should not be required to bear arms in de- fence of the country. The commanding officer of the British forces agreed to this ; and, though 114 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA it was afterward disallowed by the crown, the inhabitants still continued to consider themselves neutral : they did not all, however, practically observe neutrality, for three hundred of them were captured with the garrison of Beau Sejour. The English were now perplexed how to se- cure their conquest. To leave the French inhab- itants there would, they feared, compromise the safety of the country in the approaching con- test ; while to banish them with the liberty of choosing their future residence, might be the means of adding to the strength of the enemy in Canada. They adopted, therefore, the cruel resolution to remove them from their homes, and disperse them through the other British colonies ; adding to this severity the injustice of depriving them of their property, which, with the excep- tion of their money and household furniture, was declared forfeited to the crown. To prevent their return, they burned their dwellings and laid waste their lands, reducing the entire population to a state of want and wretchedness in conse- quence of the misconduct of a few. Thus driven from their homes and scattered about in strange lands, the unhappy sufferers turned their thoughts to Louisiana, where they might, at least, live among their own country- DEFEAT OF BRADDOCK. 115 men ; and, after encountering much fatigue and danger, the greater part of them finally succeed- ed in getting there. Kerlerec, the governor of the colony, assigned to them large tracts on the Mississippi, furnished them with implements of agriculture, and allowed each individual, for the first year, the pay and rations of a soldier. Meanwhile the expedition commanded by Braddock proceeded against Fort Duquesne. He was a brave soldier, but haughty and obstinate, and held both the Provincials, as they were call- ed, and the Indians in too much contempt to listen to the counsels of the one, or to have any fear of the other. The consequence was, that, spurning all advice, he persisted in advancing according to European tactics, until he found himself at- tacked to the greatest disadvantage by the ene- my, so that in a short time a great number of his soldiers, and all his principal officers, with the ex- ception of Washington, who acted as his aid, were killed, and he himself, after having had three horses shot under him, received a mortal wound. The defeat was complete, and his army entirely routed. The northern expeditions were not more suc- cessful; so that it was deemed prudent to abandon the enterprises against Forts Frontenac and Niag- 116 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. ara. The other against Ticonderoga, conducted by General Johnson, fell in with a body of French commanded by Baron Dieskau, who was taken prisoner after a severe engagement, though the French still remained masters of the fort. 1756. Montcalm, who succeeded Dieskau, took and destroyed the fort at Oswego, and cap- tured several vessels on Lake Ontario. The fol- lowing year he laid siege to Fort William Henry, which surrendered in six days. But the success which had attended the French arms was now destined to receive a check. A change of ad- ministration in England brought William Pitt into power, and he immediately took vigorous measures for the prosecution of the war. The naval force was actively engaged in intercepting the supplies sent from France; and so great a number of additional troops were sent from Eng- land, that, with the Provincials, they formed an army of fifty thousand men. Louisburg soon fell into their power ; Fort Frontenac was also taken ; and these advantages were followed by others still more important. 1758. General Forbes, supported by Wash- ington, advanced to the attack of Fort Duquesne. The Indians, who had hitherto remained faithful to the French, deserted them an the approach of CAPTURE OF QUEBEC. 117 the enemy, and the garrison, too feeble to defend the post against so formidable a force, set fire to it the evening before the British arrived, and, escaping down the Ohio in boats, made their way to New-Orleans. The English rebuilt and garrisoned the fort, giving to it the name of Pitt, in honour of the minister who had enabled them to gain it. It has since, under the name of Pitts- burg, attained a more peaceful celebrity. The possession of this important place proved a death- blow to the power of the French, throwing all that vast country into the hands of the English, and removing all apprehensions of the Indians, most of whom willingly went over to the victors. 1759. The English could now concentrate all their forces against Canada. Cape Breton was already in their possession, and in the spring of 1759, Wolfe, with eight thousand men and a for- midable train of artillery, arrived before Quebec. The gallant Montcalm was intrusted with its de- fence. The city was taken, but dearly purchased by the loss of Wolfe, who was mortally wound- ed, and expired just as his army raised the shout of victory. The less fortunate Montcalm was also slain, and welcomed a death that saved him from seeing the surrender of Quebec. In Sep- tember of the following year the English had 118 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. assembled a force before Montreal too formida- ble to be resisted ; the governor capitulated ; and all the other fortified posts in Canada were given up, on the condition that the garrisons should be sent to France, and the religion and property of the Canadians respected. Thus was overthrown that colossal power which France, at such cost and labour, had been so long rearing. The chief causes of this event may be found in the superior population and re- sources of the colonies of England, and in her immense naval strength : an advantage in distant war not to be counterbalanced by scarcely any combination of numbers,* discipline, courage, and military talents, on the part of an inferior mari- time power. Louisiana alone remained to France; and, though divided and dismembered, still possessing the elements of future greatness. But France could not then appreciate its value, and disre- garded as worthless this poor remnant of her once splendid possessions. 1761. The conquest of Canada and of the Indian allies of France withdrew the war from America, but it continued to rage in Europe un- til 1762, when a treaty of peace was signed at Paris, by which France ceded to Great Britain CESSION OF CANADA TO ENGLAND. 119 all the conquests made from her by that power on the Continent of North America, together with the river and port of Mobile, and all the territory to which she had any claim on the left bank of the Mississippi, reserving only the island of New-Orleans. And it was agreed that, for the future, the boundary between the dominions of the two crowns, in that quarter of the world, should be a line drawn along the middle of the Mississippi, from its source as far as the River Iberville, and thence along the middle of that river, and of the Lakes Maurepas and Pont- chartrain. The loss of the other French possessions in- creased the population of Louisiana. Numbers of the Canadians, unwilling to live under the dominion of the English, withdrew to Louisiana, where the Acadians had already found a home. Some settled in their neighbourhood; others fixed themselves in Attakapas ; and others in Opelou- sas. These hardy sons of the North, active, industrious, and brave, gave a new impulse to their Southern brethren. Another accession, though of a different character, added still farther to their numbers. Many Indians, friendly to France, and living at Baton Rouge, Natchez, and Mobile, finding these places given up to the 120 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. English, left them, and came to New-Orleans. Kerlerec, gratified by this evidence of their at- tachment, granted them lands on the west side of the Mississippi. The King of France, how- ever, disapproved of this measure, fearing, prob- ably, that it would give offence to England ; recalled Kerlerec, and sent him to the Bastile. The vexation occasioned by this unjust imprison- ment was supposed to have hastened his death, which happened soon after his release. 1764. This year the French king issued an order banishing the Jesuits from all his domin- ions, and ordering their property everywhere to be confiscated and sold : the sale of their pos- sessions in Louisiana produced the sum of one hundred and eighty thousand dollars. The financial affairs of the province were not at this moment in a very prosperous condition. The government had issued such a quantity of bills that they became utterly worthless ; and the people, believing that this had been done not so much for the public benefit as for the ad- vantage of some few individuals, had little faith that the mother country would ever redeem them. This was a serious disadvantage to the trade of the colony. LOSSES ENCOUNTERED BY SPAIN. 121 CHAPTER X. Louisiana ceded to Spain. 1765. WHILE Louisiana was lamenting the loss of Canada, and still more deeply her separ- ation from the cantons on the eastern shore of the Mississippi, she was doomed shortly to undergo a severer mortification. Spain had avoided engaging in the late con- flict between France and England, until, becom- ing alarmed at the increasing power of the Brit- ish in America, and fearing for her own posses- sions there, she resolved on taking part in the contest, and early in the year 1762 declared war against Great Britain. The consequences of this step were very serious to her ; for before the end of the year she suffered several severe losses, and the important city of Havana, commanding in a great measure the Gulf of Mexico, was taken from her. This career of conquest, which seemed to threaten France and Spain with the loss of all their colonies, was arrested by overtures for peace, which terminated in the Treaty of Paris, restoring 122 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. Havana to Spain, though to regain it she was obliged to cede the Floridas to England. By a secret article of this treaty, Louis XV. had engaged to compensate Spain for the loss ot the Floridas, by giving up to her all that remain- ed to France of Louisiana. This arrangement was for some time kept secret from the people of that colony ; and when at length the rumour of it reached them, they refused to believe it. They could not conceive that France should volunta- rily resign a country possessed of such immense natural advantages ; and which, having now sur- mounted the first difficulties of colonization, was just rising . into importance. But they were not permitted to deceive themselves long. The royal letter making known the fact of the cession was published by D'Abbadie, the successor of Kerle- rec, and the colonists were thrown into utter de- spair. Employments of every kind were suspended ; the most respectable people from all parts of the . country hastened to New-Orleans ; and nothing but the cession was thought of. A meeting of the , principal inhabitants was called, and Lafreniere, the attorney-general, in an eloquent speech rec- ommended to them to carry their complaints to the throne itself. The proposal was eagerly 123 adopted ; and Jean Milhet, the richest and most influential merchant of the city, was intrusted with this important mission. Bienville was still living in France : he was now eighty-seven years old ; but he had not for- gotten Louisiana, the land of his adoption, and the country to which the energies of his youth had been devoted. To see her on the point of being given up to strangers was a deep affliction to him, and he earnestly united his efforts to hers to prevent it. He accordingly presented Milhet to the Duke de Choiseul, who was at that time all-powerful with the king, though without know- ing that this minister himself was the chief promo- ter of the cession. The duke received them gra- ciously, and listened attentively to all they had to say, but with consummate art defeated all their efforts. Milhet was unable to obtain an audience of the king, and his mission wholly failed. Another disappointment was involved in this. For some time past Louisiana had been experi- encing very serious evils from a depreciated ' paper currency. Labour, commerce, and agri- culture were all suffering from this cause, and France alone could repair the evil. The citizens of Louisiana, entertaining no doubts of the sue- 124 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. cess of their application, had also commissioned Milhet to seek for relief from their pecuniary difficulties. Three years had now passed away since the Treaty of Paris, and two years since D'Abbadie had received orders to surrender Louisiana to any Spanish officer who might be empowered to take possession of it, but as yet no such officer had appeared. Could it be possible that the Spanish king had relinquished his claim ? Such, at least, was the hope cherished by the people of Louisiana, till at length Milhet returned and informed him of his failure. 1766. Any lingering hopes they might still have entertained were dissipated by the recep- tion of a letter from Don Antonio de Ulloa to the Superior Council, 'announcing his arrival to take possession of the colony in the name of Charles III., by whom he had been appointed its gov- ernor. But the Louisianians, irritated by their repeated disappointments, and more than ever determined not to submit to the dominion of a - foreign power, resolved on resistance. Lafreni- ere, the attorney-general, excited them to take this resolution ; and, to encourage them in it, he quoted the example of the Burgundians, who, when summoned to acknowledge Charles V., to RESISTANCE OF THE LOUISIANIANS. 125 whom Francis I. had surrendered their province as the price of his liberty after the battle of Pavia, thus replied : " We are a part of France ; and the territory of France is inalienable." Finally, Lafrenicre pointed them to the English colonies at the North, then preparing to begin their strug- gle for independence. His address greatly increased the irritation of the people, and five hundred of the most respect- able citizens immediately signed and presented a petition to the Superior Council, that they would require Don Ulloa and his troops to quit Louisi- ana ; not doubting they had a right to take this step, as the Spanish commander had as yet ex- hibited no credentials. Aubry, who, in consequence of the death of D'Abbadie, temporarily held the office of gov- ernor, endeavoured to calm the excited passions of the people ; but he only succeeded in render- ing himself odious. They were indignant that a French governor should think of submitting to an insolent stranger, who had come to demand a transfer of their allegiance, so far as it ap- peared, without any authority for doing so. Don Ulloa had already landed at New-Orleans with two companies of infantry, but had refused to communicate his credentials to the council, in- 126 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. asmuch as he had shown them, he said, to Aubry, the French officer commanding at the Balize, and had received from him the surrender of the country. Aubry, indeed, confirmed this statement ; but this did not all prove satisfactory. In this state of things, the reception of Don Ulloa was, as might have been expected, by no means cordial. Still he was permitted to remain without being molested, and even to explore and examine the country. He inspired no fear, and was treated with indifference. 1767. This year the yellow fever showed it- self for the first time at New-Orleans. It was attributed by the citizens to the arrival of the Spaniards, and this greatly increased their ill- will towards them; until, at last, the Superior Council consented to the wishes of the people, who, from the continued refusal of Don Ulloa to show his credentials, were more than ever con- vinced that Spain had ceased to think of claim- ing Louisiana, and insisted that he should, with- out delay, be expelled from the country. Meas- ures were accordingly taken to carry their deter- mination into effect ; and the council required of Don Ulloa either to produce his credentials from the king his master, that they might be duly re- gistered, and promulgated through the province, INSULT OFFERED THE SPANIARDS. 127 or to quit it within a month ; and the citizens took up arms to enforce the demand. It is difficult to comprehend the obstinacy of this man, who chose rather to leave the country than present the required proofs of his mission. He had not sufficient force to enter into a contest with the inhabitants, and therefore he determined to withdraw with his troops, and embarked on board a Spanish vessel that was preparing to sail the next day. That evening a wedding feast was given by one of the principal merchants of the town. The jovial party did not break up until it was late ; and as the young men were re- turning to their homes, they noticed the vessel on board which the Spaniards were, lying in the stream. Excited by wine, some of the wildest among them proposed to give their friends a parting cheer ; and rushing to the levee, singing and shouting, they jumped into some boats that lay near, rowed to the vessel, and cutting her cables, she drifted down the stream, followed by the shouts and hurrahs of these hairbrained youth. This foolish frolic was probably one of the causes which led to the sacrifice of some of the most valuable citizens of Louisiana. Soon after the departure of Don Ulloa, an as- sembly of the people was convened to deliberate K 128 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. on the mode of presenting to the King of France another supplication in their behalf; and at this meeting Saint Lette, a merchant of Natchitoches, and Le Sassiere, a member of the Superior Coun- cil, were chosen to offer the petition. These commissioners were detained three months at sea by unfavourable winds, and did not reach Paris until after a representation had been re- ceived there from the court of Madrid, detailing all the circumstances, and complaining of the conduct of the people of Louisiana towards the Spaniards. 1769. Bienville's long and useful life had oome to a close, and Choiseul was still in the ministry. He received Saint Lette, who had been his schoolfellow, with much kindness, but would not listen to his petition; assuring him that it was too late, and that the King of Spain had already sent out a force sufficiently powerful to put down all opposition, and take undisputed possession of the country. He sought to requite his friend for the disappointment he had experi- enced by giving him a lucrative office. The last act of the French administration in Louisiana was to relieve the country from its financial difficulties. All the paper-money, now reduced to two thirds of its original value, was O'REILLY ARRIVES AT NEW-ORLEANS. 129 redeemed ; and, as there were no means for the immediate payment of the debt, an annual in- terest of five per cent, was allowed on it. The return of Le Sassiere had destroyed all hopes from the mother country ; vague and alarming rumours respecting the Spaniards were in circulation, and the inhabitants knew not what to expect. About this time a letter was received from Bordeaux, stating that France was determined to retain Louisiana; but the hopes thus raised soon vanished: for on the 27th of July information reached New-Orleans that the captain-general, O'Reilly, was at the entrance of the Mississippi with a frigate and twenty- eight transports, having on board four thousand nine hundred men, and a quantity of arms and ammunition. This news, as may readily be sup- posed, spread consternation through the town. Some few of the most determined talked of re- sistance ; but it was too evident that any such attempt would be useless, and that there was no alternative but submission. They made choice, therefore, of three representatives, Lafreniere, Grandmaison, and Marent, to signify to the Span- ish commander the submission of the colony; accompanied by a request, however, that those who wished to leave the country should be al- 130 HISTORY OP LOUISIANA. lowed two years to dispose of their property. O'Reilly received the deputies with affability ; assured them that he should cheerfully comply with all reasonable demands; that those who were willing to remain should enjoy a mild and paternal government ; and, in regard to past of- fences, the perfidious commander added that he was disposed to forget them, and had come, not to punish, but to pardon. This declaration somewhat calmed the excite- ment of the people, and they prepared to receive the Spanish general with decent respect. The next day he landed at the head of his troops, and they marched in battle array to the parade-ground, where Aubry, with the French garrison, was waiting to receive them. The white flag of France, which was waving on a high pole, was now slowly lowered, and that of Spain hoisted in its place, while the troops of both nations kept up an irregular discharge of small arms. Thus ended the dominion of the French on the shores of the Mississippi, where they had ruled for seventy years ; and Louisiana became a dependancy of Spain, CHARACTER OF O ? REILLY. 131 CHAPTER XL Conduct of O'Reilly. Villere". Acts of the Spanish Govern menu 1769. THE new Spanish governor was by birth an Irishman, who, going to Spain with a body of Irish troops, had been so success- ful in gaining the king's favour that he load- ed him with honours and benefits. He was a small man, and as mean in disposition as in stat- ure : thin and lame, but with something striking, though disagreeable, in his appearance. He was vindictive in his character, and his ambition knew no bounds. For some unknown reason, he enter- tained a violent hatred against the French, which led him to acts of unexampled barbarity. He came to Louisiana with the title of governor and captain-general ; and being clothed with unlimit- ed power, he abused his short-lived authority in every possible manner. He took upon him the state of a sovereign ; had his throne, his levees, his guards, who constantly attended him ; and he did not want for courtiers. His first public act was to take the census of 132 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. the city. This was soon done, as the town con- tained only 3190 inhabitants. He next ordered the arrest of Foucault, intendant of the colony, Lafreniere, the attorney-general, Noyant, his son* in-law, and Boisblanc, both members of the Su perior Council. They were attending the levee of the tyrant, when, requesting them to step into an adjoining apartment, he delivered them over to a party of soldiers, who immediately put them in irons. A few days after, .Marquis, Doucet, Petit, Marent, Caresse, Poupet, and the two Mil- hets were added to the number of prisoners. Villere^wasjipw the only victijnQ^waj^in^; and he was the most important one, as he had been at the head of all the most violent measures. It was no easy matter for O'Reilly to get him into his power, as, on hearing of the submission of New-Orleans, he had retired to his plantation in the Parish of St. Charles, in the midst of friends who detested the Spaniards no less cordially than he did himself. He was, however, on the point of taking refuge with the English at Manchac, lest he might implicate his neighbours, when he received a letter from Aubry, assuring him that he might return to New-Orleans without danger, and that he would be security for his safety. The motives that could have induced this officer thus ARREST OF V1LLERE. 133 to betray his countryman, and lend himself as an instrument of revenge to a vile adventurer, have never been clearly ascertained ; but his name has ever since been held in execration in Louisiana ; and there were none found to lament his fate, when, on his return to France, he perished by shipwreck. The vessel in which he had embark- ed with his troops was lost in the Gironde, near the tower of Cordovan. She was richly laden with a cargo consisting of furs, indigo, and a million of dollars in specie. Only the captain and four of the crew were saved. But to return to Villere. On the faith of this promise he came to New-Orleans, and fearlessly presented himself before the governor. But he had no sooner entered the house and begun to mount the stairs, than the guards stationed there descended each one step aS he ascended one, with the design of closing in after him. He stopped for a moment on the second step : he was a man of uncommon strength, and there were as yet but two soldiers behind him. It was but for a moment he hesitated ; with a disdainful smile he surveyed the living chain forming around him, and came into the presence of the governor with the air rather of a superior than of a culprit. O'Reilly, hardened as he was in cruelty, seemed 134 HISTORY OP LOUISIANA. to feel some compunction at the thought of mur- dering such a man. Villere was accompanied by a friend who was willing to share his danger. This was an old Swedish officer who had fought under Charles XII., and at the battle of Pultowa had received eleven wounds, all in facing the enemy. At the sight of this venerable old man, whose gray hairs seemed to give a sanction to the rebellion, O'Reilly flew into a violent passion, and ex- claimed, " I ought to hang you also on the high- est gibbet that can be found." " Do so," replied the old soldier; "the rope cannot disgrace this neck ;" and, baring his bosom, he exhibited the scars of his wounds, when the tyrant shrunk from the sight, and the old man was released. Villere was sent a prisoner on board of a ves- sel at anchor in the Mississippi. He had been there but a short time, and was in the cabin quietly conversing with the captain, when a boat passed with a female in it : she was in tears, and he recognised her as his wife. She had heard of his danger, and was then hastening to join him at New-Orleans. His first impulse was to make himself known, and the sympathizing captain offered to hail the boat; but Villere, recollecting himself, prevented him. " No," said he ; " the DEATH OF VILLERE. 135 sudden shock of seeing me in this situation would kill her ;" and he remained calmly watching the boat as it bore her from his sight. But the effort to repress his feelings had been more than he could bear ; the blood rushed to his brain ; and, seized with sudden phrensy, he flew to the deck aiid^ attacked the Spanish guards. The captain fol- lowed in haste, and called to the guards not to injure him ; but it was too late : he had already received their bayonets in his body, and only recovered his senses to know that he was dying. The captain, finding all assistance useless, could only offer to fulfil his last commands. " Promise me, then," said Villere, " that you will give these blood-stained garments to my chil- dren ; and tell them it is my last command that they never bear arms for Spain, nor against France." The captain did as he was requested, and the children of Villere faithfully obeyed the dying injunction of their father. Louisiana grate- fully remembered the devotion of her martyr, and, when she recovered her liberty, chose his son for her governor. These circumstances have been variously re- lated by historians, but this account was received L 136 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. from the daughter of Villere, a respectable old lady, still living in 1840 near New-Orleans. The other prisoners were immediately brought to trial. The charge against them was founded on a law of Alphonso XL, punishing with death and confiscation of property all persons guilty of rebellion against the king or the state; or, in other words, all who should take up arms for their rights and liberties ; and accomplices were subject to the same penalties. Foucault and Brault maintained that they owed no account of their conduct but to the King of France, whose subjects they had never ceased to be. The first was sent to Paris, the second acquitted. The other prisoners also pleaded, but to no purpose, the incompetency of the tribunal before which they had been brought. In vain did they allege that they could not be declared rebels against Spain for anything they might have done while the French flag yet waved over the colony; that they owed no submission to Spain till her representative had exhibited his credentials ; and that the prince who did not yet protect had no right to punish them. Six victims had been chosen by O'Reilly to serve as an example to the province ; but VillerS EXECUTION OF LAFRENIERE, ETC. 137 having been assassinated, he contented himself \vith condemning five to death. The testimony of two witnesses against each of the accused was necessary to give a colour of legality to their condemnation ; and these were easily found. Lafreniere, Noyant, Marquis, Joseph Milhet, and Caresse were sentenced to be hung, and their property confiscated. The unfortunate Louisi- anians vainly implored of the inexorable O'Reilly a delay that would enable them to have recourse to the royal clemency. The only favour he could be prevailed on to grant was the substitution of shooting for hanging. On the 28th of September, the day appointed for the execution, all the troops were drawn up under arms on the levee and in the public square; the gates were closed, the posts all re-enforced, and a strong patrol paraded through the de- serted streets ; the inhabitants having all retired to their houses the evening before, that they might not witness the death of their friends. The five victims were led out into the small square in front of the barracks, where they met their fate with the utmost courage and resignation. It was attempted to blindfold them, when Marquis, a Swiss captain in the service of France, indignantly opposed it. " I have," said ho. 138 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. " risked my life many a time in the service of my adopted country, and have never feared to face my enemies." And then, addressing his companions, "Let us," he exclaimed, "die like brave men : we need not fear death." Coolly taking a pinch of snuff, and turning to the Span- iards, he said, " Take notice, Spaniards, that we die because we will not cease to be French. As for myself, though a foreigner by birth, my heart belongs to France. For thirty years I have fought for Louis le bien-aime, and I glory in a death that proves my attachment to him. Fire, executioners !" However much these unfortunate men might have erred in rashly resisting an authority which they certainly had reason to believe legitimate, they appear to have been actuated by the purest motives, and their unhappy fate increased the aver- sion of their fellow-countrymen to the Spaniards. The treacherous conduct of O'Reilly made him an object of detestation, and rendered it much more difficult for Spain to conciliate her new subjects. The other six prisoners, Boisblanc, Doucet, Ma- rent, Jean Milhet, Petit, and Poupet, were sen- tenced, the first to imprisonment for life, and the others for a term of years. They were sent to Havana, and confined in the dungeons of the Moro Castle. CHANGE IN THE GOVERNMENT. 139 The next act of O'Reilly was to change the form of government. France, by a special arti- cle of the treaty, had stipulated that the admin- istration should be carried on in the same man- ner as it had been before. But to this it was ob- jected that the Superior Court having set the ex- ample of revolt, its dissolution had become both legal and necessary. Under the dominion of France the administra- tion of Louisiana consisted of a governor, an in- tend ant, a commissary, and a comptroller. In 1719 a Superior Council had been created, corn- posed of two lord-lieutenants, four counsellors, an attorney-general, and a recorder ; and in this body the directors of the Mississippi Company were also entitled to a seat. Several judges had likewise been appointed. The governor was, ex officio, president of the council. This organization was set aside by the Span- iards, and in place of it they established a Cabildo, or Grand Council, with the governor at its head, and consisting of six rtgidors, two alcaldes, a re- corder, and a procurator-syndic-general, the office of the latter being to act in behalf of the people, and to protect their rights and interests. This officer and the alcaldes were chosen by the Cabil- do on the first of January in each year. The prov- 140 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. ince was governed by the captain-general, the!* governor, an intendant, two auditors, one for civ- il and one for military affairs, and the requisite number of inferior officers. The crown appointed to all offices where the salary was more than three hundred dollars, except that the governor and the intendant were allowed to choose their own subordinates. The governor was supreme judge in all civil and criminal matters; the intendant had the same power over all fiscal and maritime affairs; and the vicar-general over everything relating to ec- clesiastical concerns. Each parish was provided with a civil and military commandant, who ranked as a captain, and whose duties were to maintain order and support the police ; to decide all suits in which the sum in question did not exceed twenty dol- lars ; to arrest white persons accused of crimes, and, as the governor might direct, either release them, or send them to the town for trial ; and to take cognizance of and punish all offences among the slaves ; besides which, he kept the records of the parish as notary. The laws of Castile were substituted for those of France, but the change was less apparent than it would have been had they not both emanated from the Roman code. O'REILLY'S NEW REGULATIONS. 141 A corps of volunteers was raised, which was called the regiment of Louisiana. Nuzaga re- ceived the temporary command of it, and he chose natives of Louisiana for his officers ; these readily accepted their commissions, as the pay allowed by Spain was higher than that of France. On his return from a tour along the upper part of the river, where he was received by the inhab- itants with a cold submission, O'Reilly published several regulations respecting unoccupied lands. To every family desiring to settle in the province he granted six or eight acres on the river, with the ordinary depth of forty acres ; but they were required to construct at. their own expense the levees, dikes, and roads ; nor was any one allow- ed to dispose of his lands until he had made these improvements. To furnish a revenue to the city of New-Orleans, a tax was laid on buildings, and especially on taverns, coffee-houses, billiard- rooms, boarding-houses, and slaughter-houses, and also on spirituous liquors. To rescue Indian prisoners from torture and death, the inhabitants were authorized to buy them, and employ them on their plantations as slaves. There were already a number of them in the province in this condition ; and the rights of their masters were recognised by the new government. 142 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. But these regulations, notwithstanding their prudence and utility, had but little effect in at- taching the French to their new masters. The greater part of the rich planters, the merchants, and the mechanics, had already retired to St. Domingo, and the emigration still continued. To preserve the country from utter depopulation, O'Reilly issued orders that no more passports should be granted. Who would have then im- agined, that in twenty years from that time the colonists of St. Domingo would come in crowds to seek an asylum in Louisiana ? 1770. During this year O'Reilly departed for Spain, and the province was annexed to the captain-generalship of Cuba. Nuzaga, who suc- ceeded to the government, endeavoured, by a truly paternal administration, to heal the wounds which had been inflicted by O'Reilly. It has been said that the King of Spain disapproved of the conduct of the latter, and forbid him the court ; but of this there appears to be no proof. On the contrary, it is certain that in this very year he was appointed inspector-general of all the troops in Spanish America ; and three years later we find him occupying the important post of military governor of Madrid. In 1775 he was intrusted with the command of an expedi- HEROIC CONDUCT OF YOUNG MARENT. 143 tion against Algiers, where he was completely defeated, with a loss of fifteen thousand men, a great part of his artillery, provisions, &c. Then, and not till then, public indignation was roused against O'Reilly ; but Charles, who still regarded him with favour, to save him from the fury of the populace of Madrid, conferred on him the cap- taincy of Andalusia. The Louisianians confined in the castle at Havana owed their liberation to the filial affec- tion of the heroic son of Marent, who, on being presented to the king by the French ambassador at Madrid, threw himself at his feet, and en- treated that he might be permitted to take his father's place. This noble conduct recalls to our recollection the old Indian warrior who offered himself as a sacrifice for his son. Boisblanc, Doucet, Milhet, Marent, Poupet, and Petit re- turned no more to Louisiana : part of them set- tled in France, and the others in St. Domingo. Foucault was sent by the French government to the Bastile; but this seeming severity must have been ojily for a pretence, as he was in a very short time set at liberty, and sent to the Isle of Bourbon as commissary .intendant. The colony now began to flourish ; money was abundant, and agriculture improving. Its com- 144 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. merce, however, was not sufficiently extended, being confined to six ports in Spain ; viz., Ali- cant, Barcelona, Carthagena, Corunna, Malaga, and Seville. At a later period two French ships were allowed to participate in it. But the Eng- lish settled on the Mississippi carried on an im- mense contraband trade with the planters on that river, all whose wants they supplied on credit; Nuzaga conniving at a course of things so ad- vantageous to the colony. 1772. This year the country was visited by a tremendous hurricane, which raged for four days. It spared New-Orleans, but did great mischief to the plantations. The mulberry -trees were af- fected by it in a very singular manner : their leaves were all killed, but they budded again, blossomed for the second time, and produced an- other crop of fruit. The next winter the orange- trees were destroyed for the third time. 1773. While Louisiana belonged to the French, it formed a part of the diocese of Que- bec, but was now attached to that of Cuba ; and a priest and two nuns were sent by the gov- ernment at Madrid to instruct the youth of the province in the Castilian language, the only thing under the name of education that Spain ever encouraged there. Nuzaga continued to WISE CONDUCT OP NUZAGA. 145 manifest the greatest solicitude for the welfare of the people committed to his care. He became the arbitrator of their disputes, and endeavoured to render justice to all, interposing his friendly offices between debtors and creditors, and mas- ters and slaves. A number of the latter had es- caped to the cypress swamps, whence they issued at night to commit depredations on the planta- tions. He issued a proclamation, offering pardon to all who would return to their masters, and promising they should not be punished. But soon after this he left Louisiana, universally re- spected and regretted. CHAPTER XII. Galvez. War with England. Mira. St. Domingo. 1777. GALVEZ, the next governor, although a young man, displayed no less solicitude for the welfare of the colony, and prudence in mana- ging its affairs, than had Nuzaga. He allowed French ships to come from the West India Isl- ands to Louisiana in ballast, and return loaded with the produce of the country, which they paid for either in silver, bills of exchange, or negroes 146 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. shipped direct from Guinea, no others being per- mitted to be brought ; as the spirit of insurrection, which had already shown itself at St. Domingo, might, it was feared, be communicated to the black population of the colony, if slaves from those islands were introduced. Vessels belong- ing to the colony were authorized to load with Eu- ropean goods from Campeachy and the Island of Cuba, and to export their own produce to France and the United States, while all the ports of Spain were open to them. Still farther to en- courage commercial enterprise, the duties on to- bacco were reduced, and furs admitted duty free ; though, when re-exported to other countries, they became subject to a moderate impost. These regulations increased the commercial prosperity of the country, and encouraged immi- gration. Several families from the Canary Isl- ands settled at Terre-aux-Bceufs, at Galveston, at Valenzuela, and on the La Fourche and Amity Rivers. The expenses of their voyage were paid by the government, who farther supplied each family with a quantity of land, a cottage, imple- ments of agriculture, cattle, and provisions. Sub- sequently a colony from Malaga settled on the banks of the Teche River, under the same advan- tages extended to them by the government. AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 147 They attempted the cultivation of hemp and flax, though without success, either owing to want of skill, or that the climate and soil were unsuited to their growth. The pope had interdicted a book written by Mercier, author of the Tableau de Paris ; and the King of Spain forbade its being read by his sub- jects of Louisiana. It was entitled " The Year 2440 : A Dteam, if ever there was one." The History of America, by Robertson, was also in- terdicted. The greater part of the Northern Continent was at this time convulsed by the war of Amer- ican independence ; but Spain having hitherto re- sisted the efforts of France to draw her into the contest, Louisiana continue^ to enjoy undisturb- ed repose. The desire of recovering Jamaica, Gibraltar, and the Floridas, was a powerful in- ducement to her to join the confederacy against England ; but fear of the effects which the inde- pendence of the United States might have on her own colonies, made her prefer endeavouring to effect her objects by pacific rather than by war- like means. She offered, therefore, to mediate between the contending powers. France readily accepted the proposition ; but the English min- ister evaded any explicit declaration, though in 148 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. general terms he stated that nothing would be more gratifying to his sovereign than to conclude a peace on honourable terms under the auspices of his Catholic majesty. In consequence of these professions, the Spanish minister proposed a truce for a term of years ; and that a congress of plen- ipotentiaries from the belligerent powers should assemble at Madrid, to adjust the conditions of a permanent treaty, into which deputes from the United States should be admitted, as the repre- sentatives of a sovereign nation. No direct ac- knowledgment of their independence was to be required ; but the fact was to be understood, and they were to be considered as wholly separated from the British empire. The negotiation being protracted to a great length, Spain employed the interval in preparing for hostilities, and finally pressed her mediation in a manner that rendered it necessary either that it should be accepted or peremptorily declined. The cabinet of St. James, no longer able to equivocate, now declared that the independence of the colonies could not be assented to, and upon this the King of Spain no longer hesitated to take part in the war. 17y9. On the departure of the Spanish min- . ister from London without soliciting an audience GALVEZ ATTACKS THE ENGLISH POSTS. 149 of leave, the British government issued letters of marque and reprisal a^ainsl the vessels and sub- jects of Spain. A powerful Spanish fleet had been getting ready \vhile the negotiations were pending, and it was now despatched to co-op- erate with that of France, and assist the Ameri- cans. Although Spain had not yet formally ac- knowledged their independence, nor were their ministers accredited at her court, she had resolv- ed to employ her arms in their favour, and sent to notify Galvez, the governor of Louisiana, of her intention to commence hostilities. The news was received with the utmost satis- faction. The governor himself was inclined to favour the American cause, and the French pop- ulation were rejoiced at the opportunity thus pre- sented of avenging the injuries of the last war. Galvez had no difficulty in collecting an army. The Cabildo, indeed, remonstrated against his proceed ings, but his ardour to engage in the con- test made him deaf to all their representations ; and, having assembled a body of fourteen thou- sand men, he advanced to attack the English col- onies. He obtained possession of Baton Rouge and Fort Bute, on the Iberville, and followed up these successes by the capture of Natchez and the forts on the Amity. This expedition was 150 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. celebrated in French verse by Julian Poydras, \vho had the honour of seeing his little poem pub- lished at the expense of the government ; but it was not of a character to ensure immortality ei- ther to his hero or himself. In the midst of the rejoicings excited by these victories, one of those dreadful hurricanes that from time to time devastate the country was sent to repress the exultation of the inhabitants, and was followed by a still more terrible scourge the smallpox. The young were chiefly marked as its victims, and lamentation and grief were spread over the colony. 1780. Galvez, however, still persevered in his warlike career. He was only waiting for a re-enforcement from Havana to leave New-Or- leans at the head of a still more powerful force than had accompanied him on his last expedition. But he had now to contend with the elements. Having set sail with his troops for Mobile, he en- countered a furious tempest, in which one of his sloops of war was driven ashore. Still he suc- ceeded in effecting a landing on the shores of the bay, and Fort Charlotte fell into his hands. The capture of Pensacola was yet wanting to com- plete his conquests ; but this place was defended by a force superior to his own. He proceeded, CAPTURE OF PENSACOLA J5V KALVEZ. 151 therefore, to Havana, to obtain such additional troops as he needed. But, as he was returning, several of his transports having foundered in a vio- lent storm, and the others being driven out of their course, he was compelled to put back. In Feb- ruary he sailed again, with a fleet consisting of one ship of the line, two frigates, and several transport ships, having on board fourteen hun- dred well-appointed troops; and nine days after he landed on the Island of Saint Rosa, where he constructed a fort. Espeletta, with the troops from Mobile, and Miro, with those from New-Or- leans, soon joined him. Irazabel, however, who commanded the fleet, refused to cross the bar of the Bay of Pensacola, when Galvez ordered Cap- tain Rousseau to attempt it with a brig, a schoon er, and a gunboat, being himself on board of the brig. The bar, notwithstanding the fire of the English batteries, was safely passed, amid the acclamations of the army ; and all the other ves- sels, except that of the admiral, followed the ex- ample. Evacuating Pensacola, the English retired to Fort George, threatening Galvez that, if he at- tempted its capture, they would immediately set fire to it. The fort, however, was besieged ; and, being well provided with batteries, Campbell, the M 152 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. English commander, defended himself for some time with great bravery ; but his powder maga- zine blowing up, a great part of the walls were thrown down, and he capitulated. Thus the whole of Florida, and eight hundred prisoners, fell into the hands of the Spaniards. 1782. Another hurricane was experienced this year, occasioning great destruction ; and af- terward the Mississippi was swollen to a height never witnessed before. All the high grounds not reached by the inundation, in the Attakapas and Opelousas, were covered with immense herds of deer, seeking refuge from the waters. The services of Galvez were amply rewarded. For the capture of Baton Rouge and Natchez, he had conferred on him the rank of brigadier- gen- eral ; for the taking of Mobile, that of major-gen- eral ; and the conquest of Florida raised him to the dignity of captain-general of Louisiana and West Florida, with the brevet of lieutenant-gen- eral of the armies of the king, and the cross of the order of Charles III. Thus Louisiana was made a captaincy-general, while New-Orleans be- came the see of a coadjutor of the Bishop of San- tiago de Cuba, in favour of Father Cerillo, who was consecrated bishop in partibus of Tricala. On his departure for Hispaniola, whither he SPAIN RECOVERS FLORIDA. 1.V.J went to take the command of the Spanish forces destined to co-operate with those of France in an attempt upon Jamaica, Galvez left the reins of government in the hands of Estevan Miro, colonel of the royal army. The conquests of Galvez put a stop to the contraband trade which had greatly enriched the Louisianians; but, to compensate them for this loss, the King of Spain, at the solicitation of the youthful hero, granted them important commer- cial advantages, in consideration of the valua- ble services they had rendered during the war. They were allowed to trade with all the ports of France, and New-Orleans became the principal mart of Spanish merchandise for all the other American possessions of his Catholic majesty. 1783. The peace \vhich now took place be- tween France, Spain, and England, secured the independence of the United States, and arrested the warlike movements of Galvez. By this trea- ty Spain recovered both the Floridas, and her possessions were extended east of the Mississippi as far as the thirty-first degree of north latitude, which became the boundary between her colonies and the United States. 1785. Galvez was promoted to the captain- generalship of the Island of Cuba, still retaining 154: HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. that of Louisiana and West Florida, which he even continued to hold for some time after the king had appointed him viceroy of Mexico, in the place of his father, Don Mathias de Galvez, shortly after the death of the latter. On the departure of the viceroy for New-Spain, Miro was made governor of the two provinces. The population of Lower Louisiana was at this time 27,439, and that of the city of New-Orleans about 5000. In the space of sixteen years, or during the period the country had been in the possession of Spain, the number of inhabitants had more than doubled. A farther addition was made to the population by different fam- ilies emigrating from Canada, some of which set- tled at Terre-aux-Bceufs, others on the borders of La Fourche; and others in Attakapas and Ope- lousas. A priest, sent with the title of commissioner of the Holy Office, endeavoured at this time, against the will of Miro, to establish the Inquisition in Louisiana. Without the smallest ceremony, Miro had him seized and conveyed on board a vessel, which departed with him for Spain the same day. On the cessation of the contraband trade with Jamaica, the merchants of that island, to whom the inhabitants of Louisiana were largely indebt- MANIFESTO ISSUED BY MIRO. 155 ed, came to claim and enforce the payment of the sums due to them. Miro interposed in a friendly manner in favour of those debtors who, being unable to make immediate payment, re- quested more time, which was granted them ; he also protected such poor and honest men as were hard pressed by their creditors, and obliged the rich either to remit, or make an abatement in their demands. 1786. Miro now published a Bando de buon Gobierno, a kind of manifesto which the Spanish governors were accustomed to issue, setting forth the principles that would regulate their adminis- tration. In this he recommended the due observ- ance of holy time, and the closing of all shops and drinking-houses during divine service on Sunday ; condemning in the severest terms the licentiousness so prevalent among all classes, as well as the idleness so general among the free negroes and Creoles, forbidding their wives to wear jewels and feathers, and directing that a plain handkerchief should be their only head- dress. He prohibited gaming, duelling, carrying concealed weapons, and all meetings and dances among the slaves. No inhabitant could leave the colony without a passport, nor without giving security for the payment of his debts. Several 156 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. other regulations equally wise, and some of which are still in force, were published in this manifesto. 1787. While Steuben was unsuccessfully en- gaged in attempting to establish a military col- ony on the Mississippi, and emigrants from Ken- tucky and North Carolina were founding New- Madrid, Guardoqui, the minister of Spain at the United States, was exerting all his eiforts to put a stop to the contraband trade between Philadel- phia and New-Orleans. Miro, on the other hand, continued to tolerate it, and also to connive at a similar traffic carried on with Kentucky. His toleration of this illegal commerce may have proceeded from an apprehension that the people of the United States, if debarred from freely navigating the Mississippi, and enjoying this out- let for their produce, might attempt to possess themselves of New-Orleans. 1788. A heavy misfortune befell the city this year. On Good Friday, a chapel having taken fire, the flames extended to the adjoining build- ings, and the conflagration was not arrested until it had destroyed nine hundred houses and a large quantity of valuable merchandise. When the inhabitants of St. Domingo heard of this calam- ity, they generously came forward to aid the IMMIGRANTS FROM ST. DOMINGO. 157 -sufferers, and sent them a vessel loaded with building materials. One advantage derived from this misfortune was, that Miro availed himself of it to open a commercial intercourse between New-Orleans and the United States ; and Guar- doqui desisted from an opposition that, under the circumstances, was wholly useless, and only served to render him unpopular. The King of Spain gave his entire sanction to the measures of Miro. 1791. Nothing material occurred during the next three years; at the expiration of which, however, an opportunity was presented to the Louisianians of proving their gratitude to the colonists of St. Domingo for the sympathy and assistance they had at a former period of need received from them. The insurrection of the negroes in that island had driven numbers of its white inhabitants to seek an asylum in Louisiana, where they were received with the kindness they might so justly claim. Such of them as had loyal slaves were permitted, though contrary to the established regulations, to bring them into the country, where these exiled planters, by ap- plying themselves to the cultivation of the sugar- cane, more than repaid the favours they had received. Some who were quite destitute opened 158 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. schools for the French children, which were very much needed. There also came over among them a company of French actors, the first that had appeared at New-Orleans. Miro, having been appointed a major-general in the Spanish army, now left the country, greatly to the regret of the inhabitants, and was succeeded by the Baron Carondelet. CHAPTER XIII. Carondelet. Fortification of New-Orleans. Sugar Manufacto* ry. French Emigrants. Treaty between the United States and Spain. Gayoso de Lemos. 1791. THE Bando de buon Gobierno issued by the new governor divided New-Orleans into four districts, at the head of each of which was placed a commissary of police (Alcalde de barrio), who performed also the duties of justice of the peace. Carondelet recommended to the Cabildo the lighting of the town; but-its revenues .being insufficient to enable them to do it, it was neces- sary to impose a tax of one dollar- and an eighth on each chimney for this object. He also pub- lished several regulations in favour of the slaves^ DEFENSIVE MEASURES OF CARONDELET. 159 though at the same time he encouraged their im- portation, exempting the vessels engaged in it, as well as their cargoes, from the payment of any duties. 1793. A brisk trade was carried on between Louisiana and the United States at this time. New-Orleans was already becoming an important commercial city, and numbers of strangers, at- tracted by the prospect of gain, contributed to increase its population and business. But the place was exposed to dangers which Carondelet considered alarming. He determined, therefore, to fortify it, and caused two forts to be erected on the river, the one above, the other below the town ; and also raised three redoubts in its rear, all on one line, and communicating with each other and with the two forts by means of a deep ditch. In the centre of each side was a battery placed in a lateral position, and they were sur- rounded by strong palisades. He also built Fort St. Philip, near the mouth of the Mississippi, and a smaller one opposite to it, to defend the approach by the river. The militia- was at the same time organized throughout 'the province, amounting to five or six thousand men ; and New-Orleans alone furnished eight hundred volunteers. 160 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. 1794. Louisiana and West Florida were now formed into one diocese, the bishop, Don Louis de Final vert, residing at New-Orleans. The defensive measures of Carondelet for the protection of New-Orleans had been chiefly di- rected against Genet, the minister of the French Republic at the United States, who had concert- ed a plan for attacking that city. Genet was a young man of fine education, but his ungovern- able disposition and imperious character led him into all the rash and extravagant follies which characterized the rulers of France at that period. Having met with a flattering reception from the American people, out of gratitude to his country for favours received, he became insufferably pre- sumptuous, and assumed as many airs as he could have done at the court of some petty German prince. He even went so far as to authorize hos- tile armaments out of the American ports ; to confer on French consuls in the United States the power of condemning English prizes, and order- ing their sale; and even carried his audacity to the length of accusing Washington of violating the constitution of his country. He had found in Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania many American citizens who readily accepted officers' commissions from him ; and- these would have no difficulty in recruiting soldiers among INTRIGUES OF CARONDELET. H) 1 the Western settlers, who were eager for the con- quest of Louisiana, the natural mart of all their produce. Thus it was arranged that two expe- ditions should simultaneously attack Louisiana and Florida. To counteract these plans, Carondelet sent one of his emissaries, Power, who passed as an Eng- lish naturalist, to persuade the people of Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee to place themselves under the protection of Spain, which could alone give to them the free navigation of the Mississip- pi. He offered also to aid them with money, arms, and provisions. These movements did not prevent Carondelet from occupying himself with the improvement of the colony. He caused the canal to be dug which still bears his name, and which was then partic- ularly useful, as it served to drain the marshes about the town, as well as to open an easy com- munication between New-Orleans, Mobile, and Pensacola. Don Andre's de Alrnonaster, a man of large for- tune, powerfully seconded the views of the baron : he erected at his own expense the Cathedral of St. Louis at New-Orleans, the Town-hall, the building now used as a Courthouse, and like- wise an hospital which he endowed. 162 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. The first sugar establishment was put in oper- ation at this period. An unsuccessful attempt had been made to convert the juice of the cane into sugar as far back as 1766. In 1785, a Spaniard at Terre-aux-Boeufs, named Soles, hav- ing procured a wooden mill from Havana, suc- ceeded in making molasses. His property was purchased by one Mendez, who continued the experiments of his predecessor, and at last ac- complished his object. The manufacture, how- ever, proving less profitable than he expected, he soon abandoned it, and contented himself with sending his canes to market. No farther efforts were made until the arrival of the colo- nists from St. Domingo, who easily persuaded several of the Louisianians, and, among others, a man of the name of Bore, surnamed Chevrette, to embark in the cultivation of the cane; and this they were the more ready to do, as indigo was no longer profitable, the plant being de- stroyed by the grasshoppers every year. Many obstacles, however, were to be encountered in commencing this new culture. Capital was wanted, and labour and the requisite materials were unreasonably dear. An able slave cost twelve or fifteen hundred dollars, and the sugar- maker exacted ten or fifteen dollars per hogshead GENET'S PLANS FRUSTRATED. 163 for the manufacture. But these discouragements had no effect on Bore ; he commenced at once to plant his canes, and erected a sugar-house at great expense. His enterprise was attended with complete success, and yielded him at once a profit of twelve thousand dollars. The culture of the cane soon entirely superseded that of indigo; and such was the enthusiasm in favour of the former, that in the next five or six years seventy-five sugar-houses were erected. In 1800 the sugar-crop yielded fifteen million livres. 1795. While Carondelet was engaged in establishing a more efficient police at New- Orleans, he had the satisfaction of hearing that the government of the United States had effectu- ally frustrated the plans of Genet, and that his principal agents had been arrested. Washing- ton, grossly insulted by this minister, had de- manded of the French government that he should be recalled ; and Congress were on the point of seriously considering whether he had not for- feited all the privileges attached to his office, when he was superseded. The measures adopted by Carondelet against the Liberals were of the most rigid kind ; he for- bade all meetings of more than eight persons ; ordered all travellers to be stopped who were 164 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. without passports ; and every person found cir- culating alarming rumours to be imprisoned. Six of the most obnoxious individuals he sent to the dungeons of Havana, where they were con- fined for a year. On the other hand, the French immigrants were received with open arms. To the Marquis of Maison Rouge he granted 210,000 acres of land; to the Baron de Bastrop, 881,583 acres; and to Delassus, 10,000 acres, on the banks of the Ouachita. To every French settler he gave a hundred dollars, and the expenses of his 're- moval were paid by the government. The liberal ideas so rife at that period had begun to spread among the slave population, and an insurrection broke out on the estate of Julian Poydras, the author of the poem of Galvez. It was discovered, however, in time to suppress it ; and fifty of these unhappy creatures were hung on gibbets along the banks of the river from Pointe Coupee to New-Orleans. This severe measure calmed the fears of the colonists in regard to their domestic safety, while a treaty concluded at this time with the United States dispelled all apprehensions of a foreign war. Spain conceded to the Republic the free navigation of the Mississippi, with a right of de- posite at New-Orleans for its produce and mer- TREATY WITH SPAIN. 165 chandisc, to continue for ten years. These con- ditions, however, seriously interfered with the de- signs of Carondelet, who continued to entertain the hope of being able to separate the Valley of the Ohio from the rest of the Union ; and he knew that when the people of that country once obtained, what was so indispensable to them, the free navigation of the river, there was no longer any prospect of their listening to his in- sidious proposals. The treaty also guarantied to the United States all the'territory east of the Mis- sissippi, as far as the thirty-first degree of north latitude, including Natchez and its territory, with the Forts of Pannure, Walnut Hills, and Chick- asaw Bluff. These, however, Carondelet persist- ed in retaining, as a means of accomplishing his plans, though, by the terms of the treaty, they should have been given up to the troops of the United States. 1796. The inhabitants of Natchez being fa- vourably inclined to the Americans, formed themselves into a sort of neutral body politic, declaring themselves no longer subject to Spain, though they still governed themselves by her laws. The commandant at this post, Gayoso de Lemos, was not sufficiently powerful to prevent them from adopting this course ; and Carondelet 166 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. Was in the mean time waiting to receive an an- swer to some proposals he had made to General Wilkinson, commander-in-chief of the American army, before committing himself by any decisive step, when he was appointed to the presidency of the royal audience of Quito, and Gayoso took his place at New-Orleans. 1797. The latter soon received information from the emissaries of his predecessor, that Wil- kinson peremptorily refused to participate in his project, when the forts were immediately given up, and the Americans took possession of them* Notwithstanding the treaty of peace existing between Spain and England, these powers con- tinued to entertain no very amicable feelings to- wards each other, and, in fact, still carried on a sort of underhand war by means of the Indians in Florida, whom each party endeavoured to draw over to their interests. An Englishman who had settled among the savages had acquired great influence over them, and this influence he was enabled, through the aids he received from England, to maintain. The Spanish govern- ment having offered a reward of five hundred dollars for the arrest of this individual, he was taken and given up to Gayoso, who sent him to Havana. SPAIN VIOLATES THE TKEATY. 167 1798. The administration of Gayoso deLemos terminated this year ; and it was well for Loui- siana that it was no longer, as he had shown himself but poorly qualified for his important station. Commerce, nevertheless, continued to flourish, and the United States sent a consul to New-Orleans. CHAPTER XIV. Transfer of Louisiana to the United States. 1800. THE treaty concluded between Spain and the United States in 1795, by which a right of deposite at New-Orleans was granted to the latter for ten years, had been frequently violated by the officers of the Spanish government, prob- ably in the hope that the states bordering on the Mississippi, to which the free navigation of this river became every day more important, growing impatient at the continued obstacles in the way of their commerce, would at last form a separate republic by themselves, which might easily be brought under the control of Spain. This, then, being the object to be effected, N 168 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. Casa Calvo, at this time governor of Loui- siana, had repeatedly infringed upon the rights of the Americans, without, however, produ- cing a sufficient sensation to answer his pur- pose ; and no material change took place until 1802, when Morales, who was then intendant of Louisiana, took the decisive step of closing the Mississippi entirely to the American trade. The Western States immediately took the alarm, and were resolved to take up arms in defence of their rights, if they could not secure them in any other way. Jefferson, who had been elected president the year before, undertook the management of the affair ; and favourable circumstances combi- ning with his prudence and skill, he succeeded be- yond his most sanguine hopes, being enabled to mark his administration by an acquisition of the utmost importance to his country. 1803. By a secret article in the treaty of St. Ildefonso, concluded in 1800, Spain had agreed to restore Louisiana to France ; but Bonaparte had his reasons for not making this cession known until he should have (as he hoped to do) reduced St. Domingo to submission. His failure in this, however, rendered him more indifferent to his new acquisition; and it was not until 1803, in the month of January, that he sent out Laussat LOUISIANA RESTORED TO FRANCE. 169 as prefect of the colony. General Victor, who had been appointed as governor, was soon to follow ; but circumstances occurred in the inter- im to prevent his departure. This was the first intimation that the Louisianians had of the in- tended transfer, and it was received by them with great satisfaction. The short time the Span- ish dominion lasted, had produced no change in the national feelings of the people : they were in their hearts still French, and happy to return to the rule of France; and the arrival of Laussat was celebrated by public rejoicings. On being informed of this retrocession, the President had despatched instructions to Robert Livingston, the American minister at Paris, to represent to the First Consul that the occupation of New-Orleans by France would endanger the friendly relations between the two nations, and, perhaps, even oblige the United States to make common cause with England ; as the possession of this city by the former, by giving her the command of the Mississippi, the only outlet to the prod- uce of the Western States, and also of the Gulf of Mexico, so important to American commerce, would render it almost certain that the conflicting interests of the two nations would lead to an open rupture. Mr. Livingston was therefore instruct- 170 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. ed not only to insist upon the free navigation of the Mississippi, but to negotiate for the acquisi- tion of New-Orleans itself and the surrounding territory ; and Mr. Monroe was appointed with full powers to assist him in the negotiation. To consent to this cession would be to sur- render a most important post, and render it ne- cessary to build a new capital ; while to refuse it would be to provoke a war with the United States, and probably throw the whole country eventually either into their hands or those of the English. Bonaparte, who always decided promptly, soon came to tl^e conclusion that what he could not defend he had better dispose of on the best terms he could ; and that, by increasing the territory of the United States, putting in their possession so important an inland navigation, and making a large addition to their seacoast, he could to a great extent counterbalance the maritime power of England, and gain perhaps an ally, instead of raising up an enemy, in the approach- ing contest. 7, He determined, therefore, not only to cede New-Orleans, but the whole of Louisiana, to the United States. Before fully deciding, however, to part with the only territorial possession he had not acquired 171 by the sword, he resolved to take the advice of two of his ministers who had resided in that country, and one of whom, Barbe Marbois, was well acquainted with the colony, its resources, administration, &c. Accordingly, he summoned them to a conference on the 10th of April, 1803, and thus addressed them : " I am fully sensible of the value of Louisiana, and it was my wish to repair the error of the French diplomatists who abandoned it in 1763. I have scarcely recovered it before I run the risk of losing it ; but if I am obliged to give it up, it shall hereafter cost more to those who force me to part with it than to those to whom I yield it The English have despoiled France of all her northern possessions in America, and now they covet those of the South. I am determined that they shall not have the Mississippi. Although Louisiana is but a trifle compared to their vast possessions in other parts of the globe, yet, judg- ing from the vexation they have manifested on seeing it return to the power of France, I am certain that their first object will be to gain pos- session of it. They will probably commence the war in that quarter. They have twenty ves- sels in the Gulf of Mexico, and our affairs in St. Domingo are daily getting worse since the death 172 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. of Le Clerc. The conquest of Louisiana might be easily made, and I have not a moment to lose in putting it out of their reach. I am not sure but what they have already begun an attack upon it. Such a measure would be in accord- ance with their habits ; and in their place I should not wait. I am inclined, in order to de- prive them of all prospect of ever possessing it, to cede it to the United States. Indeed, I can hardly say that I cede it, for I do not yet pos- sess it; and if I wait but a short time, my ene- mies may leave me nothing but an empty title to grant to the Republic I wish to conciliate. They only ask for one city of Louisiana, but I consider the whole colony as lost ; and I believe that in the hands of this rising power it will be more useful to the political, and even the Com- mercial interests of France, than if I should attempt to retain it. Let me have both your opinions on the subject." One of the ministers, Barbe Marbois, fully ap- proved of the cession, but the other opposed it They debated the matter for a long time, and Bonaparte concluded the conference without ma- king his determination known. The next dajj, however, he sent for Marbois, and said to him : " The season for deliberation is over : I have INSTRUCTIONS TO MARBOIS. 173 determined to renounce Louisiana. I shall give up not only New-Orleans, but the whole colony, without reservation. That I do not undervalue Louisiana I have sufficiently proved, as the ob- ject of my first treaty with Spain was to recover it. But, though I regret parting with it, I am convinced it would be a folly to persist in trying to keep it. I commission you, therefore, to ne- gotiate this affair with the envoys of the United States. Do not wait the arrival of Mr. Monroe, but go this very day and confer with Mr. Living- ston. Remember, however, that I need ample funds for carrying on the war, and I do not wish to commence it by levying new taxes. For the last century France and Spain have incurred great expenses in the improvement of Louisiana, for which her trade has never indemnified them. Large sums have been advanced to different com- panies, which have never returned to the treasu- ry. It is fair that I should require repayment for these. Were I to regulate my demands by the importance of this territory to the United States, they would be unbounded ; but, being obliged to part with it, I shall be moderate in my terms. Still, remember, I must have fifty millions of francs, and I will not consent to take less. I 174 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. would rather make some desperate effort to pre- serve this fine country." The negotiations commenced that very day Mr. Monroe arrived at Paris on the 12th of April, and the two representatives of the United States, after holding a private conference, announced that they were ready to treat for the cession of the entire territory, which at first Mr. Living- ston had hesitated to do, believing the proposal of the First Consul to be only a device to gain time. On the 30th of April, 1803, the treaty was signed. The United States were to pay fifteen million dollars for their new acquisition, and be indemnified for some illegal captures ; while it was agreed that the vessels and merchandise of France and Spain should be admitted into all the ports of Louisiana free of duty for twelve years. Bonaparte stipulated in favour of Louisiana that it should as soon as possible be incorporated into the Union, and that its inhabitants should enjoy the same rights, privileges, and immunities as other citizens of the United States ; and the third article of the treaty, securing to them these benefits, was drawn up by the First Consul him- self, who presented it to the plenipotentiaries with these words : LOUISIA?SA CEDED TO UNITED STATES. 1~5 " Make it known to the people of Louisiana that we regret to part with them ; that we have stipulated for all the advantages they could de- sire ; and that France, in giving them up, has en- sured to them the greatest of all. They could never have prospered under any European gov- ernment as they will when they become independ- ent. But, while they enjoy the privileges of liberty, let them ever remember that they are French, and preserve for their mother-country that affection which a common origin inspires." The completion of this important transaction gave equal satisfaction to both parties. " I con- sider," said Livingston, " that from this day the United States takes rank with the first powers of Europe, and now she has entirely escaped from the power of England ;" and Bonaparte express- ed a similar sentiment in these words: "By. this cession of territory I have secured the power of the United States, and given to England a maritime rival, who at some future time will humble her pride." These words appeared pro- phetic when the troops of Britain, a few years after, met so signal an overthrow on the plains of Louisiana. The boundaries of the colony had never been clearly defined, and one of Bonaparte's rainis- O 176 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. ters drew his attention to this obscurity. "No matter/' said he ; " if there were no uncertainty,, it would, perhaps, be good policy to leave some ;" and, in fact, the Americans, interpreting to their own advantage this uncertainty, some few years after seized upon the extensive territory of Ba- ton Rouge, which was in dispute between them and the Spaniards. On the 30th of November, 1803, Laussat took possession of the country, when Casa Calvo and Salcedo, the Spanish commissioners, presented to him the keys of the city, over which the tri- coloured flag floated but for the short space of twenty days. The colony had been under the rule of Spain for a little more than thirty-four years. On the 20th of December in the same year, General Wilkinson and Claiborne, who were jointly commissioned to take possession of the country for the United States, made their entry into New-Orleans at the head of the American troops. Laussat gave up his command, and the star-spangled banner supplanted the tri-coloured flag of France. DIVISION OF LOUISIANA. 177 CHAPTER XV. 1 emU rial Government of Louisiania. Laws. 1804. THE Louisianians were the party least satisfied by this second transfer. Being almost all French, they- rejoiced at being reunited to the country of their ancestors. No wonder, then, that their disappointment should have caused them to view their new brethren in an unfavour- able light. The rapid improvement, however, which took place after the union, served to rec- oncile them to the change, and made them con- sider Jefferson as their greatest benefactor. But, though united in their interests, the French and Americans continue, even to the present day, much estranged from each other in their social intercourse. By an act of Congress, Louisiana was divided into two unequal parts, the one being called the Territory of Orleans, and extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the thirty-third degree of north latitude, and the other, much more exten- sive, being annexed to the Territory of Missouri. 178 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. The name of Louisiana was thus taken from the country at large, soon to be restored to its most important section. A territorial government was organized, con- sisting of a governor (Claiborne being appointed to that office for three years), of a legislative council composed of thirteen freeholders, and of a superior court with three judges, one alone being competent to give a decision. The Presi- dent appointed to the legislative council six members of French descent and seven Americans; but as some of them declined, and the governor filled their places with Americans, the numbei of French was reduced to five ; a small propor- tion for a population of which scarcely a sixth part could speak English. The introduction of slaves was prohibited, excepting those belonging to Americans who might come to settle there. These measures increased the dissatisfaction of the inhabitants, who were before but little incli- ned to be contented with the new government. They consulted together, called meetings, and chose commissioners to lay their grievances be- fore Congress. They complained of the appoint- ment of a governor who was a stranger to their laws, customs, and language, and from whom they could, consequently, expect but little im- COMPLAINTS OF THE LOUISIANIANS. 1 79 partiality ; of the introduction of the English language into their courts of law, and, by the in- terference of Claiborne, even into the legislative council; of the jurisdiction, without appeal, of the governor, who did not even consult the council before giving sentence ; of too much power being granted to a single judge in the Supreme Court ; of the inhabitants not being allowed to import negroes ; and, more than all, of the partition of Louisiana, so that it would be long before they could expect to be admitted into the Union. 1804. They demanded three things of Con- gress: In the first place, the nomination of a governor from two candidates of their own choice; secondly, a change in the jurisdiction exercised by the judges of the Supreme Court ; and, thirdly, that a free importation of negroes should be allowed to the inhabitants. Congress, however, did not think proper to accede to their requests, and only consented to make some slight modifications in the form of the territorial gov- ernment. The*scarcity of specie, which could no longer be imported from Mexico, greatly embarrassed the business of the country. Claiborne there- fore did all that was in his power to encourage the establishment of the Bank of Louisiana, 180 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. which he believed to be the only remedy for ex- isting evils. In this he succeeded ; but at its commencement the institution was paralyzed by the mistrust entertained in regard to it, the in- habitants having been already twice deceived by a paper system, once under the French, and once under the Spanish government. The Spanish au-x thorities had issued a great number of treasury bills, liberanzas, that they seemed in no haste to redeem. The Louisianians also looked with'an evil eye on the organization of companies of volunteers, recommended and upheld by the gov- ernor. Everything, in short, belonging to the United States se^jj^ to meet with their disap- probation. The Legislative Council divided the territory into twelve counties, each provided with an in- ferior court, at which a single judge should pre- side. New-Orleans was made a city; and a University, a library, and several insurance com- panies were established. The first Bank of the United States located one of its branches here. 1805. The new government, after being re- modelled by Congress in consequence of the re- monstrances of the Louisianians, was thus com- posed : of a governor, who was to hold his office for three years, and a secretary of state for four, \L LAWS. 11 both to be appointed by the President, subject to the approval of the Senate; of a legislative coun- cil that were to retain their places for the term of five years, to consist of five members, to be chosen by the President from the candidates pre- sented by the House of Representatives of the ter- ritory ; and of a House of Representatives, whose members, twenty-five in number, were to be elected for two years by the people. Different penal laws had already been enacted by the Legislative Council. Thus murder was made punishable with death, and rape, unnatural crime, and burning of houses or public buildings, by imprisonment for life. The pillory, flogging, and hard labour for a limited time were the pun- ishments decreed for robbery, either with or with- out housebreaking ; and all accomplices in these crimes were to be subject to the same punish- ment as the principals, while accessories after the fact were punishable by fine and flogging. For stealing a slave, a horse, or a mule, the cul- prit was to be punished by flogging, and hard labour for a limited period. Those guilty of petty larceny, and also their accomplices, were to be sentenced to flogging, and required to re- store the property stolen, or double its amount ; and, in default of this, to be imprisoned for two 182 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. years at least, at hard labour. Stealing bank- bills, lottery-tickets, or similar effects, was made subject to the same penalty; and who- ever should conceal a person guilty of these crimes, rendered himself liable to fine and im- prisonment. The receiver of stolen goods was punishable by fine and imprisonment, and re- quired to make restitution of the same, or pay double their value ; and in default of either, to be condemned to one year of hard labour. Any person setting fire to a building not used as a dwelling, or which did not join to a dwelling- house, was to pay all damages incurred, and be sentenced to hard labour for a limited time* Coiners and their accomplices were liable to the same penalty ; but any one guilfy of forgery was to be condemned to hard labour for life. Persons committing perjury, and all wha should be accessory to it, were punishable by hard labour for a term of years, and by being placed for two hours in the pillory once in each year during their detention ; besides which, they were declared incapable of giving testimony un- til this disqualification was removed by a court of justice. Any one abstracting or falsifying a legal instrument, with a design to interrupt the course of justice, or signing a bond in the nanae PENAL LAWS. 183 of another and without his knowledge, was liable to a fine of 3000 dollars, and to be condemned to hard labour for a limited period. Persons con- victed of altering or falsifying any public docu- ment, either the original or a registered copy, might be sentenced to pay a fine of 2000 dol- lars, and to confinement at hard labour for two years ; and, farther, were to be declared incapa- ble of discharging any public function. Swin- dling was to be punished by flogging and hard labour; bigamy by a fine not exceeding 500 dollars, and imprisonment for a term not exceed- ing two years ; and manslaughter by hard labour for one year, and a fine of 500 dollars. Whoever in a quarrel should deprive another of nose, tongue, eye, or ear, might be made to pay a fine of 1000 dollars, and be sentenced to seven years of hard labour, and their accomplices or instigators were liable to the same punishment. Any one firing at another with the intent of killing, robbing, or maiming, was liable to hard labour for a term of years, and obliged to give bail for his good behaviour for one year after. Duellists, their accomplices, seconds, or instiga- tors, were punishable by a fine not exceeding 500 dollars, and imprisonment for not more than two years. Any person, by procuring the escape of 184 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. a criminal under sentence of death, incurred the penalty of four years' hard labour. Whoever should strike or wound an officer in the exercise of his functions, was subject to be imprisoned for six months, and to pay a fine not exceeding 200 dollars. Any one breaking out of prison, de- msnftding a reward for informing of theft, agree- ing to compound for a capital crime, or mali- ciously accusing an innocent person, was punish- able by fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court ; and any person bribing a judge or public officer, and any judge or public officer receiving a bribe, or who should be guilty of oppression or extortion in the exercise of their functions, were liable to be punished in the same manner; as were also persons exciting riots, breaking down a levee, defaming another, ma- king use of abusive language, or committing an act of assault and battery which did not result in maiming. The accused might claim the right to be judged by his peers, to be defended by counsel, to bring any proof necessary to establish his innocence, and to be allowed to challenge twelve jurymen. No one could be tried for any offence (capital crimes excepted) unless an indictment against him had been previously found by the grand jury BANK AND INSURANCE CHARTERS. 185 No crime whatever was to be punished by con- fiscation of property. The council granted two perpetual charters : one to the Insurance Company of New-Orleans, with a capital of 200,000 dollars, and the other to the Company of Navigation, which in 1835 proposed to dig a canal through Canal-street, one of the finest streets in the city: its capital is 200,000 dollars. This company has improved the navigation of the Bayou St. Jean and the Canal of Carondelet, on which it collects a toll, and which was originally made by the Spanish governor whose name it bears. 1806. The session of the first territorial Le- gislature was prolonged to more than five months. It appointed a court for each parish, the presi- ding judge to be, ex-officio, judge of the Court of Probate, notary, auctioneer, justice of peace, sheriff, and recorder. The Black Code, as it is called, the law against vagabonds, and those relative to apprentices and the sale of spirituous liquors, were enacted at this session. It was forbidden to sell intoxicating liquors to slaves without the consent of their masters, or to soldiers of the United States army without per- mission of their officers, under the penalty of a 186 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. fine and loss of license ; or to the savages, un- der the penalty of a fine of 200 dollars, half to go to the State and half to the informer. ' The apprentice law provided that no one should engage himself as a servant or apprentice without the consent of his parents or guardians, or, in default of these, of the mayor or the judge of the place where he resided, unless he had at- tained the age of twenty-one. No minor might engage himself beyond his minority, nor any one for more than seven years. It was declared that a master or mistress had no right to maltreat an apprentice, and that they were bound to give their apprentices a suitable elementary education. The law relating to vagabonds defined those to be such who, being able to work, lived in idleness, without any settled habitation; those, also, who frequented drinking or gaming houses, and refused to give an account of their means of living, or could not bring credible witnesses to testify to their character. Vagabonds were re- quired to give such bonds for their good beha- viour as the judge might think proper, and, fail- ing to do so, they were liable to one month's im- prisonment at hard labour. Any one found wan- dering about at night, sleeping in drinking-houses or other disreputable places, or in the open air, BLACK CODE. 187 and who could not give an accpunt of himself, or who carried about him arms or sharp instru- ments, such as might enable him to take life or break into houses, was to be treated as a suspi- cious character, and liable to be punished by hard labour for a limited time. Female vagabonds were to be punished in the same manner ; and any one harbouring a vagabond was liable to a fine not exceeding 500 dollars. All beggars were to be considered vagabonds unless furnished with a permit from two justices of the peace to solicit alms in consequence of their infirmities. The Black Code secured to slaves the free en- joyment of Sunday, except that their masters might oblige them to work on that day by giv- ing them four shillings. This regulation does not include house servants, postillions, attendants in hospitals, and those who carry vegetables to market. It provided that each slave should have a bar- rel of corn per month, a pint of salt, a shirt and a pair of cotton pantaloons for the summer, a flannel shirt, a pair of woollen pantaloons, and a cap for winter, and a piece of ground to culti- vate. The infirm, aged, and blind were required to be clothed, fed, and taken care of at the ex- 188 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. pense of their master, under a penalty of twen- ty-five dollars for every neglect so to do. The master could not rid himself of the board of his slave by allowing him a day to work for himself. Slaves were to be allowed half an hour for their breakfast, and two hours for their dinner. Children under the age of ten years were not allowed to be sold without their mother. A master was not permitted to hire his slaves to themselves, under the penalty of a fine of twenty-five dollars. Slaves could not possess anything, sell any- thing, carry arms, or hunt, without the permission of their master ; nor were they suffered to be par- ties or witnesses either in civil or criminal cases. Masters were declared bound to pay for any- thing stolen by their slaves, unless they were ma- roons, and proved to be such. A slave found on horseback without the per- mission of his master, might be stopped, punish- ed with twenty-five lashes, and sent back to his master, who was required to pay a shilling a mile for bringing him home. Any absconding slave not claimed by his mas- ter within two years from the first advertisement of him, might be sold by the sheriff of the parish, BLACK CODE. 189 and the money was to be paid into the treasury of the State. No one could give a permit to a slave who did not belong to him, under the penalty of a fine of fifty dollars. No person might strike a slave engaged in his master's service, under the penalty of a fine of ten dollars. Nevertheless, any person finding a slave at a distance from his master's plantation might stop him, and punish, or even kill him, in case he re- sisted or struck him. Any one wounding a slave was bound to pay the master two dollars for each day's labour lost by the disabled slave. If 'he was maimed for life, the aggressor was obliged to pay the master his full value, and to maintain him for the rest of his days. It was allowed, however, to fire upon a ma- roon slave, and also upon one who should refuse to stop when summoned to do so. If an individual should be wounded by a ma- roon slave while endeavouring to seize him, he was to be indemnified by the State ; and if he was killed, his heirs were entitled to such indemnity. The owner of a maroon slave might seek for him, or cause him to be sought for by white 190 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. people, even in the camps of other planters, and without their permission, except in houses and other places having locks. A master who ill-treated his slaves, or refused them necessary food and clothing, might be pros- ecuted, on the information of one or more per- sons, before a justice of the peace, and condemn- ed to pay a fine of twenty- five dollars for every such offence. The judge might at the same time issue such orders as he thought proper for the relief of such slaves ; but the master so arraign- ed was allowed to exculpate himself by his oath, unless positive proof was brought against him. Free people of colour who were wanting in respect towards white people, who assumed equal- ity with them, or who insulted or struck them, were to be punished by imprisonment, according to the offence. It was required that a slave accused of crime should be tried within three days after his arrest, by a tribunal composed of three or five freehold- ers, neither the owner of such slave, nor any per- son related to him within the fourth degree, being allowed to be one of them. Either the judge of the parish or a justice of peace was to preside at such trial. The judge and two planters might pronounce sentence of death against a slav, or BLACK CODE. 191 even against a free man of colour, though he had a right to trial by jury in the ordinary courts of law. Any Indian or man of colour, whether a slave or free, was punishable with death for setting fire to a dwelling-house or other building, or to a stack of grain ; for poisoning or killing, and for violating a white woman. Any Indian or free man of colour who should carry off a slave, was to be sentenced to two years hard labour, and to pay the value of such slave ; and in default of the latter, the punish- ment was to be doubled. A slave intentionally wounding his master or mistress, or their children, was punishable with death. If a slave should strike, or induce another to strike, an overseer, whether the latter were free or a slave, he might be punished with twenty- five lashes ; and if blood were shed, the punish- ment might be doubled; or if death should follow, he was to be hung ; and the same punishment was to be inflicted on a slave for rebellion or exciting an insurrection. For any slave condemned to death, the master was to receive an indemnity of 500 dollars from the State. This sum was reduced to 300 dollars in 1813. P 192 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. If a master should contrive the escape of his slave, or that of any other person, when arraigned for crime, he was liable to a fine of 200 dollars; or if the crime were capital, it might be increased to 1000 dollars. A slave found guilty of striking a white per- son for the third time was punishable with death. Any master who should, with malice prepense, kill either his own slave or the slave of another, was to be tried and punished according to the laws of the territory. A master punishing his slaves with barbarity was liable to a fine of from 200 to 300 dollars. Any master in whose possession a slave should be found mutilated or injured by ill-treatment, was declared to be responsible for the crime, un- less he could clear himself by the testimony of credible witnesses, or took an oath that he was not guilty before a competent court. No one might leave his plantation in charge of a slave, under the penalty of 50 dollars. A slave detecting a plot or insurrection, and giving information of it, was to be rewarded with freedom. Various other laws were enacted during the continuance of the territorial government. Slaves imported from a foreign country into BLACK CODE. 193 Louisiana were to be sold for the benefit of the State ; and if any such slave had been guilty of a capital crime in the country from which he had been brought, he was to be sentenced to hard labour for life; persons importing a negro convict being liable to a fine of a thousand dollars. Any person purchasing a slave, and afterward discovering that he had been convicted of crime in another country, might maintain an action for damages against the seller. Any one concealing a slave and making him labour, was liable to pay two dollars for every day such slave was kept from his master. No slave was allowed to be set at liberty un- der thirty years of age ; nor then, unless he had behaved well, and had neither been guilty of marooning, theft, nor any other crime during the four years preceding his emancipation. These requirements were, however, to be dispensed with if he had saved the life of his master or 'mistress, or any of their children. A slave be- longing to a minor could not be freed under a penalty of 100 dollars, for which the judge sanctioning the sale was liable, as well as the seller. In all cases of illness, infirmity, old age, or lu- nacy, masters were bound to support their slaves. 194 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. The declaration of the master giving freedom to his slave was required to be made before the judge of the parish. Marriage was declared to be a civil contract to endure for life, but capable of being dissolved by due course of law. No marriage was to be considered valid un- less both parties had freely consented to it ; and free people were not allowed to marry slaves. The parents of children marrying without their consent might sue both the judge who gave the license and the priest who solemnized the mar- riage for damages, and disinherit their children so offending. No person authorized to marry was allowed to perform the ceremony until the parties pro- duced a license from the judge of the parish, under the penalty of a fine of 5000 dollars, and imprisonment for two years, at the discretion of the court. Priests of any religious denomination, or a justice of the peace, were authorized to solem- nize marriages where licenses in due form were produced. Quakers and Menonites were permitted to cel- ebrate marriages among themselves, according to the rites of their respective religions. LAWS RESPECTING HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 195 Husbands and wives, it was declared, owed mutual help and fidelity to each other. It was the duty of the wife to follow her husband, who was bound, in proportion to his means, to sup- ply her reasonable wants. Wives holding prop- erty separate from their husbands could not alienate or mortgage it without the consent of the latter, though such consent might be super- seded by an authorization from the judge. Husbands and wives were declared bound by their marriage contract to maintain and educate their children ; while it was no less incumbent upon children to maintain their father and mother, and their grandparents, should they stand in need of it; and sons-in-law and daughters-in- law were under obligation in the same way to support their fathers and mothers in law. Any lawyer who should instigate a person to commence a suit, or enter into any agreement by which he was to receive a part of the property in dispute, was declared incompetent to practise in any court of the territory. A lawyer suffering a cause to be lost through his absence or neg- ligence was liable to pay the costs of suit, as well as the damages sustained by his client; and where any lawyer was guilty of retaining money received for his client, his name was directed to 196 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. be erased from the list of attorneys authorized to practise. Lawyers' fees were fixed at sixteen dollars for a suit begun and carried through in the superior courts, and at five dollars in the parish courts. CHAPTER XVI. Spain. Conspiracy of Burr. General Wilkinson. Refugees from Cuba. Taking of Baton Rouge. Louisiana made a State. Constitution. Steamboats 1806. THE boundaries of Louisiana having been left by the treaty of cession vaguely defined, this circumstance almost necessarily led to diffi- culties between the United States and Spain. The inhabitants of Mexico, jealous of the occu- pation of the Mississippi by the Americans, were inclined to dispute their territorial claims by force, and even advanced as far as Natchitoches, when General Wilkinson was sent with a body of troops to repel them. He was encamped near the Sa- bine, and on the point of engaging the Spaniards under Cordero and Herrera, when he received in- formation of a movement making against New- CHARACTER AND PLANS OF BURR. 197 Orleans. He immediately concluded a treaty, therefore, \vilh the Spanish commanders, fixing the Sabine River as the boundary between the two nations, and hastily repaired to that city. He found the place in the greatest consterna- tion. It was stated that Burr was on the point of attacking it ; that he had drawn seven or eight thousand of the inhabitants of the Valley of the Ohio into the enterprise all desperate characters, who had nothing to lose, and every- thing to gain by such an attempt ; and that their intention was to seize the city, possess themselves of the banks, and effect a separation between the Western and Atlantic States ; or, in case of fail- ure, to fall back upon Mexico, where Burr had already a powerful party, and proclaim its inde- pendence. It was added that an English fleet, now in the West Indian seas, was to co-operate in the attack. Such, probably, were the real objects of Burr; but he was too shrewd a diplomatist to expose himself to any legal proof. He had, no doubt, been secretly organizing his plans ever since his political disappointments in New- York. In 1801 he had been a competitor with Jefferson for the presidency. The electoral votes being equal, the choice devolved upon the House of Representa- 198 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. tives; and after, thirty ballotings, Jefferson was elected. Burr concealed his vexation, and, ap- parently with good grace, accepted the vice- presidency. In 1804 he was a candidate for the office of governor in the State of New-York, when Hamilton, considering him a political intriguer, opposed his election, which he lost. He shortly after sought a quarrel with Hamilton: a duel took place, and the latter was killed. But the removal of his great political antagonist proved of no advantage to him. On the contrary, so strong was the excitement produced by this melancholy event, that he felt himself obliged to withdraw from public notice. He was not idle, however. To great ambi- tion and indefatigable perseverance in his designs, he united an insinuating address that gained him many partisans. He had retired to an island in the Ohio, occupied by a Mr. Blennerhasset, and there commenced preparations, ostensibly for ma- king a settlement on the Washita, in the patent of the Baron de Bastrop. He was purchasing and building boats, and engaging men to accom- pany him down the Ohio ; but there were sus- picious appearances attending his preparations, of which the government were informed, and he was narrowly watched. On his arrival at New- WILKINSON AT NEW-ORLEANS. 199 Orleans, Wilkinson demanded that an armed force should be raised, which the authorities re- fused to do. He then applied to the Supreme Court to order the arrest of Bollman, the agent of Burr, and to issue a proclamation against Burr himself. This they also declined doing, but al- lowed him to proceed according to military law. He thereupon immediately imprisoned Bollman, Swartwout, Ogden, and Alexander, supposed to be accomplices of Burr, and refused to deliver them up on a writ granted by Judge Workman. Irritated at this refusal. Workman induced Ed- ward Livingston to unite with him in a request to Claiborne to arrest Wilkinson himself, which, however, he did not think fit to do. At this moment, General Adair arriving from Tennessee, where he had left Burr, was arrested by an aiddecamp of General Wilkinson, at the head of a detachment of one hundred men ; and Workman was also arrested at the same time. The District Court of the United States obtained his release, but he immediately gave in his res- ignation. 1807. Meanwhile Burr was on his way to New-Orleans ; but he was stopped at Natchez, and cited to appear before the Supreme Court of the Mississippi Territory. He had carried on his 200 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. designs, however, so secretly, that there was no evidence sufficient to convict him, and he was discharged. Still, hearing that different persons had been arrested at New-Orleans and elsewhere on suspicion of being concerned with him, and that a reward had been offered in that city for his apprehension, he fled from Natchez, and was finally taken on the Tombeckbee, and sent a prisoner to Richmond. Here he was tried before Chief-justice Marshall upon two indictments, one charging him with treason against the United States, the other with meditating an attack upon the possessions of Spain, a nation with which the United States were at peace. For want of evidence, however, he was acquitted of both charges, though he was universally believed to be guilty ; but his career as a politician was at an end. He embarked for Europe, and, return- ing to New- York several years after, spent the remainder of his life in obscurity. Wilkinson, notwithstanding his activity in ar- resting the agents of Burr, did not escape the suspicion of being himself concerned in the con- spiracy, and of receiving pay from Spain. He was brought to trial, and several witnesses appeared against him, among whom was Mr Clark, the delegate to Congress from the Ter- SECOND TRIAL Of WILKIfcSON. "201 ritory of Orleans ; but nothing was proved against him. 1809. The misunderstanding that had so long existed between England and the United States was becoming more serious, and every- thing seemed now to indicate an approaching war. British troops in considerable numbers had been sent over; and the President appre- hending, in case of a rupture, that their first efforts would be directed against New-Orleans, ~ re'solved to form a camp in that vicinity. Wilkinson, to whom the movement was in- trusted, occupied a position with seven hundred men at the Green Oaks, at the head of the road of Terre-aux-Bceufs, on the bank of the river, eleven miles below New-Orleans ; but the heat of the weather and change of food, combined, probably, with the unhealthiness of the situation, produced diseases which soon carried off nearly half their number. Wilkinson's enemies blamed him for this disaster; and accusations of being an accomplice of Burr, and in secret correspond- ence with Spain, were revived : he was brought before a court-martial, tried, and again acquitted. The population of Louisiana was this year in- creased by the arrival of 5797 French colonists, who had settled in Cuba on being driven from 202 HISTORY 01? LOUISIANA. St. Domingo, but were now obliged to leave it m consequence of the war between France and Spain. Twice banished in less than eight years, these unfortunate exiles came to find another home in Louisiana. The unfeeling Spaniards had allowed them only twenty-four hours to pre- pare for quitting the island. Destitute of every comfort, they were crowded into a few small schooners, and the defenceless fleet on their way fell in with a British frigate. But their enemies were too generous to take advantage of their miserable condition, and suffered them to pass unmolested. The reception they met with in Louisiana showed that their kindness to the citi- zens of New-Orleans more than twenty years before had not been forgotten. They brought with them their slaves, the only resource now left them. Claiborne, under these circumstances, ventured to disregard the law forbidding their in- troduction, and Congress approved his conduct. IS 10. Notwithstanding the treaty of St. II- defonso, Spain yet retained possession of some parts of Louisiana. The town and district of Baton Rouge, and the country of Mobile, had not yet been given up. The inhabitants of the former territory, almost all Americans, becoming impa- tient at the slow progress of diplomacy, and be- OCCUPATION OF BATON ROUGE. 203 lieving that Spain, occupied with her European enemies, would make but little opposition, sudden- ly attacked the fort at Baton Rouge, and got pos- session of it without any effusion of blood. Soon after they assembled a convention at St. Fran- cisville, proclaimed their independence, drew up a constitution, and chose government officers. On receiving intelligence of this movement, Madison commissioned Claiborne to take posses- sion of the territory in the name of the United States. This he lost no time in doing, and hoist- ed the national flag at St. Francisville and Baton Rouge, to the great joy of the inhabitants. This district now forms the Floridian parishes of Loui- siana. Shortly afterward, the negroes on a plantation near the parish of St. Jean Baptiste having in- stigated the blacks on the neighbouring planta- tions to revolt, they all rose at the same time, and, mustering five hundred men, marched to the attack of New-Orleans with drums beating and colours flying. They were encountered by a man of the name of Trepaguier, who kept them at bay for some time, when he \vas joined by a few other planters, and this handful of men rout- ed and put them to flight before the militia could come to their assistance. Two or three houses 204* HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. were set on fire by them before they were sub- dued. Sixteen of the ringleaders were detected and hung, and their heads displayed on high poles at regular distances along the river. To supply the want of specie experienced at this time, the Legislature established tw r o banks. That of Orleans, with a capital of 500,000 dol- lars, and the Planters' Bank, with one of 600,000 dollars: their charters were to continue for fif- teen years. That of the first was renewed in 1823, to expire in 1847; the last-named bank failed, and is extinct. Public houses were now placed under the su- pervision of the police ; games of chance were prohibited: and any one keeping a gambling- house was liable to a fine not exceeding 1000 dollars, or in default of payment was to be im- prisoned for a term not longer than six months. 1811. An act of Congress, bearing date the llth of February of this year, raised the Territory of Orleans to the rank of a State, and restored to it the name of Louisiana. It was now em- powered to form a constitution on the model of that of the United States. The right of habeas corpus was guarantied to the citizens, and that of being judged by a jury of their peers. The French language was to be no longer used in CONSTITUTION OF LOUISIANA. 205 public acts, and the United States were to have exclusive possession of all unoccupied lands, which were to be exempted from taxes and all other claims. In a short time a State Constitu- tion was agreed upon by forty-one delegates of the people assembled in convention. The government was divided by the new Con- stitution into three departments : the executive, legislative, and judiciary. The executive power was confided to an offi- cer with the title of governor, who must have at- tained his thirty-fifth year, and was to be elected for four years, but was not to be eligible for two terms in succession. He was to be nomina- ted by the people, and elected by the Legislative Assembly; to be commander-in-chief of the mi- litia, army, and navy of the State, but not during war, except he should be at such time specially authorized by the Legislative Assembly to assume the command. He was to appoint, with the ad- vice and consent of the Senate, to all state offices. He might call an extra session of the General Assembly, and was to have a veto on the acts of this body, which were required to be approved b'y him before they could become laws. He was bound to support the laws of the State and of the United States, and to attend to the organiza- 206 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. tion and discipline of the militia. Power was given him to remit fines and confiscations, and to grant reprieves, and even pardons to persons con- victed of crimes, with the consent of the Senate. In case of misconduct he might be arraigned be- fore the Senate by an act of impeachment, arid removed from his office by a vote of two thirds of the members present. The legislative power was divided into two branches : the Senate, and the House of Repre- sentatives ; and these two bodies constituted the General Assembly. The senators were to be elected for four years, one from each senatorial district. ; and every two years a new election was to be made of half the members. No person could be eligible to the office of senator unless he was twenty-seven years of age, and possessed of property to the value of a thousand dollars in the district where he was nominated. He must also have resided in such district for one year, and four years in the State previous to his nomination. The representatives were to be elected for two years, and their whole number could not exceed fifty. The representation was to be equally dis- tributed according to the number of electors. A representative could not be under the age of GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 207 twenty-one years, and was required to be pos- sessed of real estate worth 500 dollars. To be eligible to this station, he must have resided in the State two years previous to his election, and one year in the parish from which he should be sent. Half the representatives were to be chan- ged every year. The members of the General Assembly were to receive a salary of four dollars per diem : their persons were declared to be inviolable during the sitting of the Legislature, and they were not answerable for the opinions or speeches delivered by them in debate. But they were declared to be ineligible to any lucrative office in the State while members of the Assembly, and for one year after, excepting such offices as were filled direct- ly by the vote of the people. No priest, or minister of any religious society or sect, could be elected to a seat in the General Assembly, or to any lucrative or responsible pub- lic office in the State ; nor any collector of State taxes, unless he had first settled all his accounts. To become a law, a bill was required to be read three times in each house of the General Assembly, each reading to be on a different day, unless four fifths of either house should dispense with the regulation. After passing through these Q 208 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. forms it was to be submitted to the governor for his approval ; and should he put his veto upon it, it might still be reconsidered by the two houses separately, and, if adopted by a majority of two thirds of each house, was to have the force of a law without the executive sanction. The judiciary power was to consist of a Su- preme Court and inferior courts. The Supreme Court was to be composed either of three or five judges. It was to be a court of appeal in all civil cases where the property in dispute was worth more than 300 dollars. Its sessions were to be held at New-Orleans for the Western, and Opelousas for the Eastern District. The judges were to have a salary of 5000 dollars, and could not be removed except for misconduct, on the petition of three fourths of the members of both Houses of the Legislature. The same rule was applied to judges of the inferior courts, who were required to watch over the maintenance of good order in the State. 1812. Congress sanctioned the Constitution adopted by the convention, and annexed to Loui- siana the territory to the north of the River Iber- ville as far as Pearl River, in the thirty-first de- gree of latitude. This territory had not been in- cluded in the limits described by the convention, FIRST STEAMBOAT AT NEW-ORLEANS. 209 and had, consequently, sent no delegates. By the decision of the convention, tbe Upper House was to consist of fourteen senators, or one for each sen- atorial district ; but the annexation of this addi- tional territory gave three new members, who, notwithstanding that decision, took their seats in the Senate. Just after the adoption of the Constitution, the first steamboat seen on the Mississippi made her appearance at New-Orleans, as if to do honour to the new State. She had come from Pittsburg in seven days. The sight was then so extraordi- nary as to excite a great sensation; but now, in 1840, more than six hundred steamboats are continually passing on the waters of that river and its tributaries. Louisiana has derived more important advan- tages from the use of steam than any other state in the Union, and should be doubly grateful to Fulton for his invention, or, rather, for his suc- cessful application of steam to the purposes of navigation: an experiment which had, indeed, been before tried, but which he was the first to bring to perfection. In this undertaking he was assisted by Robert Livingston, while residing in France as our minister to that country ; and his first essay was made on the Seine, at Paris, in 210 HISTORY OP LOUISIANA. 1803, with a small copper-bottomed boat His ni*xt attempt was made on the Hudson, in 1807, and he and Livingston obtained an exclusive right to navigate the waters of the State of New- York by steam-vessels for eighteen years. But Fulton failed to enrich himself by this great dis- covery ; and his country has not yet remunerated his family for the immense benefits he conferred upon her. From the nature of the soil in Louisiana, be- ing for the most part alluvial, and unfit for good roads, and the numerous water-courses intersect- ing the entire state, and particularly the lower part of it, the use of steamboats is particularly important. Before their introduction a vessel was frequently from forty to eighty, and some- times even a hundred, days in getting up to New- Orleans from the mouth of the river ; whereas, at present, they are towed up by steamers in eigh- teen hours. As to the passage from New-Orleans to Pittsburg, nobody pretended to fix any given time for its accomplishment ; but now it is made with certainty in ten or twelve days. In passing up the Mississippi in a steamboat, a very peculiar and striking scene is presented to the eye of the traveller, though its character is gloomy and mo- notonous as far as the mouth of the Ohio; no- SCENERY ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 211 thing is visible beyond the alluvial strip that bor- ders the river except a line of dense forest, but little encroached upon by settlements, with here and there a small clearing, and on it a cabin of rough boards, surrounded by skeletons of trees, whose girdled trunks attest the hasty and waste- ful mode employed in preparing the land for cul- ture. The only object that gives animation to this dreary scene is the steamboat. When one of them approaches a station where wood is taken in, all the scanty population is immediately in motion. Whites and blacks, men, women, and children, rush down to the water's edge, some to receive, and others to part with friends; some waiting for goods, some anxious for news, and all intent on gratifying their curiosity. From the Ohio to the Wisconsin the shores of the river are more varied, and board cabins give place to the log huts of the Northern settlers. On the left are to be seen the broad prairies of Missouri, on the right the fertile lands of Illinois. There are several points in the country through which the early French discoverers passed, still reminding the traveller of its former possessors. Two little villages still bear the names of Joliet and Hennepin ; the old Fort of Peoria has become the centre of a new city ; and the villages of Kas- 212 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. kaskia, Cahokia, and Prairie du Rocher contain a population of six or seven hundred, almost en- tirely French. Still more numerous are the relics of the same people on the opposite bank of the river, in the State of Missouri. There the names of St. Gen- evieve, Cape Girardeau, St. Charles, La Riviere Gasconnade, and St. Louis, are so many memen- toes to perpetuate the memory of the first settlers. St. Louis, now a large and rapidly-growing city, is, like New-Orleans, divided into the French and American quarters. The old, or French quarter, extends along the flat, the streets being narrow, and the place wearing an appearance of antiquity rarely seen in American towns. The American quarter looks down upon the other from a hill that commands the neighbouring coun- try. These two French towns, more than a thousand miles distant from each other, strikingly call to mind the time when the Father of Waters in his whole course was claimed by France. WAR WITH ENGLAND. 213 CHAPTER XVII. War with England. Battle of New-Orleans. 1812. THE first Legislative Assembly was held in June, nine days after the United States had declared war against England. The insult- ing conduct of that power towards our flag, and the right claimed by her to search our vessels, were the principal causes that led to this contest for the liberty of the seas. Claiborne and General Villere, son of the vic- tim of O'Reilly, were the two canidates nomina- ted by the people for the office of governor; and the choice of the Legislature fell upon Clai- borne, whose mild and impartial government heretofore had conciliated even those who did not vote for him. One of the first acts of the Legislature was to appoint three judges of the Supreme Court ; and they also authorized the governor to call out the militia to repel invasion or suppress insurrec- tion within the limits of the State ; but these were not to be kept in active service longer than 214 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. three months at a time, except during war, when an extension of sixty days was permitted. When in actual service they were to receive the pay and rations of regular troops, and to be subject to martial law. Harrison had the year before defeated the Indians (who might be considered as the ad- vanced guard of the British) at Tippecanoe, and General Hull was now advancing to Detroit to follow up the blow, when he received informa- tion of the declaration of war. After some skir- mishes the Indians retreated ; but the British general Brock coming up with a strong force, the American commander retired to Detroit, to which place he was followed by the enemy, and there he ingloriously surrendered, without attempting to defend himself. Louisiana, though exempt from the ravages of war, experienced at this time one of the most dreadful hurricanes that had ever devastated the country. In New-Orleans it blew down several houses and one of the market-places. The navy of the United States, which Eng- land had hoped speedily to annihilate, now began to show of what materials it was composed. If the name of Hull had been disgraced on shore, it was rendered illustrious on the ocean by a NAVAL SUCCESSES. 215 brilliant naval victory, the first in a series of similar triumphs. The gallant brother of the governor of Michigan, after a close action of twenty minutes, captured, and almost literally destroyed, one of the enemy's finest frigates; and Bainbridge, Decatur, Porter, and Jones were no less successful in sustaining the honour of their country's flag. 1813. Wilkinson, who was still in Louisiana with a military command, received orders from the President to seize upon Fort Chartres at Mobile, which was still in the hands of the Spaniards. In concert with a naval force under Commodore Shaw, he took possession of the Isl- and of Dauphine, and captured a vessel laden with stores for the fort. The Spanish command- ant, being without provisions, was obliged to sur- render ; and a part of the artillery found here was employed, in the armament of a small fort erected by Wilkinson at the mouth of Mobile Bay, to which he gave the name of Fort Boyer. After farther reverses in Canada, General Harrison was at length enabled to act upon the offensive, and the fortune of war turned in favour of the American arms. The gallant and youth- ful Perry captured the entire British fleet on Lake Erie ; the English, with their Indian allies, were R 216 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. defeated by Harrison on the Thames, where the famous Tecumseh was slain; and the Americans made themselves masters of the navigation of Lake Ontario. On the other hand, the naval forces of Eng- land kept the Atlantic coast in a state of constant alarm, and committed serious depredations, es- pecially in the Chesapeake ; while an English squadron appeared on Lake Champlain, and was soon followed by an army of fourteen thousand veteran troops. But the Americans gathered fresh courage and energy from the dangers which threatened them; the states of New- England, which had hitherto taken but little part in the contest, now came forward with their hardy and well-trained militia ; the disgraceful burning of Washington had excited the deepest indignation ; and the British were repulsed with great loss both at Plattsburg and Baltimore. 1814. This year the enemy's arms were di- rected more especially against the South, and the most brilliant triumphs were anticipated by them. Their plans, however, were soon understood ; and General Jackson, the conqueror of the Creeks at Horseshoe Bend, who had recently taken Pen- sacola from the Spaniards in consequence of their having violated their neutrality by admit* PREPARTIONS TO ATTACK NEW-ORLEANS. 217 ting the English, was ordered to proceed with all possible haste to New-Orleans. It was known that the enemy's efforts were to be directed against that city, and every possible preparation was made Ar its defence. Still, all the force there amounted only to seven hundred regular troops, a thousand militia badly armed, and one hundred and fifty marines. But two thousand five hundred riflemen, commanded by Generals Coffee and Carroll, were on their way from Tennessee, and General Thomas was de- scending the river at the head of two thousand Kentuckians. Meanwhile the British fleet, under Admiral Cochrane, was already in the waters of Louisiana, seeking a place to effect a landing. A formida- ble pirate, named Lafitte, commanded at that time the Bay of Barrataria, and the English thought it not beneath them to seek his -assistance by advantageous proposals. The government of Louisiana had before set a price upon his head. Still Lafitte rejected the offers of the enemy, in- formed Claiborne of them, and applied for his pardon and permission to serve in the cause of liberty. The governor and General Villere were in favour of accepting this offer ; but the Legislature, which was then in session, vehe- 218 " HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. mently opposed it, considering that their cause would be disgraced by his participation. They even ordered Commodore Patterson to drive him from his retreat ; but he did not wait for this ; and the Americans, ori arriving at Barrataria, found only empty huts, which they set on fire, and a few abandoned cannon. All this had taken place before the arrival of General Jackson. His first step, after reconnoi- tring all the most exposed points, was to de- spatch Commodore Jones, with his small squad- ron of one sloop-of-war and five gunboats, to watch the motions of the enemy, and especially to defend the Rigolets, the principal passage be- tween Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne. Here he was attacked by the enemy, himself, as well as Parker, his second in command, wourided, and his whole squadron captured. Thus New- Orleans was left without any defence by water. Under these circumstances, General Jackson demanded of the Legislature that the writ of habeas corpus should be suspended ; this, how- ever, they refused to grant. Claiborne empow- ered him to call out the whole of the militia, and the citizens enrolled themselves with the utmost alacrity. Martial law was proclaimed by the commander-in-chief, and the Legislature author- ENTHUSIASM AT NEW-ORLEANS. 219 ized him to employ Lafitte, to whom a pardon was now offered. But what Jackson most de- sired, though he did not succeed in effecting* it, was the adjournment of the Legislature, believ- ing that this body threw obstacles in the way of all his plans. The troops from Tennessee and Kentucky ar- rived, and this gave confidence to the inhabi- tants, as the city was now defended by more than six thousand men. The weather being cold, and the soldiers insufficiently supplied with clothing, the Assembly placed 8000 dollars in the hands of a committee to relieve their wants, and blankets and woollen stuffs were collected from the people of the town. The merchants and shopkeepers also sent in boxes of shoes and hats, and a quantity of mattresses, and the inhabitants of some parishes contributed not less than 4000 dollars in money. The ladies at the same time were actively employed in making clothing for their defenders, and in preparing lint, medical apparatus, and comfortable rooms for the wound- ed. Even the children were busied in making cartridges and running bullets. Never had there been so great enthusiasm among a mass of peo- ple collected from distant points, and differing from each other in manners and language, though 220 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. the preponderance of the French, and their quicker susceptibility, might in some measure account for it. On the 23d of December, at midnight, some militia-men who were stationed at an abandoned fishing village on the Bayou Marent, near Lake Borgne, suddenly perceived nine barges, mounted with cannon, coming towards them. They en- deavoured to conceal themselves, but were dis- covered, and all taken prisoners ; one of them v however, managed to get away, and, after trav- elling three days through the cypress swamps, he reached the city. Some Spanish fishermen, it seems, had acted as guides to the enemy. They landed three thousand men, under the command of General Kean, who, debouching by the Bayou Marent, the Bayou Bienvenu, which falls into it, and the Canal Villere, which terminates in the latter, succeeded in surprising the general of that name in his house ; but his son, who commanded a party of militia, jumping from a window, made his way unhurt through a brisk fire of pistol-shot, and hastened with all possible speed to New- Orleans, to give the alarm. It was half past two in the afternoon when General Jackson re- ceived information of the enemy's landing, and LANDING OF THE ENEMY. 221 he immediately sent a detachment of marines and a troop of artillery, with two field-pieces, to oppose them. At four o'clock the volunteers of Tennessee, the riflemen of Orleans, and the dragoons of Mississippi had taken up a position two miles below the city, and they were soon afterward followed by the forty- fourth regiment of regulars, a battalion of the city militia, and some companies of coloured men ; while Clai- borne, with two regiments of militia and a com- pany of cavalry, established himself at Gentilly, to cover the town. Meanwhile the English were encamped at the Plantation Villere, near the river ; and, seeing a vessel cast anchor within range of their guns, they moved towards the levee to examine her. It was the schooner Caroline, belonging to the United States navy, under the command of Com- modore Patterson. They took her to be a mer- chant vessel ; but she soon undeceived them by a broadside, which killed more than a hundred of their men. In vain did they endeavour ta drive her off with cannon and Congreve rockets : she was soon joined by the sloop-of-war Loui- siana ; and so destructive was the fire of the two vessels, that the enemy were obliged to quit their camp. 222 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. While the advanced guard of the Americans was engaged in dislodging a picket of the enemy from the road in front of the plantation Lacoste, the seventh and forty-fourth regiments, and the marines, formed in order of battle, with two pieces of artillery. The enemy endeavoured to take their left wing in flank, and the forty-fourth was beginning to give ground, when two battal- ions of militia and some Indians came up. The English then directed their attack against the latter ; but the fire of the Americans was so well kept up, that they were forced to make a pre- cipitate retreat, under cover of the approaching darkness, increased by the smoke of the action and a fog. The Tennesseans charged the re- tiring columns, and the Louisiana riflemen, who took part in the attack, penetrated even to the enemy's camp, where they made several prison- ers ; but in returning they unfortunately encoun- tered a body of his troops of three times their own force, and, taking them for Americans, were all made prisoners. The Tennesseans, with the river in their rear, kept up the action till half past nine o'clock. Two hours later, a brisk firing was heard in the direction of the plantation Ju- monville, below that of Villere. It proceeded from the Louisianian division of Morgan^ which BATTLE OF THE 23D OF DECEMBER. 223 had been encamped on the right bank of the Mississippi, but which, on seeing the engage- ment, had eagerly demanded permission to cross the river and join in it. The general yielded to their wishes ; but they had only time to exchange a few shots with a detachment of the enemy, when the darkness of night put a stop to the action. In this battle, fought on the 23d of December, the English, who were five thousand strong, lost more than five hundred men, while the loss of the Americans, whose numbers did not exceed two thousand, was only one hundred and forty killed and wounded, and seventy-five taken pris- oners. A company of Louisianians, commanded by Saint Gerne, intrenching themselves the same night on the Canal Rodriguez, two miles above the spot where the battle had been fought, the next morning Jackson resolved to establish a line of deferce there. Leaving but two companies of cavalry to face the enemy, he set to work to enlarge and deepen the canal, raising, at the same time, a strong parapet of earth on its bank, with embrasures at proper distances, and forming the curtain and casing with bales of cotton. On be- ing completed, this line of defence was mounted HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. with eighteen pieces of cannon and a howitzer. An acre and a half lower down, a breach was made in the levee, and the water of the river rushing impetuously through it, soon covered the plain to the depth of thirty inches. This precaution, however, proved an unfortu- nate one ; for the water from the river so raised the bayou which the English had entered, that they were enabled to land the whole of their ar- tillery. This they employed with such effect as to burn the Caroline on the 27th ; and the Loui- siana, the only vessel now left the Americans, would have shared the same fate, had she not been prudently removed to another position. At daybreak the next morning the enemy re- newed their fire upon the Louisiana, and at the same time made a vigorous attack upon the American lines; they were repulsed, however, with a loss of two or three hundred men, while that of the Americans was only eighteen killed and wounded. In this situation of affairs, three members of the Legislative Assembly waited upon the general to inquire what would be his course should he be obliged to retreat. It had been whisp'ered that, in the event of a defeat, he had resolved to set fire to New- Orleans, as the Russians had done to IVCKSON'S REPLY TO THE ASSEMBLY. 2:25 Moscow, that the enemy mightTfind there neither shelter nor provisions. He thus answered them : " If I thought the very hairs of my head could know my intentions, I would at once burn them. However, gentlemen, you may inform the hon- ourable body to which you belong, that their ses- sion will be a pretty hot one if I am obliged to abandon the town." These words sufficiently indicated that his purpose, in case of a retreat, was to follow the example of Rostopchin. Soon after this a groundless report was circu- lated that the members of the Assembly had a secret design of giving up the country to the English ; and the consequences threatened to be serious. This rumour being communicated to the commander-in-chief by Colonel Declouet, he ordered Claiborne to inquire into it, and if he found it true, to blow up the Assembly. The governor, however, concluded that the most pru- dent course would be to close the place of ses- sion, so that the members, on attempting to enter, found themselves stopped by crossed bayonets. They remonstrated against this violation of their rights, and the general consented to countermand the order. 1815. Meanwhile the enemy had been busily engaged in preparing for another attack. They 226 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. had thrown up an intrenchment opposite to the American position, making use of sugar-hogs- heads for casings to their embrasures ; and on the 1st of January, at nine o'clock in the morning, as soon as the fog began to break away, three bat- teries one at the water's edge, another in the cen- tre of the plain, and the third near the wood mounted with thirty pieces of heavy artillery, opened a tremendous fire, accompanied by Con- greve rockets, against the American lines; but it was returned so effectually from the latter, that in less than an hour seven of the enemy's can- non were disabled ; four hours afterward he was compelled to abandon the battery near the wood ; and by three in the afternoon the two others were silenced. But the decisive struggle was yet to come. The British forces, amounting to twelve or fifteen thousand men, being all landed, Sir Edward Packenham, the commander-in-chief of the expe- dition, determined to make a grand effort to ef- fect his object. Accordingly, at daybreak on the 8th of January, the signal for attack being giv- en by letting off two rockets, one on their right, the other on their left, the British columns rush- ed on with so much impetuosity, a furious can- nonade being commenced at the same time, that BATTLE OF THE 8TH OF JANUARY. 227 the picket-guards of the Americans had scarcely time to fall back within the lines. Meanwhile the fog was so dense that the erxemy could not be seen till they had approached within a short distance of the American works, when they were descried marching with quick step, in close ranks from sixty to eighty deep, and carrying fascines and ladders besides their arms. They were in two divisions, under Generals Gibbs and Kean, and commanded by Packenham in person. One was advancing against the centre of the American line, and the other against the redoubt on the levee, which there had not been time to finish. But their opponents were prepa- red for them. The marines, with Lafitte and his bucaniers, and some French refugees, all excel- lent artillerymen, were at their posts ; and the interval between each embrasure was filled with Louisiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky riflemen, all unerring marksmen. These were ranged in lines of some depth, those in the rear loading the rifles and passing them to the others, that .there might be no cessation in the fire. The cavalry were stationed on the wings and in the rear, to take advantage of any circumstances that might arise. The American commander, who could scarcely restrain the ardour of his men, waited 228 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. till the enemy were fairly within gun shot, and then gave the signal to fire : this was instantly foilowed by three loud cheers from the troops, and a shower of cannon-shot, grape, and rifle- balls from the whole line. The assailants were staggered for a moment; but, recovering, they again gallantly advanced, though cut down at every step, without returning a shot until they had gained the edge of the fosse ; but here the fire was so tremendous that they could no long- er, stand against it, and retreated in disorder. Twice Packenham succeeded in rallying them, having his horse killed under him in the first at- tempt, and being mortally wounded himself in the second. A few moments after Generals Gibbs and Kean were also wounded, and carried from the field. Dismayed by their losses, the en- emy now thought of nothing but making the best of their way back to their camp, when General Lambert, hastening up with the reserve, endeav- oured to stop them. In this he at length succeed- ed, after being drawn along with them to some distance from the field of battle, when he formed them again into columns, and once more led them to the assault. But the fire of the Americans, which had not ceased for a moment, was no less tremendous than before, and they were driven back with ASSAULT ON THE REDOUBT. 229 immense slaughter, leaving the ground covered with their dead and wounded. The enemy's left had at one time nearly suc- ceeded in getting possession of the redoubt on the river. Colonel Regnier, who led the attack, had actually made his \vay over the intrench- ment, but was here shot down, and fell dead on one of the cannon. This officer was a French emigrant ; and on the death of their leader the attacking column hastily retreated. While these events were taking place on the left bank of the river, a detachment of fifteen hundred of the enemy, under Colonel Thornton, had attacked the division of Morgan on the right bank. This division consisted of about seven hundred men, the greater part of whom were armed only with pikes and fowling-pieces. Their advanced guard, driven back by the ene- my, formed again behind a mill, and repulsed them in turn. But Morgan at this time ordering a retreat, Thornton again advanced, directing his fire against the Kentuckians, and these giving way, drew the other battalions along with them. The whole column retired, however, in good order ; and the British commander, seeing the dis- comfiture of his countrymen on the other side, abandoned the pursuit 230 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. Such was the issue of the decisive battle of Plaine Chalmette, called by the Americans the battle of New-Orleans. The loss of the British was very severe, being two thousand killed, a great number wounded and taken prisoners, and fourteen pieces of cannon. The Americans, in- credible as it may appear, had but seven men killed and six wounded. The action lasted but two hours. It might almost be said that the great contest for independence was decided in this battle, if, according to Jefferson, the first war with England was only a war of liberty. Lambert, who had now succeeded to the com- mand of the British forces, requested a truce of twenty-four hours to bury the dead and remove the wounded, which was granted. On the evening of the 18th the enemy aban- doned Louisiana, in little less than a month from the time they had landed, leaving behind a quan- tity of ammunition and eighteen wounded men, two of whom were officers. A surgeon, in whose care they had been placed, handed to the Amer- ican commander a letter from General Lambert, recommending them to his protection, and assu- ring him that no farther hostile attempts would be made against New-Orleans, at least for the present. END OF THE CAMPAIGN. 231 The squadron which had been attacking Fort St. Philip since the 9th instant put to sea the same day. This squadron, consisting of two borab- ketches, a brig, a schooner, and a sloop-of-war had been unable to capture a fort defended only by a few small pieces of artillery. Among those who most distinguished them- selves during this brief but memorable cam- paign, were, next to the Commander-in-chief, Generals Villere, Carroll, Coffee, Ganigues, Flan- jac, Colonel Delaronde, Commodore Patterson, Majors Lacoste, Planche, Hinds, Captain Saint Gerne, Lieutenants Jones, Parker, Marent, and Dominique ; Colonel Savary, a man of colour nor must we omit to mention Lafitte, pirate though he was. Thus ended this short, brilliant, and event- ful campaign. The enemy had paid too dearly for their first attempt to make a second, and nothing special transpired until, a few weeks afterward, official information was received of the treaty concluded at Ghent, when the brave men who had so nobly come forward in their country's defence were honourably discharged. The situation of the commander-in-chief had been one of great difficulty and delicacy, and he has been charged with exercising the power he possessed with too little regard to private rights, S 232 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. and official inviolability ; but when we look at the grand result, we are but little disposed to dwell upon these matters ; nor is it to be denied that his firmness, skill, and energy contributed most essentially to the triumphant termination of the contest. Congress did justice to Louisiana to the ser- vices she had rendered in the common cause to her patriotism and courage, the privations, sufferings and dangers to which she had cheer- fully submitted, and the generosity with which she had contributed to the support of the army and the comfort of the wounded, whether friends or foes ; approving also of the course pursued by her Legislative Assembly in continuing in ses- sion ; and declared that she had deserved well of the country. CHAPTER XVIII. Prosperity of Louisiana. Bank of Louisiana. Laws. Florida. Mouth of the Mississippi. Lafayette. General Jackson elected President. National Bank. Cholera. 1816. GENERAL VILLERE, a man alike distin- guished for his civil and domestic virtues, was now elected governor of the State, and its prosperity INCREASING PROSPERITY. 233 increased rapidly. Agriculture acquired new strength : many planters of the other states, at- tracted by the fertility of the soil, emigrated to Louisiana with numerous slaves ; and this greatly enhanced the value of land. Sugar commanding a good price, new plantations of canes were form- ed at a distance from the river, as well as on its banks. In fact, sugar now became the most im- portant crop of Louisiana, the amount of capital invested in its cultivation being but little short of forty millions. New-Orleans, the great empori- um of the South and Southwest, saw the number of her warehouses rapidly increasing, her port crowded with ships and steamboats, and her building lots rising to an enormous value. The old town was no longer large enough to con- tain the inhabitants, and its extension became necessary. A second Bank of the United States was this year incorporated, which went into op- eration on the 17th of February, 1817, and a branch was established at New-Orleans. 1817. Increase of population necessarily lead- ing to increase of crime, the Legislature enacted a variety of new r penal laws. Masters of vessels concealing fugitive slaves on board of the same, as well as owners of mort- gaged slaves who should send them away, were 234 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. made liable to punishment by hard labour for a limited term. Insolvent debtors could not be imprisoned after surrendering all their property for the bene- fit of their creditors ; but if fraud were commit- ted, they were declared ineligible to any office of profit or honour in the State. A free woman, except she were a merchant, could not be imprisoned for debt. Any person depriving another of an eye, or be- ing guilty of incest, infanticide, forgery, or arson, might be sentenced to hard labour. Against some of these crimes provision had already been made in the law of 1805. Any one introducing into the State a slave convicted of crime, or any one purchasing such slave, knowing his character, was liable to pay a fine and forfeit the slave. No free coloured man convicted of a crime in another state was allowed to settle in Louisiana, under penalty of imprisonment at the discretion of the court, after which he was required to be sent out of the State ; and should he return, was to be sold as a slave. Theft, not connected with hotisebreaking, for- gery, manslaughter, and receiving stolen goods were punishable by hard labour. PENAL LAWS. 235 A robber arrested with arms in his hands, and any person killing another in a duel, were liable to be punished with death. Fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court were decreed against any one seeking to corrupt a judge, or who should obstruct a public highway, or keep a house of ill fame, or become accessory after the fact to any of these offences. The governor and the Senate might commute any punishment except that of a slave sentenced to death. 1818. This year the Bank of Louisiana was incorporated, with a capital of two millions of dollars, being the first bank established since Louisiana had been made a state. 1819. Farther additions were this year made to the Black Code. Any person carrying away a slave was made punishable by hard labour; and any one carrying off a free negro, conceal- ing a maroon slave, or breaking the collar or chain of a slave, was liable to a fine and impris- onment. A master preventing the law from taking ef- fect on a slave accused of a capital crime was liable to a fine. At this time the prediction of Jefferson was accomplished. Some one observing to him, at 236 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. the time Louisiana was ceded, that the Floridas would have formed a more important acquisition, he replied that Florida, being now surrounded by the territories of the United States, must neces- sarily, at no distant period, fall into their hands. The Seminole Indians within the Spanish territo- ry having the last year made hostile incursions into the neighbouring states. General Jackson, commanding the forces in the South, was ordered to reduce them to submission, but not to enter Florida except in pursuit of the enemy. He found it necessary to enter this territory ; and while there, having reason to believe that the Spanish garrisons gave aid and protection to the savages, he marched to Pensacola, and, expelling the Spanish authorities, took possession of the place. For this occupation of a neutral territory, and for the trial by court-martial and subsequent ex- ecution of two Englishmen, named Arbuthnot and Arnbrister, accused of assisting the Indians, the general was called to account by Congress ; and a committee was appointed to investigate the whole conduct of the Seminole War. Their re- port was unfavourable, and the subject was warm- ly debated ; but he was finally acquitted. In this state of things, the Spanish minister ACQUISITION OF FLORIDA. 237 signed a treaty ceding Florida to the United States. The king, however, refused to ratify it, though in 1821 he consented to the cession. 1820. Thomas B. Robertson, an upright and learned lawyer, was this year chosen governor. Louisiana had now 153,407 inhabitants, 53,041 of whom were engaged in agriculture, 6251 in commerce, 6041 in manufactures, and 69,060 were slaves. The population had more than doubled in ten years. Notwithstanding the prosperous state of agri- culture, commerce did not recover from its de- pression till the end of the year. Public confi- dence had been seriously impaired, and it was slow in reviving. All admitted that the financial system of the country was now satisfactory, but it had taken three years to bring about this con- viction. This year the legion of Louisiana was formed, one of the finest military corps in the United States. 1822. Louisiana had no good roads except those along the banks of the Mississippi and some of the smaller water-courses. An act was passed for making a road from New-Orleans to the frontier of the State, in the direction of Nash- ville, in Tennessee; all the proprietors whose 238 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. lands it crossed, as well as those possessing lands within fifty miles of it, being required to contrib- ute towards keeping it in repair. 1823. The Legislative Assembly, strange to say, authorized at this time the establishment of six gaming-houses in New-Orleans, on condition of their each paying annually the sum of five thousand dollars, to be applied to the support of the Hospital of Charity and the College of Or- leans. However beneficial this might be to the revenues of the State, it could not fail of being highly injurious to public morals. Power was now given to the governor, with the approval of the Senate, to commute the pun- ishment of a slave under sentence of death when recommended to his clemency a prerogative that was refused in 1818. The weather had been remarkably warm for some time, when, on the 16th of February in this year, the frost set in with so much severity that the river was partially frozen, and people skated on the marshes. The orange-trees were all de- stroyed : a loss which was the more sensibly felt, as many of the small proprietors derived the principal part of their income from them. Sev- eral watermen perished with cold in their boats, and also negroes in their cabins, and animals were found dead in the woods. EDWARD LIVINGSTON. 239 1824. Henry Johnson, a very popular man, was now made governor, in opposition to General Villere, who was a candidate for the third time. The flourishing condition of agriculture and commerce, and the immense profits realized from these sources, excited at this time a spirit of overtrading, and a general desire among mer- chants and others to extend their business. But for this additional funds were required, and these were provided by the creation of the Bank of Louisiana, with a capital of four millions, the State taking half the stock a step which sound policy should have prevented. A code of civil law, which has received very high commendations, and also a system of rules for the regulation of legal proceedings, were drawn up by Edward Livingston, under the di- rection and at the expense of the State; and Louisiana is also indebted for her penal code to the learning and the persevering industry of this gentleman. After having nearly completed this arduous work, it was destroyed by fire ; but the next day he was seen again at his labours, and by untiring application he completed his task in an incredibly short space of time. 125. At the commencement of this year Louisiana was honoured with a visit from the 240 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. Guest of the Nation the friend and the brother in arms of Washington the Hero of the Old and of the New World, who had hazarded his life and expended his fortune in the struggle for American liberty the brave, the incorruptible Lafayette. He landed on the celebrated battle-ground where, ten years before, American freemen had given proof to the world that they were not degenerate sons of their revolutionary sires, and was con- ducted in triumph to the city. 1826. The following laws were this year passed in the Assembly : That any attorney neg- lecting or refusing to pay to his client moneys collected on his account, should have his name erased from the list of lawyers authorized to practise in the courts of the State ; and no at- torney should be permitted to take the benefit of the act relating to insolvent debtors. That jurors, both in civil and criminal trials, should be free white men, of sound mind, who had attained the age of twenty-one, and resided for the last six months in the district or parish where the case was pending ; and that all com- missioned officers, members and clerks of the Legislature during its sitting, mayors and record- ers, lawyers, notaries, ministers of the Gospel, clerks in the banks, physicians, apothecaries, and PLANTERS' BANKING ASSOCIATION. 241 inspectors, should be exempt from serving on juries. At the same session an act was passed pro- viding for a board of internal improvements, con- sisting of five members, who were to receive no salary, and to be appointed annually by the governor, who was to be, ex-officio, president of the board. 1827. Since the merchants had their banks, the planters thought they must have one also. They therefore formed a banking association among themselves on a new plan, with a capital of 2,000,000 dollars, which was afterward in- creased to 2,500,000 and was secured on land- ed property, and even slaves. This system of mortgage enabled a great many planters to become stockholders without advancing any- thing, but it also ruined not a few of them. Money obtained thus easily was spent with the same freedom, without a thought of being called 'upon for its re-imbursement. This inflated state of the currency naturally augmented the impor- tations beyond the real wants of the country, and thus aggravated the financial crisis which took place ten years after. The General Assembly had been in the habit of granting divorces on very slight pretences; 242 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. and no less than thirty-nine had been thus ob- tained in the space of fourteen years, or since Louisiana had become a state. To prevent their frequency, the present Legislature passed a law that no divorce should be allowed except for infidelity either in the husband or wife, for ill treatment, condemnation for crime, or desertion for a period of five years. It also decreed that the wife, in case of divorce, should be entitled to one third of the husband's income so long as she continued to be of good character or did not marry again ; and that the husband convicted of infidelity should not be permitted to marry the partner of his guilt, under penalty of being pun- ished as for bigamy. Louisiana duly appreciated her indebtedness to Thomas Jefferson for the civil and political liberty she now enjoyed, and for the position she occupied in the American Union, and, in token of her gratitude, the General Assembly present- ed ten thousand dollars to his family. An act was passed exempting whites from the punishment of whipping and of the pillory. It had, indeed, been matter of wonder, that in such a state of society, where part of the population was free and part in a state of slavery, a punish- ment of this kind, common to both, should ever have been in force. SPANIARDS FROM MEXICO. 243 Political revolutions having driven the native Spaniards from Mexico, many of them came to New-Orleans, where a great number died of the yellow fever ; and their sufferings from this dis- ease they repaid by communicating to the Louisi- anians a hitherto wholly unknown malady, call- ed dinguet, which, without being dangerous, oc- casioned violent pains in all the limbs. 1828. Pierre Derbigny, a man of learning and an eloquent speaker, was now chosen gov- ernor. By the existing laws, widows and spinsters were held in tutelage, though they should be of legal age ; but this act was repealed, allowing them to give bail, and to endorse for others, in the same manner as men who were of age. Another law was passed, making the crime ol arson punishable with death ; decreeing, at the same time, severe punishments against any who should prepare combustibles to be employed for this object. This act, however, has done but lit- tle to diminish the number of fires in the city. Persons maliciously destroying the public works of a corporation, or carrying arms about them, and inflicting a wound with the intent to kill, or any one procuring the escape of a crimi- nal condemned for a capital crime, were to be 244 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. sentenced to hard labour for a term of years. (See 1805, p. 183.) General Jackson had now succeeded to the Presidency of the United States. 1830. The General Assembly met at Donald- sonville, now become the seat of government. At this period several persons \vere detected in travelling about the country and endeavour- ing to excite the blacks to insurrection, and the populace would have punished them very sum- marily had they been permitted. The Legisla- ture thereupon passed a law, making it death for any one to excite the slaves against 'the whites, either by writings, sermons, or speeches made at the bar or in the theatre, or to bring into the State any pamphlets having that tendency and for that object. But it was deemed not sufficient to prohibit such writings : they must also be rendered pow- erless. It was declared, therefore, that any one teaching slaves to read, or having them so taught, should be punished with imprisonment. Any slave selling spirituous liquors without a written permission from his master was punish- able by whipping, and any white man buying liquor of a slave was made liable to a fine. This year the railroad company of Poritchar- DEATH OF DERBIGNY. 245 train was incorporated, being the fifth of the kind in the United States. The severity of the winter, which set in early in December with frost and ice, and lasted through February, destroyed the orange-trees. The population of Louisiana now amounted to 215,275, having increased two fifths in the last ten years. 1831. The deplorable death of Pierre Der- bigny, occasioned by his horses taking fright and running away with his carriage, having left the office of governor vacant, it was temporarily filled by Jacques Dupre, president of the Senate; and there being no law providing for the elec- tion of a chief magistrate until his term of four years should expire, he might have retained the post. But this he did not wish ; and Bienvenu Roman, who had received a majority of votes over M. Beauvais, his competitor at the last year's election, assumed the reins of government, the seat of which was again transferred to New- Orleans, which, though less central than Donald- sonville, was more convenient for business. An act was this year passed, providing that the militia and the volunteer companies should be furnished with arms and equipments at the ex- pense of the State. A charter was also granted 246 HISTORY OP LOUISIANA. to the Canal Bank, with a capital of four mill- ions; one to the City Bank, with a capital of the same amount ; and one to the Railroad Company of West Feliciana. A tremendous storm, setting in from the east, afterward shifting to the south, and continuing from the 16th to the 17th of August, drove back the waters of the gulf into the lakes and bayous, so as to flood New- Orleans and the whole coun- try bordering on the sea. The water, indeed, was so high that many vessels were driven on to the levee. The damage to the town exceeded a hundred thousand dollars, and the loss of the planters was still more severe. The Legislature having at this time submitted to Congress a plan of the mouths of the Missis- sippi and of the adjacent coast, showing, as they believed, the urgent necessity and the facility of excavating a ship-canal, to commence at a point below Fort St. Philip, and terminate at the Isle au Breton, in 1839 the work was begun under a law passed for that object ; it was found to be impracticable, however, as it filled with fresh ac- cumulations of sand nearly as fast as it was dug out, and was accordingly abandoned. Those familiar with the river assert that one passage deepens as fast as another fills up ; and that on APPEARANCE OF THE CHOLERA. 247 the bar, in the deepest part, there is never less than fourteen feet of water, which is as much as there was when the country was first settled. Bienville, in 1699, found eleven feet water ; and the Chevalier Bossu, an officer of the French navy, in passing up the river in 1770 with a ves- sel drawing eleven feet, stated that he got through the passage without unloading. 1832. The old Hospital, belonging to the city, was this year purchased by the State as a place for holding the sittings of the General Assembly and of the Supreme Court. A penitentiary was also erected at Baton Rouge, on the plan of that at Wethersfield, in Connecticut. Another banking establishment was now in- corporated, under the name of the Union Bank, with a capital of eight million dollars, based upon landed property, like that of the Planters' Association, and was guarantied by the State. This year the Asiatic cholera, after extending its ravages over Asia and a part of Europe, made its appearance in Canada, where it was supposed to have been brought by an English vessel. Passing through the states to the north and west, it at length reached Louisiana ; and in New-Orleans alone not less than five thousand T 248 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. persons fell victims to it. The yellow fever was raging at the time. Many unfortunate creatures were supposed to have been buried alive; while others, suffering under quite different illnesses, were treated for cholera, and killed by the vi- olence of the remedies. The blacks had been spared by the yellow fever, but the cholera almost exterminated them. There were planta- tions in the environs of the town which lost from seventy to eighty slaves in two or three days. The disease appeared again the following year, but with greatly diminished violence. CHAPTER XIX. Tariff. Speculation. Lotteries. Banks. Madame Lalaune. New-Orleans Divided. Stoppage of Specie Payments. 1833. THE first blow given to the agriculture of Louisiana was by the new tariff, providing for a gradual reduction of duties on foreign goods to twenty per cent., taking off every tw