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THE HISTORY OF LOUISIANA, OR OF THE WESTERN PARTS OF VIRGINIA AND CAROLINA:
THE HISTORY OF LOUISIANA, OR OF THE WESTERN PARTS OF VIRGINIA AND CAROLINA:
Containing a DESCRIPTION of the Countries that lie on both Sides of the River Missisippi: With an ACCOUNT of the SETTLEMENTS, INHABITANTS, SOIL, CLIMATE, AND PRODUCTS. Translated from the FRENCH Of M. LE PAGE Du PRATZ; With some Notes and Observations relating to our Colonies....
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Foreword
Foreword
Antoine Simon Le Page Du Pratz was a Dutchman, as his birth in Holland about 1695 apparently proves. He died in 1775, just where available records do not tell us, but the probabilities are that he died in France, for it is said he entered the French Army, serving with the Dragoons, and saw service in Germany. While there is some speculation about all the foregoing, there can be no speculation about the statement that on May 25, 1718 he left La Rochelle, France, in one of three ships bound for a
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PREFACE
PREFACE
The History of Louisiana, which we here present to the public, was wrote by a planter of sixteen years experience in that country, who had likewise the advantage of being overseer or director of the public plantations, both when they belonged to the company, and afterwards when they fell to the crown; by which means he had the best opportunities of knowing the nature of the soil and climate, and what they produce, or what improvements they are likely to admit of; a thing in which this nation is,
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CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER I.
Of the first Discovery and Settlement of LOUISIANA. After the Spaniards came to have settlements on the Great Antilles, it was not long before they attempted to make discoveries on the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico. In 1520, Lucas Vasquez de Aillon landed on the continent to the north of that Gulf, being favourably received by the people of that country, who made him presents in gold, pearls, and plated silver. This favourable reception made him return thither four years after; but the natives ha
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CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER II.
The Return of M. de St. Denis: His settling the Spaniards at the Assinaïs. His Second Journey to Mexico, and Return from thence . M. De St. Denis soon returned to the fort of St. John Baptist; after which he resolved to form the caravan, which was to be settled at the Assinaïs; at whose head M. de St. Denis put himself, and happily conducted it to the place appointed. And then having, in quality of Grand Chief, assembled the nation of the Assinaïs, he exhorted them to receive and use the Spaniar
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CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER III.
Embarkation of eight hundred Men by the West India Company to Louisiana. Arrival and Stay at Cape François. Arrival at Isle Dauphine. Description of that Island . The embarkation was made at Rochelle on three different vessels, on one of which I embarked. For the first days of our voyage we had the wind contrary, but no high sea. On the eighth the wind turned more favourable. I observed nothing interesting till we came to the Tropick of Cancer, where the ceremony of baptizing was performed on th
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CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER IV.
The Author's Departure for his Grant. Description of the Places he passed through, as far as New Orleans. The time of my departure, so much wished for, came at length. I set out with my hired servants, all my effects, and a letter for M. Paillou, major general at New Orleans, who commanded there in the absence of M. de Biainville. We coasted along the continent, and came to lie in the mouth of the river of the Pasca-Ogoulas; so called, because near its mouth, and to the east of a bay of the same
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CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER V.
The Author put in Possession of his Territory. His Resolution to go and settle among the Natchez. Being arrived at the Creek Choupic the Sicur Lavigne, a Canadian, lodged me in a cabin of the Aquelou-Pissas, whose village he had bought. He gave others to my workmen for their lodging; and we were all happy to find, upon our arrival, that we were under shelter, in a place that was uninhabited. A few days after my arrival I bought an Indian female slave of one of the inhabitants, in order to have a
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CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VI.
The Voyage of the Author to Biloxi. Description of that Place. Settlement of Grants. The Author discovers two Coppermines. His Return to the Natchez. The second year after my settling among the Natchez, I went to New Orleans, as I was desirous to sell my goods and commodities myself, instead of selling them to the travelling pedlars, who often require too great a profit for their pains. Another reason that made me undertake this voyage, was to send my letters to France myself, which I was certai
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CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VII.
First War with the Natchez. Cause of the War. In the same year, towards the end of summer, we had the first war with the Natchez. The French had settled at the Natchez, without any opposition from these people; so far from opposing them, they did them a great deal of service, and gave them very material assistance in procuring provisions; for those, who were sent by the West India Comany with the first fleet, had been detained at New Orleans. Had it not been for the natives, the people must have
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CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Governor surprized the Natchez with seven hundred Men. Astonishing Cures performed by the Natives. The Author sends upwards of three hundred Simples to the Company. M. De Biainville, at the beginning of the winter which followed this phaenomenonived very privately at our quarter of the Natchez, his march having been communicated to none but the Commandant of this Post, who had orders to seize all the Natchez that should come to the Fort that day, to prevent the news of his arrival being carr
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CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER IX.
French Settlements, or Posts. The Post at Mobile. The Mouths of the Missisippi. The Situation and Description of New Orleans. The Settlement at Mobile was the first seat of the colony in this province. It was the residence of the Commandant General, the Commissary General, the Staff-officers, &c. As vessels could not enter the river Mobile, and there was a small harbour at Isle Dauphine, a settlement was made suited to the harbour, with a guardhouse for its security: so that these two se
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CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER X.
The Voyages of the French to the Missouris, Canzas, and Padoucas. The Settlements they in vain attempted to make in those Countries; with a Description of an extraordinary Phaenomenon. The Padoucas, who lie west by northwest of the Missouris, happened at that time to be at war with the neighbouring nations, the Canzas, Othouez, Aiaouez, Osages, Missouris, and Panimahas, all in amity with the French. To conciliate a peace between all these nations and the Padoucas, M. de Bourgmont sent to engage
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CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XI.
The War with the Chitimachas. The Conspiracy of the Negroes against the French. Their Execution. Before my arrival in Louisiana, we happened to be at war with the nation of the Chitimachas; owing to one of that people, who being gone to dwell in a bye-place on the banks of the Missisippi, had assassinated M. de St. Come, a Missionary of that colony; who, in going down the river, imagined he might in safety retire into this man's hut for a night. M. de Biainville charged the whole nation with thi
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CHAPTER XII.
CHAPTER XII.
The War of the Natchez. Massacre of the French in 1729. Extirpation of the Natchez in 1730. In the beginning of the month of December 1729, we heard at New Orleans, with the most affecting grief, of the massacre of the French at the post of the Natchez, occasioned by the imprudent conduct of the Commandant. I shall trace that whole affair from its rise. The Sieur de Chopart had been Commandant of the post of the Natchez, from which he was removed on account of some acts of injustice. M. Perier,
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CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTER XIII.
The War with the Chicasaws. The first Expedition by the river Mobile. The second by the Missisippi. The war with the Chactaws terminated by the prudence of M. de Vaudreuil. The war with the Chicasaws was owing to their having received and adopted the Natchez: though in this respect they acted only according to an inviolable usage and sacred custom, established among all the nations of North America; that when a nation, weakened by war, retires for shelter to another, who are willing to adopt the
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CHAPTER XIV.
CHAPTER XIV.
Reflections on what gives Occasions to Wars in Louisiana. The Means of avoiding Wars in that Province, as also the Manner of coming off with Advantage and little Expence in them. The experience I have had in the art of war, from some campaigns I made in a regiment of dragoons till the peace of 1713, my application to the study of the wars of the Greeks, Romans, and other ancient people, and the wars I have seen carried on with the Indians of Louisiana, during the time I resided in that Province,
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CHAPTER XV.
CHAPTER XV.
Pensacola taken by Surprize by the French. Retaken by the Spaniards. Again retaken by the French, and demolished . Before I go any farther, I think it necessary to relate what happened with respect to the Fort of Pensacola in Virginia. 33 This fort belongs to the Spaniards, and serves for an Entrepot, or harbour for the Spanish galleons to put into, in their passage from La Vera Cruz to Europe. Towards the beginning of the year 1719, the Commandant General having understood by the last ships whi
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CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER I.
Geographical Description of Louisiana. Its Climate Louisiana that part of North America, which is bounded on the south by the Gulf of Mexico; on the east by Carolina, an English colony, and by a part of Canada; on the west by New Mexico; and on the north, in part by Canada; in part it extends, without any assignable bounds, to the Terrae Incognitae, adjoining to Hudson's Bay. 35 Its breadth is about two hundred leagues, 36 extending between the Spanish and English settlements; its length undeter
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CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER II.
The Author's Journey in Louisiana, from the Natchez to the River St. Francis, and the Country of the Chicasaws. Ever since my arrival in Louisiana, I made it my business to get information in whatever was new therein, and to make discoveries of such things as might be serviceable to society. I therefore resolved to take a journey through the country. And after leaving my plantation to the care of my friends and neighbours, I prepared for a journey into the interior parts of the province, in orde
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CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER III.
Of the Nature of the Lands of Louisiana. The Lands on the Coast. In order to describe the nature of this country with some method, I shall first speak of the place we land at, and shall therefore begin with the coast: I shall then go up the Missisippi; the reverse of what I did in the Geographical Description, in which I described that river from its source down to its mouth. The coast, which was the first inhabited, extends from Rio Perdido to the lake of St. Louis: this ground is a very fine l
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CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER IV.
Quality of the Lands above the Fork. A Quarry of Stone for building . High Lands to the East: Their vast Fertility. West Coast: West Lands: Saltpetre . To the west, the Fork, the lands are pretty flat, but exempt from inundations. The part best known of these lands is called Baya-Ogoula, a name framed Bayouc and Ogoula, which signifies the nation dwelling near the Bayouc; there having been a nation of that name in that place, when the first Frenchmen came down the Missisippi; it lies twenty-five
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CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER V.
Quality of the Lands of the Red River. Posts of the Nachitoches. A Silver Mine. Lands of the Black River. The Banks of the Red River, towards its confluence, are pretty low, And sometimes drowned by the inundations of the Missisippi; but above all, the north side, which is but a marshy land for upwards of ten leagues in going up to the Nachitoches, till we come to the Black River, which falls into the Red. This last takes its name from the colour of its sand, which is red in several places: it i
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CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VI.
A Brook of Salt Water: Salt Lakes. Lands of the River of the Arkansas. Red veined Marble: Slate: Plaster. Hunting the Buffalo. The dry Sand-banks in the Missisippi. After we have gone up the Black River about thirty leagues, we find to the left a brook of salt water, which comes from the west. In going up this brook about two leagues, we meet with a lake of salt water, which may be two leagues in length, by one in breadth. A league higher up to the north, we meet another lake of salt water, almo
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CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VII.
The Lands of the River St. Francis. Mine of Marameg, and other Mines. A Lead Mine. A soft Stone resembling Porphyry. Lands of the Missouri. The Lands north of the Wabache. The Lands of the Illinois . De la Mothe's Mine, and other Mines. Thirty leagues above the river of the Arkansas, to the north, and on the same side of the Missisippi, we find the river St. Francis. The lands adjoining to it are always covered with herds of buffaloes, nothwithstanding they are hunted every winter in those parts
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CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER VIII.
Of the Agriculture, or Manner of cultivating, ordering, and manufacturing the Commodities that are proper Articles of Commerce. Of the Culture of Maiz, Rice, and other Fruits of the Country. Of the Silk-worm. In order to give an account of the several sorts of plants cultivated in Louisiana, I begin with Maiz, as being the most useful grain, seeing it is the principal food of the people of America, and that the French found it cultivated by the Indians. Maiz, which in France we call Turkey corn,
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CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER IX.
Of Indigo, Tobacco, Cotton, Wax, Hops, and Saffron. The high lands of Louisiana produce a natural Indigo: what I saw in two or three places where I have observed it, grew at the edges of the thick woods, which shews it delights in a good, but light soil. One of these stalks was but ten or twelve inches high, its wood at least three lines in diameter, and of as fine a green as its leaf; it was as tender as the rib of a cabbage leaf; when its head was blown a little, the two other stalks shot in a
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CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER X.
Of the Commerce that, and may be carried on in Louisiana. Of the Commodities which that Province may furnish in return for those of Europe. Of the Commerce of Louisiana with the Isles . I have often reflected on the happiness of France in the portion which Providence has allotted her in America. She has found in her lands neither the gold nor silver of Mexico and Peru, nor the precious stones and rich stuffs of the East-Indies; but she will find therein, when she pleases, mines of iron, lead, an
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CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XI.
Of the Commerce with the Spaniards. The Commodities they bring to the Colony, if there is a Demand for them. Of such as may be given in return, and may suit them. Reflections on the Commerce of this Province, and the great Advantage which the State and particular Persons may derive therefrom. The Commerce with the Spaniards. The commodities which suit the Spaniards are sufficiently known by traders, and therefore it is not necessary to give an account of them: I have likewise forebore to give th
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CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER I.
Of Corn and Pulse . Having, in the former part of this work, given an account of the nature of the soil of Louisiana, and observed that some places were proper for one kind of plants, and some for another; and that almost the whole country was capable of producing, and bringing to the utmost maturity, all kinds of grain, I shall now present the industrious planter with an account of the trees and plants which may be cultivated to advantage in those lands with which he is now made acquainted. Dur
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CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER II.
Of the Fruit Trees of Louisiana. I shall now proceed to give an account of the fruit trees of this colony, and shall begin with the Vine, which is so common in Louisiana, that whatever way you walk from the sea coast for five hundred leagues northwards, you cannot proceed an hundred steps without meeting with one; but unless the vine-shoots should happen to grow in an exposed place, it cannot be expected that their fruit should ever come to perfect maturity. The trees to which they twine are so
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CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER III.
Of Forest Trees. Having described the most remarkable of their fruit trees, I shall now proceed to give an account of their forest trees. White and red cedars are very common upon the coast. The incorruptibility of the wood, and many other excellent properties which are well known, induced the first French settlers to build their houses of it; which were but very low. Cypress Cypress Next to the cedar the cypress-tree is the most valuable wood. Some reckon it incorruptible; and if it be not, it
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CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER IV.
Of Shrubs and Excrescences. The ayac, or stinking-wood, is usually a small tree, seldom exceeding the thickness of a man's leg; its leaf is of a yellowish green, glossy, and of an oval form, being about three inches in length. The wood is yellow, and yields a water of the same colour, when it is cut in the sap: but both the wood and the water that comes from it have a disagreeable, smell. The natives use the wood for dying; they cut it into small bits, pound them, and then boil them in water. Ha
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CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER V.
Of Creeping Plants. The great fertility of Louisiana renders the creeping plants extremely common, which, exclusive of the ivy, are all different from those which we have in France. I shall only mention the most remarkable. The bearded-creeper is so called from having its whole stalk covered with a beard about an inch long, hooked at the end, and somewhat thicker than a horse's hair. There is no tree which it loves to cling to so much as to the sweet gum; and so great is its sympathy, if I may b
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CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VI.
Of the Quadrupedes. Before I speak of the animals which the first settlers found in Louisiana, it is proper to observe, that all those which were brought hither from France, or from New Spain and Carolina, such as horses, oxen, sheep, goats, dogs, cats, and others, have multiplied and thriven perfectly well. However it ought to be remarked, that in Lower Louisiana, where the ground is moist and much covered with wood, they can neither be so good nor so beautiful as in Higher Louisiana, where the
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CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VII.
Of Birds, and Flying Insects . Birds are so very numerous in Louisiana, that if all the different kinds of them were known, which is far from being the case at present, the description of them alone would require an entire volume. I only undertake the description of all those which have come within my knowledge, the number of which, I am persuaded, will be sufficient to satisfy the curious reader. The Eagle, the king of the birds, is smaller than the eagle of the Alps; but he is much more beauti
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CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER VIII.
Of Fishes and Shell-Fish . Though there is an incredible quantity of fishes in this country, I shall however be very concise in my account of them; because during my abode in the country they were not sufficiently known; and the people were not experienced enough in the art of catching them. The most of the rivers being very deep, and the Missisippi, as I have mentioned, being between thirty-eight and forty fathoms, from its mouth to the fall of St. Anthony, it may be easily conceived that the i
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CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER I.
The Origin of the Americans. The remarkable difference I observed between the Natchez, including in that name the nations whom they treat as brethren, and the other people of Louisiana, made me extremely desirous to know whence both of them might originally come. We had not then that full information which we have since received from the voyages and discoveries of M. De Lisle in the eastern parts of the Russian empire. I therefore applied myself one day to put the keeper of the temple in good hu
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CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER II.
An Account of the Several Nations of Indians in Louisiana. Of the Nations inhabiting on the East of the Missisippi. If to the history of the discoveries and conquests of the Spaniards we join the tradition of all the nations of America, we shall be fully persuaded, that this quarter of the world, before it was discovered by Christopher Columbus, was very populous, not only on the continent but also in the islands. However, by an incomprehensible fatality, the arrival of the Spaniards in this new
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CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER III.
A Description of the natives of Louisiana; of their manners and customs, particularly those of the Natchez: of their language, their religion, ceremonies , Rulers or Suns, feasts, marriages, &c. A description of the natives; the different employments of the two sexes; and their manner of bringing up their children. In the concise history which I have given of the people of Louisiana, and in several other places where I have happened to mention them, the reader may have observed that thes
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CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER IV.
Of the Negroes of Louisiana. Of the Choice of Negroes; of their Distemper, and the Manner of curing them. Having finished my account of the natives of Louisiana, I shall conclude this treatise with some observations relating to the negroes; who, in the lower part of the province especially, perform all the labours of agriculture. On that account I have thought proper to give some instructions concerning them, for the benefit of those who are inclined to settle in that province. The negroes must
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