History of Louisiana ... Third edition

Front matter

HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. THE FRENCH DOMINATION. BY CHARLES GAYARRE. WITH CITY AND TOPOGRAPHICAL MAPS OF THE STATE, ANCIENT AND MODERN. THIRD EDITION. IN FOUR VOLUMES. VOL. I. NEW ORLEANS : ARMAND HAWKINS, PUBLISHER. 1885. lAUtered according to Act of Congress in the year 18S2, Bf CHARLES GAYARRE, In tho fork'" effice of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District ."ag* CONTENTS. FIRST SERIES. FIRST LECTURE. Primitive State of the Country — Expedition of De Soto in 1539 — His Death — Discovery of the Mississippi in 1673, by Father Marquette and Joliet — They are followed in 1682 by La Salle and the Chevalier de Tonti — Assassination of La Salle, 9 SECOND LECTURE. Arrival of Iberville and Bienville — Settlement of a French Colony in Louisiana — Sauvolle, first Governor — Events and Characters in Louisiana, or connected with that Colony, from La Salle's Death, in 1687, to 1701, 30 THIRD LECTURE.

Situation of the Colony from 1701 to 1712 — The Petticoat Insurrection — History and Death of Iberville — Bienville, the second Governor of Louisiana — History of Anthony Crozat, the great Banker — Concession of Louisiana to him, 79 FOURTH LECTURE. Lamothe Cadillac, Governor of Louisiana — Situation of tne Colony in 1713 — Feud between Cadillac and Bienville — Character of Richebourg — First Expedition against the Natchez — De l'Epinay succeeds Cadillac — The Curate de la Vente — Expedition of St. Denis to Mexico — His Adventures — Jallot, the Surgeon — In 1717 Crozat gives up his Charter — His Death US CONTENTS. IV Page SECOND SERIES. FIRST LECTURE. Creation of a Royal Bank and of the Mississippi Company — Effects produced in France by those Institutions — Wild Hopes entertained from the Colonization of Louisiana — Its twofold and opposite Description — History of Law from his Birth to his Death, .... 191 SECOND LECTURE.

Bienville appointed Governor of Louisiana for the second time, in the place of L'Epinay — Foundation of New Orleans — Expedition of St. Denis, Beaulieu, and others to Mexico — Adventures of St. Denis — Land Concessions — Slave-trade — Taking of Pensacola by the French — The Spaniards retake it, and besiege Dauphine Island — Pensacola again taken by the French — Situation of the Country as described by Bienville — The Chevalier des Grieux and Manon Lescaut — Changes in the Organization of the Judiciary — Edict in Relation to Commerce — Adventures of the Princess Charlotte of Brunswick, of Belleisle, and others — Seat of Government transferred to New Orleans — Other Facts and Events from 1718 to 1722, .... 233 THIRD LECTURE. Origin, Customs, Manners, Traditions, ,and Laws of the Natchez Decline of that Tribe — Number and Power of the Choctaws and Chickasaws, 286 FOURTH LECTURE.

Preface

. To write history, is to narrate events, and to show their philosophy, when they are susceptible of any such demonstra tion. When the subject is worthy of it, this is a kind of com position of the highest order, and which affords to genius an ample scope for the display of all its powers. But the infor mation so conveyed is limited to the few, because not suited to the intelligence of the many. The number of those who have read Tacitus, Hume, Gibbon, or Clarendon, is compara tively small, when opposed to those who have pored with de light over the fascinating pages of Walter Scott. To relate events, and, instead of elucidating and analyzing their philosophy, like the historian, to point out the hidden sources of romance which spring from them — to show what materials they contain for the dramatist, the novelist, the poet, the painter, and for all the varied conceptions of the fine arts — is perhaps an humbler task, but not without its utility.

When history is not disfigured by inappropriate invention, but mere ly embellished and made attractive by being set in a glittering frame, this artful preparation honies the cup of useful knowledge, and makes it acceptable to the lips of the multitude. Through the immortal writings of Walter Scott, many have be come familiar with historical events, and have been induced to study more serious works, who, without that tempting bait, would have turned away from what appeared to them to be but a dry and barren field, too unpromising to invite examination, much less cultivation. To the bewitching pen of the won derful magician of her romantic hills, Scotland owes more for the popular extension of her fame, than to the doings of the united host of all her other writers, warriors, and statesmen. It was in pursuing such a train of reasoning, that I came to the conclusion that the republication of my " Lectures on the Romance or Poetry of the History of Louisiana" might be a PEEFACE. suitable introduction to the history of that colony, which I have subsequently presented to the public in two other series of Lectures, closing with the French domination in Louisiana, when the Spaniards took final possession of that province in 1769.

I have attempted to vary my style in accordance with the events I had to narrate, and to adapt it to the legendary, the romantic, the traditional, and the strictly historical elements I had to weave together, and which, I believe, I have kept sufficiently distinct. But when the sobriety or the importance of the subject required it, I have in no instance permitted my imagination to dally with what it was bound to respect. I have not forgotten that the historian is an impartial witness, who voluntarily appears before the tribunal of the world, to testify as to facts which he has investigated and studied for the instruction and benefit of present and future generations, and that he is under the most sacred obligation " to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." Feeling as I did the high responsibility I had assumed, I must confess that I experienced the greatest gratification when the most competent of judges,* after a careful examination of my labors, relieved my anxiety by writing to me : " You give at once to your State an authentic history such as scarce any other in the Union possesses.

I have for many years been making manuscript and other collections, and all the best that I have found appears in your volumes." If this sentiment, which is, I am afraid, the kindly biased appreciation of friendly partiality, be confirmed by the more austere judgment of the public, I need not say, I presume, that my reward has exceeded my expectations.