{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_55055/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_55055","id":"gutenberg_55055","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55055","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - American","Category: History - Ancient","Category: History - European","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail (Tex. and La.)","Louisiana -- History"],"text":"[Illustration: CELEBRATION OF OPENING OF THE MUSEUM AT FORT\n    JESUP\u20141959.]\n\n\n\n\n                             NO MAN\u2019S LAND\n\n\n                      _A History of El Camino Real\n                                   by\n                         Louis Raphael Nardini_\n\n    [Illustration: Publisher Logo]\n\n                           PELICAN PUBLISHING COMPANY\n                          NEW ORLEANS\u2014U. S. A.\n\n\n                            \u00a9 Copyright 1961\n                          by Louis R. Nardini\n\n                Printed in the United States of America\n               by the American Printing Co., New Orleans\n\n\n                                  _To\n                              Orine Inez_\n\n\n\n\n                             ACKNOWLEDGMENT\n\n\nIn acknowledging the sources of information and the assistance of the\nmany persons I consulted in the preparation of this book, the author\nwishes to thank the following: The staffs of the Sabine Parish, the\nNatchitoches Parish and the Northwestern State College Libraries\u2014with\nespecial thanks to Miss Catherine Bridges who so patiently and ably\nassisted me in gathering data for this writing. Acknowledgment is\ngratefully and appreciatingly given to those excellent authors and their\npublishers listed in the bibliography at the back of this book, for it\nwas through their talent and efforts that a whole new experience was\nopened to me.\n\nI must remember too my History Teacher, Mrs. Lucille Roy Caffery, who so\nthoroughly planted in my mind the desire to read and study History, for\nit was she who told me, \u201cIt is the History and the Present which\nforetells the Future.\u201d\n\nI am likewise grateful to Miss Margie Harrison and Mrs. Mabel Fletcher\nHarrison who corrected and typed this book and to Mrs. Bernice A. Authur\nof Many, La., who also assisted in the typing of this manuscript.\n\n                                                        Louis R. Nardini\n\n\n\n\n                                PREFACE\n\n\nThere are two ways to write the history of an area. First, the\nactual-fact-data way, which gives dates, important events and the names\nof the leaders. But this does not fully explain the reasons for their\noccurrence, nor show the effect of mass participation. It omits many of\nthe names of others involved in the incident or incidents, so that a\nclear picture of all the people involved is lacking. Even while one is\nreading, he is conscious of a mass effect and realizes that a sort of\nteam is present. He then stops and asks himself, \u201cWho were the others?\u201d\n\nThe second way is to combine the legends and folklore with the actual\nfact-data of an area and to use reason and imagination\u2014to seek out the\nnames of others connected with the adventure. Those who went their way,\nbut most important, those who remained to establish, fortify and settle,\nand by their so doing, give permanence and purpose to the area.\n\nBy using the second method, the writer believes he has given a true\nhistory of the locality of which he writes, because he has used the\nactual-fact-data of the area, and added to it the economic and social\nlife of the people involved, especially of those who remained to become\ninhabitants.\n\nTo write a history of such an area as that which includes Natchitoches,\nEl Camino Real, Los Adais and the Neutral Strip, one must be blessed\nwith the knowledge of several languages, and feel that he can comprehend\nthe nature of the people, who for nearly three and one half centuries\nhave passed before him, from the time of Cabeza De Vaca in the year 1530\nto the establishment of Fort Jesup by General Zachary Taylor in 1823.\nOne must specially be familiar with the Adais Indians, who were a branch\nof the great Caddo Federation of Indians and their Nation when Cabeza De\nVaca visited the Adais.\n\nAt Los Adais an incident occurred which changed the social life of the\nwilderness frontier. Two sets of Latin eyes met; in them reflected\ndesire, passion, and love. Out of the distance, on a pine-scented wind,\ncame the singing voice of a Spanish serenader, accompanied by the soft\nmusic of a string instrument, a bright sun to cause light on shade and\nin the shade Spanish and French lips met and arms entwined.\n\nA half-naked savage lurks in the shadows nearby. Entranced by the magic\nof this moment, he speaks and the spell is broken. To the Senorita in\nSpanish and to the Frenchman in French; \u201cCome, it is time to go.\u201d What\nkind of Indian is this, who speaks both French and Spanish fluently?\nOnly Dachiacoin of the Adais could do this and because of it he ranged\nfar and wide in both the French and Spanish Territories. Dachiacoin had\nthis to say to Padre Certa, \u201cA man needs only one wife, the right one\nfor him, and the woman needs only one husband, the right one for her.\u201d\n\nFor over fifty years Los Adais was the Capital of the Texas Country and\nthe end of El Camino Real. Here anything was expected to happen and\nusually did.\n\nEl Camino Real, The Royal Road, The King\u2019s Highway, The Contraband\nTrail, The Old San Antonio Trace, The Old Texas Trail, and, lastly,\nLouisiana Highways 6 and 21 through Texas. This Southland\u2019s busiest\nhighway served the outlaw, the murderer, the slave trader, and the\npriest, as well as the sinner. Regardless of which direction one\ntraveled he had to pass the Adais and the Neutral Strip\u2014this area so\nfilled with love, hate, jealousy, generosity, selfishness, prosperity,\nand despair. If at all this be possible, then this was El Camino Real,\nLos Adais and the Neutral Strip.\n\n\n_Because_:\n\nThe Buffalo migrated southward through Texas and then to Louisiana,\nfollowing the same trail in the winter of each year. Then the powerful\nCaddo Nation split and each group followed a leader. The Adais came to\nsettle along this Buffalo Trail near Spanish Lake. El Campti originated\nthe meeting place on the great Sand-bar near Campti, Louisiana, so that\neach fall of the year all tribes of the Caddo Confederacy could come and\ntrade. Francois Hidalgo desired to establish Missions and settlements to\nbring more freedom and prosperity to his people and to bring the\nteaching of the Catholic Faith to all savages of the Tejas country. He\nwrote a letter to the French Governor of Louisiana, using the pretext of\ntrade as bait.\n\n\n_Results_:\n\nThe Trading Post at Natchitoches established; the Missions established.\n\nThe French Post St. Jean Baptiste, the Spanish Presidio, Del Neustra\nSenora del Pilar de Los Adais. Both Nations now had to maintain these\noutposts to prevent encroachment from the other.\n\n\n_Effected_:\n\nThe desire of both Nations to populate this Frontier. When Mexico won\nher independence from Spain the Neutral Strip was formed. This lawless\nunpoliced strip of land became the back door of the United States.\nBecause of this ruthless lawlessness Fort Jesup was established.\n\nThe independent spirit of the settlers along the El Camino Real and\ntheir desire for freedom resulted in the establishment of the State of\nTexas.\n\n\nAs I lolled one summer\u2019s day beneath an oak near the ruins of Post St.\nJean Baptiste des Natchitoches and closed my eyes to give my fancy free\nplay, I thought I heard sounds of all kinds, sounds that had undoubtedly\nresounded down the years. Could that squealing be the swine of the De\nSoto adventurers or the shriek of automobile tires coming to a braked\nstop? Is that rumble I hear that of thundering herds of buffalo or the\napproach of a diesel locomotive with its long train of cars? Those\ndrums, are they the drums of the Caddo Indians or the drums of a\nmarching high-school band? The whistling roar that reaches my ears, is\nit a jet plane or the swishing, whistling wings of diving ducks?\n\nAwakened to reality I began the research and study that enabled me to\nwrite this book.\n\n\n\n\n                                CONTENTS\n\n\n                                                                     Page\n  Preface                                                              IX\n  Chapter I El Camino Real                                              1\n  II Some Early History                                                 4\n  III Dachicoin\u2014A Noble Indian\u2014Los Adais, 1723                         33\n  IV St. Denis and the Spanish                                         42\n  V Doctors and Early Medicine\u20141722 to 1744                            45\n  VI Romance at Los Adais                                              51\n  VII Incidents of the Years, 1735-1742                                60\n  VIII The Three Cabins                                                63\n  IX After St. Denis                                                   74\n  X After the Louisiana Purchase                                       80\n  XI The Devil\u2019s Play Ground                                           83\n  XII Satan\u2019s Agent\u2014John A. Murrell                                    89\n  XIII The Break-up of the Neutral Strip                               92\n  XIV The Filibuster of 1812-1821                                      95\n  XV Fort Jesup                                                       103\n  XVI Texas and Independence, 1831-1836                               116\n  Addenda Land Grants                                                 129\n    St. Denis\u2019 Family Tree                                            137\n    Baptismal Records of Natchitoches, 1734-1740                      138\n    Soldiers in Natchitoches\u20141742                                     141\n    Merchants, Farmers, Traders in Natchitoches, 1742                 142\n  Reference Bibliography                                              145\n  Personalities                                                       149\n\n\n\n\n                     LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS\n\n\n  Celebration of the Opening of the Museum at Fort Jesup,\n          1959                                               Frontispiece\n  Map Showing Locations of Members of Caddo Indian Federation          XV\n  Map of El Camino Real from Mexico City to Natchitoches              XVI\n  Hinta-sak\u2014a Caddo house                                               8\n  Hinta-sak\u2014top view showing construction                               9\n  Plan of Fort at Natchitoches, 1733                                   17\n  Plan of La Presidio Nuestra Senora de los Delores, 1716              19\n  Mission of San Miguel De Cuellar De Los Adais, 1717                  21\n  Map Showing Location of Mission and Presidio of San Miguel De\n          Cuellar De Los Adais                                         22\n  Plan of Presidio De San Antonio De Bexar                             24\n  Plan of Fort Del Pilar De Los Adais                                  26\n  La Presidio Nuestra De Senora Del Pilar De Los Adais                 28\n  Map of Natchitoches by Breutin, 1722                                 30\n  Map Showing Neutral Strip                                            87\n  Map of Fort Jesup Defense Area                                      102\n  Map of the Buildings of Fort Jesup                                  107\n  Map of Area Around Camp Sabine, 1836                                113\n  Old Ambroise Sompayrac House at Natchitoches                        124\n\n\n                               WRAP AROUND\n                                                            Opposite Page\n  Fort St. Jean Des Natchitoches                                      116\n  Old Kitchen at Fort Jesup                                           117\n  Officers\u2019 Quarters at Fort Jesup\u2014Reproduction                       132\n  Original Plans of Fort Jesup                                        133\n  Officers\u2019 Quarters\u2014Another view                                     133\n\n    [Illustration: LOCATIONS OF THE CADDO FEDERATION OF INDIANS.]\n\n    [Illustration: EL CAMINO REAL\u2014NATCHITOCHES TO MEXICO CITY]\n\n  1. Mission San Maria de Los Delores                   1698.\n  2. Mission San Francisco Solano                       1700.\n  3. Presidio San Juan Bautustia                        _near_ 1685.\n  4. Mission San Bernardo                               1690.\n  5. Mission San Jose                                   1722.\n  6. Mission San Exavier Naxere                         1722.\n  7. Presidio San Antonio de Bexer                      1722.\n  8. Mission Yo Juan                                    1709.\n  9. Mission de Bucareli                                1714.\n  10. Mission San Francisco                             1690.\n  11. Mission San Maria                                 1690.\n  12. Mission San Francisco                             1690.\n  12.a. Mission Guadlupe                                1716.\n  13. Presidio de Los Texas                             1716.\n  14. Mission Conception                                1716.\n  15. Mission San Jose                                  1716.\n  16. Mission de Los Delores                            1717.\n  17. Mission de San Miguel Cuellar de Los Adais        1717.\n  18. Presidio Neustra del Pilar de Los Adais           1721.\n  19. Post St. Jean Baptiste des Natchitoches           1714.\n\n\n\n\n                                   I\n                             EL CAMINO REAL\n\n\nEach fall of the year the buffalo came out of the Great Plains through\nOklahoma and into Texas. At the Trinity River in Texas many of these\nherds turned eastward to cross the Sabine River into Louisiana, to\ntravel ever eastward and to cross the Red River in the Natchitoches\narea. The buffalo, being a heavy beast, left a well-marked trail from\nthe Trinity River to the Red River in the Natchitoches area. The buffalo\ntrail now became part of the Caddo Indian Trail system. And later it\nbecame El Camino Real.\n\nIn Spanish, the words \u201cEl Camino Real\u201d mean \u201cThe King\u2019s Road.\u201d That is\nthe exact translation of these words. In Spain, even before the time of\nthe discovery of America, there were several roads or highways listed as\nEl Camino Real. All roads leading to the city in which the King of Spain\nresided were known as El Camino Real. Actually, the meaning to the\nSpanish people of the words \u201cEl Camino Real\u201d meant _The Road to the\nKing_, hence El Camino Real, _The King\u2019s Road_. So here in America when\nMexico was conquered and settled by the Spaniards and Mexico City came\ninto being, expeditions were sent out to conquer this new land for the\nKing of Spain. In all directions from Mexico City, Ranchos, Missions and\nPresidios were established and all roads leading from these\nestablishments back to Mexico City\u2014to the Viceroy, who was the direct\nrepresentative of the King\u2014were called El Camino Real because these\nroads led to the Viceroy who was actually the King and Ruler of this New\nCountry.\n\nThis El Camino Real, which we in Louisiana and Texas are interested in,\nbegan in Mexico City and ended at the \u201cOld Darkey\u201d Statue, at the North\nend of Front Street in the City of Natchitoches, Louisiana. Some say\nthat El Camino Real begins in San Antonio, Texas, and ends in\nNatchitoches, Louisiana. I believe this is wrong because the very name\nof the Road, \u201cEl Camino Real, the Road to the King,\u201d bears out my\ntheory. I will explain: if one left Natchitoches (I speak of the time\nwhen Louisiana was under Spanish domination) and wished to go to the\nKing by El Camino Real, or to the one who directly represented the King\nin this new country, he would have had to travel to Mexico City and\nthere tell his troubles to the Viceroy, the direct representative of the\nKing of Spain. This would have been between the years 1762 when France\ngave Louisiana to Spain, and ten years later when Los Adais was\nabandoned and the site of government moved to Natchitoches, thus filling\nin the last gap on the Road now known as El Camino Real, (the section of\nroad from Los Adais near Robeline, Louisiana to Natchitoches). Until the\nyear 1762 Los Adais was the site of Government of the \u201cTejas,\u201d or \u201cTexas\nCountry.\u201d This area extended from the Presidio Del Norte, as the French\ncalled this Spanish Outpost on the Rio Grande River, or El Presidio San\nJuan Bautista, as it was known to the Spanish. Now, let us pick up the\ntraveler again who had business with the King, past Los Adais,\nNacogdoches, San Antonio, the Presidio Del Norte, Saltillo and Queretaro\nand then to Mexico City and the Viceroy, whose word was final on all\nmatters concerning the Government and the people, and, of course, that\ncovered everything.\n\n\n                    The Caddo Federation of Indians\n\nThe southeastern part of Oklahoma, the southwestern part of Arkansas,\nthe Northwestern half of Louisiana and the Northeastern part of Texas\nwas Caddo land, and claimed by the Caddos as their hunting ground. The\nCaddos were traders and developed trade-routes. Many of the highways of\ntoday follow the Caddo trails of yester-year, such as El Camino Real,\nthat portion from the Trinity River in Texas to Natchitoches, Louisiana.\n\nWhen the Caddo Nations split they settled themselves as follows:\n\n  1. The Attaquopois, at the confluence of the Kiamechi River and the\n  Red River in southern Oklahoma.\n\n  2. The Caddoquopois or Caddo proper remained on the Red River near\n  Fulton, Arkansas.\n\n  3. The Peticaddo on Caddo Lake hear Shreveport, Louisiana.\n\n  4. The Koasatti near Coushatta, Louisiana.\n\n  5. The Destonies on Saline Bayou near Winnfield, Louisiana.\n\n  6. The Yatasse on Nantanchie Lake near Montgomery, Louisiana.\n\n  7. The Natchitoches on the Red River at Natchitoches, Louisiana.\n\n  8. The Adais near Robeline, Louisiana, on a large lake now called\n  Spanish Lake.\n\n  9. The Ais at San Augustine, Texas.\n\n  10. The Nacogdoches at Nacogdoches, Texas.\n\n  11. The Hasinai consisting of four tribes on the Trinity River in\n  Texas, referred to by the Spanish as the Tejas (some historians\n  classify them as Caddos. They spoke the Caddo language).\n\nThe Ais Indians had as their neighbors to the west the Hasinai\nfederation of Indians which was composed of four tribes: The Nacogdoches\nat Nacogdoches; the Bidais, the Nasoni and the Nabidache, the latter\nthree were located on the Trinity River.\n\nSuch was the situation when the first aliens came in contact with the\nCaddos.\n\n\n\n\n                                   II\n                           SOME EARLY HISTORY\n\n\nIn his book, \u201cLa Relacion que Dio Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca delo\nAcaescido unlas Indias\u201d, De Vaca writes in the year 1530 that \u201cwe were\namong the Adayes (Adais), the others were Juan Castillo, Andrea Dorantes\nand Estabancio of Azmor who was a slave of Dorantes.\u201d These four\nsurvivors were of 300 of the Panfilio Narvez expedition that went into\nFlorida in 1528.\n\nNarvez\u2019s expedition, beaten by the Apalache Indians, unable to return to\ntheir ships, killed their horses, ate the meat, used the hides to make\nbellows and water casks; they forged their armor and weapons to make\ntools and nails, then constructed four boats. They skirted the coasts of\nAlabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, foraging for food. During a storm\nthe boats were wrecked, four survived to become slaves of the coastal\nIndians.\n\nDe Vaca and his companions became traders and medicine men. Meanwhile\nthey learned to live off the land as the Indians did. They planned and\nsuccessfully escaped.... And now they were among the Adais seeking\ndirections. They were the first white men to travel westward over the\nBuffalo Trail. They wandered ever westward and finally found a Spanish\npatrol from Mexico.\n\nDe Vaca was the only one of the three hundred to return to Spain and\neven before he published his book in 1542, he had inspired the Hernando\nDeSoto expedition into Florida with his story of the City of Cibola, a\ncity built entirely of gold.\n\nHernando DeSoto, the Golden Eagle, led the next expedition into Florida.\nContinuously harassed by the Appalachie tribes of Indians of the\nsoutheastern states he crossed the Mississippi and now in the year 1540\nhe marched into Louisiana, pillaging, raping and destroying. He was\nassisted by these trusting Lieutenants: Don Luis Moscoso, Don Juan de\nAnasco, Don Baltazarde Gallegardo, Don Juan Labillo, Don Carlos\nChinquez, Juan de Quizman, Don Vasco de Procello, and Don Diago Vasquez,\nand these Captains: Espilando, Gallegardo, Maldamando, and Luis Fuentes.\nThe Chronnicalor, Gonzado Quadrado Charmillo de Zafra who wrote (From\nthe translations of B. F. French):\n\n\u201cWe marched one day west from the Rio de Cannis in all this cold country\nthis Wednesday, March 21, 1541, at the end of the day we came to a place\ncalled _Toalli_. All the Indians have houses built so, the houses are\nbuilt of reeds in a manner of tules and daubed with mud which show as a\nmud wall, they are very clean and have a small door; when you shut it up\nand build a fire within it is as warm as in a stove.\u201d[1]\n\nDon Luis De Moscoso and a scouting party traveled westward over the\nbuffalo trail as far as the Trinity River before returning to the Adais.\n\nFor the next hundred and forty years this area was devoid of white\nexplorers.\n\nBy early 1682 Cavalier Robert de LaSalle had begun descending the\nMississippi River accompanied by Henri De Tonty, the \u201cIron Hand\u201d, and a\nparty of other Frenchmen.\n\nApril 9, 1682, LaSalle discovered the mouth of the Mississippi River and\nestablished a plaque there, claiming all land drained by this river for\nthe King of France, Louis XIII. He named this land LOUISIANA in honor of\nKing Louis and Queen Anna.\n\nReturning up the Mississippi near a location in the Illinois country at\nStarving Rock in that same year he established Fort St. Louis and left\nCaptain Henri De Tonty in command.\n\nLaSalle went to France and received assistance so that he could return\nand establish a settlement at the mouth of the Mississippi River.\nThrough erroneous navigation the expedition missed the mouth of the\nMississippi River and traveled westward, landing at Matagorda Bay, and\nin the Texas country established another Fort St. Louis in 1685.\n\nLaSalle, realizing that this area was not suitable for colonization,\nbegan land excursions in an attempt to reach Canada.\n\nFather Joutel\u2019s diary reveals that in January, 1687, he was with\nLaSalle, and a scouting party, were among the Nakassa Indians which\nresided on Nakassa Lake.[2]\n\nIn 1682 at Quaerataro, Mexico, The College of the Holy Cross was founded\nby Priests; Father Francois Hidalgo, Father Jose Diaz, Father Felix\nIsadore Espinosa, Father Nunez, Father Antonio de San Buenaventura\nOliverez, Father Francisco Marino, Father Juan Parez, Father DeVaca,\nFather Salazar, Father Massinettes and Father Margil de Jesus, the last\nnamed, Father Margil de Jesus, being chosen as President of the College.\nThese priests, so as to distinguish their work from the work of others\ncalled themselves _Zatachinies_, their purpose being to prepare others\nfor frontier missionary duties. By 1684 they had succeeded in\nestablishing missions south of the Rio Grande.\n\nThe most northern Spanish presidio at that time was Fort San Juan\nBautista, located on the south bank of the Rio Grande near present day\nEagle Pass, Texas. The land of the Coahuile Indians extended from\npresent day San Antonio southward into the Monte Clova-Saltillo area of\nMexico. The Matagordo area on the Gulf Coast was included in the land of\nthe Coahuile.\n\nAside from the duties of the Spanish missions to spread the Catholic\nfaith, they were also, in reality, observation and trading posts of the\nSpaniards. From one of these missions it was learned from an Indian who\ncame to trade, that other white men had come out of the sea in large\nhouses that floated on the waters of the gulf and had settled on the\ncoast land.\n\nOn March 20, 1689, LaSalle was assassinated by some of his own men on a\ntributary of the Trinity River. Father Joutel reported the men\nresponsible for the assassination were in turn killed by the Indians.\nThe remnants of the party returned to Fort St. Louis and finding it\ndeserted, retraced their journey into the Trinity River area.\n\nAlonzo DeLeon and Captain Flores were leading a scouting patrol when\nthey found Santiago Grislet, Jean Lavaschevque and two very young boys,\nthe Tulon brothers, Roberto and Pedro. This Spanish patrol searched for\nthe next two months for other Frenchmen, but not being successful,\nreturned to Mexico.\n\n\n                                 1689.\n\nJuan Jarri had, during the absence of LaSalle, deserted Fort St. Louis\nand had risen to a lordly position among the tribes of the Coahuile\nIndians. During the search by DeLeon and Flores he had been shifted from\ntribe to tribe so that the Spanish Patrol failed to capture him. The\nSpanish now realized that this one Frenchman had the power to upset the\nsemi-peacefulness of the Spanish frontier. The College of the Holy Cross\nwas desiring to extend its Missionary work north of the Rio Grande.\n\nDon Alonzo DeLeon, now the Spanish Governor of the Coahuile Territory,\nled an expedition to establish three missions among Hasinai Indians\nsouth of the Trinity River. He now also found himself in pursuit of a\nparty of Frenchmen (Father Joutel\u2019s party).\n\nHenri De Tonty at the Fort St. Louis near Starving Rock in the Illinois\ncountry, realized something was amiss and came in search of LaSalle. It\nis interesting to note how De Tonty, in all this vast country of the\nsouthern United States area chose the exact direction in which to\ntravel. Probably the Caddo federation of Indians had trade agreements\nwith the Indian tribes as far north as the Illinois and even further\nnorth among the Ouisconsins, to the west they traded with the Hasinais\nwho in turn traded with the Coahuile Indians.\n\nThe Amole root (a species of the Yucca plant) was supplied to the\nHasinais by the Coahuile Indians. The Caddos traded for this root, which\nhad cleansing properties such as soap and when boiled in water this\nliquid was used for bathing purposes, it left a pleasant odor on the\nbody of the user.\n\n    [Illustration: Hinta-Sak: A home of the Adais Indians.\n\n    This drawing of a Caddo hinta-sak, or house, was made from the\n    description of an eye-witness, Gonzado Quadrado Charmillo, one of\n    the chroniclers of the De Soto expedition which visited the El\n    Camino Real area in 1540.\n\n    This Indian home was that of the Adais tribe near Robeline, La. of\n    the Caddo Federation. It was made of cypress poles and cane\n    interlaced with vines and daubed with a mixture of mud and moss. The\n    roof was covered with alligator skins which had been treated with\n    bees-wax to make it more impervious to rain. The broad leaves of the\n    cat-tail plant were inserted in the mud to prevent erosion from\n    rain. Thus the Spanish called the place toai_l_le, a deprecatory\n    description of a house built of tules. (Drawing by the author)]\n\n    [Illustration: _Top view of hinta-sak showing frame work and\n    construction (Drawn by the author)_]\n\nThe Jumas, traders of the Caddo Indians, were also linguists and it\nwould not have been impossible for them to distinguish the difference of\nthe French and Spanish languages. The same Jumas of the Caddos traveled\nall of the Caddo trails. The Old Buffalo Trail extending from the\nTrinity River in Texas to the Red River in Louisiana was now considered\npart of the Caddo trail system.\n\nIn 1690 in the early spring De Tonty, \u201cThe Iron Hand,\u201d was among the\nAdais Indians and the Natchitoches Indians. He, too, went as far as the\nTrinity River in Texas, but there his guides refused to go further; he\ngave up his search for LaSalle. In the same year the Joutel Party found\nthe Buffalo Trail beginning at the Trinity River. There among the\nHasinai they learned of the Frenchman with the iron hand. They followed\nthe Caddo trail and finally came in contact with De Tonty among the\nArkansas Indians. Strangely enough, De Tonty actually came within one\ndays march of finding the Joutel Party.\n\n\n                               1690-1691\n\nFrom the missions south to the Trinity River came the report of two\nFrench patrols in the vicinity of the Hainais which also coincided with\nthe report of Don Alonzo De Leon.\n\nLate in 1690 the Don Domingo Teran Del Rios\u2019 expedition left Mexico, and\nscouted the complete area of the Caddo and Hasinai Federations of\nIndians; Teran listed the four tribes of the Hasinai as Bidia,\nNabadache, Nadaco and the Nacogdoches. Of the Caddos were the Ais, the\nAdais, the Natchitoches, the Koasatas; he missed the Pedicaddo but\nlisted the Caddoquopois near present day Fulton, Arkansas. He was the\nfirst white leader to sight Lake Bistineau. It is believed that the\nlocation Father Massinetes, who was with this expedition, established\nwas La Mission Loretteto, near present day Ringgold, Louisiana.\n\nFor the reason Teran had not contacted any Frenchmen in all the\nterritory and much to the disappointment of the members of the College\nof the Holy Cross, all missions north of the Rio Grande were withdrawn.\n\nPadre Francois Hidalgo, being determined to establish missions north of\nthe Rio Grande and among the Texas Indians, which were called by the\nSpaniards the Federation of Hasinai Indians, secured the support of the\nCollege of the Holy Cross to appeal to the Viceroy of Mexico. They only\nsucceeded in obtaining permission to establish a mission at their own\nexpense south of the Rio Grande but in an area visited by the Hasinai\nIndian traders. On November 7, 1698 Father Francois Hidalgo, assisted by\nFather Salazar, established the mission Maria de Los Delores, ten\nleagues north of Lampassas and ten leagues west of the Rio Sabinas.\n(Note: this Sabine River is not to be confused with the Sabine River\nwhich is the boundary between Louisiana and Texas).\n\nFrom this outpost mission Francois Hidalgo conceived the idea of a\n\u201cChain of Missions\u201d to extend to the very eastern edge of the Texas\nIndians\u2019 territory. He had at his disposal the reports of Father\nMassinetes and those of Teran and DeLeon. He knew that the land with its\nfertile soil and the enormous growth of forests, together with an\nabundance of wild game of the forests and fish of the lakes would supply\nmany families of the frontier settlers with food and shelter. These\nfamilies, who at this time were no better off than when they left Spain\nto settle in Mexico, would welcome such an opportunity.\n\n\n                                  1700\n\nFrom the Journal of Father Paul De Ru. February 1, to May 8, 1700.\n\n\u201cIberville, having founded the Fort at Biloxi, ascended the Mississippi\nRiver. At the village of the Tensas Iberville became ill but sent\nwestward St. Denis and Bienville with nineteen other Frenchmen, two of\nwhom were the Tulon brothers, Roberto and Piedro;[3] at the village of\nthe Tensas was a Wichita Indian whose tribe had settled near the\nTensas.\u201d This Indian declared he had visited a Spanish mission in the\nTexas Country (The mission Maria de Los Delores). The Indian was\nimmediately employed by Bienville as a guide.\n\nOn April 20, 1700 the St. Denis-Bienville party reached the Yatasee\nvillage on Nantanchie Lake near present day Montgomery, Louisiana (See\nLocation 5 on map).\n\nThe Frenchmen were among the Natchitoches Indians (Location 8 on map),\non May 8, 1700 for on this day Bienville departed with Father Paul De Ru\nleaving St. Denis to scout the locations of the Caddo Indians.\nBienville, having secured pirogues from the Natchitoches Indians,\nreturned by water down the Red River to the Mississippi and back to\nBiloxi. St. Denis soon followed and brought with him a number of the\nNatchitoches Tribe of Indians, who settled on the north shore of Lake\nPontchartrain. St. Denis settled near by at Fort Louis.\n\n\n                               1701-1707\n\nDuring these years Father Hidalgo and Father Salazar were trading and\npreaching to the Indians at Mission Maria de Los Delores. Father Hidalgo\ntraded with the Indians for gold; Anya, who was then the Governor of\nCoahuile, was aware of this. There are several historical records\nreferring to the raiding of the Hidalgo mission in search of gold.\nHidalgo at first did turn the gold over to the government, part of which\nwas to be given to the College of the Holy Cross. A Captain Hernandez\nwas broken in rank when he gave Hidalgo a receipt for the gold. Padre\nHidalgo realized that very little, if any, of the gold was reaching the\nKing of Spain.\n\nAnya conceived the idea of cutting off the supplies of trade goods to\nthe mission so that the Indians would then have to come and trade at the\nPresidio San Juan Bautista. Captain Hernandez upon the urgence of the\nPriests of the College was restored to rank. Father Hidalgo, realizing\nthat no one would actually know how much gold he was accumulating, began\nto hoard the gold.\n\nAllarge Bejoux, operating from a location near present day Pointe\nCoupee, had cut a road or trail overland northwestward to intersect the\nBuffalo Trail west of the present town of Many, Louisiana, and had by\nthe year 1708 established trade agreements for horses with the Ais\nIndians (See Location 10 on map). Francois Hidalgo through his trade\nwith the Indians of different tribes soon learned of this.\n\n\n                     A Legend of the Flores Family\n\nHidalgo and Salazar with assistance had solicited the aid of the Flores\nfamilies of Saltillo, some of whom were merchants and others owners of\nlanded estates. The merchants supplied the mission de Los Delores with\ntrade supplies.\n\nThrough Bernardino, Sub-chief of the Hasinai Indians, Hidalgo learned of\na meeting place called Campti, where each Fall of every year all of the\ntribes of the Caddo Federation of Indians gathered for sports and\ntrading purposes. (Campti was the name of the Chief of the Natchitoches\ntribe who had organized this meeting, held on a great sand-bar near\npresent-day Campti, Louisiana). These meetings were of a secret nature\nand not sanctioned by the Spanish Government, and the tradition of their\noccurrence had remained with the Flores family. Hidalgo prevailed on the\nFlores family, who knew the value of land and what it could produce for\nsettlers, to assist him by sending men to go on a trading expedition to\nthe Campti. Bernardino was to act as guide.\n\nRamone Flores and a cousin, Joseph Colliea, were designated by the elder\nFlores to go and assist the Spanish priests. These two made four trips\nin the Fall of the years 1708, 1709, 1710 and 1711 to the Sand-bar near\n_Campti, Louisiana_.\n\n\n                               The Letter\n\nFrancois Hidalgo committed an action which might well be considered\ntreason by the Spanish Government. He wrote three letters of the same\ncontent, all dated January 17, 1711, addressed to the Governor of\nLouisiana. Only one reached its destination. In mid-summer of 1713 the\nGovernor of Louisiana, La Mothe de Cadillac, had the letter in his\npossession. (There is always an incident in history which incites a\nchain reaction in such a way that a new era begins, always resulting in\nthe establishment of new frontiers. The Hidalgo letter was such an\nincident).\n\nOne must surmise how such a letter could travel through nearly a\nthousand miles of wilderness and reach its destination. The whole new\nfrontier of El Camino Real hinged on this accomplishment.\n\nThe contents of the letter showed that Father Hidalgo had first-hand\nknowledge of the land of the Hasinai and the Caddos as well as the\nwaterways of the adjoining area. He wrote that the French traders were\nto ascend the Mississippi to the confluence of the Red River, then\nascend the Red River to the tribe of the Natchitoches Indians, thence to\ntravel westward over the Buffalo Trail to the Hasinai Indians and there\nprocure guides to the Hidalgo Mission.\n\nFather Hidalgo could have acquired knowledge of the Caddo area from the\nreports of De Leon, Teran and Father Massinetes, but he would have not\nhad the knowledge of the waterways, which could have only been obtained\nfrom the Natchitoches Indians who may have come to the Campti from their\nlocation on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain; information was given\nto Flores and Colliea and passed on to Hidalgo.\n\nThe letter was an invitation \u201cto come and trade\u201d with the Hidalgo\nmission, the word \u201ctrade\u201d being used as bait could have come from two\nsources, that of Bejoux to the Ais and that of Flores and Colliea. It is\npossible that Hidalgo wrote the letters very early in the year so that\none could be sent to the Ais Tribe ahead of the arrival of Allarge\nBejoux. The later two letters were carried in the Fall of the year by\nFlores and Colliea, who in turn gave the letters directly to a\nNatchitoches Indian who had come to the Campti, but who was living on\nthe north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Several historians say that St.\nDenis had the letter in his possession before it was presented to\nGovernor Cadillac. St. Denis through his association with the\nNatchitoches Indians, who were settled near his Fort Louis, would have\nbeen the most logical Frenchman to receive the letter. Then, too, St.\nDenis, while vying with Cadillac to be sent as the leader on the trading\nexpedition to the Hidalgo mission, had stated that he and Jules Lambert,\nwho was at that time in the Illinois country, had been on a trading trip\nto the Natchitoches Indians in the summers of 1710 and 1712. Here, then,\nis another possibility that St. Denis may have received the first letter\nsent by Francois Hidalgo by an Indian messenger to the Ais, and who was\ninstructed to give the letter to the first Frenchman who came to trade\nin his area.\n\nThe letter had the desired effect; St. Denis was appointed to lead the\nexpedition. Cadillac chose wisely because St. Denis was an educated man,\nand was a third generation Canadian and, further, he understood the ways\nof the Indians. He was a linguist and could speak many Indian dialects,\nand also speak, read and write in Spanish.\n\nThe trading expedition, consisting of Indians of the Natchitoches tribe,\nleft Biloxi in mid October, 1713. Among the Indians were the White\nChief, his son, Koanan, and two daughters, one called _Quilchil_, \u201cthe\npretty weaver,\u201d and the other called _Olchogonime_, \u201cthe good girl.\u201d\n\nThe Jean Penicaut narrative is an actual eye witness account of St.\nDenis\u2019 journey to Natchitoches and on to Mexico. The party consisted of\nnearly forty Indians and twenty-three Frenchmen, two of whom were St.\nDenis and Penicaut, and several French traders, Pierre Largen, Jean\nLagross, Roberto Talon, Pedro Talon, Lafrinaries, Allarge Bejoux,\nLabinaries, Enrique Lantillac; Medar Jalot, who was valet and doctor to\nSt. Denis; the two Barberousse brothers were hunters for the party\u2019s\nfood; _Rambin_ was a tailor. Soldiers in the party included Lt.\nPhillippe Blondell, De Lery, De Muy, Williard Anvillaries, De Beaulieux,\nDe Voixant, Frainbouis, and Lavasseur, who was also a map maker.\n\nLeaving Biloxi, the party traveled what was then known as the Iberville\npassage, crossing Lake Pontchartrain and through Manchac Pass to Lake\nMaurepas, then into Manchac Bayou and a short portage to the Mississippi\nRiver; ascending the Mississippi to the confluence of the Red River at\nBaton Rouge, then ascending the Red River to a point opposite the\npresent day town of Colfax. Here the stream divided and Penicaut wrote,\n\u201cwe took the left and larger branch of water.\u201d After some distance\nupstream he describes the Ecore de La Croix, which must have been the\nhigh bluffs near Chopin, Louisiana.\n\nOn November 25, 1713, the St. Denis party arrived among the Natchitoches\nIndians, living on an island that the river formed by dividing into two\nbranches and flowing around it.\n\nSt. Denis spent the first few weeks cultivating the friendship of the\nIndians. Trade was vigorous and profitable, he sent at least twice back\nto Biloxi for more trade goods. He had traveled at least once as far as\nthe settlement of the Nacogdoches Indians before deciding on an exact\nlocation for a trading post. In early Spring of the following year two\nblock houses were erected in the Natchitoches Village, one to store the\nmerchandise and the other to house the ten Frenchmen who were to remain\nin Natchitoches while the others went west in search of the Hidalgo\nmission.\n\nWhile St. Denis was among the Hasinai Indians, an incident happened\nwhich causes one to wonder at the foresightedness of Francois Hidalgo.\nAmong the Indians was an Indian maid named Angelica who had received\ninstructions at a Spanish mission and who spoke Spanish fluently. She\nbecame the interpreter between St. Denis and Bernardino, Chief of the\nHasinai. Bernardino, with some of the members of his tribe, acted as\nguide, for St. Denis, but instead of bringing the Frenchmen to the\nHidalgo mission, they were led to Presidio San Juan Bautista on the\nsouth bank of the Rio Grande River on July 19, 1714. Surely these\nIndians would have known where the Hidalgo mission was located; the\nleading of the Frenchmen to the Spanish post was just as Hidalgo would\nhave wished, or planned.\n\n    [Illustration: PLAN OF FORT NATCHITOCHES]\n\n  Plan du Fort des Natchitoche.\n    A. Church.\n    B. Home of the Commandante.\n    C. Gunpowder and arm storage.\n    D. House of the priest, and where records were kept.\n    E. Barracks of the militia.\n    F. Guardhouse.\n    G. Dining hall for soldiers.\n    H. Houses of domestic servants and kitchen.\n    I. Privy.\n\nThere was quite an uproar at Post Du Nord, as the French called the\nPresidio San Juan Bautista. The French trade-goods were confiscated, and\nSt. Denis was confined to the area inside the presidio. Somehow St.\nDenis found out about the plans of the Spanish priests to establish\nmissions to the east, and sent word back to Bienville. The Frenchman\nknew that very often presidios followed the establishments of missions.\nBienville was informed by St. Denis that this land belonged to the\nFrench.\n\nClaud De Tisne was dispatched to Natchitoches to build a Fort in 1716,\nPost St. Jean Baptista Des Natchitoches, naming the post after the title\ngiven by St. Denis when the two block houses were built in the spring of\n1714.\n\nSt. Denis remained in the custody of the Spanish from 1714 until\nFebruary 17, 1716, when he arrived at Presidio San Juan Bautista. When\nthe Don Domingo Ramone expedition left Saltillo, Mexico, St. Denis was\nselected as guide, along with several other Frenchmen, Medar Jalot, the\ntwo Talon brothers, Pierre Largen and Jean Lagross. The other Frenchmen\nwho were with St. Denis had previously returned to Natchitoches,\nundoubtedly carrying messages for St. Denis. Medar Jalot declared later\nthat he had delivered messages four times for St. Denis, thus the French\nhad been kept well informed of the goings-on of the Spanish.\n\nSt. Denis while on this adventure married a Spanish wife, Manuella\nSanchez Ramone, daughter of the Alverez, Don Diego Ramone at the Spanish\nPresidio. He left her at the presidio, which was also her home, and\nreturned to Natchitoches.\n\nThe Ramone expedition established the following Missions:\n\n  San Francisco de Los Delores on the Neches River, La Purisima\n  Conception on the Angelina River, Mission San Jose, North of\n  Nacogdoches, and Mission Neustra Senora de Guadelupe at Nacogdoches.\n\nAll of these were established in 1716.\n\n    [Illustration: LA PRESIDIO NUESTRA SENORA DE LOS DELORES\n\n    La Presidio Nuestra Senora de Los Delores was erected by Domingo\n    Ramone in the summer of 1716. It was later repaired by the Marquis\n    De Aguayo in 1722. The plan of the fort is the work of Aguayo. The\n    fort overlooked Los Torres, or Mill Creek, near the intersection of\n    the lower Douglas Road and the road from Douglas to Wells just west\n    of Nacogdoches, Texas. This presidio was erected and garrisoned to\n    protect the three Missions in the near Nacogdoches vicinity.\n\n    La Presidio Nuestra Senora de Los Delores was abandoned in 1731.\n    (Drawing by the author).]\n\nIn 1717 father Margil de Jesus and Father Francois Hidalgo established\ntwo missions further to the east, La Mission Nuestra de Los Delores\namong the Ais Indians, near the present day city of San Augustine,\nTexas, and on the first day of St. Michael the Archangel, September 29,\n1717 established La Mission de San Miguel Cuellar de Los Adais, among\nthe Adais Indians, one mile north of present Robeline, Louisiana.\n\nAt this moment Father Francois Hidalgo\u2019s vision had come into\nbeing\u2014after twenty-five years of dreaming, he had established his chain\nof missions to the very end of the Texas Country.\n\nWith the establishment of this last mission among the Adais Indians just\nfifteen miles away from the French post at Natchitoches, both the French\nand Spanish realized that each must maintain settlements so as to hold\nthe territories thus far gained.\n\nWar broke out between France and Spain in 1719 and in that same year\nPhillipe Blondell from the French post among the Natchitoches Indians,\nraided the mission among the Adais and allowed one prisoner to escape\nafter making known to him that the French were coming in multitudes to\ndrive the Spanish back. This caused a withdrawal of all Spanish Missions\nin the Texas area as far as San Antonio.\n\nEvery country has its \u201cman of the minute\u201d, and this country of New Spain\nwas no exception. He offered his wealth and abilities to restore the\nTexas missions and to re-occupy the Texas country. The new governor of\nCoahuile and the Texas region was the Marquis de San Miguel de Aguayo,\nhis title was Don Joseph de Alzar, Knight Commandante de Aragon,\nGovernor and Captain General of the Provinces of Texas-New Phillippines\nand of Coahuile, New Kingdom of Estrandura\u2014and he had earned every one.\n\n    [Illustration: LA MISSION DE SAN MIGUEL DE CUELLAR DE LOS ADAIS\n\n    The Mission de San Miguel de Cuellar de Los Adais was founded by\n    Padre Margil de Jesus and Padre Francois Hidalgo on September 29,\n    1717. September 29 was also the Feast Day of St. Michael the Arch\n    Angel and the Mission was named for him.\n\n    The site of this Mission is one-half mile northwest of Robeline,\n    Louisiana, on a hill which overlooks a small valley, and across the\n    valley one-half mile north of another hill was the Presidio de\n    Nuestra Senora del Pilar de Los Adais.\n\n    Fra Jose de Solice visited the Adais area in 1767 and kept a Diary\n    of his visitation in which he noted that the Mission Records showed:\n    256 Baptisms, 64 Marriages and 116 Burials.\n\n    In this Diary were listed the names of families he visited in the\n    Adais area: Bano, Cachon, Flores, Bustamenta, Garcia, Solice,\n    Martinez, Sanchez, Rodriguez, Sanchon, Mora, Benetis, Cartinez,\n    Carlos, Vega and La Lima, y Barbo, Cazorla, Fuente, Gallerado and\n    Gonzalez. Cardova, Duro, Mancheca, Solice, Mercado, Guerra, and\n    Bautimino.]\n\n  KITCHEN\n  PRIESTS\u2019 HOME\n  STORE HOUSE\n  MISSION\n\n    [Illustration: Explanation of map of: La Mission San Miguel de\n    Cuellar de Los Adais and Mission established September 29, 1717; Del\n    Presidio de Neustra Senora del Pilar de Los Adais, presidio\n    established November 1721.\n\n    PLAN. This presidio shown on this map of 1722 was the Capitol of the\n    Providence of Texas and is located at 32 degrees and 15 minutes\n    latitude and 285 degrees and 52 minutes longitude. The scale, Toise,\n    one Toise equals six feet. The present day location is one mile\n    north of Robeline, Louisiana, just one quarter mile west of Highway\n    Six from that point.]\n\n  Camino del Bayuco, road to Bayuco. (Bayuco, a house of Entertainment\u2014A\n          Night Club of that period.)\n  Camino de los Ais, road to the Ais tribe of Indians at San Augustine,\n          Texas. This was the dry weather trail and passed through\n          Marthaville, Belmont, Zwolle and Ebarb, Louisiana.\n  Camino de la Laguna, road to swampy lake area, Spanish Lake.\n  Camino del Bano, road to Rancho Bano, allotted to the Mission, also a\n          part of El Camino Real.\n  Arroyo de Chacon, small river of Chacon, named after Chacon who had\n          settled on the Creek\u2014Winn Break today. (Chacon is also a\n          Spanish dance which had its own music set to special tempo.)\n\nBy the middle of October, 1720, the Aguayo expedition was well on its\nway to the Los Adais area, with three thousand nine hundred fifty horses\nand six hundred mules, loaded with powder, shot, food, clothing and six\ncannons, five hundred eighty-four men _AND_ two hundred thousand\npiastres to build presidios on the frontier.\n\nAguayo, while en-route to Los Adais, received word the war between\nFrance and Spain had ended and there would be no war on the frontier,\nnever the less, Aguayo established the missions and the Presidio San\nAntonio de Bexar at San Antonio. At the tribe of the Adais he began\nproceedings to establish a presidio there. France, too, had their \u201cman\nof the minute\u201d in the person of St. Denis.\n\n    [Illustration: LA PRESIDIO DE SAN ANTONIO DE BEXAR\n\n    La Presidio de San Antonio de Bexar, established by Aguayo in 1722,\n    was located at San Antonio, Texas.\n\n    The work of Aguayo in establishing the presidios along El Camino\n    Real gave permanence and protection to the Spanish settlers who were\n    to follow, from San Antonio to the Adais in Louisiana, seeking a new\n    kind of freedom. Their source of food and other essentials was so\n    far away that they learned to live \u201coff the land\u201d, and became\n    dependent on no one. As far as they were concerned the head of the\n    Spanish Government was so far away he was only a figure of speech to\n    them. This freedom was bred into their descendants\u2014the seed cast by\n    Francois Hidalgo, fortified by Aguayo, nourished by El Camino Real\n    and the Neutral Strip was to blossom into the State of Texas at San\n    Antonio.]\n\n    [Illustration: PLAN OF FT. DEL PILAR DE LOS ADAIS]\n\n  1. House of the Governor.\n  2. Church, which was enclosed within the Presidio.\n  3. Houses of the Soldiers stationed there.\n  4. Powder Magazine.\n  5. La Mission San Miguel de Cuellar de Los Adais.\n  6. Priests\u2019 home.\n  7. Dwellings of the Adais Tribe of Indians.\n  8. The Rancho of La Lima, possibly the first merchant and Indian\n          trader of the Spanish in this area.\n\nWith St. Denis came the balance of power, which is necessary on any\nfrontier. The Spanish had the French out-numbered ten to one, but they\nalso knew that the tribes of the Caddo Federation favored St. Denis and\nthe French. The gold piasters were of special attraction, as they would\nhave been in any locality, to St. Denis, who was an accomplished trader.\nAguayo was quick to realize that the Spanish must trade with the French\nfor food and their very existence. He turned a deaf ear to Captain\nReynaud, St. Denis and Bienville, who was now the Governor of Louisiana,\nand their protests concerning the building of a presidio at Los Adais,\nand on October 12, 1721 celebrated the rebuilding of the mission. On\nNovember 1st in the same year was celebrated the re-establishment of La\nPresidio de Nuestra Senora del Pilar de Los Adais\u2014the Presidio housing\nthe Governor of all the province of Texas.\n\nIn 1722 St. Denis was made Post Commandante of Fort St. Jean Baptiste\ndes Natchitoches and all of the Red River Territory.\n\nBreutin\u2019s map of 1722 of the Natchitoches area, shows the names of\ninhabitants who owned land: Durion, Derbonne, Duplisses, Marachal,\nLebrun, Boquet, Prudhomme, LaFleur, Roland, St. Denis, Dauphine,\nRondain, Frainbouis, Rambin, Robert and Frainaries.\n\nOther known inhabitants of the Natchitoches area were: Redot, Lieutenant\nof the Company of the West; Marley Dupuy, Ensigne; Medar Jalot, St.\nDenis\u2019 valet; Pierre Cotolleau, farmer; Pierre Fausse, Farmer; Francois\nBerry, soldier; Francois Lemoine, soldier; Estinne LeRoy, soldier;\nPierre DuBois, blacksmith; Marainne Benoist, housewife; Louise Francois\nGillot, housewife; Pierre Dupuy, called Gaupillion, to distinguish him\nfrom Dupuy the ensigne; Jeanne Grinot, housewife; Collette de Poissot,\nhousewife; Marie Cathern de Poutree, housewife; Martine Bonnet,\nhousewife; Antoniette Audebrands, housewife; Pierre Marineau; Sieur De\nChampingnole, sergeant; Lieutenant Maillard; Louis Reclos, soldier;\nEmanuella Sanchez Ramone, wife of St. Denis; Sieur Barme, storekeeper;\nand Jean Lagross and the two Barberousse brothers who had settled near\nCampti, establishing a trading post among the Yatasee Indians, which had\nmoved from Nantanchie Lake in 1722.\n\n    [Illustration: LA PRESIDIO NUESTRA DE SENORA DEL PILAR DE LOS ADAIS\n\n    Established in November 1721 and completed early in the Spring of\n    1722 by the Marquis de Aguayo.\n\n    Knights in Armour are usually associated with the European countries\n    and the valiant deeds accomplished by such men, but here on this\n    tiny hill among the Adais Indians two Knights met, The Marquis de\n    Aguayo, a Black Knight of the Argonne, and Louis Juchereau de St.\n    Denis, who had previously received The Order of the Cross of St.\n    Louis delivered to St. Denis by D\u2019Artagnan, a direct envoy of the\n    King and Queen of France. Thus, two Knights met at the Adais, supped\n    and visited, each recognized the abilities of the other, each having\n    received the highest honor which could be bestowed by their\n    respective King.\n\n  _Camino de Los Ais_\n  _Camino de la Lag_\n  _Camino de Natchi_\n\n  1. Governor\u2019s House.\n  2. Church.\n  3. Soldier\u2019s Barracks.\n  4. Guardhouse.\n  5. Stables.\n  6. Mess Hall.\n  7. Kitchen.\n  8. Privy.\n  9. Powder Magazine.\n  10 and 11. Water wells.\n\n     This Spanish Fort was erected in the shape of a hexagon. Aguayo had\n    six cannons and building the Fort in this shape permitted the\n    greatest amount of cannon fire in all directions. One will notice\n    that on the hilltop, the site of this Spanish presidio, several\n    hundred yards in all directions there is an absence of large trees\n    and that those that are growing are second and third-growth trees.\n    The reason is that Aguayo followed the same methods a trained\n    military officer would have done. He would have cleared the Land of\n    all trees and undergrowth for at least three hundred yards in all\n    directions, so that should an attack occur, the enemy would not have\n    the benefit of any kind of natural cover. The shoulder guns of that\n    period had a fairly accurate killing effect for a distance of 150\n    yards. Therefore the Musketeer in the presidio would have some extra\n    150 yards in which to sight the enemy, take aim and fire. This\n    presidio is unique in this respect: It stood for nearly fifty years\n    as a frontier command-post and never once had to defend itself.\n\n    This plan of the Presidio at Los Adais, showing the effectiveness of\n    a hexagon shaped fort with cannon spaced to give the maximum\n    protection to the fort, was submitted to Aguayo to his superiors at\n    Mexico City in 1722.\n\n    The Presidio Nuestra Senora del Pilar de Los Adais has a very unique\n    history, it stood guarding a frontier against another nation and\n    among the Indians, who were at that time, considered savages, for\n    nearly fifty years, yet this fort never had to defend itself against\n    any hostile demonstration.]\n\n    [Illustration: _Carte des Natchitoches_\n    _J.F. BREUTIN. 1722._]\n\nPierre Largen was trading among the Peticaddos and the Caddoquopois.\n\nLa Petit was among the Peticaddos on Caddo Lake near Shreveport, he had\nthe year previously established a trading post there.\n\nJean Lagross, who had also married an Ais maiden, had a trading post\namong the Ais Indians on the Angelena River near the present town of San\nAugustine, Texas. He was not molested by the Spanish because of the\nmarriage he was considered a member of the Caddos of which the Ais was a\ntribe.\n\nIn 1723 St. Denis sent Lieutenant Antoine Layassard to establish Post Du\nRapides near present Alexandria. The year previously LaPerrier and his\ntwo daughters had been assassinated at the rapids portage by a band of\nroving Indians, and Post Du Rapides was established to protect travelers\nen-route to Post des Natchitoches.\n\nIn this same year, 1723 St. Denis received reinforcements, Doctor\nAlexander, Lt. Basset, Lt. Renault de Hautrive and Paul Muller. Michael\nRobin, a Notary for the Company of the West was also in the group.\n\nAugayo, tiring of the frontier, left for the interior of Mexico. He\nappointed as Lieutenant Governor of Los Adais, Lieutenant of the King,\nAlmazon, who immediately set up a new trade restriction, forbidding\nfraternalization and trading of any sort with the French. It was during\nthe tenure of Almazon that a land grant was issued to Juan Sanchez\ncomprising one square league of land (the grant was an area now\nconsisting of high ground astraddle Toplecot Creek in the Allen area\nbetween Robeline and Powhattan, Louisiana). Almazon allotted land to\nCadet Chacon. There was also land allotted for the support of the Adais\nmission called Rancho Bano. Manuel Guiterez, who had wed Maria Garcia,\nalso received an allotted land grant. The last three allotments of land\nwere in the immediate Robeline township area.\n\nSt. Denis could see permanence in this establishment of farms in the\nAdais area. The presidio there now had a fighting force of one hundred\nmen-at-arms, many of which were well-mounted and excellent cavalry men.\nHe could to a certain extent visualize a self supporting Spanish\nfrontier if the farmers\u2019 production of crops were successful. The\nSpanish would need only slight assistance from the Indian farmers with\nthe sale of their produce to the Spanish.\n\nSt. Denis retaliated by inviting all of the chiefs of the Caddo tribes\nof Indians to come to the Post St. Jean Baptiste to receive presents,\nknowing that all of the chiefs would bring their families and a number\nof followers and that many would have to pass the Spanish presidios on\ntheir way to Natchitoches. He was successful in working out a trade\nagreement with all of the tribes to buy their entire surplus food\nsupply.\n\nThis alliance of the Caddo federation with the French restored the\nbalance of power on the Spanish-French frontier. St. Denis assured the\nCaddo chiefs that each year such presents would be available as long as\nthe alliance was kept.\n\nThis one move by St. Denis brought safety to the French of the area.\nThus any unpleasantness which arose thereafter was confined to verbal\nstatements or letter writing.\n\n\n\n\n                                  III\n                        DACHICOIN\u2014A NOBLE INDIAN\n                            LOS ADAIS, 1723\n\n\nDachicoin had only two years before he reached the considered age of an\nadult, which according to the Adais law was sixteen. He had ignited the\ncouncil-fire of the Adais and was demanding audience. The Elders came\nand seated themselves in their proper places and bade him speak.\n\nHe brought to the attention of the Adais how nice the Spanish or French\ntreated an Indian of position in any Indian tribe\u2014they dared not molest\nthis Indian or any of his family. Also, the Indian of position seemed to\nget a better deal in the matter of trade-goods. \u201cIf we make all the\nIndian adult males of the Adais an officer or man of position then the\nwhole tribe will benefit by it. I wish first to test this and, if I am\nsuccessful, then I demand to be made a _conachas_\u201d.[4] Dachicoin\nexplained his proposed test to the Elders.\n\nDachicoin went to the Natchitoches Post and demanded of Sieur Barme, a\nmerchant of certain trade-goods, a supply of such goods, saying that he\nwould bring all the profit back to the merchant in return for which he\nexpected something that he could trade for himself at profit. Sieur\nBarme saw possibilities in Dachicoin because he agreed to the Indian\u2019s\nterms. Sieur Barme did not overlook the fact that the Indian spoke to\nhim in French. Later he found out that the Indian also spoke Spanish.\nDachicoin was made a _conachas_ among the Adais.\n\nWhen Dachicoin was fifteen years old the Spanish priests came to the\nAdais. Even at this young age he must have realized that a new way of\nlife was beginning among the Adais, and decided to follow the new trend\nby working with the Spanish priests, guiding them among the tribes of\nthe Caddos and commuting back and forth with them to the Natchitoches\npost. Soon he mastered the Spanish language. When he was sixteen and had\nsuccessfully filled the agreement of his first test with Sieur Barme,\nthe Natchitoches merchant, three other men, Lotbotiniere, Lagross and\nLargen, saw the possibility of profit in the use of Dachicoin. One or\nthe other of these traders was continuously traveling back and forth to\nthe Hasinai Indians who lived deep in the Tejas Country. So Dachicoin\nbegan a tutorship with the traders, and at the same time began to master\nthe French language.\n\nIn 1719 Dachicoin, because he could understand French, heard of the salt\nshortage at the new post at New Orleans. By this time the young Indian\ntrader had acquired five horses as his part of profit while trading with\nthe Hasinai Indians. He went to Sieur Barme and asked for ten knives,\nexplaining that he wished to trade the knives to the Destonies for salt,\nthis salt would be taken to New Orleans and traded for more knives which\nwould be returned to Sieur Barme. He would replace the ten knives and\nthe other remaining knives would be divided equally between himself and\nthe merchant. He would leave two horses with Sieur Barme as security.\nDachicoin then went to Largen, who had dug-out canoes. He wished use of\nthe largest one, explaining his intention to Largen, and leaving one of\nhis horses with him as security. In return for the use of the canoe\nDachicoin would take some of Largen\u2019s merchandise of furs to New Orleans\nand trade the furs for knives, all Largen needed to do was to say how\nmany knives he expected in trade for the furs\u2014of course this service\nwould be free for the use of the boat. The Indian then went to\nLieutenant Blondell, the Post Commandante, and told him his intentions,\nwondering if the officer had letters he wished to be delivered to his\nFrench superiors, saying that he would deliver the letters which at the\nsame time would explain to the officials at New Orleans that Dachicoin\nwas a high-ranking Indian of the Adais tribe. \u201cThis will be important in\nmy getting a fairer trade for salt and other merchandise\u201d, he said. \u201cI\nwould also like for you to request Quitlami, Son of Koanan, who is\ncalled the White Chief of the Natchitoches Indians by the French, to\ninsure safe passage among the Indians I might encounter because Quitlami\nwill have the arm band of the Son of a Chief and I the arm band of a\nconachas of the Adais. These marks of distinction will be observed by\nthose tribes who are not on friendly terms with the French, but who\nwould not wish to arouse an undesirable antagonism between two tribes\nsuch as the Adais and the Natchitoches. The letters will safe-guard us\nfrom white men who might be inclined to forget the _calumet_ of the\nFrench and the Caddos of whose Federacy we are members. For this service\nI will expect a French soldier\u2019s coat, one of the things I most desire\nin life. I will leave two horses at your disposal as a guarantee of my\nreturn and my true intention to serve the French. Because of my\nassociation with the Caddo Federacy I can be of many uses to the\nFrench.\u201d The Commandant was no fool. He quickly realized the importance\nof Dachicoin, and agreed to his wishes even paying Quitlami\u2019s expenses\nin the form of presents from the company merchandise.\n\nTo the average reader it would seem that Dachicoin was risking five\nhorses which were of more value on this frontier than the supposed\nprofits of this particular trading trip, but Quitlami revealed to\nLotbotiniere that Dachicoin distributed these horses in good hands and\nthose people were obligated to take as good care of them as if the\nhorses belonged to them. Thus Dachicoin was assured of the good care of\nhis animals with no expense to himself.\n\nThe canoe or dug-out of Largen was a four-place canoe, which is a boat\nthat required four men to paddle it and would at the same time, besides\nthe human cargo, carry fourteen hundred pounds of freight. Thus equipped\nDachicoin and Quitlami set out from Natchitoches to the Distonies on\nSaline Bayou in Natchitoches Parish, where he traded five of the knives\nfor two hundred gourds of salt, each gourd contained approximately one\npound of salt. From Natchitoches he carried the furs of Largen and small\ngourds of finely chopped matot, ground leaves of the Sassafras tree.\nThis spice was an excellent trade goods of the Natchitoches tribe. The\nspice, however, was sent by Blondell and was to be exchanged for some\npersonal things for the Commandant. He did, however, pay for Dachicoin\u2019s\ncoat out of his own merchandise. Because of the success of the trading\ntrip Dachicoin\u2019s name became popular along the frontier. His character\nwas such, that his word was his bond. He never bought any trade goods\noutright to sell them for a profit as did the French traders. Always he\nasked for goods on consignment. It was a familiar sight at Natchitoches\nand at Los Adais to see Dachicoin arrange what he had received for a\nconsignment into three piles\u2014one pile represented the cost of trade\ngoods and one the profits. The one who supplied the merchandise could\ntake his choice of two of the piles, the other went to Dachicoin for his\nlabors.\n\nDachicoin had taken for his wife, a squaw of the Hasinai said to be a\ndaughter of Bernardino, Chief of that tribe. Upon returning to the\nAdais, Dachicoin spoke to Largen, who was at the time at the Adais,\nexplaining to him that he wished to be blessed in marriage by a priest\njust as white men and women were when priests married them. Largen\nexplained to Dachicoin that if he were married by the Church it would be\ncontrary to the beliefs of the Caddos. (The Caddos believed in\nseparations or divorce\u2014that a squaw or man being dissatisfied could\nseparate, the squaw taking the male children and the man the female\nchildren. These separations occurred quite often among the different\ntribes of the Caddos.) At this Dachicoin replied, \u201cA man will have need\nfor only one woman if she is the correct woman for him and a woman needs\nonly one man if he is the correct man for her, my squaw and I understand\nthese things and I, Dachicoin say that it can be no other way.\u201d Pierre\nLargen sponsored the wedding at the Los Adais Church. It is said that\nFather Margil De Jesus performed the ceremony.\n\nThe squaw, or shall I say wife of Dachicoin, was allowed by her husband\nto ride a horse instead of walking as most Indians required their squaws\nto do, and, not only that, but to add to her comfort she was seated on a\ngood Spanish saddle, and even had a pack horse to carry such things that\na squaw was required to carry. This caused much dissatisfaction among\nthe other squaws and the Indian men alike.\n\nDachicoin lit the Council Fire of the Adais and when enough of the tribe\nhad gathered, spoke to them. \u201cYou of the Adais are cooking in metal pots\nthat I, Dachicoin gave to you. Because all that I have also belongs to\nmy squaw, then she too gave the pots\u201d. There was no one to criticize her\nthen, for it is a law of the Caddos that no other person can be\nconcerned in the private affairs of a Caddo family unless invited to do\nso. If one violates this law then he is to be punished by the elders.\n\u201cIf there are any more envious remarks about my squaw I shall see that\nthe law is fulfilled. What I have said shall now be forgotten, it must\nnot occur again.\u201d\n\nAt the Natchitoches council fire he berated the Natchitoches in much the\nsame way. Such was the power of Dachicoin that he could demand the\nobedience of two tribes of Indians.\n\nIn 1722 St. Denis returned to Natchitoches replacing Captain Reynaud as\nCommandante. He, too, was quick to learn the importance of Dachicoin.\n\nIn 1723 St. Denis received a demand from Bernardino of the Hasinai for\nthe ransom of a Frenchman. He then sent the small, tin box containing\npapers of the French officer. St. Denis recognized the name of the\nofficer, a man who once had fought a duel with him. This French officer,\nBelle-Isle, with St. Denis had attended the Royal School in Paris. They\nhad always seemed to be at odds with each other, and now St. Denis was\nbeing asked to pay ransom for him. But St. Denis was not one to hold a\ngrudge, and he knew that Belle-Isle had the makings of a good French\nofficer. He could not bring himself to believe that there was a\npossibility of Belle-Isle being a deserter and had somehow become a\nslave of the Indians. Too, he realized the possibility of the Spanish\nrescuing him, and from gratitude Belle-Isle might have been inclined to\noffer his services to Spain. St. Denis personally knew French officers\nin the service of Spain, but now he had the problem of going behind the\nSpanish Fort at Los Adais to rescue Belle-Isle.\n\nSt. Denis sent for Quitlami and had him go to the Adais and bring\nDachicoin back with him. When the two Indians returned he sent for\nLagross, Largen and Lobotiniere for a conference. All were given the\ndetails about Belle-Isle.\n\nThe ransom was to be ten French rifles with 100 shots and enough powder\nto fire those 100 shots for each rifle. This was an impractical and\ndangerous form of ransom because if the party delivering the rifles\nshould be intercepted by the Spanish they would have grounds to think\nthat the French were trying to supply the Indians with fire arms to be\nused against them, which could create a disastrous incident on the\nfrontier.\n\nDachicoin asked if he might speak, and without waiting for a reply,\nasked St. Denis if he would settle with Bernardino for two rifles and\nthe requested powder and shot. St. Denis would be glad to agree to such\na settlement, but continued Dachicoin, \u201cwhy not turn this trip for\nransom into profit?\u201d, which caused a raising of eyebrows. All those\npresent were traders and the word \u201cprofit\u201d was music to their ears.\nDachicoin explained, \u201cBernardino is a trader and a clever one, and also\nthe father of my squaw. If I go as a member of the ransom party my squaw\nmust also go as she will wish to see her father again. Also this party\nwill need someone to cook for them, she can do that. Bernardino has sent\nfive of his braves and ten extra horses. He fully expects each of those\nten extra horses to have something on them. We must send five men to\naccompany the Hasinais; to send less would show carelessness, to send\nmore would show we were afraid, five men to ride five of the horses sent\nby Bernardino. We must fix a box of wood the size of one which would\ncontain ten rifles, but instead of rifles it will contain lengths of\ncane filled with the seeds of watermelons, squash, gourds, corn and\nbeans. The Hasinais are farmers, but because they move around for place\nto place, staying in one place only long enough to raise and harvest a\ncrop; they are often short of seed, we will also send salt, honey,\npecans, hickory nuts, walnuts; these are the things that we have plenty\nof. In return we will ask for the Frenchman and horses and some amole\nroot.[5] The last two things are the cheapest trade-goods of the\nHasinais. Bernardino has often admired my French coat and has often\ntried to trade me for it, but I explained to him that it would be too\nsmall for him. If M. Rambin can make a coat the size of the one that\nwould fit M. Largen, then Bernardino would try to trade for it\nespecially if Largen pretends he does not wish to trade for the coat. We\nwill have to explain to Bernardino that we have no extra rifles\navailable but the one I am carrying. The other rifle mentioned will be\ngiven to me when I return as payment for my assistance in this trip. My\nsquaw will have among the things necessary for her to take some of the\nknives from the company store, each of us will also have some knives to\ntrade. We will trade for horses and the amole root and anything else\nthat Bernardino has. Quitlami must tell Bernardino that the coat that M.\nLargen is wearing is magic and is Largen\u2019s trading coat. That when\nLargen has it on he always makes more profit on his trades. That it\nwould be a great service to the Natchitoches and the Adais if Bernardino\ncould trade Largen out of the coat. So far no one has been able to do\nthis.\u201d\n\nThe trip from Natchitoches to the Hasinais was roughly about 360 miles.\n\nImmediately on the arrival of the party Bernardino brought the slave\nBelle-Isle forward and demanded the rifles when he was told that there\nwas only one rifle and it belonged to Dachicoin. He was furious and\nthreatened to kill the slave on the spot. Dachicoin explained that there\nwere many other trade goods of value and things that the Hasinais\nneeded. Largen was not then wearing the coat made by Rambin the tailor.\n\nIn true Caddo fashion Bernardino either spit upon or kicked the trade\ngoods offered for Belle-Isle (this was characteristic of the Caddos, any\ntrade goods was treated in such a way as to cheapen it in the eyes of\nthe one offering it for trade. Those things that they wanted most they\nspurned the most). Each time Bernardino spit on the trade goods, Largen\nin turn spit upon Belle-Isle, meanwhile telling him in French that this\nwas necessary. Largen picked up a bundle and went into the Hinta-sak of\nBernardino. Quickly Quitlami went to Bernardino and explained to him\nabout the coat of Largen. When Largen came back he was strutting and\nshowing off the coat. He explained the designs on the coat, the hawk on\none side was an emblem of the Caddos. He was a Caddo because he had\ntaken an Ais Squaw. The Fleur De Lys because he was also French. Twenty\nbuttons, more buttons than on any French or Spanish officer\u2019s coat\n(Rambin had surely done his best work here). Bernardino began wanting to\ntrade for the coat but Largen would hear none of it. Finally Bernardino\noffered the slave for the coat and explaining that if the slave was a\nFrenchman and Largen was a Frenchman then they were brothers\u2014surely a\nbrother would give a coat to save his brother\u2019s life and if they did not\ncome to an agreement about the coat then the slave was sure to die.\nLargen then surprised Bernardino by saying he would give the coat if the\nChief would given ten horses to the slave and ten horses to him and then\ntrade horses for the other trade goods along with the amole root and\nsome wolf hides. This Bernardino agreed to.\n\nSt. Denis was awakened by the sound of thundering hooves. Lobotiniere\ncalled to him. St. Denis wiped his eyes as he witnessed the success of\nthe trip\u2014eighty horses, many of them loaded with hides and other\nmerchandise.\n\nAfter all settlements were made among those who participated on the\ntrip, Belle-Isle told St. Denis of his misfortune. The ship he was on\nleft France in 1718. After they had entered the Gulf of Mexico a storm\ncame up and the ship was blown off course. Then scurvy broke out aboard\nship. Finally land was sighted. The ship\u2019s captain, believing that the\nship was at a point east of Biloxi, put ashore those who were not yet\naffected, instructing them to go west overland where they would be sure\nto find the French. However, it must have been west of the Mississippi\ninstead of east of it. Belle-Isle related, \u201cthere were five of us, all\ndied except me. In the distance one day I saw a camp fire and went to\nit. The Indians took me captive and made me a slave. I was with them\neighteen months when Bernardino bought me from them. Bernardino could\nunderstand a few words of French. He sent the tin box to you. You know\nthe rest. Bernardino, however, did treat me very well\u201d. (Belle-Isle was\nindeed lucky; that ship and its entire crew were never heard of again).\n\nI suggest a toast to Dachicoin, who thought like a Frenchman, spoke like\na Spaniard, had all the cunning of an Indian, and the honesty of a\nPilgrim. Such was the importance of Dachicoin.\n\nBy the year 1740 Belle-Isle had become a power in politics at New\nOrleans.\n\nIn 1737 the Natchitoches tribe was able to ship 350 head of horses to\nNew Orleans as part of its surplus trade-goods, and all because of\nDachicoin, a _conachas_ of the Adais.\n\n\n\n\n                                   IV\n                       ST. DENIS AND THE SPANISH\n\n\nIn 1724 St. Denis and Almazon affixed the Arroyo Hondo as the boundary\nbetween the French and the Spanish. There was also an agreement to allow\nthe French traders, who were to go to the Upper Caddos during the wet\nseason, to pass through the Los Adais area. In this same year Jean\nMuller was permitted to establish La Post du Bayou Pierre[6].\n\nBy 1725 St. Denis had won the Spanish commandant over to his point of\nview and persuaded him to allow free trade in the area. The French were\nalso allowed at Los Adais on Sundays to attend religious services. (The\nFrench, up until a few years later, were without the services of a\npriest at Natchitoches).\n\nWord reached the Viceroy in Mexico City that Almazon was too lenient\nwith the French and that he was actually encouraging open trade with\nthem. In 1730 Almazon was replaced by Don Juan Antonio de Bustillio y\nZavalles, who was quick to realize that La Presidio de Los Adais was\nentirely dependent on the French for its very existence. He sent a\nletter to the Viceroy to that effect, further advising that the Spanish\nsettlers of the area scarcely produced enough crops to sustain\nthemselves and their families. Zavalles was an experienced military\nofficer and understood the importance of maintaining a modicum of\nfriendship on the frontier with the French and the Indians. Zavalles in\n1730 issued a land grant to Juan de Mora.[7]\n\nIn 1730 Natchitoches welcomed the arrival of its first French priest,\nFather Vietry.\n\nIn April of 1731 Zavalles received an urgent message from St. Denis\nsaying that the Natchez Indians were on their way to attack the French\nPost and asked for assistance. Zavalles sent fifteen men, which may just\nhave been enough to help St. Denis gain a victory over the Natchez\nIndians. One Spaniard lost his life in the battle.\n\nZavalles was criticized by his Spanish superiors at San Antonio and\nMexico City for assisting the French, but Zavalles reasoned that if the\nFrench Post had fallen to the Natchez Indians nothing would have\nprevented the Natchez from attacking the Spanish presidio. There was\nalso the possibility of the Caddos aligning themselves with the Natchez.\nSuch a procedure had often happened among warring Indian tribes against\nthe white man. It is far better, if a battle is to be fought, that it\ntake place in foreign territory. He reasoned that even if the French\nlost, there would be other Frenchmen to return and settle the land. If\nthe Spanish had gained control of the Adais-Natchitoches frontier their\ndominance would not have been for long. As a result of this assistance\nof the Spanish, food and trade-goods from the French became more\nplentiful and cheaper in price.\n\nManuel de Sandoval in 1734 replaced Zavalles as Governor of Los Adais.\nAfter a few months on the frontier he left and assigned Jose Gonzales as\nGovernor of Los Adais. Zavalles in the meanwhile was being prosecuted at\nSan Antonio de Bexar because of his leniency with the French. An\ninvestigation of the conditions on the Spanish frontier proved that\nZavalles was correct in his actions. His rank and prestige were\nrestored. St. Denis took advantage of the unrest of the Spanish, and in\nthe midst of protests and letter writing, he moved the Post St. Jean\nBaptiste \u201cone pistol shot\u201d distance to the west bank of the Red River.\n\nJose Gonzales was commandante of an ill-equipped presidio, the crops\nwere failures and the French had control of the food, but the Spanish\nalways had time for fiesta. And the French came to visit and trade. Much\nto the discomfort of Gonzales, fraternization became the order of the\nday.\n\nIt was the year 1735, when Chamard erected his home and added a chapel\nso that civil marriages could be blessed by the priests from Los Adais\non their monthly visits. Natchitoches was quite often without the\nservices of a priest at this time. Chamard came to the Natchitoches area\nin 1730 as an agent and notary for the Company of the Indies. Chamard\nwas a very devout Catholic and was a leader in rebuilding the church\nwhich had burned in 1734. He set an excellent example on the frontier\nfor those who were not inclined to attend religious services regularly.\n\n\n\n\n                                   V\n                DOCTORS AND EARLY MEDICINE\u20141722 TO 1744\n\n\nMedar Jalot had some learning under the direction of Dr. Ambroise\nBenoist Gendron of Quebec, Canada. Jalot became a member of a party\nunder the guidance of Henri De Tonty (The Iron Hand) that left Quebec in\n1710. They came to Biloxi via the Great Lakes, the Illinois River, the\nMississippi River, Lake Manchac and Lake Pontchartrain. Jalot was with\nthe St. Denis expedition to Mexico in 1714 as the valet to St. Denis,\nand in 1722 was listed in the Natchitoches census. Jalot, although not a\ndoctor by title, served the Natchitoches Post in that capacity because\nof his skill in treating wounds and body sores. Jalot also had knowledge\nof many Indian remedies for the sicknesses of the country.\n\nIt was the custom at this time for Kings to issue certificates to men of\nthe medical profession, designating them as _Docteur du Roi_, Doctor of\nthe King. Doctors who would accept such a commission for frontier duty\nwould receive a year\u2019s salary in advance, clothing, a chest of medicine,\nan allotment of paper, note books and the personal best wishes of the\nKing. The physician would then in turn be obliged to render his services\nfree to the militia and others connected with the service of a post and\nthe Indians of the surrounding area. The post of his designated-location\nwould place at the doctor\u2019s disposal, an office, lodging and food at the\nofficers\u2019 table. Transportation was obligingly supplied by the King, \u201ca\none way ticket.\u201d\n\nTo the young Doctor who had thus qualified himself this would seem to be\na golden opportunity. Dr. Le Beau was the first to arrive at the\nNatchitoches post. He was the first Doctor to realize that this golden\nopportunity did not supply medium-of-exchange. The post personnel, their\nwives and children were exempt from payment for his services. All of the\ninhabitants and their families supplied the post with food and produce,\nso they were also exempt as were the Indians. The doctor knew that he\nwould have to wait two years before he would receive his next salary\nfrom the King. He could receive payment for his services to the Spanish\nat Los Adais, but traffic with the Spanish was forbidden. He was soon to\nrealize that the first year\u2019s pay that had been issued would only buy\nthree pairs of pants at Rambin\u2019s Tailor shop ... and that Rambin was\nmaking his livelihood by redoing old clothing rather than tailoring new\ngarments. Too, he was duty bound to stay one year in the service to\nfulfill his obligation to the Crown. By not doing so he was subject to\narrest. Needless to say, after his year was up Dr. Le Beau resigned his\ncommission and struck out on his own.\n\nIn 1727 Dr. Alexander was the next \u201cDocteur du Roi\u201d to arrive in\nNatchitoches. He was killed in a duel by Captain Jentzen, a Swedish\nofficer in the service of the King of France.\n\nIn 1730 Dr. Godeau arrived with a King\u2019s Commission. He wed the Widow\nBrossilier, and adopted his two-year-old stepdaughter. The Widow\nBrossilier had land, and so this doctor became a farmer and notary, with\nhis medical profession becoming a sideline.\n\nThe people of the Natchitoches area did not like the idea of having to\npay for doctor\u2019s services. Doctor Godeau had, after his first year\nresigned his commission, and now could charge legally for his services.\nThey waited but no new Docteur du Roi arrived.\n\nDr. Godeau was at the Natchitoches Post at the time of the Natchez\nIndian attack. In this two-months war on the Natchitoches frontier the\nDoctor won the friendship of the fifteen Spaniards who assisted in the\ndefense of the French Post. In 1733 Dr. Godeau travelled to the Adais\nPost on Saturdays and Sundays to render his services to the Spanish, and\nto attend mass on Sunday. Thus, in the Robeline area was set up the\nfirst form of medical clinic in all the territory later comprised in the\nLouisiana Purchase. The Spanish had money to pay for professional\nservices which naturally attracted men of any profession.\n\nThe people\u2019s voice must have been heard, for the Good King Louis XV sent\nin 1737 Dr. Tontin. By this time King Louis must have decided that it\nwas easier to send new doctors each year as soon as they were qualified\n_medecins_. He realized that the \u201cone way ticket\u201d was just another way\nto populate Louisiana with learned men. Doctor Pain (or Payne) was sent\nin 1738, Doctor Jaubaer in 1739, and Doctor Bonnafons in 1740.\n\nSo now it was Dr. Bonnafons\u2019 turn to match his wits with this French\nfrontier. In sizing up his predicament Dr. Bonnafons found that the\nrecognized occupations listed on the post roster as ones that were to\nobtain free medical service were: Trappers, Traders, Commercial Hunters\nand Fishermen, Druggists, Farmers, Blacksmiths, Store owners, Tailors,\nBakers, Carpenters, Gunsmiths, Butchers, Soldiers and the Indians. The\ngood commandante, Louis Juchereau de St. Denis, saw to it that all of\nthese men obtained their just share of the Post business. I feel sure,\ntoo, that the doctors, Pain, Jambare and Tontin advised Doctor Bonnafons\nwhat to expect. This doctor, however, had the wits to fit the occasion.\nHe demanded of St. Denis that because the office space inside the fort\nwas too small, that a building be erected outside the fort for his home\nand office. He showed the commandante that according to the rights\nenumerated in his commission that the Post Commander must furnish him\nwith these suitable conveniences. St. Denis complied with the doctor\u2019s\ndemands.\n\nDr. Bonnafons became a barber and for this privilege he paid a license.\nBeing a barber he was allowed to sell drugs. The druggist was part of\nthe Grocery Guild, so that he was now qualified to sell \u201cstuffs\u201d (bolts\nof uncut cloth). Sieur Ignace Antee, a farmer and part-time cobbler, was\nencouraged to erect a lean-to on the opposite side of the doctor\u2019s\nbuilding. Because he had assisted Laignon and Antee to erect their\nlean-tos, Dr. Bonnafons considered himself a carpenter. He informed\nJacques Turpeax, a soldier and baker at the Natchitoches Post, that he\nwould purchase the surplus bread which was baked and not used by the\nmilitia, thus furnishing quick lunches for weary, hungry travelers.\nBecause the Doctor was in the grocery business, he could sell wine which\nwent well with the cheese brought to the French Post by the inhabitants\nof Campti.\n\nOne must realize that we are at a time between the dates 1740 and 1744,\nbecause St. Denis died in 1744, and that the location of Dr. Bonnafons\u2019\nbuilding would have been near the new fort which had been erected by St.\nDenis \u201cone pistol shot to the west\u201d from the location of the Fort St.\nJean Baptiste as shown on Breutin\u2019s Map of 1722. This placed the new\nfort in the environs of what was later the American cemetery. As to the\nlocation of Dr. Bonnafons\u2019 building we have this clue. In his ledger he\nstates that he obtained land adjoining his from Duplessis. On Breutin\u2019s\nmap the Duplessis land would have been in the vicinity of the south bank\nof Bayou Amulet near G. W. Black\u2019s Grocery and Market. Also, in this\nsame area along Bayou Amulet the traders coming to Natchitoches tethered\ntheir mules.\n\nHaving obtained this land adjoining his building, Dr. Bonnafons erected\na blacksmith shop for Jean Baptist Marin. As the doctor\u2019s business grew,\nso did the buildings and the good doctor had his eye out for more\nbusiness and reasoned that \u201cwhere their is a demand, there should be a\nsupply\u201d.\n\nAbout 20 years preceding Dr. Bonnafons\u2019 arrival in Natchitoches, some of\nthe farmers had obtained slaves from New Orleans. The slaves, coming\ndirectly from Africa, believed in voodoo, and for a generation had sold\ntheir charms, amulets, love potions and cure-all charms to the Indians,\nas well as the white inhabitants.\n\nDr. Bonnafons, being a druggist and grocer was allowed, according to the\nDrug Guild, to sell notions. So he added a trinket department to his\nstore which had such items as earrings, necklaces, mirrors and of course\nthe voodoo charms. Bonnafons reasoned that the local natives and\ninhabitants might just as well have the imported kind from New Orleans\nwhere the voodoo charm-makers were more skilled and the charms had more\npower. He reasoned with himself that according to law, slaves were not\nallowed to have money or engage in a business which would supply them\nwith money. So he decided to put them out of business. Naturally Dr.\nBonnafons told his customers that he did not believe in voodoo, that he\nwas a doctor and that only a doctor could cure illnesses\u2014that the charms\nwere just novelties and that some people bought them in ignorance.\n\nCommercial traders with the Indians who bought such trinkets from Dr.\nBonnafons at a discount were Jean Camion, Nicholas and Jean Lassard,\nPierre Gaigne, Lantallac, Nicholas Tibaud, Francois Gueno, De Lima of\nLos Adais, Francois Moreau, Jean Robalet, Louis Barme, Joseph Le Douc,\nJean Baptiste Derbonne, Le Bomme, Henri Vidol and Pierre Bossier. By\nsupplying these traders Dr. Bonnafons became the first wholesaler of\nmerchandise in the Natchitoches section.\n\nAs the following bill testifies, Dr. Louis Bonnafons served the\nNatchitoches area well. The bill concerns the services rendered to\nPierre Fausse\u2019s young son.\n\n  1. Pour _6_ bouttiles de quillendive[8] per l\u2019order du chirurgiens.\n  2. Pour _6_ denier (6 articles of merchandise.)\n  3. Pour 12 boutilles d\u2019eau de vie. (Brandy used as a sedative to\n          settle nerves and upset stomach.)\n  4. Pour _6_ bouttiles de medecine laxatif (laxatives).\n  5. Pour le cerceuil de defuma. (For making the coffin.)\n\nThe child was given 6 bottles of nausea medicine, 12 bottles of brandy\n(that is, if the child was given all of the brandy\u2014he may have had help\nin disposing of this medicine) and 6 bottles of laxatives. This was\nenough of such medicine to kill any patient. Dr. Bonnafons, being the\ndoctor in attendance, would also be the first to know of the child\u2019s\ndeath. Thus being a carpenter he was also a cabinet maker which made him\na coffin-maker. Thus Dr. Bonnafons was also an undertaker.\n\nFrom Dr. Louis Bonnafons\u2019 ledger, covering a six-year period from 1741\nto 1747, come these names and families: Joseph Lattier, soldier; Claud\nBertrand, soldier; Jean La Berry, soldier; Louis Juchereau de St. Denis\nfamily; Antoine Chesneau family; Michel Chesneau family; Pierre Baillio,\nsoldier; Vencient Perrier family; Remi Possiot family; Louis Rachal\nfamily; Gaspard Barbier, brother of Madam Cheveret\u2014\u201cbought violin sold\nto me by Bartholmey Rachal\u201d; Joseph Robideux (Robeaux), one powder horn;\nJean Baptiste Gonnin, carpenter; Francois Gurno, carpenter; Pierre\nAllarg, carpenter; Pierre Mercer, farmer; Andre Barringer, farmer; Remi\nPossiot, soldier; Fancois Langlois, soldier; Edwardo Lattier,\nsoldier-farmer; Louis Badin, farmer; Andries Rambin family; Louis Rambin\nfamily; Madam de La Chaise. There were many more, but to list them would\nbe a repetition of names mentioned earlier in this book.\n\nDr. Louis Bonnafons died in 1759. He never married. His ledger brings\nout but one important fact: Natchitoches and El Camino Real area has\nalways had possibilities for the right sort of man. Likewise, these\nso-called, one-stop, shopping centers are nothing new to our country.\nToo, during this early period of the Natchitoches community there was a\nform of socialized medicine, which proved even at this early period a\ndoctor could not exist by merely depending on his chosen profession for\na livelihood when controlled or limited by the state.\n\n\n\n\n                                   VI\n                          ROMANCE AT LOS ADAIS\n\n\nThere was quite a stir on the fine spring morning of April 8, 1735 at\nLos Adais. Senorita Victoria Gonzales, daughter of the Lieutenant\nGovernor of this Spanish presidio, had eloped with a Frenchman, Jean\nBaptista DerBonne, assisted by two other Frenchmen of the Post St. Jean\nBaptiste des Natchitoches after the High Mass that Sunday. Governor\nGonzales, holding office during the absence of Governor Manuel de\nSandoval, and Reverend Padre Ignacio Certa were talking when word of the\nelopement was brought. A searching party was immediately organized but\nwas unsuccessful in capturing the culprits.\n\nThe next day Gonzales wrote a letter to his superiors, stating the above\ndetails and adding that, even though DerBonne was a French officer and a\ngentleman, he had refused permission for the marriage. He was so\ninfuriated that he disowned his daughter, thereby wishing to show to the\nofficials over him that he had nothing to do with this matter. However,\nhe did suspect Padre Certa and his brother-in-law Juan de Mora, because\nboth had intervened in DerBonne\u2019s behalf. He also added that de Mora was\nin jail and at present he had not decided what to do with him. He\nreceived word that the party arrived in Natchitoches at midnight, and\nFather Pierre Vietry, a priest of the Jesuit Order, had married Victoria\nand DerBonne immediately, thus violating the laws of the Catholic Faith.\nHe wrote: \u201cAs you know the banns of betrothed have to be announced at\nthree Sunday Services before the wedding. I am told that the elopers\ntraveled by pirogue, going from arroyo to arroyo and finally reaching\nthe Red River and then on to Natchitoches, which explains why our land\nsearching-party did not find them. Padre Vallejo of the Mission Margil\nde Los Adais is going to Natchitoches to request wine so necessary in\nthe procedure of the Mass. I am sure Victoria will accompany him back to\nLos Adais to get her things and the family blessing. Now that she has\nbeen married by the Church there is nothing I can do. She is seventeen\nand of marriageable age.\u201d\n\nThe two nationalities had much to say to each other about this wonderful\nnew topic of conversation. The Spanish would give credit to Victoria for\nplanning the whole thing, after all a woman of Victoria\u2019s intelligence\nmust have planned it because certainly a Frenchman could not have had\nthe head for such clever thinking\u2014DerBonne was just the lucky one who\nwon her heart. The French would say that DerBonne was a sly one, that he\nhad stolen Victoria from under their very eyes. The stupid Spanish\nbachelors, allowing such a pretty prize as Victoria to slip away from\nthem. And so the talk went, but there has to be a formula for each and\nevery elopement that is successful.\n\nNow in this case, take three bayous, a little river and a larger river,\nmix with one uncle, a willing duenna, two willing assistants, two\nunderstanding priests, a friend. Add a handsome French officer, a\nbeautiful senorita and an irate father. Then allow a certain amount of\ntime for observation to turn into fascination, watch closely as\nfascination develops into desire and desire materializes into love, then\nyou will have the correct ingredients for a successful elopement. So\nexplains the material gathered from John Eskew, Belisle, J. Fair Hardin,\nRoss Phares and Poitre-Babinsik. All of these authors have shed some\nlight on this incident.\n\nNow, as a certain character would say, let\u2019s add up the facts.\n\nJean Baptist Der Bonne or Derbonne as the French would write it, was an\nofficer at the French Post, Jean Baptist Des Natchitoches. The Spanish\nPost, Del Presidio Nuestra Senora del Pilar de Los Adais, was roughly 17\nmiles due west. The dividing boundary was the Arroyo Hondo, a small\nstream that ran roughly north and south midway between these two\noutposts. True, both nationalities respected this boundary to a certain\nextent, that is they visited openly but hid their trading with each\nother.\n\nThe Spanish had use of the good Doctor Payne (Pain), the post Doctor at\nNatchitoches, in return the Spanish Fiesta was open to all. If a\nFrenchman visited the Spanish Church for Mass or Confession he was very\nwelcome.\n\nFather Ignacio Certa admitted in one of his letters that he had spoken\nto Gonzales in behalf of Der Bonne. Certainly this priest must have\napproved of the Frenchman or he would not have intervened for him.\n\nThe foster brother of Gonzales\u2019s wife, Juan de Mora, was a very good\nfriend of Der Bonne because he helped and was put into prison because of\nthe incident. Even this imprisonment was a sham, as de Mora could have\ngone to the post at Natchitoches a guest of DerBonne. He could have left\nimmediately after the two eloped and with a fast horse, reached\nNatchitoches well ahead of any searchers. I believe de Mora remained at\nLos Adais and allowed himself to be imprisoned so that his\nbrother-in-law, Gonzales, might save face with his superiors in Mexico\nand the Tejas country. There are no records revealing a trial or\npunishment of Juan de Mora. One thing is certain, there was a food and\nclothing shortage at Los Adais and de Mora was one of the Spaniards who\nwas on very good terms with the French officer, DerBonne. And DerBonne,\nbeing an officer, would have enough influence at the French post at\nNatchitoches to assist the Spanish traders in getting more reasonable\nbargains when purchasing food and clothing there. Too, DerBonne being a\nFrench officer, as a side line, also was a trader among the Indians and\ncertainly with the Spanish. Now that the Frenchman had taken a Spanish\nwife and she being the daughter of Gonzalez, the Gonzalez family would\ncertainly profit by this marriage. The deals, however, having been\ntransacted through DerBonne and de Mora and both men now being of the\nGonzalez family would leave the Lieutenant Governor in the clear as far\nas his superiors were concerned.\n\nThe duenna (chaperone) of Victoria Gonzalez must have assisted the two\nlovers, reasoning that the duties of a duenna, are to look after her\ncharge\u2019s morals and religious training and to teach her things she must\nknow concerning her social standing and her responsibilities to her\nfamily in respect to marriage. A duenna, therefore accepted or rejected\nthose who wished to court her charge. Quite often the duenna had to be\nwon as well as the young senorita. The chaperone\u2019s duty was to channel\nher young charge\u2019s affections and thoughts toward the suitor considered\nmost able to support the young lady in the manner to which she was\naccustomed; but the duenna would also observe the suitors that the\nsenorita liked best, and by elimination, to these she thought most\nsuitable, certain privileges would be allowed. In this case the suitor\nwas DerBonne. Now came the time for observation to turn into\nfascination. To watch closely as fascination develops into desire, and\nthen when desire materializes into love, arrangements must be made so\nthat the wedding can be solemnized. The duenna or chaperone was also a\nmatch-maker.\n\nNow for allowing those certain privileges. At a fiesta at Los Adais,\nDerBonne and Victoria danced, and after a while walked out into the\npatio for a breath of fresh air. The man, being a gentleman, would not\non first meeting attempt to guide his companion to a darkened shadowy\nspot for closer conversation. The duenna naturally followed and observed\nat a discreet distance. She would locate herself at such vantage point\nwhere she could see and yet not be seen.\n\nAt Church on Sunday, DerBonne having received an invitation from de\nMora, with de Mora advising DerBonne to be there early, arrangements\nwere made so that DerBonne sat next to Victoria, with the duenna on one\nside of the couple and de Mora on the other. Perhaps at sometime during\nthe services of the Mass the duenna suggested a walk in a certain\ndirection, making sure that DerBonne overheard the suggestion intended\nfor Victoria. Just to be sure, immediately after the Church Services de\nMora would suggest a stroll before eating the noon meal, and, as if by\nchance both parties met at some point on a secluded footpath, the young\ncouple would find that for the moment they were alone and unobserved,\nwhile the elderly couple was engaged in some topic of conversation. Now\nfor a quick embrace and kiss while the old duenna was not looking. To\nthese well planned, or chance meetings as the young couple thought,\nsurely fate was lending a helping hand. So fascination turns into desire\nand desire into love. Now to ask for her hand in marriage (the old\nduenna and de Mora must have felt proud of themselves.) DerBonne asked\nthe father, Jose Gonzalez, but the irate father refused. Then the\npriest, Father Ignacio Certa, interceded on behalf of DerBonne. Another\nrefusal as the obdurate father explained that the Spanish authorities\nwould not permit such a thing on the frontier. After all, the Spanish\nand the French were rivals here, and such a marriage might even lead to\nwar among the two nationalities at these outposts of empire.\n\nDerBonne was well aware of the dire consequences that might result from\nthe marriage and without a doubt had discussed the situation with his\nCommandante, St. Denis. Now, Louis Juchereau de St. Denis was one of the\nslyest and most commercial-minded men who ever trod the soil of\nNatchitoches, certainly the most adventurous. Without accusing him of\nentering into a conspiracy, he evaluated the circumstances concerning\nthis elopement, and weighed the risks of the outcome.\n\nFirst, DerBonne was a good French soldier and officer and if he were to\nget married this would bring about family ties on the frontier, which\nwould keep him in the Natchitoches district (quite often when a\nsoldier\u2019s enlistment expired he left the Natchitoches area for greener\npastures). DerBonne would settle land nearby so that his wife to be\nwould be near her own people. Eventually when his enlistment expired,\nthe French would have an experienced officer in this area without having\nto pay for his services. DerBonne was also a trader, and his supplies\nwere furnished by the store at the Natchitoches post and St. Denis\nreceived a commission on all merchandise sold at the post as well as on\nall trade merchandise sent back to New Orleans. This marriage between\nDerBonne and the daughter of a high ranking official at Los Adais would\nnaturally bring on better trade relations, even if it was to be effected\nin a slightly underhand way.\n\nSecondly, St. Denis understood the love of a Spanish parent wishing to\nsee his offspring happily married. He probably thought of his own\nmarriage to Manuella and how her family risked all their worldly\npossessions and position of office to protect his marriage into the Don\nDiego Ramone family. The Spanish, to be sure, had their faults, but also\nthey must be commended for their forgiving and understanding nature when\nthe welfare of their families was concerned. In this respect Jose\nGonzalez, the Lieutenant Governor of Los Adais, would be no exception.\nHe knew that this man would have to do a great deal of letter writing\nand pretending but in the end would be a forgiving father-in-law. St.\nDenis, after weighing the risks, secretly consented to lend his support\nto this marriage. Even if the risks had been greater St. Denis would\nhave given his consent because his whole life, if one studies it\ncarefully, was full of risks and intrigue. One more incident would have\nmade no difference to him. The fact is that he probably enjoyed the\nentire situation, for this affair would bring a new topic of interest\nand conversation to the dull life of the frontier.\n\nThe whole procedure of the successful elopement suggests the cool,\ncalculating mind of one such as St. Denis possessed, not the flustrated\nmind of a young lover.\n\nLet us examine the water-route that these two elopers traveled: The\nArroyo Adais, a small stream of water that ran near the Presidio De Los\nAdais and then into the Bayou Mayoux. This bayou ran into La Petite\nRigolet (Little River, as it is known today) in turn ran into Bayou\nPierre, which drained into Red River (just above Grande Ecore) flowed\npast the French fort at Natchitoches. The distance traveled would be\nabout twenty-four miles.\n\nGovernor Gonzalez\u2019s letter states that DerBonne and two Frenchmen ran\noff with his daughter. These two Frenchmen would have to be hand-picked\nmen capable of carrying out an assignment without a flaw. Men who could\nstand the rigors of twenty-four miles of continuous paddling, part of\nthe time being in the black of the night, men who could be trusted to\nkeep their mouths shut, and above all men who were not afraid of danger\nfor which there would be no profit to them and certain imprisonment if\nthey were caught. Evidently the post at Natchitoches had two such men.\nHowever, their names are not mentioned. So by process of elimination of\nthe known inhabitants of Natchitoches at this time let\u2019s see if we can\ndetermine who these two men were. But first, one most important point\nthat should be brought out, because as they were to travel by water\nthere could be no risk of a drowning, especially of the girl\u2014if this\nwere to happen war would certainly follow. The inhabitants of\nNatchitoches in 1736 were: St. Denis, Commandante, his wife, Manuella\nand his children; Pierre Largen, trader, married to an Ais Indian\nmaiden; Lt. Basset next in command; Lobotiniere, trader and farmer,\nmarried; Duterpints, soldier and baker for the post; Jean Lagross,\ntrader and merchant, settled across the river from Campti; Dr. Payne\n(Pain), Doctor and Notary, married; Jean Baptista Deherbonne (BerBonne,\nDerbon, Derbonne); Lt. Gautren, married; Lafreniere, soldier; Joseph La\nDuc, soldier; Prudhomme, planter and trader, married; Sieur Barme, store\nkeeper, married; Jacques De La Chase, government storekeeper, married;\nP. Duplessis, Notary, married; Father Pierre Vietry, Jesuit Priest;\nSieur Bacque, farmer, married; Pierre Mercer, farmer; Andre Berrange,\nfarmer; Antoine Germaine, soldier; Juan Biseros, merchant, married;\nAntonio Charbonnet, merchant; Gilbert Maxent, merchant; Pierre Gaignie,\ntrader, married; Nicholas Tibaud, trader; Paul Muller, soldier; the two\nBarberousses, hunters contracted to supply meat for the Post;\nLaRenaudiere, a miller; Rambin, a tailor, married; the Dupress brothers,\nhunters and trappers; DeLame, storekeeper and trader; Jean Layssard and\nNicholas Layssard, brothers, soldiers and traders; Lantallic, farmer and\ntrader; Sieur Badin, farmer, trader and storekeeper; Francois Lemoine,\nsoldier in love with Victoria Emanuella Garcia; Sieur Jambare, doctor.\n\nAccording to a 1735 census there were only 32 people at Natchitoches,\nhowever, this must have meant the personnel of the Post St. Jean\nBaptist. It will be noticed that there were many traders listed,\nundoubtedly many of these were also soldiers, but not listed as\nsoldiers, because a soldier\u2019s pay was so small, and that they were paid\nonly once a year, if at all. Many of them drew from the Army Post\nExchange and sold this merchandise either to the Indians or the\nSpaniards, who seemed to have many gold coins, but there the army post\nhad nothing to sell them. The reason being that Los Adais was too remote\nfrom its base of supplies.\n\nOf all the names listed, the two most likely to have assisted DerBonne\nwould have been Francois Lemoine and Jean Lagrosse. I give these\nreasons\u2014Francois Lemoine was young, strong and ablebodied or he would\nnot have been a soldier. He was in love with a Spaniard, Victoria\nEmanuello Garcia. Therefore, if someone was willing to break the barrier\nbetween the two nations he might profit by assisting and observing the\noutcome. Jean Lagross, Indian trader had married a Caddo maiden of the\nAis tribe. By so doing he was recognized as a member and friend of the\nCaddo federation of which the Adais Indians at Los Adais was also a\ntribe of this federation. This being the case the Adais would not take\npart in a search for a member of their own nation if their assistance\nwas requested by the Governor of the Spanish Fort. Lagross had been with\nSt. Denis during his stay in Mexico, he had a good knowledge of the\nSpaniard\u2019s abilities, and too, Lagross had many friends among the\nSpanish. Being a trader he had traveled this water route many times. His\nskilled hands would surely be the ones to steer the pirogue safely back\nto Natchitoches.\n\nThe good friends, St. Denis and Manuella, would have met the boat when\nit arrived at Natchitoches. Manuella would not have missed this wedding\nfor anything. After all Victoria was of her own people and who in\nNatchitoches could best represent her.\n\nNow for the part of Gonzalez\u2019s letter stating that a priest could not\nmarry a couple without the proper notices of the betrothal being read on\nthree consecutive Sundays. This is true in most cases, but, there is an\nold saying that the French always had a way for everything, and so in\nthis case they had a way which was recognized by the Church. Due to the\nshortage of priests in Louisiana there was a ceremony of marriage called\n\u201cjumping the broom\u201d and in the eyes of witnesses this was considered a\njust and true marriage. The couple vowed that the wedding would be\nsolemnized as soon as a priest was available (Quite often in recent\nyears this procedure was looked upon as a joke but in the year 1735 in\nLouisiana it was no joking matter). Here, too, a time element was\nnecessary. Possibly somewhere en-route to Natchitoches this party pulled\nthe boat onto the bank long enough to make a broom of switch cane and\nthe two witnesses, Lagrosse and Lemoine, watched as DerBonne and\nVictoria jumped the broom. This was necessary. You will note that the\nwedding took place after mid-night or right at mid-night, the beginning\nof another day. When the couple told Father Vietry that they had jumped\nthe broom yesterday they did not lie, they had witnesses to prove it.\nFather Pierre Vietry had no choice but to marry them.\n\nJust so you do not get the wrong impression of Jose Gonzalez you should\nknow that in his letter he states that Padre Vallejo was going to\nNatchitoches the next day and that Victoria would return with him to\nreceive blessings of her family. Later maps of Natchitoches show that\nDerBonne owned more land than St. Denis, the Commandante of the\nNatchitoches Post. Gonzalez could have refused Victoria her dowry\nbecause she eloped. Either she got the dowry or DerBonne was an\nexcellent trader. With twenty eight known competitors in the same\nprofession, I believe he got the dowry, and Papa Gonzalez saved face and\nhis position by the elopement happening as it did. And, too, I believe\nJose could have written that letter before the elopement and put down\nthe facts just as they occurred.\n\nIn July of the same year Francois Lemoine married Victoria Manuella\nGarcia. And so ... the Arroyo Honda barrier came down.\n\n\n\n\n                                  VII\n                   INCIDENTS OF THE YEARS, 1735-1742\n\n\nIn 1735 Justine de Louche was the first to settle in the area of\nCloutierville, Louisiana.\n\nIn 1736 Manuel Flores and Carlos Bustimento demanded the same privileges\nallowed Sanchez, that the Spanish Governor of Los Adais give them title\nto their land. This was granted and soon to follow were grants to\nSolice, Toro, Rodriguez, Martinez and Garcia. These family men soon\nbecame independent and also became traders among the Indians.\n\nIn this same year Benites Franquis de Lugo replaced Sandoval as Governor\nof Los Adais. An old enemy of Sandoval, he placed him under arrest and\nstripped the ex-governor of his wealth and rank. He was charged with\ndeserting the post at Los Adais and going to live at San Antonio de\nBexar, thereby neglecting the duties of his office; and for recognizing\nthe Arroyo Hondo boundary instead of the west bank of the Red River,\nthus allowing the French to build a new fort on that side of the Red\nRiver.\n\nThe friends of Sandoval appealed to the Viceroy to send witnesses to Los\nAdais to investigate the charges of Governor Lugo.\n\nIn 1737 Fernandez de Jauregui y Urritgua, who was at that time Governor\nof Nueva Leon, a region which adjoined the Coahuila and Tejas country,\ncame to Los Adais as a _visatador_ (witness). He questioned the\npopulation, visited the post at Natchitoches and made inquiries there.\nLieutenant Gonzalez explained the conditions of the presidio, the\nshortage of manpower and food and how nearly all the necessities\nnecessary to sustain life had to be obtained from the French.\n\nUrritgua left Prudincio de Orbito as temporary governor, arrested Lugo,\nsent a message back to the Viceroy clearing Sandavol of all charges and\nrequesting that the prisoner be restored to his position. In the same\nyear San Antonious Bazaterra was sent as Governor of Los Adais and all\nof the Texas Region. Bazaterra was a merchant from Saltillo in Mexico,\nand he used his new position to transport his personal merchandise to\nthe Adais frontier. He demanded that the Spanish cease trading with the\nFrench.\n\nIn April, 1738, he detained and arrested Jean Lagross, a French trader\nen-route to the Upper Caddos on the big bend of the Red River. According\nto the Arroyo Hondo agreement between Sandavol and St. Denis, the French\ntraders were to be allowed to pass through the Spanish held Adais land\nduring the wet season. Jean Lagross had a passport to that effect, but\nBazaterra refused to recognize the passport and had Lagross\u2019 merchandise\nburned in front of witnesses.\n\nWord of his action soon reached St. Denis and messages were sent to Los\nAdais, to San Antonio and to Mexico City, by means of Indian carriers.\nBazaterra was accused of trouble making and charged with making advances\ntoward Lagross\u2019 wife, who, although an Indian, had been legally wed to\nLagross at La Mission Senora de Guadelupe at Nacogdoches. Therefore she\nwas a French woman and had been recognized as such by the French at\nNatchitoches and by the Spanish at Los Adais since her wedding. St.\nDenis also reminded the Spanish officials that due to the fact that\nLagross had taken an Ais maiden for his wife, in the eyes of the Caddo\nFederation of Indians, Lagross was a Caddo according to the Indian\u2019s\nviewpoint, therefore, this injustice could lead to serious trouble if\nthe Frenchman were not compensated for his loss. Much to the\ndisappointment of Bazaterra, he was ordered to pay Lagross for his\nmerchandise out of his own pocket. \u201cSuch\u201d, remarked St. Denis, \u201cis the\npower of the pen\u201d.\n\nBazaterra, however, in spite of his difficulties, piled up the\nequivalent of forty thousand dollars during his nearly four-year tenure\nas Governor on the Adais frontier. It must be said on his behalf that he\nwas an excellent tradesman. St. Denis admitted that he was glad to see\nhim leave.\n\nIn 1741 Thomas Phillip Winthuisin replaced Bazaterra as Governor of Los\nAdais. The new governor was a civilian and lacking in the knowledge of\nthe military. This in itself presented a dangerous situation on the\nAdais frontier. The inhabitants requested that a man of the military be\nsent to Los Adais.\n\nAnd in 1742 the talk of the year was how two ex-French soldiers,\nLavespere and Brossilier, maintained _travasser_ (a kind of flat boat)\nservice from New Orleans to Natchitoches, bringing additional medical\nsupplies to Dr. Bonnafons. These two men had rigged their boat with\npulleys which enabled them to pull the boat through the shallow places\nin the river at low-water stage.\n\n\n\n\n                                  VIII\n                            THE THREE CABINS\n\n\nJose Guiterez, a _mestizo_ (a person of mixed Indian and Spanish blood)\nwas returning from Natchitoches after having visited the store of Dr.\nBonnafons. As he descended the trail down the side of Grand Montania he\nallowed his horse to pick its way. At the foot of this high hill a small\ncreek flowed called the Arroyo Hondo and at the bank of the small creek\nhe must rest his animal for a while before continuing on to his home\nnear the Presidio de Los Adais. The spring of the year 1742 had been a\nvery trying and wet year, the Arroyo Hondo would be wider now because of\nso much rainfall. He always felt good when he reached this small\nrivulet, considered the half-way distance from Los Adais to\nNatchitoches, for in his mind he felt he was more than half-way home.\n\nAs Guiterez rested he thought of his horse, a beautiful stallion. He\noften wondered if the Indian who had traded the mare, which was with\nfoal at the time and later delivered this colt, envied him now because\nof the trade. Certainly many of the French officers at Natchitoches and\nLos Adais had tried to buy the animal, but Jose would always refuse to\nconsider even talking of a trade or sale. Not only because he was such a\nfine animal, he loved the horse, _El Trumpitero_, named so because of\nthe shrill whinnies the horse voiced when a female of his species was in\nhis vicinity. And Jose had reaped generous profits in stud fees. The\nhorse had made quite a name for himself and for his owner, Jose\nGuiterez.\n\nThe year before the young Spaniard had been sent to the Presidio de San\nAntonio de Bexar to deliver a message from the Governor, Winthusin, to\nthe alvarez of San Antonio de Bexar asking his opinion about paying the\nFrench trader, Jean Lagross, for goods that had been confiscated by the\nformer Governor of Los Adais, Bazaterra, after he had granted a passport\nto the Frenchman to travel through the Spanish territory when going to\ntrade with the Caddos on upper Red River.\n\nThe alvarez at San Antonio de Bexar did not see the situation as clearly\nas did the Governor of Los Adais and was inclined to advise against\npaying Lagross. He first asked Guiterez\u2019s opinion concerning the\ncontents of the message because he was the only one present who would\nknow some of the events that led to the new Governor of Los Adais\u2019\nrequest. Guiterez explained to the alvarez that this particular\nsituation was important because the French trader had married an Ais\nIndian maiden, therefore, in the eyes of all of the Caddo tribes he was\nconsidered a Caddo and the whole Caddo Federacy might take offense if\nthe goods were not paid for; that on the Adais frontier it was necessary\nto maintain friendly relations with the French in order to purchase\nmuch-needed food supplies for the Spanish troops at el Presidio de Los\nAdais. Jean Lagross was one of the Frenchmen with the Ramone Domingo\nexpedition that established the Spanish missions as far as the\nNacogdoches Indians, and from that year, 1716, he had traded among the\nIndians of this frontier. For the last twenty-five years he had been\nknown favorably in all this country.\n\n\u201cThis is no ordinary French trader but one who is loved by the Spanish,\nFrench and the Indians, it is best to pay him for his merchandise.\u201d\n\nEl Trumpitero had carried his master to San Antonio de Bexar and back to\nLos Adais in less than three weeks, a distance of over a thousand miles.\nAnother time the horse went to Natchitoches and back to Los Adais for\nmedicine for a sick soldier, over thirty miles, in five hours. Because\nof his horse Guiterez had become the official messenger of Los Adais,\nwhich had by now realized the importance of his horse. The children at\nLos Adais greeted the horse and waved at him as if the animal was a\nhuman being. Jose and his horse were such a common sight at Natchitoches\neven inside the post.\n\nOn each occasion when he arrived at Natchitoches he always felt obliged\nto go by the house of St. Denis, whose wife was Spanish, and tell her of\nthe news at Los Adais. He was likewise welcomed at the house of Jean\nBaptist DerBonne who had wed Victoria Gonzalez, the daughter of a past\ngovernor of Los Adais. Another hospitable friend, Francois Lemoine, was\na cousin of Louis Juchereau de St. Denis of the Lemoyne family as were\nIberville and Bienville. This young French soldier had married Victoria\nEmmanuella Garcia, the daughter of a Spanish sergeant of the Presidio at\nLos Adais. Thus Jose Guiterez was most welcome at these three homes of\nFrenchmen in Natchitoches. Aside from bringing news to these three\nSpanish ladies, they in turn found out through Guiterez what the needs\nof the women of Los Adais were and then purchased these necessities for\nthem from the stores at Natchitoches because trade between the two posts\nwas forbidden. As a result the Spanish women at Los Adais did their\ntrading through the Spanish women at Natchitoches, which custom\ncontinued even when trade between the two posts was not forbidden.\n\nAs Jose sat on the bank of the Arroyo Hondo admiring his horse, he\nleaned against the trunk of a tall, slender tree and began to think\nabout his future. For a long time he had felt that there was something\nlacking in his life but he had not been able to put his finger on the\ncause of his unrest. He questioned himself about his status in life,\nconcerning his accomplishments and his ability to support himself and\nhis parents, and came to the conclusion he needed a wife and property of\nhis own\u2014either a farm or a business of some kind. He knew that his\nparents did not need support from him and that his older brothers\nactually operated the small rancho and farm\u2014they were all married and\ntherefore would continue to remain on the family estate. According to\nthe custom of the times, the oldest brother would inherit the estate,\nthat is the profits from the operation of it. He, Jose Guiterez, decided\nhe would strike out for himself, perhaps engaging in some kind of\nbusiness for he did not like rancho or farm work. Being a soldier had\ntoo many disadvantages. True, in the end after an enlistment period, a\nsoldier was given a certain amount of land, farm animals and equipment.\nHe could get them from his own family if he needed them. Being a settler\non a frontier was just as important as being a soldier, each in his own\nway was serving the purpose of making the frontier secure.\n\nThere was a chatter of birds in the tree tops just above his head which\nbroke his train of thought and brought him back to reality. As he looked\nupward Jose marvelled at the size and the straightness of the trees from\nwhich the chatter of the birds had come. Then he noticed how nearly all\nthe trees were of uniform size, straight, and all nearly sixty feet\nhigh. Here was definitely cabin material and even in this small grove\nthere were enough such trees to make several cabins. Odd, he thought, he\nhad passed this place many times and did not notice the surroundings as\nhe did this day. As his thoughts raced ahead he remembered that he had\nstopped to rest, almost always everyone else who passed this way also\nstopped. Here would be the place to establish some sort of tavern, wine\nshop or eating place. Why, he wondered, had not someone thought of this\nbefore, to erect such a place here on the Arroyo Hondo where people must\npass and where they always stop to rest a while. Jose reasoned that the\nwine shop, tavern and inn, must be available for the French, Spanish and\nIndian trade, and regardless of what would be traded to him, whether\nfurs or trade goods, sooner or later he could turn them into gold and\nsilver. Now, for obtaining the land. The east side of the Arroyo Hondo,\nwhere he intended to establish this new business, belonged to the\nFrench. According to an agreement between St. Denis and Governor Almazon\nin 1724, the dividing line between the French and Spanish would be the\nArroyo Hondo instead of the west bank of the Red River as previously\nclaimed by the Spanish. To acquire this deed would require some tact.\nFirst, he would get the land and then a wife who could be able to help\nhim operate his business. Which nationality owned this land on the east\nbank of the Arroyo Hondo made no difference. Jose decided that he would\nget a grant-title from both representatives of their respective\ngovernments. It would be interesting to see if he, a Spaniard, might\nobtain a land grant from the French, too, and if this could be done, it\nwould be quite a feather in his hat, making him more popular among his\nSpanish friends.\n\nThe grove of trees and the slight rise of the earth there formed a sort\nof flat shelf. The land was about ninety _toises_ (540 feet) square and\nextended from the Arroyo Hondo to the base of Grand Montania, and the\ntrail leading up the face of Grand Montania divided the land. This was a\ngood feature and he would ask for all land on each side of the trail so\nthat no one else could come in and establish another business near this\nresting place and be his competitor.\n\nGuiterez was excited. Even he, with no experience in the operation of\nsuch a tavern, could see the immediate success of it.\n\nEl Trumpitero with a loud whinney announced the presence of other horses\nin the vicinity, and, as Jose looked across the Arroyo Hondo, he could\nsee a small pack train composed of eight horses and three riders. As the\ntrain neared and the animals began to ford the stream he recognized the\nparty of Jean Lagross with his Ais squaw wife, Isobel, and their\ndaughter, Francine Manuella, named \u201cManuella\u201d to honor Madam St. Denis,\nwho was her godmother.\n\nBecause of so much rainfall the water of the stream was swift and deep,\nand Jose rode El Trumpitero out to the ford to offer assistance to the\nparty if needed.\n\nOne thing that both the French and Spanish had learned from the Indians\nwas the maintenance of markers on fordable streams such as the Arroyo\nHondo. Slender, cypress poles were placed in a line and at intervals\nacross the stream, each pole was painted in rings of green, yellow and\nred; the red being at the top of the pole. By looking at the poles and\ntheir markings the depth of the water could be ascertained. The markers\nwere on each side of the crossing marking the now submerged trail. This\nford crossing of the Arroyo Hondo was only about sixty feet from bank to\nbank, but on occasion it could be very dangerous if one were not careful\nand allowed the current to get the upper hand. The water at this time\nhad risen past the red markings on the poles, denoting the stream to be\nnearly six feet deep and warning that fording it would be dangerous.\nJose had noticed the markings and this was the reason that he rode his\nhorse part way out into the water.\n\nJose shouted across to Lagross to have the women mount the largest\nhorses, and in the meantime he cast his long rawhide rope to Lagross.\nThe rope was put around the lead-horse\u2019s neck and other rawhide ropes\nwere placed around the other horses\u2019 necks and attached to the packs. In\nthis manner the single file of horses and their burdens crossed the\nArroyo Hondo without mishap.\n\nAs is common in the Los Adais-Natchitoches area in the month of March,\nrains can come suddenly and frequently and this day was no exception.\nWhile the party was crossing the stream, a cold, peppering shower began\nwhich turned into a steady downpour. Immediately the two women began\nunpacking one of the horses. This pack contained several hides sewn\ntogether, the four corners were attached to four nearby grouped trees, a\nlong pole was quickly cut and placed beneath this square of hides and a\nshelter was completed, the pole raising the center of the square about\nthe four corners and causing the rain to run down the sides.\n\nMeanwhile, Lagross and Jose had gathered firewood, being careful to\nsplit the branches to expose the dry inside halves of the wood. Soon a\nwarm, drying fire was going. Jose whistled and El Trumpitero came to the\nshelter and Jose removed from the saddle bag two bottles of wine, some\ncheese and a loaf of brown, hard bread.\n\nGuiterez spoke as he passed one bottle of the wine to the two women,\n\u201cFor you Senora and Senorita, one bottle of the priests\u2019 wine, which is\nthe reason I am here. I had gone to the Post Jean Baptiste des\nNatchitoches to get wine for the priests, Father Certa and Father\nBalligo. The bread from the good miller, Sieur Le Renaudiere, baked by\nJacques Turpeaux, was sold to me by the good Doctor Bonnafons at Sieur\nBarme\u2019s Store; I bought the cheese, which was brought to Nachitoches by\nJoseph Lattier, from the two Barberousses who have a trading post among\nthe Yatasse Indians at El Campti. It is wonderful the Lord has granted\nman the power to prepare food in such a way that it is preserved for\nfuture consumption, here we sit on the Arroyo Hondo and enjoy a meal\njust as if we were sitting in our own homes.\u201d\n\nWhile they were eating Guiterez had become conscious of the beauty of\nFrancine Manuella. She seemed to have inherited all the beauty of both\nthe Indian and French races. Here thought Jose is the woman for me, this\none I intend to make my wife. Jose thought of the dowry and wondered if\nLagross had provided such for his daughter. He knew this young maiden\nwould be the ideal helpmate in his future business because she could\nspeak French, Spanish and the Caddo languages.\n\nJose decided that he would make his intentions known to Lagross. Both\nthe Lagross and Guiterez families had known each other for many years,\nand he felt that there was at least a bond of more than business, so he\ndecided to ask Lagross\u2019 assistance in obtaining this land east of the\nArroyo Hondo. He began explaining his idea to the French trader about\nbuilding a kind of trading post, and eating place which would have\naccommodations to sleep weary travelers. Lagross liked the young\nSpaniard\u2019s idea and told him so, but, said Lagross, \u201cone would need a\nwife to make such a venture complete.\u201d At this Jose made his intentions\ntoward the trader\u2019s daughter clear by stating that he wished perhaps\nthat he might have permission to pay court to his daughter. Lagross did\nnot seem surprised of Guiterez\u2019 intentions, as many had asked for his\ndaughter. \u201cMy daughter,\u201d said Lagross, \u201chas had many suitors, some\noffered marriage and some only a proposition. You understand how some of\nthe French and Spanish regard a half breed woman, however, those who\noffered a proposition now wear the mark of the short leather whip she\nalways carries. As for my permission to pay court to my daughter, that\nis entirely up to her, she is certainly old enough to be married,\naccording to other young women her age in this area. Many fathers of\nyoung girls are now pampering a grandchild. Francine is a very\nhead-strong woman and it will take an unusual man to win her hand.\u201d\n\nMeanwhile Francine, listening to this conversation, was amused, and\nfirst inclined to be angry, but then she thought, Jose offered marriage,\nnot just a proposition as many had done. Guiterez cut quite a figure,\neither astride El Trumpitero or afoot, so this man might be just the one\nfor her, but she wondered if his talk about the Three Cabins was not\njust so much talk.\n\n\u201cJose Guiterez\u201d, said Francine, \u201cJose Guiterez, a _mestizo_, a half\nbreed, wishes the hand of Francine Manuella Lagross, who is also a half\nbreed; Guiterez who talks big and has nothing to offer a wife but an\nassumption of what he intends to do; my father who sits there agreeing\nwith him while he drinks the Priests\u2019 wine and talks about me as though\nI were some sort of trade-goods; my mother sits there nodding her head\nin agreement, as if she would be glad to get rid of me; all of you\ntalking as if I would have nothing to do with the situation. Do you\nthink, Jose, that you can offer my father and mother wine, bread and\ncheese, that would be sufficient to win me as a wife? I notice that El\nTrumpitero does not have a whip mark on his hide, that the bit in his\nmouth is not the cruel Spanish bit used by the dragoons; you do not have\nthe sharp Spanish spurs on your boots, do you think you can bend me to\nyour will as you have El Trumpitero?\u201d \u201cHa,\u201d she laughed, \u201cthat would be\nsomething to see. Now, mestizo, I have a proposition. The moon will be\nfull tonight. If on the third full moon from this one, there are three\ncabins here on the Arroyo Hondo, then I will be your wife. If not I will\nhave El Trumpitero, the horse I will ride when I leave here, you can use\nmine. You see, I know you have no money, no land to sell and no possible\nway to stock such a building with trade-goods and in the meantime you\nwill not have El Trumpitero which is the only thing of value you do\nhave; now Senor Jose Guiterez what do you say to that?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Guiterez, \u201cfor so small a woman you certainly have a large\nmouth, but first I must do this.\u201d He quickly grabbed Francine and put\nher across his knee as one would do a spoiled child and spanked her\nsoundly. \u201cFirst,\u201d he said, \u201cfor talking so to her parents and second,\nthat she should show more respect to the man she is going to marry;\nthird, he was holding her to her proposition; fourth, that if, when she\nwas released, she struck him with her whip, he would use the whip on her\nso thoroughly that she would not be able to sit down for the three moons\nwhich she had previously mentioned.\u201d Lagross roared with laughter as his\nsquaw whispered to him that Francine had finally met her match.\n\nThe rain had ceased and the group headed for Natchitoches, Francine\nastride El Trumpitero and Guiterez astride the horse of Francine. Not\nmuch was said until the train had reached the top of the steep hill\ncalled Grand Montania. Jose remarked that the horse of Francine had\nprobably had the same temperament as her owner and she undoubtedly bit\nand kicked. Francine, not without a retort, stated that M. St. Denis\ncould not grant land to a Spaniard, he would be a fool if he did, El\nTrumpitero was as good as hers right now. Guiterez said he had one thing\nthat Francine had overlooked when she stated her proposition and that\nshe was as good as married to him right now. So the two passed the time\non the way to Natchitoches arguing with each other.\n\nAt Natchitoches Guiterez went to Sieur Barme\u2019s Store and obtained more\nwine for the priests at Los Adais. He then went to see St. Denis and\ntold him of the occurrences of the day, and his intentions. St. Denis\nsaid, \u201cI have no authority to do this other than to a Frenchman.\u201d \u201cNow,\u201d\nsaid Madame St. Denis, who had evidently been eavesdropping on the\nconversation, \u201csince when has M. De St. Denis ever questioned the word\n\u2018authority\u2019, especially in such a matter advantageous to the French as\nwell as the Spanish, not to mention the extra profits in commissions to\nbe received from trade goods sold Guiterez at this prospective trading\npost.\u201d \u201cMadame,\u201d said St. Denis, \u201cyou underestimate me. I merely stated\nthat I did not have the authority, I did not say that I would see that\nGuiterez did not get the land. Now go quickly and send someone to fetch\nSieur Barme.\u201d When Sieur Barme arrived St. Denis explained all to him.\n\u201cNow\u201d, said St. Denis to Barme, \u201cI will sell to you 10 arpents of land\nat the base of Grand Montania this side of the Arroyo Hondo for ten\npercent of the first year\u2019s profits of the first year that this new\ntrading post is in operation. I will sell this land to you in the name\nof the King of France, what you do with this land is your business. Now,\nSenor Guiterez wishes to buy some land, on this land he intends to build\na trading post called The Three Cabins. If you wish to sell this land to\nSenor Guiterez for ten percent of the profits of his first year\u2019s\nbusiness, you would be in accord with the law to do so. As far as\nmerchandise for this said trading post I am sure your store could supply\nthe necessary merchandise. As for payment, I am sure Senor Guiterez can\nbe trusted, and as for security there would be the dowry given by Jean\nLagross. If you are in agreement I will send for the Notary and draw up\nthe papers. In the meantime you can issue a bill of sale to Senor\nGuiterez for the land.\u201d Addressing Guiterez, \u201cSenor, you now own 10\narpents of land, but building the three cabins in the allotted time will\ntake some doing. In the meantime you have many friends here at\nNatchitoches and I will see that they know about your problem.\u201d\n\nBack at Los Adais Guiterez obtained an interview with the Governor,\nWinthuisin, to ask for permission to establish the Three Cabins on the\nFrench side of the Arroyo Hondo. The Governor at Los Adais agreed to\nGuiterez\u2019 request. Almazon had settled the question that the Arroyo\nHondo was the boundary between the territories of France and Spain, and\nany Governor could give away land which did not belong to his country.\nGuiterez now had the sanction of both the French and the Spanish. When\nhe explained all the details to his family and his many Spanish friends,\nall turned to with willing hands and the wilderness of the Arroyo Hondo\nrang with the echoes of many axes. Indians and Frenchmen from\nNatchitoches brought food and extra assistance. In less than the first\nmoon two of the cabins were completed. Guiterez had Father Certa at Los\nAdais begin reading the banns for matrimony, and on the fourth Sunday\nFrancine came down the steep trail of Grand Montania and looked at The\nThree Cabins finished and stocked with trade goods.\n\nAs the two left The Three Cabins to go to Los Adais to be wed, Guiterez\nsaid to Francine, \u201cRemember when you are estimating my values, I told\nyou I had one thing that you had forgotten to name, that one thing was\nfriends.\u201d \u201cSo you have\u201d, said Francine, \u201cbut did you not wonder where so\nmuch food came from to feed those who were building the three cabins, I\nam not without friends\u201d, and she smiled, \u201cso, my high and mighty\nGuiterez, I think we are going to make a good match. Many of our friends\nthink so too. Doesn\u2019t the female bird always help her mate build the\nnest? Look behind you at all those people coming to our wedding, they\nare your friends as well as mine\u201d. Guiterez gazed at Francine admiringly\nand said, \u201cthere is a blessing in rain in more ways than one.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                                   IX\n                            AFTER ST. DENIS\n\n\nIn 1743 Justo Bonev y Morales was sent to replace Winthuisin as\nGovernor. Morales, a Knight of the Order of Santiago, was a man\nbefitting the ideals of St. Denis, who was now a Knight of the Order of\nSt. Louis. These two visited often, two knights on a tiny western\nfrontier. By now the French and Spanish had intermarried frequently so\nthat the Arroyo Hondo barrier stood in name only.\n\nOn June 11, 1744, St. Denis died. Morales came to offer his condolences\nas did many from Los Adais. Indians and slaves alike bowed their heads\nto the memory of this man.\n\nGovernor Morales, in keeping with the false cold front of diplomacy,\nwrote his superiors, \u201cSt. Denis is dead, thank God, now we can breathe\neasier\u201d.\n\nCaptain Caesar de Blanc, a son-in-law of St. Denis, was appointed Post\nCommandante at Natchitoches and in the same year, 1744, Governor Morales\nwas replaced by Francois Garcia Larios. These two men had no outstanding\nquarrels, for during these four years both the French and the Spanish\nprospered, crops were favorable and the trail from Los Adais was\ntraveled daily by each of the nationalities. The Natchitoches area was\nprosperous and shipped to New Orleans, tobacco, cattle, horses and other\nfarm products. Even those farmers at Los Adais were selling to the New\nOrleans market. Young Gil Y. Barbo was importing wild cattle and horses,\nobtained from the plains of Texas, driven over El Camino Real to the\nAdais-Natchitoches frontier, and on to New Orleans.\n\nThere was a working agreement between Juan de Mora and Lt. Derbonne, now\nretired from the French army and a civilian, farmer, trader and exporter\nof note in the Natchitoches post area.\n\nIn 1748 Pedro del Barrios Jacinto y Esprilla, an Alcolade of the Santo\nHernando of all New Spain, was appointed the new Governor of Los Adais.\nThe humdrum life of the frontier was too much for the new Governor so he\ngave up his position to Jacinto de Barrios y Gauregui in 1750. Barrios\nremained as governor until 1759, having had the fortitude to be Governor\nof Los Adais for a longer span of time than any of his predecessors. By\nnow third generation Spaniards were being born on the Texas frontier\nfrom San Antonio De Bexar to Los Adais. These people were experiencing a\nnew freedom not felt anywhere else in New Spain. They now regarded this\nland of Texas as their own. The seat of government was too far away to\nexercise a cloistered, ruling hand over them.\n\nIn 1759 Angle de Martos y Navarette replaced Jacinto Barrios as Governor\nof Los Adais. Navarette was a merchant and began to liven the frontier.\nUp to this time the French were supplying the area with all needed\nmaterial, but when the new Governor came, fine Spanish lace, woolens and\nlinen, finer than any which had previously been offered for sale on the\nfrontier, and nails, which had always been scarce on the frontier,\nbecame plentiful.\n\nIn 1762 Louis XV gave Louisiana to his cousin Charles III of Spain.\n\nIn 1762 Caesar De Blanc was replaced at Natchitoches by Adrian Francois\nLe Doux as Post Commandante. He was in turn replaced by Angelus La\nPerrier in 1764. Perrier was the Commandante who received the first\nCatholic nuns to arrive in Natchitoches; thus 1765 marked the date of\nthe beginning of formal scholastic training in the area.\n\nThrough his merchandising endeavors on this French-Spanish frontier\nNavarette had amassed for himself an estimated eighty thousand dollar\nfortune. In 1767 Don Hugo O\u2019Connor was appointed Governor of the Adais\nand Texas country, and in November of that year, on the seventh day,\nCommandante La Perrier had the sad responsibility of turning over the\nNatchitoches Post to Don Antonio Ulloa representing the Spanish\nGovernment. In this same year O\u2019Connor received a visitor, Padre Jose de\nSolice, who kept a diary of his visitation which was translated by\nReverend Peter T. Forristal and was published as one of the preliminary\nstudies of the Texas-Coahuila Historical Society.\n\nFather Solice records the work of the priests of the Mission de Los\nAdais. There were 256 baptisms, 64 marriages and 116 burials. At the\nNatchitoches Post he found records of 20 baptisms, 13 marriages and 15\nburials. (Natchitoches was quite often without the services of a priest\nand the padres of Los Adais supplied their spiritual needs).\n\nAlso, in 1767 Athanase De Mezieres, a Frenchman, was appointed\nCommandante of Post St. Jean Baptiste Des Natchitoches.\n\nIn 1770 Baron de Ripperda was appointed Governor of Los Adais and it\nbefell his duty to see to the evacuation of Presidio Senors del Pilar de\nLos Adais. The Spanish authorities decided that now that the Louisiana\nTerritory was entirely under Spanish jurisdiction, this presidio was no\nlonger necessary.[9]\n\nRipperda issued orders that all settlers and army personnel were to be\nready in three days to leave the area. Many of the farmers fled to the\nNatchitoches area with their families and worldly goods.\n\nWith Natchitoches now the seat of Government of the Texas area westward\nto San Antonio, El Camino Real was lengthened at least fifteen miles in\nextent from Natchitoches to Mexico City. De Mezieres had under his\njurisdiction an area extending from Post Du Rapides (Alexandria) to the\nAtaquapois in Oklahoma southward to San Antonio.\n\nThe inhabitants of Los Adais and those residing around the missions in\nthe Nacogdoches area were rebellious and Baron Ripperda extended his\nultimatum to five days.\n\nAntonio Gil y Barbo and Gil Flores became the heroes of the evacuation\nof Los Adais, some five hundred men, women and children moved to the\nvicinity of San Antonio. The former inhabitants of El Camino Real were\nnot happy. They longed for the fertile soil and forests which abounded\nin wild game of the East Texas and West Louisiana area. Flores and y\nBarbo were sent with a petition to the Viceroy of Mexico. The two\nreturned with the news that the people would be allowed to settle in a\nnew area. They moved to a settlement on the Trinity River at Robbins\nCrossing, the present day location in Madison County, Texas.\n\nFloods and the danger of hostile Indians soon forced the settlers to\nseek a new environment. They moved eastward to Nacogdoches under the\nleadership of y Barbo. There in 1779 was established the Town of\nNacogdoches.\n\nY Barbo and a party of followers went back to Los Adais and dug up four\nof the six cannon buried there just prior to the evacuation of the area.\nThey returned to Nacogdoches and re-established La Presidio de Neustra\nSenora de Los Delores de Nacogdoches and in the same year Antonio Gil y\nBarbo was appointed Commandante of the Presidio.\n\nAt Natchitoches in 1773 Commandante De Mezieres kept contact with all of\nthis vast area by assigning traders to establish trading posts among the\ndifferent Indian tribes and suppliers were assigned to each trader:\n\n  Pierre Bison was sent to the Calcasieu Indians, the supplier was Reme\n          Poissot;\n  Louis Pablo Villeneuve De Blanc to Caddoquopois, Bisadorewas to supply\n          him;\n  Jose Antonio Bonetis was sent to Atachapois, this man was an\n          independent trader;\n  Pierre Blot was sent to the Nacogdoches Indians and Joseph Blancpain\n          was to supply him;\n  Caesar Barme was sent to the Yatasses near Campti, Louisiana;\n\nNicholas Chef was an independent trader to the Tokawanes; these were in\nan area fifty miles northwest of the present-day city of Fort Worth,\nTexas. It was one of the most remote trading posts from Natchitoches and\nDe Mezieres assigned a supply-patrol of the militia at the Natchitoches\nPost to supply the necessary trade goods. Sergeant Joseph Trichell, who\nhad been assigned to the Natchitoches Post in 1749, was to command the\npatrol which consisted of Corporal Nicholas Tournier and an accountant,\nNicholas Le Noir. Four musketeers, Francois Hugue, Louis Moinet,\nNicholas Pent and Andries Compiere. Domingo De Soto was to act as\ninterpreter.\n\nThis patrol was responsible for the arrest of four Englishmen who had\ncrossed the Mississippi River and were trading among the Tokawanes. The\nfour men were William Warden, John Cross, John Hamilton and Jerome\nMatalinche.\n\nDe Mezieres was vexed with Sgt. Trichell for allowing the Englishmen to\nsell all of their trade goods to the Indians and threatened him with\nimprisonment, but Trichell explained that the Indians would have gone on\nthe war path if they had not been allowed to trade for the English\nmerchandise. Trichell countered with the fact that all of the profits of\nthe English traders were now in his hands and that there was no\ndifference if De Mezieres had the trade-goods or the profits. De\nMezieres paid the Englishmen in French and Spanish coin equal to the\noriginal cost of the merchandise, and this same patrol was ordered to\nescort the Englishmen fifty miles east of Natchez before setting them\nfree. The Englishmen were charged with the Patrol\u2019s expenses.\n\n  Luis de Quindise was an independent Spanish trader and was sent to the\n          Adais Indians.\n  Pierre Dupain was sent to the Peticaddo;\n  Andre D\u2019Hutrive was sent to the Bidias on the Trinity River;\n  Alexis Grappe was sent to the Ais and Guierlero Lestage was to supply\n          him.\n\nIn 1770 DeMezieres following St. Denis\u2019 method of keeping peace with the\nIndians, invited the Chiefs to come and stand before him at Post Du\nNatchitoches to receive presents in the name of the King of Spain. Along\nEl Camino Real traveled such great Chiefs as:\n\n  Tinhioune, Chief of the Caddoquopois.\n  Santo, head Chief of the Bidias and Don Melchor, otherwise called\n          Gorgorritos, a sub Chief of the Bidias.\n  Quirotaches, Chief of the Nacogdoches Indians.\n  Christobal, Chief of the Taouaizes.\n  Vigotos, head Chief of the Hasinai Federation of Indians.\n\nThus, by gaining the friendship and allegiance of the most important\nIndian Chiefs of the territory, DeMezieres established an easy feeling\nbetween the Indians and the Spanish Government.\n\nAs of February 16, 1776 DeMezieres sent this Census Report to Unzaga,\nGovernor at New Orleans:\n\n  113 homes; 105 heads of families with 86 women; 77 youths able to bear\n  arms; 106 infants; 34 unmarried women; 84 bachelors and non residents\n  engaged in hunting and fishing and trade with the Indians; 2 male and\n  2 female free people of color; 2 male and 1 female mulattos; 410\n  Indian and negro slaves (men, women and children); 277 pieces of fire\n  arms; 1258 head horses, 842 head cattle, 3000 head sheep and goats and\n  783 hogs and 481 mules. There was shipped from Natchitoches: 1000 head\n  horses; 100 mules; 9 quintals of indigo; 15 fenegas of indigo seed;\n  30,000 packages of tobacco; 120 buffalo hides; 36,000 deer hides; 5000\n  ambrias of bear oil; 5000 pounds of tallow, quantities of bacon and\n  meats, both salted and dried.\n\n\n\n\n                                   X\n                      AFTER THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE\n\n\nIn 1802 Louisiana was ceded back to France by Spain by the Treaty of\nIldefonso. On May 2, 1803 Livingston and Monroe signed with\nBarbe-Marbois the purchase treaty which was dated back to April 30,\n1803; thus Louisiana became a possession of the United States.\n\nSpain did not approve of the sale of Louisiana and decided to reclaim\nall of the land originally occupied prior to the time when Louisiana was\nceded to Spain.\n\nThere was a movement of Spanish soldiers under the command of General\nHurrera as far as Nacogdoches and from there patrols were sent across\nthe Sabine River.\n\nFort Claiborne, established in 1805 at Natchitoches by orders of General\nWilkinson, was occupied by several companies of the Second Infantry of\nthe United States Army under the command of Major Porter.\n\nDr. John Sibley had been appointed Indian Agent for this area of the\nSouthwestern Frontier by Governor Claiborne. Dr. Sibley had been keeping\nan account of the Spanish patrol movements east of the Sabine River\nthrough contact with the Indians of the area. On February 2, 1806, he\nsent a letter to Major Moses Porter at Fort Claiborne saying that there\nwas a detachment of Spanish militia encamped at Juan Mora\u2019s Lagoon, also\nknown as Conichi Ranch, one league east of Los Adais on Bayou Dupont.\n\nLt. Piatt was sent with a letter to Nacogdoches, demanding that all\nSpanish patrols east of the Sabine River retire immediately to the west\nbank of that stream.\n\nCaptain Edward D. Turner left for the Los Adais area with a detachment\nof soldiers on February 5, 1806. The Spanish patrol was contacted and\nCaptain Turner delivered the ultimatum of Major Porter that it retire to\nthe west bank of the Sabine River.[10]\n\nThis document from the U. S. Army records shows the result of that\nmeeting: The beginning of the Neutral Strip.\n\n  At the Adais\n  February 6, 1806.\n\nI, Joseph Maria Gonzalez, commandante of his most Catholic Majesty\u2019s\ntroops on this side of the Rio Sabinas, hereby having agreed with\nCaptain Edward D. Turner, Captain in the United States Army, to return\nall troops of his Catholic Majesty\u2019s to the other side of the said Rio\nSabinas, as soon as my horses will permit it or in five days, or at the\nmost six, and to make my march this day and I also oblige myself to not\nsend any more patrols on this side of the Rio Sabinas.\n\n                                    Signed: Ensign Joseph Maria Gonzalez\n                                 Witness: John V. Duforest (Interpreter)\n\nThe above document was the result of an agreement establishing a\nno-man\u2019s land between the Arroyo Hondo and the Sabine River, which\nneither the United States Government nor the Mexican Government would\nuse, until a final settlement could be reached between the two said\ngovernments about a boundary. This agreement was made by two young\nofficers representing their respective countries, both willing to fight\nfor their countries, but both having the intelligence and initiative to\ndeclare a stalemate to prevent a war.\n\nThis forty mile wide strip of land became known as the Neutral Strip,\nand in it gathered the lawless of both countries. Even so, from within\nthis lawless area were to come men who would strike the first blow for\nTexas independence.\n\nIn 1807 several slaves of Louis Derbonne and other planters owning land\nadjoining the Neutral Strip, fled into the Neutral Strip and from there\nthey went to Nacogdoches and on to Trinidad de Salcedo on the Trinity\nRiver, where they were given refuge by the Spanish Government.\n\nOn September 5, 1807, Don Manuel de Salcedo, Governor of Texas at\nNacogdoches, received a letter saying:\n\n  The planters of the Natchitoches area are threatening to organize a\n  force of 250 men to go after slaves known to be in the Texas area of\n  Nacogdoches and at Trinidad de Salcedo unless the slaves are returned.\n\nThe letter reminded the Spanish Governor of Article XX of the treaty\nbetween the United States and Mexico which said fugitive slaves must be\nreturned to their owners. The letter was signed by Judge John Carr, and\nJustices Rouquier and Paillette.\n\nThe above letter and a letter from Governor Claiborne brought about the\ndesired results. The governor might have been influenced by the\nknowledge of the Phillip Nolan filibustering expedition in 1800 which\nspent itself at Waco-Texas vicinity. Nolan had for several years\ntraveled westward from the Alexandria, Louisiana area and established a\ntrail straight westward into the Texas-San Antonio area, where he was\ntrading for and capturing wild horses and cattle. This trail later\nbecame known as Nolan\u2019s Trace.\n\n\n\n\n                                   XI\n                        THE DEVIL\u2019S PLAY GROUND\n\n\nWhen Generals Wilkinson and Herrera agreed to the boundaries set by\ntheir two junior officers, Turner and Gonzalez, they created a back door\nto the United States of a forty-mile-wide strip which was to become one\nof the most lawless places that ever existed within the confines of the\nUnited States.\n\nEvery outlaw and murderer made this Neutral Strip his destination, The\nFree State of Sabine, it was called. Neither Spain nor the United States\nwished to have the responsibility or the expense of policing this outlaw\nstate, although the southland\u2019s busiest road cut through the center of\nit. But traffic was heavy just the same. Many found that the only safe\nway to cross the strip was to travel in force, therefore, either at\nNatchitoches or on the west side of Sabine River, the travelers waited\nuntil a large enough group was gathered to guarantee safe travel.\n\nThe outlaws of the Strip dealt in horse stealing, cattle rustling,\ncounterfeiting, or any other form of crime that might strike their\nfancy. There is no definite data or history of the goings-on inside the\narea, but many men who lived in, or traveled through the district\nrecorded their experiences in diaries and stories or just handed down\nhearsay tales of the happenings in this lawless land. There, a person\u2019s\nsecurity was strapped at his hips or carried in his hands in the form of\npistols, long rifles or knives. Even the long, rawhide whip was\nconsidered a deadly weapon in the hands of an expert.\n\nLos Adais was a waystation and on the bulletin board appeared one day a\nword with a new meaning, Sabina 28, the same sign appeared on the\nRendezvous Oak at Natchitoches. To the average citizen it meant nothing,\nbut to those in the know it meant slaves would be for sale at a point\nnear Pendleton at the ferry on Sabine River on the 28th of that month.\n\nWith the discovery of a new way to granulate sugar and with the\ninvention of the cotton gin, the land around Los Adais and Natchitoches\nbecame highly productive when planted in sugar cane and cotton and more\nslaves were needed, but the United States had forbidden their\nimportation.\n\nTo Jean Lafitte, the pirate, the Sabine River with the protection of the\nNeutral Strip, became the back door to the United States. Slaves for\nwagon loads of food were commonly exchanged, according to the statements\nof a Mr. Tulley at Los Adais and Mr. Gunlineau at Natchitoches. Lafitte\nneeded food for his pirate operations. Up the Sabine River the boats\nwere pulled, poled or paddled by the slaves to be sold. From the Los\nAdais and Natchitoches areas came wagon loads of food, smoked hams, kegs\nof salted bacon, cornmeal, kegs of molasses, wine, corn whiskey, dried\nbeans, peppers, tobacco, sweet potatoes and gourds of honey, with spiced\ncake sent by hopeful wives to the pirates so that their husbands might\nmake more profitable deals.\n\nBack on the same wagons came the slaves, bolts of cloth, jewelry and\nperfume (Lafitte\u2019s storehouses was filled with goods from every Spanish\nand British ship that he could capture). Everything was legal as far as\nthe bills of sale went. A certain honest merchant in New Orleans, with a\ngood reputation and scruples, signed blank bills of sale, to be filled\nin by Tulley and Gunlineau.\n\nThis may seem rather crude to the average reader\u2014the smuggling of slaves\nand the ladies sending spiced goods to the pirates on the Sabine River.\nAt this very time the United States was confiscating where it could\nslaves that had been smuggled in, selling them and giving the informers\nhalf of the proceeds of the sales. Nothing was said about putting the\nslaves on a boat and returning them to their homeland. (Question: Are\nthere very many people today who try to beat the Income Tax?) There was\nsome good to come out of all this. Lafitte assisted the United States in\nthe defense of New Orleans in the war of 1812, furnishing men,\nammunition and food. Where did he obtain the food? From the Los Adais\nand Natchitoches area. Lafitte, Tulley and Gunlineau were merely\nsupplying the demand for a necessary merchandise and certainly the\nslaves were better off because of it.\n\nNoah Smithwick, who had visited the Strip, wrote of the murders,\nrobberies and numerous violations of law there. He gives us one tale\nthat falls in line with the demand and supply of the times. Because the\nman he wrote about was still alive he calls this character, John Doe.\nDoe was a counterfeiter of money, especially the Mexican silver dollar.\nThe people at that time had no \u201cjingling\u201d money for their pockets and\nDoe supplied this demand, with a silver-coated copper coin. Because of a\nslight flaw in the press the coins were easily identified and called\nDoe\u2019s dollars.\n\nAn Indian approached Doe one day and handed him one of the counterfeit\ndollars requesting that Doe put a new skin on it. Doe obliged by giving\nthe Indian a new counterfeit dollar for the old one, explaining to the\nIndian that dollars were like snakes, they always shed their skins.\nDoe\u2019s dollars, although not recognized outside the Strip, were regarded\nas legal tender therein.\n\nIt was said that Doe\u2019s dollars were of more handsome design than the\noriginal Mexican Eagle Silver Dollar.\n\nDoe, however, minted pure silver dollars of the same design. He mixed\nenough of these with the bogus dollars so that on occasion when a dollar\nwas questioned and the dollar tested, it was found to be of pure silver.\n\nDoe, like all counterfeiters, wished to extend his operations but he\nwandered out of the Strip on the American side and was arrested.\n\nEvery old place has its ghost story and \u201cSpanish Town\u201d is no exception:\n\n    [Illustration: THE NEUTRAL STRIP\n    (shaded area shown)\n\n  1. Spanish Town and Scuffelville.\n  2. Half-way-house or Twenty-mile-house, near Many, La.\n  3. Kisatchie Caves, near Kisatchie, Louisiana.\n  xxxx. The Sabine Trail, from Montgomery to the Half-way-house near\n          Many. The Planters on Red and Cane Rivers used this road when\n          going to the Sabine River to trade for Slaves.\n\n    Nolan\u2019s Trace, cut across the southern part of the Strip from Point\n    Coupee. Phillip Nolan blazed this Trail and used it to trade for\n    horses in the Texas area.\n\n    This Lawless Strip of land lasted from 1806 to 1821. It was often\n    referred to as \u201cThe Free State of Sabine\u201d.\n\n    Note:\n\n    I show Cane River on this map. However at the time of the beginning\n    of the Strip, Cane River was Red River. I show Red River as it is\n    today, to show the locations of the Towns, whose People were\n    involved in trade in the Neutral Strip.\n\n    By the year 1821, the Red River had begun to change its course to\n    the Rigolett de Bon Duex, which was a Bayou extending from a point\n    just above Natchitoches to Colfax, La. Thus you see the actual water\n    ways as they are today. (Drawn by the author)]\n\nA young Spaniard had successfully traveled the Strip, bringing with him\nwealth and many fine cloths. He settled at Spanish Town and became the\ntarget of every single maiden there. Mariea Guiterriz, who had many\nsuitors, won his heart. Anyone attempting to pay court to her ran the\nrisk of losing his life in a duel with other jealous suitors.\nImmediately after the wedding at the reception a disappointed lover\ninsulted the groom. Swords flashed, Mariea rushed between the duelists,\na sword stabbed her\u2014not a serious wound all were assured but infection\nset in and she grew worse. An old Indian gave some herbs to the young\nSpaniard with instructions how to use them to stop the infection. \u201cBoil\nthese herbs together over a small fire, the odor of the brew will change\nand when the odor is this\u201d, the Indian allowed the Spaniard to smell the\nbrew, \u201cremember the odor because now will be the time to soak the\npoultice with the solution\u201d, then the Indian was gone.\n\nThe young husband followed the instructions and Mariea began to improve,\nbut the herbs ran out and the Indian could not be found. Mariea sickened\nagain. The Spaniard went to the creek banks and the marshy places\nsearching for the herbs, building countless tiny fires, brewing grasses\nand leaves, trying to re-discover the combination of herbs that would\nproduce the exact odor he was seeking.\n\nMariea\u2019s infection worsened and she died. The young man\u2019s mind, not able\nto grasp the reality that his love had gone, became affected. His brain\nceased to function past the last day that he had left her, assuring her\nthat this would be the day that he would discover the correct blend of\nthe herbs. From that time on, fires, tiny fires could be seen on the\ncreek banks in the swamps and on the hillsides\u2014a lover, true and\ndevoted, still seeking the odor that would save the life of his beloved\nwife.\n\nThe crazy Spaniard, they called him, and those who came in contact with\nhim, those who knew the details of his sad story, made the Sign of the\nCross when he passed and silently said a prayer for him.\n\nNight and day he searched for the elusive odor, always searching. Those\nof his age, grew old and died, and so did their sons and grandsons, but\nthe legend lived on.\n\nSome say they can still see him in his never-ending search, smartly\ndressed as he kneels by a tiny fire, others say he is old, dirty, ragged\nand ugly; but all say there is no need to be alarmed because this ghost\nwalks with God.\n\nIf some day or night you see a tiny fire with a shadow kneeling by it,\nthen you, too, are walking with God, because you, too, are one possessed\nof devotion and love.\n\n\n\n\n                                  XII\n                     SATAN\u2019S AGENT\u2014JOHN A. MURRELL\n\n\nOne of the many buried treasures of the Sabine strip is claimed to\nbelong to John A. Murrell, who possessed a brilliant mind which he used\nto break all the Commandments that God gave Moses on Mount Sinai. He was\nthe type of man who could recite to another the entire books of the Old\nand New Testaments then shoot him down in cold blood.\n\nJohn A. Murrell was born about the year 1800 in Williams County,\nTennessee. His father was a Methodist Minister and his mother, a\nmountain woman, who at that time operated a wayside tavern. Through the\nteachings of his father he learned the Gospel and through the teachings\nof his mother he learned to steal. Murrell, well equipped with the\nknowledge of the good and the bad often passed as a preacher. In this\nguise he made his appearance in the Neutral Strip.\n\nAbout the year 1825 Murrell went about preaching the Gospel and at the\nsame time was organizing a band of outlaws. At Los Adais which was now\ncalled Spanish Town, at Twenty Mile House or Midway Station near Fort\nJesup, in the hidden caves near Kisatchie, he established his\nheadquarters and from these places he ranged out of the Strip to preach\nto the more populated communities.\n\nMurrell could mimic the voices of many people and was an excellent\nactor. In each community where he preached he adapted their tone of\nvoice and mannerisms. One of his favorite gospels was the one he called\n\u201cDirections\u201d. As he addressed his audience he may have been standing in\nthe pulpit of a church, or atop a stump or standing in the bed of a\nwagon, wherever a crowd gathered Murrell felt that he should preach to\nthem.\n\n\u201cDirections,\u201d he would shout, \u201calways when one begins a journey, he has\na destination. The road to this destination is similar to the Road of\nLife, often along this road one has to inquire about directions, and it\nis so through the Journey of Life, one must follow directions laid down\nby the Church and the Ministers, they are the sign posts that point the\nway. Quite often a man while traveling this road, decides to take a\nshort cut, instead of following the Good Book as laid down by the\nChurch, these short cuts become his mis-deeds or his sins.\n\nWe shall assume that this Bible is the Book of Judgment and in it will\nbe the names of every living person on the face of the earth. By each\nname there are two columns, one for his assets or his good deeds of life\nand the other column for his mis-deeds, which we shall call his\nde-sets.\u201d\n\nFrom here on Murrell becomes the actor in what he called, The Drama at\nthe Gates of Heaven.\n\n\u201cBatiste had made the journey through life and was knocking on the Gates\nof Heaven, a voice from within asks, who knocks? Batiste answers and\ngives his full name. The voice is that of St. Peter who looks up\nBatiste\u2019s record of life in the Book of Judgment. Then St. Peter\nexplains to Batiste, we take out the pages which contain your assets and\nplace them on one side of the scales of justice and on the other side we\nplace the pages of your de-sets. If your assets out-weigh your de-sets,\nthen naturally you can come in, as we place your assets and de-sets upon\nthe scales we will review them.\u201d\n\n(Now Murrell becomes the comic for the benefit of his audience). \u201cRight\nhere Batiste on May 25, you done de-setted enough to carry over on the\nnext three pages. Boy, you was really de-setting that day.\n\nHere, we see your Pastor found you hunting on Sunday and you had a nice\nbag of squirrels, the Pastor spoke to you about it and you gave the\nexcuse that you had your days mixed up. Again he caught you fishing on\nSunday and a nice bunch you had too, you gave the excuse that you had\nyour days mixed up again.\n\nNow, if you had given the Pastor some of those squirrels or fish, then\nthose de-sets of that day would have turned into assets. But all along\nthe Road of Life you gave the excuse that you had your days mixed up.\n\u2018Now,\u2019 said St. Peter, as he looked at the scales, \u2018because you had your\ndays mixed up you now have your directions mixed up. You all done come\nthe wrong way\u2019, and he shut the door in Batiste\u2019s face. Batiste begged\nfor another chance but this could not be, as you know you can only\ntravel the Road of Life once.\u201d\n\nAlong the Neutral Strip the inhabitants catered only to hard money, that\nis gold and silver coins, and Murrell asked that fees for his service be\npaid in coin.\n\nMurrell would place a set of balancing scales where everyone could see,\non one side he placed the Bible, then he said, \u201cthis Bible will\nrepresent the Book of Judgment and I place it on this side of the\nscales, it will represent your mis-deeds or de-sets. Now, we are all\ngoing to stay here until you people give enough to tip these scales to\nthe asset side.\u201d While the collections were being made, Murrell would be\nexpounding of the good things he intended doing with the money, he even\nhad a few henchmen in the audience to begin the contributions and to\nurge the others to do the same.\n\nMurrell becomes another legend of Los Adais and of his hidden treasures,\nit is believed that he had many hidden treasures which he called large\nbanks and small banks.\n\nNo one is certain how Murrell\u2019s death came about. Murrell\u2019s gold and\nsilver, and he must have had much of it, with nearly a decade of\npreaching, lying, robbing and murdering in the strip, could have been\nthe cause.\n\n\n\n\n                                  XIII\n                   THE BREAK-UP OF THE NEUTRAL STRIP\n\n\nThere were rumors in 1806 that Aaron Burr was attempting to organize the\nsettlers of the Neutral Strip and that an actual Free State of Sabine\nwas to be established, Breastworks at Sabine-Town and a Block House with\ntwo companies of the United States militia were established near the\nconfluence of Bayou Negrett and the Sabine River on the El Camino Real.\n\nThe establishment of the Block House by General Wilkinson resulted in\nthe Spanish bolstering their strength in the western part of the Neutral\nStrip by giving presents to the Indians and thereby establishing an\nIndian barrier in the area.\n\nThe gifts amounted to two thousand seven hundred-nine pesos from the\nMexican Government to be given at Nacogdoches. The Indians received\nmuskets, lead, powder, shot, knives, razors, scissors, combs, mirrors,\nglass beads, war paint, copper and iron pots, ribbons, coats, bells,\nneedles, belt buckles, ramrods, cotton goods and rum. The Indians asked\nfor tobacco which was not available, but five hundred eighty-nine pounds\nof tobacco twists were smuggled from Natchitoches through the Neutral\nStrip to Nacogdoches by orders of Manuel de Salcedo, the Governor.\nAlthough trade was forbidden on El Camino Real by the Spanish from\nFrench Louisiana there was a continuous stream of contraband goods being\nsmuggled into Texas. The \u201cContraband Trail\u201d ran parallel to the El\nCamino Real about four miles distant from the El Camino Real, but\ncrossing it intermittently in areas that were uninhabited.\n\nThe Americans retaliated by supplying the Takuays and the Towanoni with\narticles of trade and a blacksmith shop so they could sharpen the knives\nand scissors obtained as presents from the Spanish.\n\nOutlaws left the Neutral Strip to raid isolated farms and plantations.\nSlave stealing and cattle rustling were not overlooked. The citizens\ncomplained to the United States Government.\n\nLieutenant Augustus McGee and Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike were ordered to\ndisperse the bandits of the Neutral Strip. The orders of General Hampton\nexpressed a desire for cooperation from the Spanish at Nacogdoches. A\ndetachment under Captain Bernardino Mantero was sent from Nacogdoches to\nassist Captain W. H. Overton, who was at that time the senior officer at\nFort Claiborne, issued orders for the clearance of the strip on March 5,\n1812. The military only succeeded in destroying the hideouts which were\noccupied by the bandits by burning everything in sight. The bandits knew\nevery sneak trail of the Neutral Strip and were successful in avoiding\nthe policing parties.\n\nBy the year 1821 the Anglo-American Civilization had crossed in\nsubstantial numbers the Mississippi River in two main divisions,\nLouisiana and Missouri.\n\nGeneral Edmund Pendleton Gaines considered that the most vital and\nimportant area of the southwest was: \u201cThe Southern section of the\nWestern Frontier, from the mouth of the Sabine River eastward to the Red\nRiver and thence to the Mexican boundary at a point where the western\nboundary intersects the Sabine River.\u201d\n\nGeneral Jackson had transferred General Gaines, at that time commanding\nthe Florida frontier, to the western frontier in 1817. General Gaines\nwas aware of the constant unrest of the so-called \u201cneutral strip,\u201d known\nas \u201cThe Free State of Sabine\u201d and _No Man\u2019s Land_.\n\nThe proclamation of the Treaty of Washington in 1821 fixed the western\nboundary of the United States as the Sabine River, thus the agreement\nwith the Mexican Republic transferred the Neutral Strip to the United\nStates.\n\nGeneral Gaines was aware of the feeling of those settlers from the\nSabine River westward along El Camino Real to the Rio Grande near Eagle\nPass, Texas. These were Spaniards that had felt the freedom of being so\nfar from their government\u2019s head in Mexico City. They, with the\nAnglo-American settlers, wanted a different kind of freedom, not\nallegiance to Mexico or to the United States. Thus, the Fort\nJesup-Natchitoches and El Camino Real Area on the eastern end from\nNacogdoches and San Augustine was ripe for the filibusterers.\n\nThere were many in this area, Gaines was certain, who did not recognize\nthe Treaty of Washington, Frenchmen of the fifth and sixth generations\nwho had settled this area, likewise the Spanish, and the Indians for\ncountless generations before either of the other two nationalities.\n\n\u201cThis land \u2019tis mine\u2014\u2019tis yours\u2014\u2019tis mine,\u201d said the French and the\nSpanish. \u201cThe land is mine,\u201d stated the United States, \u201cwe bought it\nfrom the French.\u201d The Indian declared, \u201c\u2019tis mine, was so even before\neither the French or Spanish came.\u201d The settlers questioned which\ngovernment will recognize our claim to the homesteads, the land grants,\n\u201cthis is mine by right of occupation.\u201d\n\nThere were the half-breeds, descendants of a French or Spanish father\nand an Indian woman. These were demanding their birthright. And they\nheld sway over many Indian tribes. They were intelligent, they could be\nfriendly, or a ruthless enemy. But the United States\u2019 ownership backed\nby the Army soon restored peace and order to No Man\u2019s Land.\n\n\n\n\n                                  XIV\n                      THE FILIBUSTER OF 1812-1821\n\n\nDon Jose Bernardo Maxmilliano Gutierrez de Lardo, often called Bernardo,\nwas a merchant and blacksmith at Revilla, a village near the junction of\nthe Rio Salado and the Rio Grande. He was a follower of Padres Miguel\nHidalgo y Castillo and Jose Maria Morelos, who were encouraging a revolt\namong the Indian and Indian halfbreeds called _mestizos_.\n\nGutierrez with Captain Jose Manchaca, a Texas rebel and a deserter from\nthe Royalist Army of Mexico, and ten others left Revilla with thirty\nthousand dollars in Mexican silver. Their objective was to reach\nNatchitoches, a border town on the Neutral Strip. The money was for\norganizing a filibuster campaign into Texas. They were pursued by the\nRoyalists and were caught up with near the village of Bayou Pierre (a\nvillage at that time located on a road between the present-day Pleasant\nHill and Lake End on Red River). Gutierrez and Manchaca escaped but lost\nthe silver, finding refuge at a small trading post at Campti, Louisiana.\nWhen they arrived in Natchitoches and began recruiting men for the\nfilibustering campaign they found many ready and willing to participate.\nThe merchants, sensing enormous profits, offered every assistance.\n\nCaptain Manchaca went immediately into the Neutral Strip to solicit\nrecruits among the bandits, or anyone else who desired to join the\nfilibusterers.\n\nGutierrez wrote a letter to James Monroe, Secretary of State in\nWashington, explaining that although Texas was not yet a Republic the\npeople of that area had all the necessary qualifications for becoming a\nnation, that it would be to the advantage of the United States and the\npeople of the future Republic of Texas for them to seek assistance where\nthey could find it. It would, therefore, be advantageous to the United\nStates, should their undertaking be successful in overthrowing the yoke\nof the Mexican Government, and Texas become a Republic.\n\nGutierrez secured letters of recommendation and two hundred dollars from\nDr. John Sibley and departed immediately for Washington where he met\nwith officials and made requests for men, money, munitions and other\nsupplies necessary for the filibustering campaign. Gutierrez brought out\nthe importance to the United States of the Texas commerce. The proposal\nwas dropped by the officials when Gutierrez insisted that he be in\ncommand of the expedition. However, Monroe did see the advantage of the\nUnited States having a Republic to the west to help guard the border, as\nat that time the United States was having difficulties with Spain and\nEngland, and because of the Florida question. Therefore the Secretary of\nState did offer encouragement to Gutierrez.\n\nDon Jose Alvares de Toledo was at the same time in Washington seeking\nassistance for a revolution in Cuba, which if successful, would result\nin the establishment of an Antillean Confederation of the Islands. This,\ntoo, met with the approval of Monroe, but again he offered only\nencouragement and no assistance. Don Luis de Onis, the Minister from\nSpain, having learned of Toledo\u2019s plans, conspired with Diago Correga to\ndo away with Toledo. Toledo, because of his failure to get the necessary\nassistance he desired, cast his lot with Gutierrez. He cultivated the\nfriendship of General Ira A. Allen, who was looked upon with disfavor in\nthe State of Vermont. Allen helped Toledo and Gutierrez by gaining the\nconfidence and support of those who were interested in such an\nadventure, namely: Samuel Alden, a young adventurer; Aaron Mower, a\nprinter by trade; Evariste Calvettes, a Frenchman of unusual but\nintriguing reputation, and William A. Prentis, a merchant who interested\nHenry Adams Bullard in the adventure of the filibuster campaign. This\ngroup of men, with several others departed for Natchitoches. Gutierrez\nin Natchitoches had enlisted under his banner, the aid of Lieutenant\nAugust McGee, who resigned at Fort Claiborne to join the filibusterers;\nSamuel Kemper, a well-known figure in the politics of Florida; Rubin\nRoss, an ex-sheriff from Virginia; Henry Perry of the Army\nQuartermaster; Joseph B. Wilkinson, son of General James Wilkinson; J.\nMcClanahan; Rubin Smith; James Patterson; A. Cole and Alexis Grappe,\ntraders who had many contacts in Texas as far as San Antonio de Bexar;\nand James Gaines, brother of General Gaines. The merchants in\nNatchitoches hired some of the local youths, Tenoss Moinet, two\nPrudhommes, Henry Derbonne, Jose Benetis, Anthony Dubois, Peter Dolet,\nMichael Chesneau, Andrew Chase, Stephen Wallace, Matthew Bonnette,\nWalter Young, Joseph Ruth and Chesneau Tontin to go along to protect\ntheir interests and to bring back the contraband which they were sure\nwould be obtained on such an expedition.\n\nWilliam Shaler arrived in Natchitoches almost on the heels of Gutierrez,\na special agent sent by the Secretary of State Monroe to assist the new\nso called Gutierrez-McGee expedition. Shaler\u2019s letters to Monroe give an\nexcellent account of the organization and execution of this expedition.\nShaler, who had been trained as a military man, contributed greatly to\nits efficiency.\n\nSamuel Davenport of the firm of Davenport and Barr, licensed traders,\nestablished themselves in the Soledad building in Nacogdoches. Davenport\nwrote to Don Manuel de Salcedo, Governor of Texas at Nacogdoches, from\nNatchitoches, \u201cJohn Adair was gathering troops in Rapides (Alexandria,\nLouisiana) 500 men were being gathered along the Mississippi River and\nat Natchez. Captain Jose Manchac has gathered over a hundred men out of\nthe Neutral Strip and they are now camped on the west bank of the Sabine\nRiver.\u201d\n\nA letter was sent from Washington to the district judge notifying him\nthat the United States would not sanction an organization of men on its\nland which would constitute an act of aggression against the government\nof another country. Judge Carr\u2019s answering letter dated July 22, 1812,\nstated that he was aware that some sort of movement of aggression was\nbeing talked about in the Natchitoches Area, but that to his knowledge\nthere were no men grouped east of the Sabine River congregating with\nfilibuster intent.\n\n\u201cYoung men in groups of two, five, ten or fifteen arrive here in\nNatchitoches every day, many are from our immediate local area, they are\nmild-mannered and quiet and cause no disturbances, they purchase\nsupplies at the local stores and when questioned about their\ndestination, they declare that they are going on a hunting trip. I have\nno grounds with which I can detain such a small party of men, for to be\nsure groups fewer than fifteen or twenty cannot be classed as a\nfilibustering party. If rumors are true and there is a location on the\nwest bank of the Sabine River where men are gathering with the intent of\ninvading Texas, that area is out of the jurisdiction of any one person\nrepresenting our local or federal government.\u201d\n\nOn August 8, 1812, the campaign began with a total strength of one\nhundred eighty men.\n\nAt Nacogdoches was the proof that the people of the area, according to\nthe statements of the traders Smith, Grappe, Patterson and McClanahan,\nwere ready for a rebellion against the Spanish Government. At\nNacogdoches on August 11, 1812, when the attack began, the filibusterers\nmet only token resistance and one hundred ninety of the inhabitants\njoined the patriots. The easy fall of Nacogdoches was a shot in the arm\nfor the filibusterers. Fifty of the Spanish soldiers joined with the\nrebels. A mule and horse train with booty of wool, hides and Spanish\nsilverware, estimated to be valued at one hundred thousand dollars, was\nsent to Natchitoches to be exchanged for the necessary provisions to\nconduct the campaign. Henry Perry of the army quartermaster was there to\nreceive the merchandise. Now he had something to work with. Supplies\nwhich could not be obtained in Natchitoches were purchased in Natchez,\nMississippi. The merchandise was brought over the old Natchez-Vidalia to\nNatchitoches Indian trail (highway 84 today) which had its share of\nbandits and land-pirates.\n\nGutierrez was an old hand at spreading propaganda and at Nacogdoches the\n\u201crebels\u201d paused long enough to make use of the talents of Aaron Hower,\nthe printer. The news of the fall of Nacogdoches would be sure to bring\nvolunteers from the Natchitoches-Neutral Strip area. On September 1,\n1812, circulars were found as far as San Antonio, announcing that the\nfilibusterers army had reached a thousand in number of well equipped\nmen, and that more volunteers were arriving every hour from ten to one\nhundred in number to join Gutierrez, and that they now had cannon which\nhad been taken from the Spanish in Nacogdoches.\n\nGovernor Salcedo, who had previously sent a message asking for\nassistance, received news that no help could be sent because the\n\u201cPatriot Army\u201d in Mexico was marching on Camargo and Nueva Santanadar\n(this was a group of rebel followers of Padres Castillo and Morelos).\nThe propaganda news leaflets and the news from Mexico caused Salcedo to\nwithdraw all outlying Spanish detachments and concentrate them at San\nAntonio de Bexar. At this stage of the campaign the McGee-Gutierrez army\nnumbered no more than seven hundred men.\n\nNow, Salcedo\u2019s military ability began to show. He needed a day or two so\nthat the troops in the west under General Herrera could reach San\nAntonio. He left La Bahia (now Goliad, Texas) without defense and spread\nhis troops along the Guadelupe River twenty-eight miles north and east\nof San Antonio. The filibusterers could not overlook the opportunity of\ntaking a defenseless town. La Bahia fell without a struggle and the\nfilibusterers were jubilant. Meanwhile the Spanish forces met, forming a\ntotal strength of nearly nine hundred men. Over fifty of the Spanish\nsoldiers with the filibusterers deserted and returned to the Royalist\ntroops, explaining they had been captured and were finally able to\nescape.\n\nUp to now McGee had been in charge of the filibusterers and Gutierrez\nwas the commander in name only. There was friction between McGee and\nGutierrez, and at the same time Toledo was vying for the position of\ncommanding them. Samuel Davenport, the unfaithful Indian Agent of\nSalcedo, who had joined the filibusterers, suddenly decided he had some\nimportant, unfinished business and departed for Nacogdoches. A day or so\nlater Rubin Ross left to contact Indians encamped on the Sabine River\nwith the intention of joining the filibusterers. McGee died at La Bahia\nunder mysterious circumstances. Gutierrez claimed that McGee took poison\nto keep from being shot. Davenport stated that McGee was sick when he\nleft for Nacogdoches, and Rubin Ross declared McGee was in good health\ntwo days prior to his leaving Davenport, and that at no time was he\naware that McGee was sick.\n\nWhen Ross contacted the Caddo Indians on the Sabine River Chief Tohois\nrefused to fight under any flag other than that of the United States.\nGroups of the Alabamas, Choctaws, Conchattas and Attapaws on learning of\nthe refusal of Tohois also refused to assist in the cause. However,\nnearly a hundred of the warriors did join with Rubin Ross.\n\nThe second attack of the Royalists was also a disappointment to Salcedo\nand the Spanish forces retired to San Antonio. On March 19, Ross\nreturned with nearly two hundred Indian, Spanish and American volunteers\nand the march on San Antonio began. They met no opposition until they\nreached Rosillo, about eight miles from San Antonio; there, Samuel\nKemper and Rubin Ross led a vicious charge and the main force of the\nrebel drive carried well into San Antonio.\n\nThe Spanish were defeated and surrendered unconditionally. Atrocities\nfollowed under the orders of Gutierrez who had declared himself\nPresident of the New Republic of Texas. Several of the Spanish officers\nwere killed, their clothing stripped from their bodies and left exposed\nto the elements. The Americans were enraged by this action. After going\nto the scene of the atrocity and burying the dead, many followed the\nexample of Warren D. C. Hall, deserted the filibusterers and left for\ntheir respective habitats.\n\nA Junta was called after the arrival of Henry A. Bullard and James B.\nWilkinson; Major James Perry and Captains Kemper and Ross threatened to\nleave with the Americans unless Gutierrez was ousted and Toledo named\nleader of the New Republic.[11]\n\nThe battle on the Madina River was the downfall of the filibusterers.\nThe Spanish gathered their forces under the command of Colonels Joquine\nde Arrendondo y Miono and Ignacio Elizondo.[**or Elinzondo, see below]\nAfter the battle the victors were lenient with the many Americans they\nhad captured. Colonel Elinzondo issued a horse and rifle to each along\nwith a passport for safe conduct back to the Sabine River. The Indians\nwere included with the group freed, but with instructions to return to\ntheir tribes and never take up arms against the Spanish again.\n\nIt is interesting to note that many of these Americans were later\nsuccessful in attempting to make the Texas area a Republic. On September\n28, 1813, the first blow for Texas independence failed, but it had been\nproved, however, that the Spaniards north of the Rio Grande were\ninfluenced by the freedoms of the American traders along El Camino Real.\nThey had been forced to provide for themselves from the fruits of the\nland, thus becoming independent in their own right. The easy fall of\nNacogdoches was outstanding proof of their feelings.\n\n    [Illustration: FORT JESUP DEFENSE AREA]\n\n\n\n\n                                   XV\n                               FORT JESUP\n\n\nIt seems odd that all that had happened in the nearly three hundred\nyears preceding was merely a prelude to a settlement on a vital point,\nthis one hill top in Sabine Parish.\n\nThe Caddo Nation of Indians was first to recognize the importance of\nthis land extending from San Antonio to Natchitoches and settled it.\nWhat these Indians did not settle or cultivate they commercialized, and\nthey established trade routes there.\n\nCabeza De Vaca and his companions came in 1530. They claimed no land but\nwere searching for a way out.\n\nHernando De Soto in 1541 came, but by the time he had reached the Adais,\nhe, too, was searching for a way out. He claimed no land.\n\nRobert de La Salle came down the Mississippi River in 1682 and claimed\nall land drained by that River for the King of France. In the history of\na country there is always one man who has the imagination to see its\npossibilities and the ability and push to realize his ambitions. Such a\nman was La Salle.\n\nLa Salle\u2019s second venture to the mouth of the Mississippi River resulted\nin failure. He came by sea, missed the mouth of the Mississippi River\nand settled on the coast of Texas where he later was killed. La Salle\u2019s\nexpedition, however, aroused the Spanish of Mexico, who then began to\nextend their operations further to the north.\n\nPadre Hidalgo\u2019s letter and St. Denis\u2019 answer resulted in the settlement\nof El Camino Real from San Antonio to Natchitoches. Here, then, was cast\nthe first seed, in form of settlers, who learned to live as the\nIndians\u2014free as the wind, this newly found freedom had been felt by\nsettlers and their descendants for over a hundred years.\n\nThe land of Sabine, \u201c\u2019tis mine,\u201d said the Americans, \u201cby right of\npurchase\u201d; \u201c\u2019tis mine,\u201d said the Spanish, \u201cby the claim of Domingo Teran\nDel Rio of 1690.\u201d\n\nAnd so the Neutral Strip was established. Each nation begrudging the\nother every inch of it. A lawless land which must now be policed for the\ngood of both nations.\n\nThe southwestern border of the United States was established by the\nAdams-Onis Treaty at Washington on February 22, 1821, as being the\nSabine River; Adams representing the United States and Onis representing\nthe New Republic of Mexico.\n\nWould the settlers of the Neutral Strip and those from the Sabine River\nto the Rio Grande recognize the treaty of Washington? The\nGutierrez-McGee filibuster expedition had proved that these people\nwished a new freedom. Not that of the United States or that of Mexico.\nMany men had cast their eyes toward the land of Texas, there was so much\nof it for the taking. But the Indians were not just sitting on the\nsideline observing what was happening, they were pressing for their\nrights, too, against any and all nations. Surely they realized their\nprize possession was slowly slipping from them. The Indians recognized\nno treaty among the white men. Only the agreements with the whites which\nconcerned their welfare were of importance to them.\n\nMany young adventurers of all nationalities and from all walks of life\nhad come into the area and found the excitement to their liking. They\nwould align themselves with the side which offered them the most\nadvantageous opportunities.\n\nGeneral Edmund P. Gaines found himself in a predicament when he received\norders on Dec. 21, 1819, to establish a new command post near the border\nof the Sabine River. He was ordered \u201cto establish a new post in a\nlocation that will protect our southwestern border as well as all of the\ninhabitants within the boundaries of the United States in your area.\u201d\n\nIn the Southwest area he had federal troops under his command; at New\nOrleans, 96 men under Major Many; at Baton Rouge, 212 officers and men;\nat Fort Claiborne, Natchitoches, 56 men under the command of Major\nCoombs; and, at Camp Sabine, on the Sabine River, 105 men under the\ncommand of General Wilkinson.\n\nOn November 15, 1820, Lieutenant Colonel Zachary Taylor and four\nCompanies of the 7th United States Infantry had established Fort Selden\non the south bank of Bayou Pierre on the highest hill in the area, one\nand one-half miles from the confluence of Bayou Pierre with Red River,\nsix miles north of Natchitoches and three miles west of Grand Ecore.\nTaylor named the Fort, \u201cSelden,\u201d in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Joseph\nSelden, who fought in the American revolution and who was at that time\nstationed in the Arkansas Territory.\n\nFrom the vantage point of Fort Selden on Bayou Pierre there was a\none-mile view of the channel of the bayou. There was flat-boat traffic\non the bayou to the town of Bayou Pierre and on northward to the Petit\nCaddos in the vicinity of the present day city of Shreveport. Taylor was\nin position to control the water traffic on the bayou.[12]\n\nAt Fort Selden Lieutenant Colonel Taylor received this message:\n\n  Special Order No. 19.\n                                                Headquarters West Dept.,\n                                                 Fort Selden, Red River,\n                                                         March 28, 1822.\n\n  Lieutenant Colonel Taylor with the troops under his command, will as\n  soon as possible, occupy the position at Shields Springs, 25 miles\n  south southwest of this place, where he will canton the troops in huts\n  of a temporary kind. The buildings will be constructed by the troops.\n  Supplies necessary, will be sent by the Quartermaster.\n\n  Lieutenant Colonel Taylor is charged with the south western frontier\n  of Louisiana. To defend and protect its inhabitants, as well as those\n  of the frontier.\n\n                                                Signed: Edmund P. Gaines\n                                               Commanding General of The\n                                                     Southwest Frontier.\n\n  Order No. 20\n                                                Headquarters, West Dept.\n                                                 Fort Selden, Red River,\n                                                         March 29, 1822.\n\n  The General congratulates the Troops on the prospects of their\n  immediate occupation of an eligible position near the National\n  Boundary.\n\n                                               Signed: Edmund P. Gaines,\n                                                     Commanding General,\n                                                     Southwest Frontier.\n\nThese two orders confirmed a previous order issued to Taylor by Gaines\nin November of 1821 while he was in Arkansas\u2014an order to explore the\nvicinity of Natchitoches and the Neutral Land and to locate a site for a\ncantonment of a permanent nature, which would be nearer the Louisiana\nand Texas boundary.\n\n    [Illustration: MAP of the BUILDINGS of FORT JESUP\n    Explanation of the Map of Fort Jesup. 1831.\n\n    In 1831 Fort Jesup had reached maximum in size and no new buildings\n    were added after this date. The scale of the map thus shown, is 132\n    feet per inch.\n\n  A. Dragoon Stables.\n  B. Stable.\n  C. Blissville.\n  D. Soldier\u2019s Quarters\u20143rd Inf.\n  E. Officers Quarters\u20143rd Inf.\n  F. Mess House\u20143rd Inf.\n  G. Officers Quarters No. 1.\n  H. Officers Quarters No. 2.\n  I. Officers Quarters No. 3.\n  J. Store House.\n  K. Powder Magazine.\n  L. Guard House.\n  M. Adjutant\u2019s Office\u20143rd Inf.\n  N. Quarter Master\u2019s Office.\n  O. Quarter Master\u2019s Office.\n  P. Commissionary Store.\n  Q. Soldier\u2019s Quarters 6 Buildings.\n  R. Cottage.\n  S. Officer\u2019s Quarters\u20147th Inf.\n  T. Officer\u2019s Quarters.\n  U. Adjutant\u2019s Office.\n  V. Hospital.\n  W. Kitchens to Soldier\u2019s Quarters.\n  Y. Soldier\u2019s Quarters.\n  X. Band\u2019s Quarters.\n  Z. Officer\u2019s Quarters.\n  P. Parade Grounds.\n  - - - - El Camino Real.\n\n    Note: Today\u2019s Museum is a replica of one of the buildings listed as\n    Z and Kitchen is original of those listed as W.]\n\nLieutenant Colonel Taylor selected the site and then wrote to General\nGaines informing him of his selection\u2014on a hill which was the division\nbetween the watersheds of the Red River and the Sabine River. He went as\nfar as he could to the west to establish a permanent command post. Camp\nSabine on Sabine River which was established by General Wilkinson was\nnot considered a permanent position, but only an encampment for the\nbenefit of the United States Police Patrol established in the Neutral\nStrip to police the Sabine River border and to look after the safety of\nthe settlers within the area known as The Neutral Land.\n\nGeneral Wilkinson and his detachment were never entirely successful in\nquelling the activities of the lawless element. Federal troops stationed\nat Sabine Town or Camp Sabine or Sabine Block-house (all one and the\nsame site) had some 5000 square miles of territory to patrol. A patrol\nat that time would have consisted of ten mounted men and one officer.\nThere were approximately 112 men and officers at Camp Sabine, and the\ndetachment post would have consisted of ten patrols. If all were in\nactivity at the same time each patrol would have had 500 square miles to\npatrol, which, of course, was an impossible task. At this time there\nwere about 50 men and officers in Natchitoches at Fort Claiborne and\neven the two combined groups would not have been adequate for policing\nsuch an enormous area. The outlaws knew this and in the Neutral Strip\nthe lawless roamed and pillaged at will and remained hidden in its\nthousands of hills and hollows.\n\nIt is interesting to note that at the time of the battle of New Orleans\nin 1815 General Jackson thought the Neutral Strip frontier so important\nthat he did not withdraw the troops from that post to assist in the\nbattle with the British.\n\nIn 1822 when Lieutenant Colonel Zachary Taylor established a cantonment\nat Jesup at Shields Spring by the order of General Edmund Pendleton\nGaines, on the highest hill between the Sabine River and the Red River,\nhe had taken into consideration the claim of Cavalier Robert de La\nSalle, when in 1682, this Frenchman claimed all the land drained by that\nriver for the King of France. With the Louisiana purchase, which\nconsisted of all land claimed by France west of the Mississippi River,\nthis would include the site of Cantonment Jesup on that hilltop. The\nrainwater falling on the western slope would drain into the Mississippi\nRiver via Bayou Adais and Bonna Vista into Bayou Dupont to Little River\nto Bayou Pierre to the Red River and thence into the Mississippi River.\nWaters falling on the western slope would find the way to the Sabine\nRiver via Phillips Bayou to Bayou LaNann, thence to the Sabine River.\nThus, the establishment of Cantonment Jesup at this particular spot had\nargumentative value in favor of the United States against any outcome of\nthe melting-pot development which could arise west of the Sabine River.\n\nBy November 9, 1822, the Quartermaster General\u2019s report stated that the\nFederal militia was consolidated and located at the Garrison Post at\nBaton Rouge, three hundred fifteen officers and men of the First\nInfantry; and at Cantonment Jesup, one hundred forty-one officers and\nmen of four companies of the seventh Infantry under the command of\nLieutenant Colonel Zachary Taylor.\n\n1822 marked the end of the detachment at Sabine Town, Fort Selden on\nBayou Pierre, near Grand Ecore, Louisiana and Fort Claiborne at\nNatchitoches, Louisiana.\n\nWhen Mexico won her independence in 1821 the Empressario System was\ncontinued and by the end of the year 1823, Stephen Fuller Austin had\nexecuted the grant which had previously been given to his father, Moses\nAustin, in which nearly three hundred American families were allowed to\nsettle in the Texas area. Colonel James B. Many, Commandante at\nCantonment Jesup, was there to greet the emigrants on their way to\nTexas. The same year General Gaines decreed that Cantonment Jesup would\nbe known as Fort Jesup, and made it a permanent establishment of the\nArmy of the United States Government, which resulted in a more thorough\nsettlement of the Sabine area known as the Neutral Strip.\n\nShawneetown, two miles to the west of Fort Jesup on El Camino Real, came\ninto existence to supply the evil demands of the immediate\narea\u2014gambling, horse-racing and other auxiliaries of dis-order.\n\nThe twenty-five-mile house, or Midway House, two miles east of Fort\nJesup on the road to Natchitoches was a wayside tavern and Inn.\n\nBy 1826 the Mexican Republic had forbidden further immigration into\nTexas\u2014the direct result of a contract which had been acquired by Hayden\nEdwards to establish eight hundred families in the Nacogdoches area.\nHere Edwards organized the short-lived Republic of Freedonia which\nresulted from the Freedonia Rebellion. Edwards was driven out of the\nNacogdoches area and his contract revoked.\n\nIn this same year a letter, originating at Fort Jesup, to the Governor\nof Louisiana, appeared in the Natchitoches Courier, one of the two\nnewspapers published at Natchitoches at that time, answering the\nPresident of the United States, who wanted to know about the possibility\nof establishing steam navigation on the Red River above the Town of\nNatchitoches. A duplicate of the original, which sent to the President,\nwas placed at the disposal of the Natchitoches Courier. Colonel James B.\nMany at Fort Jesup wished the local citizens of the area to know that\nthe personnel at Fort Jesup was useful in ways other than military.\n\n                                                The Natchitoches Courier\n                                                              Fort Jesup\n                                                 Natchitoches, Louisiana\n                                                          March 13, 1826\n\n  Captain Berch and Lieutenant Lee with a detachment of men from Fort\n  Jesup, have been up the Red River examining the great rafts of debris\n  which block the channel of Red River. This detachment returned a few\n  days ago after an absence on that duty of about two months. We have\n  conversed with these scientific and learned gentlemen on the subject\n  of their excursion, the object of which was to ascertain the\n  practicability of opening steamboat traffic through or around these\n  obstructions.\n\n  They report that in a distance of one hundred miles above the Town of\n  Natchitoches, there are 181 log jams, ranging from ten yards in length\n  to a distance of one-half mile. To clear these obstructions would be a\n  tremendous and expensive task.\n\n  I wish to be remindful that in as much as the Sabine River which lies\n  west of this place, usually maintains enough water to afford its usage\n  by steamboats. In these trying times such as exists between ourselves\n  and our neighbors to the west, I think it advisable that such an\n  excursion be made up the Sabine River, for military if not to mention\n  commercial purposes.\n\n                                          Signed: Colonel James B. Many,\n                                              Commander of the Southwest\n                                                   Teritory, Fort Jesup,\n                                            Natchitoches, Louisiana.[13]\n\nIn the same newspaper on this date appeared the advertisement: \u201cJust\narrived on the Steamship-Packet, _Superior_, Captain Alex Le Sardo,\nMaster.\u201d\n\nAnd in the same paper on the same date was an advertisement of John\nBaldwin\u2019s Store on El Camino Real:\n\n  \u201cLiquors\u2014Maderia, Teneriff, Malaga, Claret wines, Cognac, Brandy,\n  Holland and English Gins, West Indian Rum, Old and Common whiskey,\n  coffee and tea. Loaf lump and brown sugar. 100 sacks of salt. Boots,\n  Shoes and Headwear. Cravats, Shawls, Collars and Cuffs (In Sets),\n  Handkerchiefs and Lace. Belts, Ribbons and Buckles. Full and half\n  cotton and wool hose. Mosquito bars. English gingham. Satins\u2014black and\n  blue. Bleached and unbleached cotton shirting. Modes de Fasion\n  Casimers, Fancy Calicoes, Superior, friction-matches. Arm and Leg\n  Garters.\n\n  Medicines \u00bd bbl. of hops, Jujube and Pectoral pastes, Swain\u2019s Panacea,\n  Stillman\u2019s Sasparilla pills, Liverwort, Arrowroot, Horehound, Southern\n  Cough drops, New England Cough Syrup, Oldridge\u2019s Balm-Columbia,\n  Lavender Water and Rose Water.\n\n  Ready to wear trousers and overcoats from $1.00 to $25.00. Tobacco for\n  chewing and smoking. Extra sweet Havana cigars.\n\n  Exquisite Organdies and Embroideries.\n\n  Harness Buckles and Pistols. Also Suspenders and Corsets, $1.00 each.\n\nJohn Baldwin with his wife and two daughters must have established their\nstore prior to 1826. The location of the Baldwin Store marked the site\nof the later town of Many, Louisiana, which derives its name from\nColonel James B. Many. Baldwin\u2019s Store, Tavern, Inn and Blacksmith Shop\ncomprised the area of the Stille home and the present sites of the\nSabine State Bank & Trust Co., and The Peoples State Bank in Many.\n\nDuring this period Manuel and Jose Chellettre operated the \u201cTwo\nBrothers\u2019 Freight Line\u201d between Natchitoches and Nacogdoches. Also at\nthis time the firm of Barr and Davenport had a freight line service\nbetween the same two destinations.\n\nThe newspaper also listed the names of the steamboats which were vying\nfor the Natchitoches-Texas trade: _The Florence_, _The Superior_, _The\nAlexander_, _The Chesapeak_, _The Courtland_, _The Eliza_, _The Governor\nShelby_, _The Hornet_, _The Kiamechi_, _The Plaquemine_, _The Raven_,\n_The Teche_, _The Telegraph_, _The Shepardess_ and _The Arkansas_.\n\nHenry Stoker, having received a government land grant, had by now\nestablished his home, and he enlarged his holdings by trading eleven\nhorses for land belonging to several families of the Adais Indians who\nwere living near his homestead.\n\nFort Jesup during its existence trained such men as Second Lieutenant\nPhil Sheridan, Lieutenant Thomas Lawson, Captain Bragg, Lt. L. B. E.\nBonneville, Lt. James E. Goins, Captain Davie E. Twiggs, Capt. J.\nHardee, and Lt. Rufus Ingalls. These men during the war between the\nstates, became generals either for the North or the South. Lieutenant U.\nS. Grant, who was stationed at Camp Salubrity near Grand Ecore, was\noften a visitor at Fort Jesup.\n\n    [Illustration: Map of Area Around Camp Sabine\u20141836]\n\nSuch important men as David Crockett, James Bowie, Stephen F. Austin and\nSam Houston; and such famous scouts as Ben S. Lilly and \u201cBig Foot\u201d\nWallace visited there. Because they were welcomed and entertained at\nFort Jesup, accusations were made by the Spanish that Fort Jesup was a\nmeeting place for those planning the overthrow of the Mexican\ngovernment. And this may very well have been true, for supplies\nnecessary for the conduct of the war for Texas independence undoubtedly\npassed through Fort Jesup.\n\nThere is evidence that the United States did render secret support to\nthe fighting Texans in their struggle for independence. This fort at\nsuch a strategic location could have blocked revolutionary movements in\nthis frontier area if it had chosen to do so. Because of this Fort Jesup\nbecame recognized as the heart of the Texas-Mexican revolution. The\ngarrison at Fort Jesup assisted by checking the border Indians of\nLouisiana, Arkansas and northern Texas, who may have otherwise aided the\nMexican forces against the retreating Sam Houston just before the Battle\nof San Jacinto.\n\n\n                  The Gaines Military Road, 1827-1828\n\nThe Military Road or The Gaines Military Road, sometimes referred to as\nGeneral Jackson\u2019s road, connected the two most remote western outposts\nof the United States\u2019 army, Fort Jesup and Fort Towsin. This last was\nlocated at the confluence of the Kiamechi River of Oklahoma and the Red\nRiver. The military road was nearly three hundred miles long.\n\nIn 1831 Fort Jesup came under the command of Brevet Brigadier General\nLeavenworth, with six companies of the Seventh Infantry. In 1832 the\ngarrison was increased to two hundred ninety-six men and officers, and\nColonel James B. Many again assumed command.\n\nIt was during the command of Gen. Leavenworth that some of the settlers\nor squatters that had moved into the area, some within a half-mile\ndistance of the Fort, made themselves objectionable by selling whiskey\nto the personnel at Fort Jesup. In order that the sale of whiskey near\nthe fort might be stopped the following order was issued:\n\n  Order No. 69\n\n  To all whom it may concern:\n\n  Having received instructions from General Leavenworth to take\n  possession for the United States, for the purpose of supplying fuel\n  for the garrison, of all public land within three miles of the\n  flagstaff of Fort Jesup; all persons having a \u201cdonation or\n  pre-emption\u201d claim are hereby ordered to vacate the said premises\n  immediately, or at the earliest possible date, otherwise they will be\n  dealt with according to the law.\n\n                                                     Signed: Francis Lee\n                                          Acting Assistant Quartermaster\n                                                              U. S. Army\n\n  Fort Jesup, Louisiana, 7th November, 1831.\n\n\n\n\n                                  XVI\n                         TEXAS AND INDEPENDENCE\n                               1831-1836\n\n\nJames Bowie, David Crockett and Sam Houston were entertained at Fort\nJesup by Colonel Many while en-route to cast their lot with the Texans.\nTo greet these men in Nacogdoches were Thomas J. Busk, Frost Thorn,\nAdolphus Sterne, Charles S. Taylor, Henry Raguet, Doctor Irion, John\nDrust and William C. Logan, all of whom were to have a hand in winning\nthe Texas independence.\n\nThe municipality of San Augustine was organized in 1833, and was the\nfirst town in Texas to be laid out on the American plan of forty-eight\nblocks, consisting of three hundred fifty-six feet with streets forty\nfeet wide, and two lots in the center for the Courthouse.\n\nThe history of San Augustine dates back to the very earliest Texas\nhistory, with its location astraddle the El Camino Real, previously the\nBuffalo Trail and then part of the Caddo Indian trail system. Cabeza de\nVaca passed this spot and later a scouting party of the Hernando de Soto\nexpedition. The Ais (Ayist) Indians were there to greet the Domingo\nTeran Del Rios Expedition and then the Domingo Ramone Expedition. The\nAis Indians of San Augustine were the first Texas Indians to establish\ntrade agreements with the French, when in 1708 the Frenchman, Bejoux,\nbegan trading with them for horses.\n\nSan Augustine became a most important port of entry, second only to\nGalveston. It may very well be called the Cradle of Texas Independence\nfor it is said that any man entering San Augustine, be he French,\nSpanish or American, became a Texan. Ninety percent of the men who\nengaged in the strife for Texas independence had walked the streets of\nSan Augustine.\n\n    [Illustration: Fort St. Jean Baptiste Des Natchitoches.\n\n               Restoration of Colonial Natchitoches, Inc.\n                          BUTLER & DOBSON, AIA\n                        ARCHITECTS NATCHITOCHES\n\n    This interpretation of how Fort St. Jean Baptiste looked was drawn\n    by the architects, Butler and Dobson of Natchitoches, for the\n    Committee for the Restoration of Colonial Natchitoches, Inc.\n\n    It is my sincere hope that this restoration will be executed by the\n    year 1964 when Natchitoches will in that year celebrate her 250th\n    anniversary.\n\n    To the Frenchmen of that period, the title, Fort St. Jean Baptiste\n    des Natchitoches, meant that the Fort or Post was named for St. John\n    The Baptist and that its location was among the Natchitoches\n    Indians.\n\n    It was this Fort which St. Denis defended against the Natchez\n    Indians in 1731.]\n\n    [Illustration: Old Kitchen of Fort Jesup\u2014only remaining building of\n    the original fort]\n\nThe progress of the struggle for Texas independence was watched with\nkeenest interest throughout the United States, but the interest south of\nthe Mason-Dixon line was greater as most of the Texas settlers came from\nthe Southern states.\n\nLouis Cass, the Secretary of War, on January 23, 1835, sent instructions\nto Major General Edmund P. Gaines, ordering him to move to a position\nnearer the western frontier of Louisiana, and to assume personal command\nof the troops near the Mexican (Texas) border. Blockhouses were erected\nto protect the supplies of the personnel of the camp. General Gaines\ntook personal command of the troops there.\n\nThe Red River by the year 1835 had changed its course and taken the\nBayou Rigolet de Bon Dieux as its main channel, leaving Natchitoches\nhigh and dry except during the spring and winter months. The river port\nof Grand Ecore then became the most important shipping port for the\nsouthwestern area of Louisiana and eastern Texas. The Texas trail now\nby-passed Natchitoches some four miles to the west, connecting it with\nGrand Ecore.\n\nGeneral Gaines wrote of the decaying condition of the buildings at Fort\nJesup, and acquired a twenty-five thousand dollar appropriation for\ntheir repair through the help of Thomas S. Jesup, Quartermaster General\nof the United States, who had been given the honor of having Fort Jesup\nnamed after him.\n\nGeneral Gaines possessed a war-like nature and he nourished the idea of\nannexing Texas in one blaze of glory for himself. Further, he knew that\nPresident Andrew Jackson wanted Texas as a part of the United States.\n\nGaines, in a letter to Cass, stated that B. F. Palmer and William\nPalmer, living near Fort Jesup, had informed him that a Spaniard had\narrived at the house of one of their neighbors, saying he had been\ncommissioned by Santa Anna to go among the Caddos and other upper Red\nRiver tribes of Indians and stir them up into attacking the upper\nsettlements of Texas. Gaines had sent Lieutenant Bonnel with Eusebia\nCartinez, to gain the good will of the Caddos without success. But they\nwere successful among the Indians further to the west of the Caddos.\nThey learned that Manuel Flores, who had established at Spanish-Town\nbetween Fort Jesup and Natchitoches, won alliances with the Caddos.\n\nEnclosed in the letter were communications from Henry Raguet, Chairman\nof the Committee of Vigilance at Nacogdoches and A. Hotchkiss, Chairman\nof a similar committee at San Augustine, both declaring that Indians had\nmoved into the area along El Camino Real and requesting an\ninvestigation.\n\nCass was informed that the Alamo had fallen and many of the troops,\nincluding Fannin, were killed near Goliad on the Madina River and that\nSam Houston was in full retreat toward the Louisiana border.\n\nGaines now received orders to use his own judgment about the affairs on\nthe frontier, and that if he had to go into the Texas territory to\ninsure the peace of the frontier, he could go no further than\nNacogdoches.\n\nGaines was still at Sabine Blockhouse when word came that on April 18,\n1836, Sam Houston had defeated Santa Anna at San Jacinto Bay. Thus\nGaines\u2019 chance for glory was gone. However, he must be credited with a\ntimely move, when a few weeks before he had ordered troops to\nNacogdoches, thus spoiling the counterpunch attempted by Santa Anna to\nstir up the Indians. This, without a doubt, quelled the prospective\nuprising of the Indians.\n\n\n                     TREATY WITH THE CADDO INDIANS\n\nIn June, 1835, Colonel Many sent a contingent of soldiers to the upper\nRed River country to lend assistance in the signing and execution of the\ntreaty between the United States and the Caddo Indians. At the Caddo\nIndian Agency house, located on a bluff overlooking Bayou Pierre, nine\nmiles south of the present-day city of Shreveport, was drawn an\nagreement with the Indians, dated July 1, 1835:\n\n  The Chiefs, Headmen and Warriors of the tribes of the Caddo Nation of\n  Indians, agree to cede and relinquish to the United States all land\n  contained in the following boundaries: Bounded on the west by the\n  North-south line which separates Louisiana and the United States from\n  the Republic of Mexico and on the west by the Red River in the\n  Territory of Louisiana and Arkansas.\n\n  The Chiefs, Headmen and Warriors agree to relinquish their possession\n  of the land and agree to move out of the boundaries of the United\n  States at their own expense, and never to return to live, settle, or\n  establish themselves as a nation or a community.\n\n  In consideration the Caddo Nation will be paid $30,000 in goods and\n  horses as agreed upon and $10,000 to be paid per annum in money, each\n  year, for the four years following. Making a whole sum of $80,000,\n  paid and payable.\n\n  In Testimony Whereof, the said Jehiel Brooks, Commissioner, the\n  Chiefs, Headmen and Warriors of the Caddo Nation, have hereunto set\n  their hands and affixed their seals.\n\n                          Signed: Jehiel Brooks\n\n    Tarshar                                   His X Mark\n    Tasauninot                                His X Mark\n    Saliownhown                               His X Mark\n    Tennehinun                                His X Mark\n    Oat                                       His X Mark\n    Tinnowin                                  His X Mark\n    Chowabah                                  His X Mark\n    Kianhoon                                  His X Mark\n    Tialesun                                  His X Mark\n    Tehowawinow                               His X Mark\n    Tewinnun                                  His X Mark\n    Kardy                                     His X Mark\n    Tiohtow                                   His X Mark\n    Tehowahinno                               His X Mark\n    Tooeksoach                                His X Mark\n    Tehowainia                                His X Mark\n    Sauninow                                  His X Mark\n    Saunivaot                                 His X Mark\n    Highahidock                               His X Mark\n    Mattan                                    His X Mark\n    Towabimneh                                His X Mark\n    Aach                                      His X Mark\n    Sookiantow                                His X Mark\n    Sohone                                    His X Mark\n    Ossinse                                   His X Mark\n\n  In the Presence of:\n\n  Thomas J. Harrison, Capt, 3rd Regt Inf.\n    Commander of Detachment from Fort Jesup, Louisiana.\n  J. Bonnell, 1st Lieut, 3rd Regt Inf.,\n    Fort Jesup, Louisiana.\n  G. P. Frile, 2nd Lieut, 3rd Regt Inf.,\n    Fort Jesup, Louisiana.\n  D. M. Heard, M. D., Acting Assistant Surgeon,\n    U. S. A., Fort Jesup, Louisiana.\n  Isaac C. Williamson, Citizen.\n  Henry Queen, Citizen.\n  John P. Edwards, Interpreter.\n\nOther Recommendations:\n\nArticles supplementary to Treaty, whereas: The said Indian Nation gave\nto Francois Grappe and his three (3) sons, then born and still living\nnamed, Jacques, Dominique and Balthazar, in the year 1801, one league of\nland to each, according to the Spanish custom. This being a total of\nfour square leagues of land.\n\nLarken Edwards, being old and unable to work and having been a steadfast\nfriend of the Caddo Indians, was also given at the request of the\nIndians, land which now comprises most of the area of present day\nShreveport, Louisiana.\n\nOn May 14, 1837, the following ad appeared in the Red River Gazette, a\nNatchitoches newspaper:\n\n  A. W. P. Ussery has the pleasure to inform friends and the public that\n  he has taken the Fort Jesup Hotel and is now ready for company. He has\n  a commodious house and stable and a delightful situation. In addition\n  to the comforts of the well regulated house, the weary traveler will\n  be regaled at night and morning by the delightful music of the Fort\n  Jesup Band.\n\nWith the ability of Texas to maintain her independence, Fort Jesup\nsettled down to the humdrum existence of a peaceful, frontier post. In\nthe summer of 1838 the garrison was reduced to two companies of men and\nofficers. In 1840 the third infantry members at Fort Jesup were ordered\nto Florida. This left one company of fourth infantry at Fort Jesup.\n\nTexas threw open its doors to immigrants and daily these passed through\nthe Fort Jesup area, to travel El Camino Real westward. Many, however,\nstopped in the Natchitoches-Sabine country. Texans knew that immigrants\nrepresented power, power to resist Mexico.\n\nThis peaceful existence was not to last long. There was talk of the\nannexation of Texas by the United States which Mexico did not want. For\nas long as Texas was a Republic there was a possibility that Mexico\nmight recover this prize possession, a possession which also included\nthe present states of New Mexico and a part of Wyoming.\n\nAs early as 1843 the United States was contemplating acquiring Texas as\na state. In the meantime they had purchased the territory of New Mexico,\nUtah, Nevada and Wyoming from Texas which did not set well with the\nRepublic of Mexico. There was a kind of cold friendship existing between\nthe United States and Mexico.\n\nLate in 1843 General Zachary Taylor was ordered to the Texas-Louisiana\nfrontier, thus early in 1844 there came to Fort Jesup the Army of\nObservation.\n\nCamp Salubrity was established three miles west of Grand Ecore on the\nTexas Road May 18, 1844, where the fourth infantry companies were\nencamped. One of the young officers was Lieutenant U. S. Grant.\n\nOn May 18, 1845, General Taylor at Fort Jesup received a letter marked\n\u201cConfidential\u201d from Secretary of War, Marcey. This secretly and\nofficially marked the beginning of the disposition of troops and the\nlaying of plans for the war with Mexico. Marcey wrote, \u201cI am directed by\nthe President to cause forces now under your command and those which may\nbe assigned, to be put into position where they may most promptly act in\nthe defense of Texas.\u201d\n\nAt Fort Jesup under the command of General Taylor were seven companies\nof the Second Dragoons and eight companies of the Fourth Infantry. Four\ncompanies of the Fourth Infantry were stationed at Camp Salubrity.\n\nTexas expressed a desire at the July 1845 session of the Texas Congress\nto become a State of the Union.\n\nGeneral Taylor at Fort Jesup received instructions to place the Troops\nunder his command in the Army of Observation in such locations that\nwould be most advantageous to render support to Texas if such an\noccasion should arise.\n\nThe Mexican conflict seemed inevitable and Taylor ordered Camp Salubrity\nabandoned and the Companies of Infantry there boarded steamboats at\nGrand Ecore for New Orleans along with three companies of the four\ncompanies of the 4th infantry which were stationed at Fort Jesup.\n\nThis July 1845 Report from Fort Jesup explains the removal of the Troops\nfrom Fort Jesup and those who remained:\n\n  July 17, 1845, The 3rd Infantry under the command of Lt. Col.\n  Hitchcock left this post for the point of embarkation for New Orleans.\n\n  July 25, 1845, The 2nd Dragoons under the command of Colonel Twiggs\n  left this post for Texas Via the Texas Trail. On this day Lt. Zill P.\n  Inge assumes command at Fort Jesup.\n\n  There remains at this Post, and all present accounted for the\n  following: One Company of the 4th infantry and one company of the 2nd\n  Dragoons. The names of these men appear on the July 31, 1845, Daily\n  Report.\n\n  Conally Triche.\n  George S. Darte.\n  Quims Tomas.\n  James Huntly.\n  William Story.\n  James Welsh.\n  Francis Shaw.\n  Samuel Tacker.\n  George Waggoner.\n  Andrew Munscle.\n  John A. Goddard.\n  Benjiman Peterson.\n  David S. Barslette.\n  John McDormott.\n  Joseph McGee.\n  Richard Goldring.\n  Samuel H. Jordan.\n  James Conway.\n  Ferdinand Turkels.\n  Thurman Patterson.\n  Michael Sheridan.\n  William H. McDonnald.\n  Isaac Curry.\n  John L. Creps.\n  John B. Hickey.\n  John Murphy.\n  Paul Spencer.\n  Hugh McHugh.\n  John R. Bloomer.\n  William Horton.\n  Cazimiery Rosinowski.\n  George Cassody.\n  Ames W. Grimes.\n  Reubin W Brenner.\n  William Hearne.\n  John B Rezzer.\n  Alexinder Silves.\n  James Sheene.\n  Charles W Williams.\n  John Adams.\n  William Bayer.\n  James Heath.\n  Michael O\u2019Keefe.\n  William R Smith.\n  John Mitchele.\n  John W. Conway.\n  William Stansbury.\n  Jeremiach O\u2019Leary.\n  William Bailey.\n  James Long.\n  Edward Harrington.\n  Patrick Connally.\n  Thomas Kelley.\n  Peter Savage.\n  William Ashton.\n  Stephen Turner.\n  Joseph A Jinkins.\n  Patrick Maloney.\n  George Holmes.\n  Louis H Tucker.\n  John Hamilton.\n  James Horton.\n  James Foley.\n  Horice Clark.\n  William Howe.\n  Isaac Trotter.\n  William McGill.\n  Berman Wellenbrook.\n  William Taylor.\n  Edward Melton.\n  Gregory Bishop.\n  John Goodele.\n  Robinson McClellan.\n  Michale Ryan.\n  Archibald Turner.\n  Samuel Turner.\n  John Freeman.\n  George Hendricks.\n  Hamilton Taylor.\n  James Doughtry.\n  Asa Freleigh.\n  William Pully.\n  Francis Gillam.\n  William R Keeper.\n  Henry Burrows.\n  Joseph R Steward.\n  John Dorian.\n  Frederick Leach.\n  William Turner.\n  Alexander Cody.\n  William A Burks.\n  John Hunter.\n  Phillip Hoffman.\n  Richard A Banks.\n  Patrick Bigland.\n  Charles W Livingston.\n\nThese men comprise the 1st Company of the 2nd Dragoons and One half\nCompany of the 3rd Inf. and one half Company of the 4th infantry. Most\nof them were sick at the time of the dispersement of the troops at Fort\nJesup.\n\nSigned:\n                                                      1st Lt Zill P Inge\n                                                    1st Co 2nd Dragoons.\n                                                         Fort Jesup, La.\n\nJuly 31 1845.\n\nOn November 29, 1845, the Adjutant General ordered that Fort Jesup was\nno longer required as a military post, all military supplies, buildings\nand land be disposed of.\n\nThus Zachary Taylor when a Lt. Col. executed the order to establish Fort\nJesup and 23 years later as a Brigadier General executed the order to\nabandon it.\n\nIronic as it may seem, Fort Jesup brought law to a lawless land. It was\na buffer zone through which passed softly, those intent on a new kind of\nfreedom. It was the mould which shaped the southwestern section of these\nUnited States.\n\n    [Illustration: Old Ambroise Sompayrac House\n    Natchitoches chief depot for trade with Mexico, early 1800\u2019s\n    Washington St. at Pavie on River ... demolished in 1900.]\n\nIf one must in a few words offer a summation of all that has passed\nbefore.... Then.\n\n  This tiny spot, in Louisiana\u2019s vast domain,\n  High on a hill-top, a memory to remain.\n  Redbuds and Dogwood, bring spring\u2019s tender smile,\n  To a land so fertile, it rivals that of the Nile.\n  Yonder, the Red\u2019s mighty currents roll.\n  Gleaming, sparkling, rivaling Hidalgo\u2019s Gold.\n\n  In a grove, where the stately Pine trees tower,\n  Blending with the Oak, the Ash and wild Flower,\n  Quickly, their lips meet and arms entwine,\n  Secluded they are, by the Rattan-vine,\n  This love doesn\u2019t any boundary know.\n  The Savage speaks, \u2019tis time to go.\n\n  They match wits, the Hidalgo and the Fleur de Lys.\n  Fiesta and Fandangero, invited, they all come to see.\n  This Wilderness Road, which both Friend and Enemy Travel\n  This intricate-mess, shall two men unravel\n  From Crescent-City to Natchitoches and on to Mexico,\n  Past Los Adais and Presidios, must Saint and Sinner go.\n\n  This Land\u2014\u2019tis Mine, \u2019tis Yours, \u2019tis Mine.\n  To the Stars and Stripes the Savage states, \u2019twas Mine.\n  To his God, Ayandt Daddi, in a blanketed-blue sky,\n  He looks and he questions, \u201cWhither goest I?\u201d\n  To his people, his eyes reflect his fears,\n  Caddo generosity paid, with \u201cA Trail of Tears.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                                ADDENDA\n\n\n\n\n                              LAND GRANTS\n\n\nIn 1816 the United States Land Office sent representatives to\nNatchitoches, although previously representatives had been in\nNatchitoches in 1806 to register land claims within the Neutral Strip\narea. Proof was demanded of people settling land in the Neutral Strip,\nreferring to either French or Spanish grants.\n\nIn 1730 Zavallez, then Governor of Los Adais, granted three square\nleagues of land to Manuel Sanchez on Los Pedro Creek (Bayou Pierre), the\ngrant was listed as La Nana de Los Rio Pedro. (Note: The wife of St.\nDenis was a Sanchez, her mother being Maria Esperrillo Sanchez before\nher marriage to Don Diago Ramone). The Sanchez Grant is also referred to\nas Los Tres Llanos (Three Plains) was approved again in 1742 by Governor\nLarros in the name of Governor Winthusin. The son of Manuel Sanchez was\neighty two years of age when in 1832 a clear title was issued by the\nUnited States Land Office. The Sanchez family had lived on the land 102\nyears before they obtained a clear title to it.\n\nJuan de Mora was granted one league square of land on Bayou Dupont at\nLos Adais by Zavallez which is the land located in an area known today\nas \u201cFish Pond Bottom.\u201d\n\nTestimony of Gregoria Mora before the land office officials shows: \u201cThis\nis a receipt of tithes I collected on land west of the Calcasieu River,\nWest of Bayou Kisachey and west of Arroyo Hondo. Also west of Bayou\nPedro (Bayou Pierre) dated in Nacogdoches, Feb. 27, 1797, and signed by\nJose Maria Guadiana (Rubric)\n\n  Owner of Land                             _Location_\n\n  Pablo Lifita                              Los Pedros Creek\n                                            (Bayou Pierre)\n  Andres Balentine                          \u2033\n  Jose Lavina                               Los Cebellas Prairie\n  Pedro Dolet                               Los Adais Creek\n                                            (Winn Creek)\n  Antonio Dubois                            \u2033\n  Francisco Prudhomme                       In village of Adais\n                                            Indians, one mile\n                                            north of Robeline\n                                            near site of the\n                                            Presidio de Los\n                                            Adais.\n  Francisco Morban (Der Bonne)              Dorango Creek (west\n                                            of the village of\n                                            Allen and three\n                                            miles northwest of\n                                            the village of\n                                            Shamrock)\n  Widdow of Tontin Bisson                   On Topolcot Creek\n                                            at Allen site, near\n                                            Leroy Anderson\n                                            Plantation\n  Manuel Prudhomme                          On Lago Ocosa Near\n                                            Cypress, Louisiana\n  Marfil                                    On Lago de Los\n                                            Adais (Spanish Lake)\n  Francois Rouquier                         West of Lago Tierre\n                                            Noir (Sibley Lake)\n  Santiago Wallace (Englishman)             On San Juan Creek\n                                            (Bay St. John in\n                                            the Lake Charles\n                                            area)\n  Jose Piernas                              At Santo Maria\n                                            Adelaide (vicinity\n                                            of Zwolle,\n                                            Louisiana)\n\n\n             Claim of Pedro Dolet, Frenchman (Pierre Dole)\n\nOn December 29, 1795, I, Jose Cayetano de Zepede, executor to Los Adais\nand by request of Antonio Gil y Barbo Governor of Texas at Nacogdoches,\nwent with my assistant, Don Jose de La Vega to a place at Los Adais,\nwhere a petitioner had built a home there. I granted this land.\n\n  He pulled up Grass,\n  Planted Stakes,\n  Threw dust into the air,\n\nTo show his possession.\n\nI have granted this land and designate the aforesaid tract of land as\n\u201cSan Pedro de Los Adais.\u201d\n\n  Signed:\n  Don Luis de La Vega.\n  Vincente Del Rio\n  Jose Cayeleno de Zepeda\n    Executor\n\n\n                         Claim of Edward Murphy\n\nDon Edwardo Murphy, petitioner from the post at Natchitoches, states\nthat on a creek La Petit St. Jean and Reo Hondo I find advantageous to\ncollect my cattle, I humbly ask of you to give me possession of this\nland.\n\nNacogdoches, October 17, 1791. In consequence of petitioner and that the\nland solicited is in the province of Texas and vacant I do grant in due\nbest form and that it may so appear.\n\n  Signed:\n  Antonio Gil y Barbo\n\n(Note: This tract of land was in the area of southwest from the Country\nClub of Natchitoches on Highway 1 North).\n\n\nClaim of Edward Murphy for the Firm of Murphy, Smith, Barr and Davenport\n\n  Edward Murphy, Leander Smith, William Barr, Samuel Davenport.\n  (District Judge William Murray heard the plea of the Firm of Murphy,\n  Smith, Davenport and Barr).\n\nAugust 1, 1798, Don Jose Guadiana, Governor at Nacogdoches, granted to\nDon Edward Murphy a grant of land named \u201cLa Nana Prairie\u201d located seven\nleagues east of the Rio Sabinas on the road to Natchitoches, 144\nsections of land astraddle El Camino Real (a 12 square mile land grant,\nextending eastward from Bayou Lana and could have very well taken the\ntownsite of Many, Louisiana. Murphy transferred this land to the above\nmentioned firm, November 3, 1798).\n\n\n                          Claim of Michel Crow\n\nMichel Crow, son of Isaac Crow, who wed the widow Chabineau of the Post\nat Natchitoches, bought the land of Miguel Viciente which has been\ngranted to Miguel Viciente in 1769 by Governor Hugo O\u2019Connor, who was at\nthat time Governor of Los Adais and all of the Texas country. The grant\nwas listed as San Miguel de Los Rio Patrice and was located on the\nSabine River and Patrice Creek in the northwest portion of Sabine\nParish.\n\nOne incident in which an arrest and the results of which served as\nevidence in favor of the victim occurred while Lieutenant Zebulon M.\nPike was in command of a police patrol of the Neutral Strip in 1806,\nwhen he arrested Michel Crow and brought him to the post at\nNatchitoches, accusing him of contraband operations to and from the\nTexas country. Captain Bernardino Mantero, leading a Spanish patrol with\nthe assistance of Lieutenants Pike and McGee, came to the ranchero of\nMichael Crow and upon questioning Crow\u2019s wife and her two sons, learned\nof the actions of Lieutenant Pike previously. Captain Mantero went to\nNatchitoches and declared that Crow was innocent of such charges and\nthat the unfortunate Crow was only engaged in farming and ranching;\nfurther the Spanish did not have Crow\u2019s name on the list of traders in\ncontrabrand known to the Spanish at Nacogdoches, thus, when Michel Crow\nregistered his claim for land, he had proof of the length of time he had\nresided there taken from the arrest papers.\n\n\n                   Claim of the Heirs of Widow Tontin\n\nIn 1791 Anthanase De Mezieres granted to Julian and Pierre Bisson land\ncalled Ecore Rouge (Red Hill) located at the present day hamlet of Allen\nbetween Robeline and Powhattan, Louisiana, one hundred ninety square\narpents of land on each side of Topelcot Bayou. The widow Tontin, nee\nPossiot, wed Julian Bisson (Note: The store at Allen and the home of\nLeroy\u2014Dobber\u2014Anderson are located atop Ecore Rouge).\n\n\n                Claim of the Heirs of Anthanase Poissot\n\nIn 1792, Anthanase De Mezieres, Governor of the Texas region at\nNatchitoches Post, granted land to Anthanase Poissot in recognition of\nhis claim of having bought the land of La Tres Cabanes (Three Cabins)\nfrom Chief Antoine of the Hyatasses (Yatassee Indians) on Bayou Pierre.\n\n    [Illustration: An exact reproduction of one of the officers\u2019\n    quarters at Fort Jesup which now houses the relics pertaining to the\n    fort.\n\n    Fort Jesup, originally \u201cCantonment Jesup,\u201d was established in the\n    spring of 1821, by Lieutenant Colonel Zachary Taylor, who was\n    executing the orders of Major General Edmund Pendleton Gaines.\n    Taylor had under his command four companies of the United States 7th\n    Infantry.\n\n    On November 29, 1845 the Adjutant General ordered that Fort Jessup\n    was no longer required as a military post and that all military\n    supplies, buildings and land be disposed of.]\n\n    [Illustration: Original plans of Fort Jesup]\n\n  1. Mess Hall\n  2. Enlisted Men\u2019s Quarters\n  3. Officers\u2019 Quarters\n\n    [Illustration: Officers\u2019 Quarters\u2014another view.]\n\n\n         Claim of the Firm of Murphy, Smith, Davenport and Barr\n\nThe Los Ormegas Land Grant of Jacinto Mora contained two hundred seven\nthousand three hundred sixty acres bordering on the east bank of the\nSabine River and astradle El Camino Real. The grant was issued by Jose\nCayeleno de Zepeda, Governor at Nacogdoches and was sold to the above\nmentioned firm in 1805. The land was transferred under the title of\nSanta Marie Adelaide Ormegas, but was not recognized by the United\nStates Government until 1842.\n\n\n    Claim of the Heirs of Pierre Gainnie (Pedro Gane) (Pier Gagnier)\n Hipolite Bordelon Francois Grappe (Francisco Grebb) (Franquis Grebbe)\n\nThese three men bought the land of the Chescher Indians (The area\ncomprises the Mibermel Ranch near Powhattan, Louisiana, and the area of\nThree League Bayou or Nine Mile Bayou).\n\nThis grant was recognized by Anthanase DeMezieres of the Post at\nNatchitoches.\n\n\n                  Families of the Neutral Strip (1805)\n\nRecords of Diago Maria Morfil, representing the Spanish of that area, in\nlieu of Jacinto Mora, directive of the Governor at Nacogdoches of the\nTexas Region, presented this record of families considered under the\njurisdiction of Presidio Neustra Senora Del Pilar de Los Adais to the\nUnited States Land Agents in 1816:\n\n  Don Marcelo de Soto, farmer, wife, Dona Maries Baillio, Frenchwoman,\n          two sons, two daughters, resided on Los Pedro Creek (Bayou\n          Pierre).\n  Pedro Lafita, Spanish, wife, Louise Gainnie, Frenchwoman, resided on\n          Bayou Los Tres Leagues.\n  Luis Beltran, Frenchman, resided on Rio Hondo (Young\u2019s Bayou) or Bayou\n          La Jeune. (Unmarried)\n  Vincente Rolan, Frenchman, wed Melanie Vascoque, Frenchwoman, residing\n          on Bayou Durange. (This bayou drains Cypress Swamp and empties\n          into Topelcot Creek, also known as Cypress Swamp, Hall Break\n          area, north of Marthaville, Louisiana).\n  Don Antainse Possiot, Frenchman, wed to Juanna Elena Pabi,\n          Frenchwoman. Note: This is the Anthanase Poissot who bought\n          land from the Chescher Indians on Three League Bayou, which\n          extended westward to Bayou Pierre.\n  Michael Rambin, Frenchman wed to Theresa Baillio (Theresa Baillio,\n          sister to Maria Baillio who wed Marcelo De Soto) resided on\n          Los Pedros Creek (Bayou Pierre). There was one hired hand on\n          this farm, Jose Crafon, Spanish.\n  Jean Balbado, Frenchman wed to Lenore Tessier, Frenchwoman, resided on\n          Arroyo Hondo (Hagewood or Coldwater vicinity between Robeline\n          and Natchitoches, Louisiana).\n  Jean Tessier, Frenchman and widower, resided in the same area as\n          above.\n  Louis Fortin, Frenchman, wed to Manuella Aragon, Spanish, resided on\n          land of Francois Prudhomme which was among the Adais Indians,\n          at Los Adais.\n  Francisco Prudhomme, Frenchman wed to Anne Marie Rambin, Frenchwoman,\n          two sons and seven daughters. Prudhomme in 1805 was 74 years\n          old. This land among the Adais Indians was granted to\n          Prudhomme by DeMezieres in 1771. Francois Prudhomme was a\n          trader among the Indians and at the same time had a Spanish\n          co-partner, Antonio Gil y Barbo, who traded among the Spanish\n          along El Camino Real. Manuel Flores was another partner of\n          Prudhomme, also Miguel Viciente who later sold his grant to\n          Isaac Crow. It is very likely that Viciente at his out of the\n          way home on Sabine River was a trader in contraband\n          merchandise supplied by Prudhomme. The trail leading from\n          Sabine River and the home of Miguel Viciente on Bayou San\n          Patrice and eastward to the Red River via Converse, Pleasant\n          Hill and to Bayou Pierre was a contraband trail. In 1723 Paul\n          Muller established Post du Bayou Pierre, with contraband trade\n          with the Spanish as his aim. Post du Bayou Pierre developed\n          into the Town of Bayou Pierre. This trail was traveled by\n          Gutierrez and his followers when they were pursued by the\n          Royalists, Spanish Troops. Post du Bayou Pierre, The Town of\n          Bayou Pierre, King Hill and Jordan Ferry are all one and the\n          same.\n  Pierre Dole (Pedro Dolet or Peter Dolet), Frenchman mentioned earlier\n          wed Dona Rose Duprez, Spanish woman, resided on Bayou Adais\n          (Winn Creek, west of Robeline, Louisiana).\n  Andria Valentine (Andria Balentine) Frenchman, wed Angela Molis,\n          French woman, resided on Bayou La Jeune (Youngs\u2019 Bayou) near\n          Coldwater vicinity.\n  Elina Wales, widow, American, three sons, Jacob, Thomas and Benjamin,\n          resided on Bayou La Jeune.\n  Jacinto Gane (Jacinto Gannie, Gainnie, Gagnier), evidently a son of\n          Pierre Gainnie, resided on land grant mentioned before.\n  Bacitio Gane of the same family mentioned above, Frenchman, wed Marie\n          Lafita, Spanish woman.\n  Miguel Viciente, Spanish, mentioned before, wed Elena Roubeaux French\n          woman, is the same land grant sold to Isaac Crow, which was\n          being claimed by his son, Michel.\n  Pedro Roblo, Pierre Roubeaux, Frenchman, wed Magdelina Baptiste,\n          Spanish woman, resided on Durango Creek.\n  Francisco Moran, Frenchman, wed Anna Maria, an Apache mestizo, the\n          word mestizo in Spanish refers to a half-breed offspring of\n          Spanish and Indian parents. Moran was an Indian trader for\n          Anthanaze De Mezieres and operated along El Camino Real with a\n          certified passport. He was said to speak French, Spanish and\n          thirty-eight Indian dialects. He often accompanied DeMezieres\n          as an interpreter. He asked for and received three acres of\n          land on El Camino Real in the vicinity of Robeline, Louisiana.\n          In 1805 Moran was seventy-eight years old.\n  Santiago Christine, Frenchman wed Marie D\u2019Ortigeaux, French woman,\n          resided on Bayou Pierre.\n  Antonio Rocquier, Frenchman, wed Marrianne, an English woman. This\n          grant by De Mezieres has already been mentioned as to\n          location.\n  Michel Crow, Englishman, wed Margarita La Fleur (LaFleur-Flores)\n          Spanish woman, resided, as before mentioned in the claim of\n          the firm, Murphy, Smith, Barr and Davenport.\n\nIn 1806 the following had applied for homesteads and received quarter\nsections of land: William Eldridge, George Mac Tier, Manuel Flores, John\nCartez, Asa Becherson, Stephen Wallace and Seaborne Maillard.\n\nPeter Belieu, who had been living on Bayou Pierre for fifty years,\ndeclared squatters\u2019 rights, as did Walter Weathersby, Francois Dubois,\nDavid Chase, Jean Pierre Grappe, Joseph Teanriz, Mickel Chasneau,\nBenjamin Boullett, William Cockerville, Denise Dies (Diez).\n\nIn the area of Cypress, Flora Provincal and Kisatchie, Louisiana, the\nland was granted by Athanase De Mezieres in 1771-1776, to: Pierre Joseph\nMaises, at Cypress, Louisiana, on Lago Acasse; Baptiste Prudhomme, also\nnear Cypress; Madam Marie Palagie on Drunkard\u2019s Bayou near Flora,\nLouisiana; Thomas Vascoque near Provincal, Louisiana; Joseph Procell, a\nSpaniard, west of Bayou Derbonne, west of Melrose, Louisiana; Pierre\nSanscalier on Bayou Kisatchie near Kisatchie, Louisiana, who used the\nfresh spring water of Kisatchie and made the finest corn whiskey on the\nwhole Neutral Strip; and, Leander Lasso on Petite Bayou Pierre, south\nand west of present-day Cloutierville, Louisiana.\n\nWithin the area of present day Sabine Parish were these settlers in\n1805: Joe Leaky, John Wadell, Christopher Anthony, Thomas Hicks, Jacob\nWinfree, Jose Rivers, Peter Patterson, David Weathersby, David Walters,\nJohn Gordon, Benjamin Winfree, James Kirklin, Andres Galinto, Jose\nProcell, James Denny, Manuel Bustamento, John Yocum, Jessy Yocum and\nMichel Crow. E. Dillon, A. Davidson, Barbe, Beebe, Cartinez, Slocomb and\nAddington.\n\n\n\n\n                        FAMILY TREE OF ST. DENIS\n               (Born Sept. 17, 1676, Died June 11, 1744.)\n\n\n  Jean Juchereau wed Marie Langlois.\n        Son\n  Nicholas Juchereau de St. Denis wed Theresa Giffard.\n        Son\n  Louis Juchereau de St. Denis wed Emanuello Sanchez de Navarro Ramone.\n      Children were:\n  Marie Rose Juchereau de St. Denis wed Jacques De La Chaise.\n  Louis Charles Juchereau de St. Denis wed Marie Barbier.\n  Marie des Delores Simone de St. Denis wed Cesair de Blanc.\n    Child, Louis Charles de Blanc.\n  Louise Margarite Juchereau de St. Denis.\u2014Died young.\n  Marie Patronille Feliciane Juchereau de St. Denis wed Athanase\n              DeMezieres. There was one child, Louise Feliciane\n              DeMezieres, who may have wed a Prudhomme.[14] DeMezieres\u2019\n              second wife was Pelagie Fazenda, whose name is noted on\n              several birth records as a Godmother.\n  Marie des Neiges Juchereau de St. Denis wed Manuell Antoine de Soto\n              Bermuda.\n      Children were:\n      Marie Manuello de Soto wed Augustain Le Noir.\n      Ludoric Joseph Firmin de Soto.\n      Marie Joseph de Soto\u2014died young.\n      Joseph Marcel de Soto wed Marie Ballio.\n      S. Antoine Gertrudes de Soto wed Manuell Flores.\n      Emanuello Marie Anne de Soto wed Joseph Rambin.\n\n\n\n\n                   BAPTISMAL RECORDS OF NATCHITOCHES\n                              1734 TO 1740\n\n\n      _Child_          _Parents_         _Godfather         _Godmother\n                                          (Parin)_           (Marin)_\n\n J. Avanboite.     J. Avanboite.      Francois Godeau.  Rose De St. Denis.\n                   Marie Badin.\n\n                                   1735\n\n J. Dupree.        J. Dupree.         J. Dupree.        L. Riotou.\n                   Anna Maria\n                   Phillipo.\n H. Triche.        J. Triche.         A. Gonzales.      E. S. De Navarre\n                                                        (Madam St. Denis)\n                   Lorette Grenot.\n Neona Bautimino.  L. Bautimino.      L. J. De St.      E. S. De St.\n                                      Denis. (Louis     Denis. (Madam St.\n                                      Jauchero)         Denis)\n                   Theresa Navarre\n A. Lage.          A. Lage.           A. Dupin.         Anna Verger.\n                   Maria De La Chase.\n A. Prevot.        Nicholas Prevot.   J. Bossier.       Ananise Chaneau.\n                                                        (Madame Chmard)\n                   Yevonne Dubois.\n J. Leroy          Lise Francis       M. de St. Denis.  Madam de St.\n                   Gillot.                              Denis.\n                   Silveran Leroy.\n J. Rachal.        Pierre Rachal.     P. Cussin.        Jeanne Piquerey.\n                   Marie Anna\n                   Benoist.\n\n                                   1736\n\n M. V. Prudhomme.  J. B. Prudhomme.   G. Chevert.       Marie\n                                                        Victoria-Gonzalez\n                                                        Derbonne.\n                   Celest Mestier.\n Theresa           J. Levasseur.      G. Chevert.       Theresa Barbier.\n Levasseur.\n                   M. F. Bourdon.\n J. B. Brevel.     J. B. Brevel.      J. B. Prudhomme.  Marcel Bacques.\n                   A. Tvianac.\n M. Chevert.       G. Chevert         J. B. Prudhomme.  Marainne Bacques.\n                   Y. Mestier.\n R. Dupree.        J. Dupree.         Rime Avare.       H\u2019Elane Dubois.\n                   Theresa Barbier.\n                   (Second wife of\n                   Dupree).\n\n                                   1737\n\n Ann Lage.         Justine Lage.      A. Lage.          M. de La Chase.\n                   F. Buart.\n M. F. Gauthier.   J. Gauthier.       R. Dubois.        Marie Francine\n                                                        Renaudier.\n                   Manuello Lorenzo\n                   Devaca.\n M. L. Manne.      Francisci Manne.   J. B. Derbonne.   Marie Gonzales\n                                                        Derboune.\n                   Joan Derbonne.\n N. Prevot.        Nicholas Prevot.   P. Prevot.        Zelia Prevot.\n                   Yevonne Dubois.\n\n                                   1738\n\n R. Possoit.       R. Possiot.        H. Riche.         A. Dumont.\n                   A. M. Phillipi.\n M. R. Boisselier. J. Boisselier.     J. McCartey.      E. Santhez y\n                                                        Navarre.\n                   C. Labarre.\n L. Rondin.        J. Rondin.         Luis Goudeau.     J. Piguery.\n                                      (Doctor)\n                   E. Flores.\n C. F. Lavasseur.  J. Lavesseur.      F. Manne.         J. U. Garcia.\n                   M. F. Bourdon.\n M. F. Chevert.    G. Chavert.        G. Barbier.       M. F. Bourdon.\n                   Th. Barbier.\n J. B. Trichelle.  L. Trichell.       J. B. Derbonne.   A. DeManche.\n                   M. Demonde.\n\n                                   1739\n\n H. M. S. Brevel.  J. B. Brevel.      L. Goudeau.       J. Piguery.\n                   A. Tvianac.\n J. B. Prudhomme.  J. B. Prudhomme.   F. Daicdeau.      Donna Girtrudus\n                                                        Gonzalez.\n                   Celest Mestier.\n J. Rachal.        P. Rachal.         J. Rondin.        E. Rachal.\n                   M. A. Benoist.\n F. Rambin.        Andres Rambin.     Louis Rambin.     Marie Cathern de\n                                      (Grandfather      Poutree\n                                      also)             (Grandmother)\n                   Zelia Prevot.\n E. Verger.        J. Verger.         L. DeMalathe.     M. A. Rousseau.\n                   A. Demont.\n L. Lager.         J. Lager.          L. DeMalathe.     M. Flores.\n                   F. Buard.\n L. DeMatlathe.    L. DeMatalathe.    Manuel Flores.    Th. Flores.\n                   M. Flores.\n E. Trechelle.     H. Trichell.       L. J. de St.      E. Sanchez de St.\n                                      Denis.            Deni.\n                   M. Charles.\n E. Possiot.       R. Possiot.        S. J. Maderne.    M. Buard.\n                   A. M. Phillipi.\n P. DeLuche.       J. DeLuche.        P. Fausse.        J. Grenot.\n M. DeLuche.       M. Benoist.[15]\n                   (Melanie Benoist)\n M. LeRoy.         Siveran LeRoy.     G. Bosseau.       M. de La Chais\n                   Lise Francis\n                   Guillot.\n\n                                   1740\n\n A. Prudhomme.     J. Prudhomme.      L. J. de St.      Donna E. Sanchez\n                                      Denis.            de St. Denis.\n                   C. Mestier.\n H. D. Marine.     J. A. Marine.      H. Trechelle.     M. Dumont.\n                   G. O. L. Perot.\n E. Vidol.         E. Vidol.          J. DeLuche.       M. Benoist\n                                                        DeLuche.\n                   C. Lavespere.\n H. L. Lavespere.  H. Lavespere.      L. J. de St.      M. Derbonne.\n                                      Denis.\n                   C. Brossilier.\n M. Leroy.         Siveran LeRoy      J. DeLuche.       M. H. Guillot.\n                   L. S. Guillot.\n Note: Margarite LeRoy who was Christened in 1739 wed Louis Rachall, a\n French Soldier, in 1757. She was 17 years old. Her Sister Marie who was\n Christened in 1740 wed Jean Baptiste Le Campti who was also a French\n Soldier, in 1758.\n M. J. Levasseur.  J. Lavasseur.      J. B. Derbonne.   M. V. Gonzalez.\n                   M. F. Bourdon.\n C. Hernandez.     G. Hernandez.      P. Renaudier.     M. F. Renaudier.\n                   J. Renaudier.\n M. F. Possiot.    R. Possiot.        L. J. de St.      M. Sanchez.\n                                      Denis.\n                   A. M. Phillippi.\n\n\n\n\n                     SOLDIERS IN NATCHITOCHES\u20141742\n\n\n  Louis Juchereau De St. Denis, Commandante.\n  Captains: Cesar De Blanc also a son-in-law of St. Denis. Cesar Borme,\n          Jean Gainard, Baltazar Villars and Louis Pablo Villenfev.\n  Lieutenants: Jacques De La Chase, Bernardo Dortolen, (Dortigeux),\n          Jacques Terpeux, Vincent Perrier, Jean Baptiste Derbonne, and\n          Jean Baptiste De Duc, Anthanase DeMezieres and Philippe\n          Coubiere.\n  Sergeants: Gureilleon Lavespere, Michael Gallion, Joseph Lattier,\n          Joseph Trichell (Trichel), Nicholas Tournier, _Guiellerno\n          Lestage_, Alexis Grappe, Remi Possiot, Louis Possiot,\n          Bartholme Rachal and Angelus Challettre\n          (Schellette\u2014Chellette-Schellet) Alarge Chabineux.\n  Corporals: Antonio Le Noir, Jean Dubois, Antonio Distin, Jean Dupuy,\n          Allarge Dupuy, Nicholas Pent, Christopher Perault, Felix\n          Jeanot and Olivere Fredieu and Entoine Desadier.\n  Musketeers: Louis Moinet, Francois Hugue, Bartholme Monpierre, Andries\n          Compiere, Pierre Renaudiere, Luis Antee (also Town Crier),\n          Regimigo Tontin, Marino de Muy, Domingo St. Primo, Everiste\n          Possiot, Gaspard Toil, Antonio de St. Denis, Louis Bertrand,\n          Jean Prudhomme, Henri Barbarousse, Louis Pierre La Cour,\n          Armand Beaudoin, Pierre Baillio and Jean and Nicholas Layssard\n          (brothers who were the sons of Antoin Nicholas Layssard who in\n          1723 established \u201cPost Du Rapides\u201d The town of Colfax\n          Louisiana is on the Land Grant of Jean and Nicholas Layssard\n          who had established a trading post in that area in 1747),\n          Siveran Le Roy, Francois Beaudoin and Andries La Cour.\n\n\n\n\n          MERCHANTS, FARMERS AND TRADERS IN NATCHITOCHES\u20141742\n\n\n                                Traders\n\nPierre Bisson, Joseph Blancpain, Jean Basquet, Pierre Blot, Jean Chapuis\n(Traded as far west as New Mexico, Jean Chapuis Jr., the son, later\nbecame known as the Father of Oklahoma he developed the largest chain of\nTrading Posts which was never equalled. The territory covered the\nMissouri River Area, the upper Red River Area and as far west as the\nColorado River). Pierre Gaignee (Gainnie) (Gane) (Gainiee) (Gaignie) had\na trading post on Bon Dieu Falls which was at that time on Rigilet de\nBon Dieu was later called Creola Landing and now Montgomery, La.\n\n\n                               Merchants\n\nSieur Barme, Nicholas Fazinda, Antoin Rambin (Tailor Shop), Louis Lemee,\nEstabin Pavie, Dominec Mancheca (Tavern Owner), Michel de Chasne, Louis\nBonnafons, Luis Caesar Barme, Mathais La Courte, and Pierre Joans.\n\n\n                             Horse Traders\n\nNicholas Chef, Nicholas La Mathie, Brognard, D\u2019Autherive, Duviviere,\nDuBuche and Pierre DuPain.\n\n\n                                Farmers\n\nJacques Bacquet, Ezeb Mercer, Charles de Blanc, Gailier Gallion, and\nJean Baptiste Brevel. And Soldier-Farmer, Pierre Brosset.\n\n\n                            Soldier Farmers\n\nBartholme Charbonet, Louis Moinet, Andries La Cour, Bernardo Dartigo,\nJean Baptiste Derbonne, Guiellerno Lestage, Remi Poissoit, Angelus\nChellettree, Joseph Lattier and Alexis Grappe.\n\nPriests at Nachitoches were Father Vitree and Dagobare.\n\n\n                         Merchants at Los Adais\n\nAntonio Flores, Edwardo Nugent, Jose LaLima, Luis De Qundise and Joseph\nAntonio Bonetis.\n\n\n                       SOLDIERS AT LOS ADAIS\u20141742\n\n  Jose Maria Gonzalez, Captain and Commandante second to Governor.\n  Captain Eucibia Luis Cazrola.\n  Lieutenants: Bernardo Dortolan, Franciscio Garcia and Ensigne,\n          Jauquine Cardova.\n  Soldiers: Jose Duprez, Hortego Cardova, Geronimo Gallardo, Thoribolo\n          de La Fuentes, Fernando Rodriguez, Franciscio Uque, Antonio y\n          Barbo (Father of Gil y Barbo), Luis Garcia, Antonio Barbarjo\n          De Vargez, Estaban Bonites, Elonzo Bustimento, Pedro Chacon,\n          Greganzoto Martinez, Surrento Flores, Felix Solis, Luis Solis\n          and Phillippe Hernandex.\n\n\n                                Farmers\n\nDurango y Oconna, (Ocon) Sanchez, Alberto Cartinez, Jose Guierre,\nManuello Flores, Gregory Procell and Salvadore Bano, Sanchez, Juan De\nMore, Pedro Pasquell, Gaspardo Conterio, Patrice Lopez, Cadet Toro,\nMechell La Rouex and Antonie Sepulvado.\n\n\n\n\n                               REFERENCES\n\n\n  _Baptismals and Death Registers, 1704-1740_, Cathedral Archives,\n          Mobile, Alabama.\n  _Concessions_, Louisiana Historical Society Library, Tulane Library,\n          New Orleans. Transcripts.\n  _French MSS., Mississippi Valley, 1676-1869_, Louisiana Historical\n          Society Library, Tulane Library, New Orleans.\n  _Notes and Docquements Historiques de la Louisiane_, Tulane Library,\n          New Orleans.\n  Hennepin, Louis A., _Description of Louisiana_, Paris 1683, edited and\n          translated by J. G. Shea, New York 1880.\n  Joutel, _A journal of the last voyage performed by Monsr. De la Salle_\n          to the Gulf of Mexico to find the Mouth of the Mississippi\n          River, Written in French by M. Joutel, a commander in the\n          expedition. Caxton Club, London, 1896.\n  Kelerec, _Report of 1758_, New Orleans Library.\n  LePage du Pratz, _Historie de la Louisiane_, 3 vols Paris, 1758.\n  _The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents_, edited by R. G. Thwaites,\n          71 vols, Cleveland 1896-1901.\n  _Colonial Records of North Carolina_, edited by William L. Saunders,\n          10 vols, Raleigh, N. C. 1896-1901.\n  La Harpe, Bernard de, _Journal Historique de l\u2019Establissement des\n          Francais a la Louisiane_, Nouvelle-Orleans 1831. New Orleans\n          Library.\n  Le Gac, Charles (Director of the Company of the Indies) _Memorie\n          d\u2019apris les Voyages sur la Louisiana_, la Geographie, La\n          situation de la Colonie Francois ou 25 Anust 1718 au 5 Mars\n          1721 et des moynesd de l\u2019ameliorer, 1722. Boston Public\n          Library.\n  Blanchard, Rufus, _History of Illinois_, Chicago 1883.\n  Breese, Sidney, _The early history of Illinois_, from its Discovery by\n          the French, in 1673, until its concession to Great Britain in\n          1763, including the Narration of Marquette\u2019s Discovery of the\n          Mississippi, Chicago 1884.\n  Bunner, E., _History of Louisiana from its first discovery and\n          settlement to the present time_, New York 1841.\n  Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 43, _Indian Tribes of the Lower\n          Mississippi Valley_ Adjacent to the Coast of the Gulf of\n          Mexico, Washington 1911.\n  Speed, Thomas, _The Wilderness Road_. A description of the route of\n          travel by which the pioneers and early settlers first came to\n          Kentucky. In Filson Club Publication, No. 2, Louisville,\n          Kentucky. 1886.\n  Thwaites, Ruben Gold, Wisconsin, _The Americanization of the French\n          Settlements, American Commonwealths_, Boston and New York\n          1908.\n  B. F. French, Editor, _Historical Collections of Louisiana_, 5 parts,\n          New York 1869-1875.\n  B. F. French, _Historical Collections of Louisiana and Florida_, New\n          Series, 2 vols 1869-1875.\n  Gayarre, Charles, _History of Louisiana_, The French Dominion, 4 vols,\n          New Orleans 1885.\n  Gayarre, Charles, _Histoire de la Louisiane_, 2 vols, Nouvelle Orleans\n          1846-1847.\n  Gayarre, Charles, _Louisiana, Its History as a French Colony_, New\n          York, 1852.\n  Hienrich, Pierre, _La Louisiane sous la Compaignie des Indies_,\n          1717-1731.\n  _Louisiana Conservationist_, January 1957, A map drawn by Simon Le\n          Page du Pratz of the Lower Mississippi Valley, showing the\n          location of numerous Indian Tribes.\n  Delisle\u2019s _Map, 1718_, New York Public Library.\n  _Fleur de Lys and Calumet_, by Richebourg Gaillard McWilliams.\n  _Analysis of Indian Village Sites from Louisiana and Mississippi._\n          Anthropological Study No. 2. By John A. Ford.\n  _Cavalier in the Wilderness._ By Ross Phares.\n  _Alexandria and Old Red River Country_, by Harry and Elizabeth Eskew.\n  _A History of the Red River Watershed_, by J. Fair Hardin.\n  _Northwestern Louisiana_, by J. Fair Hardin.\n  _History of Sabine Parish_, by John G. Belisle, Many, Louisiana, 1912.\n  _History of Louisiana_, by Alcee Fortier, 4 vols.\n  _A History of Louisiana_, by Charles Gayarre, 4 vols.\n  _History of Natchitoches, Louisiana_, by Milton Dunn (Louisiana\n          Historical Quarterly, 111 (January 1920) Pages 26-56).\n  _Our Catholic Heritage in Texas_, by Carlos E. Castaneda, 7 vols.\n  _French Civilization and Culture in Natchitoches_ (Peabody College\n          Bulletin No. 310 Nashville 1941) by Portre-Bobinski.\n  _Natchitoches the Up-to-Date Oldest Town in Louisiana_, by Clara\n          Mildred Smith and Portre Bobinski, New Orleans 1936.\n  _Natchitoches, Oldest Settlement in the Louisiana Purchase_, published\n          by The Association of Natchitoches Women, 1958. Printed by the\n          Natchitoches Times.\n  _Ride the Red Earth_, by Paul I. Wellman.\n  _A History of Louisiana_, by Elizabeth Grace King and J. R. Ficklen.\n  _Commerce of Louisiana During the French Regime_ by Surry.\n  _History of the Caddo Indians._ A Thesis by William B. Glover of the\n          University of Texas 1932.\n  _The History of Louisiana Agriculture_, by Williamson.\n  _Historical and Biographical Notes_ by B. F. French. Published by J.\n          Sabine 1869.\n  _Pichardo\u2019s Limits of Louisiana and Texas._ 4 vols by Charles W.\n          Hackett. Published by the University of Texas Press 1941.\n  _Louisiana and Florida_ by B. F. French.\n  _Discovery and Explorations of the Missisisppi_, by John G. Shea,\n          Published by Clinton Hall, New York City, 1852.\n  Source Material on the _History and Ethnology of the Caddo Indians_,\n          Louisiana State University Press.\n  _Mississippi Provincal Archives_, 3 vols French Dominion by Albelt\n          Godfrey Sanders, M.A., Millsaps College, published Jackson,\n          Mississippi, Department of Archives of History 1932.\n  Athanase DeMezieres Books 1 and 2 of the _Louisiana and Texas Frontier\n          1768 to 1780_. By Herbert Eugene Bolton. Published by The\n          Authur H. Clark Co., Cleveland, 1914.\n  _The Sword was their Passport_, by Harris Gaylord Warren. Published by\n          the Louisiana State University Press. Baton Rouge, La. 1943.\n\n\n\n\n                             PERSONALITIES\n\n\n  (The names with stars are descended from early ancestors mentioned in\n  the text or listed in the early records of El Camino Real area)\n\nHere are some short biographies of individuals who have each in his or\nher own way contributed to the progress of our El Camino Real upper\nterritory.\n\nMany of them are descendants of the earliest settlers, and their\nfamilies have been in Louisiana for nearly 250 years. Very few in\nLouisiana can claim such distinction, for even the founders of New\nOrleans came later.\n\nThe families of others written about here settled in this area years\nafterward, some in modern times. But they have adopted the land as their\nown and are just as proud of its history and traditions as the \u201cold\ntimers.\u201d\n\nAll have, by living up to the standard of older days, added to the well\nbeing of the community and improved it socially, economically and\npolitically. They have made it attractive to tourists and visitors, and\nnew permanent residents find it a most attractive place in which to\nlive. The people of today who live along El Camino Real are worthy of\ntheir sires.\n\n\n                         Clifton Robert Ammons\n\nClifton Robert Ammons of Many, La., wed Ethel Jeanne Matherne of Houma,\nLa. Their children are: Robert Dale, L.S.U.; Dianna Drew, Centenary\nCollege; Kenneth Ellis, Larry Wayne and Suzanne Jeanne. Mr. Ammons truly\nexemplifies our modern-day citizen of the El Camino Real area. He is a\nFarmer and Stockman, a School teacher and State Representative of Sabine\nParish. The Toledo Bend Dam, one of his pet projects, shall some day\nprove its value to this Louisiana and Texas area. Mr. Ammons\u2019 work with\nthe F.F.A. is second to none other in the State. He is truly an\nexcellent community worker.\n\n\n                           Bernice C. Arthur\n\nBernice C. Arthur, owner of the Many Insurance Agency, wed Miss Helen E.\nFuglaar of Alexandria, La. Their children are Thomas C. and James R..\nMr. Arthur is a descendant of the families Roberds and Dollarhide who\nhad settled near Sabine Town in 1829. Camp Sabine, Sabine Town and\nSabine Blockhouse were one and the same\u2014Camp Sabine established by Gen.\nWilkinson in 1811, Sabine town by the settlers and Sabine Blockhouse by\nGen. Gaines in 1828.\n\n\n                          John Milton Belisle\n\nJohn Milton Belisle for 30 years was editor and publisher of the Sabine\nIndex at Many, La. He was a member of the Town Council for 4 years,\nMayor of Many for 16 years and State Representative for 8 years. He was\nthe son of John Graves Belisle who wrote the first History of Sabine\nParish. John Milton wed Alice Wagley of Many. Their daughter, Hanna\nJane, wed W. Carlie Brumfield. Their children are Alicia and Juliannah.\n\n\n                          Jack and Albert Bell\n\nJack and Albert Bell own and manage the Bell Brothers General Store at\nthe corner of Texas and Clark Streets in Robeline, La. This business\nlocation is on what was at one time the Joe Robeline farm which\npre-dates the founding of Robeline, La. Joe Robeline had a Way-Station\nat this location during the Neutral Strip period.\n\nJack Bell wed Carolyne Elizabeth Powell of Pleasant Hill, La. Their\nchildren are Roy Patrick and Don Gregory. Mrs. Jack Bell is a teacher at\nthe Robeline Elementary School.\n\nAlbert Bell wed Mildred Marie Tooke of Homer, La. They have one child,\nJudieth Carrol. Mrs. Albert Bell is the Home Economics Teacher at the\nRobeline High School.\n\n\n                           Lloyd Vernon Blunt\n\nLloyd Vernon Blunt wed Miss Lynn L. Haynes. They own and operate the L&L\nCafe in Many, La., which is located on the main street of Many. This\nstreet is a portion of El Camino Real. Their children are: Mary Joan who\nwed Harold Lloyd Southards, and Lloyd Wallace who is in the U. S.\nMarines. Mr. Blunt is a Marine veteran of the Nicaraguan campaign. Mr.\nand Mrs. Blunt are natives of Virginia and have become a very definite\nasset to the El Camino Real area of Many, La.\n\n\n                         Sidney Williams Bright\n\nSidney Williams Bright, Co-owner of Bright and Son Laundry and Cleaners\nat 224 Amulet St. in Natchitoches, La., wed Beatrice Williams of\nBronson, Tex. Their children are: Sidney Williams, Jr., who wed Etheline\nSt. Andre (their children are Elizabeth Ann, Rhonda Jean and Sarah Lou);\nMary Francis Bright wed Stephen Melou Brown, Jr. (their children are\nStephen Melou III, Cheryl Anne and William Dudley). Mr. Bright, Sr.,\noriginally was a native of Hemphill, Tex., where he was at one time\nClerk of Court for Sabine County.\n\n\n                       Joseph Frederick Brosset\u2605\n\nJoseph Frederick Brosset, Overseer on the Bayou Camite Plantation at\nDerry, La., wed Eva Moreau. Their children are (a) Mary Jo, wed to\nDoctor Elwin Adams of Belmont, La.; (b) Lester Roy, Lt., U. S. Army; (c)\nBilly Jean, wed Lawrence M. Carnahan, Jr.\n\n\n                        Mrs. Eli Houston Butts\u2605\n\nMrs. Eli Houston Butts, ne\u00e9 Eleanor Irene Lovell, route 2, Colfax, La.,\nis a typist, clerk and saleswoman for Blair Products. Children are\nBonnie Lynn and Marilyn Louise. Mrs. Butts is a descendant through the\nBaillio Chellettre family to Jean Layssard, who was a son of Etoinne\nLayssard who established Post Du Rapides in 1723, the beginning of\nAlexandria, La. The present Town of Colfax, La., is on the French land\ngrant of Jean Nicholas Layssard.\n\n\n                               James Coco\n\nJames Coco, Mortician and manager of the First National Funeral Home at\nNatchitoches, La. He wed Clara Belle Stringer of Midland, Texas. Their\nchildren are: James Gary, Lucy Dolores, Charles Anthony and Elizabeth\nAnne.\n\nMr. Coco is a son of Albert F. Coco and Rhoda Escude.\n\nAlbert F. Coco is a descendant of Dominic Baldonide who came to America\nwith Lafayette to fight with the American Revolutionary Army. After the\nRevolution he migrated to Pointe Coupee, La. and from there to the\nAlexandria area near Marksville, La.\n\nThere are several versions of how the name Baldonide changed to Coco.\nThis is not unusual in this section of Louisiana. For example: LeBrun,\nnickname for Jean Bossier; Duprez, nickname for Francois Dion Derbonne;\nand Dauphine, nickname for Charles Bertrand.\n\nThese above three nicknames are now family names in the central\nLouisiana area.\n\n\n                           Fred Litton Cooper\n                         Mrs. Dottie Dee Cooper\n\nFred Litton Cooper, owner of Cooper\u2019s Pharmacy at Robeline, Louisiana,\nwed Miss Dottie Dee Scarborough. There are two children: Norman Otto who\nmarried Doris Jordan of Robeline, and Margaret Sue who wed Aubry Ralph\nBarnette of Robeline. Mr. Cooper is by far the leading historian of the\nRobeline area. He and Mrs. Cooper have kept alive the value of Robeline\nhistorywise. Cooper\u2019s Pharmacy is a must-stop for all tourists who\ntravel into Robeline.\n\nMrs. Dottie Dee Cooper is a member of the N W P H N (Association of\nNatchitoches Women for the Preservation of Historic Natchitoches). She\nhas taken upon herself to be the Official Greeter for tourists who visit\nthis section.\n\nIn relating the history of the Robeline vicinity Mrs. Cooper has the\nstatements of these historians to refer to: John Belisle\u2019s History of\nSabine Parish as well as earlier authorities.\n\nCabeza De Vaca in his book written in 1540, declares that he was among\nthe Adais Indians in 1530. De Vaca, a survivor of the Panfillio Narvez\nexpedition into Florida in 1528. De Vaca spelled the name Adais. (Atyas)\nexactly as later Spaniards spelled the name.\n\nB. F. French in his interpretations of early Spanish documents, placed\nthe Hernando De Soto expedition among the Adais Indians. French\ntranslated the writings of Gonzado Quadrado Charmillio who was the\nChronnicalor for the De Soto expedition. Charmillio wrote: \u201cThis\nWednesday, March 21, 1540 we came to a place called Toalli.\u201d\n\n\n                            Lloyd Earl Dean\n\nLloyd Earl Dean, Stockman, Planter and Co-owner of the Boyce Gin Co., at\nBoyce, La. Mr. Dean resides on the Dean Plantation south of Colfax, La.\nHe wed Sarah Florence Beall of Pineville, La. Their children are Sarah\nFrances, William Burkett, George Carlton and Albert Lloyd.\n\nMr. Dean is a son of Garland Carlton Dean and Leona Creed. Garland\nCarlton Dean is a son of Albert Allen Dean and Clara Price. Albert Allen\nDean founded Fairmount Landing on the Red River between Colfax and\nBoyce. Shipping ledgers now in the possession of Lloyd Earl Dean show\nthat the Fairmount Landing did business with the Steamboats _Garland_,\n_Valley Queen_, _Laura Lee_, _Keokuk_, _Peninah_, _Halliette_, _Jesse K.\nBell_, _G. W. Sutree_, _Decotah_, _E. B. Wheelock_, _The John D. Scully_\nand the _Nat F. Dortch_. With Steamboat Captains John J. Dodd, F. T.\nAucoin, H. J. Brinker, G. Scully, S. J. Bozaman, A. G. White, William\nGillin and James T. O\u2019Rey.\n\nAlbert Allen Dean was the steamboat agent for the Red River and\nCoastline Steamship Co., The Red River Packet Co., and the T&P Railway\nCompany which had the Steamboats _E. B. Wheelock_ and the _C. W.\nSutterlee_.\n\nLloyd Earl Dean traces his ancestry to Abraham Alexander who signed the\n\u201cMecklinburg Declaration\u201d of North Carolina just prior to the\nDeclaration of Independence.\n\nThe Dean family dates back to 1608, the birth date of Nathanial Dean who\ncame to America on the ship _Paul_ in 1635.\n\n\n                        Alvin J. DeBlieux, Sr.\u2605\n\nAlvin J. DeBlieux, Sr., owner of the New Drug Store at corner of St.\nDenis and Second Sts., and DeBlieux\u2019s Drug in Broadmore Shopping Center,\nwed Miss Anette Block of Bunkie, La. Their children are Alvin, Jr. and\nMargaret Ann who wed Robert Ross Anderson of Chicago, Ill. Mr. DeBlieux\nis a fifth generation Natchitochan. His great-great grandfather settled\nland on the east bank of Red River opposite the Bluffs at Grand Ecore,\nLa.\n\n\n                         Jack Lestan DeBlieux\u2605\n\nJack Lestan DeBlieux, Planter, Stockman and Agent 1 of the Enforcement\nDivision of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, wed Eloise Adkins\nof Coushatta, La. Their children are: Freddy, Barry Freeman, Molly Darla\nand Dan David. The Gaines Military Road from Fort Jesup to Arkansas\nborders the DeBlieux property. The River-crossing was just arear of the\nDeBlieux residence. Jack Lestan\u2019s ancestors saw the coming of Yankee\nGunboats up the Red River.\n\n\n                    Mrs. Lawrence Cleveland DeLatin\u2605\n\nMrs. Lawrence Cleveland DeLatin, ne\u00e9 Florence Adeline Case, owns and\nmanages Florence\u2019s Beauty Shop at 575 West Main Street, Many, La. She\nwas born in Palatka, Florida. Mr. DeLatin is a descendant of Durango y\nOconna (Ocon), who, after having served his required tenure as a Spanish\nsoldier, acquired and settled land in the Robeline area. There are many\ndescendants today branching from Durango Oconna.\n\n\n                       Mrs. Percy Roberts Dillon\u2605\n\nMrs. Percy Roberts Dillon, ne\u00e9 Caroline Eloise Brook. From her marriage\nare these children: Percy Roberts, Jr., wed Kathleen Lambert, their son\nis Michael John; and Rilla Diana wed Garland Carlton.\n\nMrs. Percy Roberts Dillon is a Beautitian and owns and manages the\nPetite Beauty Shoppe at 435 San Antonio St., which is a portion of El\nCamino Real and is the Main Street in Many, Louisiana.\n\n\n                       Mrs. Herbert Dorfer, Ph.\u2605\n\nMrs. Herbert Dorfer, Ph., ne\u00e9 Ada Trichel of Fairview Alpha, La., taught\nschool in Natchitoches Parish for 25 years before studying and becoming\na pharmacist. Her business establishment, Campti Drug Store, is on\nEdenborne Street. Her children by her first marriage are Blanche\nMcElwee, who wed Dr. A. L. Hushey of Opelika, Ala., and Ray McElwee who\nwed Rosemary Peters of Austin, Texas.\n\nEdenborne Street in Campti, La., is named for a famous steamboat\ncaptain.\n\n\n                       Exchange Bank & Trust Co.\n\nThe Exchange Bank and Trust Co., at the corner of Front and St. Denis\nStreets in Natchitoches, La., will have at this printing ended its 70th\nyear of continuous service in Natchitoches. This bank at its beginning\noccupied two other locations on Front St., and in September 1892 the\nExchange Bank erected and moved into the building which is the present\nlocation of the bank. In the span of 70 years of service there have only\nbeen four Presidents: Dr. J. W. Cockerham, J. Henry Williams, Arthur C.\nWatson and at present Mr. Harold Kaffie. In 1826 this street corner was\ncalled \u201cLescal\u2019s Corner\u201d because of Lescal\u2019s Dance Hall and Theater.\nThis theater thrilled the local citizens with such plays as: Romeo and\nJuliet, Macbeth, and Bewick and Graham.\n\n\n                        Ambrose Charles Flores\u2605\n\nAmbrose Charles Flores wed Dovie Lea Frye of Minden, La. Their daughter,\nDolores Ann, wed Aubrey Randall Word and they reside in Shreveport. The\nFlores family has been connected with the El Camino Real from the very\nbeginning of its occupancy by the Spanish. There were very few\nexpeditions from Mexico City which did not contain a Flores as a member.\nAmbrose represents the 10th generation of Flores in the Robeline area.\n\n\n                            C. B. Funderburk\n\nC. B. Funderburk is owner and manager of the Starlite Motel, Highway 171\nsouth, Many, La. He wed Miss Mahalia Eunice Johnson of Chopin, La. Their\nchildren are: Jacquelyn, who wed Guy Cheek; Jeryl D., who wed Suzane\nChaput of Portland, Maine; Larry Don, who attends Many High School; and\nMary Jane, who attends Many elementary school. C. B. is a fifth\ngeneration descendant of A. Taylor who settled near Kisatchie, La., in\nthe Neutral Strip.\n\n\n                       Mr. and Mrs. Clive Glover\n\nMiss Estelle McLean of Goldonna, La., wed Clive Glover of Natchitoches,\nLa. Mrs. Glover owns and manages Glover\u2019s Gift Shop which is located on\nthe south end of Front Street, the oldest street in the original\nLouisiana Purchase, at 459 Jefferson and Front Streets. Mr. Glover is a\nMaster Plumber and contractor. He is a descendant of Colonel Caspari,\nwho when a State Representative acquired and established Northwestern\nState College. He built the Tap\u2014a railroad from Natchitoches to Cypress,\nLa.\n\n\n                          Joseph Jesse Grappe\u2605\n\nJoseph Jesse Grappe, owner of Value Pak Grocer at 1200 Washington St.,\nwed Exie Borland of Dodson, La. Their children are Bennie Evon, wed to\nRobert Wayne Womack; Robbie Jean, and Shirley Ann, who wed James\nBuckley. Mr. Grappe, a descendant of Pierre Batiste Grappe, who was a\nFrench soldier at Natchitoches in 1741. Jesse represents the eighth\ngeneration of Grappes in the Natchitoches area. Fishing is his favorite\nsport.\n\n\n                       Hon. Lloyd James Harrison\u2605\n\nLloyd James Harrison, Mayor of Montgomery, La., a merchant and planter\nand a historian in his own right, wed to Miss Gussie Teddlie. He is a\ndescendant of Mrs. T. O. Harrison, who when the Yankee gunboats were\nfiring on Creola Landing, walked out on her porch and waved an apron.\nAdmiral Porter, admiring such bravery, ordered the cease-fire signal to\nbe given.\n\n\n                         Loyd Bernard Harrison\n\nLoyd Bernard Harrison, Science-Agri. instructor at Colfax High School,\nwed Doris Olene Jones. Their children are: Loyd Bernard, Jr., Janis Cay,\nMelvin Lee and Connie Suse. Mr. Harrison is also a Planter and Stockman\nas were his ancestors. He is a descendant of the Harrisons who were very\nactive in the readjustment period after the Civil War. At that time the\ntown of Montgomery was known as Creola Bluff Landing on Red River. Many\nof the fine families of this section of Grant Parish are descendants of\nthose inhabitants of Creola Landing.\n\n\n                         Thomas James Harrison\u2605\n\nThomas James Harrison, Gen. Manager of the W. T. McCain Consignee\nDistributor of Esso Products at Montgomery, La., wed Marion Blanche Wood\nof Mansfield, La. Their children are: Tommy Rey, Ronnie Lee, Johnnie\nPayne and Donnie Wayne. He is a 5th generation descendant of Thomas J.\nHarrison, Capt. 3rd Inf. Reg., which was stationed at Fort Jesup.\n\n\n                      Thomas Ortenburger Harrison\u2605\n\nThomas Ortenburger Harrison, barber of Montgomery, La., wed Mabel Clair\nFletcher. Their children are: Margie Dorothy, librarian, and Thomas O.,\nJr. who wed Paula Gilbert of Minden, La. Their child, Jennifer Harrison.\nT. O. Sr. is a barber on Caddo street in Montgomery, and raises fox\nhounds as a hobby. He is a descendant of Thomas J. Harrison, a signer of\nthe Caddo Indian Treaty, July 1, 1835 who was a captain of the 3rd Inf.\nof Fort Jesup.\n\n\n                          Mrs. Earl Hernandez\u2605\n\nLeona Mai Sampite, is a home economics teacher at Cloutierville, La. She\nwed Earl Hernandez. She is a descendant the Delouche, Guillot, Benoist\nand Perrier families. Jean Delouche, father of Justine came to Louisiana\nfrom LaVendee, France in 1712. By previous marriage Mrs. Hernandez\u2019s\nchildren are: Joseph Stanley\u2014Louis Henry\u2014and William Rachal, Jr. Joseph\nwed Doris Ann Brosset: Louis wed Lorinne Bryant and William wed Marcelle\nMarlick.\n\n\n                        Edmond Prudhomme Hughes\u2605\n\nEdmond Prudhomme Hughes, is the owner and manager of Hughes\nready-to-wear, at the corner of Front and Horn streets in Natchitoches,\nLa. He wed Martha Lawton. Their children are: Julie, Martie and Jill.\nThis business location, now famous for the iron lace front and iron\nspiral stair case in the rear of the building was erected 108 years ago\nby Gabriel Prudhomme after having assembled the materials in Europe.\nNatchitochans of a 100 years ago knew this location as \u201cLa Mason de\nFaseion\u201d, and it still is that today. Mr. Hughes is a descendant of an\nearly family in this Natchitoches-El Camino Real area.\n\n\n                        Mrs. Maxie Mae Jinkins\u2605\n\nMrs. Maxie Mae Jinkins, ne\u00e9 Maxie Mae Welch of Robeline, La., owns and\nmanages Murphys Cafe at 1215 Washington Street in Natchitoches, La. She\nwed Harrison Jinkins and from this union these children:\u2014Mar Jo who wed\nHulom Jennings (they have one child, Scott Benjamin)\u2014Judith\nCharlene\u2014Joseph Andrew\u2014Hannah Maudine\u2014Monita\u2014La Faune\u2014Charles Ray and\nWafa Dean.\n\nMrs. Jinkins is a descendant of Joseph Maxim Welch who maintained a\nstagecoach station in the Robeline area and who maintained stagecoach\nservice from Natchitoches to Fort Jesup and Baldwin\u2019s store. All\nlocations were along El Camino Real. The site of Presidio de Los Adais\nwas owned at one time by this family.\n\n\n                      Dr. Edward Everette Jordan\u2605\n\nEdward Everette Jordan, M.D., retired, wed Ruby Dee Burson of Bienville,\nLa. Their children are: Edward Eugene who wed Elaine Hammond (their\nchildren are Eugenia and Elizabeth Anne)\u2014Elizabeth Dixon Jordan wed\nRobert L. Hibbs\u2014Everette Neil Jordan wed Doris Jene Tinsley (their\nchildren are Janet and Robert Edward). Doctor Jordan is a descendant of\nHanna Dixon and Eugene Erasmus Jordan who helped the wounded soldiers of\nthe Battle of Mansfield. They had settled Jordan Ferry for which this\nlocation in now known.\n\n\n                        Kaffie & Frederick, Inc.\n\nKaffie & Frederick, Inc., formerly H. Kaffie and Bros. and S. & H.\nKaffie, at 758 and 759 Front street in Natchitoches, La., will in 1963\ncelebrate their one hundredth anniversary as a firm in business on Front\nstreet. The original location was in the vicinity of the Old Darky\nStatue. It was from this point that the establishment saw the arrival\nand the retreat of the Union Soldiers after the Battle of Mansfield in\n1864. The present building was erected in 1883 by the same firm of\ncontractors who built the old Court House on Second street. At the rear\nof the present location was a camp ground provided by Kaffie for those\nwho came to Natchitoches to sell their farm produce, and camp-fires\nburned day and night. The firm of H. Kaffie and Bros. was some 70 years\nahead of the modern method of a business establishment providing parking\nspace for its customers.\n\n\n                         Frank Marion Kees, Jr.\n\nFrank Marion Kees, Jr. served as Mayor of the City of Natchitoches, La.\nfor twelve consecutive years. He refused to run for the fourth term,\ndeciding instead to become President of Timberline Mfg. Inc. which he\nwas a coorganizer. This manufacturing company is at present producing\nseveral designs of chairs. Timberline has again commercialized\nNatchitoches as did Anthanase DeMezieres 200 years ago when he assigned\ntraders to the different Indian tribes. Following those same Indian\ntrails, which are our State Highways today, the Timberline salesmen have\ncustomers in Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma and\nTexas.\n\nMr. Kees has served as president of the Central Louisiana Council of\nMayors and also the State Municipal Association of Mayors of Louisiana,\nthus bringing added prestige to our Natchitoches area. How true is this\nquotation by Mr. Kees: \u201cThe rocking chair is the worlds first\ntranquilizer.\u201d Mr. Kees wed Helen Myrtle LeBlanc of Opelousas, La.\n\n\n                            Mrs. W. M. Knott\n\nMuch of the credit for the establishment of the Fort Jesup Museum goes\nto Mrs. W. M. Knott of Many, Louisiana. The building was erected\naccording to the plans of the officers quarters during the time of\nmilitary occupancy. Mrs. Knott\u2019s knowledge of landscaping is seen on the\ngrounds which encompass this building. She is an excellent historian,\nand was a member of the Research Committee which set the markers for El\nCamino Real and the Old Natchitoches-to-Natchez Trace. The people of\nSabine Parish can well be grateful that they have in their midst such a\ngifted personality.\n\n\n                           Luddie Lavespere\u2605\n\nLuddie Lavespere, owner and operator of Lavespere\u2019s Garage, Service\nStation, Grocery and Cafe on Highway 1 at Cloutierville, La. He is the\nson of Eugene Armours Lavespere and Carline Antee. There is one sister\nwho wed Sullivan LeCaze. Henri Lavespere is listed as an agent of the\nCompany of the West and in association with St. Denis at Natchitoches.\nLuddie Lavespere represents an 8th generation descendant in the\nCloutierville-Natchitoches area.\n\n\n                          Samuel LeCaze, Sr.\u2605\n\nSamuel LeCaze, Sr., Merchant, Planter, Stockman and Banker of\nCloutierville, La. He wed Mazie Vercher. Their children are: Mildred who\nwed Kenneth David McCoy, their son Kenneth David Jr., Samuel LeCaze, Jr.\nwed Marie Anita De Louche.\n\nThe names LeCaze and Vercher date back to 1728 when these two French\nsoldiers were sent to Post Du Rapides which was the French army post\nnear present Alexandria, La.\n\n\n                          Samuel LeCaze, Jr.\u2605\n\nSamuel LeCaze, Jr., owner of the LeCaze Estate General Store of\nCloutierville, La. He is a successful Merchant, Planter and Stockman. At\npresent he is President of the Natchitoches Parish Fair Association. In\n1958 he was chosen Parish Farmer of the Year and placed third among the\nLouisiana farmers. He was the state\u2019s Cattleman father of the year in\n1960. Samuel, Jr. wed Marie Anita Delouche. Their children are: Linda\nCarol, Randall Steven and Tina Jeanine. Mrs. LeCaze is a descendant of\nJustine Delouche who came to the Cloutierville area in 1735. Samuel is a\ndescendant of the French soldier, LaCaze, of Post Du Rapides of 1728.\n\n\n                         Henry Howard Lemoine\u2605\n\nHenry Howard Lemoine, Planter and Stockman, Route 2 Natchitoches at\nClarence, La., wed Iola Jackson of Coushatta, La. Their children are:\nLinda Gail and Henry Howard, Jr. Both attend St. Mary\u2019s School at\nNatchitoches, La. The Lemoine Family of the Ark.-La.-Tex. area had its\nbeginning with Francois Lemoine (LeMoyne)\u2014the name being spelled both\nways on very early Natchitoches records. This family is that of\nIberville and Bienville who were brothers of the LeMoyne family.\nFrancois Lemoine being a nephew, just as was Louis Juchereau De St.\nDenis whose mother was a LeMoyne or Lemoine. Francois Lemoine is listed\nas a soldier in Natchitoches in 1723. Thus Henry Howard Lemoine, Sr.\nrepresents a 9th generation descendant in our Natchitoches-El Camino\nReal area.\n\n\n                       Henry Oscar Lestage, Jr.\u2605\n\nHenry Oscar Lestage, Jr., member of the law firm of Lestage & Arnette\nand City Judge of City Court of Jennings, La. Wed to Juliet Xavier\nBarfield. Their children are: (a) Henry Oscar III wed Anne Scates\nWarton\u2014one child, Henry Oscar IV. (b) Daniel Barfield, medical student,\nLSU. (c) David Ramsey, JHS (d) Richard Butler 5th grade. Mr. Lestage\u2019s\nmaternal grandmother was Aimie Barberousse. This branch of the family\ntree dates back to 1713 in the Natchitoches area. A descendant of one of\nthe two Barberousse brothers who were with St. Denis when the Post Des\nJean Baptiste Des Natchitoches was founded in the spring of 1714.\n\n\n                      William Tell (W.T.) Lestage\u2605\n\nWilliam Tell (W.T.) Lestage, owner and manager of Lestage\u2019s Hardware and\nAppliances, Campti, La. He represents a 9th generation descendant in the\nCampti-Natchitoches area. Mr. Lestage wed Mary Catheryn Marcelli of\nCampti. Their children are: Catheryn Ann, who wed John Edward O\u2019Shea of\nTullos, La.; William Tell, Jr., and Robert Frank. Guierlero is Spanish\nfor William. Guierlero Lestage was listed as a Natchitoches soldier in\n1746.\n\n\n                        George Washington Lucius\n\nGeorge Washington Lucius, Planter and Cotton Gin owner, wed Milinda\nYoungblood. His children were: Mecie Lucius, who wed Tal C.\nGibson\u2014Mattie Lucius who wed J. Henry Cain\u2014James W. Lucius who wed Sarah\nPharis\u2014Rupert L. Lucius who wed Laona Stone. Mr. Lucius was for many\nyears Secretary and Treasurer of the Masonic Lodge at Fort Jesup, La.\nAll of his children have added greatly to the economic welfare of Sabine\nParish.\n\n\n                         Christopher C. McCaa\u2605\n\nChristopher C. McCaa wed Eunice La Cour of Natchitoches. They own and\noperate McCaa\u2019s Grocery at the junction of the Allen Road with Highway\n6, one mile north of Robeline, La. This is just three tenths of a mile\nfrom the site of El Presidio Nuestra Senora del Pilar de Los Adais. Mrs.\nMcCaa is always ready to assist visitors to the Los Adais area. This\nlocation was at one time a stage coach station on El Camino Real between\nNatchitoches and Fort Jesup.\n\nMrs. McCaa\u2019s family name, La Cour, appears very early in Natchitoches\nhistory. La Cour one of the fourteen French soldiers sent by St. Denis\nin 1723 to establish \u201cPost du Rapides\u201d which was the beginning of\nAlexandria, Louisiana. This post was established at the request of\nD\u2019Artagnan, who was a direct envoy of King Louis XV, to Louisiana, and\nwho later became known in French folklore as one of the Three\nMusketeers.\n\n\n                           Arthur R. McClery\n\nArthur R. McClery, owner and manager of the P&C Drug at 116-122 Tuline\nstreet in Natchitoches, La., wed Theresa Hawkins of Parksdale, Ark.\nTheir children are: Barbara Joan who wed Moreland Book (their children\nare Tina and David McClery Book), Patrica and Charlotte McClery.\nAccording to Breutin\u2019s map of 1722, the P&C Drug is located on the old\noriginal El Camino Real which entered Natchitoches on this street. This\nland was originally owned by Marichel and after the Louisiana Purchase\nthe land was sold to Trudeau from whom Trudeau street is named. Mr.\nMcClery has been one of the most successful men in Natchitoches, and has\nhelped in the modern development of the Natchitoches-El Camino Real\narea.\n\n\n                          Giles W. Millspaugh\n\nGiles W. Millspaugh, owner of Millspaugh\u2019s Drug at 576 Front St., wed to\nElla Keener Charleville of Grosse Tete, La. Children are Giles W.\nMillspaugh, III, who wed Zora Lee Holloman, and Lelia Elizabeth who wed\nFloyd Allen Horton of Eunice, La. Mr. Millspaugh, a historian in his own\nright, has in one corner of his drug store, a history of Natchitoches in\nphotographs and sketches. A must-stop for all who travel El Camino Real\nand who visit Natchitoches. Giles is Natchitoches\u2019 Front street\nhistorian and coin stamp collector. Mrs. Millspaugh, III, is from\nWinnfield, La.\n\n\n                       Carson Meade Nardini, Sr.\u2605\n\nCarson Meade Nardini, Sr. of Alexandria, La. wed Pauline Marie Rand of\nAlco, La. Their children are: Joseph Hall, Carson Meade, Jr. and Alice\nNanette. C. M. Nardini on his paternal grandparent\u2019s side is a\ndescendant of Rouquier, Ballio, Chellettre, and Antoine Lassard who\nestablished Post Du Rapides. His is a descendant on his maternal\ngrandparent\u2019s side of Rachal and Chellettre. His children represent 9th\ngeneration descendants in the Natchitoches-Alexandria area from 1723 to\nthe present day.\n\n\n                      Louis Raphael Nardini, Jr.\u2605\n\nLouis Raphael Nardini, Jr., U. S. Army, being a descendant on his great\ngrandmother\u2019s side of Possiot, is also a lineal descendant of Louis\nBadin. He represents an 8th generation descendant in the Natchitoches-El\nCamino Real area.\n\n\n                     NATCHITOCHES BROADCASTING CO.\n                  Norman Fletcher-Hillman Bailey, Jr.\n\nLocated on the second floor of the Prudhomme-Hughes building is the\nvoice of the Cane River area, K. N. O. C., the Natchitoches Broadcasting\nCo., owned and managed by Norman Fletcher and Hillman Bailey, Jr. Mr.\nFletcher was educated in the Natchitoches Parish School System and is a\ngraduate of Northwestern State College in History and Journalism. He was\nselected as the Jaycee\u2019s of Natchitoches Man of the Year in 1958 and the\nNatchitoches Chamber of Commerce\u2019s Man of the Year in 1960. He is the\nfirst person to serve three consecutive years as President of the\nChamber of Commerce in Natchitoches.\n\nMr. Hillman Bailey, Jr., President of the Natchitoches Broadcasting Co.,\na graduate of L.S.U. and a member of Delta Sigma Phi.\n\nMr. Bailey wed Terisa Zaunbrecher of Rayne, La. Their children are:\nKathleen, Karl and David. Mr. Bailey is a descendant of Louis Chachere,\nan early settler of Opeolousas, La., and a descendant of the Bourbon\nfamily line.\n\n\n                          Rollie Edwin Patrick\n\nRollie Edwin Patrick wed Miss Pearl Byrd of Florien, La. Their children\nare: Gerold E., who wed Bobbye Ruth Gregg of Charleston, S.C., Hubert\nLeroy who wed Marcie Ann Koch of Seattle, Wash.; Martha Ann, Periodical\nLibrarian at McNeese College; Doris Lynelle, student at McNeese, and\nBetty Carolyn, Many High School student. Mr. Patrick\u2019s Service Station\nat the corner of San Antonio St. and the Shreveport Highway is an\ninformation stop for all tourists.\n\n\n                          The Perrier Family\u2605\n\nOf the union of Casimere Perrier and Marie Antoinette Rachal was Oscar\nPerrier, and of the union of Alexander Vercher and Natilie Gallion was\nOctavie Vercher who wed Oscar Perrier. Their children are: Oscar Joseph,\nJr., James, Ruby John, Mable and Florence and Earney Grace, who wed\nJames Mancheck of Nacogdoches, Tex. Their children are: Marlyn Ann,\nJanet Kay and Tammey Nell. The name \u201cPerrier\u201d is associated with\nLouisiana History as early as 1713\u2014in the Illinois Country, at Natchez\nand New Orleans.\n\n\n                         Elmer Lawrence Poche\u2605\n\nElmer Lawrence Poche, Cloutierville, La. owns and manages Poche\u2019s Garage\nand Service Station, Highway 1, at Cloutierville. He married Alice\nBrosset. Their children are: Elmer Lawrence, Jr., U.S.N.; Clara Calest\nwho wed Donald Vercher (they have one child, Stephen Donald); Lynn Dale\nat N. S. College and Pauline Fay at Cloutierville High School. Mr. Poche\nis a descendant of the Lavespere family, and Mrs. Poche is a descendant\nof the Pierre Delouche family. They are 8th generation descendants in\nthe Cloutierville-Natchitoches area.\n\n\n                           William A. Ponder\n                              in memoriam\n\nTaken from the monument of William A. Ponder, Fort Jesup, La.\n\n\u201cAn extract from the resolution passed by the Democratic Central\nExecutive Committee of the Parish of Natchitoches April 7, 1890, to-wit:\n\nResolved, that, whether as Chairman of this Committee, Member of the\nLegislature or Constitutional Convention, soldier or citizen, he was\ntrue to every trust, zealous in every duty, honest in every conviction,\nand he has left the legacy of an honest name. Unsullied by even the\nbreath of calumny. Conspicuous in council for wisdom and moderation,\nfarseeing and sagacious in the shaping of policies, courageous in the\ndefense of the right\u2014knowing no fear except to do wrong\u2014he was once a\nsafe leader and a successful public man.\n\nTo these characteristics he added those of a model Christian gentleman,\na steadfast friend, kind father, loving husband and a pure exemplary\nlife.\u201d\n\n\n                        James Woodrow Prudhomme\u2605\n\nJames Woodrow Prudhomme, owner and manager of Sport-A-Pak on Highway 6\nat the junction of the Grand Ecore-Campti, Highway. This business\nestablishment dispenses all the necessary needs of the hunter or\nfisherman. Mr. Prudhomme is a 12th generation descendant of the\nPrudhomme listed on Breutin\u2019s map of 1722 of the Natchitoches area.\nJames Woodrow Prudhomme wed Beatrice Thadis Black of Natchitoches. Their\nchildren are: James Larry, who attends N.S.C., and Catherine Diane who\nattends St. Mary\u2019s Academy.\n\n\n                           Ray Joseph Raines\n\nRay Joseph Raines, owner and manager of Raines General Store at\nMarthaville, La. wed Lillie Mae McCartney. Mr. Raines is a great nephew\nof J. J. Raines who founded Marthaville, La. His maternal grand father\nwas John Spicher, a mess officer of the 7th U. S. Inf. who established\nFort Jesup. Mr. Raines spear-headed the drive which successfully\nresulted in the establishment of the Marthaville Hospital, a community\nproject.\n\n\n                         Stephen Clyde Rambin\u2605\n\nStephen Clyde Rambin, owner and manager of Steves Texaco Service Station\nand Garage, Highway 1 at Powhattan, La. His father was Frank Louis\nRambin and his mother Zelia Possiot. The family name, Rambin, is\nmentioned with St. Denis in 1713 and the Possiot name appears on\nBreutin\u2019s map of 1722. Stephen represents the 10th generation of the\nRambin-Possiot union in the Natchitoches-Powhattan area. The Rambin\nfamily is well represented in the entire Ark.-La.-Tex. section.\n\n\n                         Mrs. Elaine R. Smith\u2605\n\nMrs. Elaine R. Smith, ne\u00e9 Elaine Russell of Cypress, La., is Deputy\nClerk of Court in Natchitoches, La. She is wed to Ellis Smith of\nNatchitoches, La. Mrs. Smith is a descendant of Thomas Vascoque, who is\nmentioned on another page. She is also a descendant of Armand who is\nmentioned in DeMezieres\u2019 report of 1769 on the merchants in\nNatchitoches.\n\n\n                        Riley John (R.J.) Stoker\n\nRiley John (R.J.) Stoker, Principal of Pleasant Hill High School, wed to\nBernice Williams of Fair View Alpha, La. They have one daughter, Revicca\nAnn who attends Louisiana Tech. Mr. Stoker is a fourth generation\ndescendant of Henry Stoker who settled on land two miles from the\npresent site of Fort Jesup in 1818. He gained extra land by trading\nponies to the Indians. This Stoker, a leading member of the Citizens\nCommittee, a vigilantes organization, assisted greatly in quelling the\nbanditry of the Neutral Strip. He later supplied Fort Jesup with farm\nproduce.\n\n\n                          John Coleman Tarver\u2605\n\nJohn Coleman Tarver, honorable Mayor of Many, La. wed Thelma Mayer of\nWoodward, Oklahoma. Their children are: Joan Tarver, who wed Wayne Dew\nof Natchitoches, La.; and Mike Thayne, senior at Many High School. Mayor\nTarver owns and manages Tarvers\u2019 Grocery located on El Camino Real,\nwhich is Highway 6 east to Fort Jesup. Mr. Tarver is a descendant on his\ngreat grandmother\u2019s side of A. Cole who is listed in the 1806 period as\nbeing a settler in the Neutral Strip. Cole is also listed as a\nparticipant in the Guitreez-McGee Expedition to Texas in 1812.\n\n\n                           Thomas Lester Ward\n\nThomas Lester Ward, owner of Ward\u2019s Esso Service Station and Garage at\nRobeline, La., wed Ellen E. Valentine of Jena, La. They have one son,\nThermon Lester Ward who is an Electrical Engineer at Fort Worth, Texas.\nMrs. Ward was an Elementary School Teacher at Jena and at Robeline.\nWard\u2019s Service Station and Garage is located on El Camino Real in the\nTown of Robeline, La.\n\n\n                           Mrs. Kent Wardlow\u2605\n\nMargaret Veuleman wed Kent Wardlow, President of the Bank of Montgomery,\na member of the F.D.I.C. Their children are: Mary Ellen and Jennifer\nAnn. Mrs. Wardlow is a descendant of F. Veuleman who bought land from\nthe firm of Smith, Baar, Davenport and Murphy in 1821 and marks the\nfirst purchase of land in what is presently the town of Many, La.\n\n\n                           Jack Eazel Whitley\n\nJack Eazel Whitley, owner of Whitley\u2019s General Store at Robeline, La. He\nmarried Ruby Alberta Nelson. There are these children: Ruby Marjorie who\nwed Stanley Ford Harvey of Shreveport, La. (they have one child, Stanley\nFord, Jr.); Jack Eazel, Jr. wed Mary Alletta Coats of Marthaville, La.\n(their children are: Patricia Ann and David Van); Albert Jean, who wed\nGlenda Finell of Orange, Texas. (They have one child, Cynthia Jean); and\nRuby Marjorie is a school teacher in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Jack\nEazel, Jr. is a dental technician in Shreveport, and Albert Jean is a\nchemist in Orange, Tex.\n\nThe father of Mr. Whitley, Sr., Andrew Jackson Whitley, owned the first\nbutcher shop in the Robeline area.\n\nMr. Whitley Sr.\u2019s second wife is Miss Ethyl Bates of Provencal, La. Mrs.\nEthyl Bates Whitley taught school in Sabine Parish for a number of\nyears.\n\n\n                      Mrs. Irma Sompayrac Willard\n\nIrma Sompayrac Willard, ne\u00e9 Irma Rosalind Sompayrac, married David Milne\nWillard, Jr. of New York.\n\nTheir son: Daniel D. M. Willard, Lt. Cdr. U.S.N., married Suzanne\nJohnson of Arlington, Va., and their children are: Alice Darby, David\nMilne III, and Richard Briand of Virginia Beach, Va.\n\nAmong forbears who served in the development of Natchitoches and of the\nstate are Hon. Alexander E. Sompayrac who cast the deciding vote to\nabolish the Louisiana Lottery. His great-grandfather of Tarn, France,\nfamiliar with America through overseas trade and as a French naval\nofficer, brought three sons to New Orleans via the West Indies. Ambrose\nmarried Desiree Josephine Briant, (daughter of a planter there and\nColonel of a Regiment of French Dragoons, and Marie Mozard). Settling in\nNatchitoches about 1800, he bought new wireless telegraphy stock, using\nit in his cotton business. His place became a depot for trade with\nMexico.\n\nOn the maternal side Alexandre Deblieux, dissenting from Napoleon,\nbrought his sons from Provence and opened law and commission offices in\nNew Orleans and Natchitoches where he planted cotton. One of his sons\nhelped organize the first public parish school board. He married\nEuphrosine Tauzin of the Chamard family. His son married Julie, a\ndaughter of Lestan Prudhomme, Sr. of the lines of Lambre, LeRoy,\nPhilippe and Possiot. Mrs. Willard is the Supervisor of Art Education\nfor the State of Louisiana.\n\n\n                        Mrs. Lee Terry Williams\n\nMrs. Lee Terry Williams, ne\u00e9 Anna Louise Stille. Her home is located on\nthe site of the John Baldwin Store of the 1826 period. On her father\u2019s\nside, Mrs. Williams is a lineal descendant of Princess Pocahontas and\nJohn Rolfe of early Virginia history. Through the families of Rolfe,\nBolling, Mactin, Dr. W. B. Smith, Joseph Denning Stille, Sr., and Joseph\nDenning Stille, Jr., who was the father of Mrs. Lee Terry Williams.\n\n\n                      Dr. William Kenneth Wimberly\n\nDr. William Kenneth Wimberly, dentist of Campti, La., wed Miss Bell\nRussel of Peason, La. Their daughter, Lynnie Ruth who is at present\nattending Natchitoches High School, was selected and honored as the\nSweetheart of the Aircraft Carrier, Ranger. This old expression\ndescribes Dr. Wimberly perfectly: \u201ca gentleman faultless in his carriage\nand deportment.\u201d\n\n\n                          Marshall Ellis Winn\n\nMarshall Ellis Winn, Planter and Rancher, Route 2 Robeline, La., wed\nSadie Lenora Nims of East Orwell, Ohio. Their children are: James Jerold\nand Willard Allen, who wed Jacquelyn Beaver of Leesville, La. Their\nchildren are: Jacquelyn Ann, who attends Northwestern State College at\nNatchitoches, and Jimmy Jerold who attends High School in Alexandria.\nMr. Winn was active in the organizing of the R.E.A. in Natchitoches and\nthe adjoining Parishes. For 19 years he served as a Board Member in that\norganization.\n\nMrs. Sadie Winn taught in public schools 31 years at Robeline, La. Part\nof Mr. Winn\u2019s estate is part of Rancho Bano which was land allotted to\nthe Mission, San Miguel de Cuellar de Los Adais, the profits of which\nwere to support the Mission.\n\n\n                          Glen Lawrence Wyatt\n\nGlen Lawrence Wyatt, owner and manager of G. L. Wyatt\u2019s Esso Station at\nSt. Maurice, La., wed Audrey Adams of Verda, La. Their one son, George\nMiller, wed Sherley Anne Tacker of Segreves, Tex. When St. Denis and\nBienville in 1700 were among the Yatasee Indians on Nantanchie Lake they\nwould have also visited the Destonies Indians on Saline Bayou and then\nwhile en-route to the Natchitoches Indians, would have passed within 200\nyards of Mr. Wyatt\u2019s business establishment. Both Mr. and Mrs. Wyatt are\nhistorians of this area.\n\n\n\n\n                               Footnotes\n\n\n[1]The Red River near Natchitoches had an unusual cane growth and was\n    later referred to as Rio Cannis by later Spaniards. The Adais lived\n    on Spanish Lake as it was later called. This lake had an unusual\n    heavy growth of cat-tails which resembled the Tules of Spain.\n    _Toalli_, a slang, Spanish expression referring to houses built of\n    tules. The mud and reed houses so described were typical of the\n    Caddo Indian Federation of which the Adais was a tribe. The Caddo\n    home or _Hinta-sak_ was built so. The Adais were about a day\u2019s march\n    from the Red River-Natchitoches area, fifteen miles which was the\n    usual distance foot soldiers traveled in that length of time.\n\n[2]Nakassa Lake is located in the southern part of Natchitoches Parish.\n\n[3]These were the same two brothers which were captured by DeLeon and\n    Flores, and been put on a Spanish ship to be returned to France. The\n    ship was captured by the French and these two were with Iberville\n    when he landed at Biloxi.\n\n[4]An official of rank next only to the chief.\n\n[5]The amole root is a species of the yucca plant. When boiled in water,\n    that water used for bathing had the same property as soap and left a\n    fragrant odor on the body of the user.\n\n[6]The present day location is in the King Hill area, which now\n    comprises part of the Simp Russ plantation between Lake End and\n    Ajax, La.\n\n[7]This land grant was where what is commonly called the Fish Pond\n    Bottom by present day inhabitants of the Robeline area. It was\n    referred to later by Dr. John Sibley, an Indian Agent in 1807, as\n    Lagoon de Mora in a letter to Major Porter, Post Commander of Fort\n    Claiborne in Natchitoches.\n\n[8]This medicine became popular among the doctors at that time according\n    to the reference of an old book at the office of the late Dr. J. N.\n    Brown of Campti, Louisiana. _Quillendive_ meant seeds of certain\n    plants, not just one particular plant or herb. When administered,\n    the medicine caused nausea.\n\n[9]This Spanish Fort had stood for 48 years amid what was considered a\n    hostile area, yet in all that time it never had to defend itself.\n    This belies the statements or propaganda of the French referring to\n    the cruelties and unjust rule of the Spanish against the Indians of\n    the area. Had such been so, certainly the Indians would have risen\n    in open rebellion.\n\n[10]At this point one must understand the claims of the United States\n    concerning the Louisiana Purchase. The United States claimed the Rio\n    Grande as the boundary of the land previously owned by France\n    because of La Salle\u2019s settlement at Fort Louis on Matagordo Bay in\n    1685. The Spanish claimed the land as far as the west bank of the\n    Red River, basing their claim on the Domingo Teran del Rios\u2019\n    expedition of 1690. Both the Spanish and the United States\u2019 officers\n    involved in the meeting in the Adais area were aware of the claims\n    of their respective countries.\n\n[11]John Quincy Adams remarked of the Filibusterers: \u201cThe main actors\n    cross and double-cross one another so frequently that suspicion and\n    doubt hang over their hands like a black cloud over their actions.\u201d\n\n[12]Red River at this time was blocked by log jams as far as Fort Towsin\n    in Arkansas. Bayou Pierre was the water route as far as the vicinity\n    of Shreveport.\n\n[13]If the address of Natchitoches, Louisiana, appearing as the address\n    of Fort Jesup seems strange, it must be remembered that at that time\n    Natchitoches was the nearest Post-office.\n\n[14]Pierre Subastion Prudhomme.\n\n[15]Note: the above is that of the Justine DeLuche Family. The Child P.\n    DeLuche being named Pierre after Pierre Fausse who was the Godfather\n    and perhaps also the Grandfather.\n\n\n\n\n                          Transcriber\u2019s Notes\n\n\n\u2014Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook\n  is public-domain in the country of publication.\n\n\u2014Corrected obvious typos; retained inconsistent spellings (especially\n  names) that may represent different documentary sources.\n\n\u2014In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by\n  _underscores_.","title":"No Man's Land: A History of El Camino Real","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":48936}