|
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD, 1765-1781 |
395 |
River, assassinating and burning seven hunters who were hunting on that river,
of which
I inform Your Lordship as is my duty.
May God preserve Your Lordship
many years.
ST. LOUIS OF YLINUESES, November
12, 1780.
Your devoted servant kisses
the hand of Your Lordship.
|
FRANCO. CRUZAT (Rubric) |
Señor DON BERNARDO DE GÁLVEZ.
|
CRUZAT TO GÁLVEZ |
November 12, 1780326
No. 2.
MY DEAR SIR: In my letter of the 29th of September last, I advised Your Lordship that Monsieur De la Balme was ready to start out for the Strait with an expedition from the American district. This man, apparently well-informed and at all events capable, so it seems, started on his march on the fifth of this month with fifty volunteers, inhabitants of the American district, with the purpose of going to Vermellon, a place which is on the banks of the Mis, where reside a nation of Indians and some English merchants. He planned to wait there for two hundred Frenchmen from Post Vincennes who are to join his party. All of them, under his orders, in addition to the Indians he has gathered together for that purpose, are to direct themselves to Los Vyas, a small village situated on the aforesaid banks of the Mis, where there is only English commerce. The English there have three or four hundred pounds of merchandise, and according to information, his idea is to take posession of it and then pass on to the Strait.
I fail to conjecture how the aforementioned Monsieur De la Baime arrived in this country without letters from the Congress or from Fort Pitt which is located on the upper part of the Ohio River, where there is a commandant and a commissary who have full information as to the Americans who are here. It is my belief that, if he had brought the letters, Colonel Montgomery would have notified me of it, as he did of the character and disposition of the man. Of this I have already advised Your Lordship, suggesting that you put into effect the project of taking the Strait without more equipment or other munitions of war than two pounds of gun powder and a corresponding amount of shot, carried by and furnished to each one of the volunteers, as well as provisions for forty days.
This officer, if he is only fortunate enough
to capture the merchandise of Los Vyas as he intends to do, will use it to wage
war and distribute it among the Indians, or he might join forces with
____________
326BL.
396 |
SPAIN IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY |
some strong party of Americans who perhaps would be coming from the
aforementioned Fort Pitt. In my opinion, he may thus make himself master of the
Strait. I have heard it said the two forts of that settlement were in an
excellent state of defense. Notwithstanding that fact, I have received news
that the inhabitants, maltreated by the English, desire to see in their country
either our flag or that of the French, in order to shake off the yoke that
oppresses them. They themselves are turning against our enemies, who treat them
like slaves, forcing them to carry loads of earth upon their backs for the
fortifications they endeavor to complete.
Notwithstanding the manner in which Monsieur
De la Balme has spoken to the Indians in the presence of Lieutenant Don Francisco
Cartabona, and upon all other occasions in favor of our nation and that of the
French, urging the savages not to abandon the protection we offered them and
that they should endeavor to harass the enemies as much as possible, I have no
assurance that his intentions are altogether as favorable to us as he would
wish to have it appear on the surface. I have therefore never had much
confidence in him and shall always keep an alert eye on all movements of the
aforesaid M. De la Balme, until I shall have been assured of the honesty of his
operations, of which I shall give exact information to Your Lordship.
May God preserve the life of
Your Lordship many years.
ST. LOUIS OF YLINUESES, November
12, 1780.
Your devoted servant kisses the
hand of Your Lordship.
|
FRANCO. CRUZAT (Rubric) |
Señor DON BERNARDO DE GÁLVEZ.
|
CRUZAT TO GÁLVEZ |
November 13, 1780327
No. 6.
MY DEAR SIR: Jacob Poric, a Canadian merchant, set out from the city of Montreal on the 27th day of last June, and arrived at the post of the Mis on the 3rd of last September, with much merchandise. He brought the news that the French, on the 6th day of June, without any opposition, landed with twenty thousand men under the orders of Mr. Duchafau on the St. Lawrence River below Quebec, capital of Canada, with the purpose of laying siege to this city.
A merchant of Post Vincennes, named La Yoneza, who arrived from Virginia on the 23rd of August, asserts that Mr. Duchafau passed last winter with his squadron on the coasts of New England.
A Canadian, by the name of St. Michel, who
escaped from Michillimackinac on the 24th of September, and arrived at this
town on
______________
327BL.
|
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD, 1765-1781 |
401 |
ACT OF POSSESSION OF EAST BANK OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER NORTH OF
THE DISTRICT OF NATCHEZ.
November 22, 1780.332
Don Balthazar de Villiers, captain of the Louisiana regiment, political and military commandant of Fort Carlos III of Arkansas and its dependencies.
On this the 22nd day of the month of November, 1780, in the name of the King of Spain, Don Carlos III (may God keep him), we have taken possession of the left bank of the Mississippi River opposite the Arkansas, White, and St. Francis rivers, as far as the boundary of the district of Natchez, to be the dependencies and come within the jurisdiction of this post. Being at the place formerly known as Concorda, we have inclosed this document together with His Majesty's royal coat of arms in a tin box and have buried it fifty paces from the river at a depth of one and one-half feet at the base of a two-armed tree called copalm bearing old marks and having three new forks. It is located in front of the said river to the east of that place.
The
following have signed their names:
ANSELMO
BILLET
ESTEVAN GOODING
PEDRO
THEMINES
LUIS PATIN
JN BA
ANDUEZA
LORENZO QUINO.
Done
in the abovementioned place and date.
ESTEVAN GOODING ANSELME
BILLET
PIERRE
THEMINES
LOUIS PATTINS
JN BA
ANDUEZA
MARK of LORENZO QUINTO
BALTHAZAR DE
VILLIERS
MIRÓ (Rubric)
INDIAN CHIEFS TO CRUZAT
1780333
STATEMENTS OF VARIOUS INDIAN CHIEFS,TO-WIT:
TALK OF LOUTARDE, CHIEF OF THE OUYA.
My French and Spanish father, listen to me:
We have lost our father today. Please be assured that we have had no part in
this dark deed. We are still following the path traced by our former fathers.
They are dead, but they told us always to be united, and their spirit still
lives, so that we are still following the same path. Our eyes are filled with
tears at the sight of these troubled times, and we do not cease mourning over
the loss of our father. Most of us are young
__________
332BL. A Pinart transcript marked AG Cuba Fl. Occ. 2 - 1218.
333BL, (French).
402 |
SPAIN IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY |
and hare-brained, but we are still doing as our father told us to do. We are
staying united with the French. Our French and Spanish father, we beg you to
take pity on our wives and children. We are on the point of dying of hunger and
poverty. We have seen our father for but a little, and then he disappeared.
This afflicts us greatly. His death is due in reality to those who claimed to be
his children. This is all that I have to say to you, my French and Spanish
father. I beg you to take pity on our wives and children, and give us all life.
TALK OF LA MINE DE PLOMB, THE YOUNGER, REPLACING THE LATE LANETTE.
My French and Spanish father: I am still a young foolish one. I have never yet spoken but listen to me.
I am the last one of the family. All our ancestors have died. I am blind today. The skies are dark. Formerly they were clear. I hope that you will make them light for us again. I beg you, my father, to take care of our wives and children. My father and my grandfather are dead. Here is their heart which I am holding in my hands. It is my father the Frenchman who hung the collar upon their necks. I am holding it firmly without letting it go. The Englishman has never been my father. I have never wanted to be on his side in the past, and I do not want to be so in the future either.
TALK OF LA JAMBE CROCHE, CHIEF OF THE OUYA.
My French and Spanish father, listen to me: You are not without knowing that I have fought twice for the interests of my father, the Frenchman, once at Carillon, the other time at Niagara, with Mr. de Villiers and Mr. Aubry. The Englishman was victorious and I was obliged to call him my father for a moment as he was the stronger one at the time. All the principal Frenchmen are witnesses to this and have seen me in action. We have done nothing but catch a glimpse of our father for an instant and then we lost him almost immediately. I am coming to you, my French and Spanish father, so that you may take pity on our wives and children. I cannot tell you any more in order to prove to you my sincere faithfulness. The people from the lakes keep threatening us because we are defending your interests.
TALK OF THE KICKAPOO.
My French, Spanish, and American father: I cannot prove a greater fidelity to you, my French, Spanish, and American father except by recalling the life of our old chiefs who took up arms against their relatives, the Renards, for the sake of their father the Frenchman; who is still in our hearts. That is why, my father, we are begging you to help us. In the past our hands have not been dipped in the blood of the French. They are all in a position to render us this justice. Our old chiefs have always told us never to
|
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD, 1765-1781 |
403 |
let go of the Frenchman's hand, and that they would take pity on us. I am not
speaking to you with sugared words. The Master of Life hears us, and we wish
never to fail in our duty towards him. This is all that I have to say to you,
my French, Spanish, and American father.
TO MONSIEUR CROUSATTE, commandant for His Most Christian Majesty at Saint Louis.
EXAMINATION OF LEFEVRE
December 14, 1780334
Sworn Statement made by one Antoine Lefèvre,
called Chapeau, who arrived at this post of St. Louis of the Illinois today,
the fourteenth of December in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty,
to Don Francisco Cruzat, brevet lieutenant colonel of infantry,
commander-in-chief and lieutenant governor of the western part and district of
the Illinois, in the presence of Messieurs Don Francisco Cartabona, Don Diego
Blanco, Don Benito Basquez, officers of this garrison, and the merchants of the
said post, Sieurs Auguste Chouteau, and Jean Baptiste Sarpy, all witnesses
called for this purpose.
Questioned. . .Whether he promises to God and to the King to tell
the truth in everything that would be asked of him.
Answered. . . .That he swears and promises it.
Questioned. . .What is his name and his country?
Answered. . . .That his name is Antoine Lefevre, called Chapeau,
and that he was born in Canada.
Questioned. . .What is his religion?
Answered. . . .That he professes the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman
faith.
Questioned. . .What is his profession?
Answered. . . .That he is an armorer.
Questioned. . .What is his place of residence?
Answered. . . .That he lives at Post Vincennes, of which he is an
inhabitant.
Questioned. . .What has he come to do in this post of St. Louis,
and what day did he arrive here?
Answered. . . .That he arrived today, and that the purpose of his
trip is to bring a letter which the inhabitants of the post
Vincennes were addressing to Monsieur Don Francisco Cruzat,
commander of the Spanish part of the Illinois, as well as
four written messages and six collars sent to this said
commander by the Ouyatanon and Kickapoo nations.
Questioned. . .Of what nature were the collars, why were they sent
and what had he done with them since he had not
remitted them?
_____________
334BL, (French).
404 |
SPAIN IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY |
Answered. . . .That there were five of them, each with four strands
of blue and white porcelain, the sixth of heavy white
pewter, for the purpose of begging the help of the Spanish
commander. Having arrived at the Kaskaskias, a post on the
American bank of the Illinois, towards sunset on the fifth of
the current month, He was called the day after, the sixth of
the current month, to Mr. Bentley's house. Having gone there
he found Mr. Dodge, agent of the State of Virginia,
accompanied by Mr. Bentley and Mr. Dejean. Mr. Dodge told him
he was informed that he was taking messages and
collars from the Wabash nations. Having replied that he was
bringing them to the Spanish commander, Mr. Dodge
retorted that he gave him only two hours to bring them to
him, and that if he should refuse to obey him, he would
find them. Whereupon the deponent went to his house to fetch
the messages and the collars and gave them to Mr. Dodge.
After he had turned them over to him, Mr. Dodge asked him
when he expected to leave for St. Louis. The deponent said,
as soon as the weather was favorable. Then Mr. Dodge said to
him, "You will come and see me on the eve of your
departure and I shall give you a letter for the Spanish
commander." On the day of his departure he went to get the letter
from him, as well as the collars and the messages. Whereupon
Mr. Dodge gave him a letter, saying that the messages
were inclosed in it, but that he was keeping the collars and
that he need not worry about them, since he would arrange
everything. Whereupon the deponent left to go to this post of
St. Louis where, upon his arrival, he gave to Monsieur
Don Francisco Cruzat the letter of the aforesaid Mr. Dodge as
well as the one he had been entrusted with by the inhabitants
of Post Vincennes.
Questioned. . .As to whether he had anything to add or to withdraw
from the deposition he had just made and
which had just been read to him.
Answered. . . .That he had nothing to add to or withdraw from the
said declaration which he had carefully listened to,
that it contained the truth, and that he persists in it. In
proof thereof he signed with us, aforesaid lieutenant governor
and the witnesses named above, at St. Louis of the Illinois
the same day, month and year as above.
ANTOYNE LEFEVRE, di CHAPEAU,
SILVIO FRANCO. DE
CARTABONA (Rubric),
DIEGO BLANCO
(Rubric), BENITO VASQUEZ
(Rubric),
AUGte. CHOUTEAU
(Rubric), SARPY (Rubric),
FRANCO. CRUZAT(Rubric).
|
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD, 1765-1781 |
405 |
CRUZAT TO DODGE
December 15, 1780335
Answer to the following letter made by M. Don Cruzat, commandant-in-chief of the western part of the Illinois, on the 15th of
December, 1780.
SIR: I have received your letter dated on the 11th of this month and I cannot refrain from expressing to you my surprise, in view of the harmony which exists between Spain and the United States of America, at seeing that, against all rules of alliance and mutual interest between two nations united by the same purpose, you have, Sir, kept collars which were not addressed to you, and which you were not to deem suspicious since they were meant for me. I do not know whether your rights extend so far but, whatever your powers may be, I shall never believe that you are authorized to violate the rights of allied nations which you are bound to respect as well as I, being that we are members of these nations.
In consequence I ask you, Sir, in the name of the King of Spain, my master, for the six collars sent to me by the Houyatanon and Kickapoo nations through Mr. Chapeau, which you have forced him to give you, and which he has done without resistance, in view of the authority you assumed over him. The intention of the Spanish government is not to alter in any way the alliance that it has contracted with the aforesaid United States of America, which I believe must share the same sentiments, and I hope that you will not delay in sending me the said collars.
I have the honor of being with consideration, your most humble and obedient servant.
|
FCO. CRUZAT |
At ST. LOUIS, ILLINOIS, December 15, 1780.
CRUZAT TO ROGERS
December 15, 1780336
Copy of the letter written to Mr. Roger, commanding the eastern part of the Illinois, by M. Don Francisco Cruzat the 15th of December 1780.
SIR: It having come to my knowledge that you
are the commander-in-chief of the American bank of the Illinois, I inform you
that Mr. Dodge has taken from one Chapeau six collars that he was
____________
335BL, (French). A copy of Cruzat's reply to a letter by Dodge. Cruzat attached this copy to Dodge's letter when he sent it to New Orleans.
336 BL, (French).
700296-49-vol 2-29
406 |
SPAIN IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY |
bringing me from the Huyatanon and Kickapoo nations, and that after examining
four written messages that the said nations were sending me, Mr. Dodge sent
them to me by the same man, and kept the aforesaid collars. This conduct on Mr.
Dodge's part might arouse the nations against us, which would not be beneficial
to us. The alliance which exists between Spain and the United States makes
their interests reciprocal and the cause becomes a common one.
I hope, Sir, in order to fulfill and maintain between us the plan of alliance set down by the Court of Spain and the Congress of the United States of America, you will cause to be returned to me tho aforesaid collars which Mr. Dodge has seized contrary to all regularity and good harmony which I believe (as being something sacred) should never be violated by private persons to the detriment of the united nations of which they are subjects.
I have the honor of being, with consideration, Sir, your most humble and obedient servant.
|
FCO. CRUZAT |
PEOPLE OF VINCENNES TO CRUZAT
1780337
To Mr. Crousatte Esq., Commander in Chief of the Spanish troops in the department of the Illinois at St Louis &a. &a. &a.
ENTREATING MOST HUMBLY: The inhabitants of the post of Ste. Vincennes and the Ouyas have the honor of stating to you most respectfully that, as good French citizens, allies of the court of Spain and of North America, they are exposed to all sorts of dangers with regard to the nations of the Miami and beyond. These nations have not ceased during the whole of last summer to give us trouble and raise scalps in our villages and prevent us daily from attending to our labors and ordinary tasks, as is shown in this last affair in which the French have been very badly treated by them. All this is caused by the poverty and indigence which reign in our villages, since we have not wherewith to satisfy the nations, and to procure the necessities of life and clothing. If hereafter the people cannot find the means of getting powder, lead, and goods, they will be forced necessarily to abandon the post of Ste. Vincennes as the Ouya have done, since it is close to all the barbaric nations who have declared themselves entirely against the French and their allies. The latter have done so because of the request and the gifts of the English who caused them to ruin us.
For these reasons the suppliants have
recourse to you, Sir, so that you may be pleased to grant them whatever aid you
desire to accord them, either munitions of war, goods, or even by advising
___________
337BL, (French).
|
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD, 1765-1781 |
407 |
them and giving the means of avoiding the dangers with which they are
threatened. Their gratitude will be boundless and they will never stop praying
for the conservation of your precious days.
DAGENET BOSSERON, F. BOSSERON, J. BTE. HUBERDEAU, CHALLONE, MARK of PIER (X), JEAN BAPTISTE GODFROÿ, COURNOTE, PIERRE MARIEVE, N. DEVROT, L. FOUCHE, JOSEPH STE. MARIE, ST. MARTT, ETIENNE S. MARRI, PIERRE GAMELIN, BERDNEAR ETIENÉ, GUILHOME PAYETE, CHAPAU, interpreter, PIERE KIERRÉ, captain, JEAN BAPTISTE MÉIET, L. E. DUME, ENTOUENNE RICHARVILLE, PHILLIBERT, J. B. ST. AUBIN, PERRET, JAQUES GODFROY, P. BARRON, LAMOUREUE.
CRUZAT TO THE PEOPLE OF VINCENNES
December 15, 1780338
|
[Copy] |
Answer made by Monsieur Don Francisco Cruzat to the united request sent to him
by the inhabitants of the post Vincennes.
GENTLEMEN: As soon as I had received your petition, my heart was moved with great sadness at the sight of the woeful and critical situation in which you find yourselves. It touches me much more because humanity pleads in your favor and appeals to all men who are mindful of the obvious dangers threatening their fellow-men. You must, therefore, Gentlemen, imagine the emotion of my soul at the sight of the misfortunes which threaten you and whose dire and obvious effects torture my mind most cruelly. I should wish, Gentlemen to be able to divert the storm, helping you in every way possible to me, as I desire nothing better than to aid by all sorts of equitable means those who are bereaved.
But considering, as I do, that you are subjects of the United States of America by right of conquest, I can do nothing without the participation and the consent of the officers of those said states, which are the allies of Spain and France. Consequently, Gentlemen, you should address yourselves to those who are in the Illinois so that with these acting in accord and unison with me, we may help you in your necessity. I promise you that I shall use all my power to better your situation and to prove to you that the King of Spain, my most respectable master, observing towards his allies the sacred laws of alliance, protects and favors them with the most generous humanity.
I have the honor of being, Gentlemen, with the greatest possible consideration, your most humble and obedient servant.
|
FCO. CRUZAT |
At ST. LOUIS OF THE ILLINOIS, 15th of December 1780.
____________
338BL, (French).
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