• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

:^k v/ / J. ^,^ ,,, I / '%.> ''SSiSifiS' • .iKtggHiigBiiffiag J.--.-' ^ Gass ^ c^/ Book- U /^rs^ HISTORY LOUISIANA GRACE, KING, Author of New Orleans, The Place and The People;' •-De Soto in the Land of Florida,'''' etc. JOHN R. FICKLEN, Professor of History in Tnlane VnimrsiL'j. ^ REVISED EDITION. NEW DRLEANS : ST THE L. GRAHAM CO., LTD., PRINTERS, 71S-7I7-7I9 PERDIDO 19 35 ((JOS' Enlertd accortling to Act of Congress in llic year 1S03 Bv GRACE KING and JOHN R. FICKLEN, In ilic Ollicc of the Librarian of Congress at Washinylon D. By Transfer D. L. Public Library ^EP 2 1 1934 . PREFACE. In presenting this History of Louisiana lo the people of the State, the authors find it necessary to say a v.'ord of preface. Their intention has been to write a history that would give the children of Louisiana a simple and true account of the proj;rcss of the State from the earliest times of discovery down to the present era. It is hoped, however, that the work will not prove uninteresting lo older persons as well. Every effort has been made to secure accuracy of detail; but as some errors may have crept in, the authors will be glad to receive notice cf any that may meet the ej^e of the critic. It mr.y be added that all the artistic and mechanical portion of the work was done in Xew Orleans—the book is entirely a home produvt. The authors desire to thank the librarians of tlie Fisk, the Howard, and the State Libraries for uniform courtesy and kindness in putting at their disposal the rich historical treasures from which the materials of this work are drawn. Among these treasures the authors wish to acknowledge their special obligations to the Histories of Louisiana by the Hon. Charles Gayarrd and Judge Martin; to Fiske's Discovery of America; to Margry's Documents; and to the otHcial documents relating to the French and Spanish Domination. Grateful acknowledgment is also made to E. H. Farrar, Esq., for the privilege he kindly granted of borrowii g books and maps from his valuable library. The authors owe special thanks to Messrs. L. Grah.am & Son, printers, for the care they have taken in the execution of their sliare of the labor. In conclusion it is proper to state that Miss King wrote the first part of the history (:!S f;ir as the end of the Spanish Domination), and that Mr. Ficklen completed it. CONTENTS I'AGK. Introi)LCt;on 1 exflokation 2 Spanish Explorers. French Exploi'ers. FicKNCH Domination 45 ICstablishnient. Mobile. Louisiana Cbartereil. Conip.-iny of the Wpst. Louisiana a Royal I'rovince. Luuis^inna Ceded to Spain. Resistance. SrANisir Domination Vl'S O'Reilly. The Patriots. The Spanish Governors. FuoM Colony to State 147 Jefferson's L*urchase. Territory of Orleai.s. Louis-i. na Made a State. Wakov' 1812-15 172 The British in Louisiana. General Jackson. The Buttle of New Orleans. Period of Dkvelopment 194 Prosperity. Sugar Relining. New Constitutions. The Civil Wau, 1SG1-G5 2(!0 Secession of Louisiana. Capture of New Orleans. Battles of Manstield and Peasant Hill. Rkstoration to the Union 237 Reconstruction. The White League. Free Government Restored. General Progi'ess. PlIVSICAL P'EATUUES, POPULATION, EtC 253 List of State Officers 259 Constitution of 1898 2G1 Maps. Map of Mississippi Valley 8 Map of Gulf Coast 4G Parish Map of Louisiana 147 Map of Jefferson's i'urchase 15G "War Map of Louisiana 215 HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. INTRODUCTION. Louisiana was named in honor of Louis XIV, king of France, by Robert Cavalier de la Salle, in the year 1682. The name was then applied vaguely to all that region of the North American Continent lying between the Alleghany mountains on the East, the Rocky mountains on the west, the great fresh water lakes, Superior, Michigan, Erie and Huron on the north, and the Gulf of Mexico on the south. This is the territory drained by the Mississippi river and its tributaries, which is known as the Mississippi Valley. It is a territory which covers an area of 1,344,000 square miles, comprising th^^ greater part of the United States. From its source in the remote Nc rthwcst, to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi follows a course of 2S00 miles. The principal tributaries of the Mississippi are the Missouri, Ohio, Arkansas and Red rivers. The history of Louisiana is, in the beginning, therefore, the history of the discovery of the Mississippi rivei and vality, and the struggle for its possession by the three great Euro- pean powers, Spain, France and England. HISTORY OF I.OUISIAXA. EXPLORATION. CHAPTER I. SPANISH EXPLORERS. Louisiana first became known to Europeans through its southern boundary, the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Christopher Columbus. 1492. —Christopher Columbus, sailing west on his immortal voyage of discovery, touched the land of the New World on the islands which lie between the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. He did not penetrate into the gulf itself, and knew nothing of the vast, beautiful country which, with its great central river, lay on the other side of it. On the return of Columbus to Spain, with the news of his great achievement, emulators and imitators arose in all the seaports of the kingdom, eager to reap wealth and fame also, by leading expeditions across the Atlantic to the New World beyond. Americus Vespucius. 1497.—On one of these expeditions sailed the celebrated astronomer and pilot,* Americus Ves- pucius. It is most probable that, voyaging around Ihe An- tilles and into the blue expanse of the Gulf of Mexico, he saw the southern shore line of North America from Central America to Florida ; just as afterwards, voyaging in the Atlantic Ocean, he saw the shore line of South America. Mississippi, 1502. —On an old map dated 1502, which has been traced to a Spanish chart of this voyage, the re- sults of such an exploration by an early pilot have been preserved. In quaint, rude outlines the gulf shore and Florida are distinctly traced upon it ; and cutting through the land and flowing into the gulf are the familiar three channels of the mouth or delta of the Mississippi. * It was Uie first of tlie four voyages of exploration made by Americus Vespuciut, the written description of which attaclieil liis name to the country. SPANISH EXPLORERS. 3 Bimini. 1513.—This voyage of Vespucius was notfollowed up. The tide of exploration was turned toward South Ameri- ca and Florida. The Gulf Coast and the great river dropped back into the unknown. But the Indians of Cuba, pointing across the gulf to where the peninsula of Florida ran out into the blue waters, would tell their Spanish masters of a wonderful island over there, called the Island of Bimmi. Upon it they said were great and splendid cities, vast riches of gold and silver, and, most strange of all, a fountain whose *' " waters restored the aged to youth ; the fountain of youth they called it. Ponce De Leon. 1513-1521. —A Spanish cavalier, a friend of Columbus, obtained from the King of Spain per- mission to conquer it and make its wondrous possessions his own He was beginning to get old, and, more than the riches of Bimini, he coveted the waters of the fountain which would make him young and keep him so. He sailed thither in the year 15 13, with three brigantines. It was during the spring- time. Either from the quantities of beautiful flowers that met his eye when he came within sight of the coast, or from the day, Easter, " Pascua Florida," in Spanish, he named the country Florida. He explored the coast and traveled inland some distance, but found neither the fountain nor the riches, nor any of the wonders {promised by the Indians. He returned to Cuba, disappointed but not discouraged. Nine years later, in 152 1, he sailed over there again to make another attempt, but the Indians fiercely drove him off, and gave him a wound, from which he died shortly after, in Cuba. Pineda. 1519. Mississippi River.—Between Ponce de Leon's two voyages to Florida, Alvarez de Pineda, coasting along the Gulf of Mexico, entered the mouth of a great river, supposed to-day by historians and geographers to be the Mississippi. He called it the Espiiitu Santo, River of the Holy Spirit. He is probably the first European who ever 4 HISTORY OF LOlflSlANA. entered it. He found the Indians friendly and eager to trade. They lived in great towns composed of many small villages, and wore ornaments of gold. Pamphilode Narvaez. 1528. —The reports of these great Indian villages and the gold ornaments excited the greed and cupidity of Pamphilo de Narvaez, He saw in Florida a country rivaling Mexico and Peru for rich plunder. With four hundred men and four ships he set sail for it from Cuba. He landed at Appalachee Bay and marched inland, ordering his fleet to remain on the watch for him in the gulf. At first they found fields of corn and Indian villages ; but afterward tliey journeyed for days through forest solitudes. Their cruelty to the Indians who fell into their hands kindled the fiercest retaliation against them. They were compelled to fight every step of their way forwaid. Their food gave out, and they suffered the tortures of famine. Some of their captives, forced to act as guides, led them only into the thickest of swamps and forest, out of which they had barely strength to extricate themselves. Their search was now, not for gold, but for food.

Load more

  368

Copy Link