A History of French Louisiana by Marcel Giraud Joseph C. Lambert

Author:Marcel Giraud, Joseph C. Lambert [Marcel Giraud, Joseph C. Lambert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780807100585
Google: hZl1zQEACAAJ
Publisher: Louisiana State University Press
Published: 1974-01-15T01:40:51+00:00

XI

Occupation of the Hinterland

WHEN LOUIS XIV’S reign ended, Pontchartrain’s program for expanding France’s zone of domination was not yet being put into effect.1 The Council of the Navy at once took an interest in the question, and drawing upon Duché’s counsel, set about forming a plan for occupying the interior of Louisiana. In doing this, it was moved, more than the secretary of state had been moved, by desire to take possession of the regions where there were minerals, the existence of which had been affirmed in many a mémoire. Crozat, Duché, La Mothe, Le Maire, all constantly talked of the wealth of the colony and said that this was not confined to the cursorily prospected area near the posts in the Illinois country but was also certain to be found in several other sectors, such as the Red River Valley and the Alabama country.2 This was what largely lay behind Crozat’s proposal to establish posts in the valleys of the Red River and the Arkansas River, and when he advocated a thorough occupation of the Wabash (lower Ohio) Valley, this was to ensure access to the Missouri, which would bring the French closer to “the Spanish mines.”3

It may be that the Council of the Navy saw in these promises the means of remedying France’s shortage of real money. From this time onward, in any case, the council showed an interest in minerals that found expression in its intention to make the Chevalier Jean-Charles de Follart commander-in-chief of the troops in Louisiana and especially in the curiosity it voiced regarding La Mothe’s journey to the Illinois country. The council instructed Lépinay to inform himself of the precise location of the deposit that his predecessor had briefly noticed, to study the conditions for exploiting it, and to carry out deep drilling to obtain reliable knowledge of the quality of the mineral. The decision to reinforce the colony’s garrison itself proceeded originally from concern to protect its mineral wealth.4 The posts that the council planned to establish corresponded to the localities where great possibilities for mining were predicted. This was the case with the post that the council thought briefly of setting up “in the Arkansas country,” on the basis of Crozat’s mistaken reports; with the post it ordered to be set up in the Alabamas’ territory, where young Saint Michel, who had spent many years in this region in order to learn the language of the natives, said that silver was to be found; and also with the posts to be placed among the Natchez and the Yazoos, which were thought to be near enough to the mineral areas of the Illinois country for their garrisons to help in the exploitation of these areas.5

The strategical argument was not, of course, overlooked by the Council of the Navy. It saw, as Pontchartrain had seen, more effective control of the interior as the surest shield against the intentions of the British in the direction of the Mississippi. Hence the plan to guard the

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