Maumee City express. [volume] (Maumee City, Ohio) 1838-184?, 1839-05-11

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY-l6S7-l7s3.
AFTER the expedition conducted by La
Sally to colonize Louisiana III 1857, tie re-
suits of which have been stated, no further
attempt of the kind was made until lb09.-
During the interval constant communrca,
ton was kept up between Canada and the
settlement in Illinois. Accessions were
continually made to Cuhohia and Kuska~kia,
but no new settlements were formed witt
the exception Of certrin plantations that
were put under cultivation on fertile tract
betWeen these two villages, called Prairie
du RoChcr. Tie attention of the French
however, was not withdrawn from this new.
ly explored region: and in 1899 an expedI.
ton sailed from PuclletOrd, under the com.
mand Of Lemoine d'IbbrrvIle, u C madam
naval officer of re Iutltlon, destined TO the
mouth OF the NJ ssisslppi. He was the first
to enter the river by sea; he examined the
country by its mouth, and laid the foundr,
ton Of the first colony at the head Of Il
small bay named Biloxi, within. the present
limits Of the state Of Mississippi. The
Spanards who had long before established
colon eSin Florida at st. Augustine& neigh
boring points, having just formed a settle
ment at Pensacola, protested against he oc
cupatlon of what they claimed as their own
territory, by the French. Their opposition,
however, appears to have been Intellectual
for in 1909 rhe French occupied new post
on Mobile river still nearer the P.n%lcoh.
But little attention was paid to agricuI,
ture by the colony of Biloxi o. Mobile. The
colonlsts depended chiefly ON the mother
country for supplies Of provisions. Tncn
principal object was the prosecution of the
fur trade and il search for the precious me.
tails. Accordingly they aimed only to es.
tablish convenient depot IN which to store
the expected profits of the chase and the
mines in readiness to be shipped for distant
markets. No sooner, therefore, was u foot
ing gained by the cOionlsts at Mobile, than
expeditions were despa ched up the NliSsls-
sippi to trade with the natives and ascertain
the mineral wealth of the country.
In an expedition of this kind, undertaken
in l7O5, the French for the first time enter
ed the Missouri river and asCended it as FIR
as the mouth of the Kanzls, the point where
the western boundary line of the state OF
Missouri now crosses the river. The ma
tlvos, with whom the had interviews, cheer.
fully engaged in trade with them; and they
found the traffic in furs highly profitable
though they now here obtained the preciou,
metals i'll sufficient quantities to remunerlte
them for the search. 1t may here be OBJ
served, that the French traders have al
ways been more fortunate IN their inter.
other nation.
The footing thus gained by the FrencI
at the mouth of the river was of decided
advantage to the settlements in Upper Lou
sana or Illinois. 1t opened TO them direct
avenue to the ocean, and greatly facilitated
their communication with France. But
these settlements soon beg III to experience
new obstacles to their progress. The wars
in Europe now demanded all their attention.
and resources of men and money could not
be obtained for carrying on the projected
enterprises in Louisiana, and they accor-
dinghy languished for several years. Du-
ring the period, too, the Spaniurds neglect
GU Nv oDJulIuullYj WHICH oSCuIioilj W IIU-
lest their enemies. But little progress
therefore, was made by any of the settle.
ments about this time. Those of Illinois
kept on the even tenor of their ways; their
reliance for subsistence being on the cult
vation of the soil. While those at the
mouth of the river, depending upon sup
plies from abroad, were at times extremely
destitute. This state of things, however,
turned their attention, from necessity, to
agriculture, and put them in a condition, af-
terwards to be more independent ofexternal
assistance. Most of these settlers, how
ever being people of rank, and the leading
men military characters, they were not in
clined to labor on the soil with their own
hands, but procured slaves for the purpose,
and assigned the labors Of the field almost
exclusively to them.
Hitherto the affiirs of Louisiana had been
managed BY officers of his appointment, in
the name of the king. At length he, find
ing his attention entirely engrossed by the
wars in Europe, yet anxious to keep the
Mississippi Valley out of the hands of the
enemy, the Spaniards made grant of the
whole territory in 1899 by letters patent to
Antoine de Crozat. Crozat was a man of