Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1903-02-03
White Hand
"A Tale of the Early Settlers
!, Of Louisiana. ;
BY AUSTIN C. BURDICK
CHAPTER 1.

We who turn our eyes westward and
beholding the "Star of Empire" setting
amid the golden waters of the Pacific,
while the folds of our nations banner al
most enwrap the continent, are prone to
look upon the valley of the Mississippi as
q region old in civilization. Yet. long
after the Atlantic shores were gemmed
with cities and thriving villages, tine
great valley of the mid-continent was a
vast solitude unknown to our forefathers
Long after colleges and schools, govern
ments and courts. societies and churches,
had arisen and fourished in the Atlantic
colonies, the red man hunted his game
in the forest, and drove his canoe over
the bosom of the great Father of Waters
unmolested by the pale-faced invader.
In the middle of the sixteen century,
bold and hardy band of adventurous
knights and warriors, led by fernando de
Soto, landed at the bay of Santo Spirituy
in Florida, and, in all the pride and pomp
of glorious array, started off through the
deep forests in quest Of those tabled
cities where untold gold awaited their
coming. On they went, meeting and
overcoming obstacles innumerable, and,
at length, a worn and weary remnant Of
the once proud host sat down to rest upon
the bank of the mighty river. A little
further on, they went through the wilds
of Arkansas, but the same stern, dark
forest, with its avenging hordes of red
men, met klem at every step, and they
came back to the Mississippi, where De
Soto laid down and died. His great
hard heart was broken. The remnant of
his party hastily constructed a few rude
vessels, and sailed down the river, fol-
lowed by the curses of the Indians.
After this, the great valley remained
untrodden by the white men for a CEN
fury and half, when, in July, 1878, a
small band of Europeans and Canadians,
under Joliet and Marquette, reached the
banks Of the great river. They had come
from the ST. Lawrence, and had wan
dered through the vast solitudes of the
Maumee and 1.-the Wabash. They foated
down as far as the mouth of the Ar
kansas, where, having made themselves
sure that the Mississippi emptied into the
Gulf of Mexico, they returned to their
people in Canada. Great rejoicings were
held over the reports these Adventures
brought with them; yet Joliet and Mar
quette both died ere the white man again
sought the Father of Waters.
Seven years later, the celebrated La
Sale, at the head of forty soldiers and
few monks, found the mighty river, and
after recrossing the Atlantic, and return
ing with more aid, and after passing
through adventures almost incredible, he
fairly commenced colony in Louisiana.
In 1887, he was assassinated by his own
companions, and the few white men left
were little better than a mere handful
of wanderers in the wilderness.
A few years later, came the men whose
- nhnt.s ho1 hoe yto
suffered the most and worked the most
faithfully for the noble homes of the
South. Most prominent among them
were the two brothers, Iberyille and
Bienville, the latter Of whom was the
founder of the city Of New Orleans, and
for many years governor of the colony.
From this time really commenced the
growth of Louisiana.
This territory was inhabited by numer-
GUS tribes of Indians, more numerous,
perhaps, than in any other section of the
country. Some of them were mere fam
lilies, insignificant in their capacity as dis
tinctive tribes, but yet speaking an idiom
peculiar to themselves, cherishing their
own exclusive traditions, and exercising
all the rights of independent powers. But
the principal tribes in the southern coun-
try were three in number-the Natchez
the Choctaws, and the Chickasaws, and
with these and the Yazoos, did the
French Of that period have mostly to
deal.
It was in the summer of 1921 that we
introduce our readers to a pleasant home
on the banks of the Mississippi. Some
forty miles above where the city of Baton
Rouge now stands, the Marquis Brion ST.
Julien had located himself and erected
house. He was now past the prime of
life, having been some FIVE years on the
road through the second half century of
his life, and had left France out of pure
disgust for the society he was obliged
to mingle with there. Unlike most of
those who came to the new home in the
vast Wilderness, he was wealthy He
had left his wife in the tomb of her an
cestors, and her death was a severe blow
upon his noble heart.
Money was potent, even in the wilder
ness, and the marquis had the most
sumptuous residence in the country. Near
his estate, the great river made a sweep
to the westward, and his house was built
upon small tributary stream, which ran
nearly south from it's source, and at n
distance of nearly two miles from the
Mississippi.
Here he and his family lived, with such
of his domestics as were needed about
him. The house faced to the west being
about ten rods from the river. Next were
two buildings, one upon the north and
the other upon the south of the main
house, and each about twenty feet dis
tant. These were for the residence of the
black slaves. Then back of all these and
distant forty feet, were two more build
ings, one of them, twenty feet square,
was for the stable, and the, other, fifty
feet square, was for the general store
house of provisions for both man and
beast. In front of the main ,dwelling(
extended u beautiful garden almost to
the river. Outside of all, was a stout,
barricade, completely enclosing the
grounds ON which stood the buildings and
most of the garden. 1t was formed of
posts driven firmly into the ground, at
the distance of foot apart and twelve
feet high, and then these intervals were
tightly filled with other upright timbers, |
firmly fastened in their places by trans
verse girths and stout wooden pins. |
There were numerous loop or portfolios
through this barricade, which could be |
rpauad or closed at Measure