The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-28
HISTORIC CITY OF MOBILE
 CELEBRATES CENTENNIAL

l EO OEN l ENNlAL
 
 France, carrying a glowing description of the wonderful wealth and possibil- ittes of the new country, which he had named Louisiana in honor of his king, Louis XIV, then the most splendid monarch in all Europe. Inspired by the reports of La Salle, Louis XIV fitted out an expedition, under the command of La Salle, to find the mouth of the Mississippi and explore and colonize the country. but this expedition came to grief upon the coast of Texas and but handful of the survivors were able to work their way overland, to Cam ada. La Sale was murdered by two companions near the Trinity river in Texas.
 Expedition of Iberville Following the treaty of Ryswick, which ended the long war between France and England, Louis XIV again turned his attention to the wonderful country which La Sale had discovered and fitted out expedition for the purpose of exploring and colonizing the country. This expedition was put un- der the command of Iberville military officer, who was left upon the shores Of France by the conclusion of the war, with two of his brothers, Sauvolle and Bienville. as officers under his com mand. Iberville was a. native of Que- | bee and was one of seven brothers, | and by training was well fitted for the | duties imposed upon him. Iberville sailed from Rochelle In September, 1898, | the expedition consisting of three ves- | sels, carrying, in addition to the crews, 200 colonists. In January, 1899, this expedition reached a point off Santa Rosa island, at the entrance to Pen sacola bay. wherein two Spanish yes sels of war were discovered at anchor. The Spanish, having declined to allow the French to enter the bay, Iberville ] sailed short distance to the westward and cast anchor off what is now Dauphin island, at the mouth of Mo | bile bay. which he named Massacre island on account of the immense quan- titles of human bones which were found upon it.
 Dauphin Island Today | Dauphin Island, once despised, is today | the scene of one of the most gigantic development enterprises that has ever | been undertaken upon the gulf coast of | the United States, an enterprise which is directly connected with the development | of the great mineral resources of the state of Alabama and which, with the opening of the Panama canal will un- questionably be the greatest coaling port in the south. The full development of the plan awaits only the completion of government work now under way along the Tombigbee river, which will make 2000 miles of inland waterways navagable, all directly tributary to the port of Mo bile.
 Iberville succeeded in reaching the Mis- sissippi. leaving Bienvflle in charge of settlement which was established near the site of the present city of iBloxi, and this settlement was maintained until 1702 when the colony was moved to the mouth of Dog river, on Mobile bay, where a fort was erected and named Fort St. Louis de la Mobile, which continued to be the seat of government for a period of nine years. In the spring of I'll, owing to the fact that the colony had been frequently inundated and because the new site of the present city of Biloxi, and greater altitude above sea level, the set clement was moved to the present site of the city, on the banks of Mobile river.
 Under Many Flags
 In 1763 Mobile was turned over to Great Britain by France in settlement of diff ferences growing out of war in which Spain and France were allied against Great Britain In 17S3, when Great Brit ain was forced to withdraw from the gulf coast, although the treaty of 17S2 between England and the United States gave the latter jurisdiction over Mobile, Spain continued in power until the ces- sion of Florida, which included, accord- ing to the Spanish maps. narrow strip along the gulf coast far west as the mouth of the Mississippi, in 1921, Gen. eral Jackson taking possession In that year under the terms of treaty with Spain, which was made in 1919.
 Every feature of historic interest from the time of La Sale to and including the time of the founding of Mobile by the French under Iberville and Bienville, was the subject of presentation in the magnificent historic pageants, and while the celebration was for the purpose of commemorating, particularly, the found- ing of the city in the spring of the year I'll, historic incidents subsequent to that time, even as late as the war between the states in the COS, were not over looked The celebration was historic In every sense of the word, but the incl dents of the dim and distant past were linked with incidents more modern, the whole typifying the progress of the past and the wonderful possibilities of the future.