page_title: Louis Juchereau de St. Denis
section_title: Early life and education
hierarchical_section_title: Louis Juchereau de St. Denis / Early life and education
caption_attribution_description: English: Revised St. Denis monument in Natchitoches. Natchitoches, Louisiana. View of monument to French colonial explorer Louis Juchereau de St. Denis
context_page_description: Louis Antoine Juchereau de St. Denis was a French-Canadian soldier and explorer best known for his exploration and development of the Louisiana and Spanish Texas regions. He commanded a small garrison at Fort de la Boulaye on the lower Mississippi River, built in 1700, and founded Fort St Jean Baptiste de Natchitoches in northern La Louisiane, as they called the French colony.
context_section_description: St. Denis was born at Beauport, New France (Quebec), the eleventh of the twelve children of Nicolas Juchereau (1627-1692), Seigneur du Chesnay and Saint-Roch-des-Aulnaies; member of the Sovereign Council of New France. His paternal grandfather was the elder brother of Noël Juchereau des Chatelets. His mother, Marie Thérèse Giffard de Beauport, was the daughter of Robert Giffard de Moncel, Sieur de Moncel à Autheuil, and the 1st Seigneur of Beauport, Quebec. His brother was the grandfather of Louis Barbe Juchereau de Saint-Denys (1740-1833), 1st Marquis de Saint-Denys, ancestor of Marie-Jean-Léon, Marquis d'Hervey de Saint Denys.
  St. Denis' parents apparently were able to send him to France to further his education. In late 1699, St. Denis sailed from La Rochelle with the second expedition of Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville (his first cousin), arriving in Louisiana. St. Denis commanded a small garrison at Fort de La Boulaye, named for a commune in the Bourgogne region of France. The fort was constructed in 1700 on the Mississippi River about 20 kilometers below the future development of New Orleans; it was designed to protect French interests against the Spanish and English in the region. St. Denis also commanded a fort at Biloxi Bay, where the French founded another settlement. St. Denis also explored to the west of the bay and up the Mississippi River, where he journeyed to the lower Red River. These expeditions to the northern areas brought St. Denis into contact with the Karankawa and Caddo tribes and taught him invaluable wilderness skills specific to the area.
  Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac sent St. Denis and a company of French marines from Mobile in September 1713 to travel up the Red River and establish a French outpost and fort. The intent was to protect the territorial boundaries of French-Louisiana and halt the eastward expansion of the Spaniards, whose local government was based on the Rio Grande in south Texas. The Spaniards were building Fort Los Adaes about 15 miles west of Natchitoches, near the present town of Robeline, LA. St. Denis arrived in central Louisiana at what is now Natchitoches later in 1713 and built Fort St. Jean Baptiste de Natchitoches as a trading post along the banks of the Red River, whose course later changed and the result became the Cane River. He traded with the Caddo Nation there and freely sold them guns; additionally, St. Denis developed a somewhat friendly relationship with the nearby Spaniards, despite the objections of the French governship. St. Denis and his men learned many hunting and trapping skills from the Caddo Indians, who were welcoming and friendly.
  Soon after founding Natchitoches in 1714, St. Denis traveled to the lands of the Hasinai Confederacy, a group of Caddoan language tribes, and from there to Spanish outposts on the Rio Grande. At San Juan Bautista, Coahuila, Commander Diego Ramón placed St. Denis under house arrest. He confiscated his goods while awaiting instructions from Mexico City on what to do with the foreigner charged with violating Spanish trade restrictions. In the meantime, St. Denis courted and won the promise of marriage from Ramón's step-granddaughter, Manuela Sanchez-Navarro a descendant of the conquistadors of the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Nuevo León, Mexico. St. Denis was ordered to Mexico City and defended himself well enough to be appointed the commissary officer of the Ramón expedition charged with founding Spanish missions in east Texas.
  St. Denis returned to San Juan Bautista and married Manuela in early 1716. In the years 1716-1717 he traveled to eastern Texas to participate in the founding of six missions and a presidio. He returned to San Juan Bautista in April 1717. The death of Louis XIV and the conclusion of the War of Spanish Succession resulted in ending French-Spanish cooperation, and St. Denis returned to La Louisiane. The French sent St. Denis to Mexico City for a second time, but he escaped before being hauled to Spain as a prisoner. St. Denis made his way to Natchitoches by February 1719. Spanish of
caption: Monument to St. Denis in Natchitoches, Louisiana.
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