The Story of the River Front at New Orleans

The Story of the River Front

at New Orleans

The Story of the

River Front

at

NEW ORLEANS

BY

RAYMOND J. MARTINEZ

qp

Quid Pro Books

New Orleans, Louisiana

The Story of the River Front at New Orleans

Smashwords edition. Modern compilation and presentation copyright © 2018 by Quid Pro, LLC. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced — in whole or in part, using print, photocopying, or digital means, and recreating or transmitting in any print or digital form — without the written permission of the current publisher. Adaptation of original cover © by Quid Pro, LLC.

Previously published in 1948 by Pelican Press, New Orleans, Louisiana; in 1955 by Industries Publishing Agency, New Orleans, Louisiana; and copyright © 1948 by Raymond J. Martinez. No current copyright is claimed in the original text, textual matter quoted therein, or in original illustrations (reproduced from the 1955 edition).

Published in 2018 by Quid Pro Books.

ISBN 978-1-61027-390-9 (ePUB)

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CONTENTS (ALPHABETICAL)

The Story of the River Front

at New Orleans

The Early Days of the River Front

The story of the river front at New Orleans would have begun with the coming of Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, in April of 1682 had he stopped long, on his way to the Gulf, at the bend of the river which he regarded as a suitable place for a settlement. The trees were green and the fish were biting in the stream. The bend which pleased him is now the New Orleans river front, lined with magnificent wharves, steamships, and crafts of every type. But La Salle was a restless fellow who perhaps would not have succeeded in establishing a settlement had he stopped, but would have lingered a while and then gone on his way to new fields. His business was exploring the streams of the country, not building cities. It was left to Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, who had camped on this spot in 1699, to found the city of New Orleans. But he was in no hurry to do it, for it was not until 1718 that he came back and laid the foundation for the settlement and called it New Orleans. He lived to a great age, and that may have been owing partly to the fact that he was never in a hurry to do anything. He was about twenty-three when he first camped here; he was forty-one when he came back to establish the settlement. While he waited a few Canadian families settled on Bayou St. John (as early as 1706). It is recorded that grants of land were given to some of these settlers in 1708. Among them were the historian, Le Page du Pratz, and a family of the name of Dufour, whose descendants became prominent citizens of New Orleans. Bienville had something, therefore, to work with when he laid out the city on the banks of the Mississippi River.

It was Le Blond, Sieur de la Tour, a capable engineer, who (in 1718) built the first levee at New Orleans, and who also made plans for the streets and devised a drainage system. (Bienville was not particularly opposed to work himself, but like most successful men he surrounded himself with a capable staff.) Each settler received a plot ten fathoms front by twenty deep. Each person who received a plot was required to enclose it with palisades, and leave all around a strip at least three feet wide, at the foot of which a ditch was to be dug to serve as a drain. This drainage arrangement and the levee served very well in those times, and it was not long before the river front became a great trading place, and so it remained for two hundred years, for as late as 1882 the merchants of New Orleans were still buying their sugar, rice and cotton on the levee.

The village grew so rapidly, and seemed so secure in the bend of the river, that the capitol of the colony (Louisiana) was moved here from Biloxi. Henceforth New Orleans was to be the official headquarters and the seaport through which European civilization and trade were to spread over the valley of the Mississippi River, 2470 miles long.

But there were men in those times (as there were before, of course, and as there are now and will be in the future) who wanted to get the lion’s share of the trade, and so France in 1727, when business began to boom on the river front, issued an edict prohibiting Louisiana from trading with any but French vessels. Irish ships were permitted to bring in cured meats — but Ireland didn’t have many boats. The restrictions brought about confusion at the port, and the dock superintendents and the comptrollers of customs, who were agents of the royal house of France, were not backward about using the power invested in them. This encouraged smuggling. Soon British vessels made their way to the city and landed at the bank of the river opposite what is now the fourth district. Smuggling became a very respectable trade, and was practiced by the best people in the city.

Despite these restrictions and the bad management of the port’s overseas and coastwise trade, the city progressed from year to year, for it was the terminal and also the distributing point for the trade of a vast and rich territory. There had been constant trouble at the passes at the mouth of the river, and so in 1734 the French government commissioned Jacques Esnould de Livaudais as Harbor Master and Chief Pilot of the port. His duty was to supervise the movement of vessels from the mouth of the river to the city, and to devise means and ways to improve traffic from the Gulf and from other points to the Port of New Orleans. He was a very capable man, and succeeded in making a considerable improvement.

It appears that for many years after 1734 there was no considerable change in the operation of the port. Smuggling continued to hold its place of respectability, and the Indians continued to give trouble to traffic along the river, and also throughout the country of which New Orleans was the trading center. On May 10, 1743, Bienville, who had governed Louisiana for nearly a quarter of a century, retired and returned to France. He was succeeded by the Marquis de Vaudreuil, a man of great social accomplishments. Bienville had lately failed in his expedition against the Indians, and it was hoped that Vaudreuil would do better, for as he came of a family of great influence in France, the French Government had increased the number of soldiers to serve under him in Louisiana. But Red Shoe, a Choctaw chief, with whom he had to contend, was what may be termed in present day vernacular a slick duck. Vaudreuil knew something of the intrigue and duplicity of the Court of Versailles, but it did not compare with the underhand machinations of the cunning Red Shoe. He sided with the French and the English at the same time, and received pay from both. He finally caused a civil war among the Choctaws, and kept the whole country in a fighting humor.

M. Bossu, a captain of marines (French), who was a writer of some ability, said in a letter dated July 1, 1751, in speaking of New Orleans, that the town is situated on the banks of the Mississippi, one of the longest rivers in the world, since it waters more than eight hundred leagues of known countries. Its pure and delicious waters flow for forty leagues, in the midst of a number of plantations, which form a charming sight on its two banks, where one enjoys abundantly the pleasures of fishing, and all the other delights of life. While Bossu was here (1753) Vaudreuil was transferred to Canada, where he was appointed governor, and this, the writer says, was unfortunate for Louisiana, for M. de Kerlerec, who succeeded him, was a man whose qualities of heart were very different from those of his predecessor; but this new governor may give as an excuse that he did not come so far only for a change of air.

It was true that Kerlerec was not to be as popular nor as good an administrator as Vaudreuil or Bienville. He had been for many years an officer in the French Navy, and he knew nothing of the manner of civilian life. During his administration the people of New Orleans lived always in the shadow of war. Owing to his policy — or perhaps to his lack of policy — there was much discord in the city. There was quarreling among the priests and the Jesuits, and between the Governor himself and the royal commissary. Charges were brought against Kerlerec, and proved. As a result he was recalled to France and confined to the Bastile.

The Council of State during the French regime arbitrarily fixed the price of rice, tobacco, and other farm products. The government also changed the currency three times, and each time swindled the people. Louis XV inherited the throne, but no conscience, from his great grandfather, Louis XIV, and the practice of selling privileges (or creating monopolies) was widely practiced during his reign. For example, in 1760 the monopoly of printing books and papers in Louisiana was sold to D. Breaud, and it was made a penal offense for anyone else to publish a pamphlet or a book.

By the Treaty of Paris in 1763 (following the Seven Years’ War) between England, France and Spain, France turned over to England all territory east of the Mississippi (except New Orleans and the adjacent district called the Island of Orleans, between Manchac and the lakes). But Louis XV of France made a secret treaty with his relative Charles III King of Spain (November 3, 1762) and ceded to him the entire territory known as Louisiana, including, of course, New Orleans and the Island of Orleans on the east bank, which he had withheld from England by terms of the Treaty of Paris. It was, in the eyes of the world, a shameful treaty, signed at Fontainebleau. But Louis XV was not particularly concerned with what the eyes of the world saw him do.

It seemed that everything had happened to the port of New Orleans. France had given exclusive rights to individuals and trading companies to trade in Louisiana; restrictions had been placed on commerce, and there had been one monopoly after another. But now, M. d’Abadie, who had been appointed governor to succeed Kerlerec, announced to the people in October of 1764 that he had received official communication from the French Court declaring that Louisiana had been transferred to Spain. This was a telling blow. Charles III was a better man than Louis XV, but the citizens of Louisiana were bitterly opposed to living under Spanish domination. They were French and wished to be attached to the country of their ancestors and their language. d’Abadie died in 1765, and Aubry succeeded him as commandant awaiting the arrival of a Spanish minister to take possession of the colony. It happened that Aubry was a traitor to his people, and the worst character that ever governed Louisiana besides O’Reilly himself. A meeting was held to protest the transfer, and Nicholas Chauvin de Lafreniere, the able leader of the opposition, made a brilliant speech. He said that without liberty there are but few virtues. Despotism breeds pusillanimity, and deepens the abyss of vice. Man is considered as sinning before God only because he retains his free will. He suggested that a petition be sent to the King asking him not to give Louisiana to another nation. Leaders of New Orleans who joined in this protest were: de Noyan (the nephew of Bienville), Pierre Caresse, Pierre Marquis, Jean Milhet, Joseph Milhet, Joseph Villerie, Douset, Mazent, Petit, and Boisblanc. They were among the first men in America to make a struggle for independence. But they had neither the following nor the resources of Washington, Patrick Henry and other patrons of liberty who brought about the American Revolution.

Men walked up and down the levee and traded in a half-hearted fashion. In those days furs were frequently used as a medium of exchange, and now the price was low. Boats were tied to the landings as if they did not know when or where they would go. Jean Milhet, the wealthiest merchant in New Orleans, was sent to France as a representative of the people of Louisiana. As soon as he arrived he went to see Bienville, who was then 86 years old, and sought his aid in procuring an audience with Louis XV. Bienville was very co-operative, and took Milhet to see the prime minister, Choiseul, and to ask him to arrange an audience with the king. This crafty prime minister received Milhet with great courtesy, and gave him hope, but no assurance. He had been (unknown to Milhet at the time) one of the signers of the treaty transferring Louisiana to Spain.

Jean Milhet remained in Paris for more than two years, and when he returned home and announced his failure, there was great excitement in the colony. In the meantime Don Antonio de Ulloa had arrived at Havana on his way to take possession of Louisiana for Spain.

But Ulloa waited for seven months at Balize (near the mouth of the Mississippi) for his bride to arrive from Peru. Finally she came, and the couple made their way to New Orleans on a frigate. But shortly after they arrived Ulloa was ordered (October 29, 1768) to show his power or leave the colony of which he pretended to be governor. He withdrew and boarded a ship anchored in the river. Some revelers passing in the night cut the cables which bound the ship to the wharf, and yielding to the strong current of the Mississippi it drifted away from the city.

Ulloa was seen no more in New Orleans. But on July 23, 1769 Don Alejandro O’Reilly was appointed governor of Louisiana, and arrived at Balize on a frigate accompanied by twenty-eight transports, having 4,500 soldiers aboard. He intended to govern the colony with an iron hand and to show no mercy to those who did not share his opinion. And so he did. But back of the iron hand was the vilest kind of intrigue, in which Aubry played a willing part. Among the most cowardly acts of O’Reilly was the execution of the group of men who, representing the people as a whole, had attempted to prevent the transfer of Louisiana to Spain.

An interesting story is told by Dumont in connection with the execution of these men: As at one time there was no executioner in the colony and no one who would take the exercise of the office, and as every well organized government needed an official executioner, it was decided to give the charge to a Negro named Jeannot belonging to the Company of the Indies. He was summoned and told what was intended. He tried to get out of it, although the office would have given him his freedom. But he saw that there was no escape, that he would be forced into it. ‘Very well,’ he said, ‘wait a moment.’ He hastened to his cabin, seized a hatchet, laid his arm on a block of wood, and cut off his hand. Returning he showed his bloody stump to the Commissioners. This might have touched Nero, but Aubry and O’Reilly were only amused by the act.

O’Reilly left New Orleans in 1770, with no regrets on the part of the people, and Don Luis de Ungaza was appointed in his place. During O’Reilly’s administration the port had suffered considerably. The only maritime business of importance was the English smuggling trade. There were two large boats, fitted out as merchandise stores, which traveled up and down the river, stopping at the signal of planters along the way. These boats sold everything that could be found in a large general merchandise store, and they served as a great convenience to the people of the country.

The Port of New Orleans did not begin to recover its trade and to regain its position among the ports of the world until Don Bernardo de Galvez became governor in 1777. He removed many restrictions and permitted French vessels to land and trade at New Orleans, and he generally opened up the way to foreign and domestic commerce. He definitely sided with the colonists in the American Revolution, and opened up the Mississippi River to them. At the same time he and Don Pedro George Rousseau, who had served as captain in the American Revolution, and who had now joined the Spanish service, captured Pensacola and all of West Florida from the British. They later made New Orleans more than ever the gateway to the Mississippi Valley by developing the trade as far up as St. Louis. Rousseau was made commanding general of the galleys of the Mississippi, and he and Gayoso (who was stationed at Natchez) made some good trades with the Indians, and they built forts along the river. On one occasion Gayoso and Rousseau acquired about 3000 arpents of land from the Indians for a good meal. But they were not without a conscience, for when their guests made ready to go they gave them a barrel of rum, some guns, and shirts. One of the Chickasaw chiefs greatly admired the commanding general of the galleys, Don Pedro Rousseau, and called him Payemingo, meaning without fear, for he and his men were always unarmed while clearing a place to build a fort.

In 1785 Galvez was appointed viceroy for Mexico and Estavan Miro who succeeded him was greatly pleased with the Port of New Orleans. In writing home shortly after his arrival he said: As many as forty vessels at a time can be seen on its (the Mississippi’s) waters. The American Revolution had not long ended when he came, and the operators of flatboats from Ohio and Kentucky were using the Mississippi as they pleased, for they considered that it belonged to the people of the Mississippi Valley. They sold their produce on a ready market and then took their flatboats apart and sold the lumber of which they were made. But there were many seizures by Spanish authorities, for Americans were prohibited from using the Port of New Orleans for transferring cargo to or from foreign vessels. The flatboatmen and traders, who had not long since fought for liberty and won, were not easy to handle. To them a Spanish authority was nothing more than a nuisance, and all they had to do in order to set matters right was to report to Congress. Uncle Sam was to them already a great power. They not only reported to Congress, but they stood ready to fight for the privileges of the Mississippi.

But in 1792 Francois Louis Hector, Baron de Carondelet, became governor of the colony, and during his administration trade privileges in Louisiana were granted to Americans for a period of three years (1795-1798). New Orleans was then a city with a population of about 6,000, and Philadelphia, then the largest city in the United States, found it a good market. Many Philadelphia merchants established branches and agents here. But still the traders of Ohio and Kentucky were not satisfied; they felt that the Mississippi should be an American stream. At this time Carondelet, who was inclined to be gullible, lived in constant fear of war, for he believed everything reported. He even believed William Augustus Bowles, who was, however, a very plausible liar, when he told him that the governments of Georgia and the Carolinas were about to invade Louisiana. As a