With the help of industrious nursing,—or, one might almost say, in spite of it,—Louisiana began at last to strike roots into the soil and show signs of growth, though feebly as compared with its sturdy rivals along the Atlantic seaboard, which had cost their King nothing, and had been treated, for the most part, with the coolest neglect. Cavelier de la Salle's dream of planting a firm settlement at the mouth of the Mississippi, and utilizing, by means of it, the resources of the vast interior, was, after half a century, in some measure realized. New France (using that name in its broadest geographical sense) had now two heads,—Canada and Louisiana; one looking upon the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the other upon the Gulf of Mexico. Canada was not without jealousy of her younger and weaker sister, lest she might draw away, as she had begun to do at the first, some of the most active and adventurous elements of the Canadian population; lest she might prove a competitor in the fur-trade; and lest she should encroach on the Illinois and other western domains, which the elder and stronger sister claimed as her own. These fears were not unfounded; yet the vital interests of the two French colonies were the same, and each needed the help of the other in the prime and all-essential task of keeping the British colonies in check. The chiefs of Louisiana looked forward to a time when the great southern tribes,—Creeks, Cherokees, Choctaws, and even the dreaded Chickasaws,—won over by French missionaries to the Church, and therefore to France, should be turned against the encroaching English to stop their westward progress and force them back to the borders of the Atlantic. Meanwhile the chiefs of Canada were maturing the plan—pursued with varying assiduity, but always kept in view—of connecting the two vital extremities of New France by a chain of forts to control the passes of the West, keep communications open, and set English invasion at defiance.
FOOTNOTES:
[287] Henri de Tonty à Cabart de Villermont, 11 Septembre, 1694 (Margry, iv. 3).
[288] Mémoire sur le Projet d'establir une nouvelle Colonie au Mississippi, 1697 (Margry, iv. 21).
[289] Iberville au Ministre, 18 Juin, 1698 (Margry, iv. 51).
[290] Mémoire pour servir d'Instruction au Sieur d'Iberville (Margry, iv. 72).
[291] Journal d'Iberville (Margry, iv. 131).
[292] This letter, which D'Iberville gives in his Journal, is dated "Du Village des Quinipissas, le 20 Avril, 1685." Iberville identifies the Quinipissas with the Bayagoulas. The date of the letter was evidently misread, as Tonty's journey was in 1686. See "La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West," 455, note. Iberville's lieutenant, Sugères, commanding the "Marin," gives the date correctly. Journal de la Frégate le Marin, 1698, 1699 (Margry, iv.).
[293] Journal du Voyage du Chevalier d'Iberville sur le Vaisseau du Roy la Renommée en 1699 (Margry, iv. 395).
[294] Gayarré, Histoire de la Louisiane (1846), i. 69. Bénard de la Harpe, Journal historique (1831), 20. Coxe says, in the preface to his Description of Carolana (1722), that "the present proprietor of Carolana, my honour'd Father, ... was the author of this English voyage to the Mississippi, having in the year 1698 equipp'd and fitted out Two Ships for Discovery by Sea, and also for building a Fortification and settling a Colony by land; there being in both vessels, besides Sailors and Common Men, above Thirty English and French Volunteers." Coxe adds that the expedition would have succeeded if one of the commanders had not failed to do his duty.