LETTERS AND DOCUMENTS
DR. JOHN SIBLEY AND THE LOUISIANA-TEXAS
FRONTIER, 1803-1814
Natchitoches April 20th. 1807
Sir
By the request of Major Freeman I have had the Boats and
what of the Public property that remained at the Conchatta
Village Brought down here, Corporal Read who was left with
three soldiers as a guard with the Boats etc. In consequence of
his behaving amiss by disposing of Some of the Property in his
Charge deserted to Nacogdoches, what was brought down with
the Boats are here subject to Mr. Freeman's Order. I sent Mr
Philebare our Indian Interpreter to bring them down, who man-
aged it in his own way with great discretion, he employed some
Indians to assist him at a small Expense which has been paid
by Mr Linnard at my request, they found considerable difficulty
in passing some Rafts, those that were last year broke are
again choaked. The River is very low for the Season.
We hear that Three Companies of Artilery [artillery] destined
for this place are in the River a small distance below and will
be here tomorrow.— A Mr Hesser formerly of German-
town near Philadel [Philadelphia] a Hatter by trade who is
married & Settled here, and who is esteemed a Man of Veracity,
Arrived here yesterday from Nacogdoches, where he has been
on business for Some Weeks past, he says "that the day before
he left Nacogdoches he Dined with Father Puelles the Priest
(a good Man) and that at Dinner he received a letter from
Governor Cordero
23 at St. Antonio informing him (the Priest)
that Governor Herrera was not Coming to Nacogdoches, & that
all the troops except a Guard of between 20 &
30 that are now
at Nacogdoches & its Vicinity are ordered to be immediately
withdrawn to St. Antonio, and that no more troops are expected
to be sent to Nacogdoches, that no Warlike preparations are
making, but the Contrary, and it is the opinion of Mr Hesser
that the Post of Nacogdoches will be broken up & the Inhab-
itants all Ordered Away; no new Settlements even by native
Spaniards are permitted to be made, & the Inhabitants are
forbidden to improve Either their farms or buildings, and all
inhabitants who have not been Settled There before the Cession
of Louisiana, or more than five years, whether Spanish, French,
or American, are Ordered either to move Back towards St.
Antonio, or into the United States, and that Inhabitants of
the Spanish dominions are not permitted to come into the
United States Territory or trade or On Any private business
whatever,
24 it is likewise the opinion of Mr Hesser & Several
Other Intelligent persons with whom I have lately conversed
from that Country that Spain will only oppose our taking
possession of the Country to the extent of Our Claims by Words
or threats; but never oppose force to force." I can
hear Nothing of Captain Pike, the Panis had heard nothing
of him or his Party about Six days Ago [manuscript illegible]
I am afraid some accident has befallen him. I cannot believe
he could have found any enemies unless it be Spaniards of the
St. Fee [Santa Fe] Settlement. If Mr. Freeman had Renewed
his voyage up Red River I Should like to have gone with him.
I Intend this Season to have a meeting with some heads of the
Hietans
25 if I can.
I allow myself to Indulge the hope that you will approve of
my Son Saml. H. Sibley as an assistant to Mr Linnard.
I am
Sir with very great esteem
Your Obt. Servant
John Sibley
Genl. Henry Dearborn
Natchitoches July 3d 1807
About the 10th of May last I was informed by some friendly
Chata Indians
26 that they had reasons to believe that a trav-
elling white Man had been murdered by a Creek or Conchetta
[Conchatta] Indian on one of the Branches of the Bayou Cos-
sachie between Red River and the Sabine about 40 Miles from
this place & near the Road that Leads from Oppelousas [Ope-
lousas] to Nacogdoches, I obtained from the Choctas [Choctaw]
what information I could relative to the place where the Murder
was said to have been committed, & immediately employed two
men who are Acquainted with the Country to go out & make
Search for the dead Body & They went, were gone three days
& returned & gave information On Oath that they had found
it, I then Caused a Jury of Inquest to be Summoned & went
with them to the place myself, we Examined the body & the
Verdict of the Jury was that they believed the Man to have
been Murdered, as they found in his body five wounds which
they believed to be Stabs of a Knife, the Jury took the decla-
ration of Some Indians of good Character which Strongly Cor-
roborated the belief that the Murder was Committed by the
Conchetta Indian, one of whom declared the Indian had Con-
fessed to him the Murder with all the Circumstances attend-
ing it, and farther that he Intended to Kill two more Ameri-
cans, and that he had lurked about Natchitoches for some days
to find an opportunity of Killing a Soldier, but was disappointed,
he could find none; the Jury reported they believed from infor-
mation they received the Murdered Man was of the name of
ONeal, and lived in some part of the Mississippi Territory, and
was travelling with a Horse Packed with goods from Oppolousas
[Opelousas] to Nacogdoches, the Indian took all his things &
Says he killed him by way of retaliation for the Conchetta that
was Killed by Watson at the Salt Works last December; all
the Indians of that tribe have Since disappeared from amongst
the Inhabitants, and are either at their Village on the Sabine
towards its Mouth, or gone over towards the Spanish Post of
the Accokesacos [Orcoquisac] on or near the Mouth of the River
Trinity. And the Inhabitants think travelling the Road between
this place & Oppelousas [Opelousas] dangerous. The Governor
of this Territory
27 has been informed of all the particulars of
the affair that we know at present & it is presumed will
take Some measures to protect the Inhabitants and have the
Murderer punished; he has not yet been heard from on the
Subject.
About Eight Weeks ago the Caddo Chief sent two Special
Confidential Messengers to inform me that a party of Eight
Choctas [Choctaws] from the East Side of the Mississippi had
fallen in to a Camp of Nandacos
28 at or Near the Salt Spring
high up on the Sabine River, and without provocation had Killed
& Scalped two women & wounded others, that the Nandacos
were under his protection, and he expected Satisfaction would
be given. I immediately employed a Man for the Purpose who
went round Amongst all the Chocta [Choctaw] Chiefs On this
Side of the Mississippi, they were Alarmed and greatly dis-
tressed—at the news & came immediately in here for Protec-
tion & advice to the number of near Three hundred Persons.
I met them & recommended it to them to delegate Some Chiefs
who were well known & respected by the Caddo Chief to repair
to his Town & in the name & in behalf of all the Chocta
[Choctaw] Nation living on the West Side of the Mississippi
express their Indignation to the Murders of those Women, &
Acquit themselves of all Knowledge or approbation of it, with
their desire to preserve inviolate on their part the peace they
made at Natchitoches on the 17th of May 1804, which was
Chearfully & unanimously Agreed to, and they sat off, I sent
Mr Philebare Our Caddo Interpreter with them, they were well
received by the Caddos who heard with pleasure their desire
to Continue in peace & amity, &
the Delegation returned well
Satisfied with their Mission, and a Chief was appointed to go
to the great Chacta [Choctaw] Nation, and request that the
leader of the party who Murdered the two Nandaco Women
Should be punished, And thus the Matter rests at present; I
was obliged to be at more expence of Provisions & Outfitts,
of Messengers etc, than I wished, when I urged The Choctas
[Choctaws] to go out hunting, and return to their Cornfields,
their reply was "when you Can tell us wheather If we go in
the Woods we are to be Killed & Scalped by those Offended
Nations, or to Kill a Deer we will go," all the other Indian
Tribes in the Vicinity felt anxious about the event between
the Caddos & their Allies, & the Chactas [Choctaws] and an
unusual number of them came in to see & hear the News
etc. About the Same time I received a friendly visit
from a Party at Panis, a Mr Lewis of Kentucky who has Spent
the last winter Amongst the Panis & Hietans came in with them,
the Great Panis Chiefs expressed through them a very great
degree of friendliness & affection for us, I treated them with
great kindness and made them some presents, I had then not
heard of the farther exploring of the River Arkensa & Red
River being postponed, And wished to prepare the way for the
friendly reception of the Party should they have visited the
Panis Nation. I sent some presents to the great Panis Chief.
—— They informed me that Governor Cordero of St.
Antonio had last Winter Sent for them, and a Minor Chief with
a Small Party had been to St. Antonio, had taken the Spaniards
by the hand had Received from them a Great Many Presents
in Arms, Amunition, Horses, Mules, Saddles, Bridles, Blankets
etc., and that they had brought home with them Three Stands
of Spanish Colours; but that the Great Chief had refused to
have them Hoisted in the Nation; but had Continued to use
an United States Flag which I gave him two years Ago, the
Great Chief sent to me for two other flags that they might
have one for each Village, I was Sorry I had none to Send
him.——I received likewise a very friendly Message from
a great Hietan Chief who with his hord had Spent Sometime
near the Panis Town. Mr. Lewis was in their Camp Some days,
he believes it Consisted of not less than three thousand Souls,
and that he saw not less than 5000 Horses and Mules. Many
of the Horses he says were large & very finely formed. I think
it probable I Shall receive a Visit from a Party of them in the
course of this Summer or Autum——Capt Pike & Doctor
Robinson will Announce to you I presume their Arrival at this
place with the most Correct Accounts from the Spanish In-
terior.
29 I am Correctly informed there are about 200 Spanish
troops at the Accokesacos [Orcoquisac] near the Mouth of the
Trinity River, last year they only had there a Sergeant & Twelve
Men.————
Enclosed is an acct of Some Cash expenditures which Mr
Linnard has advanced for me for which Agreeable to his request
I have drawn on you for the Amt.
I am
Sir with great respect & Esteem
Your Obt. Hble Servt.
John Sibley
General Henry Dearborn.
FOOTNOTES:
fighter, and had won distinction for his ability in dealing with frontier
affairs. He had served on the frontier of New Spain since the creation of
the Interior Provinces in 1793. After the purchase of Louisiana in 1803,
Cordero was needed to place Texas in a state of defense, and in 1805 was
made governor of Texas. Homer S. Thrall, A Pictorial History of Texas
from the Earliest Visits of European Adventurers to 1879 (5th ed., rev.,
St. Louis, 1879), 528.
Louisiana, and to prohibit the entrance of foreigners; only fugitive slaves
were to cross the Sabine into Texas. The death penalty was imposed for
the disobedience of this order. In 1806, he re-enforced this order by refusing
petitions to buy needed supplies in Natchitoches, and decreed a policy of
restriction for immigrants from Louisiana, the expulsion of undesirable
immigrants who had entered Texas, and the concentration of colonists at
Villa de Salcedo, Béxar, or further west. Mattie Austin Hatcher, The
Opening of Texas, 100, 115-118.
ever, also an authority on the Indian tribes states that Sibley was mistaken.
They were different. "The Hietanes were those whom the Spaniards called
Yutas." Sibley describes the Hietanes as nomads intermittently occupying
the area lying between the Trinity and the Brazos, crossing Red River, to
the heads of the Arkansas and the Missouri, and as far as the Rio Grande.
Charles Wilson Hackett, Pichardo's Treatise on the Limits of Louisiana
and Texas, II, 74, 254-255.
bank of the Neches near its junction with the Angelina. They were on the
route from Opelousas to Nacogdoches.
called them Nadacos. They lived on the banks of the Sabine far north of
Nacogdoches. Sibley said that they considered themselves the same as
Caddos, had the same manners, customs, and language as the Caddos, and
intermarried with them. Charles Wilson Hackett, Pichardo's Treatise,
II, 158-160.
Texas after having been detained in Chihuahua as political prisoners by
the commandant general. Bancroft, North Mexican States and Texas, II, 3.
How to cite:
Julia Kathryn Garrett, "Dr. John Sibley and the Louisiana-Texas Frontier, 1803-1814", Volume 45, Number 4, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v045/n4/contrib_DIVL6799.html
[Accessed Mon Nov 23 11:36:52 CST 2009]
