Letters and Documents
Dr. John Sibley and the Louisiana-
Texas Frontier, 1803-1814
Natchitoches Nov. 30th. 1810
Sir
This Side of the Mississippi River is very much Invested with
Vagabond parties of Choctaw Indians, of whose Ill Conduct
Complaints are Continually made. Something more than a
Year Ago a party of Seven of them Murdered two Nandaco
Women on the River Sabine without Any provocation whatever.
Since a Camp of theirs was found between this place & the
Sabine Consisting of about thirty Men, a Frenchman in the
Months of April or May last Carried Some Taffia Amongst
them, they got to fighting & Killed a Chief & Seven Young
Men & wounded Others, but their Camp and the greater part
of them went over the Sabine River into the Spanish Dominion.
There is a Village of them in the Parish of Washita who are
very troublesome to the Inhabitants; A man found one of them
stealing in his Corn field, attempted to put him Out, the Indian
resisted & would have Killed the owner of the field If he had
not have Saved himself by Running, the Owner of the field got
some Neighbours returned, Caught the Indian tied him &
whiped him & let him go. The Indian with an armed party
next day Came to the Mans House to Kill him, he hid, they
Committed great Outrage at his House, put his family in Such
fear, they abandoned their Home, & the Inhabitant dare not
go to his Own House without An Armed party of his Neighbours
to protect him from the Indians. This Case has been represented
to me in a letter from the Judges of the Parish of Washita: where
they live is on high land & of an Inferior quality of Soil where
they plant their Corn, & their Crops Suffered for want of rain
they applied to a Chief who promised to Make it rain for a
Certain quantity of articles to be raised for him by Contribution.
The articles were procured & delivered to him, it did not rain As
was Expected & Another Chief was applied to, who told them
he Could make it rain; but to appease the rain maker, the
Chief who had first undertaken it must be Killed, he was killed.
Accordingly, his friends Killed the Chief who Advised his death;
& they went on Killing till Thirteen Chiefs & head Man were
destroyed.
About a Month Ago a Party of seven or eight Rambling
Choctaws from the Village on the East of the Mississippi Called
Tellehatche, little goose or little Yazaw, which means all the
Same, Came to the rancheria of a Mr. Lamber a French gentle-
man about ten Miles from this place, where they Murdered a
Mulatto Man a slave of Mr. Lamber & an Indian Woman of the
Aiche Tribe,
76 who had been raised from a Child Amongst the
white People & had put off the Indian Manners, dress, etc. The
Mulatto Man was shott in the House, & the Woman as the
Coroners Inquest believed had her Brains Knocked Out in
Attempting to Make her escape out at the Windows. No other
persons were there about the place, the Indians were Seen
going from it, met a Mr. Fulsome on their flight Over the
Mississippi again, Near the Walnut Hills to whom they Confessed
the Murder. There is a party of them On the Bayou Chico
in the Parish of Oppelousas [Opelousas], Against whom great
Complaints are made for their Insulting Insolence, Killing the
Cattle, Hoggs, etc. of the Inhabitants, Stealing Horses, Robbing
fields etc., they are generally regarded by all white People as
great Pests, & detested by all other Indians & their Conduct of
late has excited great uneasiness, & requires a remedy, to effect
which I have had it in Contemplation to Endeavour to Collect
& Settle them all at one place. Cause them to nominate their
Own Chiefs or rulers, who will be responsible for the Conduct
in Some degree Over whom they are appointed, to adopt for
them Some Laws & Regulations, to treat those who Conform
& behave well Kindly, furnish them with some Tools of agri-
culture etc: but to do nothing for those who refuse to become
Members of that Society; in their present Lawless Vagabond
State. If we punish one for a Theft or any Crime Against
white people, such is their Notion of government that they
attempt to retaliate upon the administrators of Our Laws upon
them; I have hitherto made it a rule to treat Kindly all Indians
who Come here on business; but at present I am Convinced
of the Necessity of making a distinction between the good &
the Ill behaved.
I have very little trouble with Any other tribes of Indians on
Account of their Ill Conduct, a few Chickesaws Excepted, who
are of a similar description; They are generally Peaceably dis-
posed & well affected towards the Government of the United
States. I have had Occasion to regret that the factory here has
not been well Supplied with Amunition & Some Other Articles
of the first Necessity for Indians.
Enclosed is An Account of the expenditures of this Agency
for the time therein mentioned, Except of some few Articles
I have received for Indians of Mr Linnard the Factor the Acct.
of which will be forwarded when he furnishes me with it. the
Blacksmith's Accounts I have been prevented from Sending,
On Account of the One I used to employ going off a Mine hunt-
ing some hundred Of Miles Back before I Could get them of him,
I have my Own Shop in opperation. But find it difficult finding
a Smith to my liking to manage it, & from the Expense of
Iron, Steele, Coals, & the purchasing of some Tools (the Set
you Ordered me being not Complete for gunwork) will not for
the present allow much saving; but I now get the work done,
much better, Sooner, & more of it.
A man by the Name of Jonathan Hill Platts, who says he is a
Native of Boxford in Massachusetts, & has been a prisoner in
the Interior of the Province of Taxus [Texas] in the Spanish
Dominion Since last May has just Come here from St. Antonio,
he has been with me today from whom I have received the fol-
lowing Information. That the Country at & towards Mexico
is in a State of Revolution
77
the Parties opposed to Each Other
are for Compleat independance from all the world on repub-
lican principles the later are for Ferdinand the Seventh & Mon-
archy. 78 That there has been a good deal of fighting Amongst
them & that it was Said in St. Antonio about Seventeen Thou-
sand lives on both Sides had been lost, the republican or Inde-
pendent party were like to prevail. That all the regular Troops
(consisting of about 300 Men) at St. Antonio had Received
Orders to repair to Saltee [Saltillo] in order to Support the
Monarchist who were like to be Overpowered by the repub-
licans. 79 That an Ecclesiastic headed them, that a Republican
Congress was to meet at Mexico, a Priest (a Young Man) had
been Elected representative for St. Antonio who openly de-
clared himself in favour of Independence. 80 Governor Cordero
had refused to take a part or Act against the republicans, who
is Esteemed a Man of great Capacity & a popular Character.—
A Spanish gentleman from St. Antonio passed through this place
yesterday On his way to New Orleans, tis said on govt. Business.
This gentleman Confirms Substantially the Account I Received
from Mr Platt. This day I Received the Enclosed letter from
Mr P. B. Laffitte 81 a very Intelligent gentleman who lives in the
Province of Taxus, who has every Means of Information & on
whose Veracity I Rely. It Corroborates Other Accounts. It is
generally thought here that in this State of our Neighbouring
Country Some precautionary measures on this frontier would
be proper.
I Shall Consider it my duty in future to inform you of Such
Accounts from time to time as I may receive from that coun-
try to be Relied on.--A Most Inveterate hatred Exists Between
the Native Americans or Creoles & the European Spaniards,
Amongst the later all Public Offices have always been distributed.
I am
with great Esteem
Your Obt. Servant
John Sibley
The Hon.ble William Eustis
Account of Expenditures of Indian department in the Agency
of John Sibley of Natchitoches T. Orleans from July 1st. 1809,
to September 30th. 1810. (viz).
Expenses of Indian department in the Agency of the Territory
of Orleans West of the Mississippi for the quarter ending the
31.st of December 1810 ... viz
John Sibley Indn. Agent
FOOTNOTES:
called them Ais. They lived near Nacogdoches about twelve miles West of
the Sabine, were formerly a large tribe, but at this time they were almost
extinct. Bolton, Athanase De Méziéres, I, 118, II, 340; Hackett, Pichardo's
Treatise, II, 153.
Mexicans to the revolutionary struggle, calling them to free themselves
from the rule of the Spaniards. They were to establish a government
controlled by Americans (natives of New Spain, an area which embraced
all territory possessed by the Spanish king in North America). Americans
would rule in the interest of the people, the holy religion, and their King
Ferdinand VII. The Mexicans were told that the Spaniards were attempt-
ing to surrender New Spain to the French, who had occupied Spain and
held their king, Ferdinand VII, a prisoner in France. The Mexicans
declared they would preserve their country and themselves for Ferdinand
VII. The Spaniards, their property, and the cities of Mexico became
the prizes of rebels as they plundered southward from the Indian town
of Dolores to Mexico City. Then the tide turned; they retreated north-
ward driven by General Calleja, leading an army of loyalists, who sup-
ported Spain's authority. The rebels had organized as the "Army of
America" with Hidalgo as generalissimo. Hidalgo took up quarters in
Guadalajara; meanwhile, Mariano Jimenez had been sent to revolutionize
the Northern Provinces of Mexico, and the Interior Provinces of Coahuila
and Texas. For an account of the revolution see Bancroft, History of
Mexico, IV, 102-240.
plete independence; at this time the rebels did not seek independence from
Spain but freedom from the rule of European Spaniards. They declared
that they were capable of governing Mexico and that they would rule
their country in the interest of Mexicans and Ferdinand VII. Priestly, The
Mexican Nation, 208-210.
marching north toward Coahuila. Salcedo, fearing that revolutionary-
propaganda had reached Texas, appealed to that province to remain loyal,
and not give ear to the false charges made by Hidalgo, while the junta
in Béxar made ready to send Texas troops to save Coahuila. Alamán,
Historia de Méjico, II, 94-95; M. Salcedo to the Faithful Inhabitants of
Texas, January 6, 1811, MS., Béxar Archives, The University of Texas
(hereafter, Béxar Archives will be cited as B.A.); Report of the Junta of
Béxar, January 8, 1811, MS., B.A.
to a congress. However, this may indicate that the plans of the rebel club
in Querétaro, which early in 1810 had plotted the revolution and planned
to call a national congress, had reached Texas; and that Texas rebels
anticipated the fulfillment of the plan for a congress. Bancroft, History of
Mexico, IV, 107-163.
How to cite:
Julia Kathryn Garrett, "Dr. John Sibley and the Louisiana-Texas Frontier, 1803-1814", Volume 48, Number 1, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v048/n1/contrib_DIVL1307.html
[Accessed Mon Nov 23 12:10:32 CST 2009]
