BANCROFT LIBRARY
FRENCH INTRUSIONS
INTO NEW MEXICO
1749-1752
BY
HERBERT E. BOLTON
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
REPRINTED FROM "THE PACIFIC OCEAN IN HISTORY"
BY H. MORSE STEPHENS AND HERBERT E. BOLTON.
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
Copyright, 1917, By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
FRENCH INTRUSIONS INTO NEW MEXICO, 1749-1752
HERBERT E. BOLTON
EARLY in the eighteenth century French voyageurs, chasseurs,
and traders of Louisiana and Canada looked with covetous eyes
toward New Mexico. To the adventurer it was a land promising
gold and silver and a path to the South Sea ; to the merchant it
offered rich profits in trade. The three natural avenues of ap-
proach to this Promised Land were the Missouri, Arkansas, and
Red rivers. But there were two obstacles to expeditions bound
for New Mexico. One was the jealous and exclusive policy of
Spain which made the reception of such Frenchmen as might
reach Santa Fe a matter of uncertainty ; the other was the Indian
tribes which stood in the way. The Red River highway was
effectually blocked by the Apache, mortal enemies of all the
tribes along the lower valley; the Arkansas and Missouri River
avenues were impeded by the Comanche for analogous reasons.
It was not so much that the Apache and Comanche were averse
to the entrance of French traders, as that the jealous enemies of
these tribes opposed the passage of the traders to their foes with
supplies of weapons. It is a matter of interest that in the nine-
teenth century the American pioneers found almost identical con*-
ditions in the same region.
As the fur traders and official explorers pushed rapidly west,
one of their constant aims was to open the way to New Mexico
by effecting peace between the Comanche and the tribes further
east. In 1718-1719 La Harpe ascended the Red River and es-
tablished the Cadodacho post ; Du Rivage went seventy leagues
further up the Red River; and La Harpe crossed over to the
Touacara villages on the lower Canadian. At the same time
DuTisne reached the Panipiquet, or Jumano, villages on the
Arkansas, north of the Oklahoma line. Finding further advance
2D 389
390 THE PACIFIC OCEAN IN HISTORY
cut off by the hostility of the Jumano for the Comanche, he tried,
but without avail, to effect a treaty between the tribes. 1 Two
years later La Harpe reestablished the Arkansas post, ascended
the river half way to the Canadian, and urged a post among the
Touacara, as a base for advance to New Mexico. 2 In 1723 Bourg-
mont erected a post among the Missouri tribe to protect the fur
traders there, to check an advance by the Spaniards such as had
been threatened by the Villazur expedition in 1720, and as a base
for commerce with New Mexico. To open the way thither he
led Missouri, Kansas, Oto, and Iowa chiefs to the Padoucah
(Comanche), near the Colorado border of Kansas, effected a
treaty between them, and secured permission for Frenchmen to
pass through the Comanche country to the Spaniards. 3
Shortly afterward the Missouri post was destroyed by Indians,
the Missouri valley was made unsafe for a number of years by the
Fox wars, and French advance westward was checked. Although
there are indications that in the interim traders kept pushing up
the Missouri, the next well known attempt to reach New Mexico
was made in 1739. In that year the Mallet party of eight or nine
men left the Missouri River at the Arikara villages, went south
to the Platte River, ascended that stream, and made their way
through the Comanche country to Taos and to Santa Fe. After
being detained several months in friendly captivity, six or seven
of the party returned, unharmed by the Spanish authorities, and
bearing evidence that the residents of New Mexico would welcome
trade. Four of the party descended the Canadian and Arkan-
sas rivers, the others going northeast to the Illinois.
The Mallet party had succeeded in getting through the Co-
manche country to New Mexico and had returned in safety and
with good prospects for trade two important achievements.
Immediately there was renewed interest in the Spanish border,
on the part of both government officials and of private adven-
1 Miss Anne Wendels, a graduate student at the University of California, has
clearly shown that the Panis visited by DuTisnS were on the Arkansas River south-
west of the Osage, and that DuTisne did not, as is sometimes stated, pass beyond
to the Padoucah. French Interest in and Activities on the Spanish Border of Louis-
ana, 1717-1753, Ms. thesis.
* Miss Wendels, in the paper cited above, has made a most careful study of the
routes of La Harpe on this and his former expedition, with convincing results.
For Bourgmont's route I follow Miss Wendels, who differs somewhat from
Parkman, Heinrich, and others.
FRENCH INTRUSIONS INTO NEW MEXICO, 1749-1752 391
turers. At once, in 1741, Governor Bienville sent Fabry dela
Bruyere, bearing a letter to the governor of New Mexico ana
guided by four members of the Mallet party, with instructions
to retrace the steps of the latter, open up a commercial route,
and explore the Far West. 1 Shortly afterward a new military post,
called Fort Cavagnolle, was established on the Missouri at the
Kansas village, and the Arkansas route was made safe by effecting
in 1746 or 1747 a treaty between the Comanche and the Jumano.
The effect of the treaty was immediate, and at once there were
new expeditions to New Mexico by deserters, private traders, and
official agents. The fact that they occurred has only recently
come to light. The incidents are so unknown to history, and
reveal so many important facts concerning the New Mexico-
Louisiana frontier, that they deserve narration, and have therefore
occasioned this paper. Their records are contained in two expedi-
entes in the archives of Mexico, discovered by the present writer. 2
Before proceeding to the narration of these intrusions, a word
further must be said regarding the position of the Comanche on
the Spanish border. At that time the tribe roamed over the
plains between the upper waters of the Red River and the Platte,
the two divisions most frequently mentioned being the Padoucah
and the Laitane, or Naitane. They followed the buffalo for a
living and had large droves of horses, mules, and even burros,
1 Lettre de MM. Bienville et Salmon, April 30, 1741, in Margry, Decouvertes, vol. 4,
pp. 466-467; Instructions donnees & Fabry de la Bruyere, ibid., pp. 468-470; Ex-
trait des lettres du sieur Fabry, a r occasion du voyage projetes a Santa Fe, ibid.,
pp. 472-492; Wendels, French Interests and Activities on the Spanish Border of
Louisiana, 1717-1753. After proceeding a short distance up the Canadian, Fabry
was forced through lack of water for canoes to go back to the Arkansas post for
horses. Returning, by way of the Cadodacho, he found that the Mallet brothers
had continued toward Santa Fe, on foot. Giving up the project, Fabry crossed
over from the Canadian to the Red River, where he visited the Tavakanas and
Kitsaiches (Towakoni and Kichai), two of the tribes which La Harpe had found on
the Canadian in 1719. The further adventures of the Mallets have not come to
light, but it is known that in 1744 a Frenchman called Santiago Velo reached New
Mexico. He was secretly despatched to Mexico by Governor Codallos y Rabal.
Twitchell, R. E., The Spanish Archives of New Mexico, vol. 1, p. 149.
2 They are : (1) Autos fhos sre averiguar qu& rumbo han ttraido ttres franzeses
que llegaron al Pueblo de taos con la Naz* Cumanche q benian a hazer sus aconstum-
brados resgattes. Juez, El S' Z> Thomas Velez, Govr de esta Provincia. Archivo
General y Publico, Mexico, cited hereafter as Autos fhos sre averiguar. (2) Testi-
monio de los Autos fhos a Consulta del Govm del nuebo Mexfio sobre haver llegado dos
franzeses cargados de efectos que conduzian de la Nueba Orleans. Archivo General
y Publico, Mexico, Provincias Internas, tomo 34. These expedientes consist of
the declarations of the intruders, correspondence concerning them, documents
confiscated from them, and records of proceedings in Mexico regarding them. Ad-
ditional light is shed by some documents published in Twitchell's Spanish Archives
of New Mexico, vol. 1, pp. 148-151.
392 THE PACIFIC OCEAN IN HISTORY
which they bought or stole from the Spaniards. In order the
better to exploit the buffalo and find pasturage, they lived scat-
tered in small bands. They were bitter enemies of the Apache
tribes living to the south, 1 and until shortly before had been hostile
to the Jumano, Pawnee, and most of the other tribes to the east-
ward. Hemmed in by this wall of enemies, they had had little
contact with the French, and had depended mainly upon the
Spaniards of New Mexico for supplies. Their principal trading
mart was Taos, where each spring they went in large numbers to
attend a great fair, where they exchanged peltry and captives for
horses, knives, and other merchandise. 2 In spite of this trade
with the Spaniards, the Comanche were overbearing, and often
stole horses and committed other depredations in the settlements.
During the quinquennium of Governor Codallos y Rabal (1744-
1749) they several times attacked Pecos and Galisteo, killing one
hundred and fifty residents of Pecos alone. In view of this
situation, Governor Velez, the successor of Codallos, was forced
to fortify and establish garrisons at both Pecos and Galisteo.
Thus, the Comanche situation was already precarious before the
peace with the Jumano and the coming of the French traders;
and their advent made it worse. 3
One of the trading parties which followed upon the Comanche
alliance with the Jumano was among the former tribe early in 1748,
but we know little of the history of the expedition. On February
27 of that year seven Comanches from a village on the Xicarilla
River entered Taos and reported that thirty-three Frenchmen
had come to their settlement and traded muskets for mules. All
but two had gone back, but the two were waiting at the village
to accompany the Comanche to the Taos fair. In consequence
of the report Governor Codallos wrote the viceroy a letter in
which he surmised some conspiracy between the Comanche and
the French, recalled the destruction of the Villazur expedition
in 1720 through French influence, pointed out the increased danger
from the Comanche now that they were securing firearms, and
1 Carlanes, Palomas, Chilpaines, Pelones, Natag6s, and Faraonea.
1 Many of these facts concerning the Comanche situation are gleaned from the
two expedients cited above, note 5.
1 Governor Tomas Velez Cachupin to the viceroy, Santa Fe, March 8, 1750, in
Autos fhos sre averiguar, fol. 31.
FRENCH INTRUSIONS INTO MEXICO, 1749-1752 393
proposed a military post on the Xicarilla River, the avenue of
approach for both the Comanche and the French. 1
So far as we know, the party of which Codallos wrote did not
enter the New Mexico settlements, but this is not true of one
which arrived the following spring. Near the end of his term,
early in 1749, Codallos sent his lieutenant, Bernardo de Bustamante
y Tagle, to attend the Taos fair. When he returned to Santa Fe
on April 12 he brought with him three Frenchmen whom the
Cornanche had conducted to the fair and who had requested
Bustamante to take them to the capital. 2 The new governor,
Tomas Velez Cachupin, had the strangers promptly lodged in
the Palacio de Gobierno and duly interrogated. Since they did
not know Spanish, they were questioned through an interpreter
named Pedro Soutter, who was " sufficiently versed in the French
language." The formal interrogatorio drawn up for the purpose
contained fifteen points, and was quite typical of Spanish adminis-
trative thoroughness. It asked each of the strangers his name,
marital status, religion, residence, his route in coming, the coun-
try and tribes passed through, the names, location, and condition
of the French settlements, their relations with the Indians, the
extent and nature of the fur trade, whether the French had mines,
and numerous other items of interest to the frontier Spanish
authorities. 3
The first examination of the three strangers took place on
April 13, another being held subsequently. Since the first state-
ments were in some respects confused and indefinite, due in part,
it w r as claimed, to the inefficiency of the interpreter, and since
much new light is shed by the subsequent depositions, my narra-
tive will be drawn from the two combined. 4
1 Antonio Duran de Armijp to Governor Codallos, Taos, February 27, 1748, in
Twitchell, The Spanish Archives of New Mexico, vol. 1, p. 148 ; Joaquin Codallos
y Rabal to the viceroy, Santa Fe, March 4, 1748, ibid., pp. 148-151.
8 Aulto of Velez, April 12, 1749, in Autos fhos sre averiguar, ff. 1-2.
1 Notification y juramento de d n Pedro Souter in Autos fhos sre averiguar, 2-3 ;
" Ynterrogatorio," ibid., 3-4.
4 Declarations of the three Frenchmen, April 13, in Autos fhos sre averiguar,
4-12 ; Velez to the viceroy, June 19, 1749, in ibid., 13-14 ; declarations of the
three Frenchmen March 5, 1750, in ibid., 16-20. They declared that the first
of the three rancherfas of Comanche comprised eighty-four tents and eight hun-
dred persons; the second forty and the third twenty-three tents, with people in
proportion. They declared that they saw five fusees among the Comanche, and
that the Indians would not permit them to enter the village. The Comanche lived
394 THE PACIFIC OCEAN IN HISTORY
As first recorded the names of the strangers were given as
Luis del Fierro, Pedro Sastre, and Joseph Miguel; they later
emerged as Luis Febre. Pedro Satren, or Latren, and Joseph
Miguel Riballo. According to the declarations, Febre was twenty-
nine years old, a native of New Orleans, and by trade a tailor and
a barber. He had been a soldier at New Orleans, had deserted
to Canada, going thence to Michillimackinac ("San Miguel Ma-
china "), to Ysla Negra, Illinois (Silinue), and to the Arkansas
post. Pedro Satren, forty-two years old, was a native of Quebec,
where he had been a carpenter and a soldier. He had also been
at Michillimackinac and at the Arkansas post, whence he had
deserted after fifteen days' service. Riballo, twenty-four years
old, was a native of Illinois, a carpenter by trade, and had been
a soldier in Illinois and at the Arkansas post. All stated that
they were bachelors and Catholics ; none could sign their names.
All claimed to have deserted from the Arkansas post because of
harsh treatment. They had heard of New Mexico and its mines
from certain Frenchmen who had returned from Santa Fe a few
years before. They had been encouraged to make the attempt to
reach it by the alliance made some two years before between the
Jumano and the Comanche, which made it possible to go through
the country of the latter. These statements illustrate clearly
the effect of the safe return of the Mallet party and of the treaty
between the Indian tribes.
The point of departure of the Febre party was a village of
Arkansas (Zarca) Indians a short distance west of the post. From
there twelve men had set out together in the fall of 1748. Going
up the Napestle (Arkansas), they passed the two villages of the
Jumano, to which point French traders went regularly in canoes
to trade. 1 Being conducted from here by Jumano Indians, after
going one hundred and fifty leagues they reached a Comanche
settlement of three villages, where they remained some time,
hunting with the Indians and being asked by them to join in a
campaign against the A tribe. From the Comanche settlement
chiefly on buffalo but utilized some wild cattle for food. Deposition of Febre, in
Autos fhos sre averiguar, 6.
1 In the depositions the two Panpiquet, or Jumano, villages were said to com-
prise about three hundred warriors, and the tribe to be fierce cannibals. Autos
fhos sre averiguar, 6-7.
FRENCH INTRUSIONS INTO NEW MEXICO, 1749-1752 395
Febre, Satren, and Riballo were conducted, in the course of a
month, to the Taos fair, whence they were taken by Bustamante
to Santa Fe, arriving there six months after setting out. 1 Upon
reaching Santa Fe they were dispossessed of their fusees, lodged
in the Real Palacio, and set to work.
Two months later (June 19) Governor Velez made a report of
the occurrence to the viceroy which is an interesting commen-
tary upon the economic needs of the old Spanish outpost, and
of the local attitude toward intruding foreigners who could add
to the economic wellbeing of the province. At that time, Velez
said, the strangers were working quietly and proficiently at the
Real Palacio, two of them being employed as carpenters, and
Febre as tailor, barber, and blood-letter. He added, "since
there is a lack of members of these professions in this villa and
the other settlements of the realm ... it would seem to be very
advantageous that they should remain and settle in it, because
of their skill in their callings, for they can teach some of the many
boys here who are vagrant and given to laziness. It is very lam-
entable that the resident who now is employed as barber and
blood-letter is so old that he would pass for seventy years of age ;
as for a tailor, there is no one who knows the trade directly.
These are the three trades of the,, Frenchman named Luis. And
resident carpenter there is none, for the structure of the houses,
and repeated reports which I have from the majority of the in-
habitants, manifest the lack of carpenters suffered in the province."
In view of these conditions, the governor recommended that the
Frenchmen be permitted to remain in New Mexico, promising
to deport them to Mexico City if they should give cause. 2
The governor's report reached Mexico in due time, and on
August 29 was sent to the auditor general de guerra, the Marques
de Altamira, the man at the capital who at this epoch had most
to do with the government of the provinces. 3 In view of the in-
definiteness of the declarations of the three Frenchmen, particu-
larly in matters of Louisiana geography, he was suspicious of
their honesty, and he therefore advised that new depositions be
1 Depositions of Febre, Satren, and Riballo, in Autos fhos sre averiguar.
J Velez to the viceroy, June 19, 1749, in Autos fhos sre averiguar, 13-14.
8 Decreto of the viceroy, ibid., 13 (bis). It is to be noted that in the origi-
nal the numbers 13 and 14 are repeated in the numbering of the folios.
396 THE PACIFIC OCEAN IN HISTORY
taken. On the other hand, he approved the governor's request,
and advised that the strangers be allowed to remain at Santa F6
to teach their trades, on condition that they be duly watched. 1
The auditor's advice was acted upon, and on October 3 a de-
spatch was sent to Governor Velez. 2 It was in consequence of
these instructions that new depositions were taken, March 5, 1750.
The Frenchmen had been in Santa Fe nearly a year now, and no
interpreter was necessary at least none was officially appointed
as had been the case before. The preeminence of Satren among
the three is indicated by the fact that his was the only declara-
tion written in full, the other two men saying little more than to
subscribe to what he stated. 3 In his new deposition many of the
shortcomings of the former were corrected and many new details
added.
In the meantime seven other men from Louisiana had arrived
at Santa Fe at different times. Satren declared them to be fur
traders whom he knew, and that they had left Louisiana, like
himself, in order to make a better living among the Spaniards. 4
Clearly, however, they were not of the party of twelve in which
Satren had set out in 1748, for they left Arkansas a year later.
Among the newcomers was a Spaniard named Felipe de Sandoval,
who made a deposition at Santa Fe on March 1, 1750, four days
before the second declaration of Satren was given. According to
his statement he had left Spain in 1742. Near Puerto Rico his
vessel had been captured by the English and taken to Jamaica.
After remaining there a prisoner for two years he fled on a French
vessel to Mobile, going thence to New Orleans and to the Arkansas
1 Altamira noted especially the fact that the deserters failed, in their descrip-
tions of Louisiana, to mention the Natchitoches and Cadodacho posts. By
a misreading he understood the declarations to state that New Orleans was six
hundred leagues from the Mississippi River, whereas they meant that it was that
distance from Santa F6. Altamira also misunderstood the declarations to state
that the Comanche settlements were one hundred and fifty leagues from Santa F6.
What they stated was that the settlements were that distance from the Jumano
villages. Altamira, dictamen, in Autos fhos are averiguar, 13 (bis)-16. The nu-
merals here and below refer to folios.
1 Decreto of the viceroy, September 30, 1749, Autos fhos sre averiguar, 15 ;
memorandum, October 3, ibid.
1 Declarations of Satren, Febre, and Riballo, March 5, 1750, in Autos fhos sre
averiguar, 16-20. Satren told in his new declaration of the military post among
the Canse (Kansas) and stated that this was the tribe who "defeated the Spaniards
who in the year twenty, to the number of twenty men, penetrated as far as this
place under the command of Don Pedro de Billasur, this kingdom of New Mexico
being then governed by Don Antonio de Balverde y Cosio," ibid., 18.
* Ibid., 19.
FRENCH INTRUSIONS INTO MEXICO, 1749-1752 397
post (Los Sarcos). There he became a hunter. In all he re-
mained in Louisiana five years. 1
In Arkansas he learned of New Mexico through members of the
Mallet party who had descended the Arkansas River. In the fall
of 1749 he set out for New Mexico from the Arkansas post with six
companions, one of whom was a German. Ascending the Napestle
(Arkansas) River in canoes, at the end of fifty days they reached
the Jumano settlement, where a French flag was flying. This
tribe was at the time living in two contiguous villages of grass
lodges, situated on the banks of the Napestle, surrounded with
stockades and ditches. They were a settled tribe, raising maize,
beans, and calabashes. According to Sandoval the two villages
comprised five hundred men. At this time they were still at
war with the Pananas (Pawnees). They were fierce cannibals,
and while Sandoval was among them he saw them eat two cap-
tives. They had extensive commerce with the French, and a
short time before Sandoval's visit they had received presents,
including a French flag, from the comandante general of Louisiana.
They had a few horses, which they had secured from the Co-
manche. 2
After remaining twenty days with the Jumano, Sandoval's
party set out, accompanied by twelve Indians. They went south-
ward and then westward for twenty days, looking for the Co-
manche, but did not find them. At the end of that time Sando-
val's companions turned back with the Jumano, leaving him
alone. Soon becoming lost, he returned, by twelve days' travel,
to the Jumano. His companions had not returned there.
After remaining with the Jumano a few days, Sandoval set out
again, guided by a Comanche Indian who had gone to the Jumano
to trade. Ascending the Napestle (Arkansas), at the end of
forty days they reached a Comanche settlement at the foot of a
mountain whence flowed the Rio Case (Canse, Kansas?). Here
Sandoval remained four months, hunting with the Comanche.
While at the village twenty Jumano and two Frenchmen came
to trade. When the Jumano returned they left the Frenchmen,
1 Declaration by Felipe de Sandoval, Santa Fe, March 1, 1750, in Autos fhos are
averiguar, 21-24.
2 Declaration by Sandoval, Santa Fe, March 1, 1750, in Autos fhos sre averiguar.
398 THE PACIFIC OCEAN IN HISTORY
who decided to accompany Sandoval to Santa Fe. In another
party there arrived at the Comanche village a German and a
French priest. There are indications that they were members
of Sandoval's original party. 1 They, too, contemplated going on
to Santa Fe, but the German, not being a Catholic, feared the
Inquisition. Accordingly, after remaining nine days, they went
back.
Sandoval and his two companions set out again, guided by a
Comanche who was going to New Mexico to sell slaves to the
Spaniards. Proceeding slowly for seven days to another Co-
manche village, and then three days through a difficult mountain,
they reached Taos. Sandoval estimated the distance from Taos
to the Jumano as twenty or twenty-five days northeast by east,
and from the Jumano to the Arkansas post down the Napestle
River by boat as nine days.
After taking the new depositions, on March 8, 1750, Governor
Velez reported again to the viceroy. 2 The burden of this com-
munication, aside from a long geographical description, 3 was the
1 In my transcript of Sandoval'a declaration, it is stated that he left Arkansas
with "four Frenchmen, a sargente, and a German" ibid., fol. 21. In view of the
presence of the religionario and the German among the Comanche I am led to sus-
pect that sargente here is a miscopy for religionario or religioso.
J Governor Velez Cachupin to the viceroy, Santa Fe, March 8, 1750, in Autos
fhos are averiguar, 25-31.
1 Governor Velez's geographical statement is of great interest as showing the
outlook from New Mexico at that time. The distance from New Mexico to Louisi-
ana was commonly regarded as about two hundred leagues to the east, that to San
Antonio, "of the government of Coaguila," as one hundred and fifty southeast.
To the east and southeast were the Carlanes, Palomas, Chilpaines, Natagees, and
Faraones, the last two tribes living to the south. To the northwest were the
Comanches and Jumanes, the latter called by the French Panipiquees. The two
tribes, now allied, made cruel war upon the Carlanes and other Apache bands
above named. The entrance of the French into New Mexico was facilitated by
the Comanche-Jumano alliance. The Rio de Napestle, "well-known in this realm,"
had its source in a very rugged mountain range, about eighty leagues from Taos ;
the Arkansas was shallow in its upper reaches, but at the Jumano village, he had
learned from the French, it was large, and farther down, after being joined by the
Colorado (Canadian) it was still larger. Soldiers of New Mexico, in pursuit of
Comanches, and led by Don Bernardo de Bustamante y Tagle, had reached the
vicinity of the Jumano, following the banks of the Rio de Napestle, "on which
expedition were acquired adequate reports of those regions, in the summer very
delectable and pleasing, and inhabited by innumerable buffalo, which the Divine
Providence created for the support of the barbarians and the greed of Frenchmen."
To the north of New Mexico, in the rugged mountains, at a distance of one hundred
and fifty or two hundred leagues, were the nations of Chaguaguas, and less remote,
the Yutas, with whom also the Comanche were at war. For this reason they
(meaning the Comanche, I understand) went northwest, joined the Moachos and
fought with the settlements of New Mexico, namely the Navajoo, Zuni and Moqui.
From reports given by the Moachos it was thought that to the northwest the sea
wasjess then two hundred leagues distant.
FRENCH INTRUSIONS INTO NEW MEXICO, 1749-1752 399
danger to New Mexico arising from the new alliance between the
Comanche and the tribes of the east, the danger of Comanche
attacks on New Mexico, and the bad policy of Governor Mendoza
in permitting the Mallet party, "who were the first who entered,"
to return after having spied out the land. "I regard as most
mischievous the permission given to the first Frenchmen to re-
turn," he said, because "they gave an exact account and relation,
informing the Governor of Louisiana of their route, and the situ-
ation and conditions of New Mexico." He was convinced, more-
over, that it was French policy which had "influenced the minds
of the Jumanes or Panipiquees to make peace with the Comanches,
recently their enemies, with the purpose of being able to intro-
duce themselves by the Rio de Napestle, thus approaching near
to New Mexico." None of the newcomers were soldiers, he said,
but all were paid hunters, in the employ of fur merchants. Now
that they knew the way, he feared that they would come with
increasing frequency, "which to me appears less dangerous to
these dominions than that they should return to their colonies
with complete knowledge of and familiarity with the lands in-
spected through their insolence." Better distribute them, he
thought, as settlers in Nueva Vizcaya or Sonora, without per-
mission to return, especially since all were good artisans, already
at work at their trades, and since they were crack shots, and
therefore would be very useful in defending the provinces against
the Indians.
The governor's report reached Mexico by August, and on
January 9, 1751, Altamira reviewed the whole matter. 1 The
new depositions of Satren and his companions satisfied him on
geographical matters. In view of what Velez had written, he
urged keeping out the French, on the one hand, and the opening
of communication between New Mexico and Texas, on the other. 2
1 On August 14 it was sent to Altamira, the auditor general de la guerra. On
September 14 Altamira asked for the documents relating to previous French in-
trusions into New Mexico, and on the 16th the viceroy ordered them furnished.
Autos fhos sre averiguar, 25. On November 18 a testimonio of the governor's
report was made. Memorandum, ibid., 31.
2 Altamira estimated that from Santa Fe to Los Adaes it was less than two hun-
dred leagues, and still less from Albuquerque or El Paso, "and it would be very fit-
ting that the transit and communication be facilitated from one province to the other,
in order that with mutual and reciprocal aid of arms, intervening tribes who per-
secute both realms, should be forced into subjection, which would be aided greatly
400 THE PACIFIC OCEAN IN HISTORY
He approved, also, sending to the interior the six new intruders
and others who might come later, designating Sonora as the place,
because it was the most remote possible from Louisiana. 1 On
January 14 the viceroy approved the recommendation, and on
the 31st the corresponding despatch was written. 2
Two distinct parties of Frenchmen had thus entered New Mexico
in less than a year by the Arkansas River. They were soon fol-
lowed by others over the northern route. In the meantime the
Jumano had made peace with the Pawnee (Panana) and had se-
cured an alliance of the Comanche with the Pawnee and even with
the A tribe. 3 In these arrangements the French no doubt had a
hand, as in the case with the earlier Comanche-Jumano treaty.
In 1751 four traders from New Orleans reached New Mexico by
way of the Missouri River, it is said, but who they were and what
the circumstances of their journey has not yet come to light. 4
In the following year, however, another party came by that route
concerning whom our information is quite complete. This expedi-
tion, it will be seen,, had official sanction in Louisiana. 5
On August 6, 1752, two Frenchmen arrived at the cemetery of
the mission of Pecos, bearing a white flag, and conducted by
Jicarilla and Carlana Apaches whom they had encountered fifteen
leagues before, on the Gallinas River. They had nine horses and
nine tierces of cloth, or of clothing. Father Juan Joseph Toledo,
missionary at Pecos, deposited the merchandise in the convent of
the mission, and at once wrote to the governor. Fray Juan was
clearly not a French scholar, for the names of the strangers he wrote
as Xanxapij and Luis Fxuij. In later correspondence they emerged
as Jean Chapuis and Luis Feuilli (also Foissi). 6
by practical acquaintance with the watering places, pastures, and other features
of that unknown intervening space," ibid., 26.
1 Altamira, dictamen, January 9, 1751, in Autos fhos sre averiguar, 25-30.
*Decreto, January 14, 1751, ibid., 30. On January 25, a testimonio of the
expediente was made and deposited in the archives of the Secretaria del Vireynato.
Memoranda, January 14, ibid.
8 According to the Spanish documents these tribes were now making war on the
Kansas and Osage. Testimonio de los Autos (see note 5), fol. 14.
*Ibid., 11.
8 The account of this party is gleaned from the expediente entitled Testimonio
de los Autos fhos a Consulta del Goy T del nuebo Mex sobre haver llegado dos fran-
zeses cargados de efectos que conduzian de la Nueba Orleans, hereafter cited as Testi-
monio de los Autos.
9 Fray Juan Joseph Toledo to Governor Velez, Pecos, August 6, 1752, in Testi-
monio de los Autos, 2.
FRENCH INTRUSIONS INTO MEXICO, 1749-1752 401
Father Toledo's message was received at Santa Fe on the day
when it was written, and the alcalde mayor of Pecos and Galisteo,
Don Tomas de Sena, who happened to be at the capital, was at
once sent to conduct the Frenchmen thither. Next day he re-
turned with the strangers and their goods. Their papers were
confiscated, and on the 9th their depositions were taken, Luis
Febre, who by now was "slightly versed in the Spanish tongue,"
acting as interpreter. From the confiscated documents, the
declarations, and the related correspondence, we learn the follow-
ing story of the advent of Chapuis and Feuilli into the forbidden
territory. 1 .
Chapuis, forty-eight years old, was a native of France and a
resident of Canada. On July 30, 1751, he had secured a pass-
port from the commander at Michillimackinac, Duplessis Falberte,
permitting him to return to Illinois to attend to his affairs, and
to embark the necessary goods to sell in Illinois those later
confiscated at Santa F. Reaching Ft. Chartres, he conferred
with the commander, Benoit de St. Clair (Santa Clara in the docu-
ments), relative to opening a trade route to New Mexico, his
object being to deal in fabrics. St. Clair encouraged the enter-
prise, and on October 6, 1751, issued a license to Chapuis and
nine other men to "make the discovery of New Mexico and carry
the goods which they may think proper," permitting Chapuis to
carry a flag, and commanding the men not to separate till they
should reach their destination. Chapuis was therefore the recog-
nized leader of the expedition, which had a semi-official sanction.
As transcribed into Spanish records, the names of the others men-
tioned in the license were Roy, Jeandron, Foysi, Aubuchon, Calve,
Luis Trudeau, Lorenzo Trudeau, Betille, and Du Charme. 2
Feuilli was evidently not at Ft. Chartres at the time when the
license was issued, but joined Chapuis at the Kansas (Canzeres)
Indian village, 3 said to be one hundred and fifty leagues from
1 Decreto of the governor, Santa Fe, August 6, 1752, ibid., 9 ; Obedecimiento
by Thomas de Sena, Alcalde Mayor and Capitan a guerra of Pecos and Galisteo,
Santa Fe, August 7, 1752, ibid., 9. Decreto of the governor, Santa Fe, August 8,
ibid., 9-10 ; Juramento del Interprete, August 8, ibid., 10.
2 Declaration of Juan Chapuis, August 9, 1752, ibid., 10-14 ; license signed
by Benito de Santa Clara (translation), Fuerte de la Charte, October 6, 1751, ibid.,
8 ; license signed by Duplesis Falberte, Fuerte de San Phelipe de Michilimacinac,
July 30, 1751, ibid., 8.
* In his first declaration Feuilli stated that he joined Chapuis at the Kansas
2D
402 THE PACIFIC OCEAN IN HISTORY
Ft. Chartres, where for eight years he had been official interpreter
in the pay of the king of France, and where, during the same period,
there had been a detachment from Ft. Chartres. The Kansas
detachment is called in the documents Fuerte Cavagnol. 1 Where
the other eight men joined Chapuis does not appear.
Chapuis set out promptly, and on December 9, 1751, was at
Fuerte Cavagnol. On the way thither, or after reaching there,
he passed among and traded with the Osages and Missouris, who,
together with the Kansas, comprised five villages, all under French
domination maintained by soldiery. At Fuerte Cavagnol Chapuis
formed a partnership with Feuilli, "to go together to Spain, under
contract to arrive during the month of April near the settlements
of Spain, beyond Sta Bacas," Chapuis agreeing to advance to
Feuilli four hundred pounds in merchandise for the journey, on
condition that if Feuilli should break the agreement he should
pay Chapuis five hundred pounds. Feuilli could not sign his
name. The agreement was witnessed by Pedro and Lorenzo
Trudeau. On the same day Feuilli acknowledged a debt to
Chapuis of four hundred and nine pounds, due in the following
April, to be paid in beaver skins or other peltry, at the price cur-
rent at Fuerte Cavagnol. 2
Leaving the Kansas about the middle of March, 1752, the party
continued to the Pawnee (Panana). Either there or at the Co-
manche 3 eight of the men turned back, 4 through fear of the Co-
manche, who could not be trusted. The two partners continued
to the Comanche, who levied a heavy toll upon them as a condi-
tion of letting them pass, but having received liberal presents
post, ibid., 13; but in the later one he stated that he left "the city of Los Yli-
nueses in October, 1751, which was about the time that Chapuis set out ibid., 36.
1 Declaration of Feuilli, ibid., 13.
1 Agreement between Juan Chapuis and Luis Foissi, Fuerte Cavagnol, December
9, 1751, ibid., 3; acknowledgment of debt by Luis Foissi, December 9, 1715,
ibid., 3. Among the papers found in the possession of Chapuis and Feuilli at
Santa Fe were two which throw further light on their operations. One was a letter
signed by Languemin to an unnamed person, requesting him to aid Chapuis in
recovering a slave sold by the former to the latter, and saying, "I have delivered
thirty pounds of merchandise to the said Chapuis to give to the savages. I will
give more if necessary. I would have gone myself to if the Truteaus had
not gone up." Another was a letter by Foissu (Feuilli) to Sefior Moreau to come
and report what was happening in the district, ibid., 4.
Feuilli stated that it was four and a half months from the time of leaving the
Kansas to that of arriving at Pecos, ibid., 14.
4 There is a discrepancy in the documents regarding the place where the eight
turned back.
FRENCH INTRUSIONS INTO NEW MEXICO, 1749-1752 403
they directed them to New Mexico. From a point north of the
Arkansas they were guided by an Ae Indian who had been a cap-
tive in New Mexico and was fleeing, and whom they induced to
return with them as guide, bringing them in from the north.
At the Gallinas River, fifteen leagues from Pecos, they met Jicarilla
and Carlana Apaches, who conducted them to the Pecos mission,
which they reached, as we have seen, on August 6, forty days after
leaving the Comanche, four and one half months after leaving the
Kansas, and ten months after leaving Ft. Chartres. 1
In the course of the interrogation by Governor Velez, Chapuis
explained that his plan for trade was to convey goods up the
Panana (Missouri) River by canoes, to the neighborhood of New
Mexico, and thence by caravan, with horses bought from the
Pawnee and Comanche. On account of risk from the Comanche,
" in whom they have not complete confidence," they would escort
each caravan with fifty or sixty soldiers. Feuilli stated that by leav-
ing the Missouri to the left (sic), it would not need to be crossed.
The other six rivers, excluding the Mississippi, he said, could be
forded by horses. In a later statement Feuilli said that the goods
could be taken in canoes up the Panana River to the Panana
Indians, thence to New Mexico by horses bought from that tribe
for the trade, a distance of three hundred leagues. 2 On being in-
formed that their project was entirely illegal, both Chapuis and
Feuilli emphatically declared that they were ignorant of the fact,
and had supposed that by paying duties they might trade. Hav-
ing learned that such was not the case, they begged permission
to go back to report to their commander.
But their request was not granted. On the contrary, Governor
Velez decided to send the intruders to Mexico. Their goods were
confiscated, put up at auction for three days, and sold to Thomas
Ortiz, a cattle ranchman, for 404 pesos, 3 reales, 11 granos, the
proceeds being devoted to defraying the expenses and conducting
the prisoners to the capital. Of the amount the governor him-
self took one hundred pesos for the expenses incurred in New
Mexico. On the 18th Velez reported the incident to the viceroy,
1 Governor Velez to the viceroy, September 18, 1752, ibid., 24 ; declaration
of Feuilli, Mexico City, November 23, 1753, ibid., 37.
Ibid., 12, 38.
404 THE PACIFIC OCEAN IN HISTORY
and expressed renewed fear at the Comanche alliance with the
eastern tribes. About the first of October the prisoners were
sent south, in charge of Pedro Romero, of El Paso, and on October
29 they reached Chihuahua. From there they were conducted
to Mexico by Lorenzo Alvarez Godoy, "muleteer of the Mexican
route," who received fifty pesos for the service. 1
In January, 1753, the governor's report was handed to Altamira,
who in return expressed the fear that the proposed trade was a
pretext for "other hidden and more pernicious ends." The matter
being referred to Dr. Andreu, the fiscal, it was July before he re-
plied. The original declarations of the Frenchmen were then
handed to a translator. Meanwhile the prisoners were languish-
ing in jail and clamoring for release. In November Andreu again
took up the matter and had new depositions taken from the
foreigners. They contained a few contradictions and a few ad-
ditions to the former stories. 2
Immediately after the declarations were taken, orders were
issued requiring kind treatment given the prisoners, and on January
18, 1754 the fiscal gave his opinion. Since the Frenchmen had
come to open up a trade route with the permission of a French
official, one of them being in the pay of the French king, he rec-
ommended that the prisoners be sent at once to Spain, in order
that the king might decide the matter. On the 19th this recom-
mendation was approved by the viceroy. 3
The French advance through the Comancheria at this time,
encouraged as it was by Governor Bienville and the commandant
St. Clair, gives significance to the proposal of Governor Kerlerec
of Louisiana, in 1753, to break through the Apache barrier and
open up trade with the more interior provinces of Mexico. In a
memoire addressed to the king in that year the new governor
spoke of Spain's jealous frontier policy, the weakness of her out-
1 Governor Velez to the viceroy, September 18, 1752, ibid., 24; declaration
of Feuilli, Mexico City, November 23, 1753 ; ibid., 14-24, 29-30, 37.
* Decretos of the viceroy, January 12, 1753 ; Dictamen of the auditor, January 12,
1753 ; Respuesta fiscal, July 28, 1753 ; Decreto of the viceroy, July 30, 1753 ; es-
cripto by the prisoners ; Dictamen fiscal, November 15, 1753 ; Citacidn de Inter-
prete, November 21, 1753 ; Deposition of the prisoners, November 21-23, 1753 ;
Notorio al Alcalde, November 23, 1753 ; Respuesta fiscal, January 18, 1753, ibid.,
2425 ; 3240.
* Pro jet de Paix et D' Alliance avec les Cannecis et les Avantages qui en Peuvent
Resulter Envoy e par Kerlerec, Gouverneur de la Province de la Loiiisianne, en 1753,
in Journal de la Societe des Americanist es de Paris, Nouvelle Serie, vol. 3, pp. 67-76.
FRENCH INTRUSIONS INTO MEXICO, 1749-1752 405
posts, and the ease with which the mines of Coahuila and Nuevo
Leon could be conquered. As a base for securing them in case
of any rupture, he proposed taking possession of the country of
the Apache, at present attached neither to Spain nor France, he
said. But unless peace were established between the Apache and
all their numerous enemies to the eastward, access to their coun-
try would be impossible. He proposed, therefore, to remove the
barrier to the Apacheria by securing an alliance between the
Apache and these eastern enemies. Under the existing circum-
stances of the French monarchy, it is not strange that the proposal
was never made the basis of a program, but the fact that it was
made at all is significant. 1
These intrusions of Frenchmen into New Mexico were closely
bound up, in their effect upon Spanish policy, with similar
infringements upon the Texas border, which had been going on
with greater or less freedom for many years, and the noise made
by the incursions over the New Mexico border found its loudest
echo on the Texas frontier. In 1751, when the doings of the
Febre party in New Mexico were reported to the king of Spain,
they were considered together with the Louisiana-Texas question.
As a result of the deliberations, on June 26, 1751, it was ordered
that French intruders in the Spanish dominions be prevented from
returning to their country under any pretext whatsoever. The
viceroy was ordered to keep vigilant watch of the operations of
the French nation, and, if necessary, to order the commandant
of Louisiana to abandon the Presidio of Natchitoches and Isla de
los Labores, "without using the force of arms for the present, in
case he should resist it, in order not to cause disturbances and
obligations on those frontiers which might become paramount in
Europe." 2
In the course of the next two or three years complaints regarding
1 Instruction Reservada que Trajp el Marquez de las Amarillas, Aranjuez, July 30,
1755 (Capitulo 8 summarizes previous proceedings), in Instrucciones que los Vireyes
de Nueva Espana Dejaron a sus Sucesores (Mexico, 1867), pp. 96-97.
2 Testim de Autos de Pesquiza sobre comertio Ylicito y Demos que expresa el
superior Despacho que esta por caveza de ellos, Adais, 1761, Bexar Archives, Adaes,
1739-1755 ; Report of Investigation of French trade by DeSoto Vermudez, under
direction of Gov. Barrios, 1752-1753, in Archive General y Publico, Mexico,
Historia, vol 299 ; Testimonio de autos fechos en virtud de Superior Decreto Expedido
por el ex 1 Sefior D n Juan Fran co de Guemes y Horcasitas, etc., September 26, 1752,
Bexar Archives, Adaes, 1739-1755.
406 THE PACIFIC OCEAN IN HISTORY
French aggressions on the Texas border grew apace. Barrios y
Jauregui, Governor of the province, made investigations, reported
that the French were operating freely among all the tribes of north-
eastern Texas, and that the Spaniards were at the mercy of the
French, who absolutely controlled the natives who were held in
check only by Louis de St. Denis, the younger. As offsets,
Barrios proposed that Spaniards be permitted to sell firearms to
the Indians, that freedom be promised to slaves escaping from
Louisiana, and that a presidio be established on the San Pedro
River, a branch of the Neches, from which to watch the French
traders. 1
This was the situation in January, 1754, when it was decided in
Mexico to send Chapuis and Feuilli to Spain. Immediately
thereafter (January 21-22) the viceroy held a junta to consider
the royal order of June 26, 1751, together with the related affairs
of Texas and New Mexico. It was decided for the present to
make no move to drive the French across the Red River, since it
was not certain whether that stream or Gran Montana was the
boundary. For the same reason the sending of an engineer to
mark the boundary, which had been suggested, was regarded as
unnecessary. Barrios's proposal that Louisiana slaves be publicly
offered their liberty was declared to be in bad taste, and further
consideration was regarded as necessary before acting upon his
plan for a presidio on the San Pedro. But Barrios was ordered to
keep watch that the French should not extend their boundaries ;
French interpreters must be recalled from villages on Spanish
soil, and Governor Barrios, "with his discretion, industry, vigi-
lance, and prudence must try to prevent the commerce of the
French with the Indians of Texas, observing what the governor
of New Mexico had practiced in the matter, with the idea of
preventing the Indians from communicating with them." 2
This decision of the junta de guerra in Mexico bore fruit in the
arrest by Barrios, in the fall of 1754, of the French traders, Joseph
1 Instruction Reservada, July 30, 1755, in Instrucciones que los Vireyes de Nueva
Espafla Dejaron a sus Sucesores, pp. 96-97.
1 This episode is discussed at length by Bolton, in Southwestern Historical Quar-
terly, vol. 16, pp. 339-378. The connection between the junta of January 21-22,
1754, and the arrest of Blancpain is shown in Expediente sobre la aprehencion . . .
de Ires Franceses, Archivo General de Indias, Sevilla, Guadalajara, 103-6-23, a
copy of which I secured through Mr. W. E. Dunn.
FRENCH INTRUSIONS INTO NEW MEXICO, 1749-1752 407
Blancpain and his associates, on the Texas coast, near the Trinity
River, and the establishment there soon after, of a Spanish pre-
sidio and mission, as means of holding back the French. Thus the
whole French border question, from Santa Fe to the mouth of the
Trinity, was treated as one.
The French intrusion into New Mexico found another echcTin
Sonora. On March 2, 1751, Fernando Sanchez Salvador, Cap-
tain of Cuirassiers of Sonora and Sinaloa, cited the French ad-
vance westward as a reason for haste in the Spanish occupation
of the Colorado of the West. He was convinced that the French
traders had ulterior ends and that they would soon reach the
Colorado and descend it to the South Sea unless impeded by a
Spanish advance. 1
1 Sanchez thought that the Carmelo River, of California, was a western mouth
of the Colorado. Cuarta Representation, in Doc. Hist. Mex., Ill Ser., vol. 3.
pp. 662-663.