Settlement of the Cane River Area of Louisiana
The story of the Cane River area of Louisiana is a rich tapestry woven with threads of exploration, colonization, trade, conflict, and cultural exchange. From its initial claiming by France to its eventual incorporation into the United States, the region has served as a crossroads for diverse peoples and a stage for significant historical events. This article delves into the settlement of the Cane River area of Louisiana, exploring its evolution under French, Spanish, and American rule.
The initial European presence in the region can be traced back to the ambitions of France in the late 17th century. In 1682, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, claimed the vast territory of Louisiana for France, setting the stage for future colonization efforts. King Louis XIV, eager to establish a foothold in the New World, commissioned Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d’Iberville, and Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville II, to implement La Salle’s vision. Iberville led an expedition that reached the Gulf Coast in 1699, eventually establishing settlements near Biloxi, Mississippi, and later in New Orleans, Louisiana. His strategy involved constructing forts and trading posts along the Mississippi River and its tributaries to solidify French control and foster trade with the local Native American tribes.
In 1700, Bienville spearheaded an exploration of the Red River, aiming to open trade routes with the Caddo tribes. Accompanied by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis, Bienville’s group made contact with the Caddo near present-day Natchitoches, establishing friendly relations that would prove crucial in the years to come. However, Iberville’s return to France in 1702 to secure more settlers, supplies, and military equipment highlighted the challenges faced by the fledgling colony.
The slow progress of the Louisiana colony prompted King Louis XIV to seek a different approach. In 1712, he transferred Louisiana to Antoine Crozat, Marquis de Chatel, a wealthy merchant granted exclusive trading and governing rights for 15 years. Crozat aimed to more fully exploit the colony’s agricultural and commercial potential, sending agents to revitalize trade with the Native Americans and improve colonial administration.
One of these agents was Antoine de la Mothe, Cadillac, the new governor. In 1714, Cadillac tasked St. Denis, who was familiar with the Red River Valley, with establishing a French settlement in the region. St. Denis chose the site that would become Natchitoches, constructing Fort St. Jean Baptiste. This marked the beginning of the oldest permanent settlement in Louisiana, predating the establishment of New Orleans. Natchitoches quickly became an important strategic and trade center on the Red River, and St. Denis played a key role in colonial affairs, leveraging his courage, tact, and knowledge of the Indian frontier. The settlement of the Cane River area of Louisiana had officially begun.
Cadillac’s administration focused on attracting new settlers, which necessitated the development of a well-defined land-grant system. In 1716, the king enacted colonial land regulations requiring grantees to clear their land within two years or forfeit it back to the crown. Furthermore, two-thirds of the land had to be cleared before it could be sold.
Land concessions were categorized as either general or special. General concessions designated any vacant land for development, while special concessions defined fixed boundaries for land grants. Early grantees typically received between 50 and 100 arpents (approximately 190 feet per arpent) along the Red River. A decree in 1716 ordered unimproved land to be divided into sections of two to four arpents in front, extending 40 arpents back from the river. This system ensured that each landholder had access to both fertile natural levee lands and back swamp areas.
The river served as the central artery for settlement, providing a vital transportation route for commerce and communication. The presence of natural levees led to a linear settlement pattern, likely inspired by European models, where plantation structures were located closest to the river, with fields extending behind them, followed by swamps or woods. At river bends, this pattern resulted in pie-shaped landholdings rather than rectangular sections, a characteristic still visible in the Cane River area today. The settlement of the Cane River area of Louisiana owes much of its character to the river itself.
French Louisiana’s commercial activities were heavily reliant on the Indian trade. Natchitoches, due to its proximity to Spanish Texas and various Indian nations, was ideally positioned to serve as a frontier market. The Great Raft, a massive logjam that blocked Red River navigation above the settlement, further solidified Natchitoches’s role as the northern terminus for river traffic. The city’s location near the Spanish Camino Real, a major east-west overland route, also contributed to its growth as a trade center.
The French expansion in the Red River Valley raised concerns among Spanish authorities in East Texas. In 1717, they established the mission post of Los Adaes, located just 14 miles southwest of Natchitoches, which eventually became the capital of Spanish Texas. Despite the opposing mercantile policies of the French and Spanish governments, proximity and mutual need fostered a thriving contraband trade relationship between the two communities. The Spanish needed tobacco, medicine, liquor, firearms, salt, and other goods obtained through the Red River trade, while the French provided a ready market for Spanish silver and cattle. This illicit trade helped sustain both settlements and blurred the lines of official control. The settlement of the Cane River area of Louisiana was thus intertwined with the economic realities of the frontier.
The Seven Years’ War, known in America as the French and Indian War, concluded in 1763 with France’s expulsion from North America. In 1762, during the war, Spain was induced to join the conflict on the side of France. The price for Spanish participation was the cession of Louisiana lands west of the Mississippi River, including Natchitoches, and lands east of the river below Bayou Manchac. This agreement was formalized by the Treaty of Fontainebleau in 1762, and the Treaty of Paris in 1763 further clarified the war’s military and diplomatic outcomes.
The formal transfer of Louisiana from France to Spain did not occur until January 1767. During this period, resentment grew among the French settlers regarding Spanish administration. This discontent culminated in a revolt against Spanish rule on November 1, 1768, resulting in the expulsion of the Spanish governor. For the next 10 months, the colony operated independently, free from European control. However, this period of self-rule was abruptly ended in July 1769 with the arrival of a Spanish fleet carrying General Alejandro O’Reilly and an army of over 2,000 soldiers. The rebellion quickly collapsed, and Spanish authorities imposed Spanish law and government on the former French colony.
Contrary to French fears, Spanish rule brought little visible change to daily life. In Natchitoches, the Spanish retained the services of the French commandant, Athanase De Mezieres, son-in-law of St. Denis and brother-in-law of the Duc d’Orleans. De Mezieres, an able administrator and expert in Indian affairs, played a crucial role in shaping the Louisiana-Texas border region over the next decade. His Indian expertise was particularly valuable, as Spain struggled to bring the Louisiana tribes under their influence without triggering a prolonged conflict.
To attract Indian commerce, De Mezieres persuaded the government to abandon its system of Indian control through missionary work and adopt the French method of trade and presence. This approach helped maintain relative stability in the Red River Valley throughout Spanish dominion.
Commercial agriculture, based on tobacco and indigo production, gradually replaced earlier frontier economies, although animal skins and products remained a staple of the Natchitoches economy. During this period, farmers adopted the plantation system, establishing large agricultural units worked by enslaved labor. By 1776, Natchitoches Parish had a slave population of nearly 4,000.
In the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1800, Spain ceded Louisiana back to France, a move reconfirmed in 1801 by the Treaty of Madrid. The actual transfer of Louisiana from Spain to France was delayed until November 1803. In light of these developments, U.S. President Thomas Jefferson instructed his minister to France, Robert R. Livingston, to negotiate with French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte for the purchase of Louisiana. This resulted in the Louisiana Purchase, with France ceding the Louisiana territory to the United States in December 1803.
President Thomas Jefferson dispatched two exploration parties under Zebulon Pike and Thomas Freeman to survey the Red River region. Both groups were particularly interested in the area between Natchitoches and the Sabine River, a long-disputed zone between France and Spain. The border question resurfaced with the U.S. purchase of Louisiana. In 1806, American forces established themselves east of Arroyo Hondo (a small stream just west of Natchitoches), while Spanish forces occupied the west bank of the Sabine River. This created a "neutral strip," a lawless haven for outlaws, bandits, fugitive slaves, and filibusters preparing to invade Texas. In 1821, a series of treaties fixed the boundary between the two countries at the Sabine River. The U.S. government subsequently established several new forts on the Louisiana frontier. Lieutenant Colonel Zachary Taylor commanded the Seventh Infantry to construct Fort Seldon, which was occupied for four months between 1821 and 1822 until a more strategic site was selected. The new site, located 14 miles to the southwest, was named Fort Jesup and remained a significant American frontier post until the Mexican-American War.
Following its incorporation into the United States, plantation society, including the institution of slavery, flourished along the Red River. The introduction of cotton in 1810 and the subsequent development of the steamboat and the cotton gin fueled economic prosperity in the region.
However, a series of events led to the decline of Natchitoches, including Henry Shreve’s removal of the log raft above the city and the subsequent establishment of Shreveport, which eventually surpassed Natchitoches as a major port and trade center. The Red River’s gradual abandonment of the channel that ran by the city and plantations in Natchitoches Parish, the westward expansion of the United States, and the American Civil War and its consequences further contributed to its decline.
Control of Shreveport and the cotton supplies of the Red River Valley were key motivations for the Red River campaign, one of Louisiana’s most significant Civil War engagements. The campaign began in the spring of 1864, with Union General Nathanial Banks leading a military force that pushed Confederate forces under General Richard Taylor slowly north along the Red River. A series of skirmishes and battles were fought in areas near Cloutierville and Magnolia Plantation, culminating in the battle at Pleasant Hill. The Union forces retreated, and the Confederates maintained control of the area until the end of the Civil War.
Over a century of dominion, the French and Spanish left an indelible mark on Louisiana. They introduced Catholicism, shaped land use patterns, and established an economic system that superseded the one developed by Native Americans. To develop the colonial economy, the white settlers needed territorial control and the cooperation of the Indian populations. The French distributed gifts through Indian traders and agents to court local tribes, while the Spanish used mission outposts. Both nations relied on small displays of military force to ensure the security of their New World investments. Ultimately, the increasing pressure of European settlement and European and American policies towards Indians destroyed Indian lifeways and eventually led to their removal from the Cane River area. The settlement of the Cane River area of Louisiana is a complex story of both progress and displacement.