Page:A Topographical Description of the State of Ohio, Indiana Territory, and Louisiana.djvu/162

152 river, and camped about six miles below the town of Natchitoches, near the river, by the side of a small lake of clear water, and erected a mound of earth, of considerable size, where it now remains. Monsieur Saint Dennie, a French Canadian, was then commandant at Natchitoches; the Indians called him the Big Foot, were fond of him, for he was a brave man. Saint Dennie, with a few French soldiers, and what militia he could muster, joined by the Natchitoches Indians, attacked the Natchez Indians in their camp, early in the morning; they defended themselves desperately for six hours, but were at length totally defeated, and what were not killed in battle, were drove into the lake, were the last of them perished, and the Natchez, as a nation, became extinct. This lake is now called Natchez lake. Since that time the Natchitoches nation have decreased, until their remains only twelve men, and nineteen women, who live in a village about twenty-five miles above the town, near a lake called by the French Lac de Muire. The small pox has been their great destroyer. Their original language is the same as the Yattassee, but speak Caddo and French. The French inhabitants highly respect this nation, and a number of decent families have a mixture of their blood in them. They still preserve their Indian dress, and habits; raise corn and the other vegetables common in their neighbourhood.