Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/150

 90 HISTORY OP SOUTHEAST MISSOURI acquired, and my reflections thereon since I have been at this post, and may a series of these reflections assist in your benevolent heart some happj' idea that may tend to the advantage and i^rosperity of this colony. Some traders in pursuit of gain, came to I'anse a la graissse (cove of fat or grease), a rendezvous or gathering place of several In- dian nations, and where, as we are told by tradition, they found abundance of game, and esj^ecially bears and buffaloes, hence the name of Tanse a la graissse. A first year of success induced them to try a second, and to this others. Some of them, determined to es- tablish their homes where they found a sure trade and unlimited advantages, divided there among themselves tlie land. The bayou, named since St. John, was the rallying point, and the land the nearest to this then became settled, therefore we find that Messrs. Fran- cis and Joseph Lasieuer, Ambrose Dumay, Chattoillier, and others, divided among them- selves this neighborhood ; property which Mr. Foucher, the fii-st commandant, considered as sacred, and which he did not disturb. The profits of the trade of I'anse a la graissse hav- ing been heard of as far as the Post Vincen- nes, the St. Maries, the Hunots, the Racines, the Barsaloux, etc., of that place accom- plished for some years very advantageous trips. They congratulated themselves, more- over, that the Indians of I'anse a la graissse traded with them amicably, whilst those of the United States were treacherous towards them, and made them averse to inhabit a post where their lives were in constant danger. Nevertheless an unfortunate anarchy, a singular disorder, prevailed, at I'anse a la graissse: all were masters, and would obey none of those who set themselves up a heads or commandants of this new colony. A mur- der was committed by an inhabitant on an- other — then their eyes were opened, they be- gan to feel the necessity of laws, and some one at their head to comjjel their observance. They bound the culprit and sent him to New Orleans. Everything tends to the belief that the commandants of the posts of Ste. Gene- vieve and of St. Louis had, during these transactions, apprised the Governor-General of what was occuring at I'anse a la graissse; but a new scene was in preparation. One iIorgan, having descended the Ohio the first year that traders settled at I'anse a la graissse, examined, in passing, the land, and found it suitable to fix here a settlement Returning to America (U. S.), he removed and succeeded in bringing down to this post several families. He selected for the village the elevated ground, where at present are the habitations of Jackson and of Waters, near the Mississippi. They built some houses on the land, and, full of his enterprise and the success he expected from it, ilorgan de- scended to New Orleans to olitain, not encour- agement simply in his plans, but proprietary and honorary concessions beyond measure. He was baffled in his pretensions, and did no< again set his foot in the colony. These various occurrances determined '^'^'e Governor General to send a command'^*- to this post, and M. Forcher was selectee Men are not gods, they all possess in some ? sheets the weaknesses of human nature ; the pre- dominant one of the first commandant was self-interest; and who in his place would not have been so sent to a desert in the midst of savages, to bring the laws of a regulated gov- ernment to new settlers as barbaroiis as the Indians themselves? "What recomponse would he have received for neglecting his personal interests? Wliat obligation would the new colony have been under to him ? None. Mr. Forcher was the man that was wanted