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having no more than one useful laborer or artificer, as before described, with his family.

2. At the same time we promise, under the auspices of our sovereign monarch, to assist them forward from New Madrid to Washita, with a skilful guide, and the provisions necessary for them, till their arrival at their place of destination.

3. The expenses of transportation of their baggage and implements of labor, which shall come by sea to this capital, shall be paid on account of the royal domains; and they shall be taken on the same account from this place to the Washita, provided that the weight shall not exceed three thousand pounds for each family.

4. There shall be granted to every family containing two white persons fit for agriculture, ten arpens of land, extending back forty arpens, and increasing in the same proportion, to those which shall contain a greater number of white cultivators.

5. Lastly, it shall be permitted to the families to bring or to cause to come with them, European servants, who shall bind themselves to their service for six or more years, under the express condition that if they have families, they shall have a right, after their term of service is expired, to receive grants of land, proportioned in the same manner to their numbers. Thus we promise, as we have here stated; and that it may come to the knowlege of those families which propose to transport themselves hither, we sign the present contract, with the aforesaid Senor Marquis de Maison Rouge, to whom that it may be made plain, a certified copy shall be furnished. New Orleans, the seventeenth of March, 1795.

THE BARON DE CARONDELET,

FRANCIS RENDON,

JOSEPH DE ORUE,

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THE MARQUIS DE MAISON ROUGE.

Having laid before the king what you have made known in your letter of the 25th of April last, No. 44, relative to the contract entered into with the marquis of Maison Rouge, for the establishment on the Washita, of the thirty families of farmers destined to cultivate wheat, for the supply of these provinces, his majesty considering the advantages which it promises, compared with the preceding, has been pleased to approve it in all its parts. By his royal direction, I communicate it to you for your information. God preserve you many years. Madrid, 14th July, 1795.

To the Intendant of Louisiana.

GARDOQUI.

New Orleans, Nov. 13th, 1795.

To be transmitted to the principal office of accounts (contaduria)

of the army and royal domains, for their information, and two certified copies to be provided for this secretary's office.

RENDON.

Don Gilbert Leonard, treasurer of the army, exercising the functions of royal accountant, and Don Manuel Gonzales Armires, exercising those of treasurer, par interim, of the royal chests of this province of Louisiana.

We certify, that the two foregoing copies are conformable to the originals, which remain in the archives of the ministry of the royal domains under our charge, and that the contractor, the Mar. quis de Maison Rouge, complied punctually with the terms which he proposed in the said contract; and that this may be made manifest, conformably to the order above inserted, of this intendencygeneral, we give the present in New Orleans, the 5th of August, 1803.

GILBERT LEONARD,
MANUEL ARMIREZ.

The Baron de Carondelet, knight of the order of St. John, marshal de camp of the royal armies, governor general, vice patron of the provinces of Louisiana and West Florida, inspector of troops, &c.

Forasmuch as the Marquis de Maison Rouge is near completing the establishment of the Washita, which he was authorised to make for thirty families, by the royal order of July 14th, 1795; and desirous to remove for the future, all doubt respecting other families or new colonists who may come to establish themselves, we destine and appropriate conclusively for the establishment of the aforesaid Marquis de Maison Rouge, by virtue of the powers granted to us by the king, the thirty superficial leagues, marked in the plan annexed to the head of this instrument, with the limits and boundaries designated with our approbation, by the surveyor general, Don Charles Laveau Trudeau, under the terms and conditions stipulated and contracted for by the said Marquis de Maison Rouge; and that it may at all times stand good, we give the present, signed with our hand, sealed with our seal at arms, and countersigned by the underwritten honorary commissary of war and secretary of his majesty for this commandancy-general. New Orleans, the twentieth of June, 1797.

THE BARON DE CARONDELET,
ANDRES LOPES ARMISTO.

NOTE. That in conformity with his contract, the Marquis de Maison Rouge is not to admit or establish any American in the lands included in his grant.

THE BARON DE CARONDELET.

No. 17.

Papers respecting Bastrop's claim on Washita.

TO THE GOVERNOR GENERAL.

THE Baron de Bastrop desirous of encouraging the population. and cultivation of the Ouachita and its neighborhood, of passing into the United States to complete the plan of emigration which he has projected, and from thence to return with his family, makes known to your lordship that it is absolutely indispensable on the part of the government, that a district be designated of about twelve leagues square, including the Bayou Liar and its vicinity, in which your petitioner may, without the least obstacle or delay, place the families he is about to bring in, on the express condition that concessions of land are to be made gratis, and under no title or pretext to exceed, at most, four hundred arpens square, with a view to prevent the introduction of negroes, and the making of indigo, which in that district will be entirely contrary and prejudicial to the cultivation of wheat, and will cause your petitioner irrecoverably to lose the expenses of his establishment. Your petitioner prays also that you will be pleased to grant him permission to export for the Havanna, the flour which may be manufactured at the mills on the Ouachita, without confining him to sell it absolutely in New Orleans and other posts in this province, unless it should be necessary for their subsistence, in which case they ought always to have the preference. It is also indispensable that the government should charge itself with the conducting and support of the families which the petitioner may introduce, from the post of New Madrid to Ouachita, by furnishing them with some provisions for the subsistence of the first months, and assisting them to commence the sowing of their seeds, granting to those inhabitants who are not Catholics, the same liberty of conscience as is enjoyed by those of Baton Rouge, Natchez, and other districts of the province, and without fixing on the part of the government conclusively, the number of families which your petitioner is to introduce. The zeal which I feel for the pros. perity and encouragement of the province, joined to a desire of securing tranquillity and quietude to that establishment, by removing at once whatever obstacles might be opposed to those interesting objects, have induced me to represent to you what I have here done, hoping that you will recognize in these dispositions the best service of the king, and advancement of the province confided to your authority. New Orleans, June 20, 1796.*

DE BASTROP.

New Orleans, June 21, 1796. Seeing the advantages which will result from the establishment projected by Baron Bastrop, the com* It is presumed that this date, as well as that of the decree of the Baron de Carondelet immediately succeeding, ought to have been 1795, instead of 1796.

mandant of Ouachita, Don John Fathiol will designate twelve leagues square, half on the side of the Bayou of Liar, and half on the side opposite the Ouachita, for the purpose of placing there, the families which the said Baron may direct, it being understood that no greater concession of land is to be given to any one, than four hundred square arpens at most, gratis and free from all dues. With regard to the object of this establishment it is to be for the cultivation of wheat alone. The exportation of the products of this province being free, the petitioner need not doubt that it will be allowed to him, for the flour which he may manufacture at the mills of the Ouachita, to the Havanna and other places open to the free commerce of this province. The government will charge itself with the conducting of the families from New Madrid to Ouachita, and will give them such provisions as may appear sufficient for their support during six months, and proportionably for their seeds. They shall not be molested in matters of religion, but the apostolical Roman Catholic worship shall alone be publicly permitted. The petitioner shall be allowed to bring in as many as five hundred families: Provided, That after the lapse of three years, if the major part of the establishment shall not have been made good, the twelve leagues square destined for those whom the petitioner may place there, shall be occupied by the families which may first present themselves for that purpose.

THE BARON DE CARONDELET,
Registered,

ANDRES LOPES ARMESTO.

[L. S.]

The Baron de Carondelet, chevalier of the religion of St. John, marshal de camp of the royal armies, governor general, vice patron of the provinces of Louisiana, West Florida, and inspector of the troops, &c. Whereas Baron Bastrop in pursuance of his petition, dated the 20th of June of the year last past, and the decree of the 21st of the same month, has commenced the establishment of the Ouachita ; that for the fulfilment of the stipulation on the part of the government; for avoiding progressively all obstacles, difficulties and delays and that the said Baron might proceed with every facility in fixing the families, which, to the number of five hundred, he was held to place or cause to be placed there, we have proceeded to designate the twelve leagues intended for the said establishment, in the terms, with the limits, metes and bounds, and in the place mark. ed, fixed and defined by the figured plan and description, affixed to the head of this instrument, verified by the surveyor general, Don Charles Laveau Trudeau, it having now appeared to us to be also most expedient for avoiding all contest and dispute, and approving them as we do approve them, by virtue of the authority which the

king has granted to us, we do destine and appropriate in his royal name, the aforesaid twelve leagues, in order that the said Baron Bastrop may establish them in the manner and under the conditions expressed in the said petition and decree. We give the present, signed with our hand, sealed with the seal of our arms, and countersigned by the underwritten honorary commissary of war, and secretary of his majesty for this commandancy-general. New Orleans, June, 20, 1796.

THE BARON DE CARONDELET,
ANDRE LOPES ARMESTO.

[SEAL.]

TO THE GOVERNOR GENERAL.

Baron de Bastrop has the honor to make known to you, that it being his intention to establish in the Ouachita, it is expedient that you should grant to him a corresponding permission to erect there one or more mills, as the population may require, as also to shut up the Bayou de Liar, where he proposes to establish the said mills, with a dike in the place most convenient for his works; and as it appears necessary to prevent disputes in the progress of the affair, he begs also the grant, along the Bayou Barthelemi, from its source to its mouth, of six toises on each bank, to construct upon them the mills and works which he may find necessary; and prohibiting every person from making upon said Bayou any bridge, in order that its navigation may never be interrupted, as it ought, at all times, to remain free and unobstructed. This request, sir, will not appear exorbitant, when you are pleased to observe that your petitioner, who will expend in these works, twenty thousand dollars or more, will be exposed, without these grants, to lose all the fruits of his labors, by the caprice or jealousy of any individual, who being established on this Bayou, may cut off the water or obstruct the navigation; not to mention the loss, which the province will sustain of the immense advantages to result from the useful project proposed for the encouragement of the agriculture and population of those parts. New Orleans, June 12, 1797.

DE BASTROP.

New Orleans, June 12, 1797. Considering the advantages to the population on the Ouachita and the province in general, to result from the encouragement of the cultivation of wheat, and the construction of flour mills which the petitioner proposes to make at his own expense, I grant him in the name of his majesty, and by virtue of the authorities which he has conferred upon me, liberty to shut the Bayou de Liar on which he is about to establish his mills, with a dike, at the place most proper for the carrying on of his works. I also grant him the exclusive enjoyment of six toises of ground on each side of the Bayou Barthelemi, from its source to its mouth, to

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