Legend upon the Cane (7 page)

It was late
summer
, in 1702, at Fort St.
Jean. There was much activity about the fort as this was the
busiest time of year. Traders were coming down the Great River
(which was also called the Colbert River by the French) in large
numbers with pelts and food to trade.

Life was busy for the French
officers, for the task of keeping the Spanish explorers out of
their territory was a daily chore. The Acolapissa Indians were not
as accommodating to the French as they had been in the past as
well. Their demands increased as time went on. Despite this, St.
Denis continued to press Governor Bienville to let him take some
men back up to the head of the Red River to establish the trading
routes in that area. Jean-Baptiste knew that this was a key area in
the trade routes, having seen this area for himself, but he could
not afford to spare any men in these hectic days.

The fort was
situated
on the northern banks of
the river. The Acolapissa Indians were situated on the shores of
Lake Pontchartrain. The explorers had to travel a few miles north
on narrow bayous that ran through rugged and murky swamplands to
get to the village. The Indians were regular visitors to the fort
for trade with the settlers. A good relationship had been
established between them and the French in the early days, but now
they began to resent the ever growing number of white traders and
settlers in the area.

Fog was common in these
waters of the lower delta, the air was very humid and hot and
mosquitoes were a common problem as well. On this morning, the fog
was very thick upon the river. St. Denis was checking provisions
for the troops that were preparing to head west in the following
days. A garrison was prepared to setup front lines to the west to
counter the Spanish incursion.

He walked outside the main
gate of the fort, when he heard a call from atop the lookout, “A
column is ahead! River upstream!” St. Denis climbed to a higher
position to get a better look. It was difficult to see through the
fog, but as they came closer, he could see twenty or more canoes
coming down the river, each with two to four Indians aboard. “Take
your positions, men! Be at the ready!” was the call from the
lookout. At the head of the group, St. Denis could make out an
Indian wearing a familiar headdress. As they neared, his eyes
widened in disbelief.

“
Hold your fire!
Hold your fire!” he shouted to the lookout. The sentry in the
lookout obeyed and shouted down the line, “Hold your fire!” St.
Denis rushed to the ground, flung open the main gate, and ran
towards the river. It was Natchitos at the head of the group of
canoes. He was followed by the entire Nashitosh tribe.

Natchitos neared
the fort and he saw a man waving his arms from the shore. He
recognized him at once as St. Denis. The column of canoes came
ashore, one by one, lined up like marshals along the shores of the
Great River. Natchitos and Taima stepped out of the canoe and
walked towards St. Denis.
Taima
held Nule close in her arms. “Lieutenant, I am Natchitos, I have
come to your land,” Natchitos said.

“
Yes!” he
exclaimed. “Yes, I know it is you. Welcome, my friend. Welcome to
all of you. You have traveled a long way. Please come and we will
give you food and water.” He noticed the baby in Taima’s arms, now
about eight months old. “You have added to your family, I see. This
is wonderful to see, my friend.”

Another officer, Colonel
Jean-Pierre Lemont, approached from the fort, seeing this great
number of Indians coming ashore. “Lieutenant, what is going on
here? Who are these people?” he demanded.

“
Not to worry,
Sir. I know this man from the Red River area.” St. Denis explained.
“They are not a threat to us, Sir.”

“
But why
are they here? There must be more than
sixty or seventy of them!” Lemont persisted. “Ask them why they are
here, right away.”

“
I will,
S
ir, I will find out why they are
here,” St. Denis answered. “But first let’s give them some food and
rest. They have been traveling for many days. I know how far they
have come.”

“
Take care of it
quickly, Louis, I don’t want them all over this fort,” Lemont
instructed him. “There is too much work to be done around here as
it is.”

“
Yes
, Sir.”

Many of the soldiers were
now looking on at this amazing sight. Many of the Indians appeared
frightened, they had never seen this many white men before at one
time. They stood closely together and avoided staring at the
soldiers.

Among the
soldiers upon the fort was LaRouche. He walked between a few men
who were closer and had a better vantage point. He shoved his head
forward between the two men and glared down at the group of Indians
along the river. “Well I’ll be damned!” he said in
disbelief.
“He brought back the
whole damn bunch of them!” The other men looked at him quizzically
and gave him a laugh.
“They’ve
come back to get me,”
he thought
to himself. His mind had eased over the past year but no longer. He
did not like the sight of these Indians at all.

St. Denis sat in the governor’s
chamber inside of Fort St. Jean. Jean-Baptiste sat behind a desk
wearing the traditional wig. “I understand we have some visitors
with us today, eh Louis?”

“
Yes,
Governor. They are being given some food
and water at this very moment,” answered St. Denis.

“
Do you know why
they are here?”

“
No
S
ir, but I get the feeling they
are not here just to say hello. I’m afraid something must have
happened to them, or the whole tribe would not have come along with
the chief.”

“
How many do they
number?” Jean-Baptiste asked.

“
From my
estimates, about fifty men, women and children, Sir.”

“
And what do you
suppose that we do with our friends that have shown up so
unexpectedly?” asked Jean-Baptiste sarcastically. “I understand
their position is dire, but we do not have the capacity to put up
such a large number of refugees, no matter what their
circumstances.”

“
I understand,
S
ir. They can not stay here.” St.
Denis sat quietly for a moment. Then he raised his hand to his
chin. “But there is ample room north of here on the lake,” St.
Denis thought aloud.

“
Are you sure
that is wise, monsieur?” asked Jean-Baptiste. “The natives along
that lake are hardly pleased with us as it is now. I’d hate to see
their reaction if we relocate this tribe alongside them. They’ll
want even more in return for certain.”

“
Yes,” thought
St. Denis. “But it seems we have very few options. I think if we
gather up enough provisions to bring the Acolapissa, it’s possible
it will be enough of an offering to allow the Nashitosh to stay and
share the lakeshore. After all, it is a large lake.”

“
Indeed, but
territory is a touchy subject with the natives,” Jean-Baptiste
cautioned. “Don’t forget what it took to acquire the land we hold
now.” He thought for a few moments more. “You have my permission,
Louis, do what you can.”

St. Denis
gathered up a team of soldiers and instructed them
to put provisions together, including
food, blankets, animal pelts and grains to bring to the Acolapissa.
Sergeant LaRouche was the leader of the small platoon of soldiers.
He was not amused on that he had been pulled back into duty helping
this tribe once again. St. Denis also summoned Andre
Pénicaut, an honorable man and carpenter whom he
trusted. He placed him in charge of leading the displaced Nashitosh
tribe to Lake Pontchartrain. St. Denis would travel with them
initially to help them get settled.

He and Pénicaut approached
a small area outside the fort where the Nashitosh were gathered.
They were given food and they sat quietly and ate their first meal
in days. St. Denis spotted Natchitos sitting with his family and
walked towards them. Natchitos saw him coming, so he stood to greet
him.

“
Tell me my friend, are you
fleeing some type of danger?” he asked Natchitos.

Natchitos explained, “I saw that you were
not coming, so I thought you had trouble. I thought of sending a
party to come and give you aid. But the crops became lost and my
people were restless and weakened. I could not send my men any
longer. I am sorry.”

“
There is no need to
apologize,” St. Denis responded. “I am honored by your gesture.
Please accept my apologies for not returning to your area sooner. I
did not know the situation with your crops had become so desperate.
You made a wise decision in coming here. I will help you as much as
I can.”

He then introduced Pénicaut
to Natchitos. “Monsieur Pénicaut is a builder, and a trusted
friend. He has agreed to go with you to the lake that is nearby.
There you and your people can settle and live without fear.”
Natchitos nodded to Pénicaut. “But my friend, there is another
tribe at the lake, the Acolapissa. This is the tribe of which I
spoke to you. We obtained this land from them.” Natchitos nodded in
understanding. “I know the chief of this tribe, he is called Red
Hawk. He is a good man, but he is a cautious man as well. It may
take some time for him to be comfortable with new neighbors. Do you
understand?”

Natchitos looked at him
with confidence. “We are in your debt, Lieutenant. I thank you. I
will meet this Chief Red Hawk. It is I who should ask for his
permission.” St. Denis and Pénicaut looked at each other with some
worry. But St. Denis trusted his instincts. He nodded to Natchitos
in agreement.

The tribe began to gather
and load into their canoes. The soldiers pulled their boats
alongside the canoes to load more provisions. LaRouche stood at the
bow of one boat and barked orders at the men. They handed him
crates one by one. As he worked, LaRouche scanned over the tribe
with a glare. The he saw him. Tooantuh was loading a canoe just
fifteen yards downstream. He kept his eyes fixed on him as he
worked. Then Tooantuh sensed he was being watched, and he looked up
to see LaRouche staring at him. He stopped what he was doing and
walked a few paces towards LaRouche and stopped.

“
What are you looking at,
Sarge?” asked the young soldier handing him crates. Tooantuh
glanced at Ayita, then back at LaRouche.

“
Nothing soldier, hand me
that crate! Let’s keep it moving!” he shouted. Tooantuh turned back
and climbed into his canoe with Ayita.

The tribe set out and
followed St. Denis, Pénicaut, and the soldiers up a small bayou
towards Lake Pontchartrain. It was no more than an hour’s journey.
St. Denis grew nervous, for he did not know how this encounter with
the Acolapissa would unfold.

The landscape was quite
different to the Nashitosh. There were marshes and bayous all
around. It seemed like you could go anywhere by canoe. There was
more water than there was land. Rains fell more often and the air
was always thick with humidity. As they entered a clearing from the
trees, their eyes widened with amazement. They had come upon the
great lake. They had never seen such a large body of water before.
The lake stretched to the horizon as far as the eye could see.
Gulls flew overhead, a kind of bird which they had never seen
either. Up towards the west shore, a tribal village could be seen.
Many grass and thatch huts and some more modern wooden huts lined
the shore and inland for a few hundred yards. The tribe was
relatively small but the village was widespread.

They went as far as they
could on the bayou, then they unloaded the canoes and began to walk
a short distance. A noise could be heard from the village, as they
had spotted the intruders coming down the shore. Natchitos
instructed his tribe to find a place to sit and wait while he went
to speak to Chief Red Hawk.

Pénicaut knew the language
of the Acolapissa, so he walked along with Natchitos and St. Denis
towards the village. Five Indians approached them from the village,
including Chief Red Hawk. They were all adorned with tattoos on
their arms and chests. Each brave had tattoos that depicted
accomplishments in battle and the type of warrior they were. They
stopped about twenty yards from the two white men and Natchitos.
Chief Red Hawk stood in the middle and raised his right hand
motioning them to stop. They did as he indicated. Pénicaut spoke in
their language, “Greetings to you, Red Hawk, this tribe comes to
you in peace.”

“
Who is this tribe?” asked
Red Hawk. “Why do you bring them to me?” He glared at St. Denis and
Natchitos intently.

“
They are the Nashitosh.
They come from the North and are in need of land in which to live.
We ask if they may share the lands of the lake with you and your
people.” Pénicaut explained. “We have brought offerings to you from
the fort for your trouble.” He pointed towards the boats where the
provisions were stowed. Red Hawk looked past them to see the boats
where LaRouche and the soldiers were unloading the provisions. He
said nothing. Pénicaut instructed the soldiers to bring up the
provisions to where they were standing. St. Denis helped LaRouche
pile them on the ground in front of Red Hawk.