Halifax Refugees Find a New Home in Lower Louisiana, 1765

During the final years of the Seven Years' War, hundreds of Acadians, including resistance fighters led by Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil, languished in the prison camps of Nova Scotia.  Beginning in September 1761, colonial authorities at Halifax allowed Acadian prisoners not suspected of partisan resistance to assist in the construction of a road "from Halifax to Fort Sackville at the head of the Bedford Basin" northwest of the British citadel.  Meanwhile, in one of the strangest ironies of the Acadian experience, 130 young prisoners, likewise vetted for partisan activities, were enticed to return to their former lands to rebuild and maintain the dykes their fathers had constructed in the Fundy settlements.  The New England "planters" now occupying former Acadian lands in the Annapolis and Minas basins were "upland farmers," unfamiliar with the aboiteaux within the massive dykes that had transformed coastal marshes into productive fields.  The young Acadians worked diligently for their New England employers and, lke the road builders at Halifax, were paid in Canadian currency.  Despite their plunge from landowners to mere laborers, these Acadians hoped to return to their farms and villages after the war with Britain finally ended. 

This was not to be.  The war ended with the Treaty of Paris of February 1763.  Article 14 of the treaty gave all persons dispersed by the war 18 months to return to their respective territories.  British authorities decreed, however, that Acadian prisoners being held in the province, or those in other parts of the Acadian disaspora who attempted to return to Nova Scotia, could not reoccupy their former lands as proprietors.  If Acadians chose to remain in Nova Scotia, they could live only in small family groups, away from their lands along the Bay of Fundy, or they could continue to work for low wages as laborers at Halifax or on "Planters'" farms.  If they stayed, they must also take the hated oath, without reservation, to the new British monarch, George III.305  

Although Article IV had given dispersed subjects a year and a half to return to their homes, most of the Acadians in Nova Scotia were still being held in confinement in the autumn of 1764, months after the time for them to go had expired.  Nova Scotia's new governor, Montague Wilmot, who had replaced Jonathan Belcher, Jr., the year before, had, in the time allotted, "tender'd to them" the oath of allegiance as well as "offers of a settlement in this Country."  But most of the Acadians had rebuffed the oath as well as the offer.  British leaders in Halifax, led by former governor and now chief justice Belcher, still felt threatened by the Acadian presence in Nova Scotia, as did the new governor.  They were especially fearful of Beausoleil Broussard and other resistance leaders.  Ignoring orders from London's Board of Trade to keep them in Nova Scotia and entreaties from the New English "planters" to retain them as cheap but highly skilled labor, Belcher encouraged Wilmot to remove the Acadians once again from the province.  Wilmot, likely under the influence of his uncle, the powerful Earl of Halifax, resisted that policy at first, so the chief justice hatched a scheme of his own:  send the Acadians from Halifax to Basking Ridge, New Jersey, to work as indentured servants on a British nobleman's land; Belcher's father just happened to be the governor of New Jersey at the time, and the nobleman was one of his father's political allies.  Governor Wilmot also received a proposal to send 30 Acadian families to Chusock, New York, to work as indentured servants there.  But no Acadian family agreed to either of the proposals.  Haunted by the fear of Acadian treachery, Wilmot proposed to his uncle the deportation of the Acadians to the islands in the West Indies recently won from the French, but the earl informed his nephew that land there would soon "be sold at pubic auction and thus would be unavailable to these Acadians."  The Board of Trade insisted on the Acadians' immediate release and their re-settlement in Nova Scotia, as long as they took the ironclad oath and did not resist the rising tide of New English "planters."306 

The time for decision had run out.  It was time for them to act.  Nova Scotia was no longer a welcome place for the descendants of its original settlers.  Too proud to work for wages, unwilling to work as indentured servants in colonies where they could lose their religion as well as their children, unable to return to their farms in the Fundy basin, and determined not to take the hated oath, the Broussards and their kin, nearly 200 of them now, most of them still languishing on Georges Island, had to find a suitable place to put down new roots.  The St. Lawrence valley was out of the question.  They were hearing stories of how the French Canadians treated with contempt Acadian refugees who had settled among them, and the Earl of Halifax and the Board of Trade forbade the migration of more Acadians to Québec.  Besides, Canada was as much a British possession now as Nova Scotia, and settling there would require them to take the oath.  Nor was it likely that Wilmot would applaud the troublesome Broussards and their partisan compatriots settling as close as Québec to their former lands along the Bay of Fundy.  It was better that they find territory controlled by France, where they could speak their own language, practice their religion, and avoid the oath. 

The closest French possession to the prisons camp at Halifax were îles St.-Pierre and Miquelon off the southern coast of Newfoundland.  Some of their fellow exiles in Nova Scotia already had gone to the islands to work in the French fishery there.  But the islands lacked appeal for most of the Broussard party, most of whom were grain farmers and cattle raisers, not fishermen and gardeners.  Their plan was to stay together come what may, perserving their extended families and kinship networks.  What would be the impact on two small fishing islands of the sudden arrival of 200 men, women, and children?  It was best that they choose an open country where they could farm and raise their cattle and where their children and grandchildren could take up land of their own.  The Illinois country and the pays d'en haut were viable options, but the British would not let them take the shortest route there via Canada, and France had just ceded the eastern part of Illinois, as well as most of the pays d'en haut, to Britain.  Moreover, Indian rebellions, including one led by the Ottawa chief Pontiac, were ravaging the pays d'en haut, and the fighting there could last for years.  Still, the west bank of the upper Mississippi held promise for them.  By 1750 the French had founded Ste.-Geneviève across from Kaskaskia.  Like the older settlements east of the river, the newer west-bank settlement served as a breadbasket for the more numerous population of lower Louisiana, so grain farmers and cattlemen, accustomed to hard winters, likely would thrive there.  They could not know it, but in February merchants from New Orleans had founded a new settlement on the west bank of the Mississippi just below the confluence with the muddy Missouri, 50 miles above Ste.-Geneviève.  Called Paincourt at first, perhaps a reference to the area's potential for wheat production, it soon would be called by another French name--St.-Louis.  Significantly, a kinsman of the Broussards--a first cousin of the Beausoleil brothers' wives--was a long-time resident of the Illinois country.  Pierre d'Amours de Louvières, son of Charles d'Amours and his second wife Anne-Marie Thibodeau, had come to Illinois as a cadet of troupes de la marine in c1736 and remained there.  Retired now, in his mid-50s, he lived at Prairie-du-Rocher on the river's east bank, across from Ste.-Geneviève.  One suspects the Broussards were not only aware of their cousin's presence there, but may have found a way to communicate with him through the Acadian grapevine.  Downriver from Illinois, the French also retained control of the Isle of Orleans and the west bank of the lower Mississippi, or so most of the world believed.  Word of the Treaty of Fontainbleu, which had transferred New Orleans and western Louisiana from France to Spain in November 1762, did not reach New Orleans until September 1764, so the Broussards would not have heard of it.  Even if they had, the transfer from French to Spanish rule would not have made much of a difference to them:  despite Spanish control of the province, the great majority of the inhabitants of western Louisiana would continue to speak French and raise their children in the Roman Catholic faith.  The Broussard brothers also were kin through their Thibodeau wives to Joseph de Goutin de Ville, the retired French military officer who was now a businessman at New Orleans, and they may have communicated with him as well.  New to western Louisiana were four Acadian families--the Cormiers, Landrys, Poiriers, and Richards of Chignecto--recently arrived from Georgia.  Each was closely related to the Broussard brothers or to members of their party:  young Jean-Baptiste Cormier, fils, whose mother, like the Broussard brothers, was a Richard, may already have heard from his parents and sisters, now settled at Cabahannocer on the river above New Orleans.  Also at Cabahannocer was Jean Poirier, whose wife also was a Richard, and Jean Richard, whose wife was a Cormier.  Moreover, Olivier Landry, whose wife was a Poirier, was kin to the Broussard brothers' wives through his paternal grandmother, Marie Thibodeau, who also was the eldest sister of Joseph de Goutin de Ville's mother, Jeanne Thibodeau.  Upon arrival in the colony the previous February, Olivier may have been informed by his New Orleans cousin that their kinsmen up in Halifax were seeking a new home.  If the Broussards could manage to get there, New Orleans could serve as a gateway to the prairies of western Illinois.  France also controlled St.-Domingue in the Caribbean Basin, where hundreds of exiles from the British seaboard colonies recently had gone to start a new life.  Surely there must be plenty of farmland and pasture on such a large sugar island to accommodate 200 more Acadians, but letters from their kinsmen in St.-Domingue detailed the rigors of the tropical climate there and maltreatment at the hands of French officials.  But if they went there and found reasons not to remain, they could move on to New Orleans and Illinois.  And then there was the mother country itself, where the British had deported hundreds of Acadians from Île Royale and Île St.-Jean after the fall of Louisbourg, and where the Minas Acadians held in England had been recently repatriated.  Even with permission from the French Crown to go there, however, a cross-Atlantic voyage to France would be difficult and expensive, but so would a voyage to the French West Indies.  There was much for the Broussards and their kinsmen to consider, and their time was running out.308

After much deliberation, the old resistance fighters and their compatriots chose to depart British Nova Scotia and sail to French St.-Domingue.  They asked the Nova Scotia Council "to subsidize their voyage to the French Antilles."  Reminding the Acadians of how much they had earned "'from the profits of their labors purchased at a high price, during the last four years,'" the Council refused them.  Wilmot, however, was happy to provide them with rations for the voyage, just to be rid of them.  And so they would go, not as former deportees like so many of their fellow Acadians, but as former prisoners of a failed resistance and on their own hook.309 

Using the money they had saved from their labor in Nova Scotia, the Broussard party left Halifax in late November 1764 aboard a chartered English merchant schooner bound for Cap-Français on the north coast of French St.-Domingue.  Behind them would come other chartered vessels carrying 400 more of their compatriots from the prison compounds of Nova Scotia.  The Broussards reached Le Cap, as Cap-Français was known, in January 1765.  The hustle and bustle of one of the western Atlantic's busiest ports, as well as its polyglot population, must have startled the wayward Acadians.  They could see even in that winter season that the island's climate was unsuitable for them.  They had hoped to reunite with relatives there, but hundreds of the Acadians who had gone to St.-Domingue from the British seaboard colonies were either dead or dying from tropical diseases, starvation, and overwork, especially at the new French naval base at Môle St.-Nicolas west of Cap-Français.  Just as disturbing, there was little chance of acquiring productive farm land in the island's plantation-slave cash-crop economy.  They could see no future for their children in St.-Domingue, despite its being the wealthiest colony in the world.  A few of them nevertheless chose to stay, but the Broussards and most of their kinsmen decided to move on.310  

"Packet-boat mail service was established between France and Saint-Domingue in 1764," Carl A. Brasseaux informs us, so the port served as a gateway to French possessions in the region.  The Broussards chartered another merchant vessel at Le Cap, welcoming aboard a hand full of fellow Acadians who were related to members of the party.  "So strong is the attachment of the Acadians to the superstitions of the Romish religion," South Carolinian Peter Timothy had written in the South Carolina Gazette the previous August, "that tho' they are well used here, live very comfortably and get a great deal of money, yet they are all going to leave this province as well as Georgia, to the number of 300, merely that they may have priests among them.  They propose going to Cape François, and 6 of their number are now ready to depart, to give notice of the Coming of the rest and make preparations for their reception."  Perhaps to assuage their collective consciences, Peter Timothy and his fellow Carolinians refused to see the true conditions the Acadians had endured in their Palmetto colony.311 

Before the Halifax Acadians left St.-Domingue, in late January or early February, they baptized at least one of their newborns.  Victor Comeau of Chepoudy and his wife Anne Michel of Annapolis Royal, widow of Michel Brun, had married probably at Georges Island in the early 1760s.  Their son Thomas was born at the prison compound in 1762 or early 1763, and, by the time they left Halifax in late November 1764, Anne had become pregnant again.  She gave birth to son Jean either on the long voyage from Halifax down to Cap-Français or in the island city, and she and Victor baptized the boy in the church there.312 

From Le Cap, the Broussards sailed west through the Florida Straits into the Gulf of Mexico and then on to the mouth of the Mississippi River.  Their arrival at La Balize was a complete surprise to the French authorities still in control of Louisiana.  Official French correspondence, as well as baptismal and marriage records at St.-Louis church, place the Broussard party at New Orleans by 19 February 1765.  They were not the first exiles to come to Louisiana--those had come exactly a year before--but the Broussards and their kin were the first large group of Acadians to reach the lower Mississippi valley.  Members of the party, numbering slightly over 200 now, included families from the Chignecto/trois-rivières area, where the Broussards had lived, but the party also included former habitants from Annapolis, Minas, Rivière St.-Jean, even Île St.-Jean, a reflection of the chaos of their Grand Dérangement.  Nearly all of them were members of old, established families whose progenitors had reached Acadia in the 1600s.  Some of the nuclear families were headed by widows, and a number of wives were pregnant.312a 

The Broussards, of course, were the largest family in the party:

Alexandre dit Beausoleil was 66 years old when he stepped off the ship at New Orleans.  With him were wife Marguerite Thibodeau, age 60, and four unmarried children, all born on the Petitcoudiac:  Sylvain, age 24; Simon, age 21; Anne-Henriette, age 18; and Pierre, age 14.  Alexandre's son Jean-Baptiste, age 34, came with wife Anne Brun, age 27, and two sons:  Mathurin, age 15; and Jean, age 1.  Alexandre's son Anselme, age 31, came with wife Madeleine-Marguerite Dugas, age unrecorded, and infant son Joseph-Théodore, who likely had been born at sea.  Ursule Trahan, age unrecorded, widow of Alexandre's son Joseph-Grégoire Broussard, came with two children, both natives of Pigiguit:  Élisabeth, or Isabelle, age 12; and Joseph, age 11.  Joseph dit Beausoleil was age 63 and a widower when he reached New Orleans.  With him were four unmarried children, all natives of Petitcoudiac:  twins François and Françoise, age 19; Claude, age 17; and Amand, age 15.  Beausoleil's son Joseph-Grégoire dit Petit Jos, age 38, came with second wife Marguerite Savoie, age 24, who was very pregnant, and son René, age 12.  Beausoleil's son Victor-Grégoire, age 37, came with wife Isabelle LeBlanc, age 33, and no children.  Beausoleil's son Timothée-Athanase, called Athanase, age 24, came with wife Anne-Marie Bourgeois, age 25, who was pregnant, and daughter Isabelle, age 2.  Rose LeBlanc, age unrecorded, widow of Raphaël Broussard, came alone.  Marie-Théotiste, called Théotiste, Broussard, age unrecorded, widow of Joseph Hugon and perhaps a daughter of Alexandre, came with daughter Anne-Marie, called Marie, Hugon, age 9, and her brother-in-law, Jacques Hugon of Chignecto, age 35, a widower, who, after a difficult time in St.-Domingue, had joined the expedition on its way through Cap-Français.  François Broussard, age unrecorded, a kinsman of the Beausoleil Broussards, also was a member of the party. 

Their cousins the Thibodeaus also were plentiful:

Brigitte Breau of Grand-Pré age 45, widow of Charles Thibodeau, came with three children:  Jean-Anselme, age 14; Anne dite Nanette, age 10; and Marie-Louise, age 2.  Paul Thibodeau of Annapolis Royal, age 37, came with wife Rosalie Guilbeau, age 24, who was pregnant.  Also with them was cousin Anne Thibodeau of Petitcoudiac, age 21.  Olivier Thibodeau of Chepoudy, age 32, came with wife Madeleine Broussard, age unrecorded, who was pregnant, and two of their children:  Marie, age 2; and infant son Théodore.  Also with them were two of Madeleine's daughters by her first husband Jean Landry:  Anne Landry, age 11; and Isabelle Landry, age unrecorded.  Olivier's brother Amand of Chepoudy, age 31, still a bachelor, as well as Baptiste Thibodeau, age unrecorded, and Madeleine Thibodeau, age 15, also were part of the extended family. 

Other members of the party were related by either blood or association to the Broussards and the Thibodeaus: 

Jean Arseneau of Chignecto, age 37, came with wife Judith Bergeron, age 31, and four sons:  Jean-Charles, age 13; Joseph, age 8; Guillaume, age 5; and Pierre-Paul, age 3.  Pierre Arseneau of Pointe-Beauséjour, Chignecto, age 34, came with wife Anne Bergeron of Rivière St.-Jean, age 24, daughter Marie-Catherine dite Rosalie, age 1; and his sister ____, widow of _____ Bernard, age 39.  Jean Arseneau's brother Joseph, also of Chignecto, age 25, came with wife Marie Bergeron of Rivière St.-Jean, age 20, and no children.  François Arseneau, also called François Allemand, age 1, his relationship with other members of the Arseneau family undetermined, also was in the party.  Charles Babineau of Annapolis Royal, age 37, came with his second wife Anne Guilbeau of Annapolis Royal, age 25, and two sons:  Charles-Dominique, age 4; and Julien-Joseph, age 1.  Augustin Bergeron of Annapolis Royal and Rivière St.-Jean, age 55, came with wife Marie Dugas, age 54.  Their son Jean-Baptiste Bergeron of Rivière St.-Jean, age 35, came with wife Catherine Caissie dit Roger of Chignecto, age 29, who was pregnant, and four children:  Madeleine, age 15; Osite, age 13; Jean-Baptiste, fils, age 11; and Charles, age 9.  Augustin's nephew Barthélemy Bergeron III of Rivière St.-Jean, age 25, came with wife Anne Arseneau of Chignecto, age 20, and infant son Charles.  Michel Bernard of Chignecto, age 31, came with wife Marie Guilbeau of Annapolis Royal, age 31, and two sons:  Jean-Baptiste, age 3; and Michel, fils, an infant.  Jean Boudrot, age 25 came with wife Marguerite Guilbeau, age 22, and 4-year-old son Jean-Charles dit Donat.  Anne Boudrot of Annapolis Royal, age 55, widow of Charles Bourg, came with six children, all born on Île St.-Jean:  Marguerite, age 28, still unmarried; Marie-Madeleine, age 21; Gertrude, age 18; L'ange, age 17; Joseph, age 14; and Louise, age 12.  Joseph Bourgeois of Chignecto, age 29, came with wife Marie Girouard, age 27, 2-year-old daughter Marie, and two younger, unmarried brothers:  Michel, age 24; and Pierre, age 20.  Sylvain Breau of Petitcoudiac, age 52, came with wife Élisabeth, or Isabelle, Darois of Port-Royal, age 66, and no children.  Firmin Breau of Rivière-aux-Canards, Minas, age 14, also was in the party.  Victor Comeau of Chepoudy, age 25, came with wife Anne Michel, age 32, and two sons:  Thomas, age 2; and Jean, an infant, who had been born at Cap-Français, St.-Domingue.  Jean-Baptiste Cormier, fils of Chignecto, age 23, was still a bachelor.  Pierre Darois of Petitcoudiac, age 28, came with wife Marie Bourgeois of Chignecto, age 30, who was very pregnant when they reached the colony; their son Michel was born and baptized at New Orleans on February 19, soon after their arrival, and their marriage was blessed there on April 8.  Michel-Laurent Doucet of Annapolis Royal, age 43, came with wife Marguerite Martin, age 44, and five children:  Joseph, age 13; Michel, fils, age 12; Pierre, age 9; Jean, age 3; and Marie-Marthe, age 1.  Agnès Brun, age 22, widow of Paul Doucet, came with year-old daughter Anne dite Nanette Doucet, born in Boston, Massachusetts.  Jean Dugas of Annapolis Royal, age 53, came with wife Marie-Josèphe Godin of Rivière St.-Jean, age unrecorded, and six children, the older ones born at Ékoupag, Rivière St.-Jean:  François, age 25 and still a bachelor; Marie-Rose, age 16; Charles, age 15; Athanase, age 12; Michel, age 8; and Théodore, age 6.  Joseph Dugas, age unrecorded, came with wife Cécile Bergeron of Rivière St.-Jean, age 30, and four children:  Cécile, age 12; Joseph dit Cadet, age 11; Pélagie-Madeleine, age 6; and Mathilde, an infant.  Charles dit Charlitte Dugas, age 28, came with wife Marguerite Broussard, age 28, daughter of Joseph dit Beausoleil, and no children.  Charlitte's younger brothers Jean, age 24, and Pierre, age 16, also were in the party, as well as Jean Dugas, age 1, probably an orphan, and Joseph and Madeleine Dugas, ages unrecorded, whose relationship with other members of the family also were not known.  Pierre Forest, age unrecorded, came alone.  Pierre Gautrot, age unrecorded, came with wife Louise Thibodeau, age unrecorded, and daughter Marie-Josèphe, age 10 months.  Joseph Girouard of haute rivière, Annapolis Royal, age 35, still a bachelor, came alone.  Anselme-Joseph Godin dit Bellefontaine, probably of Rivière St.-Jean, age recorded, came alone.  Augustin Guédry, age unrecorded, may have come alone.  Joseph Guédry, age 30, evidently a bachelor, came alone.  Joseph dit L'Officier Guilbeau of Annapolis Royal, age 55, came with wife Madeleine Michel, age 53, and three children, two born at Annapolis Royal and the youngest at Restigouche:  Félicité, age 20; François, age 16; and Jean, age 8.  Joseph-Pepin Hébert of Chignecto, age 17, came with his sister Louise, age 11.  Pierre Hébert, age unrecorded, described as an orphan "of both father & mother," also was a member of the party.  Marie-Théotiste, called Paul Josset, age unrecorded, came alone.  Pierre Lagrèse or Lagrèze, perhaps a French official, whose age also was unrecorded, came alone.  Mathurin Landry, age 28, came with wife Marie Dugas, age unrecorded, who was pregnant.  Simon LeBlanc of Grand-Pré, age 28, came with wife Catherine Thibodeau, age unrecorded, and three children:  Cosme, age 5; Marie-Louise, age 3; and newborn Marie-Angélique, born either at Cap-Français or at sea.  Simon's younger brother René dit Petit-René, age 15, also was in the party.  Louis dit Luci Levron of Annapolis Royal, age 43, still a bachelor, came alone.  Ambroise Martin dit Barnabé of Chignecto, age 31, came with wife Marie-Madeleine Godin dit Bellefontaine of Rivière St.-Jean, age 27, and two daughters:  Hélène, age 4; and newborn Élisabeth, or Isabelle.  Claude Martin, age 29, came alone.  Two sets of Martin siblings--brothers Joseph, age 24, and brother Pierre, age unrecorded, of Chignecto; and twins Bonaventure and Judith-Philippe, age 12, orphans--also were members of the party.  Charles dit Lazers Pellerin of Annapolis Royal, age 41, came with wife Cécile Préjean, age 33, and no children.  Michel Poirier, age 27, still a bachelor, came alone.  Jean-Charles Poirier or Pothier, a year-old orphan, also was a member of the party.  René Robichaud of Annapolis Royal and Bédec, Île St.-Jean, age 30, came with wife Marguerite Martin dit Barnabé of Chignecto and Tracadie, Île St.-Jean, age 32, and two daughters:  Madeleine, age 8; and Genevière, age 6.  Abraham Roy of Annapolis Royal, age 34, a widower, came with two children:  Marie, age 10; and Sauveur, age 6.  Jean-Baptiste Semer of Grand-Pré, age 21, came alone.  Pierre Surette, age unrecorded, came with wife Marie Thibodeau of Petitcoudiac, age 25, who was pregnant, and their 3-year-old daughter Marie-Anne.  Jean Trahan of Grand-Pré, age 47, widower of Marguerite Broussard, came with three children:  Madeleine, age 15; Germain, age 13; and Marguerite, age 10.  Jean's brother Michel of Grand-Pré, age 39, came with wife Anne-Euphrosine Vincent of Annapolis Royal, age 34, and four children, the older ones born at Grand-Pré, the youngest one at Halifax:  Paul, age 13; Françoise, age 12; Jean-Athanase, age 11; and Marie-Françoise, age 2.  René Trahan of Petitcoudiac, age 37, came with wife Isabelle Broussard, age 32, and 10-year-old son Olivier.313

While recuperating at New Orleans from their odyssey, the Broussard party changed their collective minds about continuing on to Illinois.  Cousin Joseph de Goutin de Ville, after welcoming his kinsmen with open arms, may have convinced them to remain in lower Louisiana.  Or perhaps simple circumstance dictated a change of mind.  Acting Director-General Charles-Philippe Aubry was reporting to his superiors that "the Indians are still giving the English a great deal of trouble" up in the Illinois country.  Moreover, British vessels, including two frigates, now free to navigate the Mississippi along its entire length, had taken positions at Bayou Manchac above the city, where the British planned to build a fort on their side of the river, and at Natchez, where they planned to construct an even larger post.  The exiles also may have heard rumors of British plans to fortify the bluffs at Baton Rouge, between Manchac and Natchez.  Illness had haunted them since Halifax, and at least 10 of their young women, including two of Joseph dit Beausoleil's daughters-in-law, were pregnant.  Contemplation of another difficult journey, this one up a long, winding river plagued by strife and uncertainty, would have encouraged them to embrace the peacefulness of New Orleans and think twice about moving on to Illinois.313a

As an inducement for them to remain in lower Louisiana, Aubry agreed to a plaintive request from the new arrivals.  Despite a royal decree of 29 June 1764 that liquidated colonial bills and currencies, Aubry authorized the Acadians to exchange their "letters of exchange, card money, and drafts" for French currency.  Local merchant Gilbert-Antoine de Saint-Maxênt served as exchange agent for a wealthy merchant in Bordeaux, M. Lamalatie, who would attempt to complete the long and, in the end, futile transaction for the weary exiles.  Saint-Maxênt's initial report to the French authorities, prepared at the end of April 1765, contains the names of 32 family heads in the Broussard party, including two widows.  Saint-Maxênt valued their Canadian money at 33,395 livres, 18 sols.  Interestingly, Joseph dit Beausoleil's name is not on Saint-Maxênt's list; perhaps he had expended his money at Halifax and Cap-Français paying for the passage of others.314 

The Acadians took care of more intimate business while they lingered in the city.  On February 27, soon after their arrival, Amand Thibodeau of Chepoudy, age 31, married Gertrude, 18-year-old daughter of Charles Bourg and Anne Boudrot of Île St.-Jean, at St.-Louis church--the first recorded Acadian marriage in Louisiana.  Gertrude came to Louisiana with her widowed mother and five siblings and likely had met her future husband in the prison compound at Halifax.  Joseph Girouard of the haute rivière married Ursule, daughter of René Trahan and Élisabeth Darois and widow of Alexandre dit Beausoleil's son Joseph-Grégoire Broussard, at St.-Louis church on April 8, during the party's sojourn in the city.  Rose LeBlanc, widow of one of Joseph dit Beausoleil's sons, took a different path.  She remained in the city, applied to the novitiate of the Ursuline Order, and was accepted on August 14, earning for herself the distinction of being "Louisiana's first Acadian religious."  The Acadians also ministered to family members and friends at the King's hospital on the edge of the city.  There, one of them recalled, "... they gave us a pound and a half of bread and meat for women who were pregnant or nursing as well as the disabled and sick persons...."  Despite such excellent care, the Acadians were compelled to bury at least two of their own.  Pierre Gautrot, husband of Louise Thibodeau, died at New Orleans soon after the party reached the city, perhaps the first Acadian to die in the colony.  Pierre left his wife with an infant daughter, Marie-Josèphe; Louise was one of the widows who appeared on the list of family heads, dated 30 April 1765, hoping to exchange their Canadian card money for Louisiana funds.  Mathilde, infant daughter of Joseph Dugas and Cécile Bergeron, died at New Orleans on March 11.315 

The Acadians' reputation for hard work and loyalty to France having preceded them, Director-General Aubry was determined to keep them close.  "They would actually have died of misery had we not provided them some assistance," Aubry wrote to the Minister of Marine soon after the Halifax refugees appeared at New Orleans.  "I thought that the honor and the humanity of our country compelled me to do something for these poor families who have been wandering for the past ten years.  Their affliction is the result of their sacred attachment to their homeland and to their religion.  I shall attempt to settle them on the right [west] bank of the river, as close to the city as possible."  He offered to settle them directly across from the city, at the site of today's Algiers.  The place, however, was low and subject to flooding, thus requiring the building of high, expensive levees, and was "blanketed by dense, hardwood forests."  Such a place could not be suitable for the weary Acadian exiles, most of whom were Chignecto cattlemen who had lived beside the coastal marshes of the upper Fundy shore.  And then there was the question of cost.  "These people," Aubry informed the Minister in late April, "would have had to build levees and clear a substantial amount of land.  This would have necessitated feeding these people for several years while they established themselves and became self-supporting.  Such a precedent was set by the settlers of the German Coast.  We find ourselves in such circumstances that I did not dare make such expenditures."  Aubry had heard rumors that "The English, who often meddle in the affairs of other people, wish to induce the Acadians to join them along the Iberville River [Bayou Manchac, above the German Coast].  It is unlikely, however," he assured the Minister, "that these people, who refused to submit to English rule--both after the Treaty of Utrecht and during the last war--and who consequently were treated harshly by them, would now join the British."316 

So very true. 

But before Aubry could concoct another settlement scheme for them, the Broussards again seized control of their collective destiny.  In June 1764, their cousin Joseph de Goutin de Ville had received a land grant on upper Bayou Teche in the still-undeveloped Attakapas District, west of the Atchafalaya Basin, and he likely had told his cousins about the wonders of that country.  Downriver from de Ville's land grant was an even larger one held by another retired French army officer, former infantry captain Jean-Antoine-Bernard Dauterive, a major cattle producer in the colony.  Ordonnateur Foucault either had gotten wind of an impending agreement between the Broussards and the cattleman, or he and Aubry may have been the authors of a scheme to send the Acadians to the prairie districts and thereby buttress the developing cattle industry there.  In late February, weeks before the agreement was finalized, Foucault wrote to the Minister of Marine:  "They [the Halifax Acadians] are poor and worthy of pity.  Until they have chosen land in the Opelousas district, sixty leagues from New Orleans, and are able to care for themselves, I cannot refuse them assistance."317

Likely in March, while Dauterive and the Broussards were negotiating a deal, Beausoleil sent, or more likely led, a scouting expedition across the Atchafalaya Basin to the cattleman's spread along lower Bayou Teche.  One of the young Acadians, Jean-Baptiste Semer, age 21 at the time of his arrival, described for his father their coming to New Orleans and then noted:  "We the first ones have been sent seven or eight men to look over the land and locations in order to find a suitable site, and we were told that at Attakapas there were magnificent grasslands with the finest soil in the world."

By April, the Beausoleil brothers and several other party leaders--Joseph's son Victor, Alexandre's son Jean-Baptiste, cousin-in-law Olivier Thibodeau, and associates Joseph dit L'Officier Guilbeau, Jean Dugas, and Pierre Arseneau--had "agreed to tend Dauterive's livestock for six years; in consideration for their labor, they would receive not only half of the herd's increase but also the land grant Dauterive and his partner," André Massé, "had acquired in 1760," which the partners ceded to the Crown on March 2 in exchange for a new concession on La Prairie du Vermilion "located well west" of present-day St. Martinville.  One wonders how much the Acadians knew of Dauterive's reputation in the colony.  In 1758, during the war with Britain, Governor Kerlérec had hard words to say about him:  "This officer is one of the most antisocial, insubordinate, hot-headed men that I have known in this colony; a schemer; and always restless.  I have disciplined him often, but without success."  (Then, again, perhaps the Broussards had much in common with the irrascible old soldier!) 

Regardless of what their feelings may have been towards Dauterive and other members of the French elite, the Acadians chose to play a part in the colony's cattle industry, now decades old.  As Carl A. Brasseaux explains:  "Development of the cattle industry at Attakapas was vital, the acting governor [Aubry] argued, because 'since the cession of Mobile, we are entirely without cattle.'  Finally, the cattle produced at Attakapas [one historian describes them as "semidomesticated longhorns"] could support New Orleans in times of war, because the post's lines of communication with the capital were not exposed to British raids."  The Dauterive Compact, as it came to be called, was a clever way for the Acadians to acquire cattle in a hurry so that they, too, could help mitigate the shortage of beef in the colony.  Brasseaux calls the place where the Acadians planned to raise their cattle "the former Dauterive-Massé concession," indicating that the land on which they would settle at Attakapas would belong to them, not to the cattlemen.318 

Aubry and Foucault agreed to the arrangement, notarized in their presence on April 4; again, they may have been the authors of the scheme.  They had just opened up the western districts to colonization by approving the settlement there of "scores of French subjects from Alabama" whom the locals called Allibamonts.  Why not send these Acadians there as well.  The exiles had raised cattle in Acadia, so they certainly could raise Spanish longhorns out on the western prairies.  "We ... sent seven or eight men to look over the land and locations in order to find a suitable site," one of the young Acadians remembered, "and we were told that at Attakapas there were magnificent grasslands with the finest soil in the world."  On April 8, Aubry commissioned Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil Capitiane Commandant des Acadiens aux Attakapas.  The following week, Aubry ordered retired French engineer lieutenant Louis-Antoine Andry, assisted by Pierre-François Olivier du Closel de Vézin, fils, to lead the capitaine commandant and his party to Bayou Teche "via Bayou Plaquemine and the network of waterways lacing the Atchafalaya Basin," normally a six-day journey and most likely the same route the scouting party had taken.  Under Andry's supervision, the Halifax Acadians would make their settlements "along a navigable river, checking carefully the high water level so that flooding can be avoided."  Andry was tasked also with surveying the Teche from the new Acadian settlements down to the Gulf in hopes of establishing a quicker line of communication between the prairie districts and New Orleans.  Also accompanying the Broussard party would be Father Jean-François de Civray, a "gouty" French Capuchin missionary who had served Louisiana since 1737.  Perhaps the vicar-general at New Orleans, Capuchin Father Dagobert de Longuory, thought an experienced priest like Father Jean-François was the ideal choice to minister to this large group of settlers.  One wonders, however, if the vicar-general informed the Acadians that Father Jean-François was an habitual gambler who had recently returned from "exile" at Mobile.319

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Probably during the third week of April the Acadians, carrying their few personal belongings, stepped aboard what the locals called pirogues for their journey across the Atchafalaya Basin.  Their provisions for the trip as well as for their settlement, enough to last them six months, had been carefully calculated by Ordonnateur Foucault and his supply clerks:  "foodstuffs, tools, muskets, and building material worth 15,500 livres."  Upon departing the city, Jean-Baptiste Semer relates, "... (they gave us) bread, that is to say, flour for the men and an equal amount of rice and corn for the women and children."  The Acadians also would go to Attakapas with plenty of powder and shot, essential for survival on an untamed frontier.  On their way upriver, they passed settlements at Chapitoulas and Cannes Brûlé before reaching Des Allemands, the German Coast, where they would have seen the neat cabins, freshly-plowed fields, and well-tended gardens of an alien people who had come to the colony four decades earlier.  Here, amidst the Germans' long-lot habitations, was evidence that this new land could yield wonders for them.  The young Semer remembered vividly what he saw there:  "The land here brings forth a good yield of everything anyone wants to sow.  Wheat from France, corn and rice, sweet potatoes, giraumont (a kind of zucchini), pistachios, all kinds of vegetables, flax, cotton ...  indigo, sugar, oranges, and peaches here grow like apples in France."  A veritable breadbasket for the colony.  Jean-Baptiste could not have known it, but one of his grandsons many years hence would marry a German girl whose ancestors were living at this very place.320 

Above the German Coast, the flotilla of pirogues came upon a stretch of river where the habitations were more scattered, some of them giving evidence of having been settled only recently.  Here were nondescript villages of Natives whose names they had never heard of, and also several vacheries, the stench of livestock filling their nostrils for miles along the river.  For the dozens of Chignecto cattlemen, however, it must have been a welcome perfume.  One of them, Jean-Baptiste Cormier, fils of Chignecto, doubtlessly was more excited than most of his fellow passengers as they approached the Côte Cabahannocer.  Here, along the west bank, at a sharp bend in the river, dwelled the four Acadian families who had come to the colony the year before.  One of those families was that of Jean-Baptiste Cormier, père and his wife Madeleine Richard--Jean-Baptiste, fils's parents!  The older Jean-Baptiste was a still-vigorous man of 56; his wife was 55.  They had been deported to Georgia aboard one of the two ships that had sailed from the Bay of Chignecto on 13 October 1755 and reached Savannah two and a half months later.  Jean-Baptiste, fils had been only 13 then, but somehow the boy, their only son, had become separated from the rest of the family.  While his parents and sisters sailed on to a distant colony filled with Englishmen who hated them, Jean-Baptiste, fils had remained in Acadia, looked out, no doubt, by his uncles, aunts, and cousins as they survived as best they could in the wilderness bordering the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  Jean-Baptiste, fils had grown to manhood there and in the prison compound on Georges Island.  He may have received word from his parents that they had come to Louisiana; if so, they likely have told him about the wonders of this New Acadia.  So here he was, a man of 23 now, crying in the arms of his beloved parents, surrounded by his five sisters, who had remained with their parents, the youngest sister hardly known to him.  He remembered of course his older sister Madeleine, now 24, and younger sisters Marie, 19, Anne, 18, and even Marguerite, 14.  But here was Anastasie, now age 12, who had been a toddler of 2 when he had last laid eyes on her during that terrible autumn of 1755.  Having fulfilled the dream of reuniting with his family, Jean-Baptiste, fils likely bid farewell to his fellow exiles and remained with his parents at Cabahannocer.321 

A land dispute in the early 1770s with Jacques-Guillaume Courtableau's widow drove Opelousas Acadians from Prairie de Coteaux south to Prairie Belleveu and Bayou Bourbeaux.  In 1773, a hurricane damaged many of their homesteads.  Dissatisfied with life in a district where they were a distinct minority, some of the Opelousas Acadians asked Governor Luis de Unzaga for permission to migrate to French St.-Domingue.  Unzaga refused to let them go, so they sought permission at least to move south into the Attakapas District, where many of their relatives lived and probably where they sought to go all along.  Again, Unzaga refused to let them leave, but some of them sold their lands and moved to Attakapas anyway.  Unzaga, like many another powerful official who thought he could control these people, was learning a lesson in Acadian stubbornness; in the end, the governor relented.  Most of the Opelousas Acadians remained in the district, however, and built up their livestock herds.336   map

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With the arrival of the Cormier, Landry, Poirier, and Richard families on the Upper German Coast in the spring of 1764, the stretch of river called Côte Cabahannocer became the first Acadian community in French Louisiana, predating the Acadian settlement on Bayou Têche by a year.  After a flood of more Acadians came to Cabahannocer in 1765 and 1766, Louisianans began to call it by another name: Côte des Acadiens--the Acadian Coast. 

On 18 December 1764, Nova Scotia governor Montague Wilmot wrote to his superior, the Earl of Halifax, who also was his uncle, about the Acadian prisoners who had been held in the colony during the final months of the Seven Years' War:  "... no reasonable proposals being able to overcome their zeal for the French and aversion to the English government, many of them soon resolved to leave this Province, and having hired Vessels at their own Expense, six hundred persons including women and children, departed within three weeks for the French West Indies, where, by the last information I have had, they are to settle for the cultivation of lands unfit for the sugar cane.  And although they had certain accounts, that the climate had been fatal to the lives of several of their countrymen, who had gone there lately from Georgia and Carolina, their resolution was not to be shaken; and the remainder of them, amounting to as many more, in different parts of the Province have the same destination in view, when the Spring shall afford them convenience and opportunity."  Wilmot was not sad to see them go.  "Thus my Lord," he gushes on, "we are in the way of being relieved from these people who have been the bane of the Province, and the terror of its settlements."338

The British governor would not know it for many more months, but these "six hundred persons" did not remain in the French West Indies.  After lingering at Cap-Français, the gateway to the French Antilles, they moved on.  By late winter, nearly half of them had reached French Louisiana; by mid-spring, 231 Acadians who had survived the long voyage from Halifax were on their way to the prairie region west of the Atchafalaya Basin.  But what of the remaining 300 or more exiles who had left Halifax for the West Indies the previous December?  Were they also heading to the lower Mississippi valley, following the Broussards and the Thibodeaus to that New Acadia? 

Another letter from a governor to his superior, this one written by Charles-Philippe Aubry to French Minister of Marine the duc de Choiseul, on 14 May 1765 from New Orleans, answers the question:  "When I first had the honor of informing you of the arrival of the sixty Acadian families from St. Domingue and their subsequent departure for the Attakapas with Mister Andry for the purpose of establishing a village," Aubry wrote, "I did not anticipate that they would be followed by so many others.  This uninterrupted influx of new families will soon turn Louisiana into a New Acadia.  At this moment I am informed that 300 men, women and children are on the lower river.  Rumors presently indicate that we are no longer dealing with hundreds (of Acadian immigrants), but thousands.  It appears that there are approximately 4,000 who would like to put an end to their long years of exile by settling in Louisiana."  The rumors of more arrivals were largely true; only the numbers were exaggerated.339 

The day before Aubry's letter of May 14, Ordonnateur Foucault had informed the Minister of Marine that he had just learned "of the arrival on the lower river of 48 Acadian families.  Like the families who preceded them, they came from Saint-Domingue.  It appears more than 1,000 families are expected in this colony any day now."  So he, too, had heard the amazing rumors that Aubry soon would report to the Minister.  Foucault lamented to le duc, "The 80 persons whom I discussed in my letter ... dated May 4, and these 48 additional families are causing me a great deal of concern."  It was the ordonnateur's duty to oversee the colony's finances, which the recent war and metropolitan neglect had left in a sorry condition.  But neglect was not the only thing that had driven the colony's finances to its knees.  Only a few weeks before, Foucault had overseen the expenditure of 15,500 livres, 15 sols, for "provisions, ammunition and merchandise provided by the king's warehouses in New Orleans to the Acadian families..." who were settling at Attakapas and Opelousas.  The King's warehouses were empty now, and yet hundreds, perhaps thousands, of more Acadian exiles were on their way to New Orleans!  "There is nothing easier than to give them land in the areas where the other Acadians have already settled," Foucault lamented of the later arrivals.  "However, how can we prepare them for the trip?  They will need provisions, tools, ammunition and boats.  These items will have to be purchased, since the royal magazines are completely empty at present.  This will be very expensive," he warned the Minister, "particularly if the additional 1,000 families arrive as expected."  Aubry's communication to the Minister the following day repeated the same litany of complaints, with the added, unnerving detail:  "To make matters worse, the Acadians have smallpox, and will inflict a new calamity upon the colony."340 

Aubry, Foucault, and their caretaker government would do what they could for the new arrivals despite limited resources.  But where were the Spanish?  Would they soon appear with resources enough to accommodate so many Acadian exiles? 

The new arrivals were the remainder of the 600 Acadians who had refused to languish in Nova Scotia.  They, like the Broussard party, had chartered British commercial vessels to French St.-Domingue but refused to remain there.  After some of their fellow Acadians languishing in the tropical colony joined them at Le Cap, these Halifax refugees also chartered other vessels for the final leg of the journey to French Louisiana.  The first of their parties appeared at La Balize in May--about the same time the 34th Regiment of Foot reached New Orleans from British West Florida on its way up to Illinois.  One wonders what these survivors of the Acadian resistance thought of running into so many hated redcoats only a few months after putting behind them the prison compounds of Nova Scotia.  By early August, Foucault was notifying the Minister of Marine that "Small groups ... are coming aboard the ships arriving daily from Saint-Domingue."  Young Jean-Baptiste Semer, who had come to New Orleans with the Broussards, witnessed the exodus.  "After us," he wrote, referring to the 200 members of his own party, "there arrived yet another 105 in another ship and then eighty, forty, (and) some twenty or thirty, in three or four others.  I believe there were about 500-600 of us Acadians, counting women and children."  They were still coming as late as December.  However, as Aubry's and Foucault's reports to the Minister show, these officials did not--could not--settle the newcomers near their fellow exiles from Halifax.  The caretaker government did not have the resources to stage another exodus to the prairie districts; circumstances beyond their control were dictating for the Acadians a settlement pattern that would prove to be inexorable.  After spending weeks in New Orleans recuperating from their journey, during which time they also turned in their Canadian currency for possible reimbursement, the newcomers moved on to their New Acadia.  Aubry and Foucault sent them to the nearest area of vacant lands above the city, at Côte Cabahannocer, where the 20 Acadians from Georgia had settled the year before.340a 

Many families among these later arrivals bore the surnames of Acadians who had settled earlier at Cabahannocer or had gone to the prairies:

Pierre Arseneau of Chignecto, age 30, came with wife Marie-Josèphe Godin dit Lincour of Rivière St.-Jean, age 21, and two sons:  Eusèbe, age 3; and infant Pierre, fils, born probably at sea.  Firmin Arceneau, age 12, an orphan, also was a member of the party.  Marguerite Dugas of Rivière St.-Jean, age 62, widow of Barthélemy Bergeron dit d'Amboise, fils, came with her unmarried son, Germain, age 22.  Marguerite's son Jean-Baptiste Bergeron dit d'Amboise of Rivière St.-Jean, age 43, came with wife Marguerite Bernard, age 35, and four children, all born at Ste.-Anne-du-Pay-Bas:  Jean-Baptiste, fils, age 15; Marie-Blanche, age 13; Marin, age 10; and Mathurin, age 8.  Marguerite's son Charles Bergeron of Annapolis Royal, age 37, came with wife Isabelle Arseneau of Chignecto, age 32, and three children: Simon, age 12; Jean-Théodore, age 3; and Marguerite, age 2.  Also in the extended family were two of Marguerite Dugas's nieces, both of them sisters and natives of Ste.-Anne-du-Pay-Bas:  Anne-Marie or Marie-Anne Bergeron, age 16, and Marie Bergeron age 15.  Pierre Bernard of Chignecto, age 34, came with wife Marguerite Arseneau, age 30, and three children:  Jean-Baptiste, age 11; Pierre, fils, age 7, and Marie, age 5.  Olivier Boudrot of Grand-Pré, age 37, a widower, came with 12-year-old son Simon.  Joseph Boudrot, age unrecorded, probably another widower, also was in the party.  Joseph Bourg of Grand-Pré, age 43, came with wife Marie Landry of Ste.-Famille, Pigiguit, age unrecorded, and five children:  Joseph, fils, age 20; Marguerite, age 16; Pierre, age 15; Jean, age 5; and Charles, age 3.  Another Joseph Bourg, perhaps of Cobeguit and a widower, age 30, came with two children:  Marie-Rose, age 3; and Joseph, fils, age 2.  A third Joseph Bourg, age 25, came with three cousins whose surnames have been lost:  Madeleine ____, age 19; Joseph ____, age 12; and Marie ____, age 11.  Paul Bourgeois of Chignecto, age 33, came with wife Rosalie LeBlanc, age 20, and no children.  Paul's brother Jean-Baptiste Bourgeois of Chignecto, age 32, came with Marie-Madeleine Bourg, age unrecorded, who was pregnant, and two sons:  Jean-Baptiste, fils, age 4; and Joseph-Marie, age 2.  Michel Bourgeois of Chignecto, a widower, age 31, came alone.  Jean Bourgeois of Chignecto, probably a widower, age 26, also came alone.  Athanase Breau of Chepoudy, age 30, came with wife Marie-Josèphe LeBlanc, age 21, and two children:  Joseph-Athanase, age 2; and infant daughter Anastasie.  Paul Doucet, age 21, came alone.  Charles Forest of Chignecto, age 43, came with his second wife Marguerite Saulnier, age 40, and five children:  Pierre-Paul, age 19; Anselme, age 13; Marie, age 5; Marguerite, age 3; and Charles, fils, age 1.  With Charles also was niece Marguerite Forest, age 19.  Pierre Forest, age 26, came with wife Anne Dupuis, age 24, and no children.  Joseph Forest of Pigiguit, age 19, came with wife Isabelle Léger, age unrecorded, and no children.  Marie Forest, age 17, also was in the party.  Simon Gautrot of Grand-Pré, age 29, came with wife Marie-Madeleine Breau of Chepoudy, age 22, and no children.  Firmin dit La Prade Girouard of Pigiguit, age 16, came alone.  Bonaventure Godin dit Bellefontaine of Rivière St.-Jean, age 50, came with second wife Marguerite Bergeron dit d'Amboise, age 42, and four children:  Théotiste, age 16; Marie, age 14; Bonaventure, fils, age 12; and Michel, age 9.  Barthélémy Godin dit Bellefontaine, age 30, came with wife Marie-Claire Martin, age 31, and no children.  Théotiste dite Sally Thibodeau, age 25, widow of Bonaventure Godin, came with 4-year-old daughter Marie-Anne-Barbe.  Jacques Godin dit Bellefontaine, age 25; Jean-Baptiste Godin dit Bellefontaine, age 19; and Jean Godin dit Bellefontaine, age 18--all single and from Rivière St.-Jean--also were members of the party.  Marie-Anne Bergeron of Rivière St.-Jean, age 36, widow of Alexandre Godin dit Lincour, came with four children:  Marie-Anne, age 14; Victor, age 13; Pierre-Paul, age 9; and Marie-Ann, age 6.  Joseph Godin dit Lincour, age 25; and Charles Godin dit Lincour, age 15--both single and from Rivière St.-Jean--also were in the party.  Joseph Guilbeau of Annapolis Royal, age 34, came alone.  Claire Robichaud of Annapolis Royal, age 52, widow of Jean-Baptiste Hébert dit Manuel of Cobeguit, came with four children and a grandson:  Marie-Théotiste, age 15; Théotiste-Marie, age 12; Mathurin, age 11; Marie-Blanche, age 10; and grandson Jean-Louis Hébert, age 2.  Claire's son Joseph dit Pepin Hébert of Cobeguit, age 26, came with wife Françoise Hébert, age 20, their year-old-son Louis, and orphan Jean-Charles Hébert of Chignecto, age 14.  Unmarried Hébert brothers from Chignecto, one of them perhaps a widower, also were in the party:  François, age 30; Joseph III, age 29, and Pierre, age 28.  Joseph Landry of Pigiguit, age 26 and already a widower, came with two sons:  Joseph, fils, age 2; and Pierre, age 1.  Joseph LeBlanc of Grand-Pré and Annapolis Royal, age 45, came with wife Élisabeth, or Isabelle, Gaudet, age 46, and four children:  Anne, age 17; Joseph, fils, age 15; Élisabeth, or Isabelle, age 11; and Gilles, age 8.  Étienne LeBlanc of Grand-Pré, age 43, came with wife Élisabeth, or Isabelle, Boudrot, age 43, and seven children:  Simon, age 21; Marguerite, age 16; Étienne, fils, age 14; Marie-Madeleine, age 7; Mathurin, age 6; Joseph, age 3; and infant Marie-Marthe-Élisabeth.  Marcel LeBlanc of Grand-Pré, age 31, came with wife Marie-Josèphe Breau of Cobeguit, age 29, and 2-year-old daughter Marguerite.  André LeBlanc, age unrecorded, also may have been in the party.  Jean Léger of Chepoudy, age 43, came with wife Marie-Madeleine Saulnier of Petitcoudiac, age unrecorded, and no children.  Marie Léger of Annapolis Royal, age 21, came with two younger siblings:  Scholastique, age 19, and Paul, age 7, who had been born in New York.  Anne Martin dit Barnabé of Annapolis Royal, age 45, came with two young cousins from Chignecto:  François Martin dit Barnabé, age 19, and his brother Paul, age  17.  François and Paul's older brother Joseph of Chignecto, age 26, came with wife Marguerite Pitre, age 26, and no children.  Pierre Michel of Annapolis Royal, age 28, a widower, came alone.  Joseph Poirier, age 25, came with wife Marie-Anne Bourgeois, age 15, and no children.  Amand Préjean of Chepoudy, age 41, came with wife Madeleine Martin, age 37, who was pregnant, and five children:  Marin, age 15; Anastasie, age 14; Marie-Anne, age 13; Joseph, age 5, born at Restigouche; and infant André-Joseph, born at sea.  Amand's brother Joseph of Chepoudy, age 33, came with wife Marguerite Durel of St.-Pierre-du-Nord, Île St.-Jean, age 28, who also was pregnant, and 4-year-old daughter Victoire.  Amand and Joseph's brother Charles of Chepoudy, age 29, came with wife Marguerite Richard, age 20, who, like her sisters-in-law, was pregnant.  Amand, Joseph, and Charles's unmarried brother Basile of Chepoudy, age 21, also was in the party.  Joseph dit Vieux Richard of Annapolis Royal, age 48, came with wife Anne Blanchard, age 40, who was pregnant, two daughters, and a nephew:  Marie-Anastasie, age 6; Rosalie, age 2; and Joseph Richard, age 3.  Joseph Richard of Chignecto, age 29, came with wife Agnès Hébert dit Manuel of Cobeguit, age 23, and two children:  Louis and Marie, age unrecorded.  Another Joseph Richard, this one of Ste.-Famille, Pigiguit, age 29, came alone.  Rosalie Thibodeau of Pointe Beauséjour, age unrecorded, widow of Claude Richard, came with infant son Joseph.  Bruno Robichaud of Annapolis Royal, age 40, came with wife Anne-Félicité Broussard, age 33, and two sons:  Firmin dit Ephrem, age 14; and Bruno, fils, age 1.  Joseph Caissie dit Roger of Chignecto, age 19; and two first cousins with the same name, Jean Caissie dit Roger, ages 10 and 8, were in the party.  Charles dit Jean-Charles Savoie of Annapolis Royal, age 44, came with second wife Judith Arseneau of Île St.-Jean, age 29, came with 2-year-old son Jean-Baptiste and orphan Basile Deroche of Île St.-Jean, age 11.  Charles's brother Joseph of Annapolis Royal, age 38, came with wife Anne Préjean, age 30, who was pregnant, and 5-year-old daughter Marguerite.  François-Joseph Savoie of Chepoudy, age 35, a widower, came with two sisters, also from Chepoudy:  Rosalie, or Rose, age 24; and Marie, age unrecorded.  Joseph Saulnier of Petitcoudiac, age 26, still a bachelor, came with two unmarried siblings:  Jean-Baptiste, age 19; and Marguerite, age unrecorded.  Charles Thibodeau, age 24, still a bachelor; Jean-Baptiste Thibodeau, age 22; and Pierre Thibodeau, age unrecorded--also were in the party.  Pierre Vincent of Pigiguit, age 20, came alone. 

More new Acadian family names appeared in the colony: 

Pierre Arosteguy of Bayonne, France, and Minas, age 52, came with wife Marie Robichaud of Annapolis Royal, age 53, and four children, none of whose ages were recorded:  Anne, Jean, Marguerite, and Marie-Théotiste.  Pierre's son Pierre fils, age unrecorded, came with wife Isabelle Comeau, age unrecorded, who was pregnant.  Anne dite Nanette Saulnier of Petitcoudiac, age 24, widow of Basile Babin, came with two daughters:  Lisa-Marie-Josèphe, age 5; and Marie-Josèphe, age 3.  Joseph Barthélemy, age 30, came alone.  Joseph Blanchard, age 26, came alone.  Joseph's brother Amable Blanchard, age 23, came with wife Anastasie or Anatalia Girouard of Annapolis Royal, age 20, and infant son Marin.  Also in the party were brothers Joseph and Pierre Blanchard, ages unrecorded; siblings Marguerite Blanchard, age 14, and Victor Blanchard, age 13; and another Victor Blanchard, age unrecorded.  Pierre Chiasson of Chignecto, age 36, came with wife Osite Landry, age 32, and two children:  Michel, age 6; and infant daughter Marie.  Also with Pierre was his brother Paul, age 19; and nephew Jean-Baptiste Chiasson, age 3.  Agnès-Marie Daigre, age 14, came alone.  Pierre Doiron, age 32, came with wife Marie Bourgeois, age 35, and two children:  Olivier, age 1; and Marguerite, age unrecorded.  Honoré Duon of Annapolis Royal, age 49, came with wife Anne-Marie Vincent of Pigiguit, age 52, and three children:  Anne-Perpétué, age 20; Jean, age 18; and François, age 16.  Honoré's brother Charles of Annapolis Royal, age 29, came with wife Marie-Josèphe Préjean, age 28, and two children:  Jean-Baptiste, age 5; and Marguerite, age 1.  Honoré and Charles's brother Claude-Amable of Annapolis Royal, age 27, came with wife Marie-Josèphe dite Josette Vincent of Pigiguit, age 26, and niece Françoise Pitre, age 1.  Anne Gaudet, age 41, widow of Michel Dupuis, came with two daughters and a nephew:  Marie, age 14; and Monique, age 11; and Joseph Dupuis of Annapolis Royal, age 14.  Marie Breau of Grand-Pré, age 62, widow of Jean Gaudet, came with three unmarried children:  Charles, age 35; Rosalie, age 26; and Jérôme, age 25.  Claude Gaudet, age unrecorded, came with wife Catherine Forest, age unrecorded, and 13-year-old son Charles.  Pierre Gaudet, age unrecorded, came with wife Marie-Madeleine Doucet, age 29, and three children:  Pierre, fils, age 5; Charles, age 2; and infant Marguerite.  Joseph Gaudet of Annapolis Royal, age 26, came with wife Marguerite Bourgeois, age 21, and year-old daughter Rosalie-Victoire, born in Boston, Massachusetts.  Marie-Rose Bourgeois of Chignecto, age 34, widow of Pierre Gravois, came with three sons:  Paul, age 14; Joseph, age 12; and Jean, age 10.  Charles Jeanson of Annapolis Royal, age 20, came with three siblings:  Jean, age 19; Marie, age 18; and Paul, age 10.  Antoine Labauve of Grand-Pré, age 39, came with wife Anne Vincent, age 27, two twin sons, and a nephew:  Jean and Marin, age 6, and Jean-Baptist Labauve of Grand-Pré, age 15.  Surgeon Philippe de Saint-Julien Lachaussée of Picardy, France, and Rivière St.-Jean, age 38, a widower, came with 10-year-old daughter Louise-Françoise.  Catherine Comeau, age 39, widow of ___ Lafaye, came with 15-year-old daughter Marie-Marquis.  Pierre Lambert of Chignecto, age 38, came with third wife Marie Doiron of Chignecto, age 28, son Pierre, fils, age 14, and stepdaughter Marie-Anne Boucher of Beaubassin, age 11.   Joseph Lanoux, age 19, and brother Pierre, age 18, both unmarried, were in the party.  Geneviève Bergeron of Rivière St.-Jean, age 35, widow of Jean-Baptiste Damours dit de Louvière, came with six children, the youngest born in Boston and Halifax:  Charles, age 15; Jean-Baptiste, fils, age 10; Anastasie, age 8; François, age 6; Isidore, age 2; and infant Susanne.   Joseph Marant, age 36, came with wife Angélique Dugas, age 29, and two of Angélique's kinsmen: nephew Joseph Orillion dit Champagne, age 17, and his sister Marguerite, age 15.  Marie-Josèphe Breau, age 34, widow of Paul-Honoré Melanson, came with five children:  Joseph, age 13; Marie, age 12; Jean-Baptiste, age 9; Anastasie, age 6; and Dominique-Jean dit Minique, age 3.  Joachim dit Bénoni Mire of Pigiguit, age 29, a widower with no children, came with two half-brothers, perhaps twins, also from Pigiguit:  Joseph and Simon, age 21.  Salvator Mouton of Chignecto, age 32, came with wife Anne Bastarache of Annapolis Royal and Chignecto, age 34, who was pregnant, and two sons:  Marin, age 12; and Jean, age 11.  Salvator's brother Louis, age 28, came with wife Marie-Modeste Bastarache of Annapolis Royal and Chignecto, age 32, and infant daughter Anne-Charlotte.  Salvator and Louis's nephew, Jean dit Neveu Mouton of Chignecto, age 25, came with his wife Élisabeth, or Isabelle, Bastarache of Annapolis Royal and Chignecto, age 18, who also was pregnant.  Joseph Part of Rivière St.-Jean, age 27, still a bachelor, came with three siblings, also natives of Rivière St.-Jean:  Olivier, age 19; Pierre, age 16; Marie, age 14; and François, age 12.  Françoise Melanson of Minas, age 56, widow of Joseph Thériot of Cobeguit, came with four sons, the youngest born on Île St.-Jean:  Thomas, age 20; Ambroise, age 17; Paul-Hippolyte, age 14; and François-Xavier, age 12.  Joseph Thériot of Grand-Pré, age 35, came with wife Madeleine Bourgeois, age unrecorded, and two daughters:  Marie-Rose, age 2; and Marie, age 1. 

Here, like the Broussard party, was a mix of Acadians from every settlement of the Fundy region, but these later-arrivals contained a somewhat larger percentage of exiles from the Minas Basin than could be found among the prairie Acadians.  Still, many of the newcomers had lived in the Chignecto/trois-rivières area, as well as at Cobeguit and along Rivière St.-Jean, so they would have found relatives among the Acadians who had gone to Attakapas and Opelousas.341 

Documents generated by the attempted Canadian money exchange at New Orleans reveal at least two leaders among the Halifax Acadians who settled at Cabahannocer.  Jean-Baptiste, son of Barthélémy Bergeron dit d'Amboise, fils and Marguerite Dugas, was born probably at Annapolis Royal in c1722.  He married Marguerite Bernard, and they settled at Ste.-Anne-du-Pay-Bas on Rivière St.-Jean, today's Fredericton, New Brunswick.  During the Grand Dérangement, the St.-Jean settlements became a refuge for Acadians who had escaped the British at Annapolis, including the party who had captured the North Carolina-bound Pembroke and sailed it to the mouth of the river in February 1756.  The St.-Jean Acadians also welcomed fugitives from Chignecto, the trois-rivières, and even faraway South Carolina.  Their respite from British oppression ended, however, in the summer of 1758.  After the fall of the French fortress at Louisbourg that July, British forces under Brigadier General Robert Monckton took control of lower Rivière St.-Jean.  The following February, New English rangers led by Lieutenant Moses Hazen struck the upriver settlements, destroying everything they could find and taking prisoner any Acadians they did not choose to kill.  Those who escaped the New English onslaught moved either to Canada via the St.-Jean portage or joined their fellow exiles on the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  Jean-Baptiste Bergeron dit d'Amboise and his family, including at least three children, went to the Gulf.  According to a document dated 8 March 1766 at New Orleans, "one Bergeron" handed over "the sum of 47,076 livres (pounds), 19 sols (schillings), 6 deniers (pence), belonging to 73 families, some of whom arrived in June 1765...."  Also handing in Canadian currency was "one Lachausée, 27,044 livres, 7 sols, 8 deniers, belonging to 37 families, some of whom reached this colony in various ships--in August, September, October and November...."  This was Philippe de St.-Julien Lachaussée, a French physician born in Picardy in c1727.  He also had settled on Rivière St.-Jean, where he married Françoise, daughter of Acadian Jean-Baptiste Godin dit Lincour, in c1754.  Philippe's wife died soon after their marriage, perhaps from the rigors of childbirth, and he remarried to Marguerite, daughter of Charles Belliveau, at Ste.-Anne-du-Pay-Bas in 1756.  Belliveau, from Annapolis Royal, was a leader of the Acadians who had captured the ship Pembroke.  When the British struck the St.-Jean settlements in 1758, the physician and his family, including an infant daughter, joined their fellow fugitives on the Gulf of St. Lawrence shore.  Philippe's son Pierre-Philippe was baptized at Restigouche, at the head of the Baie des Chaleurs, in March 1761 but died probably at Halifax a year or so later.  Philippe's second wife also died in the early 1760s, probably in a prison compound in Nova Scotia.  When he came to Louisiana in the summer of 1765, the physician was accompanied only by his 10-year-old daughter, Louise-Françoise.  In October 1766, he remarried again--his third marriage--to Marie-Rose, called Rose, Bourgeois, widow of Pierre Gravois, at Cabahannocer, and she gave him two more sons, the youngest of whom, a second Pierre-Philippe, perpetuated the family line in Louisiana.342

Before and after leaving New Orleans, Surgeon Lachaussée would have been busy delivering new babies among his fellow arrivals.  The fate of some of the newborns is unknown:  Marie-Rose, daughter of Pierre Arosteguy; and Marguerite-Françoise, daughter of Jean dit Neveu Mouton, may not have survived childhood.  The same held true for Claude, son of Jean-Baptiste Bourgeois, who died at age 7; Charles-Amand, son of Charles Préjean; and Anne-Marie, daughter of Joseph dit Vieux Richard.  But a few of the newborns made it to adulthood and helped create families of their own:  Marie-Geneviève, daughter of Salvator Mouton, followed her siblings to the Attakapas prairies, where she married a Guilbeau, but died at age 18, probably from the rigors of childbirth; Jean-Baptiste, son of Joseph Préjean, married a Gravois, settled on Bayou Lafourche, and lived into his early 70s; and Joseph-André, son of Joseph Savoie, married a Landry and also settled on Bayou Lafourche.342a

Among the exiles who survived the rigors at Cabahannocer was a family different from all the others:  members of the Acadian seigneurial class who had retained their holdings on Rivière St.-Jean for three quarters of a century.  At the center of this immediate family was Geneviève Bergeron, a granddaughter of Barthélémy Bergeron dit d'Amboise, the soldier, who was the family's progenitor in Acadia.  Barthélémy had come to North America during King William's War and fought under the redoubtable Iberville, founder of Louisiana, before settling down at Port-Royal, Acadia.  There he became a successful merchant and married Geneviève, a daughter of Jean Serreau de Saint-Aubin, the seigneur of Passamaquoddy; Geneviève de Saint-Aubin also was the widow of Jacques Petitpas who, unlike his brothers, opposed the British during Queen Anne's War.  Geneviève Bergeron's father, Michel dit Nantes, was her grandfather's second son.  He moved with his family to Rivière St.-Jean probably on the eve of the British seizure of French Acadia; his second wife, Geneviève's mother, was a Dugas (Michel dit Nantes married four times).  During the late 1740s, while probably in her late teens, Geneviève married Jean-Baptiste, son of Louis d'Amours de Chaffours and Ursuline d'Abbadie de Saint Castin, probably on Rivière St.-Jean.  Louis, born either at Québec or on Rivière St.-Jean, was the second son of Mathieu d'Amours, sieur de Freneuse, whose seigneurie, granted in September 1684, lay on Rivière St.-Jean between Jemseg and Nashouat.  Jean-Baptiste's mother Ursuline was from an even more distinguished family:  her father, Jean-Vincent d'Abbadie, third baron de Saint-Castin, was the famous capitaine de sauvages of Pentagöuet who had led the Abenaki band of his two wives, daughters of an Abenaki headman, during the wars against the English; Ursuline's brother was Bernard-Vincent d'Abbadie, fourth baron de Saint-Castin, who, like his aristocratic French father, led the Abenaki against the British; like her brother, then, Ursuline was descended from Abenaki chiefs.  Jean-Baptiste, who adopted the surname D'Amours dit de Louvière, fathered at least three children by Geneviève Bergeron on Rivière St.-Jean:  Charles, born in c1750, Jean-Baptiste, fils in c1754, and Anastasie in c1757, the latter on the eve of the British attack up the river during the summer and fall of 1758.  Jean-Baptiste d'Amours and his family, with father-in-law Michel dit Nantes Bergeron, who had escaped the British roundup at Annapolis Royal three years before and taken refuge with his daughter and son-in-law on Rivière St.-Jean, likely were captured by the British, who transported them to Boston, where more of their children were born:  François in c1759, and Isidore in c1763.  In 1763, instead of repatriating to British Canada along with most of their fellow refugees in the New England colonies, evidently Jean-Baptiste and Geneviève went to Nova Scotia, where many of her Bergeron and Dugas kin were still being held by the British.  Their youngest child, Susanne, was born in c1765, either at Halifax or on the voyage down to the French West Indies.  Geneviève likely was a widow when she brought her six children to Louisiana in 1765; she certainly was that in April 1766, when the Spanish counted her and her children on the east bank of the river at Cabahannocer.  She died there by September 1769, when her children were listed in another Spanish census with or near other families:  Charles, now age 20 and calling himself a Louvière, resided next to married cousin Germain Bergeron, on the east bank of the river; brothers Jean-Baptiste, fils, age 14, and François, age 10, were living in cousin Germain's household; and Isidore was living with the family of Pierre Hébert and Marie Bergeron, his maternal aunt and uncle.  Anastasie and Susanne do not appear in the 1769 census; Susanne may have died in infancy, but Anastasie soon married a LeBlanc from Canada.  All four of Jean-Baptiste d'Amours dit de Louvière's sons married in Louisiana.  Charles stayed at Cabahannocer and married a Melançon; he was counted in the St.-Jacques census of 1779 with no slaves.  Jean-Baptiste, fils also remained on the river but did not marry; in 1777, at age 20, he was working as an engagé for an Ascension area surgeon.  François was still at St.-Jacques in 1777 but soon moved to the Attakapas District, where he married a Thibodeaux in c1780 and remarried to a Bourgeois in November 1799.  Isidore followed his older brother to Attakapas, where he also married twice, into the Landry and Picard families.  Neither he nor brother François became major cattle producers or plantation owners.  Interestingly, like their brothers who remained on the river, they retained as their surname not d'Amours, which had been the name of their great-grandfather the Acadian seigneur, but Louvière, their father's dit.  Their parents' brutal exile and the rigors of life in Spanish Louisiana had transformed these descendants of nobles and seigneurs into humble Acadian farmers.344a

One suspects that, through the remarkable Acadian grapevine, Geneviève Bergeron was aware that a cousin of her husband was living upriver at Illinois when she and her children reached New Orleans.  Pierre de Louvières, son of Charles d'Amours and his second wife Anne-Marie Thibodeau of Ste.-Foy, Canada, had come to Illinois as a cadet of troupes de la marine in c1736 and remained there.  Pierre married Marie-Anne Richaume, daughter of a senior officer, in c1743, and settled at Prairie-du-Rocher, just downriver from Fort de Chartres.  Pierre de Louvières was kin also to other Acadians who had come to Louisiana; his mother was an older sister of Joseph de Goutin de Ville's mother Jeanne Thibodeau and a paternal aunt of the wives of Alexandre and Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil, who were daughters of Anne-Marie and Jeanne's brother Michel.  Pierre de Louvières, age 54 in 1766, would die at Prairie-du-Rocher in May 1768 and be buried in the church there.  In 1740, when Pierre was a 28-year-old cadet soldats at Illinois, Governor Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, sieur de Bienville, had called him a "Gentil homme of Canada," who, despite his young age, was "very wise."  One wonders if Pierre de Louvières's status in the colony had anything to do with cousin Jean-Baptiste's sons using the surname Louvière instead of d'Amours.344b

Also among the new settlers at Cabahannocer were members of a small extended family whom exile and Spanish policies kept poor, if not humble, until opportunities under American rule opened a way to wealth and influence.  The Moutons had come to Acadia later than most of the families who populated the colony.  According to family tradition, in 1703, during the early months of France's second war with England, Jean Mouton of Marseille, who would have been only 14 years old, settled at Port-Royal.  Jean's father Antoine had served as maître d'hôtel, or head steward, at the château of the famous French aristocrat François de Castellane-Ornado-Adhémar de Monteil, Comte de Grignan, of Provence, so son Jean may have been tutored in the comte's household.  At age 22, in January 1711, the year after the British captured Port-Royal, Jean, now age 22, married 16-year-old Marie Girouard, a member of one of the earliest families to settle in Acadia; Marie's father was Alexandre Girouard dit de Ru, later the Sieur de Ru; her maternal grandfather was Alexandre Le Borgne de Bélisle, former French governor of Acadia and seigneur of Port-Royal; and she also was a descendant of the colony's famous governor, Charles de Saint-Étienne de La Tour; so Jean married very well.  In 1712, he and Marie moved to Grand-Pré, where Sr. Jean, as he was called, earned his living as a surgeon.  Sons Jean, fils, Jacques, Charles, and Justinien, and daughters Marie-Josèphe and Marguerite were born at Grand-Pré before the family moved on to the even more distant Acadian community of Chignecto in c1725.  Four more children were born to Sr. Jean and Marie at Chignecto:  sons Pierre, Salvator, and Louis, and daughter Anne. The Moutons lived at Chignecto for thirty years and may have been among the dozens of Chignecto families living east of Rivière Missaguash who were forced to relocate west of the river, in French-controlled territory, during the fall of 1750.  Five years later, British forces rounded up the older Mouton sons and their families and deported them along with other Chignecto Acadians to South Carolina.  The three younger sons, Salvator, Louis, and Pierre, somehow escaped the British roundup.  With Salvator's wife, Anne Bastarache, whom he had married at Annapolis Royal in January 1752, and their children, the Mouton brothers fled to the Gulf of St. Lawrence shore and found refuge at Restigouche, at the head of the Baie des Chaleurs.  There, Louis married Marie-Modeste Bastarache, a younger sister of Salvator's wife, in October 1760.  But they did not live there in peace.  The war caught up to them the year of Louis's marriage when, in July, the British attacked the fort at Restigouche with overwhelming force.  Pierre died in the fight, and Salvator and Louis fell into the hands of the victorious British, who imprisoned them in Fort Edward, Nova Scotia, at the former Acadian settlement of Pigiguit, for the rest of the war.  Louis's daughter Anne-Charlotte was born in one of the prison compounds in February 1764.  In late 1764 or early 1765, Salvator, Louis, and their families joined hundreds of other Nova Scotia detainees in their exodus to Louisiana.  The Mouton brothers were among the dozens of Acadians who settled at Cabahannocer.  With them was nephew Jean dit Neveu, son of Salvator's and Louis's older brother Jacques, and Neveu's wife Élisabeth Bastarache, whom he had married in Nova Scotia; their daughter Marguerite-Françoise was born at New Orleans on November 20, so Élisabeth had been pregnant on the long voyage down from Halifax.  Salvator's wife Anne died soon after they reached Cabahannocer, and he remarried to fellow Acadian Anne Forest at New Orleans in c1768.  Salvator and Louis's older brother Charles, who had been deported to South Carolina in 1755, reached Louisiana from Martinique during the late 1760s.  Typically, Charles, his wife Anne Comeau, and their son Georges joined his kinsmen at Cabahannocer, now being called the Acadian Coast.  Salvator, only age 40, died in a New Orleans hospital in April 1773.  He was survived by his second wife Anne and three children from his first marriage:  Marin, age 20 at the time of his father's death; Jean, age 19; and daughter Marie-Geneviève, who was only 8.  A few years after their father died, Marin, Jean, and Marie-Geneviève, along with their cousin Jean dit Neveu, moved to the Attakapas District.  It was there that the Mouton brothers made names for themselves as land speculators.  Jean dit Chapeau, as his neighbors called him, was especially successful; like his namesake grandfather, he married well, took advantage of economic opportunities whenever they presented, and became one of the early shakers and movers of southwest Louisiana.346

Aubry and Foucault sent these 300 late-comers to both banks of the river at Cabahannocer above the concessions of Cantrelle, Judice, and Verret.  A few of the new arrivals would have reunited with their kinsmen--the Cormiers, Landrys, Poiriers, and Richards from Chignecto and Georgia--living on the right, or west, bank below them.  In September 1765, Aubry appointed brothers-in-law Louis Judice and Nicolas Verret as provisional co-commandants of a new district created for Cabahannocer.  Judice and Verret soon organized two companies of militia among the Acadians there.  Meanwhile, in late September, Aubry and Foucault could report to the Minister of Marine:  "All these families are hard at work getting settled...."343 

Sometime that autumn, a few dozen Acadians from Attakapas--mostly "those of the Rivière de Saint-Jean," a young Acadian noted--escaped an epidemic raging along the Teche and joined the newcomers at Cabahannocer.  Among the refugees were Acadians named Arseneau, Bergeron, Bourg, Bourgeois, Darois, Dugas, Godin dit Bellefontaine, Guédry, Landry, Martin dit Barnabé, Poirier, Caissie dit Roger, Roy, and Thibodeau.  Some of them returned to the prairies, but most of them remained on the river.345a 

The Acadians at Cabahannocer, meanwhile, also died in frightening numbers.  Sadly, during the first year of settlement, the visiting priest from the German Coast, Capuchin Father Barnabé, did not record deaths among the Cabahannocer Acadians as diligently as his fellow Capuchin had done at Attakapas.345b 

In June 1766, a year after the first of the Halifax exiles settled at Cabahannocer, Co-commandant Verret communicated to the Spanish authorities a scathing critique of how the soon-to-be ousted French regime had treated the new arrivals.  "The terrible state of affairs which presently prevails at the Acadian Coast," the co-commandant wrote to the new Spanish governor, "compels me to acquaint you with the deplorable conditions faced by these people.  There are many sick among them.  This situation will only worsen, since the fevers have only just appeared.  Here is an account of the wretched circumstances in which they find themselves.  I have seen, with my own eyes, in a hut, a sick man laid up, and a woman in labor.  Their only nourishment was the rice and the corn which is alloted to them by the order of the king.  People who have reached this state and who cannot obtain broth or any relief cannot hope to recover.  I am well aware of all that is given to them through the king's generosity.  However, this generosity does not suffice when the sick are involved.  Left to their fate, without the necessary foods and relief that their situation requires, they are doomed to certain death.  It appears that the large investment which their settlement has required will be irretrievably lost.  To this, I would like to add that the confined woman who was bearing her child is not receiving the proper nourishment.  Unable to provide the milk her child requires, she is on the verge of losing it.  The other sick people scattered along this coast fall into the same category.  What help can they expect from medicines when they are deprived of nourishing foods?  Reduced to a diet of grits and boiled rice, their bodies cannot regain the strength lost in fighting disease.  To make matters worse, the phyician," Jacques LeDuc, "despite his many efforts, cannot properly care for the sick.  He is constantly called upon to run back and forth across the district, and, consequently, he is unable to determine the effects of the medicines that he administers.  This state of affairs is most prejudicial to the patients.  I believe, Your Excellency," the co-commandant continued, "that there might be a way to relieve these people without incurring too great an expense. ...  It think it would be quite feasible to build a hut of post-in-ground construction right next to the physician's quarters.  Surrounded by stakes and covered with shingles, this hut could constitute a hospital large enough to accommodate thirty people.  The building could be divided into three areas, one to house the men, one to house the women, and third to lodge one Acadian family, which could perform the nursing duties in the hospital.  The king's only expense would be the wages of the people entrusted with the nursing care.  He would also have to furnish the necessary nails and iron (implements).  As for the wood and labor, they would be the responsibility of the Acadians who would ultimately benefit from it.  This done, the king would decree that a few cattle be obtained from Mister Dauterive at Bayougoula," the same retired French army captain who had furnished cattle to the Attakapas Acadians the year before.  The beeves "would provide the necessary sustenance for the sick, according to their needs.  I, myself, offer to furnish all the necessary wood, which will be needed by the surgeon, and to see to it that the work is accomplished with utmost diligence," which revealed how little Nicolas Verret knew these Acadian farmers. 

To make his case for the new hospital as well as continued assistance for the Acadians, the co-commandant then reviewed for the Spanish governor the neglect they were still suffering at the hands of French officials.  "Until now," Verret continued, "there has been a great deal of abuse concerning the food supplies.  This has been most detrimental to the Acadians.  Please think of the time which is lost in travel, when these people are forced to travel back and forth to procure their share.  Because they only receive their flour in town, they loose[sic] ten to twelve days (in travelling)" down to New Orleans and back.  "Afterward they must procure a certificate from Mister de la Chaise"--Jacques de La Chaise, fils, since 1759 the assessor of the colony's Superior Council, and son of a former French commissaire-ordonnateur--"which they must then bring to my brother-in-law, Judice.  Judice takes it in exchange for another which they must present to settlers in order to obtain their food.  As you can see, Sir," Verret explained, "they spend all their time crossing the district.  This is most prejudicial to them, particularly now, when they need to tend to their small crops.  It also creates difficulties for the sick (Acadians), who are unable to go to the city to receive their share."  Verret then offered a solution to the bureaucratic mess.  "My brother-in-law or I could be authorized, each in his own (militia) district, to purchase the necessary rice and corn (at farms) downstream," most likely from the Germans.  "We could also be authorized, for a period of three-to-six-months, to distribute to the Acadians the certificates which would allow them to obtain their share of the (grain).  As for the flour, we could bring back from the city, with the help of the Acadians, 50 to 100 quarts (of flour)," each quart weighing 160 pounds, the equivalent of an English barrel.  "This flour could be partly stored at Judice's (residence) and party at my house.  We could be given scales and weights, as well as their registry sheet, indicating the delivery date and the exact share that is due each recipient.  Handling these details will mean a great deal of work for us," Verret admitted, but "If my few remarks can be of any help to these families or the good of the people, I shall be satisfied in knowing that I have been of some help."  Verret took an opportunity to suggest one more improvement for the governor's consideration.  "At present at least one-fifth of our settlers are ill," the commandant noted.  "While waiting to build the hospital, it would be most (advisable) if the king would give, starting now, one cow per week to be distributed among the sick." 

One wonders how many lives could have been spared had Aubry implemented these common-sense measures for the Acadians on the river.  Although the conscientious officers living among the exiles could not mitigate the hard transition to an alien climate the Acadians were forced to endure in their new tropical home, they could minimize the bungling among colonial bureaucrats who seemed to care more for the accuracy of their account books than for the welfare of the long-suffering exiles.345

Another duty of the Cabahannocer commandants--not as essential as distributing food or caring for the sick, but important nonetheless--was the recording of marriages at Cabahannocer performed by Father Barnabé, the German Coast priest.  The earliest marriages, recorded at the end of March 1766, were those of two of Jean-Baptiste Cormier's daughters, Madeleine and Marie, to new arrivals Simon Mire and Michel Poirier, respectively.  Over the next two years, into February 1768, Judice and Verret recorded 25 more marriages in the district, all of them featuring Acadian brides and all but one of them Acadian grooms.  The sacred ceremonies were conducted in the homes of the co-commandants; in the case of the Cormier sisters, that of Nicolas Verret.344

.

By the end of 1765, at least 600 Acadians from Halifax had joined the 21 Acadians from Georgia in populating what remained of French Louisiana.  Dozens of their families contained children of marriageable age, giving promise that, along the river and out on the prairies, their Acadian culture stood a very good chance of surviving in this strange, sub-tropical region.  That more of them were coming--perhaps thousands, French officials believed--would only assure the culture's survival here.  But would it remain the culture of their fathers, if there still was such a thing?  Beginning in the 1710s, Fundy Acadians began migrating from British Nova Scotia to the French Maritime islands of Île Royale and especially Île St.-Jean, where geography forced them to engage in limited agriculture and concentrate on fishing and lumbering.  This economic divergence from the Fundy settlements, still devoted to the construction of aboiteaux, affected the entire culture for two generations.  Disturbances at Chignecto in the early 1750s only exacerbated the problem when it forced even more Fundy Acadians to seek refuge on the Maritime islands.  And then came the Great Upheaval and its decade-long impact on the Acadians.  To be sure, relatively few of the 1765 arrivals had lived in the French Maritimes; the island Acadians would come to Louisiana in much greater numbers two decades later.  But the impact of geographical separation on whatever cultural unity their fathers may have enjoyed was part of the emotional baggage of every Acadian exile.

They would remain farmers and cattlemen here, that was certain, but no aboiteaux would demand their collective efforts in this land devoid of magnificent tides.  There were extensive coastal marshes here, but none as approachable and certainly not as malleable as the tidal marshes lining the Bay of Fundy.  Only fishing and trapping were viable pursuits on Louisiana's Gulf coast; no agriculture beyond small-scale ranching was possible there.  The Acadians on the Mississippi would have to learn from Germans and Creoles how best to farm the river's natural levees.  The prairie Acadians were learning from Creole and West African cowhands, as well as the Atakapa, the fine points of raising cattle on the endless grasslands.  Here was a circumstance that could further diminish the unity lying at the heart of their culture:  the Acadians on the river would concentrate on crop raising, with husbandry as a secondary pursuit, while their cousins on the prairies would specialize in husbandry, with only limited crop raising on the narrow levees lining the area's bayous.  The differences between the river and the prairie here could mirror the differences between Minas and Chignecto back in peninsula Acadia.  Even more troubling, the geography of South Louisiana offered a barrier as forbidding as the Mer Rouge had imposed on greater Acadia.  The prairie Acadians already had endured it:  the wide, treacherous Atchafalaya Basin with its labyrinth of rivers, bayous, and coulees.  Would the Atchafalaya barrier lead to the creation of subcultures east and west of the Basin, where Acadians imagined only a single culture existed?  They had expended so much time and energy reuniting their extended families.  Would that troublesome swamp stand forever between them, culturally as well as geographically?346a

Moreover, a demographic element of this New Acadia held the promise of dramatic cultural change.  In peninsula Nova Scotia and on Île St.-Jean the Acadians had been dominant in numbers, if not in political or economic power.  Such was not the case in Louisiana as 1765 drew to a close.  In the spring of 1766, Spanish officials, recently arrived in the colony, ordered a comprehensive census to "find out how many militiamen were available" for defense of their new province.  The result was "1,893 men capable of bearing arms.  Along with 1,044 women and 2,616 children of both sexes," an historian of the era informs us, "this brings the total for the white population of New Orleans and neighboring posts to 5,452 persons," the great majority of them French Creoles.  The same census counted only 411 Acadians of the slightly more than 600 who had come to the colony from Halifax.  The Acadians, then, made up only seven and a half percent of the colony's white population--a decided numerical minority.  The folkways of the French Creole, not the Acadian, were still dominant in this New Acadia.  Only a dramatic increase in Acadian population could provide the chance to save their culture.  If the hundreds of their brethren in the British Atlantic colonies followed them to Louisiana, they could provide the culture that saving demographic at least along the river and out on the prairies.  For now, Acadians made up the largest population at Attakapas and Cabahannocer, but they were still a minority at Opelousas, and, except for a hand full remaining in New Orleans, were absent from the other districts of lower Louisiana.346b 

Another social phenomenon conducive to cultural change soon appeared among them:  exogamy, or intermarriage.  After less than a year in the colony, at least three Acadian women--Anne Arsoteguy; Anastasie, called Stasie, Guénard, only 15; and Rose Thibodeau, a widow--had chosen husbands from other cultures.  In the next two years, women from 13 other Acadian families--Bergeron, Boutin, Clouâtre, Doiron, Granger, Hébert, Landry, LeBlanc, Léger, Martin, Rivet, Savoie, and Saulnier--most of them young, also married men from other cultures.  Not until November 1772, when Joseph Guénard of Opelousas married Véronique Duplechin of Pointe Coupee, do area church records feature an Acadian man marrying a woman who was not a fellow Acadian.  Intermarriages such as these, over several generations, in even greater numbers, inexorably would transform the culture of their fathers into something they could only imagine.346c

A New Spanish Governor, 1766

The Spanish took their time in establishing a government in Louisiana.  Not until late June 1765, two months after the Broussard party had reached lower Bayou Teche and while more shiploads of Acadians from Halifax were arriving at La Balize, did Antonio de Ulloa y de la Torre-Guiral receive confirmation of his appointment, made two months earlier, as governor of the Spanish province of Luisiana--an appointment secured by "influential friends at the Spanish court."  On the surface, the 49-year-old native of Seville, son of a Spanish economist who belonged to the lesser nobility, seemed a wise choice for the position.  Antonio was fluent in both French and English, and he had governed before.  He was not, however, one of those professional colonial bureaucrats Spain produced in large numbers, nor was he a soldier, though, as a young man, he served for a short time in the Spanish navy.  He was "perhaps Spain's greatest eighteenth-century scientist" and was well acquainted with some areas of New Spain as well as much of Europe.  While in Ecuador on a French scientific expedition, he and a colleague discovered the element platinum.   On his way home from South America in 1745, during the War of the Austrian Succession, he was captured by the British and held in England as a prisoner of war.  He befriended British scientists, who were so impressed with his attainments in the fields of astronomy, mineralogy, and natural history, they made him a fellow of the Royal Society of London.  Although the war was still on, the president of the Royal Society helped secure Ulloa's early release.  In Spain, he published an account of his years in South America, established the first museum of natural history and the first metallurgical laboratory, and oversaw the construction of a celestial observatory at Cádiz.  By 1751, he had become so well-known in the world of science he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.  In 1758, two years before Spain entered another war against Britain on the side of their Bourbon ally France, the Spanish Crown "sent him as governor to Huancavelica," in the Peruvian province of Angares, "with orders to revive production of a valuable mercury mine which had become almost inoperative during the previous decade.  Ulloa not only failed to achieve this goal, but so alienated the powerful Peruvian aristocracy, upon whom the success of the venture rested," he was compelled to resign.  He sailed from Callao, Peru, in November 1764 and, via Cape Horn, reached Havana the following February.  In late June, still at Havana and still holding the rank of naval captain, Ulloa received a dispatch from Minister of the Indies Julián de Arriaga, dated April 24, that he had been appointed governor of western Louisiana. 

On 10 July 1765, from Havana, Ulloa addressed a letter to Aubry and the Superior Council in New Orleans, "apprising them, that having been honored with the king's command to receive possession of the colony, he would soon be with them for this purpose, and expressing his hope that his mission might afford him a favourable opportunity, of rendering them and the other inhabitants any service they might require."  In early October, acting Commissaire-Ordonnateur Foucault urged the governor-designate "to assume authority in the colony as soon as possible because of dire economic conditions."  A few weeks later, acting Director-General Aubry wrote a letter of his own to Ulloa.  He complained of the lack of provisions, especially gunpowder, at New Orleans, not mentioning the newly-arrived Acadians and their drain on the colony's storehouses, and painted "a gloomy picture of deteriorating relations with the Indians."  He, too, expressed anxiety over Ulloa's delayed arrival.  In November, Ulloa replied to both French officials that he was delayed by the arrival of the frigate that would take him from Havana to New Orleans.  He assured them of his "'desire to render to you any services that are in my power,'" including a petition to the intendente at Havana for a shipment of powder to New Orleans. 

Not until after Ulloa had replied to Foucault and Aubry did the frigate for which he had been waiting finally reach Havana.  The Liebre had set sail from El Ferrol, on Spain's northwest coast, on 5 September 1765 but did not reach Havana until November 20 after a long and difficult voyage.  The length of the voyage and the resulting shortage of fresh water had prompted a stopover at Santo Domingo before the ship could continue on to the Cuban capital.  Desertions among the soldiers delayed departure from Santo Domingo.  At Havana, Ulloa pointed out that the frigate was too large to negotiate the channel at La Balize, where the water was lowest in winter.  Not until 17 January 1766 did Ulloa and his entourage leave Havana for New Orleans in two smaller vessels, one of them a brig commanded by French nobleman Louis de Villemont, who was intimately familiar with Louisiana.  The brig reached La Balize on February 12, the other, larger, slower vessel not until two weeks later.347  

The 18-gun packet-turned-frigate Volante, with Louisiana's new governor aboard, finally reached La Balize in late February, over three years after the cession at Fontainebleau and a year and a half after d'Abbadie's announcement that western Louisiana belonged to Spain.  According to Alcée Fortier, "A tragic event" deprived Ulloa "of eleven of his sailors," perhaps the result of a ship-board accident on the voyage from Havana to La Balize.  Amid rain, thunder, and high winds, Ulloa and his entourage arrived at New Orleans about noon on March 5.  The new governor brought with him six military officers, including Captain Francisco Riu y Morales, a veteran of over 30 years service, and Lieutenant Pedro Joseph Piernas of the regiment of Léon; commissary of war and military intendant Juan Josef de Loyola, who could not speak French; Estevan de Gayarré, a government auditor or comptroller called a contador real; treasurer Martin Navarro; and a commissioner.  Also in the entourage were three Spanish Capuchins, including his personal chaplain Father Antonino de Mesones, and a priest named Father Clemente, who "were appalled by the lack of religious discipline and the disorganized state of the church" in the colony.  Amazingly, Ulloa was escorted by only 90 Spanish soliders, "more than twenty of whom soon deserted."  Fortier insists Ulloa was "received with respect," but Carl A. Brasseaux describes an "unenthusiastic reception," especially from members of the Superior Council. 

Ulloa and his unimpressive entourage brought something else to Louisiana.  New Orleans historian Eberhard Faber explains:  "A region of multiple ethnic and cultural groups was well suited to the Spanish social system, a tiered, unequal array of 'orders' and castes, ranked from the monarch at the apex of the social pyramid to the slaves at the bottom.  Though specifics varied considerably from one part of Spain's vast new world empire to another, the basic hiearchical conception of society was everywhere the same.  In its imperial context, it built on the feudal European model of three estates (aristocracy, clergy, and commoners)," not unlike that of ancienne régime France, which would endure for another generation in the Acadians' homeland.  But the Spanish system also included "a colonial distinction between white criollos and peninsulares, and an assortment of racial categories such as mestizos and mulato in addition to pure negro" more rigid that its French counterpart.  The Spanish system also was "rife with legal privileges and exemptions granted to particular corporate groups--for example, the prerogative of military officers to receive justice in special fuerro courts.  All this" in a decade would "contrast sharply with the egalitarian ideal expressed in the American Declaration of Independence, or, in two decades' time, "the French Revolution's invention of the citoyen, the people as a single demos rather than categorized by rank and status; the individual as endowed with natural rights rather than deriving privileges from a specific social station." 

Ulloa the perceived ursurper wasted little time alienating the French colonial elite.  He failed to register his commission with the Superior Council, "a routine requirement in both the Spanish and French empires," Carl A. Brasseaux relates. This only compounded his perceived weakness in the eyes of the colony's French-Creole element, who had opposed the cession of western Louisiana from the moment they had learned of it.  Ulloa's failure to register his commission was tantamount to refusing to take formal possession of the colony.  This greatly confused Aubry and Foucault, who had been waiting for over a year and a half to hand over the colony to Spain.  "Sensitive about the weakness of his position," Brasseaux goes on, "Ulloa may have feared that to submit his orders for inspection" by the Superior Council "would give the appearance of subordination to the more secure French authorities.  Whatever the reason for his action, it was a tactical error.  Certification of his letters patent would have extended legal recognition to Ulloa's status as the official representative of the Spanish king.  In the eyes of French Louisianians, the action would have constituted the legal act of transfer.  Ulloa's refusal to go through normal legal channels created doubts in the minds of some colonists about the validity of the cession itself." 

Adding to the confusion, Ulloa retained both Aubry and Foucault in their positions, Aubry as what Ulloa called commanding-general, and Foucault as colonial commissary or deputy auditor.  Aubry, at least, was willing to recognize Ulloa "as the representative of the King of Spain," and he issued orders in the name of that King.  But, in spite of his new title, Aubry was French, not Spanish.  Amazingly, because Ulloa had not formally taken possession of western Louisiana, the French government was still obligated to provide financial support for the colony!  The new French Minister of Marine, César-Gabriel de Choiseul-Sevigny, duc de Praslin, who succeeded his cousin, the duc de Choiseul, in April 1766, was no more inclined to assist Spanish Louisiana than his cousin had been.  Moreover, attempts to coax French officers and soldiers to join the Spanish service, thereby supplementing Ulloa's meager force, largely failed.  "There is no longer any hope that the (French) soldiers in the local garrison will decide to serve the Spanish king," Foucault wrote the retiring French Minister on April 2.  "Mister Aubry has tried every means to change their minds, but his efforts have been in vain."  Foucault lamented that this failure likely would delay the formal Spanish takeover.  While awaiting further orders from Spain, Ulloa would have to secure reinforcements for his meager Spanish force before he could relieve Foucault, Aubry, and the other French officials of the onerous duties they had performed for much too long.  Foucault also informed the Minister that Ulloa, with Aubry and a large entourage, had begun a tour of the colony's settlements, which would further delay the formal Spanish takeover and place an even greater burden on French colonial resources.

Meanwhile, beneath this odd "'government with two heads,'" the French fleur-de-lys flew over New Orleans as though nothing had changed.348

The Acadians on the prairies and at Cabahannocer faced more personal concerns than who ran the colony from distant New Orleans.  By early March 1766, the Teche Acadians in their various communities were busy improving their simple dwellings and preparing the soil for spring planting.  They also were facing the troublesome question of land ownership.  No sooner had Lieutenant Andry escorted the Broussards to Fausse Pointe than one of the district's cattle barons, Jean-Baptiste Grevemberg, accused the Acadians of encroaching on his land.  Grevemberg claimed all of the vast prairie from Fausse Pointe westward to the lower Vermilion River.  In July 1765, he sent a "memorial" to both the acting director-general and the ordonnateur "asserting his right to the land and requesting a patent to his fourteen-year-old vacherie."  Aubry and Foucault, aware not only of Grevemberg's wealth and influence, but also of the delicate state of the new arrivals, "permitted the Acadians to remain on their farmsteads.  Grevemberg could console himself with a concession of 7.5 square leagues (18.75 square miles)" west of Bayou Teche.349

Grevemberg's land dispute with his unwelcome neighbors, who had abrogated their deal with Jean-Antoine-Bernard Dauterive, did not prevent Grevemberg from selling them cattle which they could use to create vacheries of their own.  Up on the Opelousas prairie and at Cabahannocer, Acadians also were preparing for spring planting.  Meanwhile, colonial officials in New Orleans were doing what they could "to furnish subsistence to the Acadians until the next harvest," especially to the newest arrivals.  When word reached the settlements that the new Spanish governor had finally reached New Orleans, the typical Acadian reaction would have been a shrug of the shoulders, a bon mot or two, and a resumption of whatever work he or she was doing.  Their ancestors had endured changes of imperial masters more often than they could remember, and they, too, had changed rulers when they came to this colony, the great majority of them arriving after the world had been told that the western half of French Louisiana now belonged to Spain.  They would always call France their mother country, as they had done in Acadia, and as they would do here.  As long as the Spanish recognized their land grants and protected them from the British, they would find them to be the most loyal of subjects.  As to their cherished religion, the British had failed to convert any of them to their noxious heresies, but the Spanish were Roman Catholics, too.  The Spanish priests who would come to their settlements to administer the sacraments would have to know French; they would not bother to learn Spanish here any more than they had bothered to learn English back in Nova Scotia.  Mass was celebrated in Latin anyway, a language few, if any of them, understood.  At least the new governor was not British, who were settling much too close to this province for their liking.  He was no Belcher, no Wilmot, no Lawrence (damn his name!).  How much trouble could this new governor bring to a people who were accustomed to nothing else but trouble?350

In late March, Ulloa and his entourage, in four boats, began their tour of the lower Louisiana settlements, first of the German Coast, which included Cabahannocer; then Pointe Coupée, which the Spanish called Punta Cortada; Opelousas; Attakapas; and Natchitoches; as well as many of the Indian villages.  The Acadians, now, would have an opportunity to take the measure of the man.  They could care less that Ulloa had not bothered to present his letters patent to the French-Creole busybodies on the Superior Council.  He was here, representing a still-powerful nation.  They may have been puzzled that he had brought so few soldiers to Louisiana, but they would have known that many more of them were stationed at Havana, from whence the new governor had come.351

The Acadians were impressed with Ulloa, who seemed to understand their immediate needs as well as their ultimate desire.  Subsisting on what little the French caretakers had given them, the Acadians asked for more powder and shot so that they could supplement their diet with hunting.  Ulloa complied.  Their response, and what they told him about their struggles during their Grand Dérangement, affected him deeply.  Back in New Orleans, following his month-long tour of lower Louisiana, Ulloa wrote a series of long reports to his immediate superior, the Marques Jeronimo Grimaldi, Spanish Minister of State.  His impressions of the Acadians filled each letter.  His missive of May 19 was especially revealing:  "In order to assist (the exiles in becoming self-sufficient), each Acadian settlement was given a small gift of gunpowder and ammunition to be divided among themselves.  When we assured them that they would enjoy full protection of His Majesty, of Your Excellency, and of myself in his royal name as long as they remained here they thanked us profusely, with indescribable joy that moved us to great tenderness and affection, and used part of the few pounds of gunpowder that were given to them to salute with their guns [which the French caretakers had given them] the monarchs of Spain and France."  And then the Acadians expressed their ultimate desire to their new governor:  "After indicating that they will be as loyal to His Majesty [Carlos III] as they have hitherto been to the Most Christian King [Louis XV], they requested my permission to write to their Acadian countrymen in the New England provinces so that they would get ready to flee their present captivity.  They did the same with commanding General Aubry, and, although they were told to desist until the Spanish court was informed and able to reach a decision about it, I am persuaded that they will not do so because of their desire to be reunited with their friends and because of their repugnance towards the English nation."352 

Ulloa was correct in assuming the Acadians were only being polite when they asked him for permission to communicate with their kinsmen in the Acadian diaspora.  Jean-Baptiste Semer, only a month before, had dictated a letter to his father at Le Havre, France, containing a glowing description of the Attakapas country and a plea for his kinsmen to join him there.  In Maryland, over 200 Acadians, having received word from their kinsmen in Louisiana that French officials would welcome there, were preparing to charter a British merchant vessel to take them down to Cap-Français, from whence they would repeat their kinsmen's journey on to the New Acadia.  "The Acadians [still in the British domains] have been offered the most advantageous inducements by the English government to settle among them and to recognize the English king as their sovereign," Ulloa went on.  "They have written the French government regarding their wish (to leave) and have sent me a copy; yet none of the offers has changed the Acadians' minds and their sole intention is to leave the English domain which they hate unabashedly."353

Ulloa, in turn, had taken the measure of these determined exiles.  "I have told Your Excellency," he continued, "that they are good and industrious people; quiet, without vices and able farmers.  Mister Aubry and the other officers who have served in the last two wars in the territories from there to Canada assure me that they are good marksmen.  As they proved in expeditions against the English, they are equally capable of effectively waging war against the Indians, this being especially important in this colony, where one must always rely on the inhabitants for its defense and and where skill and stratagems very different from those used against other people are required against the Indians."  He was alluding, of course, to the Acadian resistance in Nova Scotia.  On his visit to Attakapas, Ulloa could not have met the fierce resistance leaders; they had been in their graves a number of months now.  But he would have met the Broussards' sturdy sons:  Victor, Jean-Baptiste, Sylvain, Simon, Pierre, and perhaps Anselme, sons of Alexandre dit Beausoleil; and Petit Jos, Athanase, François, Claude, and Amand, sons of Joseph dit Beausoleil.  The older ones had fought beside their fathers in the woods and on the bay, and the younger ones carried memories of those terrible years.  Other family heads and their sturdy older sons, at Attakapas, Opelousas, and Cabahannocer, also had fought the British and their New English minions from Beauséjour to Restigouche.354

Ulloa had seen and heard much on his visit to the Acadian settlements.  Aubry and the other French officers had sung their praises to him, and the governor had seen for himself the handiwork of these long-suffering farmers and fishermen:  "These people are naturally good, quiet, hard-working and industrious," he informed the Minister the State.  "It is to be admired that they have all prospered in very little time.  In only one year, a single man, having under his care a wife, children and, in some cases, a widow, sister, sister-in-law or mother living with his own family, has cleared the 4 arpents or tanegas (1.59 acres) that have been given to him; has built a dyke to contain the river within its banks (and to keep it from) flooding the land; (and has cleared) a road over which a cart can travel.  He had built a house, and cultivated land, and (built) wooden fences, although those enclose small areas.  One can say that two black day laborers would not have been able to advance as much as a single one of these men, whose untiring application of work has been the cause of several deaths from fatigue.  This progress shows all that necessity and perseverance can do when one puts his heart into it.  The French officers were astonished by the progress made by these people," and he vowed to extend them aid as long as they could.  "While His Majesty determines what he wishes to do," Ulloa continued, "I have agreed to do it (assist the Acadians) also, because the sooner they begin to get some rest, the sooner they will succeed in earning a livelihood, and we will be relieved of having to provide them with the necessities of life."354a

In the concluding paragraph of his May 19 report to the Minister, Ulloa's final comment about the Acadians revealed a keen understanding of who they were:  "I must tell Your Excellency," he concluded, "that the Acadians are the type of people who live among themselves as though they were a single family.  (They do) not make any alliances with other French people, nor do they give their daughters in marriage to those who are not of their kind, as occurs in Spain among the highlanders of Santander.  They settle their differences among themselves and help each other in every way, as if they were brothers.  This quality makes them preferable for settlement over other types of people.  And the government must be careful to keep them as they are, because as long as they remain unchanged, the king will be able to count on good vassals who, when the time comes, will gladly take up arms and sacrifice themselves to his royal service, in defense of his domains."355

An important element of Ulloa's tour was a general census conducted by the commandants in the lower colonial districts.  Here was a first systematic counting of the Acadian exiles in Louisiana.  In a document dated 9 April 1766, Cabahannocer commandant Louis Judice reported to the colonial authorities his count of the settlers in his district, the great majority of them Acadians.  His survey began "on the right [west] bank of the Mississippi River from the habitation of Jacques Cantrelle to Bayou Lafourche," and continued on the "left [east] bank of the river from the habitation of Joseph Hébert to the village of the Alibamon Indians."  Judice counted 43 men, 43 "wives," 55 boys above age 15, 56 boys below the age 15, 17 widows, 17 girls above age 15, and 35 girls below age 15, for a total of 266 men, women, and children at Cabahannocer.  Living among the settlers were 16 slaves, 5 of them belonging to Jacques Cantrelle and 11 held by Judice himself.  No Acadian at Cabahannocer held a slave.  The commandant also counted 687 arpents of land, 95 hogs, and 97 guns, but no horses.  Judice's report mentioned two Indian villages in his district, those of the Alibamon and Houma.  Only 14 inhabitants in the district were non-Acadians:  Commandant Judice, his wife, their two sons Louis, fils and Michel, the co-commandant's father-in-law, Jacques Cantrelle, Nicolas Verret's sons Michel and François, Joseph Wiltz, ___ Popolus, ___ Ducros, Marc Maulet, Pierre Bidau, Saturnin Bruno, and Félix Pax, the last two "established above the village of the Houma Indians" on the east bank of the river.  The census thus counted 252 Acadians in the district, out of the 320 or so who had come there in 1764-65.  Two years later, Bruno, age 28, would join the Acadians at Cabahannocer by marrying Scholastique, 22-year-old daughter of François Léger, one of the earliest exogamous marriages among the Louisiana Acadians.356

At Attakapas, in a report dated 25 April 1766, Commandant André Massé, who had succeeded Joseph dit Beausoleil Broussard the previous autumn, counted, besides himself, only 130 individuals, 121 of them Acadians, in the district.  Thirty-eight of the Acadians he counted in the "District of the Pointe"--that is, Fausse Pointe.  Another thirty-eight lived at what he called "Bayou Queue de Tortue," but he obviously meant Bayou Tortue.  Forty-five other Acadians lived in the "District of La Manque."  The nine non-Acadian settlers were the Bonin family, the only Allibamonts in the district.  No Acadian, and no Bonin, owned a slave.  By way of contrast, Massé held 20 of them on his large vacherie.  Up in the Opelousas District, Commandant Pellerin's census, undated, revealed a very different pattern of settlement.  Pellerin counted himself and 154 other non-Acadians, most of them Allibamont, at "The Coast of the Old Opelousas" and at "New Opelousas on the Right Bank" of Bayou Courtableau.  The commandant owned the largest number of slaves--24--but militia captain M. Jacques-Guillaume Courtableau owned 21, Allibamont Grégoire Guillory owned 10, and a dozen others, all Allibamonts, owned as many as 6 and as few as 1.  Pellerin counted only 38 Acadians in his district, none of whom owned a slave.  Massé and Pellerin's censuses thus revealed that of the 231 Acadians who had gone to the prairies, only 159 remained--testimony to the devastation wrought by the epidemic of the previous summer and the number of them who had retreated to Cabahannocer.357

Sadly, the Spanish general census of April 1766 counted only 411 Acadians left in Louisiana of the slightly more than 600 who had gone there.  One wonders what accounts for this amazing reduction in their numbers.  Did the commandants conduct their censuses in haste and fail to count all of the inhabitants?  Were there still Acadians at New Orleans who were not counted in the district surveys?  Did Halifax refugees leave Louisiana and return to St.-Domingue?  More likely, the Cabahannocer Acadians also had died in substantial numbers during their first summer in the colony, but no priest like Father Jean-François was there to record their sufferings.  On 14 May 1765, before the epidemic broke out along the Teche, Aubry had told the Minister of Marine, the duc de Choiseul-Stainville, that "the Acadians have smallpox, and will inflict a new calamity on the colony."  Was Aubry referring to the Acadians who had just reached La Balize, where they could have been quarantined before moving up to the city, or was there smallpox among the Acadians already in New Orleans?  On 9 May 1766, in a report to the Spanish Minister of State, the marques de Grimaldi, Ulloa provides another clue as to why so few Acadians had been counted that spring:  "Those who come here are being settled in an area ten leagues above this capital at its nearest point," he said of the Acadians at Cabahannocer.  "Each of them has been assigned land and housing, given tools so they can work the land, and some provisions, though only in small quantities.  Consequently, many of them have died in misery because there was not enough (food)."  Ulloa lamented the loss of these valuable settlers and its impact on the colony.  "[T]he French leaders have aided them as much as possible, assigning them two leaders to govern and guide them, but, since this does not provide their daily bread and shelter, we lose in those who die what is gained in those who come to increase the population."  How did the Acadians reconcile themselves to the loss of so many loved ones during their first year in Louisiana?  In a report dated 19 May 1766, Ulloa sheds light on this as well:  "The Acadians themselves tell me that everyone [of them] in the English colonies will come," he assured the Minister of State, "and those in Canada will do the same.  This is due to the fact that, despite the many (Acadian deaths) on the island of Saint-Domingue and even here during last summer, they would rather expose themselves to mortal dangers while searching for the desired freedom of religion and civil treatment than remain in the relative safety of their own land under English rule."358 

Ulloa soon would see for himself how true was this observation.

Exiles from the British Atlantic Colonies Find Refuge in Spanish Louisiana, 1766-1768

Like the Acadians from Georgia, the exiles in Maryland and Pennsylvania were deportees who had been shipped off to a British colony and forced to remain there until the war finally ended.  And like the Acadians from both Georgia and Halifax, the exiles from Maryland decided for themselves where they would create their own New Acadia.  In late June 1766, following riots at Baltimore and Annapolis in reaction to Britain's notorious Stamp Act of 1765, over 200 Acadians, mainly from the scattered communities of Oxford, Snow Hill, and Newtown on Maryland's Eastern Shore, and from Port Tobacco on the lower Potomac, departed the colony, probably from Baltimore, on a chartered English sloop and headed to New Orleans via Cap-Français.  They, too, may have taken aboard fellow Acadians languishing in St.-Domingue before moving on into the Gulf of Mexico.  When they reached La Balize towards the end of September 1766, they numbered 224 "men, women and children, 150 in the last two categories."  Fourteen of them had died during the three-month voyage, and three more died on the journey up from La Balize to the city.  Three of the new arrivals were newborns, but only one of them survived the rigors of the voyage.  The sloop on which they came did not wait at La Balize for the lighters that normally came down to take ship's passengers on the 105-mile trip up to the city.  After their stop at La Balize to answer to colonial customs, the party continued upriver, fighting the river's powerful current, until the lighters finally caught up to the vessel on a stretch of the lower river.359

These new arrivals had not secured permission to emigrate to the Spanish colony; they may not have been aware that the colony was under Spanish rule until they received letters from their relatives there.  No matter, heeding what the Halifax Acadians had been telling colonial authorities for months now, Ulloa, Aubry, and Foucault were expecting more Acadian arrivals, from whence they did not know.  The physical state of the Maryland exiles when they reached Louisiana is best described by Ulloa himself:  "Because these people arrived in misery and in great need (of assistance), they were helped immediately, by which had been reserved for the first needy (Acadians) who might arrive," he wrote the Minister of State the day after the newcomers reached New Orleans.  "I gave them a bull and a calf, which I had brought from up-river for consumption by myself and my companions.  I did so the same night in which the boat carrying them was discovered.  The shipmaster assured me that as soon as they (the Acadians) received the animals, they killed them and ate the meat raw."  Ulloa, from his refuge at La Balize the following December, described this act of charity as the giving of "alms ... which I hope was very pleasing to God."  It certainly was most pleasing to the starving Acadians!360  

Following his policy of giving new Acadian arrivals "land next to those who are already settled," Ulloa sent the Maryland exiles to what Louisianians soon would be calling the Acadian Coast.  There they were given small lots in the vacant lands between the Acadians from Georgia and the upper end of the German Coast in Nicolas Verret's district on the west bank of the river.  Unlike the Acadians from Halifax, few of these Maryland Acadians were from Chignecto, Rivière St.-Jean, or the Annapolis basin.  The great majority of them came from the Minas Basin and included a large contingent from Pigiguit.  Nevertheless, many of them bore the surnames of Acadian families already living in the colony.  Four prominent Minas Basin families--the Babins, Landrys, LeBlancs, and Melansons--made up the largest portion of the contingent from Maryland.361  

Most of the Babin family heads were widows: 

Anne Thériot of Grand-Pré, Pigiguit, and Oxford, age 45, widow of Joseph Babin, came with three children, all born at Pigiguit:  Joseph, age 21; Jean-Jacques, age 18; and Marguerite, age 17.  Ursule Landry of Minas and Oxford, age 42, widow of Jean-Baptiste Babin, came with four children:  Joseph, age 18; Marie-Josèphe, age 16; Marguerite, age 14; and Anne-Barbe, age 10.  Anne Forest of Minas, age 37, widow of Pierre Babin, came with two sons:  Joseph dit Dios, age 12; and Charles, age 6.  Amand Babin of L'Assomption, Pigiguit, and Oxford, age 24, came with wife Marie-Anastasie Landry, age 18, and two of his sisters, also natives of L'Assomption:  Élisabeth-Madeleine, age 22; and Marie-Josèphe, age unrecorded.  Two sets of unmarried siblings also were in the party.  Marguerite Babin of Minas and Oxford, age 27, came with sisters Madeleine, age 20; and Marie, age 13.  Charles Babin of Pigiguit and Oxford, age 24, came with siblings Vincent-Ephrem, age 21; and Brigitte, age 16.  Also in the party were Marie-Josèphe Babin, age 19; and Anne-Geneviève Babin, age 18. 

The Landrys of Pigiguit were especially numerous in this first party from Maryland.  They were, in fact, the largest single family group that would come to Louisiana at one time.  Sadly, most of their families were headed by widowers:

Joseph Landry of Pigiguit and Oxford, age 56, a bachelor who could not hear, came alone.  Joseph's brother Abraham dit Petit-Abram Landry of Pigiguit and Oxford, age 54, a widower, came with nine children:  Étienne, age 24; Simon and Anne, perhaps twins, age 22; Marguerite, age 15; Pierre-Abram dit Pitre, age 14; Élisabeth, or Isabelle, age 12; Joseph dit Le Cadet, age 9; Marie-Madeleine, age 7; and Marie, age unrecorded.  Joseph and Petit Abram's brother René Landry of Pigiguit and Oxford, age 50, also a widower, came with five children:  Marin, age 18; Félicité, age 16; Olivier, age 13; Joseph dit Dios, age 9; and Firmin, age 6.  Marie-Josèphe Bourg of Grand-Pré and Oxford, age 52, second wife and widow of another Joseph Landry, came with four children, all Landrys:  Marie-Madeleine, age 19; Marguerite, age 16; Anne-Gertrude, age 15; and Joseph dit Belhomme, age 14.  Pierre dit Pierrot à Chaques of Pigiguit and Oxford, age 45, another widower, came with six children:  Jean, age 14; Osite, age 13; Isabelle and Jean-Baptiste, perhaps twins, age 10; Firmin, age 7; and Paul, age 4.  François Landry of Pigiguit and Oxford, age 44, yet another widower, came with three children:  François, fils, age 25; Pélagie, age 17; and Joseph, age 8. Vincent Landry of Minas and Oxford, age 49, came with wife Susanne Godin, age 29, and infant son Charles-Calixte.  Firmin Landry of Pigiguit and Oxford, age 38, another widower, came with four children:  Hélène, age 16; Joseph, age 13; Saturin, age 11; and Marie-Madeleine, age 9.  Pierre dit La Vielliarde Landry of Pigiguit and Oxford, age 34, a widower, came with four children:  Joseph, age 10; Anne-Isabelle, age 7; Pierre-Alexis, age 4; and Fabien, age 2.  La Vielliarde's brother Étienne of Pigiguit and Baltimore, age 32, came with second wife Marie-Josèphe Landry, age 32, who was pregnant, and 9-year-old daughter Anastasie.  Charles Landry of Pigiguit and Oxford, age 28, a bachelor, came with five unmarried siblings, all natives of Pigiguit:  Amand-Pierre, age 20; Pélagie, age 17; and Anne, François, and Marie, ages unrecorded.  Charles et al.'s brother Jacques of Pigiguit and Oxford, age 23, came with wife Françoise Blanchard, age 19, and Jacques's 14-year-old brother Joseph.  Marie-Josèphe Landry, age 28; Geneviève Landry, age 22; and Basile Landry of Grand-Pré, age 16, also were in the party.  

The LeBlancs from Maryland only added to the substantial number of family members already in the colony:

Jacques LeBlanc of Grand-Pré and Oxford, age 58, came with wife Catherine-Marie-Josèphe Forest of Pigiguit, age 56, and three daughters:  Catherine, age 16;  Osite, age 14; and Marguerite, age unrecorded.  Jacques's older son Sylvain of Grand-Pré and Oxford, age 25, came with wife Marie-Madeleine LeBlanc, age unrecorded, and year-old son Simon-Sylvain.  Jacques's younger son Paul of Grand-Pré and Oxford, age 23, came with wife Agnès, or Anne, Babin, age 23, who was pregnant, and infant son Marcel.  Désiré LeBlanc of Grand-Pré and Oxford, age 49, came with wife Marie-Madeleine Landry, age 43, and 10 children:  Simon, age 24; Isaac, age 20; Jérôme, age 17; Élisabeth, or Isabelle, age 15; Désiré, fils, age 13; Marine, age 11; Osite, age 8; Benjamin, age 6; Anselme, age 4; and Marie, age unrecorded.  Jean-Pierre LeBlanc of Grand-Pré and Snow Hill, age 40, came with wife Osite Melanson, age 34, who was pregnant, and three children:  Isaac, age 5; .Joseph dit Josime, age 4; and Hélène, age 1.  Pierre LeBlanc of Minas and Oxford, age 35, came with wife Anne Landry, age 29, and daughter Anne-Rose, age 7.  Marie-Marthe LeBlanc, age 17, also was in the party. 

Several Melanson family heads also were widows: 

Madeleine LeBlanc of Grand-Pré and Snow Hill, age 54, widow of Jean-Baptiste Melanson, came with three unmarried children, all natives of Grand-Pré:  Jean-Baptiste, fils, age 25; Charles, age 23; and Marie-Rose, age 21.  Madeleine's older son Paul Melanson of Minas and Snow Hill, age 36, came with wife Marie Thériot, age 30, and four children:  Philippe, age 16; Marie-Madeleine, age 10; Jean-Baptiste, age 7; and Marie-Anne, age 5.  Madeleine's second son Joseph Melanson of Minas and Snow Hill, age 31, came with wife Anne Landry, age 26, and two children:  Olivier, age 6; and Marguerite, age 3.  Anne would give Joseph another son at Cabahannocer before she became a widow.  Alexandre Melanson of Minas and Snow Hill, age 49, came with wife Osite Hébert, age 32, and five children:  Madeleine, age 17; Pierre-Jacques, age 16; Joseph, age 12; Étienne, age 10; and Paul-Olivier, age 4.  Osite would give Alexandre another son at Cabahannocer before she became a widow.  Marguerite Broussard of Annapolis Royal, Minas, and Snow Hill, age 46, widow of Jacques Melanson, Alexandre's younger brother, came with three unmarried daughters:  Madeleine, age 22; Anne-Élisabeth, age 20; and Marguerite, age 19.  Melanson siblings Marguerite, age 19, and Joseph, age 11, both natives of Grand-Pré, also were in the party. 

The Acadians Come Into Their Own in Spanish Louisiana, 1770-1785

Except for a few who may have drifted in from the French West Indies during the 1770s, the Acadians aboard the Britannia were the last of their countrymen to come to Louisiana for 16 years.  According to Carl Brasseaux, O'Reilly's "judicious move" of allowing the exiles to settle where they wanted "did much to placate the colony's Acadian population.  But Hispano-Acadian friction and the instability during and following the October 1768 insurrection seem to have discouraged further Acadian immigration into Louisiana."  From February 1764, when the first of them arrived, to October 1769, when the Acadians from the Britannia completed their overland trek to Natchitoches, 1,300 Acadians had come to Louisiana:  21 from Georgia, nearly 600 from Halifax, a like number from Maryland, and a dozen or two from the Caribbean basin, mostly from St.-Domingue.  The largest number of them had settled on the river above New Orleans, first at Cabahannocer and then at forts San Gabriel and San Luìs de Natchez.  When O'Reilly released the San Luìs Acadians from their ordeal at Natchez, most of them abandoned land that decades hence would be prized as among the most fertile in North America and joined their relatives at San Gabriel, Ascension, and Cabahannocer on the Acadian Coast.  A few headed out to the prairie districts, where hundreds of their fellow Acadians also had settled at Attakapas and Opelousas.405a 

Whether in 1764 or 1769 or each of the years in between, when the Acadians reached New Orleans with their extended families (only a hand full of them came as individuals), so devastating was the exile to their station in life, few, if any, possessed material comforts of any kind.  The families from Chignecto had suffered the longest--some had been driven from their homes east of the Missaguash as early as the autumn of 1750.  In Louisiana, many Chignecto Acadians could be found in the river settlements, but most had followed the Broussards to Bayou Teche.  A substantial number of Louisiana Acadians had lived in the upper Annapolis valley, from whence they had escaped in late autumn of 1755; here, they could be found in roughly equal numbers along the river and on the prairies.  In the decades before Le Grand Dérangement, a relatively small number of Acadians had settled away from the Fundy shore along Rivière St.-Jean, but a surprising number of these valley exiles had come from the prison compounds of Nova Scotia.  Most could be found at Cabahannocer, but a few had followed the Broussards to Attakapas.  As they had been the largest segment of the Acadian population before 1755, the Acadians of the Minas Basin, including Pigiguit, made up a slight majority of the Acadians who had come to Louisiana.  Since most of the Minas Acadians had come from Maryland, they could be found in large numbers on the Acadian Coast, though some could be found on the prairies as well.  If one looked hard enough, in fact, one could find Acadians in Louisiana hailing from Mirliguèche, Cap-Sable, Cobeguit, Île St.-Jean, even Île Royale. 

The 1,300 or so Acadians who had come to Louisiana before 1770 were not the largest contingent of exiles in the Acadian diaspora.  Twice as many Acadians were living in France at the time, even more up and down the St. Lawrence, and there may have been as many of them still living in French St.-Domingue as in the lower Mississippi valley.  Georgia and Halifax exiles had shown the way to this New Acadia, and their cousins in Maryland had followed.  But would more of them venture to Spanish Louisiana to join their kinsmen there?  There was not much chance of it.  As Gilbert C. Din notes of the colony during the 1770s:  "Transportation costs to get to Louisiana, the colony's still deplorable reputation, and uncertainties about rural life there, all dissuaded potential immigrants away from the hazards of relocation."  Was this true for Acadians as well as other potential immigrants?  Could the intense desire to reunite with kin, a centripetal force only strengthened by the rigors of the Great Dispersal, overcome Louisiana's "deplorable reputation"?  Only time would tell.  In the meantime, the hundreds who were here would make the most of it, the "uncertainties about rural life" be damned.406  

With few exceptions, the Acadians of Louisiana were rural folk.  For generations most of them had lived in an Eden of their own making along the Bay of Fundy.  Their homesteads had been farms, not sprawling plantations.  No cash crop could grow in the rich soil they had created with their long rows of dykes and their clever aboiteaux; the hard northern winters made certain of that.  They were grain farmers, orchardmen, cattlemen, fishermen, traders.  Only a handful of elites, seigneurs generally, owned significantly more land than the typical habitant.  No slaves worked their fields, pruned their fruit trees, tended their cattle, stored, prepared, and cooked their food; they themselves, their wives, their children, their many kinsmen, performed those essential daily tasks.  Their immediate families were large, their children healthy, but they did not think of family in such limited terms.  Their families were extended and usually near--aging parents, married siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins by the score, most within sight or only a short trip away.  Infectious diseases were rare in their world, tropical fevers unknown to them.  Every man and woman among them could handle a canoe.  Some of them fished as much as they farmed.  They were crack shots and skilled hunters--typical frontiersmen.  High snows did not stop them from traveling in winter; the Mi'kmaq had taught them long ago how to make and use their clever wooden snow shoes.  They lived peacefully with the Mi'kmaq until imperial politics intervened during their final years in old Acadia.  Some of the Mi'kmaq shared blood with them, they all shared faith, and the Mi'kmaq were not happy to see them go.  Most of the Acadians took their most precious possession, their families, into exile, but their land and their farms they could not take with them.  And now the houses and barns of New Englanders and British immigrants lay atop the ashes of their father's homesteads.  Land is what they needed in this New Acadia.406a 

As of 18 August 1769, when the Spanish formally took possession of the colony, the Acadians of Louisiana were subject to the land policies not of imperial France and its caretaker government, but of imperial Spain.  According to Andrew McMichael in his study of Spanish West Florida:  "The Spanish system of land grants ... was quite simple.  Any person who swore loyalty to the Spanish Crown could apply for a land grant.  Spanish land policy operated under the principle that every person deserved enough land to sustain a family, and that the way to govern or to hold land was to populate it.  In theory, Spanish law required petitioners to profess the Catholic faith....  All vacant lands in New Spain remained the legal possession of the Crown, and the king retained the exclusive power to distribute lands for a fee.  Anyone who received a land grant had to inhabit and cultivate a part of the land for four years, after which that person would receive title to the property.  Failure to fulfill these terms resulted in loss of the title. ...  The size of a family usually determined the amount of land granted, as long as the grant did not exceed eight hundred arpents.  This did not limit an individual or a family to eight hundred arpents total.  After the owner improved the land, he could petition the Crown for an increase in the size of the holding...."  However generous this may have been, "Spanish policy still held firm to the notion that settlers should receive only as much land that they could realistically use.  If the grant bordered a river, Spanish law required the owner to construct levees, canals, or bridges as needed.  Squatters who occupied and cultivated a portion of land for at least ten years could make an outright purchase of the property after a government assessment...."  Also, "... Spanish customary law tried to ensure that all residents had river access of some sort--which could result in very oddly shaped plots."  And land holders "would be expected to serve in the militia, help pay for levees and other improvements, and perhaps act as an alcade," or local magistrate.  McMichael concludes:  "Under Spanish land policy, acquiring land was quite easy as long as the claimant could prove the ability to cultivate the land and improve it.  This promoted two results.  First, the policy discouraged rampant land speculation of the type seen in the Virginia and Kentucky portions of the British and later American territories.  Second, it actively encouraged settlement, as the landholder had to live on and work the land in some fashion."406b

.

Getting land was one thing, keeping it another.  The Attakapas Acadians were the first to secure land in the face of opposition.  No sooner had they reached Jean-Antoine-Bernard Dauterive's vacharie on Bayou Teche in the spring of 1765 than his French Creoles neighbors accused them of trespassing.  This compelled the proud Acadians to move on, thus abrogating the cattle deal they had made with Dauterive that April in New Orleans.  Their next dispute over land came quickly.  Belgian-Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Grevemberg dit Flamand claimed a huge expanse of prairie between the west bank of the Teche at Fausse Pointe all the way to the east bank of the lower Vermilion, so he considered the Broussards to be interlopers on his vast concession.  In July 1765, while the Acadians were setting themselves up at Fausse Pointe, Grevemberg beseeched the French authorities in New Orleans to recognize his claim.  Lieutenant Andry had settled the Broussards on both banks of the Teche at the edge of Grevemberg's domain, where, acting governor Aubry insisted, the Acadians would remain, but he nevertheless granted to Grevemberg a formal title to his huge vacharie.  Grevemberg promptly sold some of his cattle to the Acadians, but they probably did not forget the slight.  After an epidemic struck them during their first summer in the colony, some of them moved out into the prairie to an area they called Côte Gelée, the Frozen Coast, north of Grevemberg's vacherie and along the west bank of Bayou Tortue.  This placed them directly across from Dauterive's new concession on Prairie Vermilion, which lay between the Tortue and the Teche.  By 1770, Acadians also had moved up bayou to La Pointe de Repos, the Restful Point, near present-day Parks south of Breaux Bridge.  The large concession held by Gabriel Fuselier de La Claire above the Attakapas settlements discouraged movement farther up towards Opelousas, where fellow Acadians had settled five years earlier.410 

Despite these distractions, the original Attakapas Acadians, after years of struggle, managed to rise above their pitiful beginnings.  This was due not only to individual hard work and collective effort, but also to Spanish liberality in awarding them land grants.  "Between 1771 and 1772," Shane Bernard asserts, "Spanish governor Luis de Unzaga awarded the exiles over two dozen land grants along the Teche.  These grants averaged about 415 acres each and totaled more than 10,000 acres."  By 1783, another 10 grants were issued by Unzaga and his successor, Benardo de Gálvez, as more Acadians came to the Teche, "raising the total size of Acadian land holdings on the bayou to over 18,000 acres."  This allowed them to grow enough food for their growing families, as well as indigo and tobacco for the colonial market.  Most importantly, after their deal with Grevemberg, they slowly but surely created respectable herds of cattle for their own domestic use and the New Orleans market.  Following primitive trails opened by Afro-Creole drovers hired or held by Massé, Dauterive, Grevemberg, Sorrel, and other early ranchers in the district, the Acadians drove their surplus beeves along the natural levees of lower Bayou Teche, Bayou Black, and the lower Lafourche on to the massive holding pens across from New Orleans.  Some of the trails "required herds to embark on vessels called 'cattle barges' or 'round boats' (supposedly 'because they made the trip "around" by the way of the Atchafalaya, Red, and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans')."412a

A close look at Attakapas District censuses from 1769 to 1777 attests to the growing affluence of the prairie Acadians.  In 1769, at the beginning of formal Spanish control, Charles Babineaux, age 38, owned an oxen, 4 cows, 3 suckling calves or yearlings, 2 bulls or heifers, 2 horses, 2 colts, and 20 pigs; two years later, listed as age 48 and living on the upper Teche, Charles held 12 arpents without title but owned 5 horses and 15 head of cattle; three years later, his widow, Anne Guilbeau, owned 40 pigs, 10 horses and mules, and 33 head of cattle; in 1777, she owned 20 hogs, 7 horses, and 40 head of cattle.  In 1769, Michel Bernard, age 34, owned 4 cows, 4 suckling calves or yearlings, 3 horses, and 10 pigs; two years later, Michel also held 12 arpents without title but owned 7 horses and 16 head of cattle; three years later, he owned 40 pigs, 10 horses and mules, and 47 head of cattle.  Firmin Breaux, only 22 in 1771, moved from Cabahannocer on the river that year after purchasing land from a French-Creole concessionaire at Grand Pointe on the Teche; he was counted there in 1777, when he owned 11 hogs, 9 horses, and 40 head of cattle.  Michel-Laurent Doucet, recorded as age 50 in 1769, owned 2 oxen, 3 cows, 3 suckling calves or yearlings, 5 bulls or heifers, 3 horses, and 20 pigs; two years later, held 12 arpents without title but owned 11 horses and 25 head of cattle; three years later, he owned 18 pigs, 11 horses and mules, and 30 head of cattle; in 1777, he owned 50 hogs, 15 horses, and 40 head of cattle.  Son Joseph dit Hilaire Doucet, age 22 in 1774 and recently married, owned 6 pigs, 4 horses and mules, and 23 head of cattle; in 1777, he owned 30 hogs, 10 horses, and 40 head of cattle.  In 1769, Charles dit Charlitte Dugas, age 32, owned 5 cows, 4 suckling calves and yearlings, 2 oxen, 3 bulls and heifers, 5 horses, and 4 pigs; two years later, he held 12 arpents without title but owned 6 horses and 25 head of cattle; three years later, he owned 15 pigs, 14 horses and mules, and 40 head of cattle; in 1777, he owned 25 hogs, 10 horses, and 40 head of cattle.  Younger brother Jean Dugas, who had fled to Cabahannocer in 1765 but returned to Attakapas, was age 28 and newly married in 1769, when he owned  2 cows, a suckling calf or yearling, a horse, and 7 pigs; two years later, he held 12 arpents without title but owned 4 horses and 14 head of cattle; three years later, he owned 25 pigs, 5 horses and mules, and 20 head of cattle; in 1777, he owned 28 hogs, 8 horses, and 30 head of cattle.  Brother Pierre Dugas, who was 25 years old in 1774 and recently married, owned 8 pigs, 3 horses and mules, and 15 head of cattle that year; in 1777, he owned 15 hogs, 9 horses, and 50 head of cattle.  In 1769, Madeleine Michel, widow of Joseph dit L'Officier Guilbeau, owned 2 cows, 2 suckling calves or yearlings, 2 bulls or heifers, 2 horses, and 20 pigs; in 1774, at age 62, she owned 10 pigs, 2 horses and mules, and 10 head of cattle; in 1777, she owned 9 sheep, 10 hogs, 4 horses, and 18 head of cattle.  Son Charles Guilbeau, age 30 in 1769, owned 2 oxen, 3 cows, 3 suckling calves or yearlings, a horse, and 15 pigs; two years later, he held 12 arpents without title but owned 15 head of cattle and 5 horses; three years later, a widower, he owned 26 head of cattle, 10 horses and mules, and 30 pigs.  Brother François Guilbeau, age 22 and still a bachelor in 1771, held 12 arpents without title that year but owned an undetermined number of horses and 12 head of cattle; three years later, newly married, he owned 12 pigs, 5 horses and mules, and 25 head of cattle; in 1777, he owned 20 hogs, 6 horses, and 40 head of cattle.  In 1769, Jean-Baptiste dit Cobit Hébert, age 33, owned 6 cows, 3 suckling calves or yearlings, 3 horses, a suckling foal or colt, and 19 pigs; two years later, he held 12 arpents without title but owned 6 horses and 75 head of cattle; three years later, he owned 5 pigs, 5 horses and mules, and 30 head of cattle; in 1777, he owned 5 hogs, 6 horses, and 30 head of cattle.  Joseph-Pepin Hébert, age 29 in 1777, owned 10 hogs, 4 horses, and 30 head of cattle that year.  In 1769, Simon LeBlanc, age 32, owned 4 cows, 4 suckling calves or yearlings, 3 bulls or heifers, 2 horses, a suckling foal or colt, and 12 pigs; two years later, he held 12 arpents without title but owned 5 horses and 17 head of cattle; three years later, he owned 40 pigs, 8 horses and mules, and 30 head of cattle.  Younger brother René dit Petit René LeBlanc, age 27 in 1777, owned 11 hogs, 7 horses, and 30 head of cattle that year.  In 1769, Claude Martin, age 32, newly married and serving as the community's syndic, owned 2 oxen, 5 cows, 3 suckling calves or yearlings, 3 bulls or heifers, a horse, and 18 pigs; two years later, he held 12 arpents without title but owned 6 horses and 15 head of cattle; three years later, he owned 30 pigs, 9 horses and mules, and 60 head of cattle; in 1777, he owned 50 hogs, 14 horses, 75 head of cattle, and 2 slaves.  Younger brother Bonaventure Martin, age 35 and still a bachelor in 1777, owned no hogs, 15 horses, and 38 head of cattle.  Cousin Joseph Martin, age 28 and newly married in 1769, owned an oxen, 4 cows, 4 suckling calves or yearlings, 2 bulls or heifers, 2 horses, 2 suckling foals or colts, and 6 pigs; two years later, he held 12 arpents without title but owned 7 horses, 10 or 20 head of cattle, and 1 slave; three years later, he owned 50 pigs, 10 horses and mules, 60 head of cattle, and 1 slave; in 1777, he owned 60 hogs, 7 horses, 60 head of cattle, and 2 slaves.  In 1769, Grégoire Pellerin, age 40, served as an engagé for French Creole Jacques-Joseph Sorel; two years later, Grégoire held 12 arpents without title but owned 10 sheep, 4 horses, and 25 head of cattle; three years later, not long before his death, he owned 8 pigs, 10 horses and mules, and 50 head of cattle; in 1777, his widow, Cécile Prejean, age 45, owned 25 sheep, 20 hogs, 15 horses, 100 head of cattle, and 3 slaves with one soon to be born.  In 1769, Jean-Baptiste Semere, the letter writer, age 25, owned 5 cows, 3 suckling calves and yearlings, 3 horses, a suckling foal or colt, and 19 pigs; two years later, he held 12 arpents without title but owned 6 horses and 29 head of cattle; three years later, he owned 8 pigs, 5 horses and mules, and 36 head of cattle; in 1777, he owned 2 hogs, 7 horses, 60 head of cattle, and a slave.  In 1769, Paul Thibodeaux, age 36, owned 4 cows, 4 suckling calves or yearlings, 1 horse, and 18 pigs; two years later, he held 12 arpents without title but owned a horse and 19 head of cattle; three years later, he owned 30 pigs, 7 horses and mules, and 30 head of cattle; in 1777, he owned 40 hogs, 10 horses, and 40 head of cattle.  In 1769, Olivier Thibodeaux, age 35, owned 6 cows, 5 suckling calves or yearlings, 2 bulls, 2 horses, and 15 pigs; two years later, he held 12 arpents without title but owned 2 horses and 10 head of cattle; three years later, he owned 50 pigs, 12 horses and mules, and 50 head of cattle; in 1777, he owned 80 hogs, 22 horses, and 120 head of cattle.  Younger brother Amand Thibodeaux, listed as age 29 but closer to 34 in 1769, owned 2 cows, 1 suckling calf or yearling, 1 horse, 1 suckling foal or colt, and 16 pigs; two years later, he held 12 arpents without title but owned 2 horses and 10 head of cattle; three years later, he owned 20 pigs, 5 horses and mules, and 26 head of cattle; in 1777, he owned 30 hogs, 6 horses, and 50 head of cattle.  Jean-Anselme, called Anselme, Thibodeaux, age 27 and still a bachelor in 1777, owned 9 horses and 36 head of cattle.  In 1769, Jean Trahan, age 51 and a widower, owned 5 cows, 3 suckling calves or yearlings, 2 oxen, 2 horses, a suckling foal or colt, and 10 pigs ; two years later, he held 12 arpents without title but owned 9 horses and 18 head of cattle; three years later, he owned 4 horses and mules and 15 head of cattle; in 1777, he owned 30 hogs, 13 horses, and 40 head of cattle.  Younger brother Michel Trahan, age 44 in 1769, owned 4 cows, 2 suckling calves or yearlings, a horse, and 16 pigs; two years later, he held 12 arpents without title but owned 6 horses and 15 head of cattle; three years later, he owned 12 pigs, 5 horses and mules, and 40 head of cattle; in 1777, he owned 30 hogs, 6 horses, and 40 head of cattle.  His son Paul Trahan, age 22 in 1774, owned 2 pigs, 5 horses and mules, and 8 head of cattle; three years later, he owned 12 hogs, 3 horses, and 12 head of cattle.  Cousin and former district co-commandant René Trahan, age 42 in 1769, owned 2 oxen, 10 cows, 6 suckling calves or yearlings, 8 bulls or heifers, 6 horses, 2 suckling foals or colts, and 20 pigs; two years later, he held 12 arpents without title but owned 4 sheep, 20 horses, and 60 head of cattle; three years later, he owned 25 pigs, 13 horses and mules, and 68 head of cattle; in 1777, he owned 26 hogs, 25 horses, and 100 head of cattle.412 

The Broussards, to no one's surprise, also became successful cattlemen.  Jean-Grégoire dit Petit Jos, oldest surviving son of Joseph dit Beausoleil, was age 41 in 1769 and owned 2 oxen, 8 cows, 8 suckling calves or yearlings, 8 bulls or heifers, 5 horses, a suckling foal or colt, and 15 pigs; two years later, he held 12 arpents without title but owned 4 sheep, 10 horses, and 45 head of cattle; three years later, he owned 15 pigs, 8 horses and mules, and 80 head of cattle; in 1777, his holdings had increased to an impressive 20 hogs, 20 horses, 100 head of cattle, and 3 slaves.  His son René, age 24 in 1777 and recently married, owned 15 hogs, 7 horses, and 50 head of cattle that year.  Petit Jos's brother François, age 23 in 1769 and newly married, owned 2 oxen, 13 cows, 9 suckling calves or yearlings, 7 bulls or heifers, 8 horses, 2 suckling foals or colts, and 15 pigs; two years later, he held 12 arpents without title but owned 7 horses and 28 head of cattle; three years later, he owned 10 pigs, 6 horses and mules, and 36 cattle; in 1777, he owned 5 hogs, 9 horses, and 79 head of cattle.  Brother Claude, married in c1772, owned 20 pigs, 10 horses or mules, and 25 head of cattle in 1774, when he was age 26; three years later, he owned 12 hogs, 10 horses, and 50 head of cattle.  Brother Amand, only 24 but already a widower in 1774, owned 8 horses and mules and 45 head of cattle that year; three years later, he owned 6 sheep, 4 hogs, 20 horses, and 100 head of cattle.  In 1769, cousin Jean-Baptiste, age 37, the oldest surviving son of Alexandre dit Beausoleil, owned an oxen, 4 cows, 4 suckling calves or yearlings, 6 horses, and 10 pigs; two years later, he held 12 arpents of land without title; three years later, he owned 30 pigs, 12 horses and mules, and 40 head of cattle; in 1777, he owned 6 sheep, 40 hogs, 14 horses, and 60 head of cattle.  Son Mathurin, age 27 and still a bachelor in 1777, owned 29 horses and 65 head of cattle that year.  Jean-Baptiste's younger brother Sylvain, age 27 in 1769, owned 2 oxen, 3 cows, 3 suckling calves or yearlings, 2 bulls or heifers, 3 horses, and 15 pigs; two years later, he held 12 arpents without title but owned 4 sheep, 9 horses, and 15 head of cattle; three years later, he owned 25 pigs, 7 horses and mules, and 57 head of cattle; in 1777, he owned 20 hogs, 10 horses, and 79 head of cattle.  Younger brother Simon, age 25 in 1769, owned 2 oxen, 3 cows, 2 suckling calves or yearlings, 3 horses, and 8 pigs; two years later, held 12 arpents without title but owned 8 horses and 16 head of cattle; three years later, he owned 20 pigs, 9 horses and mules, and 49 head of cattle; in 1777, he owned 20 hogs, 10 horses, and 50 head of cattle.  Younger brother Pierre, age 19 and still a bachelor in 1769, owned 5 cows, a suckling calf or yearling, 4 horses, and a suckling foal or colt; two years later, he held 12 arpents without title but owned 13 or 15 head of cattle, and 7 horses; three years later, he owned 50 head of cattle and 18 horses and mules; in 1777, newly married, he owned 6 hogs, 30 horses, and 100 head of cattle.  Alexandre dit Beausoleil's eldest grandson, Joseph le jeune, a 20-year-old bachelor in 1774, owned 9 head of cattle and a horse or mule; three years later, newly married, he owned 9 hogs, 10 horses, and 23 head of cattle.411  

Even late comers to Attakapas, most of them river Acadians who, despite Spanish restrictions, began moving to the prairies during the late 1760s, were doing well by the close of Unzaga's governorship, which ended in 1777.  That year, Victor Blanchard, age 25, who had come to the colony in 1765 and moved from the river to Attakapas by the mid 1770s, owned 6 hogs, 5 horses, and 8 head of cattle.  Augustin Broussard, age 29, a 1766 arrival who had moved from the Ascension to Attakapas during the early 1770s, owned 4 hogs, 8 horses, and 7 head of cattle in 1777.  Jean-Baptiste Cormier, fils, age 35, who had come to the colony in February 1765 but probably remained at Cabahannocer with his parents and sisters before moving to Attakapas during the early 1770s, owned a horse and a slave in 1777.  Charles Duhon, age 43, a 1765 arrival who had moved from the river to Attakapas in the 1770s, owned 6 hogs, 5 horses, and 35 head of cattle in 1777.  Younger brother Claude-Amable Duhon, age 41, owned 6 hogs, 4 horses, and 20 head of cattle that year.  Claire Robichaux, age 64, widow of Jean-Baptiste dit Manuel Hébert, a 1765 arrival who had moved from the river to Attakapas during the early 1770s, owned a horse and 4 head of cattle in 1777.  Son Joseph dit Pepin Hébert, who also came from the river in the early 1770s, owned 16 head of cattle, 5 horses and mules, and 20 pigs in 1774; three years later, at age 39, he owned 12 hogs, 6 horses, and 20 head of cattle.  Jean-Charles Hébert, a 1765 arrival who moved from the river to Attakapas in c1770; in 1774, newly married, he owned 10 head of cattle, 2 horses or mules, and 2 pigs; in 1777, at age 24, he owned 16 hogs, 4 horses, and 30 head of cattle.  Jean-Baptiste, called Baptiste, Labauve, a 1765 arrival who had moved from the river to Attakapas in the late 1760s, was age 27 and newly married in 1769, when he owned 3 cows, a suckling calf or yearling, 4 bulls or heifers, a horse, and 3 pigs; two years later, he held 12 arpents without title but owned 9 head of cattle and 5 horses; three years later, he owned 20 head of cattle, 6 horses and mules, and 20 pigs; in 1777, he owned 15 hogs, 6 horses, and 30 head of cattle.  Basile Landry, age 50, who had come to the colony with the Breaus in 1768 and moved to Attakapas during the 1770s, owned 10 hogs, a horse, and 6 head of cattle in 1777.  Firmin Landry, a 1766 arrival who had moved from Cabahannocer to Attakapas during the late 1760s, was age 42 in 1769 and owned a cow, a suckling calf or yearling, 3 bulls or heifers, a horse and 5 pigs that year; two years later, he held 12 arpents without title but owned 28 head of cattle and 7 horses; three years later, he owned 25 head of cattle, 7 horses and mules, 8 pigs, and 6 sheep; in 1777, he owned 10 sheep, 13 hogs, 16 horses, and 35 head of cattle.  Amand-Pierre Landry, age 31, a 1766 who had moved to Attakapas in the early 1770s, owned 14 hogs, 6 horses, and 18 head of cattle in 1777.  Joseph Landry, age 22 and a bachelor, owned 9 horses and 4 head of cattle in 1777.  Marie-Josèphe Breaux, age 46, widow of Paul-Honoré Melançon and wife of Creole François Moreau, had come to the colony in 1765 and moved from the river to Attakapas on the eve of the census; she owned 8 hogs, 4 horses, and a head of cattle in 1777.  Jean dit Neveu Mouton, age 30, a 1765 arrival who had moved from the river to Attakapas during the late 1760s or early 1770s, owned 3 horses, 5 head of cattle, and 3 slaves in 1777.  Amand Prejean, age 53, a 1765 arrival who had moved from the river to Attakapas during the early 1770s, owned 7 horses and 30 head of cattle in 1777.  François-Joseph Savoie, age 47, he of the four wives, was a 1765 arrival who had moved to Attakapas during the late 1760s, returned to the river in the early 1770s, and then moved back to Attakapas; he owned 3 horses, 4 cattle, and a slave in 1777.411a

As these census figures reveal, many Attakapas cattlemen also raised hogs in substantial numbers.  Their pigs were butchered for home consumption, of course, but the numbers of these animals hint that, by the end of the 1770s, Attakapas Acadians were producing pork for the colonial market as well.  By any measure of success, including the production of large, healthy families, the descendants of the old resistance fighters, their relatives, and associates, created a thriving New Acadia on the Attakapas prairies.411b

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The Opelousas Acadians also had to struggle to keep their land.  In the summer of 1765, Jacques-Guillaume Courtableau, the largest landowner in the Opelousas District, had granted them refuge at Prairie des Coteaux after they had fled the epidemic on the lower Teche.  Governor Ulloa had found them still living on Prairie des Coteaux when he toured the colony's lower settlements the following spring.  Both Ulloa and Aubry had given them "verbal assurance that they 'would never be troubled in the possession of their properties.'"   The Acadians spent the following years improving their prairie holdings, though, in the spring of 1768, they were forced to beg Ulloa for the loan of oxen and ploughs to bring in their latest crop of wheat.  That same year, Jacques-Guillaume Courtableau acquired the land grant of the recently-ousted Louis-Gérard Pellerin, "whose vague boundaries overlapped those of the Prairie des Coteaux property owners," most of whom were the struggling Acadians.  A few years later, Madeleine Vincent, Jacques-Guillaume Courtableau's widow and second wife of the Acadians' benefactor, insisted that the Pellerin grant included a woodland that Governor Unzaga had declared was "a commons for all settlers" and which bordered the Prairie des Coteaux settlement.  In June 1773, the Acadians, fearing that the widow would lay claim to their grants as well, beseeched Unzaga to reaffirm their titles and "to order Mme Courtableau to stop harassing her neighbors."  Commandant Fuselier de La Claire suggested a compromise, but the governor washed his hands of the affair.  The dispute ended later in the year when François Marcantel, an affluent French immigrant, purchased the disputed woodland from the Courtableau estate.  Shaken by the confrontation with the local elite, the Opelousas Acadians secured new Spanish grants, sold their Prairie des Coteaux holdings, and moved south to Prairie Belleveau and Bayou Bourbeaux, where most of them engaged in cattle raising.407 

The Cormier brothers of Chignecto were among the successful practitioners of a type of agriculture that had been familiar to them back in Acadia.  In 1750, when French-Canadian militia and Abbé Le Loutre's Mi'kmaq had uprooted the Cormier family and destroyed its economic independence, Joseph and Michel were only ages 10 and 9 respectively.  Until they reached Louisiana 15 years later, raising cattle was something the brothers had known only as boys, but after a decade of effort on the Opelousas prairies they had managed to create successful vacheries of their own.  At Prairie des Coteaux in 1771, older brother Joseph, age 31 and a widower, held six arpents frontage without title and owned four horses and 15 head of cattle.  Younger brother Michel, age 30 and now married, also held six arpents frontage without title but owned 7 horses and 28 head of cattle.  Michel, who had acquired title to a large grant from Governor Unzaga in 1771, moved to his new property on Bayou Bourbeaux by 1773, where, using the poteaux-en-terre construction method, he built a house on level ground with bousillage walls, a dirt floor, and a porch that encircled the house.  In 1774, Michel, now also a widower but soon to remarry, owned 6 horses and mules, 16 swine, and 20 head of cattle.  Joseph, who had moved to nearby Prairie Belleveau, was married again in 1774 and owned 15 swine, 15 horses and mules, and an impressive 78 head of cattle.  But this was only the beginning of their success as cattlemen.  Three years later, in 1777, Joseph, now age 37, owned 20 hogs, 15 horses, and 150 head of cattle.  That year, Michel, now remarried and age 36, owned 16 hogs, 16 horses, and 50 head of cattle.  He, too, like brother Joseph, owned no slaves, but what they held in land and animals stood in decided contrast to their economic status of nine years before, when they and their Acadian neighbors had been forced to beg the Spanish governor for oxen and ploughs.408 

Other 1765 arrivals became successful livestock producers on the open prairies of Opelousas.  In 1777, Charles Comeaux, age 35, Joseph Cormier's neighbor on Prairie Belleveau, owned 50 hogs, 15 horses, 100 head of cattle, and a single slave.  Charles's cousin Michel Comeaux, age 43, Michel Cormier's neighbor on Bayou Bourbeaux, owned a slave, 40 hogs, 12 horses, and 200 head of cattle--one of the largest herds in the entire district.  François Pitre, only 29 years old, owned 15 hogs, 12 horses, and 50 head of cattle.  Joseph Guénard, age 31, owned 10 hogs, 5 horses, and 15 head of cattle.  Pierre Richard, age 48, on Prairie Belleveu, owned  20 hogs, 12 horses, and 100 head of cattle.  Younger brother Victor Richard, only age 30, also living on Prairie Belleveu, owned 10 hogs, 9 horses, and 70 head of cattle.  Pierre Savoie, age 36, owned 20 hogs, 12 horses, and 60 head of cattle.  Sylvain Sonnier, age 41, on Prairie Belleveau, owned 45 hogs, 11 horses, 150 head of cattle, and 2 slaves.  Younger brother Olivier, age 25 and still a bachelor, owned 4 horses and 15 head of cattle.  Brother Joseph, age 21 and a bachelor, owned 5 horses and 15 head of cattle. Pierre Thibodeaux, age 52, also on Prairie Belleveau, owned 25 hogs, 7 horses, and 80 head of cattle. 

Even late comers to Opelousas were doing well by the end of Unzaga's governorship:  In 1777, L'ange Bourg, age 27, who had come to the colony with the Broussards in 1765, moved to Cabahannocer and then to Opelousas a year or two later, and was recently married, owned 10 hogs, 8 horses, and 48 head of cattle.  Brother Joseph Bourg, age 26, still a bachelor, owned 12 horses and 27 head of cattle.  Pierre-Paul, called Paul, Boutin, age 50, a 1767 arrival who had moved to Opelousas from San Gabriel during the late 1760s or early 1770s, owned 40 hogs and 38 head of cattle.  Blaise Brasseaux, age 25, who had come to the colony with his widowed mother in 1767 and also moved from San Gabriel during the late 1760s or early 1770s, owned 5 horses and 15 head of cattle.  Joseph Granger, age 31, a 1766 arrival who had moved from Cabahannocer to Opelousas in the 1770s, owned a horse and 2 head of cattle.  Younger brother Jean-Baptiste Granger, age 25 and still a bachelor, owned 2 head of cattle.  Pierre Guidry, age 35, who had come to the colony with the Breaus in 1768 and moved to Opelousas during the early 1770s, owned 12 horses and 10 head of cattle.  Charles Jeansonne, age 32 and soon to marry a sister of Blaise Brasseaux, was a 1765 arrival who had moved from Cabahannocer to Opelousas in the late 1760s or early 1770s and owned 8 horses and 6 head of cattle.  Brother Jean Jeansonne, age 31, owned 10 hogs, 5 horses, and 18 head of cattle.  Brother Paul Jeansonne, age 22 and still a bachelor, owned a horse and 10 head of cattle.  Cousin Joseph Jeansonne, age 29 and also still a bachelor, who had come to the colony during the late 1760s or 1770s, owned 8 hogs, 2 horses, and 4 head of cattle.  Blaise Lejeune, age 26, who had come to the colony in 1769 aboard the Britannia, owned 4 hogs, 3 horses, and 8 head of cattle.  Younger brother Joseph Lejeune, age 21 and a bachelor, owned 2 head of cattle.  Mathurin Richard, age 36, a 1767 arrival, owned 4 head of cattle.  Jean dit Valois Savoie, age 26, who had come to the colony in 1765 and moved from Cabahannocer to Opelousas during the mid-1770s, owned 4 horses and 25 head of cattle.  Honoré Trahan, age 51, who had come to the colony in 1769 aboard the Britannia and now resided on Prairie Belleveu, owned 20 hogs, 6 horses, and 30 head of cattle.  Son Pierre Trahan, age 27 and recently married, owned 12 hogs, 3 horses, and 26 head of cattle.  These latecomers also had struggled to gain a foothold in a district dominated by other ethnicities, but now they and their families could enjoy the material comforts that had eluded them for so long.409

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Difficulties with land along the Acadian coasts had less to do with grasping neighbors than with the existential whims of a powerful river and Spanish inheritance laws.  Unfortunately, "several settlers were given lands subject to rapid erosion, particularly at river bends," Carl Brasseaux asserts.  When the Mississippi eroded away the front portion of a farm, which was generally no more than six arpents wide along the river, the family had no choice but to move to vacant land nearby or to leave the river entirely.  At the same time, Spanish inheritance laws dictated that land be divided evenly among heirs, "which," Brasseaux continues, "divided the original family land grant into progressively small tracts with each successive generation."  Because of these factors, and despite "the imposition of increasingly stringent restrictions on intracolonial movement" during the 1770s, Acadians who did migrate tended to move from the river to the prairies.  Still, most of the river Acadians remained in place, determined to make a decent living on the land they possessed.  As a result, population density on the Acadian coasts "increased 226 percent between 1766 and 1777, rising from 241 to 786," Brasseaux informs us.413 

The relative economic prosperity of the prairie and river settlements, based, at least, on the number of animals owned, are reflected in economic data gleaned from the Acadians at Lafourche des Chitimachas, or Ascension, in April 1777.  Commandant Louis Judice counted  61 men, 67 women, 128 boys, 92 girls, 586 arpents, 137 slaves, 1,178 horned cattle, 158 horses, 80 sheep, 882 swine, 130 arms, 1 free "savage," 12 goats, and 3 kids in his district that year:   François-Marie Babin, age 35, who had come to the colony with the Breaus in 1768, held 9 arpents on the east bank of the river at Ascension and owned 9 swine and 11 head of cattle.  Brother Firmin Babin, age 30, held 9 arpents on the east bank and owned 3 swine and 7 head of cattle.  Amand Babin, age 34, a 1766 arrival, held 6 arpents on the right bank and owned 20 swine, 3 horses, and 19 head of cattle.  Brother Charles Babin, age 35, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 10 hogs, no horses, 20 head of cattle, and 2 slaves.  Brother Vincent-Ephrem, called Ephrem, Babin, age 32, held 6 arpents on the left bank and owned 30 hogs, 2 horses, 15 head of cattle, and 3 slaves.  Joseph Babin, age 29, a 1766 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 16 hogs, a horse, 20 heads of cattle, and 2 slaves.  Joseph dit Dios Babin, age 23, a 1766 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 12 swine, 2 horses, and 8 head of cattle.  Anselme Le Borgne de Bélisle, age 39, scion of a noble Acadian family who had come to the colony in 1767, held 5 arpents on the west bank and owned 8 swine, 3 horses, 13 head of cattle, and a slave.  Jean-Baptiste Breaux, age 52, a 1766 arrival, held 6 arpents "fallow" on the west bank and owned 29 swine, 3 horses, 15 head of cattle, and a slave.  Joseph Breaux, age 24, a 1768 arrival, held 4 arpents on the east bank and owned 2 horses and 4 head of cattle.  Paul Breaux, age 32, a 1766 arrival, held 5 arpents on the east bank and owned 21 hogs, a horse, 22 head of cattle, and a slave.  Firmin Broussard, age 25, a 1766 arrival, held 2 lots, one 8 arpents "fallow," the other 6 arpents, both on the east bank, and owned 8 swine, 2 horses, and 14 head of cattle.  Joseph Bujole, age 54, a 1766 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank of the river and owned 19 hogs, 2 horses, 18 head of cattle, and a slave.  Son Augustin Bujole, age 24, held 5 arpents on the west bank and owned 7 swine, 2 horses, and 10 head of cattle.  Joseph's younger brother Étienne Bujole, age 53, held 12 arpents on the west bank of the river and owned 18 swine, 3 sheep, 3 horses, 24 cattle, and 4 slaves.  François Dugas, age 37, who had to the colony in February 1765 with the Broussards, held 6 arpents on the right bank and owned 9 swine, 2 horses, 20 head of cattle, and a slave.  Younger brother Charles Dugas, age 27, held 6 arpents on the right bank and owned 15 hogs, 2 horses, and 11 head of cattle.  Brother Athanase Dugas, age 24 and a bachelor soon to be married, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 10 hogs, 4 horses, and 5 head of cattle.  Brother Michel Dugas, age 20 and also a bachelor soon to be married, lived with brother Athanase and owned 10 sheep, a horse, and 2 head of cattle.  Jean Duhon, age 30, a 1765 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 8 swine, 4 horses, 28 head of cattle, and 1 slave.  Younger brother François Duhon, age 28, held 7 arpents on the west bank and owned 3 swine, 2 horses, and 9 head of cattle.  Pierre Dupuis, age 27 and still a bachelor, a 1768 arrival, held 4 arpents on the east bank and owned 7 swine and 2 head of cattle.  Firmin Dupuis, age 25, a 1768 arrival, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 8 swine, a horse, and 6 head of cattle.  Charles Foret, age 55, a 1765 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 9 swine, 4 horses, and 16 head of cattle.  Son Pierre-Paul, called Paul, Foret, age 31, held 5 arpents on the west bank and owned 15 swine, 7 sheep, 2 horses, 16 head of cattle, and a slave.  Charles's son Anselme Foret, age 25, held 5 arpents on the west bank and owned 4 swine, 2 horses, and 5 head of cattle.  Charles Gaudin dit Lincour, age 26, a 1765 arrival, held 5 arpents on the west bank and owned 8 swine, 3 horses, 14 head of cattle, and a slave.  Amand-Paul Gautreaux, age 45, a 1766 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 7 hogs, 3 horses, and 23 head of cattle.  Joseph Guidry, age 45, who had come to the colony during the late 1760s, held 8 arpents on the east bank and owned 15 swine, no horses, 15 head of cattle, and a slave.  Firmin Guidry, age 25, a 1768 arrival, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 8 swine, 3 horses, and 10 head of cattle.  René Landry, age 61, a 1766 arrival, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 15 hogs, 2 horses, 24 head of cattle, and 3 slaves.  Son Marin Landry, age 29, held 2 lots, both 6 arpents, one "in fallow," on the east bank and owned 10 swine, 4 horses, and 20 head of cattle.  René's son Olivier Landry, age 24, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 8 swine, a horse, and 9 head of cattle.  René's son Joseph dit Dios Landry, age 20, a bachelor, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 15 hogs, a horse, and 6 head of cattle.  Pierre dit Pierrot à Chaques Landry, age 56, a 1766 arrival, held 11 arpents alongthe east bank and owned 55 swine, 8 horses, 53 head of cattle, and 6 slaves.  Son Jean Landry, age 25, still a bachelor, held 5 arpents on the east bank and owned 2 horses and 6 head of cattle.  Pierrot à Chaques son Jean-Baptiste Landry, age 21, a bachelor, held 5 arpents on the east bank and owned 2 sheep, 2 horses, and 6 head of cattle.  Abraham dit Petit-Abram Landry, age 55 and recently remarried, a 1766 arrival, held an determined number of arpents on the west bank and owned 10 hogs, a horse, and 6 head of cattle.  Son Étienne Landry, age 35 and recently married, held 5 arpents on the east bank and owned 3 hogs, 2 horses, and 18 head of cattle.  Petit-Abram's son Simon Landry, age 33, held 11 arpents on the east bank and owned 29 swine, 3 horses, 15 head of cattle, and a slave.  Petit-Abram's son Pierre-Abraham dit Pitre Landry, age 25, worked 7 arpents on the west bank and owned 9 swine, a horse, and 18 head of cattle.  Vincent Landry, age 50, a 1766 arrival, held 3 arpents on the west bank and owned 10 hogs, a horse, and 14 head of cattle.  Younger brother Pierre dit La Vielliarde Landry, age 45, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 32 swine, 4 sheep, 5 horses, 29 head of cattle, and 3 slaves.  Brother Étienne Landry, age 43, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 20 hogs, 10 sheep, 2 horses, 25 head of cattle, and 4 slaves.  Mathurin Landry, age 43, a 1768 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 25 hogs, 10 sheep, 2 horses, 28 head of cattle, and a slave.  Charles Landry, age 39, a 1766 arrival, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 18 hogs, 2 horses, 17 head of cattle, and a slave.  Younger brother Jacques Landry, age 34, held 2 lots, one 5 arpents "fallow, the other 6 arpents in production, both on the east bank, and owned 5 hogs, 5 horses, 14 head of cattle, and 2 slaves.  Joseph Landry, age 38, a 1765 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 30 swine, 8 sheep, 5 horses, 26 head of cattle, and a slave.  Basile Landry, age 27, a 1766 arrival, held 5 arpents on the west bank and owned 16 swine, 3 horses, and 18 head of cattle.  Joseph dit Belhomme Landry, age 25, a 1766 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 20 hogs, 8 sheep, 2 horses, 30 head of cattle, and 4 slaves.  Mare-Madeleine Landry, age 54, widow of Désiré LeBlanc, who had just died at age 60, a 1766 arrival, held 8 arpents on the west bank and owned 8 hogs, a horse, and 16 head of cattle.  Son Isaac LeBlanc, age 31, held 12 arpents on the east bank and owned 8 swine, 4 horses, 26 head of cattle, and a slave.  Son Jérôme LeBlanc, age 28, held 6 arpents on the west bank of the river and owned 8 hogs, no horses, 12 head of cattle, and 2 slaves.  Élisabeth Boudreaux, age 55, widow of René LeBlanc, a 1765 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 15 swine, 4 horses, and 17 head of cattle.  Son Simon LeBlanc, age 33, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 5 swine, a horse, and 20 head of cattle.  Pierre LeBlanc, age 46, a 1766 arrival, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 12 hogs, 8 sheep, 3 horses, and 21 head of cattle.  Sylvain LeBlanc, age 36, a 1766 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 15 swine, a horse, 21 head of cattle, and a slave.  Joseph Marant, age 48, a 1765 arrival, held an undetermined number of arpents on the west bank and owned 4 hogs, 2 horses, 2 head of cattle, and 2 slaves.  Charles Melançon, age 34, a 1766 arrival, held 11 arpents on the east bank and owned 15 hogs, 2 horses, and 28 head of cattle.   Charles Préjean, age 41, a 1765 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 4 swine, 2 sheep, 3 horses, and 14 head of cattle.  Younger brother Basile Préjean, age 22, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 10 swine, 8 sheep, 4 horses, and 11 head of cattle.  Joseph Caissie dit Roger, age 31, a 1765 arrival, held 12 arpents along the right bank of the river and owned 9 swine, 12 goats, 4 horses, and 20 head of cattle.415

The same contrast between the prairie and river settlements can be seen in the number of animals owned by the Acadians at San Gabriel in early 1777, the great majority of whom, it must be remembered, had come to the colony two years after most of the prairie Acadians arrived.  The census, completed in March, was conducted by San Gabriel commandant Louis Dutisné:  Pierre Allain, age 54, a 1767 arrival, held 6 arpents on the east bank of the river at San Gabriel and owned 30 fowl, 18 hogs, 4 horses, and 18 head of cattle.  Son Jean-Baptiste, called Baptiste, Allain, age 26 and still unmarried, held 8 arpents on the east bank and owned 14 fowl, 10 hogs, 1 horse, and 12 head of cattle.  Pierre Babin, age 53, another 1767 arrival, held 12 arpents on the east bank and owned 20 fowl, 12 hogs, no horses, and 14 head of cattle.  Jean-Baptiste Babin, age 38, a 1767 arrival, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 20 fowl, 12 hogs, 2 horses, 20 head of cattle, and a black slave.  Ignace Babin, age 36, a widower soon to remarry, who had come to the colony in 1767, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 17 fowl, 14 hogs, no horses, and 12 head of cattle.  Younger brother Paul Babin, age 26 and still a bachelor, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 18 fowl, 6 hogs, and 2 head of cattle.  Étienne Babin, age 28 and newly married, a 1767 arrival, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 18 fowl, 8 hogs, 2 horses, and 10 head of cattle.  Younger brother Cyprien Babin, age 27, still a bachelor, held 5 arpents on the west bank and owned 15 fowl, 6 hogs, 3 horses, and 9 head of cattle.  Étienne Babin, age 23 and a bachelor, perhaps a 1767 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 18 fowl, 12 hogs, 3 horses, and 16 head of cattle.  Pierre-Olivier, called Oliver, Benoit, age 48, who had come to the colony in 1769 aboard the Britannia, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 14 fowl, 10 hogs, and 22 head of cattle.  Mathurin Benoit, age 20 and a bachelor, likely a 1767 arrival, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 14 fowl, 6 hogs, and 2 head of cattle.  Marie-Josèphe Landry, age 39, widow of Joseph Blanchard and soon to remarry, a 1767 arrival, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 20 fowl, 10 hogs, no horses, and 18 head of cattle.  Anselme Blanchard, age 36, a 1767 arrival, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 18 fowl, 8 hogs, 3 horses, 12 head of cattle, and 2 slaves.  Jérôme Blanchard, age 18 and a bachelor, perhaps a 1767 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank but the census taker did not count his animals.  Pierre Brasseaux, age 35, a 1767 arrival, held 12 arpents on the east bank and owned 30 fowl, 16 hogs, 7 horses, and 17 head of cattle.  Jean-Charles Breaux, age 44, who had come to the colony in 1768, held 9 arpents on the east bank and owned 40 fowl, 19 hogs, 6 horses, 20 head of cattle, and a slave.  Son Michel Breaux, age 23 and newly married, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 14 fowl, 12 hogs, 3 horses, and 9 head of cattle.  Marguerite Landry, age 41, widow of Antoine Breaux, another 1768 arrival, held 9 arpents on the east bank and owned 40 fowl, 18 hogs, 3 horses, and 20 head of cattle.  Son Joseph, age 23, held 6 arpents along the east bank and owned 20 fowl, 12 hogs, 2 horses, and 8 head of cattle.  Marie-Josèphe Landry, age 40, widow of Joseph Breaux, a 1768 arrival, held 8 arpents on the east bank and owned 30 fowl, 18 hogs, 4 horses, and 20 head of cattle.  Pierre Breaux, age 36 and still a bachelor, a 1768 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 10 fowl, 6 hogs, no horses, and 3 had of cattle.  Jean Breaux, age 26 and still a bachelor, who had come to the colony in 1766, held 6 arpents on the east side of the river and owned 18 fowl, 8 hogs, and 12 head of cattle.  Paul Chiasson, age 31, who had come to the colony perhaps from St.-Domingue in 1765, held 5 arpents on the east bank and owned 20 fowl, 8 hogs, 1 horse, and 12 head of cattle.  Pierre-Sylvain Clouâtre, age 37, a 1768 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 20 fowl, 12 hogs, no horses, and 9 head of cattle.  Younger brother Joseph Clouâtre, age 27, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 18 fowl, 12 hogs, no horses, and 10 head of cattle.  Jean-Charles, called Charles, Comeaux, age 28, a 1767 arrival, held 16 arpents along the east bank and owned 40 fowl, 21 hogs, 6 horses, 20 head of cattle, and 3 slaves.  Joseph Comeaux, age 26, a 1768 arrival, held 8 arpents on the east bank and owned 18 fowl, 8 hogs, no horses, and 10 head of cattle.  Augustin Dugas, age 30, perhaps a 1767 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 17 fowl, 5 hogs, 2 horses, and 8 head of cattle.  Pierre Dugas, age 23, perhaps a brother and a 1767 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 16 fowl, 8 hogs, 2 horses, and 10 cattle.  Alexandre Dugas, age 19 and a bachelor, perhaps another brother and a 1767 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 8 fowl, 4 hogs, and 6 head of cattle.  Joseph Dupuis, age 41, who had come to the colony during the 1760s probably from St.-Domingue, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 30 fowl, 10 hogs, 3 horses, and 12 head of cattle.  Nephew Jean-Baptiste Dupuis, age 25 and recently married, held 8 arpents on the west bank and owned 20 fowl, 10 hogs, and 8 head of cattle.  Brother Simon-Joseph, called Joseph, Dupuis, age 23 and a bachelor, held 8 arpents on the right bank and owned 14 fowl, 9 hogs, and 12 head of cattle.  Pierre Foret, age 42, probably a 1767 arrival, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 30 fowl, 12 hogs, 19 head of cattle, and a slave.  Paul Hébert, age 65, a 1767 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 40 fowl, 3 horses, 12 hogs, and 18 head of cattle.  Son Pierre-Paul Hébert, age 40, held 5 arpents on the west bank and owned 30 fowl, 12 hogs, 3 horses, and 14 head of cattle.  Son Joseph Hébert, age 37, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 25 fowl,, 10 hogs, 4 horses, and 12 head of cattle.  Son Jean-Baptiste, called Baptiste, Hébert, age 27, recently married, held 5 arpents on the west bank and owned 15 fowl, 2 horses, 12 hogs, and 7 head of cattle.  Son Amand Hébert, age 23 and recently married, held 5 arpents on the west bank, 20 fowl, 12 hogs, 2 horses, and 13 head of cattle.  Paul's younger brother Ignace Hébert, age 53, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 30 fowl, 15 hogs, and 16 head of cattle.  Alexandre Hébert, age 42, a 1767 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 20 fowl, 10 hogs, 2 horses, and 10 head of cattle.  Younger brother François Hébert, fils, age 39, held 5 arpents on the east bank and owned 19 fowl, 16 hogs, 3 horses, and 18 head of cattle.  Brother Amand Hébert, age 37, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 28 fowl, 3 horses, 14 hogs, and 18 head of cattle.  Brother Jean-Baptiste dit Petit-Jean Hébert, age 35, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 30 fowl, 12 hogs, 3 horses, and 20 head of cattle.  Brother Étienne Hébert, age 33, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 19 fowl, 12 hogs, 3 horses, and 14 head of cattle.  Brother Pierre-Caieton, called Caieton, Hébert, age 30 and recently married, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 20 fowl, 12 hogs, no horses, and 12 head of cattle.  Brother Joseph Hébert, age 28, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 18 fowl, 5 hogs, no horses, and 7 head of cattle.  Brother Charles Hébert, age 26, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 30 fowl, 18 hogs, 4 horses, 14 head of cattle, and a slave.  Pierre Hébert, age 40, a 1765 arrival, held 5 arpents on the west bank and owned 30 fowl, 12 hogs, 3 horses, and 14 head of cattle.  Augustin Landry, age 58, a 1767 arrival, held 10 arpents on the west bank and owned 30 fowl, 15 hogs, no horses, 18 head of cattle, and a slave.  Mathurin Landry, age 40, who had come to the colony in February 1765 with the Broussards, moved to Cabahannocer, and then to St.-Gabriel, held 6 arpents on the left bank and owned 20 fowl, 14 hogs, 12 head of cattle, and 3 slaves.  Anselme Landry, age 39, a 1767 arrival, held 8 arpents on the east bank and owned 13 fowl, 11 hogs, no horses, and 12 head of cattle.  Younger brother François-Sébastien Landry, age 36, held 12 arpents on the east bank and owned 20 fowl, 12 hogs, 3 horses, 12 head of cattle, and 3 slaves.  Brother Paul-Marie Landry, age 33, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 18 fowl, 10 hogs, no horses, and 12 head of cattle.  Brother Firmin Landry, age 29, held 8 arpents on the east bank and owned 30 fowl, 9 hogs, 3 horses, 12 head of cattle, and a slave.  Joseph Landry, age 38 and a widower, perhaps a 1767 arrival, held 8 arpents on the west bank and owned 17 fowl, 15 hogs, and 12 head of cattle.  Athanase Landry, age 35, a 1767 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 16 fowl, 8 bogs, no horses, and 10 head of cattle.  Hyacinthe Landry, age 34, a 1767 arrival, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 30 fowl, 12 hogs, 3 horses, 13 head of cattle, and a slave.  Brother Jean-Athanase Landry, age 26, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 20 fowl, 14 hogs, 3 horses, and 10 head of cattle.  Joseph Landry, age 22 and a bachelor, who may have come to the colony with the Breaus in 1768, held 10 arpents on the west bank and owned 12 fowl, 4 hogs, and 6 head of cattle.  Joseph Castille of Menorca, age 45, whose wife was a Landry, a 1767 arrival, held 6 arpents on the east bank, and owned 18 fowl, 12 hogs, 10 head of cattle, and a slave.  Bonaventure LeBlanc, age 50, a 1767 arrival, held 10 arpents on the east bank and owned 30 fowl, 14 hogs, 3 horses, and 19 head of cattle.  Son Joseph dit Adons LeBlanc, age 25, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 15 fowl, 9 hogs, and 13 head of cattle.  Jean-Baptiste LeBlanc, age 28 and recently married, a 1767 arrival, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 18 fowl, 10 hogs, no horses, 8 head of cattle, and a slave.  Younger brother Pierre LeBlanc, age 24, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 15 fowl, 8 hogs, 3 horses, 10 head of cattle, and a slave.  Joseph dit Agros LeBlanc, age 22 and a bachelor, a 1767 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 16 fowl, 6 hogs, and 3 head of cattle.  Joseph-Michel, called Michel, LeBlanc, age 19 and still a bachelor, a 1767 arrival, held 4 arpents on the east bank and owned 18 fowl, 2 horses, 6 hogs, and 12 head of cattle.  Amand Melançon, age 49, a 1767 arrival, held 10 arpents on the west bank and owned 30 fowl, 16 hogs, 4 horses, 20 head of cattle, and a slave.  Joseph Orillion dit Champagne, age 29, a 1765 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 30 fowl, 14 hogs, no horses, and 12 head of cattle.  Pierre Richard, age 63 (the census taker said he was 32!), a widower, who arrived in 1767, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 12 fowl, 8 hogs, 2 horses, 10 head of cattle, and 6 slaves.  Marie Breaux, age 35, widow of son Amand Richard and soon to remarry, a 1767 arrival, held 12 arpents on the east bank and owned 30 fowl, 16 hogs, 3 horses, 18 head of cattle, and 2 slaves.  Simon-Henry Richard, age 37, a 1767 arrival, held 12 arpents along the east bank and owned 30 fowl, 10 hogs, no horses, and 11 head of cattle.  Younger brother Paul Richard, age 30 and recently married, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 20 fowl, 12 hogs, no horses, and 18 head of cattle.  Joseph Richard, age 30, probably a 1767 arrival, held 6 arpents on the east bank and owned 20 fowl, 12 hogs, 2 horses, 12 head of cattle, and a slave.  Étienne Rivet, age 60, who had come to the colony aboard the Britannia in 1769, held 10 arpents on the west bank and owned 14 fowl, 12 hogs, 2 horses, and 12 head of cattle.  Michel-Maxime Rivet, age 37, a 1768 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 12 fowl, 7 hogs, no horses, and 9 head of cattle.  Younger brother Cyrille Rivet, age 34, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 20 fowl, 15 hogs, no horses, and 10 head of cattle.  Brother Blaise Rivet, age 30, still a bachelor, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 12 fowl, 11 or 17 hogs, no horses, and 7 head of cattle.  François Rivet, age 26 and still a bachelor, a 1769 arrival, held 6 arpents on the west bank and owned 12 fowl, 8 hogs, and 4 head of cattle.414

The census taker at Cabahannocer in 1777, Commandant Michel Cantrelle, did not list the arpents of land held or the number of animals owned by each inhabitant, so an economic comparison with the other Acadian settlements is not possible.  However, the census, conducted from January to April, does provide the names and ages of the Acadian heads of families, as well as that of the adult bachelors, living on both banks of the Lower Acadian Coast that year.  A few, still living together on the east bank, had come to the colony from Georgia in 1764:  Jean-Baptiste Cormier, père, age 68; Joseph Landry, age 29; Jean-Baptiste, called Jean, Poirier, age 44; Jean-Baptiste, called Jean, Richard, age 58; son Jean-Marie, age 31; and son Joseph, who would have been age 19 and a bachelor.  Some had come to the colony with the Broussards from Halifax in February 1765 and moved to the river during the fall of that year:  Jean Arceneaux, age 49, living on the east bank; son Jean-Charles, called Charles, age 25, on the west bank; son Joseph, age 21 and a bachelor, on the east bank; son Guillaume, age 18 and a bachelor, on the east bank; Jean's younger brother Joseph, age 37, on the east bank; Pierre Arceneaux l'aîné, age 46, on the west bank; Amable Blanchard, age 35, on the east bank; Joseph Bourgeois, age 41, on the east bank; brother Michel, age 36, on the east bank; Pierre Darois, age 40, on the west bank; Joseph dit Cadet Dugas, age 24 and still a bachelor, on the east bank; Joseph Guidry, age 42, on the east bank; Ambroise Martin dit Barnabé, age 43, on the east bank; Marie Cormier, age 31, who came to the colony in 1764, widow of Michel Poirier, on the east bank; and Abraham Roy, age 46, on the east bank.  Most had come to the colony from Halifax in 1765 aboard later-arriving vessels:  Jean-Baptiste Bergeron dit d'Amboise, père, age 55, living on the west bank; son Jean-Baptiste dit d'Amboise, fils, age 27, on the west bank; Germain Bergeron, age 34, on the east bank; Pierre Bernard, age 46, on the east bank; son Jean-Baptiste, age 23 and recently married, on the east bank; son Pierre, fils, age 18 and a bachelor, on the east bank; Pierre Berteau, age 38, on the east bank; Joseph Blanchard l'aîné, age 38, on the east bank; Joseph Blanchard le jeune, age 29, on the west bank; brother Pierre, age 28 and a bachelor, on the east bank; Olivier Boudreaux, age 49, on the east bank; son Simon, age 24, on the east bank; Joseph Bourg, age 42, on the east bank; Pierre Bourg, age 27, on the east bank; Paul Bourgeois, age 45, on the east bank; Jean-Baptiste, called Baptiste, Bourgeois, age 44, on the east bank; brother Michel, age 43, on the east bank; Jean Bourgeois, age 38, on the east bank; Athanase Breaux, age 42, on the west bank; Pierre Chiasson, age 48, on the east bank; Michel Chiasson, age 18 and a bachelor, on the east bank; Joseph Dupuis, age 26, on the east bank; Charles Gaudet l'aîné, age 47, on the west bank; brother Jérôme, age 37, on the west bank; Joseph Gaudet, age 38, on the east bank; brother Charles le jeune, age 25 and still a bachelor, on the east bank; Bonaventure Gaudin dit Bellefontaine, père, age 62, on the west bank; son Bonaventure dit Bellefontaine, fils, age 24 and still a bachelor, on the west bank; son Michel dit Bellefontaine, age 21 and a bachelor, on the west bank; Jean-Baptiste Gaudin dit Bellefontaine, age 31, on the east bank; Jean Gaudin dit Bellefontaine, age 30 and still a bachelor, on the east bank; Simon Gautreaux, age 41, on the west bank; Firmin dit La Prade Girouard, age 28, on the east bank; François Hébert, age 42, on the east bank; brother Joseph, age 42, on the west bank; Antoine Labauve, age 51, on the east bank; twin sons Jean and Marin, age 18 and bachelors, on the east bank; Surgeon Philippe de St.-Julien Lachaussée, age 50, on the west bank; Pierre Lambert, père, age 51, on the east bank; son Pierre, fils, age 30 and still a bachelor, on the east bank; Pierre Lanoux, age 31, on the east bank; Joseph LeBlanc, père, age 57, on the west bank; son Joseph, fils, age 27, on the west bank; son Gilles, age 19 and a bachelor, on the west bank; Marcel LeBlanc, age 43, on the west bank; Jean Leger, age 55, on the east bank; Charles d'Amours de Louvière, age 27, on the east bank; Joseph Martin dit Barnabé, age 38, on the east bank; half-brother Paul dit Barnabé, age 28 and still a bachelor, on the east bank; Joachim dit Bénoni Mire, age 41, on the east bank; Louis Mouton, age 40, on the east bank; younger brother Simon, age 33, on the east bank; Pierre Part, age 28, on the east bank; younger brother François, age 24, on the east bank; Joseph Poirier, age 37, on the east bank; Joseph Richard, age 41, on the east bank; Jean Caissie dit Roger, age 20, a bachelor, on the west bank; Charles dit Jean-Charles Savoie, age 56, on the east bank; Joseph Sonnier, age 38 and a widower soon to remarry, on the east bank; younger brother Jean-Baptiste, age 31, on the east bank; Joseph Thériot, age 45, on the east bank; Thomas Thériot, age 32, on the east bank; younger brother Ambroise, age 29 and still a bachelor but soon to marry, on the east bank; brother François-Xavier, called Xavier, age 24 and still a bachelor, on the east bank; Charles Thibodeaux, age 38, on the east bank; and Pierre Vincent, age 32, on the east bank.  Some came to the colony from Maryland in 1766:  Joseph Babin, age 32, living on the west bank; Pierre Breaux, age 37, on the east bank; Étienne-Michel, called Michel, David dit St.-Michel, age 57, on the east bank; son Paul, age 23, on the east bank; son Jean-Baptiste, age 18 and a bachelor, on the east bank; Marie-Josèphe Landry, age 39, widow of Pierre Foret and soon to remarry to a French Canadian, on the east bank; François Landry, père, who would have been age 66, probably on the east bank; son François, fils, age 36, on the east bank; Jacques LeBlanc, age 69, on the west bank; Paul LeBlanc, 34, on the east bank; Simon LeBlanc, age 25, on the west bank; Osite Hébert, age 46, widow of Alexandre Melançon, on the east bank; son Pierre-Jacques, called Jacques, Melançon, age 27, on the east bank; brother Joseph, age 22 and a bachelor, on the east bank; brother Étienne, age 21 and a bachelor, on the east bank; and Jean-Baptiste Melançon, age 41, on the east bank.  A few had come to the colony in c1765 probably from St.-Domingue:  Paul Leger, age 19 and a bachelor, was working as an engagé on the east bank; and Pierre Michel, age 40, also was living on the east bank.  A few, still living on the west bank, had come to the colony from Maryland in 1768:  Alexis Breaux, age 53; son Joseph, age 26; Alexis's younger brother Honoré, père, who would have been age 46; and son Honoré, fils, age 30.  Two, living on the east bank, had come to the colony from Martinique during the late 1760s:  Charles Mouton, age 56; and son Georges, age 21 and still a bachelor.  And had come came to the colony during the late 1760s or early 1770s perhaps from St.-Domingue:  Pierre Arceneaux le jeune, age 28, living on the west bank; and Charles Comeaux, age 52, on the east bank.  Commandant Cantrelle did offer this impressive summation for St.-Jacques:  The district contained a total of 1,020 arpents of land fronting the river along both banks; 172 slaves, the largest numbers of them no doubt held by the Creole elite; 2,204 head of cattle; 388 horses; and 699 persons.  Of the 134 families counted at St.-Jacques that year, 96, or 72 percent, were Acadian, which was why the area was being called the First or Lower Acadian Coast.414a

The Acadian Coast was not a major cattle-producing area, hence the smaller number of beeves there compared to the prairie districts.  But the number of hogs and fowl held by the river Acadians, as well as the number of slaves they owned, testifies to their attainment of material comfort and an end to dependence on government handouts.  Andrew McMichael's description of another economy in the region during the late 1700s could apply to the Acadian Coast economy as well:  "These small farms also led to a more dynamic economy of the type usually associated with colonial New England.  As in the New England merchant and fishing communities of Boston, Providence, and elsewhere, Baton Rouge farmers produced such a variety of goods, including cattle and lumber, that the failure of one of them could be balanced by the abundance of another.  As in Natchez and Spanish East Florida, cattle ranching and lumbering could, to some extent, assuage the occasional economic setback caused by crop failure" or catastrophic floods.

After nearly a decade of Spanish rule and a dozen years in the colony, there was no question that the river Acadians, as well as their cousins on the prairies, had finally come into their own economically.  Especially impressive were the holdings of the 1768 arrivals from Maryland, whose year and a half at Fort San Luìs de Natchez was a time of misery and want.  After their release from the isolated outpost in December 1769, they hurried down to the Acadian Coast, where, after only a half dozen years of effort, they attained a level of material comfort on par with their Acadian kinsmen.414b 

.

The Acadians attained more than material comfort during the first decade of Spanish rule in Louisiana.  In 1770, Governor O'Reilly "ordered the construction of chapels and presbyteries in each Acadian settlement and, upon learning of the manpower deficiencies in the province's religious communities, appealed to the diocese of Havana for missionaries to staff the new parishes."  Roman Catholics every one, the Acadians welcomed the new houses of worship as well as the new priests.  When the first Acadians had come to the colony in 1764, there were only four established church parishes in western Louisiana:  St.-Louis at New Orleans, created in 1719; St.-Charles des Allemands on the German Coast, dating from 1722; St.-François de Assisi at Pointe-Coupée, founded in 1727; and a second St.-François, at Natchitoches, where a French priest took his post in 1728.  Each of these parishes answered to a vicar-general, sometimes Jesuit, sometimes Capuchin, residing at New Orleans, who represented the distant Bishop of Québec.  In 1763, when Canada became a British possession, the priests of lower Louisiana answered to the Bishop of French St.-Domingue.  In August 1769, after General Alejandro O'Reilly took formal possession of the colony for Spain, the priests in lower Louisiana answered to the Bishop of Santiago de Cuba.418 

When the Broussards journeyed to Attakapas in the spring of 1765, they took Capuchin Father Jean-François de Civray with them.  Tradition says that Father Jean-François created a church parish at Attakapas.  Father Jean-François, while living with the Acadians at Fausse Pointe, did keep an impromtu set of registers for births and especially burials, but this hardly constituted an ecclesiastical parish.  Nor did the "gouty" priest, as a young settler called him, remain at Attakapas.  His final entry in the parish register, the baptismal record of Acadian Marie Pellerin, is dated 11 January 1766.  In 1773, bayou residents chose a syndic, Jean Berard, to oversee construction of L'Église des Attakapas, or the Church of Attakapas, a small frame structure that arose on land donated by Jean-Antoine-Bernard Dauterive at present-day St. Martinville.  Despite possessing a chapel, the Attakapas residents could not attract a pastor to their erstwhile parish.  It was not unusual for Attakapas baptisms, marriages, and burials to be recorded by priests from other parishes during the earliest days of the parish.  Pointe Coupée lay near a northern route across the Atchafalaya Basin and was the closest church to Attakapas during much of that period, so the Pointe Coupée priest served as a missionary to Attakapas from the late 1760s.  The Opelousas parish, even closer to Attakapas, was founded in 1776, and the priests there served Attakapas residents during the late 1770s.  In 1779, even the curé of Ascension parish, out on the river, administered the sacraments to Attakapas settlers.  By 1781, however, residents of Attakapas finally were given a priest of their own--Father Hilaire de Genevaux, who came to them from Pointe Coupée.  During its early days, the Attakapas parish was variously called St.-Joseph and St.-Bernard, but in the early 1790s, when Father George Murphy served as pastor, it came to be known as St.-Martin des Attakapas or St.-Martin de Tours.  The parish council of St.-Martin de Tours owned the land around the church, which included much of today's downtown St. Martinville.  During the late 1790s, after St.-Martin de Tours had been firmly established, a unique lease-purchase arrangement was made between the church council and local merchants that existed for nearly a century.  By the twentieth century, the parish was calling itself the "Mother Church of the Acadians."417

As Acadians from Halifax and Maryland began to fill the empty spaces along Côte Cabahannocer above the German Coast, church authorities sent Father Barnabé from St.-Charles des Allemands to minister to their needs.  Beginning in March 1766 and continuing into the following year, Father Barnabé began to perform so many weddings at Cabahannocer that Co-commandant Louis Judice informed Spanish governor Ulloa in October 1767:  "It is a pleasure to see these poor people marry.  I expect many more marriages to take place in the near future."  The co-commandant was correct.  A month later Judice was telling the governor:  "I also have the honor of notifying you that Fr. Barnabé, pastor of the Des Allemands parish, has just spent six days at my home, during which time he performed five Acadian weddings.  Sir, as the priest celebrates holy mass in my house and as it cannot accommodate three or four hundred persons, as was the case on the eighth of this month, the priest has proposed construction of a shed, 40 feet long by 20 feet wide.  Roofed and enclosed by posts, it could serve as a church until better facilities are available.  Here, the Christian faithful could congregate on Sundays and feast days for public prayer until such time as we have a (resident) priest."  By July 1768, the temporary chapel was completed.  Father Barnabé blessed it and dedicated it to Sts. Jacques and Philippe.  On the day he reported the completion of the "shed," 2 July 1768, Co-commandant Judice informed Ulloa:  "The Acadians, who, so strong in their faith, had expressed the desire for a church, will today be able to gather in this chapel and openly worship together.  They have also agreed, in my presence, to pay 2 livres, 2 sols per family in order to pay for contractors.  There are many Acadians, however, who refused to pay their share.  I humbly beg you to authorize me to force these delinquents to pay their (church) taxes without further delay."  Despite the Acadians' protests, which dragged on for two years and also involved Co-commandant Verret, Governor-General  O'Reilly, Ulloa's successor, ordered the Acadians to pay their church dues.  Even then, they refused (an historian of the Acadians in Nova Scotia has remarked, "the Acadians were scarcely more willing to pay tithes than quitrents"), and it took a direct order from O'Reilly's successor, Governor Unzaga, to force the "delinquents" to pay their dues.  Meanwhile, in 1770, church authorities created a new parish for Cabahannocer, dedicated to St.-Jacques.  The church lay on the west bank of the river, near Jacques Cantrelle's concession, but the area along both banks, now being called the First or Lower Acadian Coast, soon was being called St.-Jacques as well.  The parish's first resident priest, French Capuchin Father Valentin, formerly of Natchitoches and Pointe Coupée, clashed with some of the Acadian men and was replaced by Spanish Capuchin Father Luis Lipiano de Tolosa in 1772.  Unlike the church at Attakapas, St.-Jacques maintained a resident priest throughout the Spanish period.419

In 1770, Spanish Governor Alejandro O'Reilly appointed Louis Judice to command a new district called Lafourche des Chitimachas, which lay on both banks of the river between Cabahannocer and San Gabriel and centered on the junction of Bayou Lafourche and the Mississippi River--the Fork.  In August, Commandant Judice conducted a census of the Acadian settlers in his new district and counted 84 families.  By August 1772, the area around the Fork had become populated enough for the Spanish to create a new church parish there:  La Parroquia de la Ascension de Nuestro Senor Jesu Christo de La Fourche de Los Tchitimacha, or the Church of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ, located at today's Donaldsonville.  The Acadians called their church and the area around it Ascension.  The founding pastor of Ascension church, Father Angelus de Revillagodos, perhaps the first Spanish Capuchin to administer a parish in Louisiana, died in the church rectory in December 1784 after serving Ascension for a dozen years.  The following year, he was replaced by Capuchin Father Joaquin de Ajofrin and then by Capuchin Father Pedro de Zamora.  Louis Judice served as commandant of Lafourche des Chitimachas well into the 1790s.420

In 1772, the same year Ascension parish was created, the Bishop of Santiago de Cuba created another new church parish on the river above New Orleans.  St.-Jean-Baptiste des Allemands, located at present-day Edgard, served what was now being called the Second, or Upper, German Coast, lying between St.-Charles des Allemands and St.-Jacques parishes.  The first pastor at St.-Jean-Baptiste des Allemands was Father Bernardo de Limpach, a Spanish Capuchin.  St.-Jean-Baptiste des Allemands was not an Acadian community, per se--most of its parishioners were Germans and French Creoles--but Acadians living on the lower end of the Acadian Coast appear in its registers.421 

By 1773, San Gabriel settlement, above Ascension, had become populated enough for a church of its own, appropriately dedicated to St.-Gabriel.  The church, now the oldest wooden church structure in the Mississippi valley, was built on the east bank of the river, south of the old fort, and the priests at San Gabriel served the smaller community on the west bank of the river as well.  The first pastor at St.-Gabriel church was the priest at Ascension, Capuchin Father Angelus de Revillagodas, who was assisted in the first years by fathers Aloysius and Louis-Marie Grumeau.  In 1779, French Capuchin Father Valentin, formerly of Pointe Coupée, St.-Jacques, and Opelousas, became pastor at St.-Gabriel but left in 1782, when Father Angelus de Revillagodas again served as pastor.  In 1783, French priest Father Charles N. M. D'Hermeville came to the parish and served as pastor for the next six years.422 

Meanwhile, out on the prairie, the population of the Opelousas District grew large enough to warrant a church parish of its own.  Originally a mission at the Courtableau vacharie that had been served by priests from Pointe Coupée as early as 1756, local residents built a chapel near Courtableau's homestead by 1767.  Not until 1776, however, did the area have its own church parish, dedicated first to the Immaculate Conception and then to St.-Landry of Sées, a fifth-century French bishop.  The parish's first pastor, French Capuchin Father Valentin, who had long served the area from his post at Pointe Coupée and who came to Opelousas from St.-Jacques on the river, was replaced by another French Capuchin, Father Louis Dubourg de St. Sepulchre, in 1777.  Father Louis-Marie Grumeau, a French Dominican, came in 1779 and remained until 1783.  During the late 1770s, the priests at Opelousas also ministered to the people of Attakapas, who did not have a resident priest of their own until 1781.  From 1779 to 1781, Opelousas priests also ministered to the Malagueños community at Nuéva Iberia on the lower Teche, where a resident priest was not assigned until 1838.423

Finally, after decades of neglect in Nova Scotia under British Protestant rule, and after years of seeing few, if any priests, during their Grand Dérangement, the Acadians of Louisiana had churches of their own and priests to minister to their religious needs.  But, like many things in Acadian life, there was a dark side to their Roman Catholic faith.  Whatever their devotion to the ancient religion, Acadians, especially the men, Carl Brasseaux informs us, "refused to extend to their new pastors the reverence the latter demanded in recognition of their social and religious positions.  Moreover, the exiles, who had awaited the priests' arrival with anticipation, soon chafed under the new theocratic local regime.  Indeed, many Acadians families were subjected to close scrutiny by Catholic clergymen for the first time in generations and bitterly resented the intrusion into their daily lives."  During the late 1760s, some of the French Capuchins who visited their settlements "shared the aristocratic Creole's view of the exiles as ignorant peasants, definitely socially inferior to men of the cloth."  After 1770, many of the Acadians' pastors were zealous Spaniards, not all of whom spoke French.  These factors combined to awaken the Acadians' traditional anti-clericalism.  Arrogant, assertive priests who interfered in their lives joined colonial officials in misunderstanding and then condemning the new arrivals.  "The traditional Acadian ambivalence toward the church ... persisted," Brasseaux continues:  "in the frontier tradition, they remained largely self-sufficient in religious matters but were nevertheless forced to rely upon the church for many essential services.  The church's role in their lives, however, had to be entirely passive.  Any effort by clerics to become more than a peripheral influence was viewed as a move toward church domination, and any perceived encroachment upon Acadian independence elicited a hostile if not belligerent reaction."  Thus, the Acadians' devotion to Roman Catholicism masked a deeper essence in their collective souls--a stubborn independence born of long experience on the North American frontier, something they shared with many of their neighbors in this strange new land of clashing cultures.416

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Their anti-clericalism was not the only divisive attitude the Acadians brought with them to Louisiana.  For most of their time along the Bay of Fundy, they had lived in harmony with the Mi'kmaq and other nations of the region.  This changed dramatically by the early 1750s, when Abbé La Loutre and other fanatical French priests turned the Mi'kmaq against the Acadians who refused to join the fight against Britain.  As a result, many Acadians blamed their troubles not only on their British overlords, but also on the bellicose French and their Indian allies.  Although British colonists called the Acadians "Neutral French," they treated the exiles from Nova Scotia as enemies.  This had as much to do with the devastating French and Indian raids along the colonial frontiers as with the Acadians' French language and Roman Catholic faith.  The Virginians, for example, taking counsel of their fears, shipped off to England as soon as they could the hundreds of Acadians Governor Lawrence had foisted on them.  The governors of South Carolina and Georgia were so eager to be rid of the Acadians who appeared in their colonies in late 1755, they encouraged them to build or hire boats and return to greater Acadia the following spring.  Soon after coming to Louisiana, the exiles could see that here, too, was a hornet's nest of imperial conflict in which the French and then the Spanish encouraged their Indian allies to stand against the British.  Here was the rule, not the exception, in Euro-Indian relations throughout North America.  "This mental framework, in which Indians were viewed paradoxically as economic partners but also as potential military rivals," Carl Brasseaux informs us, "was carried to Louisiana as part of the exiles' cultural baggage."485 

Troubled relations with the local Indians was especially acute along the Mississippi.  On the east bank of the river, across from the Fork, stood a village of the Houma, who had been driven downriver from their traditional homeland decades earlier.  No petit nation, from the days of Iberville to the arrival of Ulloa, had been more loyal to the French than the Houma.  In September 1767, soon after Spanish Governor Ulloa settled 200 Acadians recently arrived from Maryland at San Gabriel on the river just above the Houma village, the commandant at Cabahannocer, Louis Judice, wrote to Governor Ulloa:  "For quite some time now, the Houma Indians have wanted to go down to the city to see you.  Since I know these people to be tiresome and annoying, I have always tried to discourage them.  Today, however, I was unable to detain them any longer.  They told me that they were going to see their father (the governor).  They asked me to write you a letter, and I was unable to deny their request.  It is, therefore, on their account that I have the honor to write you today."  The following December, Commandant Judice, in another letter to Ulloa, alluded to Houma "insults to the Acadians."  By the early 1770s, the Acadians' growing numbers and Houma recalcitrance led to more violence between the two peoples--a circumstance that reminded many Acadians of the bad times back in British Nova Scotia.  Acadians living at Ascension near the Fork became so frustrated with the failure of Spanish officials, including Commandant Judice, to curb Houma hostility that they threatened to leave the colony.  The Acadians did not leave the colony, of course, nor did the commandant follow through on his threats against the Houma.  By the late 1770s, Houma braves, filled with rum purchased from local Creole merchant Jean-Baptiste Chauvin, were routinely stealing rice and corn from Acadians' fields and rustling their hogs.  The Indians then sold the hogs to the British at Manchac so that they could buy more rum from Chauvin, who hid his stash of illegal liquor in the woods behind Ascension church.  "Emboldened by alcohol, Houma Indians raided Acadians by day and, when their victims resisted, fired into their homes."  Again, Judice addressed the crisis by writing more letters of complaint to the governor, first Unzaga and then Gálvez, but nothing came of it.  A respite in bad relations with the Houma occurred during the fall of 1785, when a dozen warriors from that nation helped suppress a slave insurrection at Ascension.  But many more Acadians arrived at Lafourche from France that same year, some of them settling on the upper bayou below the Houma village.  "The continuing feud and the unwillingness of local officials to discipline unruly tribesmen heightened the frustrations of Lafourche Valley Acadians," Brasseaux notes.  Intimidated by the violent tendencies exhibited by inebriated Houma tribesmen, many settlers had watched helplessly as their hogs--an important source of income to Acadians east of the Atchafalaya River--were destroyed and a portion of their crops was removed.  Seething with anger, the Acadians awaited an opportunity to vent their frustrations.

Other local Indians also grew paranoid from the constant strain imposed on them by the imperial rivals.  This only stoked the fears of the local Acadians.  Carl Brasseaux relates:  In 1772 on Bayou Lafourche the Chitimacha "created a palisade to protect their village from an anticipated raid by English-allied Talapouche tribesmen, many local Acadians interpreted this measure as a hostile act, temporarily abandoned their homes, and joined relatives in neighboring settlements.  Indeed, the incident generated a wave of hysteria sweeping the Acadian communities east of the Atchafalaya River.  Acadian representatives consequently were sent to New Orleans in an abortive attempt to charter a merchantman to carry 250 exiles out of the colony."  Luckily for all involved, "the imaginary crisis was soon resolved, and the eastern Acadians returned to the job of carving a new life from the virgin wilderness.486 

Some relief for the Acadians living near the Fork came in 1788, when a smallpox epidemic forced the surviving Houma to migrate to lower Bayou Lafourche, below the Acadians and the Chitimacha.  However, a small band of Choctaw who had lived with the Houma remained at the Fork.  In 1789, they made the mistake of raiding the plantation of Commandant Judice's son and threatened to kill the younger Judice.  The aggrieved father turned to his militia for help.  The Acadians followed the commandant to his son's plantation and formed an ambuscade in the dark.  When the Choctaw confronted Judice, the commandant gave the signal, and the Acadians sprang the trap.  Ignoring the commandant's instructions, the Acadians opened fire on the fleeing Indians and captured five of them, which they escorted to New Orleans for trial.  Other Indians in the area noted the Acadians' warlike actions and stayed clear of them, so much so that Acadian-Indian contact along the river and on upper Bayou Lafourche virtually ceased.487

Acadian-Indian relations on the western prairies was a different matter.  When the Broussard party reached Bayou Teche in the spring of 1765, the Opelousa were too few in number to menace the Creoles and Acadians who settled in the area.   The Atakapa were a much more numerous nation, living in villages along the upper Teche; on the lower Vermilion River; on Bayou Queue de Tortue, a tributary of the Mermentau River; near Lake Arthur on the Mermentau; on lower Bayou Nezpique near its confluence with Bayou Plaquemine Brûlé; and farther out on the Calcasieu prairies.  Among the prairie Acadians, to be sure, were families from the Chignecto region who had suffered at the hands of Abbé Le Loutre and his Mi'kmaq warriors, and so they would have been burdened with the same attitude towards the Indians exhibited by their cousins along the river. The Broussards and many of their kin, however, had no such legacy of fear and distrust.  Here were former resistance fighters who had been living in French, not British territory, in 1755, who had never embraced neutrality, and whose relations with the Mi'kmaq, who fought beside them, had always been friendly.  The Broussards brought this attitude with them to Louisiana, and the Atakapa evidently responded in kind.  Tradition says that during the epidemic which devastated the Teche valley Acadians during their first months in the region, local Atakapa treated them with herbal remedies, a kindness the Acadians would not have forgotten.  Just as significantly, the prairie Acadians got along with the fierce Chitimacha, who lived near them on lower Bayou Teche.488

Another factor in cordial relations between the prairie Acadians and the Atakapa was an economic tie based on cattle raising and land acquisition.  The Atakapa were noted for their skilled cattlemen and their accomplished rustlers.  By the early 1770s, the Atakapas were providing Acadians with horses stolen from Spanish Texas.  They also rustled cattle from Texas ranches and sold freshly-slaughtered beef and cowhides to the Acadians, who may have encouraged them to rustle livestock for the Acadians' growing herds.  By 1772, the Spanish abandoned their presidio at Los Adaes east of the Sabine, which had served as the capital of Texas for half a century.  Moving provincial headquarters all the way back to San Antonio de Béxar meant fewer Spanish troops east or west of the Sabine could harass the Atakapas in their rustling activities.  But such was not the case in Spanish Louisiana.  As the number of European settlers increased on the prairies, the Atakapas migrated westward to the Calcasieu region, selling their abandoned lands in the Mermentau valley to encroaching Europeans, including Acadians.  As a result, the Atakapas literally were becoming marginalized in the Louisiana prairie region, which resulted in fewer contacts with area Acadians.  The same held true for the Chitimacha, whose determination to maintain their cultural autonomy confined them to a small, isolated piece of land on lower Bayou Teche.489 

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When the first wave of Acadian immigration to Louisiana ended by 1770, the exiles outnumbered the socially- and economically-dominant French Creoles in each of their communities except one.  Cabahannocer, Ascension, and San Gabriel on the river now were being called the Acadian coasts--either first or second, or lower or upper.  The Attakapas region became predominantly Acadian from the moment the Broussard party arrived.  Not even the creation of a Spanish colony on the lower Teche challenged the Acadians' numerical dominance in the district.  Only at Opelousas did Acadians remain a numerical minority.  Above the Acadian Coast lay Pointe Coupée, where few Acadians settled.  Below the Acadian Coast lay the German Coast, where only a few Acadians lived.  Fewer still remained in the Creole bastion at New Orleans.  After the Acadian refugees from the Britannia left Natchitoches in April 1770, none of them returned to the Red River post.  Moreover, in each of the communities in which the Acadians settled, French Creoles already had been living there.  Acadian insularity alienated their Creole neighbors, as did the Acadians' poverty, stubbornness, disrespect, and their infuriating egalitarianism.  That the exiles now outnumbered them in so many places did not endear the haughty French Creoles to these "peasants" from the north.425 

Carl Brasseaux explains the conflict between Acadian and Creole from the viewpoint of the long-suffering exiles:  "The resulting competition for available lands and, more importantly, fundamental cultural differences soon placed the coexisting colonial societies in conflict.  The inevitable result was cultural warfare. ...  After at least a decade of exile, the immigrants, who were severely traumatized by the ordeal of dispersal and exile, transformed their adopted homeland into the image of pre-dispersal Nova Scotia.  In order to achieve the security which they so desperately craved and thus heal their battered society, the exiles consciously isolated themselves from rival groups.  The resulting Acadian insularity was reinforced by their chronically poor relations with the local Creole community.  This intercultural feud stemmed from the groups' conflicting world views.  The Acadians, for example, were an equalitarian people whose long tradition of universal landholding and rugged frontier individualism had taught them to recognize no social superior.  The Creoles, on the other hand, were usually the progeny of socially prestigious French military officers who had remained in Louisiana after completion of their tour of duty.  Their decision was often based upon the fact that, as younger sons of minor French noblemen, the discharged officers were barred from their father's patrimony by the prevailing French laws of primogeniture.  They consequently sought to establish a new feudal order on Louisiana's frontier, one through which they could attain the power and prestige unavailable to them in their homeland.  Children of these self-appointed Louisiana aristocrats shared their parents' image of frontier feudalism--a vision which they held in common with contemporary officers, minor administrators, and clergymen remaining in the colony after its cession to Spain--and attempted to mold the unassuming exiles into their image of a colonial peasantry.  The Acadians, however, would have none of their arrogance, much to the chagrin of their social betters, and Creole efforts to reduce the exiles to a colonial peasantry were often met with impudence."425a

However, there was one thing the Acadians possessed that caught the attention of certain members of the colony's créole society.  Among the Acadians were many daughters of marriageable age.  To be sure, most of these young Acadian women married their own kind, and some of them wasted little time doing it.  The first recorded Acadian marriage in Louisiana, a Thibodeau/Bourg union, occurred at New Orleans in late February 1765; the couple settled at Attakapas.  On a day in early April, also in the city, a Darois married a Bourgeois, and a Girouard married a Trahan.  They, too, went to the Attakapas District later that month, but the Daroiss moved on to Cabahannocer later in the year.  In July 1765, at New Orleans, a Savoie and a Landry married and settled at Cabahannocer.  In December, again at New Orleans, a Gaudet/Bourgeois marriage was blessed; they, too, settled at Cabahannocer, where, from the end of March 1766 through June 1768, co-commandants Louis Judice and Nicolas Verret oversaw in their homes the marriage of 39 other couples.  Only two of those marriages included non-Acadians, both of them grooms.426 

Soon after they reached the colony, then, Acadians engaged, slowly but surely, in what sociologists call exogamy--marriage outside of ones culture.  The earliest recorded marriage in Louisiana between an Acadian and a non-Acadian occurred on 17 January 1766 at New Orleans:  Rose Thibodeau, widow of Claude Richard, married Jacques LaChaussée, fils from Côte-de-Beaupré, just below Québec.  Rose, a native of Pointe-Beauséjour, Chignecto, had come to the colony from Halifax.  She and Jacques settled at Cabahannocer.  Rose died soon after the marriage, perhaps from the rigors of childbirth, and Jacques remarried to Acadian Marie-Marthe LeBlanc at Cabahannocer in early February 1768.  The other exogamous marriage at Cabahannocer in its early years was that of Saturnin Bruno, probably an Italian, and Scholastique dite Colette, Léger in April 1768.  Another early Acadian "mixed" marriage was that of Anne Arosteguy to Bernard Capdeville of Bern, Switzerland, a military surgeon in the Spanish army, at New Orleans in late February 1766.  Bernard remarried to Acadian Anne Clouâtre at Pointe Coupée in December 1768, when he was serving at Fort San Luìs de Natchez.  The first recorded marriage between an Acadian and a Frenchman in Louisiana was that of Cécile Bergeron, widow of Joseph Dugas, a victim of the Attakapas epidemic of 1765, and Nicolas Lahure of Longwy, Lorraine, at New Orleans in March 1767.  They settled at Cabahannocer.  Marguerite Bujole of Pigiguit married Augustin Constant, a "publican" from d'Arbone, France, at Cabahannocer in August 1770, and remarried to military physician and lieutenant Don Juan Vives of Valencia, Spain, at Ascension in February 1780.  Acadian women, in fact, began marrying Spaniards, most of them soldiers, soon after they reached the colony.  In March 1767, Marie Granger married Manuel Quintero, a first sergeant in the Spanish service, at New Orleans.  They moved upriver to the Baton Rouge area in the 1770s.  Marie Hébert married Spanish soldier Agústín Moreno at Pointe-Coupée in September 1767; the couple were from Fort San Luìs de Natchez.  Marie-Françoise Boutin married Juan Antonio Segovia at Pointe Coupée in April 1768; the couple were from Fort San Gabriel.  In September 1768, at New Orleans, Marguerite Landry married Agústín Sierra, a master blacksmith from the Canary Islands.  The earliest recorded Acadian marriage in the prairie districts, an exogamous one, was that of Anastasie dite Stasie Guénard and French Canadian Amable dit Beaulieu Bertrand at Opelousas on 9 February 1766; a priest from Pointe Coupée performed the marriage.  At the end of October 1767, Acadian Marguerite Martin dit Barnabé of Chignecto, widow of René Robichaux, married French surgeon Antoine Borda at the home of neighbor Michel Doucet at Attakapas; this marriage also was performed probably by a priest from Pointe Coupée.  During the late 1760s, Madeleine Sonnier of Petitcoudiac married Joseph Chrétien at Opelousas.  Joseph became a prominent cattleman and planter in the Grand Coteau area.  Catherine-Françoise Pitre of Opelousas married Frenchman Pierre Joubert dit Bellerose during the 1760s.  The first Broussard to marry a non-Acadian was Isabelle, a granddaughter of Alexandre dit Beausoleil, who married Michel Meaux of Chaillevette, Saintonge, France, at Attakapas in February 1770; the marriage probably was performed by a priest from Pointe Coupée; this was, in fact, the first of Isabelle's three marriages to non-Acadian spouses.  As expected, Acadians took their time surrendering their children to French Creoles.  The first recorded marriage between an Acadian and a French Creole may have been that of Marie-Modeste Savoie, widow of Paul Léger, and Jean-Baptiste Missonnière, "agent of College of Four Nations," at Opelousas in January 1769; the marriage was performed by a priest from Pointe Coupée.  The day after Christmas 1769, Marie-Rose Benoit, who had reached Natchitoches with her family in late October after a 420-mile trek from coastal Texas, married Romain Delafosse of Natchitoches, who may have been born in the colony.  A few weeks later, another young Acadian at Natchitoches, Marguerite Lejeune, married Jacques Croque or Crooks there.  In January 1769, Marie-Rose and Marguerite, with their families, had taken ship from Port Tobacco, Maryland, aboard the English schooner Britannia, and here they were, only a few months in the colony, marrying men from an alien culture.  In June 1770, Marie-Josèphe Breau married François Moreau, fils at Cabahannocer.  In April 1771, Marguerite Prince married Allibamont Jean-Louise Bonin at Attakapas; the marriage was performed by a priest from Pointe Coupée.  Marie Brasseaux married Hubert Janis at Ascension on the river in October 1772 and followed him to Opelousas.  Marin Mouton married Allibamont Marie-Josèphe Lambert of Mobile at Cabahannocer in January 1777.  Hélène Martin dit Barnabé married Allibamont Morice Fontenot at Cabahannocer in January 1778; Hélène's sister Isabelle married Morice's brother Augustin there three years later.  In July 1772, at Attakapas, Françoise Trahan married Jacques Fostin, fils of Illinois; this marriage, too, was performed by a priest from Pointe Coupée.  In February 1784, Marie-Madeleine Bujole, Marguerite's younger sister, married Auguste, son of former commandant Nicolas Verret, père, at Ascension, an early, and rare, instance of an Acadian marrying into a socially-prominent French Creole family.  The earliest recorded marriage between an Acadian and a German Creole may have been that of Marie David and Antoine Chauffe, originally Schaaf, of St.-Charles des Allemands, at Cabahannocer in January 1774.  Later that year, at Opelousas, Michel Cormier, a widower, married Catherine, daughter of Johann Georg Stahlin, called Stelly, a former Swiss mercenary from Alberhausen, Württemberg, and Christine Edelmayer.  Basile Deroche married Marie Edelmayer, a widow and kinswoman of Johann Georg Stelly's wife, at Cabahannocer in September 1778.  It took even longer for Acadians to marry Anglo Americans.  In July 1781, Jean-Charles Comeaux, a widower living at San Gabriel on the river, married Anne Catherine, called Catherine, daughter of Daniel Boush or Bush of Virginia.427 

South Louisiana church records reveal 483 Acadian marriages recorded during the first 20 years of the exiles' presence in the colony.  Of these recorded marriages, 74, or a bit over 15 percent, were exogamous.  As Louisiana historian Glenn Conrad attests:  "... this investigator was surprised to discover how soon and to what extent Acadians were marrying non-Acadians."  True, the great majority of Acadians in Louisiana, then and in the decades to follow, married their own kind.  However, considering that these marriages occurred during a time when Acadians were struggling to establish their place in Spanish Louisiana, the number of these "mixed" marriages is remarkable.  They also hint that the Acadian culture in Louisiana was evolving into something different from the culture of their fathers.428

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Unlike in Acadie, where the Acadians were numerically if not politically dominant in most corners of the colony, Spanish Louisiana contained a potpourri of exotic European cultures.  French Creoles, including Allibamonts and Illinoisans; French Canadians; recent arrivals from France; German and Swiss Creoles; Italians and Spaniards; and even Anglo Americans, most from the Carolinas and Virginia, populated the colony.  No matter, given the size and the potential of the colony, Governor Unzaga and his successors knew that Louisiana was "dangerously underpopulated."  This had been true when the colony had been French; the dearth of new immigrants was a major reason why France had ceded Louisiana to Spain.  Ironically, just as France was handing over the colony to its Bourbon ally, hundreds of Acadians poured into Louisiana--"Frenchmen" seeking refuge in a "French" colony--but Acadian immigration had virtually ceased by the eve of Unzaga's governorship.  During his seven years as governor, few new immigrants came to Louisiana.  One would think a flood of Spaniards would have poured into the colony after O'Reilly had subdued the French Creoles in 1769, but it did not happen.  Potential Spanish emigrants preferred more southern climes than the recently-acquired borderlands along the Mississippi.  Moreover, a Spaniard who settled in Mexico or in another part of New Spain, even in what was left of the Spanish domain in the Caribbean, would not have been troubled by Englishmen living so near; Jamaica, for instance, was no threat to Cuba and Santo Domingo.  Along the Mississippi, however, the aggressive English occupied the river's opposite bank along its entire length above Bayou Manchac.  While the population of Spanish Louisiana stagnated, Loyalists from the Atlantic colonies poured into British West Florida, "some 1,312 and 1,643 immigrants," most from South Carolina and Georgia, as well as a substantial number from the British West Indies, between 1775 and 1781.  This gave the province a population of from 7,000 to 8,000 by 1783, about half that of Spanish Louisiana.  Not until after Bernardo de Gálvez replaced Unzaga as governor in 1777 did Spaniards come to Louisiana in substantial numbers, and most of them came not from the Iberian peninsula but from Spanish-controlled islands off the coast of West Africa.429 

They were the Isleños, and they came from the Canary Islands.  When Gálvez succeeded Unzaga as lieutenant governor in January 1777, his uncle, José de Gálvez, Minister of the Indies, ordered him to conduct a colony-wide census, which the colony's commandants completed in May.  The results were disappointing; the census showed that, despite the Acadian migrations of the 1760s, the colony's population had increased but slightly since the Spanish succeeded the French.  Acadian immigration had ended in 1769, so Gálvez had to look elsewhere for potential colonists who could serve as militia or as recruits in the colony's Fixed Battalion.  In 1778, the governor and his uncle the Minister, using Lieutenant-Colonel Andrés Amat de Tortosa as a recruiting agent, lured hundreds of Canary Islanders to Cuba aboard eight vessels, five of which sailed on to lower Louisiana.  So many Isleños came to the colony, in fact--2,000 by one count--that Gálvez was able to establish four widely separated communities for them, forming a "protective ring around New Orleans."429a 

Gálvez sent the first contingent of Isleños to the San Gabriel area in January 1779.  He settled them at Gálveztown, also called Villa de Gálvez, just south of the confluence of Bayou Manchac and the Amite River, across from present-day Port Vincent.  Anglo Americans fleeing British forces in the area had started the remote settlement only a short time before Gálvez came to survey the place in late November 1778.  To win the governor's favor, the Anglos named their little town after him.  After he moved the Isleños to the Amite, Gálvez ordered them to build a fort at Gálveztown to intercept British traders who might penetrate the Isle of Orleans via that quarter and also to counter the build up of British defenses in the area.  The town eventually numbered "some 400 people."  Not long after its founding, Governor Gálvez sent a Spanish missionary, Father Francisco Lopez, to the fortified outpost.  The priest boarded with the post's commandant, Sublieutenant Francisco Collel, and said Mass in a chapel, dedicated to San Bernardo, attached to one end of the garrison's barracks.  After Father Lopez died in an epidemic that struck the settlement later in 1779, the priest from San Gabriel, 15 miles away, administered the sacraments at Galveztown for most of the rest of its short history.424

Meanwhile, in early 1779, Gálvez established a post on upper Bayou Lafourche near present-day Belle Rose a few miles southwest of the Fork.  Here, François-Xavier Martin noted, was a promising settlement area, characterized by soil "of alluvial origins, like the Mississippi bottoms, which they resemble in every respect" and "appear of older formation; at least it is more impregnated with oxid of iron, its vegetable fossils more decayed, and the canes and timber, which it produces, are generally larger than those on the banks of the Mississippi"--evidence that the Lafourche and its own distrubutaries may have served as an early channel to the Gulf.  Moreover, the banks of the Lafourche and its outlets lay "several feet above the high water mark," requiring "no levee, like those of the Mississippi:  the land wants little or no ditches, as it drains naturally:  the water has traced with the hand of time its own gullies."  Gálvez called the new post Villa de Valenzuela after the family of his aunt, the wife of his uncle the Minister, and there he settled another contingent of Isleños.  The first commandant at Valenzuela was Lieutenant Gilbert-Antoine de Saint-Maxênt, father-in-law of governors Unzaga and Gálvez.  Saint-Maxênt quarreled constantly with Louis Judice, the commandant at nearby Ascension, who claimed that Valenzuela was part of his district.  The Spanish gave an Acadian, Anselme Blanchard of San Gabriel, a contract to clear the land and build the houses for the first settlers at Valenzuela.  Blanchard, a captain in the Acadian Coast militia, succeeded Saint-Maxênt as commandant at Valenzuela in August 1781.  He served in the position until 1784, when complaints from the Isleños and a Spanish officer assigned to the post led to his removal.  Later in the decade, over a dozen Acadian families from Acension and other river settlements, led by Anselme Le Borgne de Bélisle of Ascension, who was counted with Blanchard at Valenzuela in 1784, joined the Isleños on the upper Lafourche.  Anselme Blanchard's successor as commandant there was Nicolas Verret, fils, whose father had served as co-commandant at Cabahannocer with Nicolas, fils's uncle-by-marriage, Louis Judice.  Nicolas, fils was only age 33 in late 1784 when he assumed his duties as commandant on the upper Lafourche.  During the first year of his tenure, the man who had appointed him, Gálvez's successor Estevan Miró, ordered the redrawing of the boundaries between the Ascension and Valenzuela districts.  As a result of the new survey, the Ascension District ran not only along the river above and below the Fork, but also along both banks of Bayou Lafourche for the first 40 arpents down from its confluence with the Mississippi.  (An arpent, in this case, was equal to 192 feet or 64 yards in the English measure, so 40 arpents of length would have been about 7,680 feet, or just short of a mile and a half, though the curvature of the upper bayou made it difficult to set the exact boundary between the two districts.)  The Valenzuela District ran the rest of the way down the bayou, the lower part of which was inhabited only by Indians.430

In early 1779, Gálvez sent another contingent of 42 Isleños families to the "high" ground along Bayou Terre-aux-Boeufs below New Orleans.  The Isleños called their settlement La Conception and then Nueva Gálvez in honor of the governor, but both names eventually gave way to San Bernardo, the governor's patron saint.  Of the four Isleño settlements Gálvez established, San Bernardo was the most successful and the most enduring despite frequent flooding and the ravages of hurricanes.  It also was the only Isleño settlement in Louisiana that survived as a Spanish-speaking community.  The governor ordered the building of a church at Nueva Gálvez soon after its establishment, but, until 1787, the settlers were served by priests from New Orleans.  In 1783, when more Isleños reached Louisiana, Spanish authorities sent most of them to San Bernardo, doubling the size of the settlement.  Eventually, four distinct communities grew up along the bayou.  Serving as commandant at San Bernardo from its inception was the French-Creole aristocrat who had donated land for the settlement, Pierre de Marigny de Mandeville.431

The fourth Isleños community was at Barataria on the edge of the coastal marshlands south of New Orleans, near present-day Lafitte.  Here settled 150 islanders under André Jung "to guard against an incursion from the south."  Soon after, two major hurricanes struck the area, driving most of the survivors to Terre-aux-Boeufs in 1782 to live among their brethren there.  So, like Gálveztown and Valenzuela, Barataria did not survive, at least not as an Isleño community.432 

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Nor did the fifth community Gálvez founded in 1779 remain Spanish beyond the first few generations.  This community, unlike the others, was founded west of the Atchafalaya Basin and was the only settlement composed of Spaniards from the Iberian peninsula.  Though Gálvez can take credit for founding New Iberia, its true founder was an officer who had first come to the colony with "Bloody" O'Reilly a decade earlier. 

Francisco Domingo Joseph Bouligny, a native of Alicante on Spain's Costa Blanca near Málaga, was a 33-year-old army lieutenant when he served as O'Reilly's aide-de-camp and as interpreter during the trail of the conspirators who had ousted Ulloa.  In November 1769, Bouligny was promoted to brevet captain and made the adjutant of the Fixed Battalion of Louisiana Infantry, which O'Reilly organized for the colony's defense before he returned to Havana.  In December 1770, Aide-major Bouligny married Marie-Louise, 20-year-old daughter of Frenchman Vincent-Guillaume Le Sénéchal d'Auberville, who had served as acting ordonnateur of the colony under Vaudreuil and Kerlérec before he died in office, and Canadian Marie-Françoise Petit de Coulange, at New Orleans.  Marie-Louise gave Francisco five children, three sons and two daughters.  During Unzaga's governorship, Bouligny became a full captain in October 1772 but a year later was suspended from his post as adjutant of the Fixed Battalion after being accused "of keeping unsatisfactory battalion records."  Though reinstated in April 1774, he returned to Spain the following year, doubtlessly to clear his name.  While there, he gave much thought to his new home in the Mississippi valley.  In 1776, he submitted to Minister of the Indies José de Gálvez "a lengthy Memoria describing the natural resources, population, and exposed position of the colony of Louisiana, and making recommendations for remedial action."  Nothing had changed in the way of the colony's defensibility since Ulloa and Aubry a decade earlier had concluded that the frontier Spain shared with Britain was one vast avenue of invasion.  "Among his suggestions," Gilbert C. Din informs us, "Bouligny advocated building up a protective bulwark by placing fifty families at intervals along the Mississippi River.  Male settlers would serve two years in the army, followed by militia duty when needed."  The captain had served in the colony long enough to know that Acadians, with their insistence on remaining close to their extended families, would refuse to be a part of any such scheme.  They would serve as militia in their present communities on the river and out on the prairies, but no force on earth could disperse them again without bloody resistance.  Bouligny hoped to find his soldier-settlers in Spain.  However, despite his belief "that he could obtain recruits in the Spanish provinces of Valencia and Murcia," he found Iberians willing to go to Louisiana only in Málaga, a Mediterranean port northeast of Gibraltar, and in the Canary Islands.432a 

In November 1776, Bouligny's report to the Minister of the Indies earned him an appointment as "lieutenant-governor of Louisiana in charge of new settlements, commerce, and Indian relations."  He returned to New Orleans at the end of Unzaga's governorship and served in his new post under the Minister's nephew, Bernardo de Gálvez.  In August 1777, Bouligny was promoted to brevet lieutenant-colonel, a rank more appropriate for his elevated duties.  As part of his duties, he suggested to Governor Gálvez "the founding of a settlement deep in the interior" of Spanish Louisiana "to expand agricultural output, boost the colony's population, and defend the territory against British intrusion."  He suggested Ouachita in present-day northeastern Louisiana.  The governor agreed to the creation of such a settlement but not to its location.  Ouachita, the governor believed, "sat too far from New Orleans, too close to hostile Indians, and would inflate the cost of the venture."  In late 1778, while Gálvez was preparing to settle the Isleños east of the Atchafalaya Basin, he ordered Bouligny to lead 60 or so Iberian Spaniards recently arrived from Málaga, Gálvez's home province, not to Ouachita but to Attakapas west of the Atchafalaya Batin.  In late January 1779, Bouligny, who had never visited that part of the province, led an advance party of 20 Malagueños, soldiers, oarsmen, artisans, and 30 slaves from New Orleans to Attakapas via the same route the Beausoleil Broussard Acadians had taken 14 years earlier.  Following trusty Chitimacha guides, they reached the head of the bayou on February 11, Bouligny later reported.  There they met Commandant Alexandre-François-Joseph De Clouet de Piedre, who had replaced Gabriel Fuselier de la Claire as commandant of both of the prairie districts in 1774 and would advise Bouligny and the Malagueños on their selection of a settlement site.  Bouligny chose a site on the lower Teche below the Acadians and Allibamonts at Fausse Pointe, just above the Chitimacha village of Chief Kamin Nu Tuh, known to the Europeans as Soulier Rouge, near present-day Charenton.  Bouligny sited the new post and the settlement's common grazing land on the west bank of the bayou, where two gens de couleur libres already dwelled, and provided each Spanish family with six arpents frontage on the east bank for cultivating their crops.  Bouligny compensated the Chitimacha for two cabins and a fence on the property with 15 pesos in coin and 100 pesos worth of presents, including 30 pounds of glass beads.  De Clouet promised one of the free men of color living on the site a parcel of land farther down the bayou and banished the other free man of color without compensation.  Bouligny employed the 30 African slaves he had taken along to build the new post, including two warehouses of palmetto logs; palmetto-log huts for the settlers, soldiers, and craftmen; a 240-foot bridge of cypress logs to span the bayou; and fences for the village corral, which would hold the settlers' livestock, including "thirty-two teams of wild and domesticated oxen, six horses, 'and many pigs and chickens,'" purchased from De Clouet.  After the rest of the settlers arrived, they sowed "hemp, flax, wheat, and barley.  Although the hemp and flax seeds failed to germinate," Shane Bernard informs us, miraculously "the wheat and barley thrived even in the subtropical climate." 

The work of the Africans and the Malagueños did not endure.  That spring, hard, incessant rain raised the lower Teche higher than anyone could remember.  When the rain ceased, six to eight feet of bayou water covered the new settlement.  Bouligny "responded to the catastrophe by moving Nueva Iberia," his name for the settlement, "about twenty miles upstream to the foot of the Fausse Pointe oxbow, at a place called Petite Fausse Pointe," just below the Acadians and Allibamonts.  The new site, also on the bayou's west bank, today's downtown New Iberia, offered two advantages not found at the original one.  A portage ran between the bayou and a fresh-water lake which lay in the prairie northwest of the settlement.  Lac Flamand, named after Jean-Baptiste Grevemberg dit Flamand and later called Lake Tasse for its cup-like configuration, today's Spanish Lake, Bouligny assured the governor, was "'filled with fish and game.'"  Another portage led southwest to Bayou Petite Anse, or little cove, which flowed into an inlet of upper Vermilion Bay that Bouligny hoped would serve as a new harbor on the Gulf.  The new post for the Malagueños was erected this time not by African slaves but by Acadian craftsmen Bouligny hired from the nearby settlements.  The Acadians erected two temporary sheds to house the settlers, soldiers, and slaves and then constructed more permanent homes atop nine-foot pilings "to preclude the possibility of flooding." 

Meanwhile, during the third week of June, Bouligny sent a surveying party led by local cattleman Jean-Baptiste Grevemberg and royal surveyor François Gonsoulin down Bayou Teche to the Gulf of Mexico.  The party "would measure the bayou as they traveled it, logging the distance in toises....  Likewise, they would sound the bayou's depth in pieds (feet) and, in deeper spots, brasses (fathoms)."  Gonsoulin, a native of Marseille, veteran of the French navy, noted pilot, and resident of Bayou Teche, was tasked with recording all measurements.  Luckily for the historical record, he also kept what Shane Bernard describes as "an impressionistic, and intriguingly readable, journal of the expedition."  The party also included six African slaves, who, with the two white men, would travel in Bouligny's "personal falua (a small open boat propelled by oars or one or two sails--the latter of which would have been useless on the bayou)."  The slaves, of course, would work the oars.  In the falua went a month's worth of provisions, giving an idea that Bouligny expected the survey of the lower Teche and the adjacent saltwater bays to be a thorough one.  Besides muskets, ball, and powder, the expedition took along what the Spanish called a pedrero, "a small cannon they would fire daily to convey their location to those back at Nueva Iberia."  For the same purpose, Bouligny also ordered Grevemberg and Gonsoulin to set fire to the "tall, reedy bulrushes that grew along the bayou and coastline."  On their way down the Teche, Gonsoulin noted the site of "ancienne Iberie," the original settlement site, as well as the village of Soulier Rouge and his people.  Gonsoulin made note of "the 'prairies tremblantes,' where water so permeated the marshy earth that the ground trembled when disturbed even by footsteps."  Gonsoulin insisted on calling today's Lower Atchafalaya a part of the lower Teche.  Farther down, they passed a large expanse of grassland called Prairie à Jacob and a high bluff near where the Lower Atchafalaya flowed into Atchafalaya Bay, which Gonsoulin called Isle au Bastion.  Here, he was certain, was a good position to erect a fort.  Slipping into Atchafalaya Bay, they turned northwestward to follow the shoreline and came upon what appeared to be a good place to camp and explore.  They "found the place rich in soil, teeming with bear and deer, and forested in 'chêne vert' (live oak)," Bernard relates.  Gonsoulin was so "enamored of the place" he called it Belle Isle, its name to this day.  Other places they passed still carry the names Gonsoulin and Grevemberg assigned to them:  Île-au-Couquille, or Shell Island; Île-aux-Prunier, or Plum Island; Pointe-aux-Chevreuil, or Deer Point.  What Gonsoulin and Grevemberg called Les Quartres Soeurs, or the Four Sisters, "never identified in their journals," Bernard tells us, "might have been their collective names for the four massive salt domes visible from offshore:  Belle Isle, Côte Blanche, Weeks Island, and Avery Island."  As the expedition moved northwestward along the shore of today's Atchafalaya and Côte Blanche bays, "Gonsoulin and Grevemberg came to realize that many of the 'islands' they had named were not islands at all; rather, they were fragments of the mainland sliced through by bayous and wetlands, and only appeared insular."  They also made note of the area's natural resources:  feral livestock called les marrons; more deer and bear; sassafra trees whose leaves were an essential ingredient in filé gumbo, a savory dish favored by the Natives and West African slaves and also, now, by the European colonists; stands of timber "suitable for building"; exotic flowers; plums; palmetto; prickly pear cactus; massive oyster reefs.  They marveled at the long, sinewy coastal chênières with their sandy soil and stands of live oaks.  Off Pointe-aux-Chevreuil at the entrance to Côte Blanche Bay, they spotted a tall ship under sail.  The vessel suddenly turned towards their open boat and fired a distress signal with one of its cannon.  As it came closer, they could see that the ship was a brigantine, "a small, fast two-masted ship" favored by pirates and privateers.  It was the summer of 1779, and only weeks earlier, in May, Spain had declared war against Great Britain.  The ship's sudden maneuver seemed suspicious to the experienced ship captain.  Gonsoulin ordered the slaves to row the falua into a nearby inlet, where they remained until the brigantine disappeared.  They wasted no time rowing along the northern shore of Côte Blanche Bay, around today's Cypremort, or Dead Cypress, Point, and into the Vermilion Bay.  When they reached a place called Petit Anse, or small cove, they could see to the north "a compact range of wooded hills rising over 160 feet above the encircling salt marsh."  Here stood a 2,200-acre dome of salt that "had been pushed up over eons from deep inside the Earth," Bernard explains.  "Its natural saline springs had attracted animals for over ten thousand years, including (as shown by the fossil record) mastodons, mammoths, giant sloths, bison, and wild horses.  The geological oddity also attracted early Native Americans, who boiled its briny spring water in clay pans to extract the salt."  The Spanish later called it Isla Cuarin, the French Côte de Coiron, which morphed into Cuarin Island and Coiron Hill, after its original European owner, Antoine Coiron.  Later it was called Petit Anse Island after the bayou that flowed past it, and eventually Avery Island.  From Petite Anse, Grevemberg and Gonsoulin ordered the slaves to row up a small bayou named for the cove, Bayou de Petite Côte, now Bayou Petite Anse.  When the bayou gave out north of the big salt dome, past another prairie tremblantes, they pulled Bouligny's falua onto the prairie and walked the rest of the way to Nuéva Iberia.  "Pleased by the expedition," Bernard continues, "Bouligny went on to commission Grevemberg to explore a water route through Barataria Bay," the future haunt of notorious pirates, "to New Orleans.  Gonsoulin, for his efforts, received a Spanish concession of about 400 acres of high land and about 2,000 acres of adjacent marsh--all at that dreamy place along the sea, Belle Isle."

After Bouligny returned to his other duties, Gálvez appointed Frenchman Nicolas Forstal to command at Nuéva Iberia, but the community, again, almost disappeared.  Soon after its founding, Shawn Bernard relates, "the village ... 'was nothing short of a complete failure.'  The problems were manifold," Bernard continues:  as at the original settlement down the Teche "the Malagueños sowed crops unsuited to the climate; basic supplies chronically ran short; and the settlers grew complacent on resulting government subsidies."  The Malagueños Bouligny led to the lower Teche bore the surnames de Aguilar (later Aguillard), Aponte or de Puentes, de Artacho or Artache, Balderas, Barroso, Blanco, Duran, Fernández, Garcia, Garrido (later Gary), Gomez, Gonzales, de Grano, de Guerro or Guerrero, Guzman, Ibañes or Ybanez, Jeval, de Lagos, Lavandera, Lópes or López, Martín, Martines or Martinez, de Maura, Mígues or Miguez, Molina y Postigo, Moreno or Morino, de Ortis or Ortiz, Penalver, del Pino, de Porras, de Prados, Romero, Ruis or Ruiz, de Segura, Selano, Solis or Soliz, Vidal, and Villatorre or Viatoro (later Viator).  Some sources claim Gálvez also sent Isleños to lower Bayou Teche, and perhaps a Granadino or two.  German Americans, an Irish American, and two Anglo Americans also could be found in the early rolls of Nuéva Iberia:  John Abscher, whose surname evolved into Abshire, was a Pennsylvania German; Thomas Beard was from Londonderry, Ireland; and Thomas Berwick and William Henderson were Anglo Americans who helped Bouligny establish the settlement.  Abscher, Beard, and Berwick created families in the area.  By the mid-1780s, the settlers at Nuéva Iberia soon realized that there was not enough room for all of them in the small Spanish concession along the banks of the bayou, so some families moved westward into the surrounding prairies to live among the Acadians.  After 1795, others moved northwest to the shores of nearby Lac Flamand, hence its present name, Spanish Lake.  Father Louis-Marie Grumeau of Opelousas served as missionary to the new settlement until the Attakapas District got a priest of its own in 1781, after which the priests from that parish ministered to the settlers in and around Nuéva Iberia.  The Malagueños and Anglo Americans eventually assimilated with francophone settlers in the area, especially the Acadians, whose numbers dictated that Acadian folkways would remain dominant in the area.433

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No sooner had Gálvez settled the Isleños and the Malagueños in their five communities than he had to turn his attention to a more pressing business, something that had been shaking North America for years.  Hundreds of miles away, the American Revolution sputtered and raged along the Atlantic seaboard and up in the Illinois country. 

The new Spanish settlers would have been hardly aware of the events that had stirred the Revolution into being.  Not so their Acadian neighbors.  When the Indians of the pays d'en haut had attacked the British at Detroit in May 1763, only three months after the signing of the treaty at Paris, the Acadians now in Louisiana were scattered from Halifax down to South Carolina and Georgia, waiting for word about the end of the war and what the victorious British would do to them.  King George III's Proclamation of 1763, issued on October 7--the British reaction to Pontiac's "rebellion" in the pays d'en haut and its promise of sinking the Empire even deeper into debt--found the Acadians in North America focused on another matter:  the Paris treaty's Article IV provision that they had 18 months from the treaty's signing to return to their respective territories.  The trouble was, the Acadians at Halifax and in other prison compounds had just learned that British authorities refused to allow any of the exiles still in Nova Scotia to return to their former lands as proprietors.  If Acadians chose to remain in, or return to, Nova Scotia, they could live only in small family groups in previously unsettled areas or work for low wages on former Acadian lands now owned by New-English "planters."  If they stayed, they must also take the hated oath of allegiance to George III, without reservation.  After all they had suffered on the question of the oath, few self-respecting Acadians would consent to take it if it could be avoided.  The exiles still in the seaboard colonies were eyewitnesses to the protests against the Proclamation Line, but, having no intention of settling beyond the mountains, most likely thought little of the matter.  When Parliament passed the Sugar Act in April 1764, most of the exiles in North America were still languishing in the Nova Scotia compounds or the seaboard colonies.  However, some of the Acadians from Nova Scotia, the northern colonies, and especially South Carolina, lured by French promises, were heeding the treaty's Article IV and moving on to French territroy, mainly the fishery island of Miquelon off the southern coast of Newfoundland or St.-Domingue in the French Antilles, to escape British rule.  The feckless British revenue measure, repealed in 1766, affected none of them.  By March 1765, when Parliament passed the notorious Stamp Act, 600 of the exiles in Nova Scotia who had chosen to abandon the province either had landed at New Orleans with the Broussards that February or were on the way there via Cap-Français, St.-Domingue.  By the time the seaboard colonies erupted in protest and chaos later in the year, Nova Scotia was largely cleared of Acadians.  Not so the seaboard colonies.  The hundreds of exiles still there witnessed the mayhem all around them, likely with mixed feelings.  These colonists, these Yankees, as the English called them, were, for the most part, no more friendly to Acadian exiles than their common oppressors.  The Acadians still in Massachusetts, especially, could not forget that a decade earlier most of the bayonet-wielding "redcoats" at Chignecto and Minas were these self-same Yankees under Moncton and Winslow who drove them and their families aboard the deporation transports and returned to Nova Scotia five years later to take over their lands along the Great French Bay.  In 1766, when Parliament repealed the Stamp Act but passed the feckless Declaratory Act, exiles in the northern colonies began their years-long odyssey to the St. Lawrence valley, some overland, most by sea.  In the same year, the first contingent of exiles in Maryland left Baltimore for New Orleans via Cap-Français to join their fellow Acadians in Louisiana.  More followed from Maryland in 1767, 1768, and 1769, until over 600 of them had gone from the Chesapeake and Pennsylvania to the Spanish colony.  Then the odysseys to New Orleans ended, with only a hand full of Acadians trickling into the river city during the 1770s.  Meanwhile, conflict only deepened between the seaboard colonists and their imperial overlords.  The Townshend duties of 1767, following the Stamp Act mess, led to more boycotts and mayhem in colonial streets.  In 1768, after most of the Acadians in Massachusetts had moved on to Canada, the British dispatched two regiments to Boston, the hothouse.of protest, to shore up imperial interests there and in the rest of troublesome New England.  When news of the so-called Boston Massacre of March 1770 reached New Orleans, the Acadians upriver and out on the prairies likely ignored it.  If they had paid any mind to what was happening in the world, they more likely would have wondered about the fate of their loved ones, long separated from them by Le Grand Dérangement.  Most, if not all, of them may have known that their cousins in New England had moved on to Canada, the Newfoundland islands, or the French Antilles by 1770, and that even more of them still languished in France, but vast distances and growing imperial rivalries limited communication between these far-flung portions of the Acadian diaspora.  The "Tea Party" in Boston and other colonial ports shook the American colonies in December 1773.  The following year, Parliament passed a series of restrictive measures, called the Coercive Act, in reaction to these protests.  The American colonists insisted on calling them the Intolerable Acts.  Perhaps the most intolerable act to them, which Acadians everywhere would have applauded, was the Quebec Act of June 1774.  Passed at the behest of Guy Carleton, the Canadian governor, it added to Quebec Province--that is, the upper and lower St. Lawrence valley, won from France in 1760--the vast pays d'en haut from Montréal to the other side of the Great Lakes, down to the Ohio and out to the Mississippi, most of which was still occupied by powerful Indian nations.  Meant to appease Canada's numerically-dominant francophone population, including resettled Acadians, the act secured for them certain rights as Roman Catholics and freedom of expression in their ancient tongue.  The act even provided for French civil law to be applied in all legal matters other than criminal in the vast region, and gave the Natives there certain rights and protections coastal colonists could not abide.  This, along with the other Intolerable Acts, sent the Americans over the edge.  Their leaders promptly called for a Continental Congress to meet in Philadephia in September.  By the following spring, when war broke out in Massachusetts between the British and the Americans, the Acadians in Louisiana were settled in and could care less about their former tormentors struggling for their rights.  Some Acadians may have harbored the fantasy of the return of French sovereignty to Louisiana, as many of their Creole neighbors did, but, for the most part, the former exiles were now loyal Spanish subjects, working their farms and vacharies, creating new families, minding their own business ... when the American war caught up to them.433i 

Taking advantage of an opportunity to embarrass the British, on 24 December 1776, Minister of the Indies José de Gálvez, "signed a royal order that gave 'open support to the American effort to free the Mississippi River Valley of British domination.'"  When the minister sent his nephew to Louisiana in late 1776, "The tasks ahead of Bernardo de Galvez as governor of Louisiana were multiple," Bernardo's biographer tells us.  "But as important as they all were, both he and the royal authorities in Madrid had a clear priority:  to follow the situation of the British colonies in North America closely and prepare Louisiana for an eventual war with Britain."  Gálvez's predecessor, Unzaga, had been given the same mission as early as September 1775, but Unzaga, "famous for procrastination," put off the assignment until the following year.  Bernardo de Gálvez was a different animal, using "all of the methods for acquiring information..." and even confronting the British when the opportunity arose.  In March 1778, France came into the war as an ally of the Americans.  One can imagine how Acadians responded when news of it reached New Orleans, Halifax, and Québec.  Here, Light T. Cummins observes, was "a welcome opportunity for Spain to weaken her centuries-old international rival Great Britain by supporting the rebellion that began at Lexington and Concord."  Later that year, "When the American Revolutionary War reached Illinois ..., the Spaniards at St. Louis provided munitions to the insurgents" under George Rogers Clark, "... and their victories ended Great Britain's fleeting ownership of the area."  On 8 May 1779, Spain officially declared war against Britain, followed on July 8 by a declaration from King Carlos III authorizing Spain's colonies to engage in war against the British.  The distant conflict along the Atlantic coast had now reached lower Louisiana in earnest.433b 

The conflict drew the colony closer to the center of Spanish commerce in the region and transformed lower Louisiana into an entrepôt for the war against Britain.  The influential Gálvez family had much to do with this development.  "José de Gálvez served as Spanish colonial minister, his brother Matías as the Viceroy of New Spain, and Matías's son Bernardo as governor of Louisiana," Cummins reminds us.  "In particular, Bernardo de Gálvez turned to Spanish Texas for the purpose of provisioning his military forces and, in turn, those of the American rebels.  In that regard, Governor Gálvez sent an agent from New Orleans to Texas for the purposing of procuring a steady supply of Texas beef to feed his army.  The American Revolution thus witnessed the first Texas cattle drives as Spanish ranchers moved their herds from the San Antonio and Guadalupe river valleys eastward across the Sabine River to provision the armies of Bernardo de Gálvez.  Modern estimates hold that between 1779 and 1782 over 15,000 head of Texas cattle went to Louisiana during the course of this supply effort.  Some of this beef found its way from the Mississippi valley to the rebel armies.  The jerky and salt meat consumed by the Continental Army at Saratoga [in 1777?] came from Texas by way of Natchitoches and New Orleans.  Thereafter, a regular cattle trade between Texas and Spanish Louisiana motivated a profitable commerce between the two well into the nineteenth century."433h 

One suspects the Acadians in the cattle-producing prairie districts played their part enthusiastically in the effort to provide beef for the war against the British.  

The governor acted as swiftly on the military front as he had done gathering intelligence.  On 25 June 1779, soon after learning of the war declaration, Gálvez wrote a circular letter to five of his commandants in lower Louisiana:  Bellisle of the lower German Coast, Robin de Lognie of the upper German Coast, Cantrelle of the lower Acadian Coast, and Judice of Lafourche, and sent a similar letter to DeClouet in the prairie districts in late July.  The governor explained to the five commandants:  "Because, in the present circumstance, we cannot take too many precautions to resist an invasion, or for some other operation that service could demand in the future, I have decided that, in one case or another, I could use militiamen and others of your commandery (who) are prepared to bear arms;  that is, only those with neither wives nor children, (and) neither father nor mother for whom to care.  Therefore, I have prepared a list (based on the last census), which I have enclosed...."  Gálvez added:  "I enjoin you to hold this order in the greatest secrecy, so that not even the officer(s) and soldiers themselves know of it until the exact moment when time comes to march, (in order) to allay the alarm it would, undoubtedly, cause, as well as to hide my plan...."  Gálvez did not send marching orders to the commandants at Arkansas, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupée, and Rapides.  They "were obliged ... to remain at their local stations, on alert against British encroachment from the upper reaches of the Mississippi River."433c   

British forces were back on the lower river.  A decade earlier, in June 1768, Major-General Thomas Gage, then commander-in-chief of British forces in North America, had ordered the abandonment of Fort Bute and other British posts on the lower Mississippi and in the rest of West Florida.  Most of the redcoats were bound for St. Augustine on the Atlantic, in British East Florida, "where the incidence of disease and death was not as great as along the Gulf."  Despite protests from the inhabitants of West Florida, more fearful now of an Indian attack as well as loss of trade to the wily French, the settlements above Point Iberville were left undefended.  "Unlike Atlantic colonies recoiling from tighter imperial control," David Narrett observes, "West Floridians demanded immediate British protection." 

Although the departing redcoats pulled down the palisade at Fort Bute, the buildings inside were left standing and served as a British trading post until January 1770.  In October 1771, a British Indian agent, former artillery Lieutenant John Thomas, occupied the site of the dismantled fort and did his best to maintain good relations with the local Natives.  Though forbidden to do so by international agreement, Thomas managed to entice some of the petit nations to move from the Spanish to the British side of the river.  He also attempted to make an ill-advised alliance with a warlike nation, the Arkansas.  Governor Unzaga and other Spanish officials protested, and Thomas was chastised by his superiors.  Other than troubles with locals Indians and sporadic attempts by officials on both sides of the Mississippi, including Thomas, to halt the lucrative smuggling trade, the stretch of river above Bayou Manchac remained relatively quiet for the next few years.  In early 1775, American Whigs invited both British West Floridians and East Floridians to send delegates to a Continental Congress scheduled to meet in Philadelphia, but the Floridians declined to attend.  When war broke out between American revolutionaries and British forces under Gage in Massachusetts that April, the great majority of the settlers in West Florida remained loyal to King George III.  In 1778, the so-called Willing Expedition ransacked Loyalist plantations along the lower Mississippi.  In July of that year, a Revolutionary force under George Rogers Clark of Virginia captured the British posts at Kaskaskia and Vincennes in the Illinois country.  The British responded by sending 500 regulars, German mercenaries, and Loyalist militia under Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Dickson to reoccupy the forts on the lower Mississippi.  Dickson found Fort Bute virtually indefensible, so he left there only 20 Waldecker grenadiers under Captain von Haake.  Dickson stationed his main force, including the 16th and 60th regiments of Foot, at New Richmond, formerly Baton Rouge, and at Natchez.433f

Now that Spain was in the war, British commanders in West Florida looked to their restored defenses along the lower Mississippi and made plans to strike New Orleans from three directions.  But the Spanish struck first.  In late August 1779, in the wake of a hurricane that devastated the region, Sublieutenant Francisco Collell, commandant at Gálveztown, with his hand full of Spanish regulars and his militia of Isleños and Anglo Americans, seized seven British vessels and 125 prisoners on the Amite River and captured Fort Graham, the British post on that river.  Meanwhile, despite the terrible damage from the August 18 hurricane, Governor Gálvez moved companies of the Fixed Battalion, Indian cohorts, and New Orleans militia from the city up to Bayou Manchac, picking up German and Acadian Coast militia on the way.  Meanwhile, the Attakapas and Opelousas companies made their way through the Atchafalaya Basin and reached Plaquemine in time to join the governor's forces deploying across the river at Fort San Gabriel.  "From the banks of the bayou," Shane Bernard relates, "came a disparate force" of Frenchmen, Acadians, Spaniards, Anglos, even Africans.  Accompanying the prairie companies were 15 gens de couleur libre or mulattoes and 16 slave "hunters," none owned by Acadians, who would serve as sharpshooters.  Among the forces gathered at Plaquemine were Lieutenant-Colonel Francisco Bouligny and 40 or so individuals fresh from their efforts at Nuéva Iberia.  They included "five professional soldiers and a mix of retired veterans, militiamen, repentant deserters, Malagueño settlers, far-flung Americans, twenty-five slaves, and others."433d

No Acadians appear in the rosters of either of the German Coast companies, but they abound in the extant rolls of the Acadian Coast and Attakapas units, with a hand full among the militia of Opelousas.  These evidently were the bachelors the governor had requested and who comprised only a fraction of the men in these companies.  Among the Cabahannocer Acadians on Governor Gálvez's roster were Charles Bergeron, who would have been age 23 in 1779; Bonaventure Gaudin, fils, age 24; Gilles LeBlanc, age 21; Jean Gravois, called a Lachaussée after his stepfather, age 24; Étienne Melançon, age 23; François-Xavier, called Xavier, Theriot, age 26; Joseph Arceneaux, age 23; Pierre Bernard, fils, age 21;  Pierre Lambert, fils, age 32; Jean-Baptiste Melançon, age 23; Jean-Baptiste David, age 20; Jean-Baptiste, called Baptiste, Bourgeois, fils, age 18; Georges Mouton, age 23; Paul Léger, age 21; Charles Gaudet, age 27; and Joseph Bourg, age undetermined.  Yzaac Bourgeois of that unit also may have been Acadian.  Among the Lafourche Acadians were Paul Le Borgne de Bélisle, age 16; Benjamin Landry, age undetermined; Charles Bujeau, age undetermined; Simon LeBlanc, age undetermined; Joseph Melançon, age 24; Joseph dit Belhomme Landry, age 27; Pierre Landry, age 15; Joseph Breaux, age 26; Jean-Baptiste Guidry, age 18; Pierre Dupuis, age 29; Amand Breaux, age 25; Jean Landry, age 27; Olivier Landry, age 26; Firmin Landry, age 19; Joseph Landry, age 27; Jean Landry, age undetermined; Henri, called Isidore, Robichaux, age 19; Michel Dugas, age 22; and Joseph Landry, fils, age 16.  Strangely, only a single name appeared on the roster of the San Gabriel militia company:  Pierre Breaux, age 38.  Acadians on the Opelousas company roster included Joseph Sonnier, age 23; Joseph Boutin, age 26; Joseph Lejeune, age 23; Jean-Charles Benoit, age 20; Jean-Baptiste Lejeune, age 30; Maitre, probably Jean dit Chapeau, Mouton, age 25; and Paul Léger, age 21, perhaps the same fellow on the Cabahannocer roster.  Acadian militiamen from Attakapas, serving under Lieutenant Jacques-Joseph Sorrel, a Frenchman, included Joseph Trahan, age 17; Mathurin Broussard, age 29; Olivier Melançon, age 19; Jean-Anselme, called Anselme, Thibodeaux, age 19; Germain Trahan, age 27; Marin Prejean, age 29; Joseph Prejean le jeune, age 20; Jean-Baptiste, called Baptiste, Melançon, age 19; Jean-Baptiste, called Baptiste, Duhon, age 20; a Baudrau, probably Boudreaux, perhaps Augustin dit Rémi, who would have been age 24, or Jean-Charles dit Donat, who would have been age 18; a Louvière, either François, age 20, or brother Isidore, age 16; Joseph-Théodore, called Théodore, Broussard, age 15; Jean-Baptiste, called Jean, Bernard, age 17; Cosme LeBlanc, age 19; Charles-Dominique, called Dominique, Babineaux, age 18; Théodore Thibodeaux, age 15; Michel Doucet, age 26; Pierre Doucet, age 23; Jean Doucet, age 17; and Jean Guilbeau, called L'Officier, his father's dit, age 23.  Local church records reveal that some of these bachelors were only a few months away from the altar.  Married Acadians, of course, were eager to serve their province as well and may have ignored the governor's, and their commandants' orders, and joined the fight against the hated British.  Non-commissioned officers, regardless of their marriage status, were essential to the maintenance of order in their units.  Jacques LeBlanc of Lafourche, a native of Pigiguit in the old country, had endured a dozen years of exile in Maryland.  In 1779, he was age 38 and about to become the father of his seventh child; he served as a corporal in the Acadian Coast militia.  His couisn Isaac LeBlanc, a native of Minas, age 33 and the father of five, including a newborn son, also had endured exile in Maryland; he served as first sergeant and sergeant major in the Acadian Coast militia.  ...  "These soldiers," Shane Bernard asserts--bachelors, husbands, and fathers alike--"participated in the American Revolution as much as any New England militiaman...."433e 

There was another "Acadian" in Gálvez's army, but he did not serve in the militia.  Joseph de Goutin de Ville, fils, 17-year-old son of former French army officer Joseph de Goutin de Ville of Port-Royal, Acadia, was a cadet officer in the colony's Fixed Battalion of Infantry.  Joseph, fils, who would use the surname Bellechasse, served his unit from the attack on Fort Bute to the siege of Pensacola three years later.  His paternal grandmother was Jeanne, daughter of Pierre Thibodeau, the Acadian pioneer, so some of the militiamen in the Acadian companies were cousins of the young cadet.433g 

Gálvez launched his offensive against the British during the first week of September.  His Spanish troops slipped upriver to prevent British reinforcements from reaching Fort Bute, while the militia crossed the bayou north of Fort San Gabriel on September 7 and took Fort Bute by surprise.  An authority on the action at Fort Bute wrote that "the militia, particularly the Acadians, behaved splendidly."  Led by the governor's father-in-law, Gilbert-Antoine de Saint-Maxênt, the militia lost not a single man in the assault, but they managed to kill one of the German defenders.  Later that month, on September 21, Gálvez, with his small body of Spanish regulars and his trusty militia, captured Fort New Richmond at Baton Rouge after a spirited fight.  Meanwhile, an American privateer, William Pickles, captured a British armed vessel in Lake Pontchartrain and denied the British at Baton Rouge that avenue of escape.  Soon after the fall of Baton Rouge, the British commander of Fort Panmure at Natchez, without a fight, surrendered to Captain Jean Delavillebeuvre, formerly in command of Fort San Luìs de Natchez.  While the governor and his forces maneuvered upriver, Lieutenant Collell at Gálveztown shored up his defenses on the Amite River in case the British at Mobile tried to attack Gálvez's rear or move against New Orleans.  By early October, after a month-long offensive, the lower Mississippi valley was entirely clear of British troops and vessels.433a

Amazingly, Gálvez's force suffered only two casualties in its onslaught against the British on the lower Mississippi--both of them Acadians:  Jean-Baptiste dit Petit-Jean Hébert, a 37-year-old native of Grand-Pré, was married and the father of at least two small children; he served in the Second Company of the San Gabriel militia.  Maturin Landry, a 24-year-old native of Pigiguit, recently married, served in the Lafourche company.  Both men survived their wounds.  In contrast, the British lost 36 dead, 10 wounded, and 485 captured at their three forts.  An authority on the campaign writes:  "In his account to the court of the campaigns on the lower Mississippi in 1779, Gálvez demonstrated great pleasure in the zeal displayed by the Louisiana militia in all of their engagements.  He singled out the Acadian companies, in whom burned the memory of English cruelty in the Seven Years' War, which forced them to abandon their homes in Canada."  When Gálvez, now a field marshal, attacked the British at Mobile in February 1780, he took his Acadian militia with him.  Again, the exiles tasted sweet revenge against their former oppressors.434

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The second Treaty of Paris of September 1783 ending the American War for Independence removed the troublesome British from the lower Mississippi valley, but they were soon replaced by an even more aggressive people who claimed the Baton Rouge area for themselves.  Anglo Americans soon appeared there in ever growing numbers.  Acadians from San Gabriel, meanwhile, crossed Bayou Manchac into the once-forbidden area around old Fort Bute.  Across the river, Acadians moved up the west bank into the area north of Bayou Plaquemine.  In 1784, the year Spain assumed control of British West Florida, Governor Gálvez ordered the Mississippi closed to Americans "where Spain owned both banks of the river."  This restrictive policy, along with tensions created by an unstable borderland, may have slowed movement of Acadians from the lower coasts to the Baton Rouge area ... for now.435

Farther downriver, Carl Brasseaux tells us, "As the population density of the First and Second Acadian Coasts grew in the 1770s and early 1780s, at least eighteen families, the patriarchs of which usually could expect not more than a small, practically uninhabitable slice of their parents' estate, capitalized upon the easing of Spanish restrictions on intracolonial movement by migrating to the virtually uncharted central and lower Lafourche Valley," below the Isleño settlement at Valenzuéla.437 

Out on the prairies, new Acadian communities appeared in the Attakapas District at Grand Prairie, today's downtown Lafayette; along the Vermilion River down towards the bay; at the western edge of the district along Bayou Queue de Tortue; at Beaubassin on upper Bayou Vermilion; on the northern edge of the district at Carencro, west of Beaubassin; along the Teche above La Pointe towards the Opelousas boundary; and below Fausse Pointe and the new Spanish settlement at Nuéva Iberia.  In the Opelousas District, Acadians were settling at the southeastern edge of the district near Grand Coteau and on Prairie des Femme.  They also moved farther out on the prairies along Bayou Plaquemine Brûlé; farther out on the Mermentau, Faquetaique, and Mamou prairies along bayous Mallet, des Cannes, and Nezpique; and across the Mermentau between present-day Jennings and Lake Arthur--all excellent places for raising cattle.436   map

Despite these intracolonial movements, as well as the continued presence of native bands and the arrival of hundreds of Spanish immigrants, much of the arable land in Spanish Louisiana remained unoccupied.  This was especially true along both banks of the Mississippi north of bayous Manchac and Plaquemine, out on the prairies, and along Bayou Lafourche.  The colony, then, could easily accommodate hundreds of more farmers.  King Carlos III saw this clearly.  Despite the reluctance of Spaniards to settle in Louisiana, he was determined to send more immigrants there, even if they were not from Iberian Spain.436a 

The Seven Ships Expeditions, 1785-1786

Estevan Rodriguez Miró y Sabater, colonel and commander of the Fixed Louisiana Regiment, served as provisional governor of Louisiana from 1782, when Gálvez, now governor-general of Louisiana and Mobile, returned to Havana and remained there.  As a reward for his victories against the British, in 1781 Gálvez had been named a conde, or count, and was promoted to Viceroy of New Spain three years later.  Miró succeeded him as governor-general in August 1785.  At the time, Louisiana's intendente was Felix Martín Antonio, called Martín, Navarro, a native of La Caruna, who had come to the colony with Ulloa in 1766 as his treasurer.  There had been no intendente in Spanish Louisiana until 1779, when Navarro was appointed to that position.  By the time of his promotion, no Spaniard knew Louisiana and its people, especially the Acadians, as thoroughly as Martín Navarro.438 

On 22 October 1783, King Carlos III issued a royal decree, called a sedula, approving a scheme offered to Spain by Frenchman and former resident of Louisiana Henri-Marie Peyroux de la Coudrenière--the transportation of the hundreds of Acadians still languishing in France to Spanish Louisiana.  Both the Spanish ambassador to France, Don Pedro Pablo Abarca de Bolea, Count de Aranda, and the Spanish consul at St.-Malo, Manuel d'Asprès, sent copies of the royal order to interim governor Miró, who assigned to Intendente Navarro the task of "making proper provisions for the Acadians" when they reached the colony.  Navarro also was tasked with overseeing the settlement of each new family.  "As Governor Ulloa's subordinate in the late 1760s," Carl Brasseaux informs us, "Navarro had witnessed the disastrous consequences of thwarting the exiles' dream of sociocultural reunification.  Rather than dictate settlement policy to the exiles in the manner of the ill-fated chief executive, he resolved to permit the Acadian immigrants to select their own homesites.  Drawing upon his twenty years of experience in dealing with the exiles, he sought to secure their full cooperation by establishing and maintaining good rapport with them."  Aware of the trauma of transatlantic travel, the dramatic change in climate and food, and "the Acadian scourge--smallpox," Navarro established dormitories and hospitals at Algiers Point, then called Pointe St. Antoine or Punta San Antonio, across the river from New Orleans, one hospital for males in the royal stables, the other, newly built, for females.  He also "added wet nurses and orderlies to the clinic staff" to make the hospitals more efficient.  While the new Acadian arrivals recuperated at Algiers, taking at least a month to do so, the intendente, in command of the royal warehouses at New Orleans, would issue to each family head the necessary tools and implements with which to work their homesteads.  When the time came for the Acadians to leave Algiers, the intendente would hire "a small flotilla of launches and barges" to convey them to their new settlements.439 

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On 24 June 1785, Count de Aranda sent dispatches to Governor Miró and Intendente Navarro informing them that the first ship load of Acadians from France was on the way.  Le Bon Papa, a 280-ton frigate under Captain Pelletier, with 156 passengers aboard, many of them from Belle-Île-en-Mer, had left Paimboeuf, the lower port of Nantes, on May 10 and was halfway across the Atlantic.  Navarro was in Mexico when he received the message and hurried back to New Orleans.  He appointed Anselme Blanchard of San Gabriel, recently commandant on the upper Lafourche, as a salaried commissioner "not only to welcome the exiles to New Orleans in the name of Spanish Louisiana," Oscar Winzerling tells us, "but also to grant them entry into the province."  Blanchard's primary task was to supervise the settlement of his fellow Acadians, some of whom would be his own relatives.  He was to assure them "that it was the wish of the Spanish government that they should have full liberty in the selection of their future abodes."440 

Le Bon Papa reached Louisiana on July 29 after 80 days at sea.  Blanchard greeted the 36 families at La Balize and escorted them upriver to the dormitories at Algiers.  There, he made a detailed list of all of the passengers, organized by families.  Blanchard, who spoke Spanish as well as French, was ordered to record the names in Spanish, but he did his best to retain the French inflections.  The passenger list for Le Bon Papa contained many Acadian families already found in the colony but also some new ones.  LeBlancs and Lejeunes were especially numerous: 

Joseph dit Jambo LeBlanc of Grand-Pré, age 54, head of the first family to disembark, came with second wife Anne Hébert of Pigiguit, age 49, and four children:  Marguerite-Blanche-Ian, age 19; Marie-Françoise, age 17; Joseph-Marie, age 15; and Simon-Louis-Marie, age 14.  Simon LeBlanc of Grand-Pré, age 62, came with second wife Marie Trahan, age 51, and three children:  Joseph, age 20; Marie-Anne, age 15; and Jacques-Pierre-Marie, age 13.  Pierre LeBlanc of Grand-Pré, age 50, came with wife Anne-Josèphe Lebert of Rivière-aux-Canards, one of the first of her family in Louisiana, age 41, and four sons:  Joseph-Olivier, age 17; Pierre-Paul, age 15; Jean-Cléandre, age 13; and Victor-Charles, age 10.  Jean LeBlanc, age 36, came with wife Thérèse Hébert, the widower François's daughter, age 35, and year-and-a-half-old daughter Marie-Rose.  Charles-Jean LeBlanc, age 23, came with wife Brigitte-Josèphe Hébert and no children.  Eustache Lejeune of Grand-Pré, age 53, came with second wife Jeanne-Perrine Giquel, a Frenchwoman from Plouër-sur-Ranse, age 42, and three children:  Marie-Jeanne-Pérrine-Madeleine, age 23; Servan-Mathurin, age 15; and François-Marie, age 13; also with them was Eustache's niece, Pélagie-Marie Gautrot, age 15.  Eustache's oldest son Jean-Baptiste, age 25, came with wife Marie-Geneviève Doiron, age 19, and no children.  Eustache's brother Grégoire of Grand-Pré, age 45, came with second wife Hélène Dumont of St.-Pierre-du-Nord, Île St.-Jean, the first of her family in Louisiana, age 38, and three children: Marie-Josèphe, age 14; Grégoire-Alexis, age 4; and Julien, age 2; also with them was Grégoire's niece, Marie-Geneviève Gautrot, age 19, Pélagie-Marie's old sister. 

Members of other established Louisiana families also were aboard this first of the Seven Ships: 

Daniel Benoit of l'Assomption, Pigiguit, age 36, came with wife Henriette Legendre of St.-Pierre-du-Nord, Île St.-Jean, age 34, came with 7-year-old daughter Henriette-Renée.   Jean-Baptiste Boudrot probably of Pigiguit, age 32, came with wife Marie-Modeste Trahan, age 36, and three children:  Marie-Félicité, age 8; Jean-Constant, age 6; and Marguerite-Marie, age 2.  Paul-Dominique Boudrot, age 22, came with wife Marie-Olive Landry, age 18, who was pregnant, and year-old son Paul-Marie.  Charles Broussard of Grand-Pre, age 44, came with second wife Euphrosine Barrieau of Pigiguit, the first of her family in Louisiana, age 37, and six children, five sons and a stepson:  Jean-Charles-Joseph, age 20; François, age 18; Pierre, age 14; Joseph-Dominique, age 12; Jacques, age unrecorded; and Paul-Marie Boudrot, age 13.  Alexandre Doiron of Pigiguit, age 47, came with wife Ursule Hébert of Cobeguit, age 43, and six children:  Marie-Rose, age 21; Madeleine-Ursule, age 19; Isaac-Alexandre, age 16; Mathurin-Luc, age 12; Joseph, age 7; and Jean-Baptiste, age 2.  Jean-Baptiste Dugas of Cobeguit, age 66, came with third wife Anne Bourg, age 64, 21-year-old daughter Anne, and 5-year-old granddaughter Marie-Adélaïde Boudrot.  A second Jean-Baptiste Dugas, age 49, came with wife Marie Grossin of St.-Pierre-du-Nord, Île St.-Jean, the first of her family in Louisiana, age 49, 11-year-old daughter Marie-Josèphe, and orphan Marie-Jeanne Haché, age 18.  Françoise Boudrot of Ste.-Famille, Pigiguit, age 45, widow of Joseph Clossinet and Marin Dugas, came with 11-year-old son Jean-Pierre-Marin Dugas.  Jean-Baptiste Guédry of L'Assomption, Pigiguit, age 35, came with wife Marguerite Lebert of Rivière-aux-Canards, one of the first of her family in Louisiana, age 32, and three children:  Pierre-Jean-Marie, age 9; François, age 4; and infant Marguerite-Félicité; also with them was niece Marie-Marguerite Lebert, age 14.  François Hébert of Cobeguit, age 72, a widower, came alone.  Amable Hébert of Minas, age 43, a widower, came with four children:  Marie-Modeste, age 22; Marie-Geneviève, age 17; Élisabeth, or Isabelle, age 14; and André, age 9; with them also was Amable's stepmother, Esther Courtney of England, age 60.  Charles Landry of Pigiguit, age 56, came with wife Marguerite Boudrot, age 48, and seven children:  Firmin-Pancrace, age 23; Marguerite-Françoise, age 19; Jean-Sébastien dit Bastien, age 18; Louis-Abel, age 14; Jean-Jacques, age 11; Charles, fils, age 8; and François-Marie, age 6.  Pierre-Joseph Landry, age 15, also may have been aboard.  Angélique Pinet of Port-Toulouse, Île Royale, the first of her family in the colony, age 44, widow of Michel dit Richelieu Léger, came with two sons:  Louis, age 16; and Jean, age 14.  Jean-Baptiste dit Jean Trahan, age 35, still a bachelor, though listed singly on the passenger roll probably crossed with the family of older sister Marie-Modeste. 

Acadian families new to the colony also were welcomed by fellow Acadian Anselme Blanchard:

Joseph Aucoin, probably of Minas, age 37, came with wife Élisabeth, or Isabelle, Henry, age 37, and five children:  Élisabeth- or Isabelle-Jeanne, age 12; Joseph-Jean, age 8; François-Toussaint, age 6; Marie-Modeste, age 4; and Victoire-Claire, age 3.  Charles Daigre of Ste.-Famille, Pigiguit, age 54, the first of his name to bring a family to the colony, came with wife Anne-Marie Vincent, age 55, and no children.  Anne Boudrot of Pigiguit, age 40, widow of Jacques Haché, came with two daughters:  Marie-Jeanne, age 15; and Marguerite-Marie, age 11.  Three Haché sisters, all born in France, came together:  Hélène, age 21; Marie-Josèphe, age 16; and Élisabeth, or Isabelle, age 8.  Joseph Henry perhaps of Cobeguit, age 42, came with wife Cécile Breau, age 39, and six children: Jean-Laurent, age 19; Joseph-Suliac, age 14; Marie-Josèphe, age 7; Pierre-Similien, age 5; and Anne-Françoise, age 3.  Cécile Bourg, age 50, second wife and widow of Ignace Heusé of Île St.-Jean, came with four children:  Mathurin-Charles, age 23; Marie-Anne, age 20; Jean-Baptiste, age 17; and Grégoire-Ignace, age 9.  Cécile's oldest son Pierre-Ignace, age 25, came with wife Marie-Perrine Quimine, age 23, and no children.  Marguerite Labauve of Grand-Pré, age 55, widow of François Legendre, came with two unmarried sons:  Louis-Joseph, age 22; and Yves-François, age 17.  Marguerite's oldest son Jean-Baptiste, age 25, came with wife Marie-Rose Le Tuillier, a Frenchwoman from Cherbourg, age 20, and infant daughter Rose.  Pierre Quimine of Chignecto, age 59, came with second wife Marie-Madeleine Dugas, age 53, and two daughters:  Anne-Louise, age 24; and Victoire-Françoise, age 14.  André Templé of Menibeaux, France, and Port-Toulouse, Île Royale, age 57, came with second wife Marguerite LeBlanc of Grand-Pré, age 48, and eight children:  Élisabeth-, or Isabelle-, Marguerite, age 25; Jean-André-Grégoire-Marie, age 24; Charles-Casimir, age 22; Jacques-Olivier, age 20; Marie-Madeleine, age 19; Servan-François, age 15; Olivier-Marcellin, age 14; and André-Joseph, age 7. 

One family aboard Le Bon Papa was headed by a native of New England whose wife was Acadian: 

Louis William Stebens of Boston, Massachusetts, ate  36, came with his third wife Marie Babin, born in Southampton, England, age 24, and three children:  Louis, age 3; Marie, age 2, and infant Balthazar, born aboard ship.  Also with the family was Marie's younger brother, François-Marie Babin, age 20. 

Soon after the Acadians reached Algiers, Navarro granted a subsidy of 10 cents to every family head, seven and a half cents to every adult, and two and a half cents to every child, to be used to purchase the small necessities of life.  Amazingly, only a single passenger, an infant, had died on the voyage, but the change in climate soon began to take its toll on the new arrivals.  Ten Acadians died at Algiers, and three deserted.  Towards the end of their month of recuperation, Winzerling notes, Navarro ordered Juan Prieto, custodian of the royal warehouses, to issue to each family "meat cleavers, axes, hatchets, hoes, spades, and knives according to the number of active workers in each family"--something he would do for each expedition.  Meanwhile, Commissioner Blanchard escorted deputies from among the family heads to inspect available land on upper Bayou Lafourche, at Bayougoula on the west bank of the river across from San Gabriel, and at Manchac on the east bank of the river above San Gabriel.  Back at Algiers, the deputies conferred with the family heads, and each selected his or her new home.  One family and one single passenger--Jean-Baptiste Guédry and Jean Trahan--chose to go to upper Bayou Lafourche, where only only two Acadian families lived among the Canary Islanders there.  Another, headed by widow Angélique Pinet, chose to await the arrival of her oldest Léger son before going on to Opelousas.  The great majority of the family heads chose to settle on the river:  six at Bayougoula and 27 at Manchac.  Those below the bayou would live in the San Gabriel District, those above in the District of Baton Rouge on lands recently won from the British.  Having hired launches on which to convey the passengers, as well as river guides and river hands from André Chiloque and Arnaud Magnon at four dollars a day, and two barges from Étienne Plauche to carry the Acadians' baggage at two and a half dollars per day, Blanchard led the expedition upriver on August 25.  At this and subsequent Acadian settlements, Carl Brasseaux relates, Blanchard "first secured temporary housing with established settlers for the immigrants and then apportioned land grants of four or five arpents [frontage] among the exiles.  Blanchard remained with the immigrants until they were moved onto their lands," and soon the new arrivals were putting their tools and implements to good use.441 

At Manchac, the newcomers were greeted by Ambroise Thériot, a native of Cobeguit, who had come to the colony from Halifax in 1765 at age 17.  Along with his widowed mother, Françoise Melanson, and his three brothers, Thomas, Paul-Hypolite, and François-Xavier, Ambroise had settled at Cabahannocer, where he married Anne-Madeleine, called Madeleine, daughter of Alexis Granger and Marie Landry, at St.-Jacques de Cabahannocer in June 1777.  Madeleine had come to the colony from Maryland in 1767 as a 10-year-old.  Perhaps soon after the Paris treaty of 1783, which awarded the area north of Bayou Manchac to Spain, the couple moved upriver and were living north of the bayou in the summer of 1785.  Using beef procured from Attakapas, Ambroise organized a boucherie at Manchac for the new arrivals from France.  Ambroise was a collateral decendant of Pierre Thériot, founder of the Rivière St.-Antoine settlement at Minas, who had been known for his great generosity.  One would like to think that Ambroise's boucherie was typical of the way settled Acadians welcomed the new arrivals.441a

Navarro's scheme of settlement had gone off without a hitch.  He had established the pattern he would follow for each expedition.  As soon as he could, he notified minister José de Gálvez that the first expedition was settled.  The intendente described Manchac as "'a wilderness,'" but he assured the minister that it would be "'an excellent site for the exportation of fruit.'"  Unfortunately, back at Paimboeuf, Consul d'Asprès, "anxious to win a reputation for economical efficiency," had already assured that the next expedition would not be so successful.442 

.

The second ship, the 300-ton frigate La Bergère under Captain Deslandes, was 20 tons larger than Le Bon Papa.  Upon the departure of Le Bon Papa carrying so many of their relatives, Acadian indifference to the Spanish re-settlement scheme suddenly gave way to enthusiasm.  Hearing the reports from Peyroux de la Coudrenière and his Acadian assistant, Olivier Térriot, d'Asprès was convinced that all of the Acadians still in France--2,300 of them--were now eager to leave the mother country and join their kinsmen in Louisiana.  On May 7, three days before the departure of Le Bon Papa, d'Après booked 273 passengers, in 73 families, for La Bergère--117 more than the Acadians crossing on Le Bon Papa!  He called a meeting at his residence in Nantes of the 73 family heads and suggested that they elect five leaders among them "whose duty it would be to police the ship and distribute rations," Winzerling tells us.  D'Asprès had organized the expedition in haste, and among the passengers were Acadians who, a few years earlier, had argued bitterly over settling on Corsica.  "To preserve peace aboard ship," d'Asprès "bade the 73 family heads ... to promise obedience" of their elected leaders "under punishment of expulsion at New Orleans" if they caused any trouble on the voyage.  The family heads chose Olivier Térriot, Charles Dugas, Charles Aucoin, Simon Dugas, and Étienne Dupuy to lead them.  According to Térriot, the Dugass and Aucoin "were 'well fixed financially,'" but Dupuy, Térriot knew, "was 'as poor as myself.'"443

La Bergère left Paimboeuf on May 12, only two days after Le Bon Papa left the same port, and reached Louisiana, also without mishap, on August 15 after 93 days at sea.  The Bon Papa passengers were still at Algiers when La Bergère reached the colony, so Anselme Blanchard was able to greet the newest arrivals and record another debarkation list.  Seven children had been born en route, and six elderly passengers had been buried at sea. 

The ship's passenger list included many Acadian names already in the colony, including "new" names found among the Bon Papa arrivals.  The Aucoins, a "new" family in the colony, and the Bourgs, Dugass, Héberts, Landrys, and LeBlancs, "old" ones, were especially numerous:

Jean-Baptiste Aucoin of Grand-Pré, age 71, came with wife Jeanne-Anne Thériot, age 60, and 19-year-old daughter Anne-Félicité.  Older daughter Marie-Anastasie Aucoin, age 26, wife of Joseph Thériot, who would come on a later ship, probably crossed with her family.  Olivier Aucoin of Grand-Pré, age 59, came with second wife Cécile Richard of Grand-Pré, age 43, and three daughters:  Nathalie-Marie, age 18; Marguerite-Geneviève, age 16; and Marie-Cécile, age 15.  Antoine Aucoin, age 55, a widower, came with two sons:  Pierre-Joseph-Antoine, age 20; and Louis-Jean, age 15.  Fabien Aucoin of Cobeguit, age 38, came with wife Marguerite Dupuis of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 34, and no children.  Charles Aucoin of Grand-Pré, age 36 and still a bachelor, one of the leaders of the expedition, came with sister Félicité, age 35, also unmarried.  Pierre Aucoin, age unrecorded, came alone.  Jeanne Chaillou of Île Miquelon, age 56, the first of her family in the colony, widow of Jean-Baptiste Bourg, came with four children:  Marie-Geneviève, age 18; Jean-Baptiste, age 16; André, age 14; and Charles, age 10.  Marie-Josèphe Hébert of Cobeguit, age 55, widow of Alexandre Bourg, came with daughter Marguerite of Cobeguit, age 37, widow of Firmin Aucoin, and Marguerite's son Firmin-Louis, age 6.  Joseph Bourg of Cobeguit, age 52, came with second wife Marie-Madeleine Granger of Grand-Pré, age 54, and four unmarried children:  Marie-Josèphe, age 21; Fabien-Joseph, age 19; Jean-Baptiste, age 17; and Élisabeth-, or Isabelle-, Blanche, age 14; also with them were two nieces:  Isabelle-Luce Daigre, age 24, and her sister Marguerite-Félicité, age 17.  Joseph's oldest son Pierre, age 24, came with wife Marguerite-Blanche Dugas, age 31, who was pregnant; she gave birth to son Martin soon after reaching the colony.  Jean-Baptiste Bourg, age 42, still a bachelor, came with sister Françoise-Joseph, age 49, still unmarried, and cousin Élisabeth, or Isabelle, Bourg, age 33, also unmarried.  Paul Dugas probably of Cobeguit, age 75, came with two unmarried children:  Simon, age 37, one of the leaders of the expedition; and Anne-Marie, age 19.  Pierre Dugas of Cobeguit, age 57, came with wife Marguerite Daigre, age 60, and two daughters:  Anne-Marie, age 23; and Marie-Victoire, age 20.  Pierre's brother Charles of Cobeguit, age 48, twice a widower and one of the expedition leaders, came with five children:  Marie-Josèphe, age 22; Jean-Charles, age 20; Pierre-Olivier dit Pierrot, age 18; Joseph-Simon, age 16; and Marguerite, age 4.  Ambroise Dugas of Cobeguit, age 34, came with wife Marie-Victoire Pitre, age 32, and four children:  Marguerite-Josèphe, age 9;  Louis-Ambroise, age 5; Céleste, age 1; and infant Eulalie-Martine.  Charles Hébert of Grand-Pré, age 62, a widower, came with daughter Marie-Yvette, age 33, widow of ____ Henry, and grandson Pierre Henry, age 15.  Marie-Madeleine Dugas, age 43, widow of Jean-Baptiste Hébert, came with seven children:  Anne-Simone, age 20; Pierre-Michel, age 18; Anne-Marie, age 17; Joseph-Servan dit Joson, age 15; Isabelle-Jeanne, age 13; Prosper-François, age 5; and infant Étienne.  Luce-Perpétué Bourg of Cobeguit, age 40, widow of another Jean-Baptiste Hébert, came with four children:  Marie-Gertrude-Josèphe, age 17; Jean-Olivier, age 15; Félicité-Jeanne, age 13; and François-Luce, age 11.  Isaac Hébert of Cobeguit, age 35, came with wife Marie-Marguerite Daigre, age 23, and two children:  Rémi, age 3; and infant Renée-Eulalie.   Anne-Osite Dugas of Cobeguit age 30, widow of Charles Hébert, came with three children:  Charles dit Charlot, age 5; Anne-Victoire, age 4; and Marguerite-Sophie, age 2.  Jean-Baptiste Landry of Grand-Pré, age 61, came with second wife Élisabeth, or Isabelle, Dugas of Cobeguit, age 31, sister of Charles, and four children:  Élisabeth-, or Isabelle-, Augustine, age 25; Jean-Baptiste, fils, age 23; Marguerite-Geneviève, age 20; and Marie-Anne, age 9.  Prosper Landry, age 60, came with third wife Élisabeth, or Isabelle, Pitre, age 57, and two sons:  Jean-Pierre, age 22; and Simon-Joseph, age 19.  Pierre Landry of Minas, age 49, came with wife Marthe LeBlanc of Grand-Pré, age 49, and four children:  Joseph-Giroire, age 19; Jean-Raphaël, age 17; Marie-Madeleine-Adélaïde, age 15; and Anne-Susanne, age 9.  Marie-Josèphe Richard of Grand-Pré, age 46, widow of Hilaire Landry, came with two daughters:  Marie-Madeleine, age 18; and Marie-Rose, age 10.  Geneviève Landry, age 34, came with sister Marie-Josèphe, age 32, and "charge" François-Julien ____, age 10.  Ursule Breau, age 65, widow of Jean-Baptiste LeBlanc, came with son Simon of England, age 23, and granddaughter Madeleine-Françoise LeBlanc, age 11.  Claude LeBlanc of Grand-Pré, age 62, came with third wife Dorothée Richard, age 50, and Claire Landry of Grand-Pré, age 80, Dorothée's mother-in-law from her first marriage.  Nathalie Pitre of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 50, second wife and widow of Jean-Jacques LeBlanc, came with two children:  Jean-Baptiste, age 17; and Marie-Geneviève, age 15.  Marie Aucoin of Grand-Pré, age 48, wife of Michel LeBlanc, a sailor, who did not accompany her, came with two daughters:  Marie-Josèphe, age 25; and Apolline-Eulalie, age 13.  Olivier LeBlanc of Grand-Pré, age 38, came with wife Marie-Madeleine Lebert, age 24, and two children:  Marie-Anne, age 3; and Pierre-Olivier, age 1.  Étienne LeBlanc probably of Pigiguit, age 36, still a bachelor, came alone.

Other "established" families sailed aboard the second of the Seven Ships: 

Anne-Symphorose Hébert of Cobeguit, age 47, widow of Joseph Blanchard, came with six children:  Laurent-Olivier, age 19; Marie-Madeleine, age 17; Pierre-Joseph, age 15; Louis-Suliac, age 13; Élie, age 11; and Anne, age 7.  Marie-Josèphe Daigre of Grand-Pré, age 43, widow of Jean-Baptiste Boudrot, came with two children:  Marie-Rose, age 21; and Jean-François, age 11.  Marie Brasseur of Minas, age 37 and unmarried, came with sister Osite, age 24, also still unmarried.  Honoré Breau of Minas, age 50, came with wife Élisabeth, or Isabelle, dite Maillet LeBlanc of Tintamarre, Chignecto, age 42, and seven children:  Olive-Élisabeth, age 16; Marie-Madeleine, age 14; Jeanne, age 9; Pierre-Paul, age 5; twins Charles and Rose-Marie, age 3, and newborn Martina or Martine.  Marie-Madeleine-Marguerite Landry, age 22, wife of Jean-Baptiste Comeau, who remained in France, came with 2-year-old son Jean-Baptiste.  Eustache Daigre of Grand-Pré, age 57, came with wife Madeleine Dupuis of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 44, and three sons:  Jean-Joseph, age 15; Charles-Marc, age 13; and infant Étienne.  Alexis-Jean-Mathurin Daigre, age 22, came alone.  Jacques Doiron of L'Assomption, Pigiguit, age 43, came with wife Anne-Josèphe Breau of Cobeguit, age 38, and four children:  Jean-Jacques, age 17; Simon-Joseph, age 14; Ursule-Olive, age 14; and infant Martina or Martine.  Joseph Dupuis of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 39, a widower, came with 10-year-old daughter Élisabeth, or Isabelle.  Joseph's brother Étienne of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 36, came with wife Marie-Osite Dugas, age 24, and no children.  Pierre Gautrot of Grand-Pré, age 55, came with wife Marie-Louise Duplessis of Grand-Pré, age 46, and 11-year-old daughter Marguerite-Adélaïde.  Marin Gautrot of perhaps of Cobeguit, age 40, came with Gertrude Bourg, age 38, and two children:  Jean-Louis, age 11; and Marie, age 9.  Agnès Gautrot, age 29, came with half-brother Pierre-Joseph, age 22.  Jean-Benoît Gautrot, age 17, came alone.  Prosper-Honoré Girouard or Giroir of L'Assomption, Pigiguit, age 41, came with wife Marie Dugas, age 39, and six children:  Marie-Paule, age 20; Anne-Josèphe, age 18; Jean-Baptiste, age 15; Jeanne-Eléonore, age 13; François, age 11; and Pierre, age 7.  Amand Pitre, age 60, a widower, came with daughter Marguerite, age 24.  Tranquille Pitre of Cobeguit, age 36; came with wife Élisabeth, or Isabelle, Aucoin, of Grand-Pré, age 37, and three children:  Jean-Baptiste, age 3; Joseph-Vincent, age 1; and newborn Martina or Martine.  Ambroise Pitre, age 35, came with wife  Élisabeth, or Isabelle, Dugas, age 32, and four children:  Paul-Ambroise, age 9; Marie-Françoise, age 6; Jean-Marie, age 1; and newborn Céleste.  Jean Richard of Grand-Pré, age 55, came with wife Marguerite Landry, age 48, and 15-year-old son Jean-Pierre.  Jean's brother Pierre of Grand-Pré, age 49, came with wife Marie-Blanche LeBlanc, age 43, and three children:  Marie-Marguerite, age 19; Pierre-Joseph, age 16; and infant Charles-Pierre-Paul; also with them was Jean and Pierre's cousin Rose Richard, age 30.  Cécile Boudrot, age 38, widow of Charles Richard, came with 14-year-old daughter Marie-Rose, and her half-brother Joseph Boudrot, age 18.  Olivier Thériot, who spelled his surname Térriot, of Île St.-Jean, age 30, not only an expedition leader but the chief recruiter of Acadians going to Louisiana from France, came with wife Marie Aucoin of Minas, age 32, and three children:  Olivier-Marie, age 7; Jean-Toussaint, age 2; and newborn Martina or Martine; also with them was Olivier's brother Jean-Charles, age 20.  Jacques Thériot, age 25, came with wife Françoise Guérin, age 22, and infant Françoise-Élisabeth.  Joseph Trahan of Minas, age 59, came with wife Marie Boudrot, age 57, and three children:  Anselme-Marie, age 19; Marie-Madeleine, age 17; and Marguerite-Aimée, age 11.  Marie-Sophie Leprince of L'Assomption, Pigiguit, age 43, widow of Joseph Trahan, came with 19-year-old son Antoine-Joseph, and half-sister Judith or Julie Leprince, age 26. 

More Acadian surnames new to the colony also graced the list of La Bergère passengers: 

Jean-Baptiste Barrieau of Pigiguit, age 52, came with second wife Marie Daigre, age 45, and four children:  Jacques-Alain, age 19; Jean-Marie, age 15; Perrine, age 13; and François, age 10.  Pierre-Jacques Bertrand of Pobomcoup, age 54, came with wife Catherine Bourg, age 36, and seven children:  Ambroise-Bénoni, age 18;  Jean-Augustin, age 15; Marie-Catherine, age 13; Marie, age 11; Adélaïde, age 7; Louis, age 3; and infant Anne-Madeleine.  Dominique Guérin of Cobeguit, age 63, a widower, came with two daughters:  Élisabeth, or Isabelle, age 25; and Brigide, age 15.  Dominique's son Joseph of Louisbourg, age 33, came with wife Agnès Pitre, age 38, and year-old daughter Françoise.  Pierre Guillot, age 20, came with sister Françoise-Gertrude, age 19.  Anne-Marie Robichaud, age 57, widow of Charles Lebert, came with son Pierre-Joseph, age 17.  Marie-Rose Livois, age 21, came alone.  Simon Mazerolle of Grand-Pré, age 42, came with wife Marguerite Trahan of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 38, and four children:  Marie-Perpétué, age 18; Élisabeth, or Isabelle, age 16; Anne-Françoise, age 14, and Étienne, age 8.  Marie-Madeleine Noël, age 28, came with sister Marie-Marguerite, age 21, widow of Guillaume-Jean Roquemont of Rouen.  Jean-Baptiste Ozelet of Cobeguit, age 42, came with wife Marguerite Landry, age 43, and four children:  Jean-Charles, age 18; Mathurin-Joseph, age 13; Marie-Charles or -Charlotte, age 10; and Julien, age 4.  Anne-Marie-Madeleine Savary of Minas, age 38, the first of her family to come to the colony, widow of Pierre Potier, came with two sons:  Baptiste-Olivier, age 12; and Jacques-Sylvain, age 7.  Marie-Josèphe Ségoillot, age 19, came alone.   

Two more non-Acadian family heads married to Acadians came to Louisiana:

Louis-François Le Tollierec of Plélo west of St.-Malo, France, age 41, came with wife Élisabeth, or Isabelle, LeBlanc of Île St.-Jean, age 29, and two children:  Marie-Adélaïde, age 4; and Henri-Amable, age 1.  Gabriel Moreau, probably a Frenchman, age 61, came with wife Marie Trahan, age 54, and two children:  Maximin, age 24; and Marie-Anne-Barbe, age 18.  The French allowed five French passengers to cross with the Acadians on La Bergère, including François Friou, a widower from Paimboeuf, age 51; and Antoine Mollard or Moulard of St.-Rémy, Provence, age 31. 

The dormitories at Algiers were still occupied, so Intendente Navarro had to convert the customhouse at New Orleans into a temporary barracks for the new arrivals.  While recuperating in the city, 12 more babies were born and four marriages were celebrated.  On the same day in late September, Frenchman François Friou married Élisabeth or Isabelle, 33-year-old daughter of Claude Bourg and Anne Henry perhaps of Cobeguit, who had crossed with a sister and a cousin; and fellow passenger Antoine Moulard married Marie-Geneviève, 18-year-old daughter of Jean-Baptiste Bourg and Jeanne Chaillou of Île Miquelon, who had crossed with her widowed mother and siblings.  Unfortunately, nine more La Bergère passengers died in the city from the rigors of the voyage and the oppressive heat and humidity of the late Louisiana summer.444

The Bergère passengers lingered at New Orleans longer than anticipated.  They did so not only because of the rigors of the voyage and the adjustment to the new climate, but also because of an oversight on the part of Consul d'Asprès back in France.  To Navarro's chagrin, the consul had failed to send with the Bergère passengers their trunks and other personal baggage, so important to their resettlement in Louisiana.  Navarro assumed that the baggage would arrive aboard the third expedition, but not even the fourth ship, which arrived on September 10, carried the personal items that should have been loaded back in early May; the last of the Bergère baggage did not reach the colony, in fact, until a seventh ship arrived in late December.  Anselme Blanchard, meanwhile, was still supervising the settlement of the Bon Papa passengers at Manchac, so Intendente Navarro hired Jean Cambeau, at 40 cents a day, to guide the "surveyors" for the Bergère families to the unoccupied lands upriver.  The Acadians could not decide where to establish their villages, so Navarro sent veteran officer Pedro Aragon y Villegas to advise them.  After much thought and deliberation, most of the Bergère Acadians--67 families of 242 individuals, including the two newly-wed couples--selected Bayou Lafourche as their new home.  At that time, the Lafourche valley contained the largest expanse of unsettled territory near the Acadian coasts, where many of the new arrivals had relatives.  The Bergère Acadians heading for the bayou left Algiers on October 4, and Intendente Navarro "closed his books on the expedition" four days later.  These Acadians were not the first of their kind to occupy the natural levees along the upper Lafourche--two or three Acadians families were already there, living among the Canary Islanders at Valenzuela--but, thanks to their arrival in such impressive numbers, no other Acadian community would grow so large so quickly.445

Not all of the Bergère passengers went to Bayou Lafourche.  Several families--those of Charles and Pierre Dugas; Anne-Osite Dugas, widow Hébert; Jean-Baptiste Landry, whose wife was a Dugas; and Marie-Sophie Leprince, widow Trahan--chose to join relatives in the prairie districts, but they were forced by illness, and perhaps low water, to linger at New Orleans longer than the others.  Not until November 13 did Pedro Aragon y Villegas conduct them to Opelousas and Attakapas aboard the goleta San José, which probably followed the usual route via Bayou Plaquemine and the Atchafalaya Basin to Bayou Courtableau.  Meanwhile, one family from La Bergère, that of Honoré Breau, chose to settle at Manchac, near his kinsmen on the Acadian Coast.446

.

The third ship, Le Beaumont, a 180-ton frigate of medium size and late construction, was smaller than the other two vessels and also much faster.  So many Acadians now were eager to join the expedition that when a family of four dropped out before the ship's departure, hundreds of Acadians offered to take their place.  The most distinguished passenger aboard Le Beaumont was not an Acadian.  Henri-Marie Peyroux de la Coudrenière, the organizer of the Acadian odyssey from France, was accompanied by his wife, Prudence-Françoise Rodrigue; a niece; servant Louis-François Montréal; and a friend named Le Cat.  Because of his status, Peyroux was designated leader of the expedition.  The Spanish also gave him a daily stipend, running from August 1784 to May 1785, and paid for his family's transportation.447

With 176 passengers aboard, Le Beaumont left Paimboeuf on June 11, while the other two vessels were still at sea, and reached Louisiana during the third week of August only a few days behind La Bergère.  Le Beaumont did not remain at La Balize but continued up to New Orleans, which it reached on August 19--a swift 70-day voyage.  According to Oscar Winzerling, "The greater part" of the Acadians aboard the smaller frigate "was made up of small families and newly married couples."447a 

Acadians who crossed on Le Beaumont bore many surnames that already could be found in the colony, some of them having appeared only recently from France.  The Daigres, a "new" family, and the Trahans, an "old" one, were especially numerous: 

Olivier Daigre IV of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 53, a widower, came with eight children:  Victor, age 23; François, age 19; Simon-François, age 18; Jean-Baptiste, age 15; Marie-Geneviève, age 11; Pélagie, age 9; Eulalie, age 6; and Honoré, age 3.  Olivier IV's brother Simon-Pierre of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 50, came with second wife Anne Michel of Ste.-Famille, Pigiguit, age 51, and seven children:  Marie-Marguerite, age 26; Anne-Geneviève, age 24; Édouard, age 21; Simon-Pierre, fils, age 18; Élizabeth, age 13; Marie-Madeleine, age 11; and Joseph-Michel, age 9.  Jean-Baptiste Daigre, age 45, came with Marie-Claude Valet, a Frenchwoman, age 31, and year-old son Jean-René, who may have died at sea.  François-Marie Daigre of Minas, age 45, came with wife Jeanne Holley, a Frenchwoman, age 47, and four children:  Louis-Françoise, age 18; Marie-Jeanne-Jacqueline, age 16; Flore-Adélaïde, age 15; and Marie-Louise, age 10.  François older son François-Alexandre, age 22, came with wife Rose-Adélaïde Bourg, age 19, and two children:  Émilie-Adélaïde, age 1; and infant François-Joseph.  Marguerite-Ange Dubois, age 31, the first of her family to come to the colony, widow of Jean Daigre, came with 10-year-old son Jean-Louis.  Marie-Madeleine LeBlanc, age 54, widow of Pierre-Isidore Trahan, came with five children:  Paul-Isidore, age 21; Marie-Jeanne, age 16; Simon-Augustin, age 13; Alexis-Romain, age 11; and Rosalie, age 9.  Anne Granger of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 49, widow of Joseph Trahan, came with four children:  Joseph, fils, age 21; Marie-Anne, age 16; Marie-Julie, age 14; and François-Marie, age 12.  Marie-Josèphe Granger of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 46, Anne's sister and widow of Pierre-Simon Trahan, Joseph's brother, came with four children:  Jean-Baptiste, age 25; Paul-Raymond, age 19; Marie-Renée, age 13; and Marie-Marguerite, age 8.  Joseph Trahan of Pigiguit, age 35, came with wife Marguerite Lavergne of Chignecto, age 32, who was pregnant, and two children:  Joseph Rémi, age 4; and Antoinette, age 2; Marguerite gave birth to son François-Antoine at Baton Rouge the following December.

Names from other established Acadian families also could be found on the Beaumont rolls.  Several of the men from these families had taken French wives: 

François-Xavier Boudrot, age 25, came with wife Marguerite Dugas, age 26, and no children.   Alain Bourg, age 43, came with wife Anne-Marie Comeau, age 40, and two children:  Marie-Geneviève, age 20; and François, age 11.  Joseph Breau, age 23, came with wife Marie-Blanche Trahan, age 19, and no children.  Charles Comeau, age 37, came with wife Marie-Madeleine Clossinet, age unrecorded, the first of her family to come to the colony, and no children.  Jean Doiron of L'Assomption, Pigiguit, age 57, a widower, came with 21-year-old daughter Marguerite-Josèphe, and orphan Paul-Olivier Daigre, age 18.  Jean-Baptiste Doiron of Pigiguit, age 40, came with wife Marie-Blanche Bernard of Chignecto, age 43, and five children:  Marie-Hippolythe-Honoré, age 17; Rose-Luce, age 13; Amable-Ursule, age 6; Louis-Toussaint, age 4; and Jean-Charles, age 2.  Rose Doiron of Pigiguit, age 35, wife of Frenchman Jean-Baptist Loiseleur, her second husband, who remained in France, came alone.  Marguerite-Josèphe Doiron, age 50, widow of Jean-Baptiste Dugas, came alone, though her 26-year-old son Claude-Bernard Dugas, perhaps without her knowledge, would stow away on a later vessel.  Jean-Pierre Dugas, age 20, perhaps Marguerite-Josèphe's son, came with wife Jeanne Cabon, a Frenchwoman, age 34, and no children.  Jean-Pierre Duhon, age 25, came alone.  Pierre Forest, age 25, came alone.  Widower Charles-Benoît Granger of Grand-Pré, age 33, came with nephew Joseph Daigre, age 14.  Jean-Marie Granger, age 19, came alone.  Charles Guédry of Annapolis Royal, age 59, a widower, came with four children: Anne-Laurance, age 26; Joseph, age 18; Jean-Pierre, age 17; and Jacques-Servais, age 15.  Charle's oldest son Pierre-Jean, age 23, came with wife Louise Blandin, a Frenchwoman, age 27, and no children.  Jean Guédry dit Grivois, age 57, came with wife Marie LeBlanc, age 55, and two sons:  Jean dit Grivois, fils, age 27; and Jacques, age 17; also with them was cousin Josèphe-Marie Célestin dit Bellemère, age 19.  Jean-Baptiste Guédry of l'Assomption, Pigiguit, age 38, perhaps recently widowered, came with three children:  Pierre-Jean-Marie, age 9; François, age 4, and infant Marguerite-Félicité; also with them was niece Marguerite-Marie Lebert.  Jean-Baptiste's brother Pierre-Janvier of l'Assomption, Pigiguit, age 31, came with wife Marie-Josèphe Lebert of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 31, Marguerite's sister, and four children:  Pierre-Joseph, age 10; Marie-Rose, age 6; Jean-Pierre, age 4; and infant Joseph-Firmin; also with them was nephew Pierre-Jean-Joseph-Joachim Lebert, age 13.  Anne Benoit, age 55, widow of Pierre and Jean-Baptiste Hébert, came with 13-year-old son Jean-Charles, son of her second husband.  Pierre Hébert of Chignecto, age 45, came with wife Charlotte Potier, age 41, infant son Pierre-Joseph, Pierre's brother Jean-Baptiste, age 40, a bachelor, and Charlotte's daughter Anne-Pérrine Patry, age 12, the first of her name in the colony.  Jean-Pierre, also called Jean-Baptiste, Hébert, age 32, came with second wife Anne-Dorothée Doiron, age 24, and infant daughter Anne-Marguerite.  Pierre Henry of Minas, age 61, came with wife Marguerite Trahan, age 54, and 18-year-old son Cyrille-François.  Charles Henry of Cobeguit, age 53, came with third wife Marie LeBlanc, age 45, who was pregnant, and three daughters:  Marie-Madeleine, age 23; Rose-Anastasie, age 14; and Ursule, age 10; also with them was Marie's son Charles Robichaud, age 17; soon after settling at Baton Rouge, Marie gave birth to son Jean-Baptiste Henry in late October.  Paul LeBlanc of Minas, age 40, came with wife Anne Boudrot of Grand-Pré, age 38, and two daughters:  Adélaïde-Marguerite, age 3; and infant Rose or Rosalie; with them also was niece Rose Trahan, age 23.  Moïse LeBlanc, age 24, came with wife Angélique-Madeleine-Marie De La Forestrie, age 24, the first of her family in the colony, came with two children:  Marie-Josèphe, age 3; and Jean-Martin, age 1.  Four of Moïse's younger siblings also were in the party:  Joseph, age 19; Jacques-Hippolyte, age 17;  François-Marie, age 15; Marie-Madeleine, age 11; and Anne-Geneviève, age 9.  Pierre Potier of Tintamarre, Chignecto, age 45, came with second wife Agnès Broussard, age 31, and five children:  Charles-Victor, age 16; Marie-Constance, age 14; Anne-Apolline or Apolline-Luce, age 12; Pierre-Laurent, age 10; and infant François-Constant.  Pierre Richard of Annapolis Royal and Minas, age 72, came with second wife Françoise Daigre, age 55, and four children:  Anselme, age 20;  Joseph, age 18; Marie-Jeanne, age 14; and Pierre Auguste, age 11.  Jean-Charles Richard, age 19, came alone.  Pierre Vincent of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 36, came alone. 

A few Acadian surnames on the frigate's passenger list were new to the colony:

Jean-Baptiste La Garenne of Île St.-Jean, age 55, came with wife Anne-Appoline Doiron of Pigiguit, age 46, and no children.   Marie-Pélagie Doiron, age 31, widow of  Joseph Lalande, came with two children:  Émilie, age 11; and Jean-Édouard, age 8.  Pierre Lavergne of Annapolis Royal, age 54, three times a widower, his third wife a Frenchwoman from Lauvaudan, came with three children:  Victoire-Bellarmine, age 22; Marie-Madeleine, age 18; and Pierre-Benjamin, age 17.  Jacques Moulaison of Pobomcoup, age 38, came with wife Marie-Blanche Doiron of Pigiguit, age 41, and three children:  Marie-Rose, age 10; Marie-Sophie, age 9; and Jacques, fils, age 6. 

Non-Acadians among the Beaumont passengers were or had been married to, or were children of, Acadians:

Joseph Acosta of St.-Tropez, France, age unrecorded, a stowaway, married Marguerite Trahan, age 24, aboard ship.  François Arbour, fils of Québec, perhaps a French Canadian, not an Acadian, age 45, came with wife Marie Henry, an Acadian, age 40, and three sons:  François-Henry, age 18; Jean-Louis-Firmin, age 15; and Frédéric-Édouard, age 13.  Joseph Caillouet of Cap-St.-Ignace, Canada, age 31, came with wife Élisabeth, or Isabelle, LeBlanc of Pigiguit, age 32, and infant son Jacques.  Marie-Josèphe Martin of Annapolis Royal, age 47, widow of surgeon Louis Courtin of St.-Nicolas de Prête-Vales, Dunois, France, came with three children:  Marie-Françoise, age 22; Mathurine-Olivier, age 20; and Jacques-Marie, age 16.448 

Intendente Navarro appointed Pedro Aragon y Villegas as commissioner for the Beaumont Acadians and instructed Anselme Blanchard to help prepare quarters for the new arrivals in New Orleans; the dormitories at Algiers and the customhouse in the city were too overcrowded to accommodate them.  While the Beaumont Acadians recuperated in the city, the intendente supervised the marriages of three Acadian girls to three non-Acadians who also had crossed on the frigate, perhaps as members of the crew.  Four Beaumont passengers died at New Orleans, two deserted, and a baby was born to one of the families.  Meanwhile, Winzerling tells us, "The surveyors of this group lost no time in determining the sites for their future homes.  After two weeks of reconnoitering they decided upon Baton Rouge."  Forty-one families with 145 members approved of the selection, some preferring the east bank of the river north of Bayou Manchac at the southern edge of the Baton Rouge District, a few others the west bank north of Bayou Plaquemine across from San Gabriel, then also a part of the Baton Rouge District.  Four families with 19 members--those of Alain Bourg, Jean-Baptiste and Joseph-Marie Guédry, Moïse and Joseph LeBlanc, and Jean-Charles Richard--chose to go to Bayou Lafourche, and four families with 20 members--those of Jean-Baptiste Doiron, Pierre Hébert, Pierre Potier, and Pierre Vincent--elected to join relatives in the Attakapas District.  Two families with eight members--those of Joseph Caillouet, a French Canadian married to a LeBlanc; and Jean Guédry dit Grivois--chose crowded Cabahannocer on the Lower Acadian Coast.  During the first week of September, after a short recuperation period, the Beaumont Acadians were ready to move to their new homes.449 

Having been promised further rewards by the Spanish, Henri-Marie Peyroux de la Coudrenière asked Intendente Navarro to appoint him captain and to give him command of the Baton Rouge District, where most of "his" Acadians had gone.  Peyroux received his captaincy, but Navarro and Governor Miró, who probably were not charmed by the smooth-talking Frenchman, sent him, instead, to Ste.-Geneviève in the Illinois country and appointed Spanish officer Joseph Vasquez Vahamonde to command at Baton Rouge.449a

.

The fourth expedition, that of the 400-ton frigate Le St.-Rémi, would be the largest, and the least successful, of the seven expeditions.  Again, Consul d'Asprès was at fault.  Though a much larger ship than the other three, Le St.-Rémi was dangerously overcrowded when it left St.-Malo.  This was the first of two expeditions scheduled to transport Acadians from that port, which once held the largest concentration of the exiles in France.  After the failure of the Poitou venture during the 1770s, most of the many Acadians who had gone there from St.-Malo had retreated in four convoys down the Vienne and the Loire from Châtellerault to the port of Nantes, and there they remained.  Nevertheless, dozens of Acadian families still living in the St.-Malo-area suburbs and villages also had signed up to resettle in Louisiana.  Unfortunately, d'Asprès ignored his previous dictum about overcrowding and also allowed families to sign up for the expedition "regardless of health conditions."  Anxious for them to leave before the end of June, he called a convocation of the family heads on June 19.  They chose their leaders and made their rules for shipboard conduct and the distribution of rations.450 

Le St.-Rémi, under Captain Nicolas Baudin, left St.-Malo on June 27, 13 days after Le Beaumont had departed Paimboeuf, on the other side of Brittany.  Evidently Le St. Rémi sailed around to Paimboeuf to pick up passengers from Morlaix and the St.-Malo villages who had journeyed across Brittany to Nantes.  Families who had gone from St.-Malo to Poitou and then to Nantes also were taken aboard the frigate.  D'Asprès thus allowed 323 Acadians and their belongings to be carried aboard the ship, as well as baggage for the Acadians who had crossed on La Bergère.  "As a result of that unhealthy congestion, smallpox broke out during the voyage and carried away twelve children.  Scurvy caused the deaths of three women," Oscar Winzerling notes.  The big frigate reached Louisiana on September 10 after a 75-day voyage, but the nightmare was not yet over.  Le St.-Rémi ran aground in the channel at La Balize.  Sixteen more passengers died of smallpox aboard the stranded vessel, and, Winzerling continues, there was "much sickness in their camp at New Orleans."  The city, by now, was overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of immigrants, with more on the way.  Intendente Navarro ordered the construction of "a wooden hall 200 by 26 feet, capable of housing 800 people" at Algiers Point to accommodate the current and future arrivals.  It was still summer in lower Louisiana, and the St.-Rémi passengers also suffered from the excessive heat as well as the strange food they were compelled to eat.  The large numbers of sick passengers from the vessel, especially among the women, overwhelmed the two hospitals for the Acadians at Algiers.  Navarro ordered the enlargement of the women's hospital to 45 beds.  Aware of the Acadians' repugnance of French hospitals, he called the expanded women's facility Community House and made it independent of the hospitals in the city.  Sadly, Winzerling relates, "the change of climate carried off many Acadian mothers.  Navarro, in his solicitude for the Acadians, hired wet-nurses to care for their motherless babies."  He also provided extra assistance for the elderly passengers who had fallen ill.451 

Again, the great majority of the Acadians aboard Le St.-Rémi bore family names familiar in the colony, some having come on previous ships from France.  The Dugass, Héberts, LeBlancs, and Trahans were especially numerous: 

Alexis Dugas of Cobeguit, age 62, twice a widower, came with 22-year-old daughter Marie-Rose.  Charles Dugas, age 60, came with wife Anne Naquin of Cobeguit, age 40, and her daughter by her first marriage, Rose-Marie Gautrot, age 22; also with them was orphan Anne Lebert, age 9.  Pierre Dugas of Cobeguit, age 53, came with third wife Rose or Rosalie LeBlanc of Pigiguit, age 43, and two daughters:  Rose, age 3; and infant Anne Perrine.  Joseph Dugas of Cobeguit, age 43, came with second wife Anastasie Barrieau of Pigiguit, age 43, and nine children:  Joseph, fils, age 23; Marie, age 21; Cécile-Anne, age 19; Élisabeth-Eulalie, age 17; François-Basile-Étienne, age 14; Anastasie-Céleste-Marie, age 12; Jean-Pierre, age 10; Anne-Marguerite, age 7; and Marguerite-Euphrosine, age 2.  Joseph Hébert of Minas, age 50, came with second wife Marie Benoit, age 48, and three children:  Joseph, fils, age 24; Geneviève-Marie, age 22; and Sophie-Marie, age 15; also with them was niece Sophie Benoit, age 8.  Joseph-Ignace Hébert, age 37, came with wife Anne Dugas, age 36, and four children:  Pierre-Joseph, age 15; Olivier-Constant-Mathias, age 11; Élisabeth-, or Isabelle-, Jeanne, age 9; and Louis-Ambroise, age 2.  Joseph-Ignace's brother Jean-Baptiste, age 35, came with wife Anne-Josèphe Dugas of Cobeguit, age 36, and five children:  Jean-Joseph, age 14; Ambroise-Mathurin, age 12; Simon, age 7; Alexis-Thomas, age 2; and newborn Martin.  Another Joseph Hébert, age 36, came with wife Jeanne De La Forestrie of St.-Pierre-du-Nord, Île St.-Jean, age 32, and five children:  Joseph-Marie, age 11; Charles, age 10; Marie-Rose, age 8; and Louis-Jean, age 5.  Charles LeBlanc of Grand-Pré, age 68, came with second wife Marie-Madeleine Gautrot, age 66, and 20-year-old daughter Marguerite-Geneviève.  Another Charles LeBlanc of Grand-Pré, age 52, came with second wife Rosalie Trahan, age 40, and six children:  Marie-Rose, age 21; Pierre-Honoré, age 19; André-Marie, age 18; Marie-Françoise, age 16;  Barbe-Anne, age 12; and infant Jean-Baptiste.  Pierre LeBlanc of Grand-Pré, age 51, came with wife Françoise Trahan of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 47, and four children:  Marie, age 22; Geneviève, age 21; Simon, age 9; and infant Mathurine-Françoise.  Thomas LeBlanc, age 39, came alone.  Joseph LeBlanc of l'Assomption, Pigiguit, age 31, also came alone.  Pierre Trahan of L'Assomption Pigiguit, age 62, came with fourth wife Marie Clémenceau of Grand-Pré, age 32, and year-old daughter Louise-Renée.  Marin Trahan of l'Assomption, Pigiguit, listed as age 40 but likely 53, came with second wife Marguerite Juon, a Frenchwoman perhaps from Morlaix, age 20, and six children by his first wife:  Madeleine, age 23; Jean-Baptiste, age 21; Marie-Marguerite, age 16; Françoise-Barbe, age 11; Jean-Joseph-Marie, age 8; and Françoise-Marie, age 7.  Augustin Trahan, age 50, came with wife Bibienne LeBlanc, age 40, and 12-year-old daughter Marie Modeste.  Jean-Baptiste Trahan of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 50, came with wife Madeleine-Modeste Hébert of Pigiguit, age 44, and four children:  Jean-Michel, age 21; Pierre, age 18; Marie-Louise, age 16; and Jeanne-Félicité, age 14.  Joachim-Hyacinthe Trahan of Pigiguit, age 50, twice a widower, came with six children:  Anne-Isabelle, age 21; Augustin, age 18; Marie-Félicité, age 14; Catherine, age 12; Jean-Marie, age 10; and Marie-Vincente, age 1.  Marguerite Trahan, age 49, widow of Joseph Trahan, came with 12-year-old daughter Augustine-Pélagie.  Pierre Trahan of Pigiguit, age 48, came with wife Marguerite Duon, age 44, six children:  Geneviève, age 23; Élisabeth-, or Isabelle-, Apolline, age 18; Catherine-Marguerite, age 16; Marie-Anne, called Anne, age 12; Marie-Françoise, age 10; and Joseph-Marie, age 8.  Paul Trahan of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 42, came with wife Marie-Josèphe Trahan of L'Assomption, Pigiguit, age 44, and two sons:  Paul-Alexis, age 16; and Pierre-François, age 5.  Eustache Trahan of L'Assomption, Pigiguit, age 40, came with wife Marie LeBlanc of Grand-Pré, age 58, and no children.  Pierre Trahan, age 28, came alone.  Marie Trahan, age 20, also came alone.

Other established families filled the passenger rolls of Le St.-Rémi: 

Michel Aucoin of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 30, came with wife Marie-Rosalie De La Forestrie of Île St.-Jean, age 30, and two daughters:  Marie-Françoise, age 5; and Rose-Adélaïde, age 1.  Grégoire Benoit of l'Assomption, Pigiguit, age 40, came with wife Marie-Rose Carret, age 31, who was pregnant, and five children:  Jean-Marie, age 12; Marie-Rose, age 10; Donatien, age 8; Françoise-Félicité, age 3; and Rémond-Grégoire, age 2; also with them were Marie-Rose's sister Thérèse Carret, age 29, who, along with her older sister, were the first of their family in the colony.  Jean-Grégoire Blanchard, age 37, came with wife Marie-Madeleine Livois of Île St.-Jean, age 31, the first of her family in the colony, and three children:  Marie-Madeleine, age 9; Jean-Baptiste, age 8; and infant Pierre Charles.  Félix Boudrot of l'Assomption, Pigiguit, age 56, came with second wife Madeleine Hébert, age 56, and no children.  Jean-Charles Boudrot of l'Assomption, Pigiguit, age 51, came with second wife Marguerite-Victoire Guédry of Île Royale, age 34, and five children:  Joseph-Marie, age 21; Henriette-Charlotte, age 13; Marguerite-Renée, age 4; Pierre-David, age 2; and infant Félix-Marie.  Jean-Baptiste Boudrot of Minas, age 25, came with wife Marguerite Bedel, a Frenchwoman, age 23, and two children: Jean-Baptiste, fils, age 2; and infant Jean-Charles.  Marie Boudrot, age 24, wife of Frenchman Jean-François Havard, came with infant son Jean-Marie and her younger brother Joseph; husband Jean-François came to Louisiana on L'Amitié, the next transport out of Nantes.  Pierre Bourg, age 56, came with wife Anne-Marie Naquin of Cobeguit, age 48, and three children:  Jeanne-Madeleine-Françoise, age 20; Pierre-Olivier, age 18; and Georgine Victoire, age 11.  Théodore Bourg, age 39, who had spent most of his time in France in the St.-Malo area, came with wife Anne Granger, age 54, and three children:  Anne-Théodose, age 19; Madeleine-Julienne, age 17; and Théodore-Prosper-Étienne, age 14.  Honoré Comeau of La Famille, Pigiguit, age 71, came with second wife Anastasie Célestin dit Bellemère of Grand-Pré, age 45, and two of her sons by her first marriage:  Joseph-Marie Boudrot, age 17; and Charles Boudrot, age 14.  Mathurin Comeau, age 25, came alone.  Jean-Baptiste Daigre of Grand-Pré, age 52, came with wife Marie-Flavie Boudrot, age 46, and two children:  Anne-Marie, age 15; and Joseph-Marc, age 11.  Jean-Baptiste-Alexandre Daigre, age 20, came alone.  Étienne Darois of Grand-Pré, age 47, came with wife Madeleine Trahan, age 45, and four daughters:  Élisabeth, or Isabelle, age 24; Marie-Madeleine, age 18; Susanne, age 17; and Marie-Elisabeth, or -Isabelle, age 8.  Joseph Gautrot of Cobeguit, age 63, came with second wife Anne Pitre, age 45, and six children:  Rose-Sébastienne, age 22; Joseph-Marin, age 15; Pierre-Olivier, age 13; Charles, age 10; and François and Jean-Guillaume, age 8, perhaps twins.  Marguerite Hébert, age 59, widow of Alexandre Gautrot, came with two children:  Jean-Alain, age 21; and Victoire-Andrée, age 16; also with them was grandson Charles Gautrot, age 18.  Marguerite's older son Pierre-Grégoire Gautrot, age 25, came with wife Marie-Madeleine Michel, age 21, and daughter Martina or Martine, born aboard ship.  Charles Gautrot, age 44, came with wife Anne-Pélagie Trahan, age 39, and six children:  Jean-Charles-Joseph, age 19; Marie-Madeleine-Pélagie, age 18; Jean-Marie, age 7; Pierre-Isidore, age 4; Anastasie-Marguerite-Marie, age 2; and infant Jean-Baptiste-Simon.  Jérôme Guérin of Île St.-Jean, age 35, came with wife Marie Pitre, age 38, and infant son Jean-Pierre.  Charles-Olivier Guillot of Pigiguit, age 38, came with wife Madeleine-Josèphe Boudrot of Pigiguit, age 40, and three children:  Jean-Michel, age 14; Simon-François, age 12; and Élisabeth-, or Isabelle-, Madeleine, age 10.   Jean-Philippe Henry, age 22, came with wife Marie-Josèphe Thibodeau of L'Assomption, Pigiguit, age 32, and two of her sons from her first marriage to Frenchman Nicolas Metra:  Nicolas, fils, age 3; and infant Joseph.  Pierre Labauve of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 38, came with second wife Anne or Jeanne Bonfils, a Frenchwoman, age 32, and 13-year-old Jean Dugas, her son by her first husband.  Simon Landry of Minas, age 50, came with wife Marguerite Gautrot, age 59, and no children.  Aimable-Étienne Landry, age 19, came with three siblings:  Jeanne-Marguerite, age 20; Bonne-Marie-Louise, age 17; and Abraham-Isaac, age 13.  Jean Lejeune, age 29, came with wife Félicité Boudrot of l'Assomption, Pigiguit, age 31, and no children.  Tranquille Leprince of l'Assomption Pigiguit, age 63, came with wife Susanne-Marie-Josèphe Bourg, age 57, and two daughters:  Marie-Marguerite, age 32, wife of Frenchman Thomas-Hourardon Calegan, who would come on a later vessel; and Isabelle, age 30; also with them was granddaughter Susanne-Marie-Josèphe Calegan.  Michel Levron, age 55, came with wife Marguerite Trahan, age 50, and two children:  Marie-Josèphe-Françoise, age 22; and Jean-Marie, age 17.  Michel's older son Alexis, age 24, came with wife Anne Trahan, age 24, and no children.  Pierre Michel of Annapolis Royal, age 48, a widower, came with three children:  Joseph-François, age 25; Gertrude-Olive, age 15; and Marie-Louise, age 5.  Anne Daigre of Grand-Pré, age 43, widow of Joseph-François Michel, came with two daughter:  Marie-Madeleine, age 20; and Anne-Josèphe, age 15.  Pierre-Olivier Pitre, age 48, came with wife Rosalie Hébert, age 40, and four children:  Marie-Rose, age 18; Madeleine-Rose, age 5; Anne-Henriette, age 3; and Pierre-André, age 1.  Anselme Pitre of Cobeguit, age 45, a widower, came with four children:  Jean-Pierre, age 21; Marie-Françoise, age 18; Marguerite-Ludivine, age 14; and  Isabelle-Olive, age 12.  The unmarried Richard sisters came together:  Marie, age 44; Marguerite, age 42; and Élisabeth, or Isabelle, age 33.  Their brother Charles of Minas, age 31, came with wife Marie-Josèphe Trahan, age 19, and no children.  Joseph Richard, age 36, a widower, came with 10-year-old daughter Marie-Élisabeth.  Joseph Robichaud, age 36, a widower, came with four children:  Jean-Baptiste, age 21; François-Xavier, age 16; Anne-Marie, age 14; and Renée, age 9.  Anne Hébert, age 45, widow of Pierre Robichaud, came with four children:  Marie-Josèphe, age 17; Anne-Théotiste, age 15; Joseph-Gervais, age 13; and Jean-Pierre, age 2.  Pierre Thériot of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 42, a widower, came with 15-year-old son Pierre-Marie.  Blaise Thibodeau of Annapolis Royal, age  56, came with wife Catherine Daigre, age 56, and three children:  François-Jean, age 18; Joseph-Marie, age 15; and Élisabeth-, or Isabelle-, Jeanne, age 10; also with them was nephew Joseph-Nicolas Hébert of Grand-Pré, age 31, still a bachelor.  Blaise's older son Firmin-Charles, age 25, came with wife Marie-Madeleine Thériot, age 20, and two children:  Firmin-Blaise, age 2; and newborn Martin.  Jean Thibodeau of L'Assomption, Pigiguit, age 42, came with second wife Marie Dugas, age 18, and two children by Jean's first marriage to Frenchwoman François Huert of Pleudihen-sur-Rance, near St.-Malo:  Jacques-Joseph-Nicolas, age 18; and Marie-Jacquemine, age 14; also with them was kinswoman Élisabeth Thibodeau of Minas, age 45, widow of Frenchman Jacques Bourbon of Caen.  Ursule Hébert, age 45, widow of Jean Vincent, came with four daughters:  Anne-Blanche, age 23; Marie-Blanche, age 17; Jeanne-Marguerite, age 12; and Flore-Adélaïde, age 11.

Acadian surnames new to Louisiana also arrived on Le St.-Rémi:

Honoré Carret of Ste.-Famille, Pigiguit, age 56, came with wife Françoise Benoit, age 40, and 24-year-old son Pierre-Marin; also with them was Françoise's mother Marie-Madeleine Thériot, age 72, widow of Charles Benoit, and cousin Victoire-Marie Benoit, age 14.  Honoré's brother Ignace of Ste.-Famille, Pigiguit, age 41, came with wife Marie-Madeleine Clémenceau of Grand-Pré, age 34, and three children:  Eustache-Ignace, age 15; Jean, age 14; and Marie-Josèphe, age 7.  Hilaire Clément of St.-Esprit, Île Royale, age 39, a widower, came with two children:  Marie, age 10; and Jean-Hilaire, age 8.  Jean-Baptiste Darembourg of Île St.-Jean, age 61, came with wife Madeleine Henry of Grand-Pré, age 45, and 18-year-old daughter Marie-Jeanne.  Jean-Baptiste's daughter Marie-Madeleine, age 23, wife of Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Lirette of Nantes, who sailed on a later ship, came with two daughters:  Marie-Jeanne, age 2; and infant Rose-Adélaïde.  Marie Hébert, age 43, widow of Joseph Moïse, came with two children:  Joseph-Pierre, age 12; and Marie-Joséphine, age 6.  Ambroise Naquin of Cobeguit, age 60, came with wife Élisabeth Bourg, age 58, and twin sons:  Joseph-Jacques and Pierre-Paul, age 19.  Charles Naquin of Cobeguit, age 48, a widower, came with six children:  Anne-Marie, age 18; daughter Ives, age 16; Jean-Charles, age 14; Marguerite-Ludivine, age 10; Renée, age 8; and Paul, age 5. 

Non-Acadian family heads who crossed on Le St.-Rémi were married to Acadian women:

Lambert Billardin probably of Morlaix, France, age 40, came with wife Marguerite Daigre, age 37, and three children:  Étienne, age 10; Marie-Jeanne, age 6; and Marguerite, age 3.  Antoine Boutary of Quercy, France, age 50, came with wife Marie-Marguerite Saulnier, age 40, and three sons:  Auguste, age 9; Antoine, fils, age 7; and infant Guillaume.  Jean Garnier, originally Christian Spiger, of Sai, Switzerland, age 34, came with second wife Osite-Perpétué Thériot, age 25, and two daughters:  Jeanne-Marie, age 1; and infant Marie-Françoise.  Guillaume Hamon, perhaps a Frenchman, not an Acadian, age 24, came with wife Marguerite Saulnier of Rivière-aux-Carards, age 27, and no children.  Pierre-François Lecoq of St.-Malo, age 40, came with wife Élisabeth, or Isabelle, Vincent, age 28, and four children:  Marie, age 11; Guillaume, age 9; Victoire, age 1; and infant François. 

When Spanish authorities compiled a debarkation list for Le St.-Rémi, they discovered 16 stowaways, many of them young Frenchmen "engaged" to Acadian girls.452

By early October, most of the sick passengers had regained their health.  "The camp bustled again with activity:  elections of surveyors, discussions on future settlements, the admission of nineteen new adherents, and the celebration of eight births and five marriages," Winzerling tells us.   By then, Intendente Navarro had served as godfather to many of the Acadian children born at Algiers and New Orleans.  "His kindness made the exiles very happy," Winzerling relates.  "But when he consented to be godfather for all Acadian babies whether born aboard ship or in camp at New Orleans, or during the trip up the Mississippi River, he won the heart of every one of the exiles.  From that time on the Acadians loved him as a member of 'their nation.'"453 

As soon as most of them had recovered from their illness, Navarro called a meeting of the St.-Rémi family heads and offered them a proposition.  He had heard that Acadians were good carpenters, so he offered to pay them a subsidy of $100 for constructing their own houses.  "Because they were an honest people, he told them, he was confident that they would build their homes with thrift, avoid waste of time, and use only the best materials.  To show his appreciation of their co-operation, he would grant them permission to apply any savings in time and material to purchase cattle for their farms."  The St.-Rémi Acadians heartily endorsed the plan.454 

In early October, the surveyors for the St.-Rémi expedition returned to their camp and recommended settlement on Bayou Lafourche, where most of their La Bergère compatriots had gone.  Two St.-Rémi families--those of Jean-Baptiste and Pierre Trahan--chose to join relatives at Attakapas, one of whom was Jean-Baptiste's oldest son Jean-Baptiste, fils, who had come to Louisiana in the early 1780s probably as a sailor.  Two individuals elected to settle at Nueva Gálvez, also called San Bernardo, an Isleños community below New Orleans on Bayou Terre-aux-Boeufs, and at Baton Rouge.  But the great majority of them--85 families with 303 members--agreed to go to Bayou Lafourche.  The intendente tasked Anselme Blanchard with settling these hundreds of his fellow Acadians along the upper stretches of the bayou.  Blanchard had to wait, however, for more of the St.-Rémi Acadians to be well enough to travel.  On December 16, after the heads of families received their tools and implements, Blanchard assembled on the levee at Algiers the expedition members well enough to travel and loaded them aboard the San José, recently returned from the prairies.  They also boarded launches hired from André Chiloque and Arnaud Magnon, and a boat leased from Josef de la Puente, for the journey upriver and then down the Lafourche.455

.

The fifth expedition, that of the 400-ton frigate L'Amitié, sometimes called by its Spanish name La Amistad, was the third to depart Paimboeuf.  The four previous expeditions had left Paimboeuf and St.-Malo in May and June.  L'Amitié, whose embarkation d'Asprès had entrusted to his vice-consul, Luìs Landaluze, had been scheduled to depart Paimboeuf in late June, but the big frigate did not set sail until eight days after La Ville d'Archangel, an even larger frigate, left St.-Malo on August 12.  The delay in L'Amitié's departure resulted from dozens of Acadians in the St.-Malo area failing to depart on La Ville d'Archangel.  Only six expeditions had been planned in the beginning, but d'Asprès and the Count de Aranda had already realized that there would be dozens, perhaps hundreds, of "leftovers," requiring more ships.  Landaluze held up the sailing of L'Amitié so that these "leftovers" would not become too numerous, but he resisted d'Asprès's efforts to pack the ship with as many passengers as had sailed on the overcrowded St.-Rémi.  When L'Amitié left Paimboeuf on August 20, it carried "only" 270 passengers--260 adults and 10 children--slightly less than had crossed aboard La Bergère, a smaller ship.  Among the passengers aboard L'Amitié were more relatives of Peyroux de la Coudrenière, who had crossed on Le Beaumont with the third expedition and awaited his kinsmen at Ste.-Geneviève in the Illinois country.456  

L'Amitié, under Captain Joseph Beltremieux, reached New Orleans on November 8.  Despite Landaluze's efforts to limit the number of passengers aboard L'Amitié, there was "much sickness during the voyage...."  Six were buried at sea, and 27 arrived in the colony "very sick.  But once they landed they recovered rapidly," Winzerling tells us, so the expedition was largely a successful one.  Amazingly, no passenger in the L'Amitié expedition died in the camp at Algiers.  Moreover, there were 17 marriages, 10 births, and 24 "adherents."457 

The large number of marriages was the result of Intendente Navarro's efforts to marry off the many Acadian women of marriageable age who had come to the colony without husbands.  As on Le St.-Rémi, a number of stowaways, most of them love-struck young Frenchmen "engaged" to Acadian girls, crossed on L'Amitié; 12 of them this time.  Navarro also had been informed that a number of sailors aboard the ships had fallen in love with Acadian girls but feared that marrying them at New Orleans would end their wives' subsidies from the Spanish crown.  Navarro had no instructions from his superiors about encouraging marriage among the new settlers, but he understood the importance of stable families in promoting the interests of the colony.  "To encourage all bachelor immigrants to enter marriage with Acadian girls," Winzerling relates, Navarro "published two guarantees:  first, to the stowaways and sailors, the right to settle in Louisiana; and second, to any local bachelor, the right of family head with a continuation of the usual subsidy from the government."  The result was a spectacular increase in Acadian marriages.  "From November 20 to December 19, 1785, there was much festivity among the Acadians," Winzerling continues.  "Back in Acadia a marriage was an event of communal celebration.  And the Acadians clung tenaciously to their 'national' traditions.  The occasion of a marriage called for dancing, games, and a rehearsal of their national history, accompanied with the usual drink of beer, cider, or 'café noir.' And this was a special occasion."  This further endeared the Spanish intendente to the wayward exiles.458 

The passenger rolls of L'Amitié included names well-established in the colony, as well as some that had arrived only recently from France.  The Boudrots and the Hachés were especially numerous:

Zacharie Boudrot of Pigiguit, age 64, came with second wife Marguerite Vallois, age 47, a Frenchwoman, and two children:  son Benjamin-Hillaire, age 15; and stepson Jacques-Olivier Dubois, age 19.  Zacharie's older son Charles, age 21, came with wife Marie-Anne Gautrot, age 19, and infant son Charles-Marie.  Brigitte Apart of Grand-Pré, age 60, widow of Antoine Boudrot, came with five children:  Charles-Michel, age 24; Marie-Madeleine, age 22; Joseph, age 19; Étienne, age 18; and Marguerite-Josèphe, age 16.  Marin Boudrot of Minas age 53, came with wife Pélagie Barrieau of Pigiguit, age 39, and two children:  Étienne, age 13; and Marie-Anne, age 1.  Étienne Boudrot of Minas, age 42, came with wife Marguerite Thibodeau, age 40, and seven children:  Joseph-Marie, age 19; Cécile-Marguerite, age 17; Blaise-Julien, age 16; Anne-Henriette, age 14; Jean-Étienne, age 5; Marguerite-Susanne, age 3; and infant Yves-Cyprien.  Joseph Boudrot of Minas, age 40, came with wife Marguerite Richard dit Sapin of Minas, age 42, who was pregnant, and four children:  Marie-Marthe, age 20; Jean-Charles, age 18; Jean-Joseph, age 9; and Sophie, age 3; also with them was sa minuere Marie Hébert, age 12; the following February Marguerite gave birth to son Simon.  Anne Olivier of Annapolis Royal, age 64, widow of Jean-Baptiste Haché, came with niece Madeleine-Apolline Haché, age 10.  Françoise Doucet, age 46, wife of Louis Haché of Louisbourg, who sailed to the colony later, came with son Pierre-Charles, age 10, and three young kinsmen, all siblings or half-siblings:  niece Marie-Anne Haché, age 19; nephew Pierre-Alexis, age 16; and nephew Joseph-François, age 10.  Jean-Baptiste-Charles Haché, age 22, came with wife Marie-Modeste Pinet, age 20 infant daughter Martina or Martine, and two of his siblings:  Bonne-Marie-Madeleine, age 18; and Frédéric, age 15. 

Other established families could be found on the ship's passenger rolls: 

Joseph Aucoin, age 60, came with second wife Madeleine Gautrot, age 63, and no children; he was her second husband.  Élisabeth, or Isabelle, Duon of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 42, widow of Alexandre Aucoin, came with seven daughters:  Anne-Marie, age 24; Geneviève, age 20; Marie-Madeleine, age 17; Marie-Félicité, age 15; Élisabeth-, or Isabelle-, Josèphe, age 13; Anne-Augustine, age 11; and Marie-Renée, age 6.  Mathurin-Jean Aucoin, age 30, came alone.  Magloire-Simon or Simon-Magloire Babin, age 23, perhaps a stowaway, came alone.  Joseph Aucoin, age 33, a sailor, came alone.  Anne-Marie Haché of Île St.-Jean, age 39, wife of sailor Jean-Charles Benoit, who crossed on a later vessel, came with four children:  Jean-Marie, age 14; Paul-Frédéric, age 9; François-René, age 7; and Sophie-Renée, age 2.  Marguerite Benoit of Île St.-Jean, age 32, widow of Joseph Précieux, came alone, though one suspects she soon made the acquaintance of a younger fellow, a stowaway, who was going to Louisiana to be with his widowed mother.  Eustache Bertrand, age 49, came with wife Marguerite Landry, age 37, and four children:  Madeleine-Marguerite, age 19; Marie-Geneviève, age 11; Marie-Josèphe, age 7; and Louis-Martin, age 1.  Marguerite Blanchard, age 46, widow of Jean Bertrand, came with 20-year-old son Jean-Nicolas.  François Blanchard of Cobeguit, age 54, came with wife Hélène-Judith Giroir of Pigiguit, age 43, and four children:  Françoise-Hélène, age 20; Eudoxe-Marie-Gillette, age 15; Joseph-François, age 10; and Marguerite-Anne, age 5.  François's brother Bénoni, age 45, came with second wife Madeleine Forest, age 43, and six children:  Marie-Madeleine, age 18; Joachim-Jacques, age 16; Bénoni-Jacques, age 13; Anne-Marguerite, age 11; Céleste, age 8; and Moïse, age 3.  Madeleine Blanchard, age 47, widow of Charles Bourg, came with two sons:  Jean-Charles, age 11; and Joseph-Florent, age 7.  Athanase Bourg, age 45, came with wife Luce Breau and two sons:  Joseph-Marin, age 13; and Charles, age 10.  Jean Bourg, age 28, came with wife Catherine Viaud, age 33, a Frenchwoman, and infant daughter Catherine.  Lucien Bourg, age 21, came with wife Marie-Isabelle Trahan, age 25, who was pregnant; Marie-Isabelle gave birth to son Jean-Firmin the following April, probably at Attakapas.  Alexis Breau of Cobeguit, age 61, came with wife Marie-Josèphe Guillot, age 62, and 20-year-old daughter Marguerite-Blanche; with them were two kinsmen:  Jean-Charles Gautrot, age 22; and Fabien-Amateur Guillot, age 21.  Joseph-Gabriel Breau of Île St.-Jean, age 32, came with wife Marie-Marguerite Templé of Port-Toulouse, Île Royale, age 32, and two children:  Joseph, age 7; and infant Eulalie.  Jean Broussard, age 40, came with wife Marguerite Comeau, age 32, and 11-year-old son Jean-Baptiste dit Petit.  Jean-Baptiste Chiasson of Chignecto, age 56, came with third wife Anne-Perrine Joanne, age 40, a Frenchwoman, and two sons:  Joseph-François, age 19; and Pierre-Louis, age 15.  Benoît Comeau of Chepoudy, age 48, came with wife Anne Blanchard of Petitcoudiac, age 45, and six children:  Jean, age 19; Marie-Anne-Victoire, age 16; Anne-Eléonore, age 14; Marguerite-Anastasie, age 12; Rose-Julie, age 5; and newborn Claire-Adélaïde; with them also was Anne's unmarried sister Madeleine Blanchard of Petitcoudiac, age 40.  Jean-Baptiste Daigre, age 25, came with wife Marie LeBlanc, age 27, and two daughters:  Marie-Judith, age 1; and infant Marguerite-Louise.  Marie-Anne Précieux of Port-La-Joye, Île St.-Jean, age 52, widow of Augustin Doucet dit Justice, came with two sons:  Jean-Baptiste, age 19; and François, age 14.  Charles Doucet, age 40, still a bachelor, came alone.  Claude-Bernard Dugas of Boulogne-sur-Mer, age 26, came alone, though one suspects that his widowed mother's crossing on Le Beaumont had motivated his stowing away on this vessel.  Honoré Duon of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 47, came with wife Anne-Geneviève Trahan of Pigiguit, age 44, and three sons:  Augustin-Marin, age 20; Honoré-Jacques-Marie-Louis, age 17; and Jean-Charles, age 13.  Marie-Marguerite-Pélagie Gautrot, age 21, came with sister Madeleine-Rosalie, age 20.  Marie-Josèphe Thériot of Cobeguit, age 65, widow of Honoré Giroir or Girouard of Pigiguit, came with two unmarried daughters:  Eudoxile, age 38; and Marie-Rose, age 23.  Charles Giroir of Minas, age 56, came with wife Michelle Patru, age 58, a Frenchwoman, and no children.  Ignace Hamon of Île St.-Jean, age 39, came with wife Anne-Josèphe Bourg, age 41, who was pregnant, and two daughters:  Anne-Madeleine, age 12; and Marie-Modeste, age 10; daughter Martine was born probably in New Orleans soon after their arrival.  Ambroise Hébert probably of Cobeguit, age 39, came with his brother Jean-Pierre, age 38, also unmarried.  Étienne Hébert of Chignecto, age 38, came with third wife Anne-Madeleine Breau, age 36, and five children:  Marie-Cécile-Rose, age 18;  Jean-Louis-Étienne, age 16; Guillaume-Bénoni, age 12; Louis-Gabriel, age 10; and infant Marie-Madeleine.  François Landry of Annapolis Royal, age 69, three times a widower, came with two sibling grandchildren:  Bonne-Marie-Adélaïde Landry, age 16; and Jean-Jacques-Frédéric, age 15; also with them was François's nephew Jean-Charles Landry, age 18.  Pierre LeBlanc of Minas, age 49, came with wife Marie-Blanche Landry of Minas, age 52, and 16-year-old daughter Marguerite-Anne.  Jean-Baptiste LeBlanc of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 44, came with wife Élisabeth, or Isabelle, Aucoin of Minas, age 50, and niece Marie-Marguerite Semer, age 19.  Michel Léger, fils of Louisbourg, age 23, came alone.  Anastasie Levron of Grand-Pré, age 49, widow of Amand Lejeune of Minas, came with six children:  Joseph, age 22; Marie-Rose, age 18; Marie-Marguerite, age 16; Alexis-Simon, age 12; Anne-Adélaïde, age 6; and Rosalie, age 2.  Marie-Josèphe Doucet probably of Annapolis Royal, age 60, widow of Pierre Moulaison, came with son Joseph, age 30.  Marguerite Boudrot, age 46, widow of Benjamin Pitre of Cobeguit, came with six children:  Marie-Madeleine, age 24; Madeleine-Modeste, age 22; Cécile-Olive, age 17; Marguerite-Charlotte, age 15; Étienne, age 7; and Jean, age 4.  Ursule Breau of Cobeguit, age 45, widow of François Pitre of Cobeguit, came with 22-year-old daughter Ursule-Françoise.  Marie Moïse of Île Royale, age 44, widow of Olivier Pitre of Louisbourg, came with three children:  Victoire, age 19; Françoise-Olive, age 14; and Louis-Constant, age 10.  Joseph Semer of Minas, age 60, a widower, came with two daughters:  Marine, age 25; and Anne-Françoise, age 21.  Marie-Françoise Semer, age 24, pregnant wife of Joseph Boudrot, came with brother Grégoire-Dominique Semer, age 16; Marie-Françoise gave birth to son Antoine probably at Attakapas.  Élisabeth, or Isabelle, Boudrot probably of Grand-Pré, age 60, widow of Olivier Thibodeau, came with daughter Élisabeth-, or Isabelle-, Marie, age 17.  Jean-Baptiste-Pierre dit Alequin Thibodeau, age 20, came with wife Marie-Rose D'Amour dit de Louvière of Rivière St.-Jean, age 24, and newborn son Jean-Martin.  Chrysostôme Trahan of Pigiguit, age 43, came with wife Anne-Françoise Granger of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 41, and seven children:  Anne-Julie, age 20; Marie-Madeleine, age 18; Marie-Marthe, age 14; Jean-Chrysostôme, age 10; Joseph, age 7; Marguerite, age 5; and infant Renée-Sophie.  Jean-Paul Trahan, age 16, came alone.  Ursule Hébert, age 45, widow of Jean Vincent of Minas, came with four daughters:  Anne-Blanche, age 23; Marie-Blanche, age 17; Jeanne-Marguerite, age 12; and Flore-Adélaïde, age 11. 

Acadian families new to the colony also could be found aboard L'Amitié:

Pélagie Benoit of l'Assomption, Pigiguit, age 44, widow of Yves Crochet of Megrit, France, and Louisbourg, came with five children:  Jean-Guillaume, age 25; Françoise-Pélagie, age 21; Marguerite-Perrine, age 19; Yves-Jean, age 19; and Julien, age 15.  Louis Dantin, fils, of Port-Toulouse, Île Royale, age 40, came with second wife Hélène Aucoin, age 37, and four daughters:  Jeanne, age 16; Marie-Anne, age 11; Anne, age 9; Judith-, or Julie-, Geneviève, age 7; also with them were two daughters from Hélène's first marriage:  Françoise-Josèphe Doiron, age 17; and Marie-Victoire Doiron, age 12.  Jean-François De La Mazière of Île St.-Jean, age 37, came with wife Véronique Renaud of Île St.-Jean, age 37, and four children:  Jean-Baptiste, age 8; Louise-Céleste, age 6; Rose-Jeanne, age 4; and newborn Martina or Martine.  Jean-Aubin Fouquet of Île St.-Jean, age 52, came with third wife Marguerite Quimine of Chignecto, age 50, and two daughters:  Marie-Charlotte, age 15; and Jeanne-Madeleine, age 11.  Jean Gousman of Andalusia, Spain, and Annapolis Royal, age 56, came with second wife Rose Bonnevie of Annapolis Royal, age 44, and two children:  Rosalie-Charlotte, age 21, born at Halifax; and Jean-Thomas, age 2.  Vincent Neveu, age 20, came alone, but he evidently was engaged to Cécile Hébert, whom he married soon after reaching New Orleans; he may have been French and not Acadian.  Charles Pinet dit Pinel of Minas, age 54, came with wife Marie-Anne Durel of Île St.-Jean, age 50, and two children:  Louis, age 22; and Marie-Madeleine, age 14.  Marie-Henriette Potier of Île St.-Jean, age 46, widow of Jean-Baptiste Rassicot dit Ratier of that island and Pierre Gaudet of Chignecto, came with three Rassicot children:  Jean-François, age 20; Anne-Marguerite, age 17; and Marie-Henriette, age 15. 

And there were families among L'Amitié passengers headed by non-Acadians with current or former Acadian spouses:

Marie-Josèphe Richard of Grand-Pré, age 30, widow of Frenchman François Basset, came with 5-year-old daughter Marie and sister Marie-Geneviève Richard, age 32.  Joseph Bénard of Russia, age 46, came with wife Jeanne Richard, age 40; and three children:  Marie, age 19; Martin, age 7; and Anne, age 2.  Jean-François Havard of Nantes, age unrecorded, husband of Marie Boudrot, who came on an earlier ship, Le St.-Rémi, with their infant son Jean-Marie, came alone.  Colette Renaud of Île St.-Jean, age 45, widow of René LeTullier, came with three children:  Jean-Charles, age 19; Adélaïde, age 16; and Isidore, age 14.  Jean Metra of Bernin, Lorraine, age 46, came with wife Marguerite Bourg, age 52, and 18-year-old daughter Anne-Marguerite.459 

The Amitié Acadians' quick recovery from the trauma of their transatlantic voyage allowed them to remain only briefly in the camp at Algiers.  Some of them--nine families with 35 individuals, including those of  Marie-Josèphe Richard, widow of Frenchman François Basset; Joseph Bénard, a Russian married to a Richard; Anne-Marie Haché, wife of Jean-Charles Benoit; Charles Doucet; Honoré Duon; Jean-Aubin Fouquet; Charles Giroir; Jean Gousman; Anne Olivier, widow of Jean-Baptiste Haché; and Jean-Baptiste LeBlanc--chose to settle at Nueva Gálvez below New Orleans.  Two bachelors--Simon Magloire Babin and Jean-Paul Trahan--went to Baton Rouge.  A Spanish report shows that two unidentified newlyweds went to Bayou des Écores above Baton Rouge.  Five families--those of Joseph Aucoin; Élisabeth Duon, widow of Alexandre Aucoin; Lucien Bourg; Jean Broussard; and relatives of Jean-Baptiste Semer the letter writer, who had come to the colony with the Broussards in February 1765--went to Attakapas.  And an Acadian stowaway--Michel Léger, fils--joined his widowed mother and siblings at Opelousas.  The great majority of the Amitié passengers, however--71 families with 224 members--chose upper Bayou Lafourche as their new home.  Juan Prieto, manager of the King's warehouses, issued tools and implements to most of the heads of families on December 15, so the 224 Acadians from L'Amitié going to Lafourche may have accompanied the 303 Acadians from Le St.-Rémi who left Algiers for the bayou on December 16--527 Acadians in all!  After they reached their home sites on the bayou, the population of the Valenzuela District more than doubled.  L'Amitié passengers going to Nueva Gálvez, also called San Bernardo, below New Orleans, and newlyweds who Navarro allowed to remain longer in camp, did not leave for their settlements until the middle of January.460

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The next expedition was the fifth ship to leave France, the second to depart from St.-Malo, and the sixth to reach Louisiana.  La Ville d'Archangel, at 600 tons, also was the largest of the Seven Ships.  The big frigate, under Captain LeGoaster, left St.-Malo on August 12, eight days before L'Amitié left Paimboeuf.  Aboard La Ville d'Archangel were 309 passengers, second in number only to what the overcrowded St.-Rémi had carried in June.  The expedition had been ready to leave St.-Malo in early July, but contrary winds delayed its departure for a month.  At first, Luìs Landaluze was tasked with organizing the expedition, but Consul d'Asprès took over before the ship set sail.  The large number of Acadian petitioners who had recently come forth, totaling 378 potential passengers, compelled the consul to employ a larger ship for the second expedition out of St.-Malo, but prudence dictated that not all of the petitioners should be taken at once.  Thus, a seventh expedition was required to accommodate the "leftovers" from St.-Malo.  In spite of the crowded conditions aboard La Ville d'Archangel, d'Asprès was compelled to squeeze aboard another passenger, "a distinguished French colonist," Duhamel Deschenais.461 

A larger ship with so many passengers required a longer passage across the Atlantic, so La Ville d'Archangel did not reach Louisiana until November 4, after 85 days at sea.  The long crossing caused the ships' provisions to run out days before the voyage ended, so La Ville d'Archangel reached the colony with 38 "very sick passengers" aboard.  It also ran aground in the muddy channel at the mouth of the river.  Apprised of the ship's arrival and the condition of the passengers, Intentende Navarro "promptly rushed water, provisions, medical supplies, and extra help so that by November 11" the ship was able to enter the main channel of the Mississippi.  At that time, Acadians from Le St.-Rémi and L'Amitié still occupied the camp at Algiers, so the intendente ordered the big frigate, with its passengers still aboard, to make the 110-mile journey up to the city, which it reached on December 3--the sixth expedition to disembark at New Orleans.  Having closely observed the behavior of the Acadians in the previous expeditions, as well as those who been living in the colony for the past two decades, Navarro was fully aware of their spirit of independence and their amazing stubbornness.  He boarded La Ville d'Archangel as soon as it docked and spoke to the new arrivals.  He was glad to see that, except for the 38 sick passengers, the others were in tolerable health.  He reviewed for them the pact they had made with the Spanish king over the cost of their transportation to the colony and their settlement there.  He explained to them the protocols they were expected to follow once they disembarked, and he asked for their cooperation.  The expedition's leaders thanked the intendente "graciously for his welcome and instructions," Winzerling relates.  "They told him that the expedition was unanimous in its belief that 'at long last' it had found 'its day of peace and prosperity.'  They promised him as chiefs of the expedition faithfully to fulfill to the best of their ability all matters he had outlined in his speech.  They assured him that everyone was eager to begin the work of colonization as soon as he would permit possession of the land their surveyors had chosen."  Navarro then turned to Pedro Aragon y Villegas, commissioner for the Acadians in New Orleans, and ordered him to escort the healthy passengers to their camp in the city.  The 38 sick passengers he sent not to a city hospital but to the Community House he had built for the Acadians at Algiers.  Sadly, despite the extraordinary care, 15 of the passengers died.  Meanwhile, two of the ship's passengers deserted, but 11 new adherents joined the expedition.462 

Navarro served as godfather for two of the expedition's newborns.  While the surveyors from La Ville d'Archangel looked at empty land along the river between New Orleans and Pointe Coupée, Navarro did what he could to encourage more marriages.  Most of the 53 families in the expedition were large ones, and many of the "children" were of marriageable age.  One happy result was seven marriages contracted among the passengers.462a 

Again, the passengers of La Ville d'Archangel, most of whom had lingered in the St.-Malo area during their decades in France, bore the usual mix of Acadian surnames already established in Louisiana as well as new ones not yet seen there.  Understandably, the number of new ones was lower in this expedition than in previous ones.  The Aucoins, Bourgs, Héberts, and Henrys were especially numerous.  The Aucoins and Bourgs, in fact, constituted two of the largest single family groups to come to the Spanish colony and the largest single family groups to cross on one of the Seven Ships--53 and 49, respectively:462b

Alexis Aucoin perhaps of Cobeguit, perhaps age 68, came alone.  Jean-Baptiste Aucoin of Minas, age 66, came with wife Marguerite Thériot, age 57, and five children:  Marie, age 27; Jean-Baptiste, fils, age 21; Rose-Madeleine, age 19; Rose-Anastasie, age 17; and Pierre-Firmin, age 11.  Joseph Aucoin of Cobeguit, age 64, came with second wife Anne Hébert, age 48, and six children:  Anne-Marie, age 21; François-Malo, age 15; Gabriel-Guillaume, age 13; Marie-Madeleine, age 11; Françoise-Victoire, age 8; and infant Hyacinthe-Laurent.  Claude Aucoin of Minas, age 57, came with wife Marie-Josèphe Saulnier of Petitcoudiac, age 48, and five children:  Perpétué, age 22; Anne-Anastasie, age 17; Mathurin-Casimir, age 13; Marie-Gertrude, age 12; and Pierre, age 9.  Michel Aucoin, age 53, came with wife Élisabeth, or Isabelle, Hébert, age 45, and 10 children:  Jean-Charles, age 23; Marie-Josèphe, age 21; Anne-Théodose, age 19; Grégoire-Alexis, age 18; Michel-Pierre, age 16; Pierre-Paul, age 14; Élisabeth, or Isabelle, age 13; François-Étienne, age 11; Florianne-Marguerite, age 4; and Constant-Jean-Baptiste, age 2.  Simon Aucoin of Minas, age 53, came with wife Marie-Geneviève Thériot of Minas, age 50, and four daughters:  Perpétué, age 26; Marguerite-Geneviève, age 16; Anne-Olivie, age 12; and Rose-Félicité, age 11.  Charles Aucoin of Minas, age 50, came with wife Madeleine Trahan of Minas, age 48, and son Pierre, age 30 and still a bachelor; with them also were Madeleine's sister Françoise, age 38, widow of Pascal Hébert; and kinswoman Marie Daigre, age 20.  Alexandre Aucoin of Grand-Pré, age 45, came with wife Rosalie Thériot, age 45, and three children:  Marie-Élisabeth, age 20; Marie-Jeanne, age 8; and Mathurin, age 5.  Joseph Aucoin of Cobeguit, a widower, age 41, came with four sons:  Alexis-Joseph, age 20; Fabien-Isaac, age 15; Mathurin-Jean, age 12; and Joseph-Marie, age 10; also with them was kinswoman Marie-Osite Breau, age 40.  Jean-Baptiste Aucoin, age 27, came with wife Marie Forest, age 20, and infant daughter Marie-Jeanne.  Charles Aucoin, age unrecorded, probably a stowaway, came alone.  Ambroise Bourg, age 53, came with second wife Marie-Modeste Moulaison of Pobomcoup, age 40, and nine children:  Marie-Victoire, age 20; Aimée-Modeste, age 18; Madeleine-Adélaïde, age 16; Thérèse-Julie, age 14; Élisabeth-, or Isabelle-, Céleste, age 12; Joseph-Faustin, age 8; Pélagie, age 5; Modeste, age 3; and Ambroise, fils, age 1.  Jean Bourg, age 50, came with second wife Anne-Josèphe Daigre, age 40, and eight children:  Marie-Josèphe, age 17; François-Marie, age 16; Marguerite-Pérrine, age 15; Madeleine-Perrine, age 12; Jeanne-Anne, age 7; Jean-Marie, age 6; Joseph-Marie, age 3; and infant Charlotte-Françoise.  Marin Bourg of Cobeguit, age 45, came with wife Marie-Osite Daigre, age 40, and nine children:  Marie-Luce, age 22; Joseph-Pierre, age 20; Marguerite-Josèphe, age 17; Marin-Joseph, age 16; Rose-Madeleine, age 13; Pierre-Jean-Baptiste, age 12; Marie-Françoise-Madeleine-Josèphe, age 10; François-Georges, age 7; and Guillaume-Jean, age 4.  François-Xavier Bourg of Cobeguit, age 44, came with second wife Marguerite-Pélagie Henry of Cobeguit, age 34, and seven children:  Félix-Xavier, age 15; Joseph-Fautin, age 11; Marie-Élisabeth, or -Isabelle, age 8; Maximilien, age 6; Élisabeth-, or Isabelle-, Félicité, age 4; Pierre-Jean-François, age 1; and infant Anne-Victoire; also with them were Charles Bourg of Cobeguit, age 51, and his wife Marguerite LeBlanc of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 40, and no children.  Another Joseph Bourg, age 40, came with wife Marie Dupuis, age 36, and five children:  Marguerite-Marie, age 16; Isabelle-Germaine, age 12; Marie, age 8; Yves-Jean, age 6; and infant Jean-Baptiste-Simon-Louis.  Joseph Hébert of Cobeguit, age 50, came with second wife Marguerite Daigre, age 45, widow of Honoré Richard, and five children:  Marie-Josèphe, age 18; Pierre-Jean, age 17; Thérèse-Anne, age 12, infant Jean-Pierre; and stepdaughter Marguerite-Marie Richard, age 16.  Pierre Hébert of Cobeguit, age 50, came with second wife Susanne Pitre of Cobeguit, age 55, widow of Jean-Baptiste-Olivier Henry, and six children:  Marie-Josèphe, age 24; Pierre-Jean, age 22; Joseph-Yves, age 15; François-Étienne, age 16; Mathurin-Pierre-François, age 13; and Jean-Baptiste-Olivier, age 11; also with them was unmarried stepdaughter Marguerite-Josèphe Henry perhaps of Île St.-Jean, age 35.  Another Joseph Hébert of Cobeguit, age 45, came with wife Marie-Madeleine Aucoin of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 44, and two daughters:  Marie, age 17; and Victoire, age 14.  Luce-Perpétué Bourg, age 43, second wife and widow of Pierre Hébert, came with three daughters:  Victoire-Luce, age 17; Anne-Marie-Julienne, age 11; and Julienne-Perrine, age 5.  François Hébert, age unrecorded, perhaps a stowaway, came alone.  Jean Henry, age 53, came with wife Marie Pitre, age 53, and three children:  Maximilien, age 24; Élisabeth-, or Isabelle-, Modeste, age 21; and Marie-Rose, age 18; also with them was Jean's unmarried sister Marie, age 55.  Pierre Henry, age 51, came with wife Marguerite-Josèphe Bourg, age 48, and 21-year-old son Jean-Vincent.  Charles Henry, age 49, came with wife Françoise Hébert, age 47, and three children:  Françoise-Victoire, age 15; Marguerite-Toussainte, age 13; and Charles, fils, age 9.  Another Charles Henry, this one from Cobeguit, age 49, came with wife Marguerite-Françoise Thériot of Cobeguit, age 50, and three children:  Marie-Josèphe, age 22; Jean-Baptiste Théodore, age 18; and Jeanne-Françoise, age 17; also with them were Marguerite-Françoise's mother Françoise Guerin of Cobeguit, age 75, widow of François Thériot, and Marguerite-Françoise's unmarried sister Marie, age 52.  Barthélémy Henry of Île St.-Jean age 41, came with wife Anne Bourg of Île St.-Jean age 39, and four children:  François-Barthélémy, age 15; Jacques-François, age 12; Barthélémy-Charles, age 9; and Marie-Jeanne, age 3.  Pierre Henry of Île St.-Jean, age 28, came with two half-sisters:  Françoise, age 23; and Angélique, age 21. 

Other established families could be found on La Ville d'Archangel's passenger rolls: 

Jacques Blanchard, age 18, came alone.  Amand Boudrot of l'Assomption, Pigiguit, age 55, who was blind, came with second wife Marie-Perrine Nogues, 35, a Frenchwoman, and five children:  Jean-Baptiste, age 15; François-Joseph, age 14; Marie, age 6; Joseph-Alain, age 4; and infant Hélène.  Victor Boudrot, age 55, came with second wife Geneviève Richard, ate 37, and six unmarried children:  Joseph, age 27; Marguerite-Jeanne, age 23; Cécile, age 15; Geneviève-Sophie, age 11; Noël-Victor, age 9; and infant Anne-Jeanne.  Also with them were Victor's oldest daughter Hélène-Marie-Rose, age 31; her husband François-Pierre Le Lorre, a Frenchman, age 30; and stepdaughter Geneviève-Marguerite Pitre, age 17.  Louis Clossinet of Île St.-Jean, age 54, came with wife Marie-Marguerite Daigre, age 40, widow of Amand Giroir, and stepdaughter Geneviève-Charlotte-Marguerite Giroir, age 16.  Simon Comeau of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 44, came with wife Marguerite-Geneviève Aucoin of Minas, age 45, and eight children:  Marie-Luce, age 21; Élisabeth-, or Isabelle-, Madeleine, age 19; Marie-Madeleine, age 18; Félicité-Augustine, age 16; Jean-Baptiste, age 14; Alexandre-Simon, age 10; Pierre-Paul, age 9; and infant Joseph-Marie.  Marie Thériot, age 42, widow of Simon's brother Joseph, came with five children:  son Élie-Marie, age 19; Joseph-Mathurin, age 17; Simon-Pierre, age 15; Jeanne, age 11; and Marie-Élisabeth, age 6.  Ambroise Dupuis of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 43, came with wife Anne Thériot of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 40, and two children:  Jean-Charles, age 18; and Marguerite-Marie, age 8.  Jacques Forest of Grand-Pré, age 76, came with second wife Angélique Richer, age 43, a Frenchwoman; with them were nephew Étienne Forest, age 35; and kinswoman Marie-Jeanne Billeray, age 27, widow of Frenchman François Le Sommer.  Marie-Jeanne's mother was a Forest, and she was the only member of her father's family to come to Louisiana.  Jacques Forest's son Victor of Pigiguit, age 52, came with fourth wife Marie-Jeanne-Catherine Richer, age 46, a Frenchwoman, who also was a sister of his father's wife, and seven children:  Joseph-Victor, age 24; Anne-Perrine, age 20; Servanne-Julienne, age 17; Marie-Adélaïde, age 15; Jeanne-Élisabeth, or -Isabelle, age 12; Jean-Jacques, age 11; and Étienne-Gilles, age 7.  Another Jacques Forest of Minas, age 55, came with wife Marie-Geneviève Comeau of Minas, age 50, and son Pierre-Nicolas, age 15, with them also was kinswoman Marie Forest, age 21, perhaps the widow of Jean Landry.  Anne Forest, age 30, widow of Simon LeBlanc, came alone.  Joseph-Ignace Gaudet, age 42 and still a bachelor, came alone.  Anne-Thériot, age 36, second wife and widow of Pierre Landry and Joseph Granger, came with six children:  stepson Joseph-Constans Granger, age 20, stepdaughter Ignace Granger, age 15; Jeanne-Marie Granger, age 8; and Pierre-Marie Granger, age 6; and a daughter by her first marriage, Marie-Anne Landry, age 17.  Claude Guédry of Cobeguit, age 71, came with second wife Anne Moïse of Annapolis Royal, age 54, and six children:  Marie-Cécile, age 21; François-Xavier, age 19; Suliac-Charles, age 17; Malo-Bénoni, age 15; Pierre-Claude, age 12; and Olivier, age 8.  René Landry of Minas, age 55, a widower, came with eight children:  Marie-Madeleine, age 23; Servanne-Laurence, age 20; Jean-Baptiste-Raphaël, age 18; Marguerite-Josèphe, age 16; Anne-Marie-Jeanne, age 12; Pierre, age 9; Joseph-Marie, age 7; and Jeanne-Guillemette, age 4; also with them was René's unmarried brother-in-law Paul Babin, age 52.  Joseph Melanson of Grand-Pré, age 64, came with second wife Ursule Hébert of Grand-Pré, age 69, and no children.  Charles Pitre, age 56, came with wife Anne Henry, age 52, and three children:  Joseph-Pierre, age 20; Marguerite-Josèphe, age 15; and Élisabeth-, or Isabelle-, Modeste, age 11.  Jean-Baptiste, called Jean, Pitre, age 52, came with wife Félicité Daigre, age 55, and six children:  Charlotte-Marie, age 20; Pierre, age 19; Jacques-François, age 18; Françoise-Madeleine, age 17; Félicité, age 16; and Marguerite-Marie, age 14.  Marie-Blanche Richard, age 42, widow of Claude Pitre, came with 17-year-old daughter Marie-Charlotte.  Jean-Jacques Thériot of Grand-Pré, age 57, a widower, came with five daughters:  Geneviève-Catherine, age 21; Marie-Josèphe, age 19; Jeanne-Marie, age 14; Rosalie-Pauline, age 12; and Marguerite-Perrine, age 6.  Jean-Baptiste Thériot, age 39, came with wife Anne-Angélique Briand, a Frenchwoman, age 42, and 13-year-old son Jean-Baptiste, fils.  Anne-Josèphe Henry probably of Pigiguit, age 33, widow of Théodore Thériot of Cobeguit, came with 5-year-old daughter Anne-Angélique.  Charles Thibodeau, age 63, came with wife Madeleine Henry, age 58, and five children:  Marguerite-Josèphe, age 22;  twins Jeanne-Tarsile and Pierre-Charles, age 20; Hélène, age 18; and Marie-Victoire, age 15.  Madeleine Aucoin, age 69, widow of Charles Trahan, came with two unmarried daughters:  Marie, age 49; and Marguerite, age 44. 

Three new Acadian family names could be found among this ship's passengers, including the scion of one of Acadia's seigneurial families:

Pierre Arcement of Pigiguit, age 52, came with wife Marie Hébert, age 50, and seven children:  Marie-Josèphe, age 22; Tranquille-François, age 20; Victoire-Hélène, age 18; Perrine-Madeleine, age 14; Guillaume-Romain, age 13; Julie-Céleste, age 12; and Françoise, age 9.  Ambroise Longuépée of Cobeguit, age 52, came with wife Marie Henry, age 40, and 20-year-old son Janvier-Pierre, age 20.  Ambroise's brother Jean of Cobeguit, age 45, came with wife Marie-Françoise Bourg, age 40, and nine children:  Anne-Josèphe, age 19; Marie-Françoise-Jean, age 17; Marguerite-Olive, age 15; Jean-Jacques, age 14; Pierre, age 12; Laurentine-Urienne, age 10; Louis, age 6; Jean-Baptiste, age 4; and infant Hélène.  Jacques Mius d'Entremont IV of Pobomcoup, age 29, descendant of seventeenth-century Acadian shaker and mover Philippe Mius d'Entremont, baron de Pobomcoup, came with wife Marie Hervé, age 30, a Frenchwoman, and two children:  Jacques-Ferdinand, age one; and newborn Marie or Martine.  Also with them were two children from Marie's first marriage to Louis Langlinais of St.-Malo--Jean-Louis, age 11; Marie-Jeanne, age 9; and Angélique, age 7--as well as Jacques's mother, Marguerite Landry, age unrecorded, widow of Jacques Mius d'Entremont III of Pobomcoup. 

One family aboard La Ville d'Archangel was that of a Frenchman whose widow was Acadian:  Victoire Dugas, age 38, widow of Thomas Aillet, came with two sons:  Thomas, fils, age 10; and Louis, age 6.463 

The surveyors from La Ville d'Archangel recommended two places of settlement:  Bayou Lafourche, where nearly 800 of their fellow Acadians had gone; and Bayou des Écores, present-day Thompson Creek, which the Spanish called Rio Feliciana, north of Baton Rouge in the new Spanish sub-district of New Feliciana.  According to François-Xavier Martin, Anglo-Americans, "principally from the banks of the Roanoke river, in North Carolina," had gone to New Feliciana beginning in the mid-1760s, but there was plenty of arable land still to be had along the lower reaches of Rio Feliciana.  By late December, members of the La Ville d'Archangel expedition had recuperated enough to proceed to their new homes.  Most of them--53 families with 271 members--chose Bayou des Écores.  However, six families--those of Pierre Arcement; Amand Boudrot; Jacques Mius d'Entremont IV; Luce-Perpétué Bourg, widow of Pierre Hébert; Anne Forest, widow of Simon LeBlanc; and Blanche Richard, widow of Claude Pitre--elected to join the many Acadians on Bayou Lafourche; and a family of seven--that of Claude Aucoin--chose to remain at New Orleans before moving on to the Opelousas prairies.  Storehouse manager Juan Prieto issued the necessary tools and implements.  On 17 January 1786, Intendente Navarro hired launches, boats, and a barge from François Broutin, André Chiloque, Baptiste Anstive, Jacques Mather, and Louis Demarest, at four dollars a day for the boats and a dollar a day for the barge, and the expedition headed slowly upriver.  The large Bayou des Écores contingent was established at New Feliciana by the third week of February.464 

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The seventh and final expedition of 1785 was that of La Caroline, a 200-ton brig assigned to Captain Nicolas Baudin, who had taken Le St.-Rémi to Louisiana over the summer and had quickly returned to France.  The other six vessels had been frigates, which tended to be larger than brigs, so the final ship was chosen not for its size but for its speed.  Her port of departure also would be different--not St.-Malo or even Paimboeuf, but directly from Nantes.  Aboard were 28 Acadian families of 77 individuals, the so-called "leftovers" who had missed the departure of La Ville d'Archangel at St.-Malo, as well as a few last-minute volunteers.  Also aboard La Caroline were the last of the personal baggage for the Bergère expedition, which had departed Paimboeuf in May.  Consul d'Asprès, aware that the French government had approved of only a six-ship endeavor, tried to outfit this seventh expedition as surreptitiously as possible so as not to alarm French officials.  He was confident he could secure the signatures of at least 300 more Acadians for Louisiana, which would require at least two more transports, but, Winzerling tells us, "the French government foiled his plans."  La Caroline, then, was the final expedition, the final opportunity for the hundreds of Acadians still in France to join their relatives in the Spanish colony at the expense of the Spanish government.464a

La Caroline left Nantes on October 19, two months after La Ville d'Archangel and L'Amitié had sailed, and arrived at La Balize on December 17.  "The expedition enjoyed good health throughout the entire trip, losing only one member," Winzerling relates.  Among the passengers was Spanish priest Father Juan Léon, on his way to serve at New Orleans.  Captain Baudin deposited his passengers and their belongings at La Balize, took on a cargo of wood, and hurried back to France.  The intendente sent the usual contingent of vessels to convey the passengers up to New Orleans, where they spent a month recuperating from the voyage.  The expedition gained more members from three births, five "new adherents," and two marriages, and lost another member through desertion.465  

Most of the names on La Caroline's passenger roll included members of Acadian families long established in the colony:

Jean-Charles Benoit of Pigiguit, age 39, husband of Anne-Marie Haché, who had crossed with their children on an earlier ship, L'Amitié, came alone.  Charles Blanchard, age 51, a widower, came with two sons:  Suliac-François, age 20; and Charles-Pierre-Marc, age 16.  Olivier Boudrot of Grand-Pré, age 74, came with second wife Anne Dugas, age 59, and two children:  Marie, age 18; and Jean-Baptiste, age 17.  Ignace Boudrot, age 36, came with wife Anne Pierson, a Frenchwoman, age 26, came with 2-year-old son Charles.  Jean-Félix-Simon Boudrot, age 22, came with wife Marie-Julienne Brossier, a Frenchwoman, age 20, and no children.  Basile Chiasson of Pointe-Beauséjour, age 36, came with wife Monique Comeau, age 38, and two children:  Anne-Adélaïde, age 11; and Charles-Albert, age 3.  Jean-Baptiste Doiron, age 25, came alone.  Joseph Doucet of Annapolis Royal, age 53, a widower, came with three children:  Marie-Marguerite, age 19; Madeleine, age 17; and son Ange, age 15.  Michel Doucet, age 45, came with wife Marie-Blanche Cousin of Ministigueshe, Cap-Sable, age 37, and three children:  Eléonore-Honorine, age 17; Jean-Baptiste-Michel, age 12; and Marguerite-Bénoni, age 9.  Joseph dit Gros Duon, age 19, came alone.  Louis Gaudet of Chignecto, age 57, came with wife Marie Hébert, age 54, and three children:  Madeleine, age 28; Marguerite, age 20; and François-Louis, age 12.  Charles Gautrot of Rivière-aux-Canards, age 49, came with second wife Marie-Madeleine Melanson of Grand-Pré, age 49, and two children:  François-Marie, age 18; and Rosalie-Charlotte, age 5.  Ambroise Hébert, age 54, came with wife Félicité Lejeune of Grand-Pré, age 45, 16-year-old daughter Gertrude-Anne, and niece Anne-Angélique Gautrot, age 20.  Claude-Marie LeBlanc, age 20, came alone.  Martin-Bénoni Pitre, age 18, came with half-siblings Joseph Hébert, age 12, and Marie-Louise Hébert, age 10.  Basile-Marie Richard, age 18, came alone.  Joseph Thériot, age 27, husband of Marie-Anastasie Aucoin, who came on an earlier ship, La Bergère, crossed with his widowed mother Marie Boudrot, age 50, widow of Jean-Charles Thériot.  

New Acadian families, understandably, were few on the passenger list of this last of the ships from France:

Jean Delaune of Île St.-Jean, age 42, came with wife Marie-Anne Part of Île Royale, age 34, and two children:  Pierre, age 1; and infant Marie-Céleste.  Jean's brother Christophe of Île St.-Jean, age 35, came with wife Marie-Josèphe Boudrot, age 30, and two sons:  Jean-Baptiste, age 11; and Louis-Augustin, age 1.  Also with them was Marie's sister Céleste Boudrot, age 20.  Louis Lamoureux dit Rochefort of Havre-St.-Pierre, Île St.-Jean, age 44, came with wife Marie Hébert, age 36, and two children:  Jean-Louis, age 20; and Marie-Adélaïde, age 10. 

Two family heads among the ship's passengers were Frenchmen married to Acadians:

Nicolas-Gabriel Albert, age 45, came with wife Marie-Marthe Benoit, age 49, and 12-year-old son Nicolas-Gabriel, fils.  Étienne-François Angilbert, a Frenchman, age 32, came with wife Félicité Hébert, age 28, and infant daughter Marie-Adélaïde. 

One of the larger families aboard La Caroline, six orphans from Belle-Île-en-Mer, were not Acadian in name, but Spanish authorities, as well as the Acadians themselves, would have considered them part of the Acadian community.  Pierre-Vincent Monté or Montet, age 22, and his five younger siblings--Marie-Françoise, called Françoise, age 19; Joseph-Adam, age 16; Jean-Baptiste-Guillaume, age 13; Marguerite, age 10; and Pierre-Paul, age 7--called Montain and Maintoy on the embarkation and debarkation lists, were the 19th family on the ship's passenger roll.  They were the children of Guillaume Montet of Périgaux, France, and Marguerite Vincent of Minas, who he had married at Liverpool, England, in c1763.  Guillaume may have been a French privateer captured by the Royal Navy during the Seven Years's War and held prisoner at Liverpool.  In the spring of 1763, soon after the war ended, the couple, along with dozens of Acadian exiles from the English ports, were repatriated to France.  Guillaume and Marguerite landed at Morlaix in northwest Brittany, where their first child, Pierre-Vincent, was born in St.-Martin des Champs Parish in January 1764.  In November 1765, the couple and their young son joined other Acadians from England on Belle-Île-en-Mer off the southern coast of Brittany.  The other five Montet siblings were born on the island between November 1765, soon after their arrival, and April 1779.  Marguerite died at Bangor in the southern interior of the island in June 1779, perhaps from complications of childbirth.  Guillaume died there in November 1781.  The children were likely looked after by members of the Acadian community, including an unmarried maternal uncle.  Their mother's ethnicity qualified the orphans to take passage to Louisiana. 

In early January, Intendente Navarro ordered the issuance of tool and implements to three family heads--Jean-Charles Benoit, Michel Doucet, and Ambroise Hébert--and commissioned François Broutin to escort them, along with 11 families from L'Amitié, down to Nueva Gálvez.  On January 17, Navarro ordered Juan Prieto, for the last time, to issue tools and implements to the remaining 18 families of 54 members who were joining their fellow Acadians on Bayou Lafourche and on the river at Cabahannocer.  The Montet siblings chose to go to Lafourche.  At the last moment, Navarro permitted two of the families, including that of Ignace Boudrot, first cousin of Victor Boudrot of Ville d'Archangel, to join passengers from that vessel who were about to head upriver to Bayou des Écores.  One unmarried passenger--Jean-Baptiste Doiron--joined his relatives at Baton Rouge.  Another bachelor--Jean dit Gros Duon--headed to Attakapas, and Basile Chiasson and his family moved on to Opelousas.466

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And so concluded the Seven Ships' expeditions, which brought nearly 1,600 Acadians from France to Spanish Louisiana.  The official Spanish report counted 1,574 Acadians aboard the Seven Ships, and an earlier report had counted 1,596, but some of them were non-Acadian spouses and children who bore their fathers' French surnames.  No matter, more Acadians reached Louisiana during the five months between July and December 1785 than had come to the colony during the entire five-and-a half-year period between February 1764 and October 1769.  If French authorities, alarmed by the success of the venture, had not shut down the operation in late 1785, Consul d'Asprès might have sent hundreds of more Acadians, including 250 deported by the British from Île Miquelon to France a few years earlier, on additional ships to Louisiana.  The substantial cost of the expeditions, however, dissuaded the Spanish from underwriting anymore such ventures.467 

The amazing influx of so many new arrivals dramatically changed the Acadian presence in Spanish Louisiana.  The population of the Valenzuela District increased exponentially, to over a thousand by early 1786, the great majority of them newly-arrived Acadians living along parts of the bayou where only Native villages had stood.  The San Gabriel de Manchac and Baton Rouge districts could boast hundreds of new settlers.  The Upper Acadian Coast, once confined to the stretch of river below bayous Manchac and Plaquemine, now reached up towards Pointe Coupée on the west bank and across from Pointe Coupée on the east, where a recently-created Spanish district, New Feliciana, held 300 Acadians from St.-Malo.  Nearly a hundred Acadian newcomers increased the population of the two prairie districts.  Two dozen Acadians, many with French spouses, added to the population density along the Lower Acadian Coast.  And San Bernardo, the closest Isleño community to New Orleans, was augmented by several dozen Acadians who wanted to live closer to the city.468