SWANTON) IXDIAX riilHKS OF TITK I.OWKIJ M ISSISSI I'I'I VAI.l-KV 251 



(lu'V now ;ic(('i| I'lillu'i- ;i- ;i I »;iii(| o f ( 'li ick:i-:i w with wlioiii (lie I'^rciicli 

 AV('i-(> ncxl to (leal. Of their coiidit ion in l".")."). wIk'h he i-('siiiiit'(| the 

 •rovcniorshii) of Louisiana, now under (he Crown. i>ienville says: 

 "Since my arrival the Xatclie/ have a(teni|)(e(] nolhinn: a<;ainsl the. 

 French noi- against their allies, hut they are not destroyed, althou<::li 

 wo are ii^norant of their numbers. The Tiniicas have assured me 

 that these indefatigable enemies of the Frencli aiv divided into three 

 bands — one. the least ininierous. has retired into an imj)racticable 

 country, a little above their ancient villaaes; the second, which is 

 more considerable, dwells on the banks of the Mississippi, near the 

 Oiiatchitas, and opposite the Yazoo rivei-; the third, which is the 

 most numerous, has been received amono- the Chickasaw, who have 

 granted to these refugees hinds on wdiich to build a village."" He 

 adds that he intends to have them harassed continually by his Indian 

 allies." and on the 10th of August of the same year he informed his 

 government that this had been so effectually done that the smaller 

 bands were retreating to join the largest division among the Chicka- 

 saw.'' Their war parties were busy, however, fi'om this time on, and 

 about 1785 they and the Chickasaw fell upon a detachment of 10 

 men under an officer named Du Coder, which was convoying a supply 

 of amnnmition to D'Artaguette, then coimnandant of the Illinois, 

 killed 8 and made the others prisoners. One was liberated by the 

 Chickasaw, who were desirous of making peace, and the others sub- 

 sequently effected their escape. The former told Bienville that the 

 Natchez occupied a town by themselves and still numbered 180 war- 

 riors, although it is certain that some Natchez had already moved 

 to other tribes.'' 



In a letter to the French minister from Quebec, dated October 9, 

 1735, Beauharnois states that he had received a letter from D'Arta- 

 guette to the effect that the Natchez had separated themselves from 

 the Chickasaw " for fear that they might surrender them to the 

 French to secure peace; that one-half had gone to Carolina and the 

 other to Louischitas." '' Presumably " Louischitas " means AVashita, 

 but if such a migration took place this year to the latter place it 

 must have been temporary, for the Natchez village was close to those 

 of the Chickasaw the year following. That part of them moved 

 toward Carolina, however, seems very probable. 



When Bienville launched his first expedition against the Chick- 

 asaw, in 1736, it was his desire to attack the Natchez town first, but 

 the Choctaw dissuaded him on the ground that there were more pro- 

 visions in the Chickasaw villages, and, perhaps in consequence of this 

 advice, he suffered a V>loody repulse.' This village had been the 

 objective of the attack of D'Artaguette a short time before, whose 



" Gayarrg, Hist. Louisiana, i, 459. <* Wisconsin Hist. Coll., xvn, 220, 1906. 



* Ibid., 4(50. « Gayarre, Hist. Louisiana, i, 472-478. 



o Ibid., 463-^65. 



