SVVANTON] IMMAN IKinilS Ol' llll-; LOWI'.IJ M ISSISSI I'lM NALLKV 271 



Kiii^Jishiiiaii, and al'tcrward accoinpanictl l)v la Loire lo .M()l)il('. 

 ^Yllore they \v('i'(' assigned a place al)()iit '2 loaijues from the French 

 fort, which had formerly been occuijied by the Tawasa." Before 

 1744 '' they had mo\ed across to (he Tensaw river, lo which they <2:ave 

 their name, and where they remained until Mobile was ceded to the 

 Kuirlish. Durin*; this period they kept up their numbers very weU, 

 occupyin<2:, it is said, 100 cabins.'" Tiiere is occasiomil mention of 

 Taensa in the church registers of Mobile from 170S, when some were 

 bronght as slaves, to 17(>1, but it would seem that they Avere too closely 

 wedded to their native cult to be much all'ected by Christian teach- 

 ings.'' Another refugee tribe, the Apalachee, from northern Florida, 

 moved to the eastern mouth of Tensaw river about the same time, 

 and it is probable that a close intimacy sprang up between the two 

 peoples, as their subsequent histories ran close together for a long 

 time. 



8oon aftei- the cession of ISIobile to England in 17G3 man}^ of the 

 small tribes who had been living in its neighborh(K)d, and who did 

 not fancy the change of masters, determined to move across the Mis- 

 sissippi into Louisiana. Among these were the Taensa, Apalachee, 

 and Pakana, the last a tribe of the Creek confederacy, who jointly 

 emigrated to Red river. Afterward the Taensa appealed to d'Abba- 

 die, French commandant at New Orleans, for permission to settle on 

 the Mississippi at the point of sei)aration of Bayou la Fourche. A 

 copy of the document informing us of this alfair v.as transmitted to 

 Doctor Gatschet hj Pierre ]Margry, compiler of the famous Decou- 

 vertes, and was by him pul)lished in the American Antiquarian of 

 September, 1891. The following is the translation made by Doctor 

 Gatschet, and published at the same time, except that the original 

 forms of the tribal names are substituted for those employed by him: 



Mr. (rAhhiulic at \(ir Oihaii.s, Ai,rU 10, J7(j-'f 



The villiise <>f the T.-ieusas in tlie \ ieinity of Mobile, the inmates of which had 

 to pass over to the Red river with the Apahiches and the I'akanas of the Ali- 

 bamons, have called upon nie to ask permission for settling upon the right-hand 

 bank of the [Mississippi] river at the Chetlmachas fork, which is distant from 

 New Orleans about 30 leagues. I could not refuse to accede to their demand, 

 and have countenanced their project to settle at that spot, so much more will- 

 ingly as I consider it of advantage to the colony. The two villages comprehend 

 nearly 200 persons. The Taensas are hunters and tillers of the soil and will be 

 of great support to the city of New Orleans, whereas the Pakunas Alibamons 

 will furnish the same help to us, though a more real advantage to us would 

 be to oppose them to the Tchaktas should they attempt to make forays on our 



" Margry, D^couvertes, v, 509, 1883. 



''According to Hamilton (Colonial Mobile, 100), they are placed there in a French 

 map of that date. 



' Du Pratz, Hist, de La Louisiane, ii, 21o, 1758. 

 "Hamilton, Colonial Mobile, 09-100. 



