188 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bdll. 137 



TAENSA 



Although the people later known as Taensa were almost certainly 

 encountered by De Soto or his followers — in particular, they may 

 have been the people of Guachoya and Aminoya — we first learn of 

 the tribe when they were living about the site of Newellton at the 

 west end of Lake St. Joseph, in northeastern Louisiana. La Salle 

 reached them in March 1682, on his way to the mouth of the Missis- 

 sippi, and renewed the treaty of peace then made when he returned, 

 spending 4 days, from April 30 to May 3, in their villages. In 1686 

 Tonti stopped there again, and in 1690 made their settlements his 

 starting point on a visit to the Natchitoches and their allies. The 

 missionaries De Montigny, La Source, Davion, and St. Cosme went 

 to visit them in 1699, the first mentioned establishing himself among 

 them to do missionary work, in July of that year. In March 1700, 

 Iberville reached the Taensa, and he gives us one of our best de- 

 scriptions of the tribe. While he was there, the temple was de- 

 stroyed by lightning and seems never to have been rebuilt. When 

 he left, De Montigny accompanied him to transfer his labors to the 

 Natchez, and his place was never filled. In 1706 the tribe abandoned 

 their old villages for fear of the Yazoo and Chickasaw, and dropped 

 down the Mississippi to the Bayogoula village. They were well re- 

 ceived by the Bayogoula, but soon afterward the Taensa rose upon 

 them, destroyed a large portion, and drove the rest away. We are 

 informed that the Taensa intended to return to their ancient villages 

 after this event, but apparently they remained in the neighborhood 

 of the old Bayogoula town, for they were at the Manchac in 1715. 

 They also had a village during this period on the south side of the 

 Mississippi, 11 leagues (about 30 miles) above New Orleans. At 

 the date last mentioned (1715), they assisted M. de la Loire des 

 Ursins in the apprehension of an English trader named Hughes and 

 accompanied La Loire to Mobile, where they were assigned the village 

 site formerly occupied by the Tawasa, 2 leagues from the French 

 fort. Before 1744 they had moved to the Tensaw River, to which 

 they gave their name and where they remained until the country was 

 ceded to England in 1763. The same year, or very early in the year 

 following, they removed to Red River and were later granted per- 

 mission to settle on the Mississippi at the entrance of Bayou La- 

 fourche. It is doubtful whether they availed themselves of the 

 permission, as they were not there in 1784 and Sibley, writing in 

 1805, says that they had then been on Red River 40 years. They 

 were living beside the Apalachee, the settlements of the two tribes 

 extending from Bayou d'Arro to Bayou Jean de Jean and their 

 own village standing at the head of the turn. Subsequently both 

 tribes sold their land and moved to Bayou Boeuf. Later the Taensa 



