448
TEXAS STATE LIBRARY
Judge Martin of New-Orleans. Having nothing of our own to add, we must rely upon these sources for the accuracy of our statements. The wars of France; and especially the events that followed the Abdi- -cation of Bonaparte in 1814 and the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, occa- sioned a large number of the French to emigrate to the United States. The American Congress, by an Act of the 5th of March 1817, granteJ to these exiles 92,000 acres of land in the territory of Alabama upon the :Mobile· and Tombecbee rivers, at the price of two francs per acre, payable in fourteen years, without interest, for the purpose of intro- ducing the culture of the vine and the olive in this country. From :some cause, however, to us unknown, the most of the emigrants, thus favored, relinquished the idea of settling these lands, and sold their grant to a company of speculators, who, it is said, made considirable profit from the operation. A few of these refugees, after the sale of their lands, went to Galvezton where Genl. Humbert had established himself; but about three hundred of them, under the direction and Conduct of General Lalaman, formed a settlement on the territory lying between the Neches and the Trinity; to which they gave the name of Cha-mp d' Asile, or land of refuge. Here they established a kind of military government; parcelled out the lands, and published to the world a manifesto in which they declared themselves a sovreign and independent State. Lalaman had had some correspondence with the Insurgent Chiefs of Mexico, and expected, by espousing their cause and cooperating with them in their revolutionary struggle that his · claims to the territory which he had thus appropriated, would be rec- ognised by the patriot authorities. A difficulty, however, very soon arose, which he had not foreseen. l\fr Monroe sent Commissioners to Lalaman to notify him confidentially of the claims which the united States had to that country, and that the Government could not permit his establishment to go on. 'rhe enterprise was accordingly aban- doned-having existed only 8 months-and most of the refugees re- turned to the United States and settled in the State of Alabama. Pre- vious to the dissolution of the Settlement, however, the colonists had become greatly discouraged.- They were harrassed by the savages, threatened by the Spaniards, their means were exhausted, and a hun- dred of their negroes had made their escape to the Indians.- Tidings · of their misfortunes having reached their natiYe country, the sum of Ten thousand dollars was collected in Paris and forwarded to Paul Poultz, a broker in New-Orleans, to be distributed among the suf- ferers by three individuals to be chosen for that purpose by the Gov- ernor. Governor Villere selected Judge l\Iartin, Destreham and Judge Moreau, who made the distribution accordingly. Lalaman declined to receive his portion, leaving it to his followers. Thus. terminated this military kingdom in miniature-the champ cl' Asile.-There were two Lalamans, brothers, and both Generals. 'rhe eldest, who headed this enterprise, sailed to old Spain, to mingle in the wars of that Countr_y; while the other retired to Philidelphia, where he married the niece of the celebrated Stephen Girard.- But among all the adrnntmers connect~d with the early attempts towards the occupancy and settlement of 'l'exas, there is no one wl1ose name has excited a deeper curiosity, and whose character is involved in greater obscurity than the celebrated Lafitte. We do not pretend to
Powered by FlippingBook