Plans for tlze Reorgallization of tlze Frontier
211
with due ceremony and a Te D11mz was sung. Louisiana had formally passed into the dominion of Spain. 16 Courteous but firm, the new gover- nor immediately turned his attention to the arrest and trial of the chief conspirators in the revolt. On August 24, Lafreniere, Villere, Noyan, Marquis, Carrese, Milhet, DeMassan, Petit, Poupet, DeBoisblanc, and Doucet were arrested and charged with rebellion against their king, placed in solitary confinement, and their property confiscated as provided by Spanish law. They were quickly brought to trial with the obsen·ance of all legal procedure, and convicted on October 24. Joseph Petit was condemned to life imprisonment, Balthasar DeMassan and Julian Jerome Doucet to imprisonment for ten years, Boisblanc, Jean Milhet, and Pierre Poupet to imprisonment for six years. Lafreniehe, Noyan, Carrese, Marquis, and Joseph Milhet were condemned "to be led to the gallows on asses. with ropes around their necks, to be hanged until death shall follow, and to remain hanging until I (O'Reilly) decide otherwise." But no one could be found to act as executioner, not even a negro slaYe, whereupon it was decided that the five men sentenced to death be executed by being shot. The execution took place under heavy guard on October :.?S, 1769, in the barracks of the Lisbon regiment. located just above the convent of the Ursulines on Chartres Street. 17 O'Reilly administers grim justice. Detemiiniug tlze status of Louisiana witlz regard to New Spaill. But let us return to New Spain and the Province of Texas and note the effects of the cession of Louisiana to Spain. Almost immediately after the acceptance of the unsolicited gift, the king informed the viceroy of New Spain on December 8, 1762, of the terms of the treaty of Fontainebleau, sending him a copy of the document. He was laconically told that the time and manner of taking posesssion had not been decided. 18 It was a logical conclusion to expect that the new province would be placed under the jurisdiction of the viceroy of New Spain and added to this vast territory. But with the vexing problems that followed the cession, the King and his Council thought that it would be prudent not to place the recalcitrant province on the same footing- as the other Spanish possessions under the administration of the viceroy and the Council of the Indies. 16 The summary account here presented is based chiefly on Goodspeed, T/16 Pro• vi11ce and t/1e States, I, 251-265; Fortier, History of Louisiana, l, 206-211; Gayarre, History of Lo11isia11a, II, 249-300. 17 Fortier, History of Louisiana, l, 224-226. 18 Real Cedula, December 8, 1762. A.G. Al. Historia. \'ol. J:JI, pp. 187-190.
Powered by FlippingBook