List of colonial governors of Louisiana
Encyclopedia
This is a list of the colonial governors of Louisiana
, from the founding of the first settlement by the French
in 1699 to the territory's acquisition by the United States in 1803.
First French
Spanish
For governors of the later territory and state of Louisiana under the United States, see List of Governors of Louisiana.
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, from the founding of the first settlement by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1699 to the territory's acquisition by the United States in 1803.
First FrenchLouisiana (New France)Louisiana or French Louisiana was an administrative district of New France. Under French control from 1682–1763 and 1800–03, the area was named in honor of Louis XIV, by French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle...
period
| No. | |Governor | Took Office |
Left Office | Capital Location |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sauvole de la Villantry Sauvolle The sieur de Sauvolle aka M. De Sauvolle or Sauvole,known for certainty only by that surname, was the first governor of the French territory of Louisiana... |
1699 | 1701 | Fort Maurepas Fort Maurepas Not to be confused with the Fort Maurepas built in 1699 by Bienville and Iberville in present-day Ocean Springs, Mississippi.Fort Maurepas was one of the first forts built by Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye and his men. In 1733, they traveled from Fort St. Charles, which was... |
|
| 2 | Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville |  |
1701 | 1713 | Fort Maurepas Fort Maurepas Not to be confused with the Fort Maurepas built in 1699 by Bienville and Iberville in present-day Ocean Springs, Mississippi.Fort Maurepas was one of the first forts built by Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye and his men. In 1733, they traveled from Fort St. Charles, which was... & Mobile Mobile, Alabama Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest... |
| 3 | Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac was a French explorer and adventurer in New France, now an area of North America stretching from Eastern Canada in the north to Louisiana in the south. Rising from a modest beginning in Acadia in 1683 as an explorer, trapper, and a trader of alcohol... |
 |
1713 | 1716 | Mobile Mobile, Alabama Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest... |
| 4 | Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville | |
1716 | 1717 | Mobile Mobile, Alabama Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest... |
| 5 | Jean-Michel de Lepinay Jean-Michel de Lepinay Jean-Michel de Lepinay was the governor of the French colony of Louisiana from 1717 to 1718. Before serving as governor, Lepinay had been a naval officer and served over twenty years in Canada. He was appointed governor by Antoine Crozat, the royally appointed administrator of the colony... |
1717 | 1718 | Mobile Mobile, Alabama Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest... |
|
| 6 | Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville | |
1718 | 1724 | Mobile Mobile, Alabama Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest... & Fort Maurepas Fort Maurepas Not to be confused with the Fort Maurepas built in 1699 by Bienville and Iberville in present-day Ocean Springs, Mississippi.Fort Maurepas was one of the first forts built by Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye and his men. In 1733, they traveled from Fort St. Charles, which was... & Biloxi New Orleans |
| 7 | Pierre Dugué de Boisbriant Pierre Dugué de Boisbriand Pierre Dugué de Boisbriand was a Canadien who commanded several areas in North America colonized by France in the early 18th Century, rising to become the fourth governor of the French colony of Louisiana.... |
1724 | 1726 | New Orleans | |
| 8 | Étienne Périer | 1726 | 1733 | New Orleans | |
| 9 | Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville | |
1733 | 1743 | New Orleans |
| 10 | Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal was a Canadian-born French colonial governor in North America... |
 |
1743 | 1753 | New Orleans |
| 11 | Louis Billouart Louis Billouart Louis Belcourt, Chevalier de Kerlerec was the governor of the French colony of Louisiana from 1753 to 1763. After the former governor, Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal, was promoted to the post of Governor of New France, Kerlerec, a naval officer originally from Quimper,... , Chevalier de Kerlerec |
1753 | 1763 | New Orleans | |
| 12 | Jean-Jacques Blaise d’Abbadie Jean-Jacques Blaise d’Abbadie Jean-Jacques Blaise d'Abbadie was the French colonial governor of the Colony of Louisiana in New France. He served from 1763 to 1765. -References:... |
1763 | 1765 | New Orleans | |
| 13 | Charles Philippe Aubry | 1765 | 1766 | New Orleans |
SpanishLouisiana (New Spain)Louisiana was the name of an administrative district of the Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1764 to 1803 that represented territory west of the Mississippi River basin, plus New Orleans...
period
| No. | |Governor | Took Office |
Left Office | Capital Location |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antonio de Ulloa Antonio de Ulloa Antonio de Ulloa y de la Torre-Girault was a Spanish general, explorer, author, astronomer, colonial administrator and the first Spanish governor of Louisiana.Rebellion of 1768]].... |
 |
1766 | 1768 | New Orleans |
| 2 | Charles Philippe Aubry (acting) | 1768 | 1769 | New Orleans | |
| 3 | Alejandro O'Reilly Alejandro O'Reilly Alejandro O'Reilly , was a military reformer and Inspector-General of Infantry for the Spanish Empire in the second half of the 18th century... (Captain General) |
 |
1769 | 1769 | New Orleans |
| 4 | Luis de Unzaga Luis de Unzaga Luis de Unzaga y Amezaga , also known as Luis Unzaga Y Amezaga, was a Spanish Governor of Louisiana from 1769 to 1777 as well as a captain general of Venezuela and Cuba.... |
1770 | 1777 | New Orleans | |
| 5 | Bernardo de Gálvez Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Viscount of Galveston and Count of Gálvez was a Spanish military leader and the general of Spanish forces in New Spain who served as governor of Louisiana and Cuba and as viceroy of New Spain.Gálvez aided the Thirteen Colonies in their quest for independence and led... |
 |
1777 | 1785 | New Orleans |
| 6 | Esteban Rodríguez Miró Esteban Rodríguez Miró Esteban Rodriguez Miró y Sabater , also known as Esteban Miro and Estevan Miro, was a Spanish army officer and governor of the Spanish American provinces of Louisiana and Florida.... |
 |
1785 | 1791 | New Orleans |
| 7 | Francisco Luis Hector de Carondelet Francisco Luis Hector de Carondelet Francisco Luis Hector, barón de Carondelet was an administrator of Burgundian descent in the employ of the Spanish Empire. He was a Knight of Malta.... |
 |
1791 | 1797 | New Orleans |
| 8 | Manuel Gayoso de Lemos Manuel Gayoso de Lemos Manuel Luis Gayoso de Lemos Amorín y Magallanes was the Spanish governor of Louisiana from 1797 until his death in 1799. Born in Oporto, Portugal on May 30, 1747, to Spanish consul Manuel Luis Gayoso de Lemos y Sarmiento and Theresa Angélica de Amorín y Magallanes, he received his education in... |
1797 | 1799 | New Orleans | |
| 9 | Sebastián Calvo de la Puerta y O'Farrill Marquis de Casa Calvo |
1799 | 1801 | New Orleans | |
| 10 | Juan Manuel de Salcedo | 1801 | 1803 | New Orleans |
Second (interim) French period
| No. | |Governor | Took Office |
Left Office | Capital Location |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Pierre Clement de Laussat Pierre Clement de Laussat Pierre Clément de Laussat was a French politician, and the last French governor of Louisiana.Laussat was born in the town of Pau. After serving as receveur général des finances in Pau and Bayonne, he was imprisoned during the Terror, but was released and recruited in the armée des Pyrénées. On... |
 |
1803 | 1803 | New Orleans |
For governors of the later territory and state of Louisiana under the United States, see List of Governors of Louisiana.