Louis Juchereau de St. Denis
Encyclopedia
Louis Antoine Juchereau de St. Denis (17 September 1676 – 11 June 1744) was born in Beauport, New France
(Quebec
, Canada
) to Nicolas Juchereau and Marie Thérèse Giffard, the eleventh of twelve children. He was the grandson of Robert Giffard de Moncel
, a surgeon who became a nobleman of New France
. St. Denis was a French-Canadian soldier and explorer most known for his exploration and development of the Louisiana
and Texas
regions.
His parents apparently were able to send St. Denis to France
to further his education. In late 1699, St. Denis sailed from La Rochelle
with the second expedition of Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville (a relative by marriage), arriving in Louisiana. St. Denis commanded a fort on the Mississippi River
and another at Biloxi Bay. He also explored to the west of the bay and upstream, where he journeyed to the lower Red River
. These expeditions brought St. Denis into contact with the Karankawa
and Caddo
tribes and taught him invaluable wilderness skills specific to the area.
Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac, sent St. Denis and a company of men from Mobile
in September 1713 to travel up the Red River and establish a French outpost. St. Denis arrived in Natchitoches
later that year and built a fort. He traded with the Indians and freely sold them guns. The French learned many hunting and trapping skills from the Indians.
Soon after founding Natchitoches, St. Denis traveled to the lands of the Hasinai Confederacy
and from there to Spanish outposts on the Rio Grande
. At San Juan Bautista, Coahuila, Commander Diego Ramón placed St. Denis under house arrest
and confiscated his goods while awaiting instructions from Mexico City
on what to do with the foreigner charged with violating Spanish trade restrictions. In the meantime, St. Denis courted and won the promise of marriage from Ramón's beautiful step-granddaughter, Manuela Sanchez. St. Denis was ordered to Mexico City and defended himself well enough to be appointed the commissary officer of the Ramón expedition charged with founding Spanish missions in East Texas
.
St. Denis returned to San Juan Bautista and married Manuela in early 1716. In the years 1716-1717 he traveled to East Texas to participate in the founding of six missions
and a presidio
. He returned to San Juan Bautista in April 1717, but with the death of Louis XIV and the conclusion of the War of Spanish Succession, French-Spanish cooperation had ended. St. Denis was then sent to Mexico City for a second time but escaped before being hauled to Spain
as a prisoner. St. Denis made his way to Natchitoches by February 1719. Spanish officials permitted Manuela to join him in 1721 and the couple spent their remaining years there at the French outpost, Le Poste des Cadodaquious
, on the Red River.
. Controversy surrounds his motives to this day. St. Denis insisted that he desired to become a Spanish citizen, and his Spanish wife was proof. Suspicious Spaniards saw him as a covert agent of France. St. Denis contributed greatly to the geographical knowledge of both France and Spain as well as bringing Spanish and French settlements into closer proximity and contact. His contraband trade became a way of life on the frontier and borders of Spanish Texas and French Louisiana.
On 10 January 1743, he wrote to Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, comte de Maurepas
, at Versailles
indicating that he could no longer perform his duties as commandant
of Natchitoches. He also asked permission to retire to New Spain with his wife and children, but he was forbidden to do so. St. Denis died at Natchitoches on 11 June 1744. He was survived by his wife and five children, one of whom was married briefly to Athanase de Mézières.
As his two sons did not bear any children of their own, his daughters carried his posterity. His descendants, among others, include: Jefferson J. DeBlanc
and Alcibiades DeBlanc, who founded the Knights of the White Camellia.
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
(Quebec
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
) to Nicolas Juchereau and Marie Thérèse Giffard, the eleventh of twelve children. He was the grandson of Robert Giffard de Moncel
Robert Giffard de Moncel
Robert Giffard de Moncel was a French surgeon and apothecary who became a prestigious colonist and businessman and eventually a nobleman of New France....
, a surgeon who became a nobleman of New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
. St. Denis was a French-Canadian soldier and explorer most known for his exploration and development of the 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...
and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
regions.
His parents apparently were able to send St. Denis to France
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...
to further his education. In late 1699, St. Denis sailed from La Rochelle
La Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
with the second expedition of Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville (a relative by marriage), arriving in Louisiana. St. Denis commanded a fort on the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
and another at Biloxi Bay. He also explored to the west of the bay and upstream, where he journeyed to the lower Red River
Red River (Mississippi watershed)
The Red River, or sometimes the Red River of the South, is a major tributary of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers in the southern United States of America. The river gains its name from the red-bed country of its watershed. It is one of several rivers with that name...
. These expeditions brought St. Denis into contact with the Karankawa
Karankawa
Karankawa were a group of Native American peoples, now extinct as a tribal group, who played a pivotal part in early Texas history....
and Caddo
Caddo
The Caddo Nation is a confederacy of several Southeastern Native American tribes, who traditionally inhabited much of what is now East Texas, northern Louisiana and portions of southern Arkansas and Oklahoma. Today the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma is a cohesive tribe with its capital at Binger, Oklahoma...
tribes and taught him invaluable wilderness skills specific to the area.
Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac, sent St. Denis and a company of men from 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...
in September 1713 to travel up the Red River and establish a French outpost. St. Denis arrived in Natchitoches
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Natchitoches is a city in and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe. The City of Natchitoches was first incorporated on February...
later that year and built a fort. He traded with the Indians and freely sold them guns. The French learned many hunting and trapping skills from the Indians.
Soon after founding Natchitoches, St. Denis traveled to the lands of the Hasinai Confederacy
Hasinai
The Hasinai Confederacy was a large confederation of Caddo-speaking Native Americans located between the Sabine and Trinity rivers in eastern Texas...
and from there to Spanish outposts on the Rio Grande
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
. At San Juan Bautista, Coahuila, Commander Diego Ramón placed St. Denis under house arrest
House arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
and confiscated his goods while awaiting instructions from Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
on what to do with the foreigner charged with violating Spanish trade restrictions. In the meantime, St. Denis courted and won the promise of marriage from Ramón's beautiful step-granddaughter, Manuela Sanchez. St. Denis was ordered to Mexico City and defended himself well enough to be appointed the commissary officer of the Ramón expedition charged with founding Spanish missions in East Texas
Spanish missions in Texas
The Spanish Missions in Texas comprise a series of religious outposts established by Spanish Catholic Dominicans, Jesuits, and Franciscans to spread the Christian doctrine among the local Native Americans, but with the added benefit of giving Spain a toehold in the frontier land. The missions...
.
St. Denis returned to San Juan Bautista and married Manuela in early 1716. In the years 1716-1717 he traveled to East Texas to participate in the founding of six missions
Mission (Christian)
Christian missionary activities often involve sending individuals and groups , to foreign countries and to places in their own homeland. This has frequently involved not only evangelization , but also humanitarian work, especially among the poor and disadvantaged...
and a presidio
Presidio
A presidio is a fortified base established by the Spanish in North America between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. The fortresses were built to protect against pirates, hostile native Americans and enemy colonists. Other presidios were held by Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth...
. He returned to San Juan Bautista in April 1717, but with the death of Louis XIV and the conclusion of the War of Spanish Succession, French-Spanish cooperation had ended. St. Denis was then sent to Mexico City for a second time but escaped before being hauled to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
as a prisoner. St. Denis made his way to Natchitoches by February 1719. Spanish officials permitted Manuela to join him in 1721 and the couple spent their remaining years there at the French outpost, Le Poste des Cadodaquious
Le Poste des Cadodaquious
Le Poste des Cadodaquious was a small French fort founded in 1719; it was located northwest of Texarkana, Texas in today's Bowie County. Recent analysis suggests that the site was somewhere on the escarpment near either Everett or Barkman....
, on the Red River.
Later life
From his command at Natchitoches St. Denis was a troublesome thorn in the side of Spanish TexasSpanish Texas
Spanish Texas was one of the interior provinces of New Spain from 1690 until 1821. Although Spain claimed ownership of the territory, which comprised part of modern-day Texas, including the land north of the Medina and Nueces Rivers, the Spanish did not attempt to colonize the area until after...
. Controversy surrounds his motives to this day. St. Denis insisted that he desired to become a Spanish citizen, and his Spanish wife was proof. Suspicious Spaniards saw him as a covert agent of France. St. Denis contributed greatly to the geographical knowledge of both France and Spain as well as bringing Spanish and French settlements into closer proximity and contact. His contraband trade became a way of life on the frontier and borders of Spanish Texas and French Louisiana.
On 10 January 1743, he wrote to Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, comte de Maurepas
Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, comte de Maurepas
Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, comte de Maurepas was a French statesman.He was born at Versailles, the son of Jérôme Phélypeaux, secretary of state for the marine and the royal household...
, at Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
indicating that he could no longer perform his duties as commandant
of Natchitoches. He also asked permission to retire to New Spain with his wife and children, but he was forbidden to do so. St. Denis died at Natchitoches on 11 June 1744. He was survived by his wife and five children, one of whom was married briefly to Athanase de Mézières.
As his two sons did not bear any children of their own, his daughters carried his posterity. His descendants, among others, include: Jefferson J. DeBlanc
Jefferson J. DeBlanc
Jefferson Joseph DeBlanc was a World War II Marine Corps fighter pilot and ace — shooting down nine Japanese aircraft during two tours of duty in the Pacific at Guadalcanal and Okinawa — and a Medal of Honor recipient.-U.S...
and Alcibiades DeBlanc, who founded the Knights of the White Camellia.