2. CADDO RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES
On February 4,1804, Edward Turner was given a commission as civil commandant of the District of Natchitoches. He was placed in full charge of the post by Governor William C. C. Claiborne. In the letter informing him of his appointment, Claiborne said, "On the waters of the Red River there reside two small nations of Indians the Paunies (Panis) and Caddoes, who trade at the post of Natchitoches. You will receive these people with friendly attention and have a regard to their interest. No person is to be permitted to trade with them, who has not been heretofore licensed under the Spanish Authority, and the period for which such license was granted has not expired, or who shall not produce a license in writing from myself.
A few months after Captain Turner took charge of the post, he wrote Governor Claiborne that he had received a visit from the Caddo Indians, who had said that the Spaniards gave them a present each year, and they wished the same from the Americans. Turner further stated that he gave them a few presents that satisfied them temporarily, and promised to let the chief know later what he could expect in the way of presents. Turner also suggested that it would not be a wise policy to let the Indians become dissatisfied, for the Spaniards were exerting every means to induce them to be unfriendly. On November 3, Claiborne advised Turner to do everything in his power to gain the good will of the Caddoes and keep them friendly with the United States. He advised him to furnish rations to the honest, well disposed Indians that visited the post, but stated that he had not been authorized to make presents to them generally. He instructed Turner to give presents to the Caddo chief and his principal men, but these presents were not to exceed two hundred dollars in value.
While the Caddo Indians were under Spanish control they had been given presents annually from the post at Natchitoches, and they expected the American government to continue this system. Inasmuch as the United States government was making a bid for the control of the Caddo who were again living within contested territory, it was imperative that it continue the Spanish policy of giving presents.
In 1803 Turner recommended the immediate establishment of American factories at Natchitoches to attract the Indians from the Spaniards. Turner and Sibley informed Claiborne of the privilege enjoyed by Murphy and Davenport in trading with the Spanish Indians. As this trade included the privilege of supplying them with ammunition, the Americans, in case of difficulty with the Spaniards, might feel its evil effects. Accordingly they thought that if the trade could be turned into the proper channel, and be supplied from a post on Red River the Indians might be come loyal friends of the Americans.
In 1804 Sibley was asked by Secretary of War Henry Dear born to act occasionally as agent for the United States in holding conferences with the various Indians of his vicinity. He was to keep them friendly toward the American government by the distribution of some three thousand dollars worth of merchandise. On May 23, 1805, Secretary Dearborn instructed Sibley to use all means, at all times, to conciliate the Indians, and especially those natives that might, in case of a rupture with Spain, be useful, or mischievous to the government. He said "they may be assured that ... (they) will be treated with undeviating friendship as long as they shall conduct themselves fairly and with good faith to wards the government and the citizens of the United States."
As Indian agent, Sibley was very active, holding numerous conferences with the Indians of his territory, and counter acting the efforts of the Nacogdoches traders to move the Caddo and other friendly Indians into Spanish territory.
In 1805 Governor Claiborne informed Thomas Jefferson that, in his opinion, the Indians west of the Mississippi would give them very little trouble. He said that the Caddo nation had a decided influence over most of the tribes in lower Louisiana, and they would be easily managed. He stated also that their disposition toward the United States was already friendly, and with the proper treatment, he was persuaded their friendship could be preserved. Sibley in a report to President Jefferson in 1805 said, "The whole number of what they call Warriors of the Ancient Caddo, is now reduced to about one hundred, who are looked upon somewhat like Knights of Malta, or some distinguished military order. They are brave, despise danger or death, and boast that they have never shed white men's blood." The Caddo Indians were so brave, peaceful, diplomatic, and influential that it is not surprising the Spanish officials refused to admit that they lived on American soil or to give them up without a controversy. On one side of the border Sibley was working faithfully to keep the Caddoes friendly, while on the other side Captain-General Salcedo was issuing instructions to prevent the removal of Indians from Texas into Louisiana, and by every means possible to keep them faithful to Spanish allegiance. In 1805 from each group of frontier officials, came accusations against the unfair dealings of the other in dealing with the Indians in the disputed territory.
The Spanish officials disliked the fact that the Caddoes rendered assistance to the Freeman-Custis expedition in exploring Red River. They also disliked the fact that the Caddoes, instead of displaying the Spanish flag in their villages, had replaced it with an American flag given them by members of the Freeman-Custis party. The Spanish force sent to stop the Freeman-Custis exploring party entered the Caddo village, cut down the American flag, insulted their chief, and threatened to kill the Americans if they resisted their attempt to stop them. In consequence, Claiborne immediately communicated with Simon de Herrera, commander of the Spanish troops east of the Sabine River, saying,
On my arrival at this port, (Natchitoches), I learned with certainty that a considerable Spanish force had crossed the Sabine, and advanced within the territory claimed by the United States. It was hoped, Sir, that pending the negotiations between our respective Governments for an amicable adjustment of the Limits of Louisiana, that no additional settlement would be formed, or new Military Positions assumed be (by) either Power, within the disputed territory; a Policy which a conciliatory disposition would have suggested and Justice sanctioned; but since a contrary conduct has been observed on the part of certain officers of his Catholic Majesty, they alone will be answerable for the consequences which may ensue.
The above proceeding, Sir, is not the only evidence of an unfriendly disposition which certain officers of Spain have afforded. I have to complain of the Outrage lately committed by a Detachment of Spanish Troops, acting under your Instructions, toward Mr. Freeman and his party, who were ascending the Red River under the Orders of the President of the United States. ... Mr. Freeman and his party were assailed by a Battalion of Spanish Troops, and commanded to return. ...
This Detachment of Spanish Troops... (committed) another outrage, toward the United States, of which it is my duty to ask an explanation. In the Caddo Nation of Indians, the Flag of the United States was displayed and commanded from the chief (and) warriors all the respectful venerations, to which it is entitled. But your troops are stated to have cut down the Staff on which the Pavilion waved; and to have menaced the Peace and safety of the Caddo's should they continue their respect for the American Government, or their friendly Intercourse with Citizens of the United States.
I experience the more difficulty, in accounting for this transaction, since it cannot be unknown to your Excellency that while Louisiana appertained to France, that the Caddo Indians were under the protection of the French Government, and that a French Garrison was actually established in one of their villages: hence it follows, Sir, that the cession of Louisiana to the United States, with the same extent which it had when France possessed it, is sufficient authority for the display of the American Flag in the Caddo village, and that the disrespect which that Flag has recently experienced, subjects your Excellency to a serious responsibility.
On August 28 Herrera replied to Claiborne's letter in part as follows: "I think as your Excellency does that all the country which his Catholic Majesty has ceded to France belongs to the United States, but the Caddo's nation is not upon it and on the contrary the place which they inhabit is very far from it and be longs to Spain. ..." Herrera further stated that he informed the Caddoes that if they wished to continue to live under the domination of the United States, they would have to pass into their territory, but if they wanted to remain where they were, they would have to take down the American colors. On August 31, Claiborne replied to Herrera's letter, as follows: "You have not denied, Sir, that the French when in possession of Louisiana, had established a garrison on the Red River, far beyond the place where Mr. Freeman and his associates were arrested on their voyage, or that the Caddo Indians were formerly considered as under the protection of the French Government. The silence of your Excellency on these points, proceeds probably from a knowledge on your part of the correctness of my statements." It appears that this letter ended the official correspondence between Claiborne and the Spanish relative to the control of the Caddo Indians. It also appears that the American agents were making progress in their bid for the control of the Caddoes. The Americans were now put to the task of holding the advantages they had already gained.
Governor Claiborne had invited the chief of the Caddo nation to meet him in Natchitoches. On September 5, 1806, the grand chief of the Caddoes, accompanied by twelve or fifteen of his warriors, arrived at Natchitoches, and on the following day Governor Claiborne, in the presence of the officers of the army, and many respectable citizens, gave an address to the chief of the Caddo Nation. In this address he said:
That great and Good Man, the president of the United States esteems you and your people. Like the rising sun that gives light and comfort to the world, expands the cares of the American chief, and his desire is to promote the happiness of all mankind. He is particularly solicitous to better the condition of his red children; he wishes them to know war no more; to live in peace with their neighbors; to pursue the deer in safety; to cultivate their little fields of corn without fear, and that no enemy should disturb their sleep at night. ...
Brother ! Let your people continue to hold the Americans by the hand with sincerity and Friendship, and the chain of peace will be bright and strong, our children will smoke together, and the path will never be colored with blood. ...
The talk (at this time) is not straight between the United States and Spain; but I hope no mischief will ensue, for a council fire is now burning, and the beloved men of the two nations are endeavoring to settle the dispute. But if it should so happen that the Americans must bid their Swords to leap from the scabbard, we wish not your tomahawks to rise. When white people enter into disputes, let the red men keep quiet, and join neither side.
Claiborne further told the chief that the Americans and Spaniards were disputing over the boundary line, and that the Americans purchased the country from the French and claimed all the land which the French formerly possessed. He requested the chief to tell what he had heard to the traveler and to the hunter.
After the ceremonies of smoking the pipe were solemnized, the chief returned the following answer:
I am highly gratified at meeting today with your Excellency and so respectable a number of American officers, and shall forever remember the words you have spoken.
I have heard, before, the words of the President, though not from his own mouth:-his words are always the same; but what I have this day heard will cause me to sleep more in peace.
Your words resemble the words my forefathers have told me they used to receive from the French in ancient times. My ancestors from chief to chief were always well pleased with the French; they were well received and well treated by them, when they met to hold talks together, and we can now say the same of you, our new friends.
If your nation has purchased what the French formerly possessed, you have purchased the country that we occupy, and we regard you in the same light as we did them. ...
This speech from the grand chief of the Caddo nation assured Claiborne that the United States could rely on the Caddoes being friendly and loyal subjects.
The Caddo chief acted as ambassador for Sibley to the other Indian tribes of east Texas and north Louisiana by inviting and conducting a delegation composed of the head men of seven different nations to a council meeting at Natchitoches. After the delegation had been seated in the great council room, and the calumet and council fire had been lighted, Sibley delivered a talk, and in the course of this talk he said:
By the treaty with France and Spain we have become your neighbors, and all the great country called Louisiana as formerly claimed by France belongs to us; the President of the United States is your friend and will be as long as you are friendly to him; we should live together in peace; the boundaries between our country and Spain are not yet fixed, but you may rest assured whether your lands fall within our boundaries or not, it will always be our wish to be at peace and friendship with you; we are not at war with Spain, and do not ask you to be unfriendly to Spain; I caution you against opening your ears to bad talks of any people who wish to make us enemies, but remember that we have not come to this country to do harm to any of our Red brothers, but to help them; it is the wish of your great and good father, the President of the United States, that you should live together in peace.
Sibley gave presents to the different delegations, and extended them an invitation to trade at Natchitoches, promising to exchange articles of merchandise for horses, mules, robes, and silver ore.
During the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain the allegiance of the Caddoes to the United States was tested. The Creeks who had attacked the Americans sent war talks to the Caddoes and other tribes along the Louisiana-Texas frontier endeavoring to stir up an insurrection. Claiborne, realizing the gravity of the situation, visited Natchitoches and delivered a war talk to the Caddoes saying that seven years ago they had held a conference at Natchitoches and had mutually agreed to keep the path between their two nations white, and he hoped that they and the chiefs who followed would endeavor to keep the chain of friendship bright and so strengthen it that their children would live together as neighbors and friends. He further told them that Doctor Sibley was agent for the president and whatever he said they should receive as the president's own words. He reminded them also that seven years ago they had told him they had but one enemy, the Osages, and he was sorry to learn that they were still at war with them. He further said, "In the vast hunting grounds where the great Spirit has placed a sufficiency of Buffalo, Bear and Deer for all the red men, the Osages, I hear have already robbed the hunters of all the nations, and their chiefs wage war to acquire more skins." The English, whom he said were like the Osages, were taking many Americans who were peacefully navigating the seas, and compelling them to serve on board of war canoes and fight against their friends and countrymen. Claiborne further told them that the English were unwilling to fight the Americans man to man but had appealed to the red people for assistance by telling them lies and making unfair promises which they would not and could not fulfill. He warned them that the English would be unable to shield the Creeks whom they had already incited to acts of hostility against the Americans. In conclusion he said:
I hear the Creeks have sent runners with war talks, to the Conchattas and other tribes, your neighbors, but I hope all these people will look up to you, as an elder brother, and hold fast your good advice. When your father was a chief, the paths from your Towns to Natchitoches was clean, and if an Indian struck the people of Natchitoches-It was the same as to strike him. To a chief, a man and warrior, nothing could be more acceptable than a sword. ... I have therefore directed, that a sword be purchased at New Orleans, and forwarded to Doctor Sibley, who will present it to you (Caddo Chief) in my name.
Although war talks had been sent to the Caddoes by the Creeks, their friendship and loyalty could not be shaken in their determination to remain at peace with the United States.
It appears that Claiborne not only suspected the English of meddling with the border Indians, but also anticipated trouble again from the Spanish. On October 21, 1814, he wrote John Perkins, that, according to information ascertained at Natchitoches, the Spanish authorities of the province of Texas had made peace with several of the Indian tribes, lately their enemies, and were again likely to acquire an influence in their councils; also, it was reported that eight hundred Spanish regulars were advancing toward Nacogdoches, and no doubt would attempt to occupy the post at Bayou Pierre. He further added, that in case of an invasion of Louisiana, the Caddo and other Indian friends would be needed and. ... "I pray you to keep them prepared for a prompt cooperation." In a letter to Andrew Jackson, who was at this time commander of the American forces at New Orleans, Claiborne said, "The chief of the Caddoes, is a man of great merit, he is brave, sensible and prudent. -But I advise, that you address a talk immediately to the chief, he is the most influential Indian on this side of the River Grande, and his friendship sir, will give much security to the western frontier of Louisiana."
The Caddoes and other friendly tribes had already informed Sibley that they were willing to take up arms in defense of their American brothers and had been ordered by General Jackson to assemble at Natchitoches. Thomas Gale, late judge advocate of the seventh military district, succeeded Sibley as Indian agent, and, being a military man, was appointed commander of the Caddoes, and other Indians assembled at Natchitoches. From further information it was learned that the Caddoes and other friendly Indians were held in readiness at Natchitoches to be used against the English, if needed, or to help maintain peace along the Spanish border.
In 1816 John Jamison was appointed Indian agent at Natchitoches and was informed by Claiborne that "the policy of the government has been to keep the Indians at their homes, to guard against those impositions to which they were exposed by an indiscriminate trade and intercourse with the whites, to introduce among them, husbandry and the art of civilization, finally by supplying all their wants to impress them with grateful and friendly sentiments." After this policy was stated, Jamison was further instructed to enforce strictly the act of Congress regulating trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes; to permit no traders to re side among the Indians, but such as had been licensed according to law; to impress upon the minds of the Indians the benefit de rived by exclusively trading with the factory; to discourage and try to prevent the Indians from exchanging their peltry with the whites for ardent spirits; to prosecute those who should willfully sell ardent spirits to the Indians; to encourage the tribe to live in peace with all nations; to protect and treat with kindness not only their own Indians but individuals of other tribes who lived outside the bounds of the United States that might visit the agency; to endeavor to ascertain the policy observed by the Spanish authorities toward the Indians residing on Red River. It appears that the continued success of the federal Indian policy among the tribes along the Red River depended on the enforcement of these regulations, for if the unlicensed traders were allowed to carry on commerce without restrictions the natives would soon be looking to them for advice instead of looking to the Indian agents.
In as much as the war Department expected the Indian Agents to enforce the trade and intercourse laws, and inasmuch as it expected the factories to supply the goods necessary to keep the Indians friendly and satisfied, it became necessary to establish agencies nearer the Caddo villages. With this in mind, George Grey, who had been appointed agent in 1819, established an agency in 1821 at Sulphur Fork, Red River, in the vicinity of Long prairie. In 1825 the agency was moved to Caddo prairie and remained there about six years when, on account of overflows caused by the great raft in Red River, it was removed below Lodo Lake (Sodo Lake) near the Caddo villages, only a short distance west of the present city of Shreveport. The agency remained at this place until the Caddo Treaty in 1835 after which it was no longer needed and was abolished.
Soon after George Grey became agent he was informed by the Secretary of War that the law of intercourse should be rigidly en forced against all white persons trespassing upon the Indians' lands. Those hunting were liable to prosecutions, fines, and imprisonment, and could be removed by military force. The agent had the authority to get soldiers to aid in the execution of his duty from the nearest military post. D Although rigid enforcement of the intercourse laws was required, and the use of military force was suggested, it seemed almost impossible to stop the liquor traffic. The character of the illegal traders was portrayed in a communication from Brooks to Judge E. Herring, commissioner of Indian affairs, in which Brooks said:
There are hovering all around the Indian borders, smuggling dealers, watching, with a packhorse laden with two skins filled with whiskey and a few worthless toys be sides, for an opportunity to wheedle the Indian out of everything acquired by the chase. He is here today and there tomorrow, as necessity, fear, or interest may suggest. They are an irresponsible and almost intangible race of beings, generally without homes or country; cunning in all the little intrigues and arts of their vocation, well acquainted with the prohibition of the laws of Indian intercourse; and skillful in evading the rules of evidence which bring them into action. Some of the Indians deprecate this traffic while others become the willing recipients, and are often employed to help disseminate the spirits in smaller quantities.
The Indians were usually friendly to the traders. The relations of the traders to the Indians were different from those of their rivals, the American backwoodsmen. The traders wanted to acquire wealth by trapping and trading and did not want the land, but only wanted a free pass through it. The purpose of the American frontiersmen was settlement, permanent occupation, and the dispossession of the natives. Naturally the Indians welcomed the one party as a friend and saw in the other an enemy.