1699 to 1718
The colony.
Who was here before there was a Louisiana?
The colony
A colony was built on land that already belonged to someone.
In 1699 Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville reached the mouth of the Mississippi and built Fort Maurepas on the Gulf Coast. The land was home to the Houma, the Bayogoula, the Chitimacha, the Natchitoches, the Atakapa-Ishak and many other nations.
The French founded Natchitoches on the Red River in 1714. From 1706 to 1718 they fought the Chitimacha, and many Chitimacha people were enslaved. The war ended with a treaty in 1718, the same year Bienville’s crews began clearing the ground for New Orleans.
Next chapter · 1719 to 1763