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Of,tfoe Eve of Cc Aquest ^
Coastal Louisiana in 1699
by Richard Condrey
.Januarij 23, 1592
Evening-We are on the deck of La Badine with Iberville who has sailed from France to find the mouths of the Mississippi River and establish a colony in Louisiana. Anchored in the Gulf (eight leagues south of what is presently Destin, Florida), Iberville tells us: i4I see fires 20 leagues inland. I believe they are prairies that the Indians are burning off at this season for the buffalo hunt. We caught three reds and two sharks.”
While Iberville watches the
fires on a coast he has yet to explore, it seems he is trying to visualize the mouths of the Mississippi and reviewing, we believe, what he knows. Iberville knows that the Mississippi carries waters from below French Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. On its way it is joined by other rivers, including the muddy Missouri and the beautiful Ohio. Wherever the River flows into the Gulf, he knows its silt-laden waters will create muddy bottoms of shallow waters, while restricting the width and depth of its entrances. Therefore, to find a main
entrance to the River, he plans to hug the coast in the shallow draft vessels he has aboard.
He knows that the Mississippi has two major Forks: one East, one West. He knows that where the Mississippi flows into the Gulf, the mouths of these Forks are separated by a vast island.
To locate the Mississippi, he needs the help of the Native Americans (their knowledge of the area is essential). He must meet and befriend them, thus reestablishing the ties his predecessor LaSalle had made, and align himself with them,
Cartouche to "General Map of the Coast of Louisiana and Florida. Drawn from the Deposit of Project Maps end Marine Journals far the Service ot the Vessels o} the King. By order of Mr. Le Due de Chotseul. Cupiain General of the Swiss and Gray. Minister of War and of the Sea, By le S. Beliin, Engineer of the Sea and of the Deposit of Maps 1764."
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