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INTRODUCTION
Later in the year Juan Delavillebeuvre took up his residence in the Indian country where he was reasonably successful with the Choctaws; he also made some progress with the Chickasaws. At first he lived with Simon Favre, a trader in the Choctaw nation, and Favre built him a house at a spot located about four leagues from the village of Chief Franchimastabe and two hours? journey from the place where the trader Turner Brashears had his headquarters. Delavillebeuvre was thus centrally located and at the same time free from the inconveniences frequently suffered by agents who lived in Indian villages.17 One of his assignments was to establish better relations with the Chickasaws since it was vital to Carondelet?s plan for an Indian confederation that this tribe be brought under Spanish control. The Chickasaw country was strategically situated insofar as the routes to the Gulf both by way of the Mississippi and the Tombigbee rivers were concerned. The tribe controlled much of the Tennessee Valley, the mouth of the Ohio, and the important high lands on the Mississippi below the Ohio. Of all the southern tribes, the Chickasaws were upon the most amicable terms with the Americans. The principal obstacle to Spanish diplomatic efforts was Chief Piomingo whose friendship with General Robertson and other Americans was well-known. Delavillebeuvre focused his attention upon another important chief, Ugulayacabe, and by persuasion and a judicious distribution of presents won him and his followers over to the Spanish interest.18
Despite moderate successes, Spanish Indian diplomacy was seriously handicapped as a result of a drought in 1792 which caused crop failures throughout the Southern Indian country. Taking advantage of the situation, the American agent Seagrove recommended to the Secretary of War that grain be given to the hungry Indians. His suggestion was approved and early in October he sent word to McGillivray that 5,000 bushels of wheat had arrived at St. Marys for distribution. In the meantime, Governor Blount was also distributing grain among the Indians of his jurisdiction.19 Spain?s lack of resources in the period when food was needed enabled the American agents to make substantial gains in influence over the Indians. However, Olivier and other Spanish agents were able to keep alive the old Creek hostility against the Americans to such an extent that Seagrove made no immediate attempt to establish himself within the Indian country but remained at his headquarters on the St. Marys River and employed
17.	See below pp. 76-77.
18.	See below pp. 103-105, 166, 175-176, 291.
19.	American State Papers, Indian Affairs, I, 260, 311, 314: see below pp. 105-108.
INTRODUCTION
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Timothy Barnard, a trader, to handle his affairs among the Indians.20
4 ?Crop failures and scarcity of game in the Southern Indian country caused Spanish officials to adopt a policy of encouraging the Choctaws and Chickasaws in their practice of hunting west of *the Mississippi. They were regarded, however, as dangerous Visitors by the Indians of the Red River Valley. For this reason, Louis de Blanc, the commandant of Natchitoches, opposed the plan, finally he had to agree when Governor Carondelet approved it.21 'After Carondelet?s decision, many Choctaws came into the area, but instead of conducting themselves- peacefully, they terrorized 'and plundered the Caddos, Natchitoches, Yatasis, Kichais, Kado-?hadachos, Yscanis, and other tribes. White settlers, as well as Indians, suffered especially from the depredations of the Choctaws which kept the entire district in a state of confusion. The tribes of the Red River Valley and the Louisiana-Texas frontier were small, disunited, and possessed few firearms. Consequently they were unable effectively to resist the more powerful intruders. Probably the only mitigating feature of the situation was the 'hostility of the Choctaws and Chickasaws toward the Osages whose incursions extended as far south as Natchitoches.22 J|.;.Throughout Louisiana and West Florida, trade was an important .^instrument in the management of Indian affairs but it differed iconsiderably in character east and west of the Mississippi. East of the river it was centralized under the control of the firm Panton, Leslie and Company.23 West of the river many licensed traders operated from the frontier posts and were more or less under the 'supervision of the commandants. Unlicensed Indian trade, however, was never entirely suppressed. Because of decentralization iijvthe management of western commerce, greater opportunity existed for the individual trader but the result was a less con-istent policy in dealing with the Indians. Jurisdictional disputes and the divergent interests of traders and post commandants sometimes led to confusion.
^?Activities of Louisiana traders on the Texas border continued to be a source of friction between the two provinces. The commandants of the Interior Provinces and even the Viceroy of Mexico objected to the trade carried on by the French inhabitants
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;20. American State Papers, Indian Affairs, I, 383, 399: see below pp. 147, 169.
^21.' See below pp. 26, 99-100.
x.22. Caddo Chiefs to Commandant of Natchitoches, April 28, 1795, and Grand-Prfi to Carondelet, September 27, 1790, No. 18, Bancroft Library; see below pp. 92-93, 299.
'i 28. Arthur Preston Whitaker, Documents Relating to the Commercial Policy of Spain in the Florida* (Deland, Florida, 1931), xxxIii-xxxvH.
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