up this River to its principal tributary, that is to say, up to its most navigable tributary, from there a straight line should be drawn reaching to the source of the northernmost tributary of the Ocony or Altamaha, it should go down this river as far as Fort Bannington, thence to the St. Mary's River which empties into the sea. If the U. S. absolutely wishes to fix the boundaries with Spain without regard to the Indian possessions and that his Majesty should be willing to do so, it would be unjust to cede anything of the line drawn between the English and the Chickasaws and Choctaws from the territory of Mobile to the Mississippi. This line begins on the western bank of the river which empties into the Bay of Mobile, called the Tombehe, at a point 45 leagues away from that city and known as the beginning of the divisionary line between the English and the Indians, and named Chateepe line, from this point both parties accompanied by various Indian chiefs marked the line up to a place called by these "The ball game" to which place they arrived by following the direction of the wind. But they refused to mark the line further unless the English agreed to form an angle which would leave in the possession of the Indians all the above territory; this was agreed to and thus they pushed back the possessions of the Europeans toward the Mississippi, terminating the line on the Yazoo River five leagues from its mouth. The boundaries of Mobile with the territories of the Alabamas who inhabit the eastern shore of the river of the same name and on the Tinsar, both of which rivers form a junction and empty themselves into Mobile Bay are known by the name of Scambi River, which Rivers flows into the Alabama twenty-five leagues from Mobile Fort. As the Creeks, the most considerable of all these nations, live to the east of the Alabamas on the borders of the United States and the Floridas, I believe that the natural line between these and Pensacola and St. Augustine should run from the mouth of the above mentioned Scambi River where it empties into the Alabama and running east by west should reach out to the St. Mary River. I can not assure that the line is thus drawn for the boundaries are only known by us to the Scambia River which only discharges a small quantity of water nor did I know if in the region of St. Augustine the English fixed their boundaries with the Creeks; however it is certain that the line could not deviate very much from the one proposed above. Although in the treaty of peace between England and the United States the limits unduly designated on the Mississippi and in the Floridas are clearly mentioned, I think it necessary to explain here circumstances surrounding them. The line which crosses the Mississippi in its center up to the 35th degree passes in front of the Red River which empties into the Mississippi twelve leagues below the Fort of Natchez in its eastern part and by drawing the said line from this point east by west as far as the St. Mary's River the district of Natchez would become the property of the United States and this is the richest and most populous of all Louisiana and in Mobile would leave us a sandy waste within the fort scarcely two leagues in extent and behind Pensacola only a lot of untillable land. The Commissioners sent by Georgia, the southernmost state of the United States, in the year 1785 understood this to be the case and having brought with them a number of Miitia officers and justices of the peace selected among the inhabitants of Natchez, made bold enough to take me to task for the erection of fortifications on the territory of their state, at the time when I was finishing a moat around the said Fort; for this reason I expelled them from that district, reporting immediately and extensively upon this act to the Marquis of Sonora in Despatch No. 117 dated 17th December 1785 and his Majesty deigned to approve this measure in Royal Order of April 24th 1786. Nevertheless on account of the purchase which various persons incorporated under the name of the South Carolina Co. in the Yazoo tried to make from the state of Georgia three years ago, the territory which they attempted to purchase was marked as bordering upon that of Spain in a place called Cole's Creek which empties into the Mississippi six or seven leagues further up than the Fort of Natchez and therefore removed 18 or 19 degrees of the 32 degrees above mentioned and they no doubt contented themselves with these limits because the referred to treaty expressly states that the boundary line of the United States shall follow the Mississippi until the northernmost part of the 35th; that is to say as far as a point immediately next to the 32nd degree where is to be found the above mentioned tributary. These boundaries result from the fact that in former days they were marked on the maps as running from Georgia west by east until they reached the Mississippi, but upon the representations of the inhabitants of Natchez who when they wanted to appeal to higher courts in their legal contentions had to do so in Georgia, His Britanic Majesty declared the said district as forming part of Western Florida and under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Pensacola. The line above described was established' as far as the Yazoo, and this Province having been ceded by a right of conquest to His Majesty by Great Britain in the last treaty of peace it is not just that the United States should claim up to the 31st degree even though the same power should have so declared, and this declaration may emanate from an error, for otherwise it would have been necessary to declare His Majesty should deliver to the U. S. the said district of Natchez which he then possessed. The above declaration of his British Majesty in regard to West Florida are only known by public rumor and I have heard it from many Englishmen who were present in Pensacola when it was published. His Majesty's possessions having therefore been established as comprising only the limits above expressed, nothing is claimed in the region of Louisiana in referece to the eastern shore of the Mississippi except the territory as far up as the mouth of the Yazoo and it must be said besides that the United States can not claim as theirs the Indians nations of Chickasaws, Choctaws, Chicachez, Alabamas and Creeks because these (besides always having received presents and protection from Great Britain in the Floridas) renewed a certain dependence on account of the protection that was granted to them in the Congress which I.celebrated in Pensacola with the Creeks during the month of May and in Mobile with the other tribes mentioned during the month of June, a treaty of 13 articles having been signed to that effect which I reported to my Captain General the Count of Galvez, and in answer to an inquiry of the Marquis of Sonora I enclosed him a copy of my despatch No. 89 under date of July 2nd 1785. The above mentioned states will reply that they themselves have made treaties with the Chicahas and Choctaws in Hopewell and Seneca in the year 1786, but these treaties are imaginary and null and void. On the part of the Chicahas only one Indian of importance with a few warriors went to Hopewell and to Seneca a few Choctaws chiefs who had not yet delivered to me the English medal and both these parties without being authorized by their respective nations, as was afterwards declared by those Choctaws who subsequently came to deliver the referred to medals and also by the king of Chicahas together with his principal chiefs who disapproved of this action as is recorded extensively in Document No. 3 and the other papers enclosed in my despatch No. 24 to His Excellency Don Antonio Valdez under date of August 28th 1788. It is a great advantage that the above mentioned Indians should remain under the protection of His Majesty so that they might serve as a barrier against the United States and on this account I do not doubt that these (United States) will vigorously oppose themselves to this policy as they always have done, for almost every year they send Commissioners to the Indians to separate them from their agreement, though so far they have been unable to carry their point nor maintain to their party but one Chicaha chief with his village, all the others having resisted to the letters written by the Secretary of War Knox, Dr. Franklin, and even those of General Washington himself, the originals of which they brought to me as proof of their fidelity and it does not appear possible that the United States will carry their contention so far as to employ force with the Indians, for it would be manifestly unjust to prevent them from selecting their own protection. It will be a source of great satisfaction to me if the foregoing will help your Excellency to propose to His Majesty a satisfactory manner of adjusting the differences pending with the United States and to develop Louisiana in a manner that will enable it to defend itself without assistance. I also offer myself with the best of good will so that your Excellency may employ me in the manner most useful to the service of His Majesty. I pray God that he may keep your Excellency's life many years. Aranjuez 18 de Marzo 1793. Exmo. Sr. Estevan Miro. MEETING OF NOVEMBER, 1916. The regular monthly meeting of the Louisiana Historical Society was held on Wednesday evening, November 15, at the Cabildo. The President opened the meeting. The minutes of the last meeting were read by the Secretary and approved. Mr. W. O. Hart presented two names for membership: Joseph C. Behre, and John L. Henning of Sulphur, La. They were elected. The following resolution was presented by Mr. Hart: "Resolved, That Section 2 of Article 2 of the Constitution of the Society be amended to read as follows: "The regular monthly meeting of the Society shall be held each month unless otherwise determined by the Executive Committee, on the third Tuesday thereof, at eight o'clock p. m., in the rooms of the Society at the Cabildo. "The annual meeting shall be held in January, when the officers of the Society shall be elected for the ensuing year.' As according to the by-laws of the Society no action could be taken in regard to the amendment of the Constitution; it was laid over. Miss King introduced a resolution concerning the publication of a quarterly review, decided upon in executive meeting. She proposed the creation of a publication committee to undertake it. Passed as amended by Mr. Hart to refer it to the decision of the Executive Committee at its next meeting. Mr. Henry Gill presented a handsome collection of scrapbooks from Mrs. Rochester, compiled by Mr. G. J. J. Rochester, a late member of the Society. He also presented to the Society a collection of water-color sketches of old New Orleans from Dr. H. B. Seebold. Mr. Hart presented an interesting literary record, a chap book published in New Orleans in 1896. A vote of thanks to both donors was passed. The paper of the evening was given by Miss Grace King. It gave an account of the events that led to the baptism of Prince Iturbide in the New Orleans Cathedral in 1824, which comprised also a pleasant retrospect of the Zacharie family, noted in financial and social chronicles of New Orleans since 1800. The connection of our local traditions with those of Mexico was made |