the lord of galveston was at the height of his power in march, 1818, when a colony composed of his own countrymen sailed into the bay. they were led by general lallemand, one of napoleon bonaparte’s old officers. the empire had fallen, bonaparte was in exile at st. helena, and lallemand, no longer happy or safe in france, decided to form somewhere in the new world a champ d’asile (place of refuge). his choice finally fell upon texas. he left france in october, 1817, with four hundred men and several women and children. he and his brother officer, general rigaud (the latter being eighty years old), were received with stately courtesy by lafitte, who assisted them greatly in their preparations for the journey to the place chosen for their colony.
this was on the banks of the trinity river, about sixty miles from its mouth. when all was ready the two generals, with one hundred men, traveled thither by land; the others set out by water with a number of small boats carrying provisions, ammunition, etc.
after several days’ march the land party reached its destination, where the boats should have arrived before them. the boats were not there. lallemand and his men were already without food, as they had started with an insufficient supply. they began to suffer the pangs of hunger, filled at the same time with anxiety about the missing boats. while in this condition they found in the woods around a sort of wild lettuce, large quantities of which they boiled and ate. no sooner had they eaten than they were seized with violent and deathlike convulsions. lallemand, rigaud, and one of the surgeons had not tasted the poisonous herb. but they were powerless to help, the medicines being on the boats.
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thus they were in despair when a coushatti indian, drawn by curiosity, came into the camp. he looked with amazement at the ninety-seven men stretched out and apparently dying on the ground. lallemand, showing him the fatal herb, explained to him by signs what had happened. the indian sprang swift as an arrow into the forest, and in a short time reappeared, his arms filled with a feather-like weed. it was the antidote of the poison the men had eaten; he boiled and made a drink of it; and, thanks to his skill and kindness, they all recovered.
some days later the boats arrived. the voyagers had been unable at first to find the mouth of the river, hence the delay.
the colonists went to work with a will upon their settlement. they built four small forts,—forts charles and henry, middle fort, and fort palanqua,—mounted eight cannons, and hoisted the french flag. then they busied themselves with their own houses and fields.
they were very happy, these self-exiled french people. they labored in their fields and gardens by day; at night they sang and danced and made merry, looking forward to long and peaceful lives in their new home.
but the grain was hardly ripe in their fields when word came that spanish soldiers from san antonio and goliad (la bahia) were marching upon them to destroy them, or to drive them out of the country. they were not strong enough to resist such a force, so they abandoned their cabins and smiling gardens and returned to galveston. a violent storm swept over the island a few days after their arrival there. lafitte lost two brigs, three schooners, and a felucca; the unfortunate colonists lost not only their boats, but all their clothing and supplies.
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lafitte gave them the san antonio, a small ship captured from the spaniards, and provided them with food and clothes. some of them sailed to new orleans in the san antonio; others made their way overland to nacogdoches; thence to natchitoches, to baton rouge, and at length to new orleans, whence by the kindness of the citizens they were able to get back to france.
